Madonna of the Immaculate Conception with the Christ Child and the Infant Saint John

Mazza was the leading sculptor of Bologna in the late 17th to early 18th centuries; he also executed numerous commissions for churches in Venice. His specialty was making relief sculptures in plaster or terracotta. The traces of white visible on the peach-colored clay of the Portland relief are the remaining evidence of the original gesso covering, which was probably patinated to resemble bronze. This sculpture was intended to be mounted high on the wall and to be seen from below, with the winged angel under the Virgin's feet looking back at the viewer.