19th & 20th Century Sculpture
19th & 20th Century Sculpture
Antonio Rossetti
Esmeralda and Djali
Lot Closed
December 14, 01:09 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Antonio Rossetti
Italian
b. 1819
Esmeralda and Djali
signed and dated: A. ROSSETTI. F. R. 1859, and inscribed: P H E B U S
white marble, on a grey marble base
54cm., 21¼in. overall
This beautiful marble group is characteristic of the Italian sculptor Antonio Rossetti, who achieved international fame for his Romantic genre statuary.
Born in Milan, Antonio Rossetti received his initial training under Francesco Somaini at the Brera Academy, before moving to Rome in 1843, where he is documented to have been active until at least 1889. Rossetti's works were exhibited widely, including in Liverpool (1877), London (1888), and Chicago (1893).
Esmeralda, the Roma heroine from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), is here charmingly depicted teaching her goat Djali to read. The inscription denotes Phoebus, the Captain with whom Esmeralda falls in love.