Giovanni Fontana

Beautifully conceived, this allegorical subject epitomises Fontana's restrained Romanticism. The seated girl's wrists are bound, as if chained, by a wreath of flowers, while a pair of doves are courting at her feet.

Titled The Prisoner of Love (La Prigioniera d'Amore), the present model was exhibited by Fontana in Liverpool in 1877. A large marble version was purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales at the 1879 International Exhibition in Sydney, while another is housed in the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead (inv. no. BIKGM:660). The success of the model was such that ceramic reductions were produced by the Belleek Pottery company. The present sculpture is a rare marble version in this smaller size.

Giovanni Fontana was born in Carrara and educated at the Carrara Academy of Fine Art. Because of his liberal political views, he was forced to leave Italy in 1849. He travelled to Paris and continued to London, where he lived and worked until his death in 1893. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London between 1852 and 1886.

Fontana was celebrated for his mythological and allegorical figures. He also received several important public commissions, including the Shakespeare Fountain in Leicester Square, London. His works are represented in major museums, including the Walker Art Museum in Liverpool.

RELATED LITERATURE

M. De Micheli et al., Scultura a Carrara: Ottocento, Carrara, 1993, pp. 242-243