Lot Essay
In the Biblical book of Ruth, it is related how the eponymous young Moabite woman, the great-grandmother of David, was married to a Hebrew immigrant in Moab and how, after his premature death, she left her native land and went with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem. There she was allowed to glean the corn in the fields belonging to Boaz, a rich farmer and kinsman of Naomi. Maintaining a modest demeanour among the young men working at the harvest, Ruth, one night, went and lay at the feet of Boaz as he slept. By this act Boaz saw her virtue and in due course the two were married. Here Ruth is depicted gathering the corn. The pedestal carved in high relief portrays the meeting of Ruth and Boaz, Ruth entering Boaz's tent as he slept and the subsequent marriage.
Pasquale Romanelli (d.1887) was a pupil of Luigi Pampaloni and Lorenzo Bartolini at the Accademia in Florence. He subsequently became Bartolini's collaborator and continued his studio on the latter's death. Romanelli achieved notoriety in his own right, executing numerous public monuments in his native Italy and exhibiting both in Paris and London. He was particularly renowned for his sensuous mythological, allegorical and biblical female figures. A figure of Ruth was exhibited by Romanelli at the Paris Salon in 1851. It is not clear, however, whether the present marble, dated 1873, is an identical version to the earlier work, or a re-interpretation of the same theme. The time difference between the two works suggests that it is probably the latter.
Pasquale Romanelli (d.1887) was a pupil of Luigi Pampaloni and Lorenzo Bartolini at the Accademia in Florence. He subsequently became Bartolini's collaborator and continued his studio on the latter's death. Romanelli achieved notoriety in his own right, executing numerous public monuments in his native Italy and exhibiting both in Paris and London. He was particularly renowned for his sensuous mythological, allegorical and biblical female figures. A figure of Ruth was exhibited by Romanelli at the Paris Salon in 1851. It is not clear, however, whether the present marble, dated 1873, is an identical version to the earlier work, or a re-interpretation of the same theme. The time difference between the two works suggests that it is probably the latter.