Showing posts with label Sculptors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sculptors. Show all posts

16 September 2024

Pietro Tacca - sculptor

Pupil of Giambologna became major figure in own right

Tacca's equestrian sculpture of Philip IV  of Spain broke new ground in statuary
Tacca's equestrian sculpture of Philip IV 
of Spain broke new ground in statuary
The sculptor Pietro Tacca, who succeeded his master, Giambologna, as court sculptor to the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany, was born on this day in 1577 in Carrara.

Tacca, who initially produced work in the Mannerist style, later made a significant contribution to the advance of Baroque and helped preserve Florence’s pre-eminence in bronze casting.

As well as his work for the Medici family, Tacca achieved something never before attempted with his marble equestrian statue of King Philip IV of Spain in Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente. 

The sculpture, considered to be a masterpiece, is notable for depicting the monarch on a rearing horse with its front legs off the ground and the entire weight of the statue supported by its hind legs and tail. 

Tacca began attending the Florence workshop of Giambologna in 1592 at the age of 15. Giambologna was the most important sculptor of his time in Florence, not only for his relationship with the Medici but also for his bronze statue of Neptune above the Fontana di Nettuno in Bologna.

When Giambologna’s first assistant, Pietro Francavilla, left for Paris in 1601, Tacca was chosen to fill his role. On the death of the master in 1608 at the age of 79, Tacca inherited both his studio and his house in Borgo Pinti. A year later, the Medici family appointed him as Giambologna’s successor as the grand-ducal sculptor.

Tacca's i Quattro Mori sculptures in Livorno showed his embrace of the drama of Baroque
Tacca's i Quattro Mori sculptures in Livorno
showed his embrace of the drama of Baroque
Among Tacca's earliest tasks in his prestigious new position were the completion of some of Giambologna’s unfinished works, including the equestrian statues of Ferdinando I de' Medici in Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence, of Henry IV of France, which was sent to Paris but later destroyed during the revolution in 1793, and of Philip III of Spain, which is still located in the Madrid’s Plaza Mayor.

The statue of Ferdinando I de’ Medici was cast with bronze melted from the cannons of captured Barbary and Ottoman galleys, taken by the Order of Saint Stephen, of which Ferdinando was Grand Master.

As his own career progressed, Tacca began to embrace the Baroque aesthetic. His work became characterised by a sense of the theatrical, conveying dramatic movement and exaggerated emotion. While his sculptures often depicted religious subjects, such as saints and biblical figures, he also created secular works, including fountains and allegorical figures.

Between 1623 and 1626 he executed what is considered his masterpiece, i Quattri Mori - the Four Moors - which shows four Saracen pirates chained at the base of Giovanni Bandini's monument to Ferdinando I de' Medici in Piazza della Darsena in Livorno. The pirates were supposedly taken prisoner by the Order of St. Stephen and imprisoned in Livorno. Tacca used some of them as models, posing them in accentuated twists and depicting grimaces of pain on their faces.

Tacca's Porcellino Fountain, a bronze of a wild boar, is now in a museum in Florence
Tacca's Porcellino Fountain, a bronze of a wild
boar, is now in a museum in Florence
Two bronze fountains by Tacca originally destined for Livorno, notable for their intricate grotesque masks and shellwork textures, were set up instead in Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence.

In 1634, Tacco created his famous Fontana del Porcellino, a bronze fountain statue of a wild boar originally planned for the gardens - the Giardino di Boboli - behind Palazzo Pitti, the main Medici residence in Florence, but subsequently placed in the recently built Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, where a copy is currently on display. The original is in the Museo Stefano Bardini in Palazzo Mozzi.

The colossal equestrian bronze of Philip IV in Madrid was Tacca's last public commission.

Based on a design by Diego Velázquez, it was started in 1634 and shipped to Madrid in 1640, the year of Tacca’s death. The sculpture, set on top of a fountain composition, forms the centrepiece of the façade of the Royal Palace. 

Tacca consulted the scientist Galileo Galilei for advice on how he might make the statue stable, despite its entire weight being supported by the two hind legs and the tip of the tail, shown as brushing the ground as the horse rears. The feat had never been attempted successfully in a statue of such scale. 

