ANTIQUE marble Figure of Michelangelo Carving the Head of Faun

A magnificent 19th century Italian carved marble figure of the son of William Tell kneeling under a tree trunk with a punched apple above his head. Raised on a contemporary solid marble pedestal. By Pasquale Romanelli (1812-1887) This model is recorded as the first sculpture exhibited by Pasquale Romanelli, it met with such success that it was subsequently given a prize at the New York Exhibition of 1854 and also at the 1861 first Great Italian exhibition which followed the Unification of Italy in 1860. The statue was bought by Italian king S.M. Vittorio Emanuele II. Signed: Romanelli, circa 1860 Dimensions: Height with pedestal 70.5" (179 cm) Diameter with pedestal 24" (61 cm) Height of sculpture 41.5" (105 cm) Diameter of sculpture 22" (55 cm) Pasquale Romanelli was born in Florence on May 28 1812. When he was 15 years old he entered the studio runned by Master Sculptor Luigi Pampaloni and later moved to Lorenzo Bartolini’s studio in Borgo San Frediano. Lorenzo Bartolini was a teacher at Accademia in 1837 and suggested the young pupil to attend proper sculpture training at the Accademia of Belle Arti. Soon he learned to sculpt in marble at such a high level that Bartolini himself did not need to finish his pieces if they have been carved by Pasquale. In 1840 he got his studio at the San Barnaba Monastry (nearby San Lorenzo church) and in this years he already took part in the political life, sure enough his subjects were connected to his political IDEA of freedom and independence of Italy. In 1850 Lorenzo Bartolini died his heirs had to deal with several sculptures uncompleted and sort out how to finish them without distorting either the original project and the Master’s style. As Bartolini was very jealous of his “last touch”, the heirs chose Pasquale Romanelli to complete most of his works, as he was the only assistant that could match the ability of the master. Just to mention some of this works, according to the tradition, the famous sculpture ”La fiducia in Dio” now housed at Hermitage Museum was sculpted by Pasquale Romanelli from an original model by Bartolini, as well as the “Monumento Demidoff” placed in Piazza Demidoff in Florence. Till the end of his life he worked on several commissions, either public monuments as the sculpture Francesco Ferrucci (Portico degli Uffizi) and private ones, mostly sold abroad. He was a renown portraitist and according to the tradition, luxury carriage...

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