Lot 116: c - ANTONIO BORTONE ITALIAN, 1844-1938

signed: Bortone

white marble, on a carved verde antico column with revolving top

'BRINDISI' - THE DRINKING SONG

marble: 133cm., 52 1/4 in. column: 80cm., 31 1/2 in.

QUANTITY: 2

'Brindisi', which translates as a toast and is still in use today, is also the name given to drinking songs in many nineteenth century operas, perhaps most famously in Guiseppe Verdi's La Traviata of 1853. However this statue, whose composition is wonderfully theatrical and handled with great confidence, was probably inspired by an earlier song by Verdi specifically entitled Brindisi and which constitutes the last of six Romanze he had published by F. Lucca of Milan in circa 1845. Roughly understood as an invitation to raise your glasses and drink, Bortone's statue is a fine example of the sculptor's skill at carving different surface textures and it epitomises the highly decorative style of Italian fin-de-siècle sculpture. That Bortone should treat a subject with a musical theme is perhaps unsurprising in light of the fact that two of his earliest works, executed while studying under Giovanni Dupré in Florence between 1863 and 1865, were busts of the southern Italian composers Giovanni Paisiello (1741-1816) and Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) for the Teatro del Paisiello in Lecce.

Bortone's southern origins meant that he was the sculptor of choice for cities throughout the region, and a large number of commissions were given to him for monuments in Lecce (where he was born), Taranto, Maglie, Otranto and Naples. Nonetheless his workshop remained in Florence, from where he sent works for exhibition as far afield as Chicago (1893) and Paris (1878). His Ideal statue of Fanfulla da Lodi was shown to wide popular acclaim at the latter.

RELATED LITERATURE
Vicario pp.175-177; Panzetta p.57; de Micheli pp.279, 285, 286 & 321