Lot 164: ODOARDO TABACCHI

ODOARDO TABACCHI ITALIAN 1836 - 1905 SUPER FLUMINA BABYLONIS (BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON) signed: O. TABACCHI Torino. inscribed on circular marble base: SVPER FLVMINA BABYLONIS white marble on white and grey circular marble base, on veined grey and white plinth figure on circular marble base: 120cm., 47¼in. plinth: 68.5cm., 27in.

Odoardo Tabacchi studied at the Brera Academy in Milan before entering the workshop of the renowned sculptor, Pietro Magni in 1860. Tabacchi went on to become a celebrated sculptor in his own right, creating many important monumental works as well as popular genre subjects and allegories.

The present marble takes Psalm 137 as its theme. The psalm begins with the words 'By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion...' It tells of the capture of Jerusalem and a time of exile for the Jewish people. Tabacchi embodies the narrative in this powerful nude. The woman has laid down her harp, refusing to sing for her captors for 'How can we sing the songs of the Lord whilst in a foreign land?' Her brooding look and wonderfully tensed hand, with the fingers gripping into the flesh of her thigh, suggest that she may be thinking of the revenge which the psalmist hopes for: 'O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us.'

The form and characterisation of this evocative nude recalls another work by Tabacchi, his 'Angelo' which sold at Sotheby's New York on 14th April 2008 for $250,000.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori italiani, vol. 2, Turin, 2003, p. 899; V. Vicario, Gli scultori italiani, vol. 1, Lodi, 1994, p. 1005-1014