Clay Varietas - Guido Mazzoni's Society of Women

The article discusses two major works by the prolific artist Guido Mazzoni, sculptor and life-size terracotta statuary in northern Italy in the late Quattrocento: the Lamentation group at Ferrara dating to 1485 and the Nativity group at Modena dating to the same year. Mazzoni’s oeuvre has received little attention in the traditional Renaissance canon due to his choice of materials, the poor terracotta from the Po valley, as well as his subject matter, which often verges on the pathetic. This article stresses how Mazzoni’s distinctive use of Albertian varietas links him to the guiding aesthetic principles of his time and furthermore shows how Guido Mazzoni’s collaboration with his wife and daughter gave his works a particular focus on their female protagonists. As I argue, the female characters portrayed in his groups tend to be more vivid and varied in their gestures and poses than the men represented.