Towards the end of his life, Pietro Tacca was assisted by his son, Ferdinando, who almost certainly completed some of his father’s unfinished projects. After the death of Ferdinando Tacca, the studio and foundry in Borgo Pinti were taken over by Giovanni Battista Foggini.

Foggini specialised in small bronze statuary. His reproductions of Tacca’s Moors figures in bronze and ceramic were still selling well on the connoisseur market in the early to mid-18th century.

The Giambologna coat of arms identifies his former workshop
The Giambologna coat of arms
identifies his former workshop
Travel tip:

Borgo Pinti is an historic street in the heart of Florence, which runs from Via Sant’Egidio to Piazzale Donatello. It has several notable landmarks along its path, including the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, a church dating back to around 1250 on a site that was previously occupied by the Monastery of the Women of Penance, a house of refuge for repentant women known as the Repentite, to which some ascribe the origin of the name Pinti, although others claim it was the name of an ancient family. The street, which forms a north-south axis of the historic centre, is lined with many notable palaces, as well as houses occupied by the painter Perugino and the sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini.  The house and workshops where Giambologna and Pietro Tacca created so much of their art were at numbers 24-26 in a building now called Palazzo Bellini delle Stelle, identifiable by the Giambologna coat of arms over the door.

The white of Carrara's marble makes the Apuan Alps seemed snow-covered even in the summer
The white of Carrara's marble makes the Apuan
Alps seemed snow-covered even in the summer
Travel tip:

Pietro Tacca’s town of birth, Carrara, famous for its blue and white marble, sits just inland from the Ligurian Sea coastline, in a valley that descends from the Alpi Apuane in Tuscany. The natural white of the peaks often convinces visitors they are covered with snow even in the summer. Marble has been quarried in the area for more than 2,000 years. Michelangelo was said to have been so taken with the purity of the stone that he spent eight months there choosing blocks for specific projects.  The Pantheon and Trajan's Column were both constructed using Carrara marble, which was also the material used for many Renaissance sculptures.  Carrara, nowadays a city of around 70,000 inhabitants, is home to many academies of sculpture and fine arts and a museum of statuary and antiquities.  The exterior of the city's own 12th century duomo is almost entirely marble.

Also on this day:

1797: The birth of revolutionary-turned-librarian Sir Anthony Panizzi

1841: The birth of politician Alessandro Fortis

1866: Sette e mezzo revolt breaks out in Palermo

1985: Terrorists attack Rome’s iconic Café de Paris

2005: Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro captured in Naples


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6 June 2024

Vecchietta – painter and sculptor

Early Renaissance craftsman left a rich legacy of work in Tuscany

The Vision of Santa Sorore, part of a fresco cycle by Vecchietta at the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala
The Vision of Santa Sorore, part of a fresco cycle by
Vecchietta at the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala
The artist Lorenzo di Pietro di Giovanni, who later became known as Vecchietta, ‘the little old one,’ died on this day in 1480 in Siena.

Vecchietta was a renowned painter, sculptor, goldsmith, and architect of the Renaissance. He was born in Siena and baptised on 11 August, 1410 in the city. He is believed to have become the pupil of a Sienese artist and his name has been linked with those of Sassetta, Taddeo di Bartolo and Jacopo della Quercia.

Much of Vecchietta’s work has remained in Siena, some of it in the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, which caused him to be also known as pittor della spedale  - painter of the hospital. With branches in many other towns, the hospital was one of the largest and most famous of its kind in mediaeval Italy.

He painted a series of frescoes for the Pellegrinaio - Pilgrim Hall - at the hospital along with Domenico di Bartolo and Priamo della Quercia. These included The Founding of the Spedale and The Vision of Santa Sorore, which depicts a dream of the mother of the cobbler Sorore, the mythical founder of the hospital.

In about 1444, Vecchietta decorated the Cappella di Sacra Chiodo, the old sacristry, with his work. His frescoes were of Annunciation, Nativity, and Last Judgments scenes and an Allegory of The Ladder, depicting children climbing to heaven.

Vecchietta's Arliquiera, originally in the hospital's old sacristy, is now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale
Vecchietta's Arliquiera, originally in the hospital's
old sacristy, is now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale
He created a bronze figure of the risen Christ, which was signed and dated 1476, for the high altar of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata, which was within the hospital complex. This is said to show the influence of the sculptor Donatello, who Vecchietta is believed to have met in Siena in the 1450s.

