Lot 243: Giovanni Battista Lombardi , Italian 1823-1880 RUTH white marble

signed Lombardi F / Roma, 1875 white marble

measurements height 36 in. alternate measurements 91.5 cm

After studying in his hometown of Rezzato and Milan, Lombardi moved to Rome around the middle of the nineteenth century. There, he studied at the Accademia under Pietro Tenerani, one of
Thorvaldsen's leading followers, and later worked in his studio. Lombardi soon established a productive studio of his own, which he shared with his younger brother, Giovita. Giovanni Battista was the more inventive of the pair, producing fine busts, funerary and commemorative sculpture, as well as large subject pieces, both religious and profane. For many of his quasi-religious themes he favored individual female subjects such as Deborah, Rebecca, Suzanna and as in the present marble group, Ruth.