Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) Italian, Florence, 1836-1838

white marble relief

Luccio Scardino, 'Recenti ritrovamenti fra Ferrara e la Toscana', in Libero: Ricerche sulla scultura del primo novecento, Florence, no. 27/28, Spring / Autumn 2006, pp. 31-38

Overall condition good with surface wear consistent with age. The surface has been lightly cleaned and is slightly crystalline although some overall surface dirt remains. There are minor chips to the drapery on her back and to the edge of her ear as well as to the edges as visible in the catalogue photograph. Some inclusions in the marble with remains of earlier fill.
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The present original relief of La Preghiera presents all the exquisite naturalism and sensitivity inherent in the work of its author, the great Italian Neo-classical sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini. A kneeling nude girl raises her hands in silent supplication. Whilst the simplicity of the composition ensures its dignity, Bartolini's naturalism picks out the dimpled knuckles of her fingers and the curves and creases of her body. This relief has recently re-appeared after more than a century of obscurity.

After a brief period of study at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Bartolini worked in various sculptors's workshops in Carrara and Volterra. A major change in his fortunes came with his involvement with France, which led to his becoming the favoured sculptor of the Bonaparte family. He was enlisted in the French army taking part in action in 1799. Following his French sympathies he travelled to Paris and entered the studio of the Neo-classical painter Jacques-Louis David. Here he became friends with Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres with whom he shared a taste for the Ideal tempered by naturalism and an interest in the grace of the Renaissance exemplified by Raphael.

Returning to Italy Bartolini gained recognition and considerable social status through his extensive portrait work. He was also much sought after for memorial sculpture, as his work combined a Neo-classical gravity with naturalism and sentiment. His most famous work La Fiducia in Dio depicts a nude kneeling girl raising her face to heaven and was commissioned in 1834 by the Marchesa Poldi Pezzoli as a monument to her husband.

La Preghiera was commissioned two years later. It was conceived for the young count Pietro Recchi who died in 1835 at the age of 34. The relief monument was requested by the count's brother, the economist and statesman Gaetano Recchi.  It was to be placed under the eighty-first arch of the great Carthusian cemetary in Ferrara. Bartolini worked on the commission for two years, due to a delay necessitated by the carving a second version. The present relief is the first version. Some flaws in the marble were discovered as the relief was carved and the sculptor created a second relief, now installed in the cemetary. This first relief was in the collection of the artist's family after his death.

La Preghiera was created in very much the same spirit as the famous Fiducia. The kneeling relief profile of a girl reveals her supple contours with all the naturalism seen in the Fiducia - originally inspired by an artist's model in a spontaneous pose of rest. The fold of the rounded stomach and the waves of the hair, caught up in a simple bun are repeated here even to the stray lock in front of the ear. However, strong contrasts of expression are found in the two figures as Prieghiera's taut pose and raised hands clasping a rosary signify active supplication where Fiducia's relaxed stance, with her hands folded in her lap, expresses her surrender to God's will.  

Bartolini's use of the female nude to embody profound and even sacred concepts provoked heated debate. La Preghiera was criticised for its sensuality in revealing the girl's bare torso. Criticism also came from admirers of the more austere Neo-classicism of Canova, and Bartolini was accused of straying too far from the Ideal in his enthusiasm for nature. Gaetano Recchi was not, however, discouraged by this controversy and went on to commission a marble bust of his brother from the artist, and introduced him to further patrons. The plaster model for the relief is in the Gipsoteca Bartolini at the Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence.

RELATED LITERATURE
Lorenzo Bartolini, ex. cat., Palazzo Pretorio, Prato, 1978, no. 14, pp. 50-51; M. Tinti, Lorenzo Bartolini, Rome, 1936, vol. 2, Tav. LIX, p. 62; S. Berresford, Italian Memorial Sculpture, London, 2004, fig. 50, p. 44-45