The Arliquiera, a painted wardrobe for holy relics, was decorated by Vecchietta for the old sacristry of Santa Maria della Scala in 1445. It is now in the collection of the Pinacoteca Nazionale - National Picture Gallery - of Siena.

Vecchietta and his pupils, who included Francesco di Giorgio and Neroccio de’ Landi, created a series of frescoes for the Baptistry of San Giovanni at Siena Cathedral between 1447 and 1450.

A large bronze ciborium, originally created by Vecchietta for the hospital in the 1460s, was moved to the Cathedral after his death. 

A bronze tomb statue of a jurist from Siena was created by Vecchietta for the church of San Domenico and this is now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. He also sculpted life-size figures of St Peter and St Paul for the Loggia della Mercanzia and a sculpture of St Martin for the Palazzo Saracini. 

Vecchietta made a silver statue of St Catherine of Siena when she was canonised in 1461, but this work disappeared after the siege of Siena in 1565.

In Pienza, just outside Siena, there is a painting of the Assumption created by Vecchietta in 1461 for Pope Pius II. 

A panel depicting the Madonna, which was created by Vecchietta, is in the Uffizi in Florence and there is a painting of Saint Peter Martyr by Vecchietta at the Palazzo Cini gallery in Venice. The British Library in London has a manuscript of Dante’s Divine Comedy containing illuminations by Vecchietta.

Considered to have been among the outstanding Sienese artists of the 15th century,  Vecchietta died, aged nearly 70, on June 6, 1480 in Siena. He had previously designed a funerary chapel for himself and his wife in Santa Maria della Scala.

Siena's Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta is considered an architectural masterpiece
Siena's Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
is considered an architectural masterpiece
Travel tip:

Siena in Tuscany is well known as the venue for the historic horse race, the Palio di Siena. The race starts from Piazza del Campo, a shell-shaped open area which is regarded as one of Europe’s finest mediaeval squares. It was established in the 13th century as an open marketplace on a sloping site between three communities that eventually merged to form the city of Siena. The piazza, built between 1287 and 1355, consists of nine sections of fan-like brick pavement said to symbolise the Madonna's cloak said to protect the city in dark times.  The Campo is dominated by the red Palazzo Pubblico and its tower, Torre del Mangia. The city’s cathedral, which houses works by Vecchietta, is considered a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque Gothic architecture.

Vasari's 'wall of windows' became the space where the Medici displayed their art collection
Vasari's 'wall of windows' became the space
where the Medici displayed their art collection
Travel tip:

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which houses works by Vecchietta, was originally created as a suite of offices - uffici - for the administration of Cosimo I de’ Medici. The architect, Giorgio Vasari, created a wall of windows on the upper storey and from about 1580, the Medici began to use this well-lit space to display their art treasures, which was the start of one of the oldest and most famous art galleries in the world. The present day Uffizi Gallery, in Piazzale degli Uffizi, is open from 8.15 am to 6.50 pm from Tuesday to Sunday.




Also on this day:

1513: The Battle of Novara

1772: The birth of Maria Theresa, the last Holy Roman Empress

1861: The death of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour

1896: The birth of Italo Balbo, Mussolini’s heir apparent 

1926: The birth of auto engineer Giotto Bizzarrini

1979: The birth of football coach Roberto De Zerbi

 

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19 May 2024

Baccio d’Agnolo - architect and woodcarver

Florentine who influenced the look of his home city

Baccio d'Agnolo was a significant influence on Florentine architecture
Baccio d'Agnolo was a significant
influence on Florentine architecture
The woodcarver, sculptor and architect Baccio D'Agnolo, whose work significantly influenced the architectural landscape of his home city in the Renaissance period, was born in Florence on this day in 1462.

His birth name was Bartolomeo Baglioni but he came to be referred to as d’Agnolo in a reference to the name of his father, Angelo, while Baccio was a popular short form for Bartolomeo. His father was also a woodcarver, which explains the direction of his early career.

Between 1491 and 1502, Baccio executed much of the decorative carving in the church of Santa Maria Novella and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence before turning to architecture. 

He worked alongside Simone del Pollaiolo in restoring the Palazzo Vecchio, and in 1506 was commissioned to complete the drum of the cupola of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, although the project was ultimately abandoned after criticism from Michelangelo.

