Lot 21: ADOLFO APOLLONI

ADOLFO APOLLONI ITALIAN 1855-1923 FIGURE FROM THE MONUMENT TO THE ARTIST'S WIFE signed: A. Apolloni Roma and inscribed: O. Ricci Fuse bronze, dark brown patina 52cm., 20½in.

The present bronze is taken from the monument sculpted by Adolfo Apolloni (1855-1924) for his wife, Martha Holt, at the Saint Francis Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. Apolloni's wife had died in 1889 and it appears that he channeled his grief into the construction of this tender monument. The figure, with her downcast gaze, hands together and tilted head is a sensitive and calm image appropriate for such a memorial. The small scale of the present bronze lends to the model an increased sense of tenderness and intimacy.Adolfo Apolloni was born in Rome and studied at the Accademia di San Luca. He worked in Boston from 1878 and it was here that he met his American wife. He later returned to Italy, becoming President of the prestigious Accademia di San Luca and Senator and Mayor of Rome. His best known works include the Vittoria alata for the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II and the tomb for Agostino Chigi at the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori Italiani dell'ottocento e del primo novecento da Antonio Canova ad Arturo Martini, Turin, 2003, p. 32