Pasquale Romanelli 1812-1887 Andromeda and the sea serpent circa 1880

Pasquale Romanelli achieved an international reputation for his finely carved mythological marble figures.  His sons Raffaello and Romano continued his legacy which lives on to the present day; the Romanelli studio, now a private museum, remains a rare survival in Florence.  Romanelli trained and worked in Florence, first with Luigi Pampaloni and subsequently with Lorenzo Bartolini, the most distinguished Tuscan Neoclassical sculptor whose studio he inherited.  In addition to his mythological compositions, which were highly prized by a cosmopolitan clientele, Romanelli executed many important commissions for monuments, such as those to Vittorio Fossombroni in Arezzo, Masi in Pavia, and Demidoff in Florence.

A sculpture of Andromeda and the sea serpent, sold, Christie's, New York, April 30, 1997 ($63,000).