BY RINALDO RINALDI, MID-19TH CENTURY

Born in Padua in 1793, Rinaldo Rinaldi studied at the Academy of Arts in Venice under the direction of Pietrò Zandomeneghi and in 1812 went on to study under Canova. A portraitist and monument sculptor, Rinaldi received several public commissions, including figures of Adonis and Titian for the vestibule of the Academy of Venice. He exhibited regularly in Rome and at the 1854 Turin Exhibition.

Based on Volaire's Tancrède, Gioachino Rossini's operatic masterpiece recounts the tale of the tragic lovers Amenaide and Tancredi. Here Rinaldi depicts a forlorn Amenaide who awaits her lover's return from battle in Syracuse.