Studying at the Milan Academy under the sculptor Giovanni Seleroni, Pietrò Calvi (d.1884) worked in both bronze and marble, often combining the two to very good effect. His subject-matter was frequently drawn from the arts, particularly from opera and Shakespeare and many of his works now decorate the Cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel in Milan

Calvi's bust entitled Il Moro di Venezia was originally exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1881 (no. 3685) and like his earlier work, Othello (see Christie's, London, 17 March 1994, lot 245), was probably modelled on the well-known black actor, Ira Aldridge.