Lot 118: FRANCESCO DE MATTEIS

FRANCESCO DE MATTEIS ITALIAN 1852-1917 NEL CIRCO (AT THE CIRCUS) signed: F. de Matteis bronze, dark brown patina 35 by 87cm.,13¾ by 34¼in.

Every known cast of Nel Circo is unique. De Matteis introduced variations in each version of the merry young vagabonds. This group is superlative in its playfulness due to the asymmetric balance in the ordering of the boys, which is much less formal than in other casts.

The joy De Matteis conveyed through his absolute mastery of Neapolitan genre sculpture appealed greatly to his contemporaries. Nel Circo was exhibited in several national exhibitions, including Venice's Esposizione Nazionale Artistica of 1887 and the Esposizione di Belle Arti of Florence in 1896 and 1897.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. Panzetta, Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell'Ottocento, Turin, 1996, vol. I, pp. 64-65