Shooting Stars

Born in 1861, Vittorio Caradossi studied under Augusto Rivalta (d. 1925) at the Accademia di Belle Arti and was later commissioned to execute a number of public monuments. Though he is most remembered for his celebrated statue of the Renaissance artist Desiderio da Settignano, the model for which was exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, the artist specialized in depictions of celestial and ethereal nudes, such as the present group of intertwined nymphs. Here Caradossi, a virtuoso marble-carver, effortlessly achieves uninhibited movement in this exceptionally balanced work, which is hewn from a single block of Carrara marble. A slightly larger example of this popular work was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 8 November 2013, lot 114 ($689,000).