Damiano Cappelli (active 1622-1688), Florence, late 17th century Female allegory of Virtue trampling witchcraft (or heresy) underfoot Bronze group Resting on a fully moulded base and a later period wooden plinth H. 25.5 cm (10 in.) H. (total): 33 cm (13 in.) l. 19 cm (7 ½ in.) P. 11.5 cm (4 ½ in.) Provenance: Probably collection of G.B. Borri, Florence, circa 1770. Bibliography : D. Zikos, 'A Kleinplastik collection in Regency Florence: Giovanni Battista Borri bronzes and terracottas', in P. Wengraf [ed.], Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Hill Collection, London 2014, pp. 37-67; esp. p. 4, fig 5; p. 15, Bronze n°76; and p. 60 Bronze n°. 136. Comparative bibliographies : C. Avery, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in the Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, 1993, pp.87-89, no. 22 J. Warren, Beauty and Power: Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Peter Marino Collection, London, 2010, pp.110-113, no. 9 A. Brook, 'Tacca or Cappelli?', in J. Warren ed, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in and around the Peter Marino Collection, London, 2013, pp. 115-139; esp. p. 139, note 70. A bronze group female Allegory of Virtue Treading Down Witchcraft (or Heresy), attributed to Damiano Cappelli (active 1622-1688), Florence, late 17th century This unpublished bronze group perfectly matches the description of an object by an unknown author that was once in the Florentine collection of the tailor G.B. Borri ("Un Gruppettino Senza Base con una Figurina, ed una Strega" = "A small group without a base with a figurine and a witch"). The unusual subject of witchcraft has been associated by Zikos with a larger group depicting a witch riding a goat (Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden) that has been attributed to Pietro Tacca, or to his son Ferdinando, who was in turn the first master of the sculptor Damiano Cappelli. The Dresden group also belongs to a much wider series of subjects related to witchcraft, often centred on a leaping goat (see Avery, 1993, pp. 87-89). This type of shaggy-haired goat is associated with the prey of four hunts that may have been invented by Ferdinando Tacca, in particular a leaping boar, some casts of which are signed (or initialled DCF) by Cappelli (see Warren, 2010, no. 9). The female figure of Virtue, with its strong contrapposto, elegant sway and spiral stance, and small head with elaborate coiffure, reminds us of a late sixteenth-century Venetian figure of Judith beheading Holofernes, whose head is under her own right foot, although - perhaps to partially disguise the borrowing - her raised and lowered arms are reversed (private collection). The present variant is slightly larger (25 cm) than the Judith (19.4 cm) and therefore cannot have been cast directly from this prototype. The dark varnish on the underlying copper alloy is consistent with the method favoured by the workshops that followed Giambologna's later in the seventeenth century. The identification of this small and apparently unique group represents an exciting new step in the reintegration of Cappelli's work, as begun by Zikos and Brook in the early twenty-first century. We are grateful to Dr Charles Avery for writing this notice. *Information for purchasers: Lot from outside the EU: The hammer price is exclusive of VAT. VAT at the reduced rate of 5.5% applies to the hammer price. This VAT is recoverable for French professionals. It is reimbursable for a buyer from outside the EU on presentation of proof of export from the EU or for a professional bidder providing proof of an intra-Community VAT number and a document proving delivery in the Member State. *Information to the buyers : Lot from outside the EU : The hammer price and premium will be VAT excluded. 5.5% VAT will be added to the hammer price and premium. Upon request, this VAT can be refunded to the purchaser on presentation of written proof of exportation outside EU, or to the EU purchaser who will submit his intracommunity VAT number and a proof of shipment to an EU country.