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Lot Essay
Descended from a dynasty of Roman sculptors who exerted a profound and lasting influence on the artistic production of the Eternal City, Scipione Tadolini was a skilled sculptor whose broad œuvre spanned the neoclassic to the romantic movements. The present work of a kneeling odalisque fully demonstrates his virtuoso talent and is a fine evocation of the `orientalist’ influences which were prevalent in European art of the 19th century.
After a classical formation in the Accademia in Rome and with his father Adamo, Scipione Tadolini sculpted a series of celebrated portraits for Roman churches and went on to create a number of large-scale monuments for patrons around the world including an equestrian group of Simon Bolivar for the city of Lima, Peru. However, it was for his individual figures that he is perhaps best known.
Odalisques – female slaves or concubines in harems – were part of the elaborate courts of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, and were frequently represented in 19th century European art owing to the considerable occidental fascination with the Middle East. Though seemingly few versions of this figure exist in Tadolini’s œuvre, the present sculpture is a fine example of this `orientalist’ artistic production, and is further distinguished by its particularly complex composition and exquisite detailing.
After a classical formation in the Accademia in Rome and with his father Adamo, Scipione Tadolini sculpted a series of celebrated portraits for Roman churches and went on to create a number of large-scale monuments for patrons around the world including an equestrian group of Simon Bolivar for the city of Lima, Peru. However, it was for his individual figures that he is perhaps best known.
Odalisques – female slaves or concubines in harems – were part of the elaborate courts of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, and were frequently represented in 19th century European art owing to the considerable occidental fascination with the Middle East. Though seemingly few versions of this figure exist in Tadolini’s œuvre, the present sculpture is a fine example of this `orientalist’ artistic production, and is further distinguished by its particularly complex composition and exquisite detailing.