Among the notable buildings attributed to Baccio d’Agnolo are the Palazzo Borgherini-Rosselli del Turco and the Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni, while his design for the campanile of the church of Santo Spirito has also been praised.

Baccio had five children, three of whom - Giuliano, Filippo and Domenico - also became architects. 

It was through studying the best work of contemporaries such as Bernardo della Cecca, Giuliano da Maiano and Francione that he acquired such a high level of skill in working with wood.

An example of Baccio d'Agnolo's early work with wood carving
An example of Baccio d'Agnolo's
early work with wood carving
The art historian Giorgio Vasari, who was a contemporary of so many of the great names of the Renaissance and was a talented architect in his own right, described Baccio as unsurpassed in the art of working wood. At the height of his fame, Baccio’s workshop became a meeting place for the most famous artists of the time, such as Michelangelo Buonarrotti, Raphael, del Pollaiolo, Giuliano and Antono da Sangallo the Elder, and Benedetto da Maiano. 

Many of Baccio’s original wood works were lost. The best remaining evidence of his carpentry is the choir of the church of Santa Maria Novella and the 16th-century choir of the church of Sant'Agostino in Perugia, on which his sons are said to have collaborated.

In a second period of his life, Baccio dedicated himself almost exclusively to architecture. He collaborated with Del Pollaiolo and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder on the construction of the Great Hall in the Palazzo della Signoria.

He established himself as an architect in his own right in 1503-04, building the Palazzo Taddei in Via dei Ginori, which was influenced by Del Pollaiolo’s Palazzo Guadagni and became a template for the typical noble Florentine residence of the first half of the 16th century. 

His commission to build an eighth part of the gallery around the huge dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, left unfinished by Filippo Brunelleschi, was continued due to the harsh criticism of Michelangelo, who defined it as a "cricket cage". 

The Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni palace in the Piazza di Santa Trinita (1517-20) is considered by some to be Baccio's masterpiece, bringing together all the qualities of his art, the windows surmounted by the pediment and interposed by niches and excavations having a genuine originality. 

Executed in the High Renaissance style that Baccio admired during a period in which he worked in Rome, it became a model for civil constructions of the 16th century. 

Baccio d’Agnolo died in Florence in 1543, at the age of 80.

The Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni is one of Baccio's notable works
The Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni
is one of Baccio's notable works
Travel tip:

The Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni is in Piazza di Santa Trinita on Via de' Tornabuoni in central Florence. It was built on the site of a former residence of the Soldanieri and Dati families, which was bought by Bartolomeo Bartolini-Salimbeni, who paid Baccio d'Agnolo two florins per month for his work. The Bartolini-Salimbeni family lived in the palace until the early 19th century, after which, in 1839, it became the Hotel du Nord, where figures such as the American writer Herman Melville stayed. The palace was restored in 1961 and it is now a private property. It once housed the San Romano Battle paintings by Paolo Uccello, which were commissioned by a member of the Bartolini Salimbeni family. The paintings are now distributed between the Uffizi, the National Gallery in London and the Louvre in Paris.

Palazzo Vecchio, which Baccio helped restore
Palazzo Vecchio, which
Baccio helped restore
Travel tip:

Florence’s imposing Palazzo Vecchio, formerly Palazzo della Signoria, a cubical building of four storeys made of solid rusticated stonework, crowned with projecting crenellated battlements and a clock tower rising to 94m (308ft), became home of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici moved his official seat from the Medici palazzo in via Larga in May 1540. When Cosimo later removed to Palazzo Pitti, he officially renamed his former palace the Palazzo Vecchio, the "Old Palace", although the adjacent town square, the Piazza della Signoria, still bears the original name. Cosimo commissioned the painter and architect Giorgio Vasari to build an above-ground walkway, the Vasari corridor, from the Palazzo Vecchio, through the Uffizi, over the Ponte Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti. Cosimo I also moved the seat of government to the Uffizi, which translated literally, simply means ‘offices’. Today, of course, the Uffizi, is known the world over for its collection of art treasures.

