Lot 198: A BRONZE GROUP ENTITLED 'WEDDED'

A BRONZE GROUP ENTITLED 'WEDDED' Giovanni Battista Amendola (1848-1887), after Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A., R.W.S. (1830-1869) Inscribed 'Modelled by G.B. Amendola / from the picture of / Sir Frederick [sic] Leighton' 14 ½ in. (37 cm.) high

(37 cm.) high

Amendola studied in Naples and subsequently moved to Rome and Paris, and in 1878 to England, where he remained until 1886. Through his close relationship with Alma-Tadema, he met Leighton and swiftly became one of his protégés. By the following year, Amendola had become a famous artist in his own right. He took his subject Wedded from a painting by Leighton of the same title which had been exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1882. It was the Fine Art Society who commissioned the sculpture from Amendola, and he started working on the piece in 1885. Wedded was reproduced in silvered bronze, bronze, and terracotta.