Page 240 - The mystery of faith

ROBERTO MICHEL

(Puy-de-Velay 1720 – 1786 Madrid)

26. Putti with the Symbols of the Eucharist

Second half of the 18th century
Poplar, gessoed, polychromed and gilded
80 x 34 x 42.5 cm (31 ½ x 13 ? x 16 ¾ in.)

PROVENANCE: Enrique Pelta, Madrid

R oberto Michel was a French sculptor who began his training at the very early age of ten
working in the French workshops of Antoine-Michel Perrache (1726–1779), and two other
sculptors by the name of Dupon and Bonfili, as well as in the Madrid workshop of the
Flemish sculpture Luquet, whom he accompanied when his master moved to the city in
October of 1740.1

Michel spent the rest of his career in Spain where his merits as a sculptor were recognized by Ferdinand
VI, who appointed him court sculptor at the beginning of 1757. Later, during the reign of Charles III, he
reached the pinnacle of his career, again achieving the title of court sculptor in 1775. In addition to his
work for the Palacio Real in Madrid, he also produced works for Palacio de El Pardo, Aranjuez, and the
Colegiata de la Granja de San Ildefonso in Segovia. Madrid retains probably his most celebrated work,
the lions in the Cybele Fountain, which have come to be emblematic of the city (Fig. 1). Among his other
most famous works are the Puerta de Alcalá, and the sculptural decoration on the four fountains in front
of the Museo del Prado.

Apart from a few dedicated studies of specific projects,2 most of our information about Michel is
derived from the citations in Ceán Bermúdez, Ponz or Sánchez Cantón.3 We do know, however, that by
1745, Michel had achieved a recognized measure of success, because when one of his drawings was
included in an exhibition at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando on 18 March he was
selected from a competition, with, amongst other artists, Franciscus Stols, François de Voge, Francisco
Vergara and Diego de Villanueva, to join the Academy. Michel was later appointed Lieutenant Director
of Sculpture (1752), Director of Sculpture (1763), and eventually, Director of the Academy (1774),
before finally achieving the highest position, Director in Chief (1785). Although Michel never went to
Rome, at the Academia he would have had access to sculptural casts and models, as well as the royal
sculpture collection, which at one point he even helped to restore.

The attribution of these two putti to Michel is based as much on the technical similarity to his known
works as on stylistic analysis, because, though they are somewhat of a piece with the classical Baroque
style, we must never overlook the importance of stylistic analysis in assessing the work of this artist. It
should be clarified that these sculptures do not depict infants, but putti, whose wings are now lost;

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