Lot 70: FRANCESCO BARZAGHI

FRANCESCO BARZAGHI ITALIAN 1839 - 1892 MOSÉ SALVATO DALLE ACQUE (THE FINDING OF MOSES) signed: F. Barzaghi Milano 1870 white marble, on modern travertine and black veined marble column figure: 170cm., 67in. column: 63.5cm., 25in.

Francesco Barzaghi was a key sculptor in the Scapigliatura movement in Milan. He was ambitious and prolific, contributing in as many international exhibitions as possible, always to great acclaim. His Mosé salvato dale acque was shown at the World Fairs of Vienna in 1873 and Philadelphia in 1876. The popularity of the piece is attested to by the postcards that were produced depicting it at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Showing at these important fairs was a way of garnering commissions and a few versions of the Mosé are known. However the date on the present marble of 1870 would suggest that it predates other known versions and it may in fact be the marble shown at Vienna and Philadelphia. Another version was acquired by the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

This life-size marble is a very imposing sculpture, intended to amaze and impress. It displays all of Barzaghi's distinctively adept carving skills, as he revels in the myriad textures of cloth, basketry, jewels, hair and flesh.

Barzaghi studied at the Accademia di Brera before working on the project for the Duomo of Milan, where he was employed in carving saints. He is well-known for his numerous monuments such as his Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II in Lodi. Having built an international reputation for himself, Barzaghi was given a post as professor at the Accademia di Brera in 1880 and continued to teach there until his death in 1892.

RELATED LITERATURE
V. Vicario, Gli scultori italiani, Lodi, 1994, vol. 1, pp. 8-98; A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori italiani, Turin, 2003, vol. 1, p. 76, fig. 139