Selected works

Characteristic of the art of Giuseppe Mazza, this terracotta sculpture presents an allegory of the city of Bologna following an iconography appeared in the sixteenth century. The city, armed like the wise and warrior Minerva, is accompanied by a lion and a flag, symbols of strength and justice. They recall the independence of the city and its fairness to men, the city having, from the fourteenth century, abolished slavery within its walls.

A perfect synthesis of late Baroque and the beginnings of classicism, our allegory brings together all the elements of Mazza’s style: nonchalant elegance of posture, fluid modeling and perfect proportions; all these features are found in two terracotta statuettes preserved today at the Museo Civico di Bologna.