19th century, Moretto piano holder

early nineteenth century

Moretto piano holder

Polychrome and gilded wood, cm high. 75

The fascination with Middle Eastern culture, evident in the sculptural production representing blackamoors and odalisques, acquires a maximum charge of exoticism in this example. The blackamoor, dressed in splendid brocade and richly decorated clothes, moves one foot in hinting at a step, counterbalancing himself, at the same time, with his right hip; the voluminous knot fixed on the pelvis, from which ornate draperies rain down, helps to invigorate the central part of the sculpture, visually reinforcing it to optically better support the shelf placed on the top. The figure, who wears typically oriental slippers, is balanced on a gondola. The subtle polychromy that illuminates the blackamoor tremulously and sparklingly follows the solids and recesses of the reliefs, enlivening the appearances, as does the visual contrast also offered by the gold compared to the dark wooden background. The diffusion of blackamoors holding candles, shelf holders, half-rounds as part of furniture and the like is part of the traditional path of self-celebration of the European powers, praising their military victories through a figurative instrumentalization of the image of the conquered populations. This sculpture exacerbates the oriental charm of the “other” culture by choosing to depict the blackamoor not only with local clothes but, through a cultural mix, offering the spectator the charm of the sweetened oriental world.