Also on this day:

1860: The birth of politician Vittorio Orlando

1870: The birth of sculptor Pompeo Coppini

1946: The birth of actor Michele Placido

1979: The birth of footballer Andrea Pirlo


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28 August 2023

Giovanni Maria Benzoni - sculptor

Roman collectors called him the ‘new Canova’

Benzoni's self-portrait bust is in the Biblioteca Angelo Mai in Bergamo
Benzoni's self-portrait bust is in the
Biblioteca Angelo Mai in Bergamo
The sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni, who earned such fame in Rome in the mid-19th century that collectors and arts patrons in the city dubbed him the “new Canova” after the great Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova, was born on this day in 1809 in Songavazzo, a small mountain village in northern Lombardy.

Benzoni sculpted many allegorical and mythological scenes, but also busts and funerary monuments.  

Songavazzo being just outside Clusone in the province of Bergamo, Benzoni was regarded as a bergamasco - a native of the ancient city - even though he spent much of his life in Rome.

As such he was held in similar regard to celebrated bergamaschi such as the composer Gaetano Donizetti, the philologist Cardinal Angelo Mai and the painter Francesco Coghetti, all of whom lived in Rome during Benzoni’s time there.

He was later commissioned to sculpt a monumental tomb for Cardinal Mai in the Basilica of Sant’Anastasia al Palatino in the centre of Rome.

Benzoni’s parents, Giuseppe and Margherita, were farmers of modest means. Giovanni Maria worked briefly as a shepherd, but his father died when he was around 11 years old, after which he was sent to work in his uncle’s small carpentry shop at Riva di Solto, on the western shore of Lago d’Iseo, about 25km (16 miles) away.

Benzoni's Flight from Pompeii is notable for its extraordinary realism
Benzoni's Flight from Pompeii is
notable for its extraordinary realism
He began to show a talent for carving religious statues which came to the attention of a wealthy patron called Giuseppe Fontana, who was impressed enough to speak about him to Count Luigi Tadini, who would later open the Tadini Academy of Fine Arts in Lovere, another town on Lago d’Iseo.

Tadini asked Benzoni to make a copy of the Stele Tadini, the sculpture made for him by Antonio Canova in memory of the count’s son Faustino, who had died at a young age.

He was so impressed by Benzoni’s attention to detail and the accuracy of the reproduction that he arranged for the young man, who had never had a formal education, to attend a college in Lovere. 

When he reached the age of 18 or 19, Tadini took Benzoni to Rome, where he would work in the workshop of Giuseppe Fabris - an artist who would later became director general of the Vatican museums - and attend the prestigious Accademia di San Luca, where his fees were paid by Count Tadini.

Benzoni’s elegant marble sculptures had echoes of Canova’s work, which he greatly admired. One of his earliest pieces sculpted at the Academy, entitled Silent Love, attracted the approval of wealthy buyers in Rome, who soon began to speak of him as “il novello Canova” - the new Canova. 

After winning several competitions at San Luca, Benzoni began to earn money for his work and opened a small studio in Via Sant'Isidoro, in the centre of Rome, off the street now called Via Vittorio Veneto. Demand for his work grew so rapidly that he was obliged to find bigger premises, first in Via del Borghetto and later in Via del Babuino, between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo.

Benzoni's bust of his former patron, Count Luigi Tadini, in Lovere
Benzoni's bust of his former patron,
Count Luigi Tadini, in Lovere
At the peak of his fame, he employed more than 50 assistants, making multiple versions of his most popular works. His Cupid and Psyche (1845) and Veiled Rebecca (1863) are considered to be two of his greatest triumphs.  Benzoni had clients in Holland, France, England and Ireland as well as in Italy.  

One of his later works, Flight from Pompeii or The Last Days of Pompeii (1868), was inspired by his visits to the Naples region in the 1850s and 1860s, when he was moved by the capacity for destruction of the volcano Vesuvius. The sculpture depicts with notable realism a man, his wife and their baby child, the man holding a cloak above his head to try to protect the trio as they seek refuge from the falling ashes.

The original was made for the wife of a wealthy New York hotelier. Among the many copies Benzoni produced, one is housed in a museum in Australia, another in the Neoclassical-style Town Hall at Todmorden, in the English county of Yorkshire.

Benzoni, who married into a noble Roman family and had six children, always lived in Rome but returned regularly to Bergamo, where he became a member of the city’s university and donated busts of famous citizens. His own self-portrait bust is in the Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai on Piazza Vecchia in Bergamo’s mediaeval Città Alta.

