19th & 20th Century Sculpture

19th & 20th Century Sculpture

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 5. Esmeralda and Djali.

Antonio Rossetti

Esmeralda and Djali

Lot Closed

December 14, 01:09 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Antonio Rossetti

Italian

b. 1819

Esmeralda and Djali


signed and dated: A. ROSSETTI. F. R. 1859, and inscribed: P H E B U S

white marble, on a grey marble base

54cm., 21¼in. overall

Please note a slight amendment to the measurements: 54cm., 21¼in. overall

This beautiful marble group is characteristic of the Italian sculptor Antonio Rossetti, who achieved international fame for his Romantic genre statuary.


Born in Milan, Antonio Rossetti received his initial training under Francesco Somaini at the Brera Academy, before moving to Rome in 1843, where he is documented to have been active until at least 1889. Rossetti's works were exhibited widely, including in Liverpool (1877), London (1888), and Chicago (1893).


Esmeralda, the Roma heroine from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), is here charmingly depicted teaching her goat Djali to read. The inscription denotes Phoebus, the Captain with whom Esmeralda falls in love.