Girolamo Masini

Masini was a versatile sculptor, equally skilled in grand subject compositions and in public monuments. He spent four years in Florence, where he studied at the Accademia under the guidance of Aristodemo Costoli, following which he won a three-year scholarship to go to Rome in 1866. 

Masini excelled in his interpretations of famous historical heroines. These include the present model, Rebecca, which he exhibited in Turin in 1880, as well as Pia dei Tolomei (1867) and Fabiola (1868). As described by Vicario, 'in these female figures Masini manages to instill the elegance and grace of his high artistic temperament and his delicate sculptural feeling; they are executed with an unsurpassed skill of modelling which gives them a life of their own.'

RELATED LITERATURE

V. Vicario, Gli Scultori Italiani dal Neoclassicismo al Liberty, Lodi, 1990, pp. 431-433; A. Panzetta, Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell'Ottocento e del Primo Novecento, Turin, vol. II, pp. 573-574