He sculpted a statue of his former patron, Count Tadini, which stands on a plinth in a lakeside garden opposite the Tadini Academy in Lovere.

After his death in 1873, the popularity of Benzoni’s work declined, in common with the Neoclassical style as the newlly unified-Italy began to look forward. It has enjoyed a revival in recent years, however. Among his most famous works, his 1861 sculpture Innocenza difesa dalla fedeltà (Innocence Defended by Loyalty), which shows a young girl removing a thorn from the paw of her faithful pet dog, sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 2001 for more than $84,000 (€77,800; £66,800) and was presented as a gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Torre dell'orologio is one of several notable buildings in the town of Clusone
The Torre dell'orologio is one of several
notable buildings in the town of Clusone
Travel tip:

Benzoni’s birthplace, Songavazzo, is just outside the town of Clusone, about 35km (22 miles) northeast of Bergamo, a beautiful small town nestling on a plain against the backdrop of the Alpi Orobie - sometimes translated as the Orobic Alps - which attracts visitors all year round. Apart from its proximity to ski resorts, Clusone is famous for the frescoes that decorate some of its most significant buildings, such as the Municipio (Town Hall), the Torre dell'orologio (Clock Tower) and the Oratorio dei Disciplini (Oratory of the Disciplines), which has a macabre offering entitled The Triumph of Death. Clusone is also home to a prestigious annual jazz festival.

The Palazzo Tadini in Lovere on Lago d'Iseo is home of the Accademia di Belle Arti Tadini
The Palazzo Tadini in Lovere on Lago d'Iseo is
home of the Accademia di Belle Arti Tadini
Travel tip:

Lovere, where Benzoni received his first formal education, is the largest town on the western shore of Lago d’Iseo  and has wonderful views of the top of the lake with its dramatic backdrop of mountains. Benzoni’s patron, Count Luigi Tadini of Crema, established the Accademia di Belle Arti Tadini in the lakefront Palazzo Tadini in 1829 and it has become one of the most important art galleries in Italy. The church of Santa Maria in Valvendra has some 16th century frescoes and the church of San Giorgio, which is built into a mediaeval tower, contains an important work by Palma il Giovane. A pleasant boat ride connects Lovere with Pisogne on the eastern shore of the lake, which has a railway line linking the lake with the city of Brescia. The landing stage adjoins Piazza XIII Martiri.

Also on this day:

1665: The death of painter and printmaker Elisabetta Sirani

1909: The birth of Lamberto Maggiorani, star of classic movie Bicycle Thieves

1938: The birth of journalist and talk show host Maurizio Costanza


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1 March 2023

Giovanni Dupré - sculptor

Work helped end the dominance of Neoclassicism

Giovanni Dupré, painted by the  Swiss-Italian artist Antonio Ciseri
Giovanni Dupré, painted by the 
Swiss-Italian artist Antonio Ciseri
Giovanni Dupré, who came to be seen as one of the most important figures in 19th century Italian sculpture, was born on this day in 1817 in Siena.

Like his contemporary, Lorenzo Bartolini, Dupré went back to the Renaissance for inspiration and his success helped Italian sculpture move on from the dominance of Antonio Canova, whose brilliant work in the Neoclassicist style had spawned a generation of imitators.

Dupré did much of his work in Florence and Siena, his greatest piece generally judged to be the Pietà he carved between 1860 and 1865 for the family tomb of the Marchese Bichi-Ruspoli in the cemetery of the Misericordia in Siena.

Although his family were of French descent, they were long established in Tuscany when Giovanni was born. The street in the Contrada Capitana dell'Onda where the family lived, a few steps away from Piazza del Campo, subsequently saw its name changed to Via Giovanni Dupré.

As a young man working in the workshops of his father and of another sculptor, Paolo Sani, he became familiar with the work of Renaissance sculptors, carving copies of the great works, for which there was some demand among wealthy Sienese and was the basis of a thriving family business.

He began to make a name for himself after moving to Florence and winning a competition run by the Accademia di Belle Arti with a Judgment of Paris. 

