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Lot Essay
The present marble represents a rare and elegant variant of Scipione Tadolini’s celebrated figure of a kneeling Odalisque, a subject that occupied a central place within his oeuvre. Closely related examples of this model—distinguished by the figure’s right arm drawn gracefully across her chest—include Odalisca dopo il bagno, circa 1860 (illustrated in Hufschmidt, op. cit., fig. S4), and an identical marble of 1866, titled Georgian Surprised after the Bath, preserved in the collection of the Drexel University Art Gallery (acc. no. 396). The latter shares with the present work the distinctive motif of diaphanous drapery, which arcs fluidly behind the figure, enhancing both its dynamism and sensuality. A further comparable model was sold Sotheby's, New York, 31 January 2019, lot 275 ($81,250).
This composition emerges from the distinguished lineage of the Tadolini dynasty, in which four generations of sculptors lived and worked within the same Roman studio. A major figure in the development of 19th-century Italian marble sculpture, Scipione was the son of Adamo Tadolini (1788–1868), the brother of Tito Tadolini (1828–1910), the father of Giulio Tadolini (1849–1918), and the grandfather of Enrico Tadolini (1888–1967), forming an unbroken continuum of artistic production deeply rooted in the Neoclassical tradition.
Adamo Tadolini himself had been one of the most trusted assistants to Antonio Canova, contributing to the execution of many of the master’s most celebrated works. Such was Canova’s esteem that, in 1818, he acquired a studio in the Via del Babuino in Rome for their shared use, establishing a centre of sculptural production that would remain synonymous with the Tadolini name for generations.
Scipione received his formative training within this environment, absorbing directly the lessons of Canova’s studio under the guidance of his father. Still in his early twenties, he achieved immediate acclaim with his Ninfa Pescatrice of 1846, a work that established the defining characteristics of his art. In this sculpture, as in the present marble, a classical subject is imbued with a distinctly Romantic sensibility, combining idealised form with a heightened emphasis on grace and sensuality. The success of this formula secured him a wide and prestigious clientele; among those who visited his studio were Pius IX and members of the Italian royal household, attesting to his reputation at the highest levels of European society.
MARÍA AMALIA LACROZE DE FORTABAT (1921-2012):
The present marble was once part of the collection of María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, widely known as ‘Amalita’, one Latin America’s most influential private collectors. Born in 1921 in Portugal to prominent Argentine parents, descended from a long line of entrepreneurs, including Federico Lacrose who established Buenos Aires’ first public tramway. In 1947, Amalita married Alredo Fortabat, an Argentine titan of industry with whom she would amass major art holdings including the present group of white marble statuary. The collection is now housed in part in the AMALITA Collection, Buenos Aires, and includes works by artists such as J. M. W. Turner, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Antonio Berni, and Xul Solar.
This composition emerges from the distinguished lineage of the Tadolini dynasty, in which four generations of sculptors lived and worked within the same Roman studio. A major figure in the development of 19th-century Italian marble sculpture, Scipione was the son of Adamo Tadolini (1788–1868), the brother of Tito Tadolini (1828–1910), the father of Giulio Tadolini (1849–1918), and the grandfather of Enrico Tadolini (1888–1967), forming an unbroken continuum of artistic production deeply rooted in the Neoclassical tradition.
Adamo Tadolini himself had been one of the most trusted assistants to Antonio Canova, contributing to the execution of many of the master’s most celebrated works. Such was Canova’s esteem that, in 1818, he acquired a studio in the Via del Babuino in Rome for their shared use, establishing a centre of sculptural production that would remain synonymous with the Tadolini name for generations.
Scipione received his formative training within this environment, absorbing directly the lessons of Canova’s studio under the guidance of his father. Still in his early twenties, he achieved immediate acclaim with his Ninfa Pescatrice of 1846, a work that established the defining characteristics of his art. In this sculpture, as in the present marble, a classical subject is imbued with a distinctly Romantic sensibility, combining idealised form with a heightened emphasis on grace and sensuality. The success of this formula secured him a wide and prestigious clientele; among those who visited his studio were Pius IX and members of the Italian royal household, attesting to his reputation at the highest levels of European society.
MARÍA AMALIA LACROZE DE FORTABAT (1921-2012):
The present marble was once part of the collection of María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, widely known as ‘Amalita’, one Latin America’s most influential private collectors. Born in 1921 in Portugal to prominent Argentine parents, descended from a long line of entrepreneurs, including Federico Lacrose who established Buenos Aires’ first public tramway. In 1947, Amalita married Alredo Fortabat, an Argentine titan of industry with whom she would amass major art holdings including the present group of white marble statuary. The collection is now housed in part in the AMALITA Collection, Buenos Aires, and includes works by artists such as J. M. W. Turner, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Antonio Berni, and Xul Solar.