Vincenzo Gemito Italian, 1852-1929

Baron Oscar de Mesnil de Volkrange;
Private collection, Belgium

Overall the bronze is in excellent condition with some minor wear to the patina consistent with age and some minor surface dirt.
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Introduction

The following eight bronzes, six by Vincenzo Gemito and two others by contemporary Neapolitan sculptors, come from the collection of Oscar de Mesnil de Volkrange (1855-1897). De Mesnil was a Belgian businessman who worked extensively in Italy, where he was attached to the Embassy in Rome and was involved with his brother in various building projects in Naples including the sewer network.  It was during his time in Naples, living at via Chiatamone, 62, that de Mesnil first met Gemito in 1875, before the sculptor's extended trip to Paris two years later.  Back in Naples, in 1883 Gemito accepted the financial support of de Mesnil to open his own foundry at via di Mergellina, 200.  Gemito himself explained the importance of de Mesnil to him, during the key creative period of the 1880s, in a letter to Meissonier: '... geloso di Cellini ò anche io una piccola fonderia e la conoscenza di questo signor de Mesnil mi fa molto lavorare e siamo amici e credo che la mia natura à il bisogno di un Padrone ...'.  During this period Gemito cast what many believe to be his best work. Free of financial distraction, he was able to develop his obsession with lost wax casting to rival his hero Benvenuto Cellini.  As a result bronzes which have a proven origin from the via di Mergellina foundry are amongst the very best Gemito ever produced.  Oscar de Mesnil's important patronage at this crucial time resulted in his acquisition of the first castings made directly by Gemito himself.

Salvatore di Giacomo published an evocative description of watching Gemito casting the massive bust of de Mesnil in the via di Mergellina foundry (illustrated here) in the Corriere di Napoli in 1889, which confirms how intimately he was involved in the process of making bronze originals. That Gemito himself regarded these bronzes cast by his own hand as something exceptional is shown in his 1883 letter to Meissonier in which he describes a silver cup he sent as a gift: 'Questa coppa è fatta in 3 originali firmati. Uno per lei, uno per M.r de Mesnil e una per me, tutte le altre saranno riproduzione senza firma ma fatte nella mia fonderia e senza la mia mano'.   The importance of the de Mesnil Gemitos is that because of the close relationship between patron and sculptor, Gemito gave de Mesnil his autograph casts.  The de Mesnil collection of Gemito bronzes was housed in the Château de Vierves, which de Mesnil acquired through his marriage in 1892 to Coraly de Thomaz de Stave, until purchased in its entirety by the present owner in the early 1970s.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Di Giacomo, Gemito, pp.16-17; L. Rocco, 'Un inedito di Vincenzo Gemito: Il Ritratto del Barone du Mesnil', Napoli Nobilissima, 4. ser.31.1992, pp.105-113

This rare model is a copy of the antique marble original in the Museo Nazionale, Naples (inv.6025).  It is one of a number of copies after the antique which Gemito modelled during the via Mergellina foundry years in the 1880s. The present cast is distinguished by a beautiful golden patina in the face which is balanced by a darker patina in the hair.  The precision of the casting, even within the limitations of Gemito's respect for the original model, is in keeping with the quality of the via Mergellina casts.