Dupré's Pietà for the family tomb of the Marchese   Bichi-Ruspoli is seen as his finest work
Dupré's Pietà for the family tomb of the Marchese
  Bichi-Ruspoli is seen as his finest work

In 1842, when he was just 25, he carved a lifesize Dying Abel, which was startling for its natural realism. It was bought by a Russian duchess and resides now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. A bronze version can be seen in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

Bartolini made a point of encouraging Dupré  to be aware of his talent and to continue. He followed his Abel with a Cain, the marble version of which is also in the Hermitage Museum with a bronze in the Pitti. 

Also in Florence, commissions followed for statues of Giotto and St Antoninus for the Loggiato degli Uffizi and a Triumph of the Cross lunette above the main entrance of the Basilica di Santa Croce.

Despite a period of ill health, Dupré worked prolifically. His sculptures included a representation of the Greek poet Sappho which was reminiscent of Michelangelo, which is now in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome, the bronze base for a grand table in the Sala del Castagnoli at the Palazzo Pitti, a funeral monument for contessa Berta Moltke Ferrari-Corbelli in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence and a Madonna Addolorata for Santa Croce.

The startlingly realistic Dying Abel brought the young Dupré his first major success
The startlingly realistic Dying Abel brought the
young Dupré his first major success
The Pietà for the Bichi-Ruspoli family tomb, for which he was so acclaimed, won him the Grande medaille d'honneur at the International Exhibition in Paris.

Other notable works included busts of prominent figures such as Letizia Cristina Bonaparte, niece of Napoleon, a San Zanobi for the façade of the Duomo di Siena, the huge allegories of the Cavour monument in Turin and a bronze bust of Savonarola at the monastery of San Marco, Florence.

After his death in 1882 at the age of 64, Dupré’s last work, a depiction of St. Francis inside the Cattedrale di San Rufino in Assisi, was finished by his daughter, Amalia, who was also his pupil.

Despite a steady workload, Dupré managed to write a book, Pensieri sull'arte e ricordi autobiografici - Thoughts on Art and Autobiographical Memories - which was translated into English in 1882 and republished in 1935.

The beautiful Piazza del Campo in Siena is regarded as one of the finest mediaeval squares in Europe
The beautiful Piazza del Campo in Siena is regarded
as one of the finest mediaeval squares in Europe
Travel tip:

Dupré’s family home growing up was just a short distance from Siena’s Piazza del Campo, the shell-shaped square that originated in the 13th century as an open marketplace on a sloping site between the three communities that eventually merged to form Siena. It is regarded as one of Europe's finest mediaeval squares, looked over by the Palazzo Pubblico - also known as the Palazzo Comunale - and the Torre del Mangia.  Via Giovanni Dupré opens on to the piazza alongside the Palazzo Pubblico. The building where his family lived is indicated by a plaque, placed above the main entrance of the building. Piazza del Campo is well known also as the venue for the twice-yearly Palio di Siene horse race.

The inner courtyard and the Loggiato, which links the two palaces of the Uffizi Gallery complex
The inner courtyard and the Loggiato, which links
the two palaces of the Uffizi Gallery complex
Travel tip:

What is now the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, one of the world’s most famous art galleries, was originally built to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi (offices). It was Cosimo I de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany who commissioned the building, who gave it its parallel identity as an art gallery, displaying prime artworks of the Medici collections. Over the years, more sections of the palace were chosen to exhibit paintings and sculpture collected or commissioned by the Medici.  It was officially opened to the public as an art gallery in 1765. The Uffizi complex, which consists of two palaces alongside the Arno river linked by the Loggiato and a semi-enclosed courtyard, was designed by Giorgio Vasari.

Also on this day:

1773: The death of architect Luigi Vanvitelli

1869: The birth of sculptor Pietro Canonica

1926: The birth of actor Cesare Danova

1930: The birth of cycling champion Gastone Nencini


(Picture credits: Pieta by Sailko via Wikimedia Commons; Piazza del Campo by Gerhard Bögner from Pixabay)


Home



1 November 2015

Antonio Canova - sculptor

Genius who could bring marble to life 


A self-portrait of Canova, painted in about 1790 (Uffizi, Florence)
A self-portrait of Canova, painted
in about 1790 (Uffizi, Florence)
Sculptor Antonio Canova was born on this day in 1757 in Possagno in the Veneto.


Considered to be the greatest Neoclassical sculptor of the late 18th and 19th centuries, Canova became famous for creating lifelike figures, possessing the ability to make the marble he worked with resemble nude flesh. One of his masterpieces is the group, The Three Graces, now in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.


