Affortunato Gori

This lively dancer is the best-known of Affortunato Gori's figures. A practitioner of chryselephantine sculpture, Gori revelled in the contrasts of different materials, brought together to add vibrancy to his subject. Here the cool white marble of the girl's skin is set off against the glittering, fluttering drapery in gilt bronze. The vogue for Oriental Dancers was at its height in the first part of the 20th century. It has been suggested that Gori's figure may have been inspired by the internationally famous dancer Maud Allan in her role as Oscar Wilde's Salome, originally performed in 1906. The costume, which the dancer designed herself, is certainly closely comparable.  

The Florentine sculptor Affortunato Gori was a pupil of Augusto Rivalta. At the beginning of the 20th century he emigrated to Paris and exhibited his work at the Paris Salon several times between 1904 to 1923, gaining a large following.