A set of four hand carved statuary marble statues depicting ‘The Four Seasons” after Carlo Nicoli

Winter wearing a cloak, Spring with flowers, Summer with sheath of corn and scythe, and Autumn with a basket of vines slight size variance

Provenance: Property of a Gentleman, London

20th century 

Nicoli’s Four Seasons are presented in the guises of idealised young women. He departs from the standard representation of Winter, for example, as a bearded old man. Instead, Nicoli presents an elegant young woman draped in billowing folds of cloth, her right arm pulling her drapery close to her body to shield herself from the freezing air. Even the Carrara marble, it seems, purveys a sense of cold; the pine cones that the girl holds being the only hint at warmth (pine cones traditionally served as a source of fuel).
Winter gives way to Spring, who is crowned with a diadem of flowers, a symbol of youth and merry making. Following her, we see Summer, who stands poised, scythe resting against her thigh, as she holds a sheath of wheat in her left arm, and then we see the graceful figure of Autumn, who bears a panier of fruit and vines. In each of these charming personifications, the sculptor has succeeded in creating a superb play of textures, as skin and cloth give way to the cold metal of the scythe, the harsh wicker of the basket, and the soft delicacy of fruit and flowers. This array of surface textures is complimented by a gentle sensuousness evident particularly in Spring, as her thin chemise slips below her breast.