File:The art of the Pitti Palace - with a short history of the building of the palace, and its owners, and an appreciation of its treasures (1903) (14595026500).jpg

Identifier: artofpittipalace1903addi (find matches)
Title: The art of the Pitti Palace : with a short history of the building of the palace, and its owners, and an appreciation of its treasures
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Addison, Julia de Wolf Gibbs, 1866-
Subjects: Palazzo Pitti Painting
Publisher: Boston : L.C. Page
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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re of Siena. Thestory of their making is so interesting that one can-not do better than repeat it here in connection withthe works Of his early yet powerful genius. Giovanni Dupre was born in Siena on the istof March, 1817. He began his career by beautifulwood-carving. In 1840 he took the prize at theAcademy, with a bas-relief representing The Judg-ment of Paris. He had then moved to Florence,where his lifes work was accomplished. He de-cided to attempt a larger work, and determined tocreate a genuine statue, representing some sacredsubject; he thought long of the Pieta, but finallydecided upon trying to portray the dead Abel, thatbeing a subject little chosen by others, and thereforemore original. The statue was ready to be exhibited at the Acad-emy in the September exhibition in 1842. Thirty-seven years after, he tells his thrilling experiencewith this work. When the exposition was opened,people gathered round the work. The imitationof the truth, the just expression, the newness and
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<Q< I—I O CO HCA Pia, Q XH <; H CO <J W Q < CO Ubc Stan3a ^ella Stuta 293 pathetic nature of the subject, awakened a deep in-terest. The crowd around it increased from dayto day. But it began to be asserted, at first quietly,and soon more boldly and openly, that my statuewas an imposture . . . that it was not the creationof art, but the mechanical work of a moulder, —that I was seeking to impose upon the Academy,masters and scholars, and the public. It should bethrown out of the exhibition, for it was dishonestlythrust in there as a work of art, when, in fact, itwas only a cast made from laying the soft plasteron the living model! The figure of Abel was so absolutely naturalthat less clever men could not believe that it wasthe work of a sculptor at all. Giovanni continues: At last they went so far as to strip my model,Antonio Petrai, in order to prove the fraud. Hewas made to lie down in the position of the statue,and his body and limbs measured in length andbreadth

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