Lot 119: GIOVANNI DUPRÈ ITALIAN, 1817-1882

unsigned

white marble, on an original marble column

figure: 155cm., 61in. base: 100cm., 43 1/4 in.

Francesco Sapori, Scultura Italiana Moderna, Rome, 1949;
Ettore Spalletti, Giovanni Duprè, Rome 2002, pp.37-38

Duprè family collection; by descent to Paolo Ciardi Duprè; private collection, Florence

'un vero graziosissimo concerto' (Alessandro Bichi Ruspoli, 1848)

Duprè received the first commission for the statue of L'Innocenza from Giuseppe Tomassi of Livorno. By 1846 the clay model was complete, however, whilst proceeding to work on the plaster, the model was seen by Grand Duke Constantine of Russia who promptly offered the sculptor 1200 scudi for the marble. Tomassi chose not to match this offer, settling for a bust instead. Work on the first marble version began in April 1847 but was not finally finished until 1852. This first marble version was sent to Russia and is now in the National Gallery of Armenia. The original pointed plaster model is preserved in a private collection in Florence. Spalletti records the present marble version which is illustrated in the important book on Italian sculpture by Francesco Sapori and possibly a third version belonging to Stirling Crawford. The present marble seems to have remained in the sculptor's family collection and must have been unfinished on his death as the back of the girl's hair clearly remains incomplete. Having made a dynamic introduction into the artistic world with the figure of The Dying Abel - the prime version of which was also sent to Russia - Duprè's Innocenza marks a small group of works in which he shows the conventional influence of Lorenzo Bartolini. As his style developed in later years he looked back on these works as a part of a seperate development from his most innovative models.

RELATED LITERATURE
Frieze, pp.53-54