Luigi Valadier: Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome

Of the many artists who flourished in Rome during the eighteenth century, the silversmith Luigi Valadier (1726–1785) was particularly admired by popes, royalty, and aristocrats across Europe. Heir to his father Andrea’s highly successful workshop, Luigi had an unsurpassed technical expertise, which, combined with his avant-garde aesthetic, resulted in extraordinary works in silver and bronze. During his lifetime, Luigi’s fame and influence spread beyond the borders of Italy, and he received commissions from patrons in France, England, and Spain. He was, however, burdened by debts for commissions undertaken but never paid for, and, in 1785, he committed suicide, drowning himself in the Tiber. Following this tragic event, his workshop passed to his son Giuseppe. 

Illustrating the versatility of Valadier, the exhibition will include more than sixty works carefully selected from the vast production of the workshop. Preparatory drawings will be displayed alongside finished works, including a full centerpiece, or deser, created about 1778 for the Bali de Breteuil, in which, atop a gilt-bronze base inlaid with precious stones, Valadier re-created temples, triumphal arches, columns, and other miniature representations of ancient Roman monuments. The featured objects will also include finely worked silver plates, tureens, salt cellars, and other tablewares and demonstrate the evolution of Valadier’s style from Baroque to Rococo to neoclassical. Monochromatic silver objects will be contrasted with polychrome works in gilt-bronze, marble, and precious stones.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website. 

Image: Luigi Valadier, Herm of Bacchus, 1773. Bronze, alabastro a rosa, bianco e nero antico, and africano verde; lacquered and golden patina, H. 68 7⁄8 inches
Galleria Borghese, Rome Photo: Mauro Magliani

Whether or not you go, Luigi Valadier, a new lavishly-illustrated publication authored by the curator of the Luigi Valadier: Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome exhibition, highlights fifty works produced by the Valadier workshop with comparative objects, designs and transcripts.This volume is the first complete monograph on Luigi Valadier and the only comprehensive publication on Valadier in English. Shedding new light on the provenance and dating of some work, the book further identifies the exact roles performed inside the workshop by the celebrated dynasty of craftsmen that included Luigi’s French-born father Andrea and his son Giuseppe, as well as detailing the Valadier family’s collaborations with other workshops and artists. Luigi Valadier provides an indispensable resource for future scholarship and is a must-have for collectors, dealers, and scholars.

Select Luigi Valadier to learn more, or to place this book in your Amazon shopping cart.  Your Amazon purchase through this link supports ArtGeek with a small commission.