DOI issue:
No. 231 (June 1912)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21157#0095
Studio-Talk
self upon the spirit of Italic architecture, and had
wandered through all Italy, studying and copying
the remains of the monuments of Etruria, Paestum,
Magna Grascia, Campania, Latium. The style is
therefore entirely Hellenic in its spirit, the material
not marble, but a stone called “botticino,” which is
quarried near Brescia, and which has much of the
brilliant whiteness of the Carrara marbles, though
it is liable to blacken locally under exposure to the
weather. The position of the monument is facing
the Piazza Venezia, with behind it the high ground
of the Ara Coeli Church and the Roman Capitol,
and it has been planned so that the equestrian statue
of Victor Emanuel—which is of course the central
point of the monument—shall command the view
of the entire Corso, ending with the obelisk of the
Piazza del Popolo.
That equestrian figure of the great king, which is
of gilded bronze, from the design of the sculptor
Chiaradia, completed after his death by Galloni, has
been the subject of fierce and conflicting criticism ;
but this is not the place to go into its merits or
demerits. The whole monument has, in fact, been
a school of modern Italian sculpture ; and we need
only mention the groups on the great stairway by
Monteverde, Jerace, Bistolfi, Pogliaghi, Ximenes,
and Rivalta for it to be seen at once that the lead-
ing sculptors of modern Italy have contributed to
this work. I must record my admiration for those
exquisite pediments by Professor Macagnani,
adorned with figures of draped women and naked
boys, which support upon columns the winged
Victories in gilded bronze of the sculptors Cantala-
messa, Apolloni, Zocchi, and Rutelli.
Most of all, however, has the system of free com-
petitions in connection with this monument been
successful in bringing to the front the younger
sculptors, among whom may be included the two
victors in the final competition for the reliefs of
“ The Nation’s Altar,” Arturo Dazzi and Angelo
Zanelli. Both these men are comparatively young,
Zanelli having been born in 1879 and Dazzi
about 1880; they belong, therefore, definitely to the
younger group of Italian sculptors, and though they
self upon the spirit of Italic architecture, and had
wandered through all Italy, studying and copying
the remains of the monuments of Etruria, Paestum,
Magna Grascia, Campania, Latium. The style is
therefore entirely Hellenic in its spirit, the material
not marble, but a stone called “botticino,” which is
quarried near Brescia, and which has much of the
brilliant whiteness of the Carrara marbles, though
it is liable to blacken locally under exposure to the
weather. The position of the monument is facing
the Piazza Venezia, with behind it the high ground
of the Ara Coeli Church and the Roman Capitol,
and it has been planned so that the equestrian statue
of Victor Emanuel—which is of course the central
point of the monument—shall command the view
of the entire Corso, ending with the obelisk of the
Piazza del Popolo.
That equestrian figure of the great king, which is
of gilded bronze, from the design of the sculptor
Chiaradia, completed after his death by Galloni, has
been the subject of fierce and conflicting criticism ;
but this is not the place to go into its merits or
demerits. The whole monument has, in fact, been
a school of modern Italian sculpture ; and we need
only mention the groups on the great stairway by
Monteverde, Jerace, Bistolfi, Pogliaghi, Ximenes,
and Rivalta for it to be seen at once that the lead-
ing sculptors of modern Italy have contributed to
this work. I must record my admiration for those
exquisite pediments by Professor Macagnani,
adorned with figures of draped women and naked
boys, which support upon columns the winged
Victories in gilded bronze of the sculptors Cantala-
messa, Apolloni, Zocchi, and Rutelli.
Most of all, however, has the system of free com-
petitions in connection with this monument been
successful in bringing to the front the younger
sculptors, among whom may be included the two
victors in the final competition for the reliefs of
“ The Nation’s Altar,” Arturo Dazzi and Angelo
Zanelli. Both these men are comparatively young,
Zanelli having been born in 1879 and Dazzi
about 1880; they belong, therefore, definitely to the
younger group of Italian sculptors, and though they