Lot 122: Giovita Lombardi, Italian (1837-1876) A life-size green patinated bronze group of a goat and kid

each standing on an oval naturalistic base, signed to the base, G.S. Lombardi, with plaque to the front inscribed GRAND PRIX D'HONNEUR 82 wide, 56cm deep, 131cm high (32" wide, 22" deep, 51.5" high)

Giovita Lombardi was born at Rezzato near Brescia, he studied sculpture there and then in Milan. His brother Giovanni Battista was already an established sculptor and he followed his brother to Milan and then Rome. They shared a studio and produced high quality busts, funerary monuments and statues. He then began to move away from religious subjects and started to specialise in animal sculpture.

This model of a Goat and Kid was exhibited as a marble group at the 1865 International Exhibition in Dublin and also the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle where Lombardi was awarded the Grand Prix d'Honneur. This bronze cast was most probably a direct commission following the success of these major shows.
Two life-size white marble models of this group are known; one is in a private Italian collection, the other is on display at the Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool.

Illustrated:
The Illustrated London News, 1865, Dublin International Exhibition