Giuseppe Maretto (Milan 1908–1984) – Madonna with Child

Giuseppe Maretto (Milan 1908–1984) – Madonna with Child Giuseppe Maretto (Milan 1908–1984) was an Italian sculptor, painter, enameler and medalist, mainly active in Milan in the first half of the twentieth century. Sculpture in glazed polychrome terracotta. The sculpture has various marks that occurred during firing. (THESE ARE NOT BREAKS) 45cm height Biography He exhibited as very young artist at the V Milan Triennale in 1933 with three sculptures: a tile for the IV station of the Via Crucis and the bas-relief Moses brings water from the rock in the Pavilion of the exhibition of sacred art; in the pavilion Mostra dell'Abitazione (Housing Exhibition). From 1937-1939 the two identical monumental statues placed on the building designed by Lancia opposite Palazzo Mezzanotte in Piazza degli Affari in Milan. From 1932 the fountain with statue of Saint Anthony of Padua preaching to the fish, located in front of the sanctuary of Saint Anthony of Padua in via Farini, also in Milan, damaged, probably by vandals, on 18 September 2020. Also his is the monumental fountain with a sculpture depicting a "river god" on whose limbs a serpent is entwined, which adorns the courtyard of the famous Casa della Fontana (architects Rino Ferrini and Franco Bruni, 1934-1936) in viale Vittorio Veneto 24. For the church of Sant'Elena di Quarto Cagnino he sculpted The Invention of the Cross; for the cathedral of Milan the statue of Santa Lucia; for the church of San Gioachimo a copper Via Crucis. Maretto also had an intense activity as an enameler and medalist. Maretto's Enamels or Art of Fire. The art of enamel is not a simple decorative vitreous coating of metal surfaces but the result of technical processes that give it a more seductive appearance with the splendid intensity of colors and the infinite variety of tones and the most delicate nuances. Enamels are a vitreous substance composed of silicates, soda, potassium lead and the colors are given by the various mixed metal oxides. Maretto used two techniques for making enamels. Champlevé enamels are obtained by digging the alveoli delineated according to the design in the metal and the alveoli are filled with enamel, subjecting the metal to the heat of the furnace (approx. 900°) thus causing the fusion of the enamel in powder which turns into a vitreous paste, assuming its definitive colors. This technique flourished in Europe and especially in France in the XII, XIII, XIV century. Musenshippo enamels of Japanese origin are made with a simpler technique. The raw enamels are put in contact with the top surface of the metal sheet, placed side by side with a brush and spatula, thus forming with the combinations the image to be reproduced, and subjecting them to fusion so that they melt, blending together creating effects of evanescent contours.