Triumphal tempietto dedicated to Victor Amadeus III

Made using micro-intaglio technique, of which Bonzanigo was a master, it is complete with two allegori-cal vases representing the rivers Po and Dora. At the centre is a bust of King Victor Amadeus III, raised on high by an eagle and surrounded by the cardinal Virtues: Fortitude, with helmet and shield, Temperance, with a pitcher, Prudence, with a mirror and a remora (a suck-fish that it was said could stop a ship by holding on to its keel), and Justice, with a pair of compasses and a bundle of rods. On the column there are bas-relief depictions of the King’s other virtues: Beneficence, Liberality, Gen-erosity, and Temperance. The group was probably made as a token of gratitude for his appointment as King’s Sculptor in 1787.