拍品專文
Born in the Italian province of Bergamo, Antonio Rota entered the Genoese studio of Santo Varni in 1854. From 1859 he studied at the Accademia Ligustica in Genoa, from 1870 becoming a frequent exhibitor at the Promotrice di Belle Arti in that city and a year later winning a scholarship.
As well as producing high quality funerary and religious sculpture, Rota also executed a number of genre subjects, and during the 1870s concentrated on contemporary social themes, such as the marble entitled L'Operaio (The Labourer), exhibited in Milan in 1872. Continuing the theme, the present work, entitled Il Trovatello (The Foundling), was executed in 1873 and was awarded a prize at the Vienna Universal Exhibition in the same year. Here, Rota's keen observational abilities are clearly evident: the plaintive facial expression of the homeless child, his leathery feet, hardened through a bare-footed life on the streets, and nervous twisting of his broken identity tag are all beautifully portrayed.
As well as producing high quality funerary and religious sculpture, Rota also executed a number of genre subjects, and during the 1870s concentrated on contemporary social themes, such as the marble entitled L'Operaio (The Labourer), exhibited in Milan in 1872. Continuing the theme, the present work, entitled Il Trovatello (The Foundling), was executed in 1873 and was awarded a prize at the Vienna Universal Exhibition in the same year. Here, Rota's keen observational abilities are clearly evident: the plaintive facial expression of the homeless child, his leathery feet, hardened through a bare-footed life on the streets, and nervous twisting of his broken identity tag are all beautifully portrayed.