Canova’s father and grandfather were both stone cutters and his grandfather taught him to draw at an early age.  By the age of 10, living in the care of his grandfather after his father died, he had carved two small shrines in Carrara marble.


The noble Falier family of Venice took an interest in Canova’s talent and brought him to the city at the age of 12 to learn his trade in the workshop of Giuseppe Bernardi, who was also known as Torretto.  He enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, where he won a number of prizes.

He was commissioned by Giovanni Falier, a senator, to produce statues of Orpheus and Eurydice for the garden at his villa in Asolo, another town in the Veneto.  In 1779, Canova opened his own studio in the Campo San Maurizio in Venice in the San Marco sestiere.

Canova also studied anatomy, history and languages and in 1780 moved to work in Rome, where he studied the work of Michelangelo among others. He opened a studio there there and his first big successes included a sculpture of Theseus and the Minotaur, commissioned by the Venetian ambassador to Rome and now housed at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, and his funerary monument to Clement XIV, which was inaugurated in the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli.

The Campo San Maurizio in Venice, where the young Canova opened his first workshop
The Campo San Maurizio in Venice, where the
young Canova opened his first workshop
He became the most celebrated artist in Europe, acquiring patrons from across the continent. He travelled to France, where he received several commissions from Napoleon Bonaparte, including a statue of the French leader as Mars the Peacemaker, which ultimately fell into the hands of the Duke of Wellington after his victory at the Battle of Waterloo.

He returned to Rome and was appointed Inspector-General of Antiquities and Fine Art of the Papal State, a position formerly held by Raphael. He was charged with restoring the tomb of Servilius Quartus, as part of a project to restore the Appian Way.

In 1816, Pope Pius VII  rewarded Canova with the title of marquis of Ischia after he arranged for the return of Italian art looted by the French. The title came with an annual pension. At the same time he was working on The Three Graces, a sculpture that would be considered one of his finest works.

Completed in 2017, it depicted the daughters of Zeus from Greek mythology, namely Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia, who were meant respectively to represent mirth, elegance and youth or beauty.

The Three Graces at London's V&A
The Three Graces
at London's V&A
His first version, in terracotta, is now in a museum in Lyon. A marble version was made for the Empress Josephine, the estranged wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, which is now in a museum in St Petersburg, Russia.

He was commissioned to make another group of The Three Graces in 1814 for Woburn Abbey by the sixth Duke of Bedford, who visited the sculptor in his workshop in Rome. It is this version that can be seen in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

Still working but in declining health, Canova died in Venice at the age of 64 and was buried in Tempio Canoviano in Possagno, the town of his birth. Canova’s heart was interred in a marble pyramid he had designed as a mausoleum for the painter, Titian, in the Frari church in Venice.




Canova's heart was buried at the Frari church in Venice
Canova's heart was buried at the
Frari church in Venice
Travel tip:


Canova’s heart is buried in a marble pyramid designed by himself, in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. This huge Gothic-style church, the largest in the city, is in the San Polo sestiere. It is one of three notable churches in Venice that still retain their Venetian Gothic appearance. The current edifice, work on which began in around 1340, took more than a century to complete. The Frari, as it is usually known, also houses the tombs of Monteverdi, Rossini and Doge Nicolo Tron as well as works of art by Titian, Bellini and Donatello. The church is open daily from 9.00 to 5.30 pm and on Sundays from 1.00 to 5.30 pm.


The Gipsoteca Canoviana museum has become a tourist attraction in Possagno
The Gipsoteca Canoviana museum has become
a tourist attraction in Possagno
Travel tip:

Possagno is a small hilltop town in the Veneto region, about 60km (37 miles) northwest of Venice and about 35km (22 miles) northwest of Treviso.  The Tempio Canoviano, a church built in a severe Neoclassical style, with a facade of eight marble columns designed, financed, and in part built by Antonio Canova, has become one of the city's landmarks along with the museum of the Gipsoteca Canoviana, which houses various plaster casts of his most famous works as well as many of his paintings. 


(Picture credits: Campo San Maurizio, Frari church by Didier Descouens; The Three Graces by Colin Smith; Possagno museum by Caracas1830 via Wikipedia Commons)