Attilio Piccirilli (May 16, 1866 – October 8, 1945) was an American sculptor. Born in

Massa, Italy Massa may refer to: Places Italy *Province of Massa and Carrara, province in the Tuscany region of Italy * Duchy of Massa and Carrara, controlled the towns of Massa di Carrara and Carrara * Roman Catholic Diocese of Massa Marittima-Piombino ...

, he was educated at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Life and career

Piccirilli came to the United States in 1888 and worked for his father and then with the

Piccirilli Brothers The Piccirilli Brothers were an Italian family of renowned marble carvers and sculptors who carved many of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1920) in the ...

as a sculptor, modeler, and stone carver at their studio in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City, at 467 East 142nd Street. This location is now a vacant lot. As an artist in his own right, he is the author of the US Maine Memorial Group in

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Avenue, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, ...

, at the entrance to

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The group consist of the gilded ''Columbia Triumphant'' on top of the monument, ''Fortitude'', ''Pacific'', ''Atlantic'', ''Justice'', and ''History''. One of the sculptures created for this monument was also used for his mother's memorial at

Woodlawn Cemetery Woodlawn Cemetery is the name of several cemeteries, including: Canada * Woodlawn Cemetery (Saskatoon) * Woodlawn Cemetery (Nova Scotia) United States ''(by state then city or town)'' * Woodlawn Cemetery (Ocala, Florida), where Isaac Rice and fa ...

. Also, in New York, he created two pediments and other sculptural details for the Frick Mansion the Firemen's Memorial, a group of figures in Riverside Park which consists of two marble figures on the side known as Duty and Courage, and a bronze table of monumental proportions with the design of a fire engine pulled by galloping horses. As Piccirilli gained fame, he became invaluable to many American sculptors. Before Piccirilli and his family arrived in America, many American artists were forced to travel to Italy to have their models carved into stone. In the case of Attilio, if an artist presented him with a small plaster model, Attilio could create a marble replica to any size. In fact, the vast majority of Attilio's works were designed by other artists. Fragilina is one of the view works that was designed and sculpted into marble by Attilio himself. Piccirilli's most famous work is the creation of the Lincoln statue for the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

in Washington, which was originally designed by

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

. Attilio and his family collaborated with Paul Bartlett, Frederick MacMonnies, Hermon MacNeil, Massey Rhind, Karl Bitter,

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...

, Olin Warner, Lorado Taft, Charles Niehaus, and Andrew O'Connor. Piccirrili also did architectural work for Cass Gilbert, Henry Bacon,

McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

, Carrére, and Hastings. Attilio's most famous works that which he designed and sculpted are the Maine Monument in Central Park, New York and the Fireman's Monument on Riverside Drive, New York. He also designed a

Monument to Guglielmo Marconi The Guglielmo Marconi Memorial is a public artwork by Attilio Piccirilli, located at the intersection of 16th and Lamont Streets NW in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It stands as a tribute to Italian inventor Guglielmo Marc ...

(1941) in Washington DC. Piccirilli became a member of the National Academy of Design and the Architectural League. He won numerous prizes including a Gold Medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Attilio also helped create the

Leonardo da Vinci Art School The Leonardo da Vinci Art School (the "Leonardo") was an art school founded in New York City (1923–1942), whose most famous students were Isamu Noguchi and Elaine de Kooning, the school's director was sculptor and poet Onorio Ruotolo. Histor ...

in New York City, New York. Its purpose was to give affordable training in art, like sculpture, to New York's poor. Piccirilli's 1935

Pyrex Pyrex (trademarked as ''PYREX'' and ''pyrex'') is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915, initially for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded in the 1 ...

glass relief sculpture ''Advance Forever, Eternal Youth'' over the entrance of the

Palazzo d'Italia The International Building, also known by its addresses 630 Fifth Avenue and 45 Rockefeller Plaza, is a skyscraper at Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1935, the 41-story, building was des ...

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

was removed during World War Two when the Italian inscriptions were used by Mussolini, and it was associated with fascist iconography. It disappeared from storage some years afterwards. Piccirilli is represented in the sculpture collection at

Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zo ...

. His work is also found in museums around the United States. White marble "Fragilina" now stands in the newly re-arranged American Wing of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York. He died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1945. He is interred at

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City. His half-length portrait by

Edmond Thomas Quinn Edmond Thomas Quinn (December 20, 1868 – September 9, 1929) was an American sculptor active from the Gilded Age to the Jazz Age, with work in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Whitney Museum of Ameri ...

is in the collection of the National Academy of Design.

Selected public commissions

*''MacDonough Memorial'',

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 1898 *''Indian Literature'' and ''Indian Law Giver'', facade of the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, 1909 *'' Maine Memorial'',

, New York, 1913 *'' Firemen's Memorial'', Riverside Drive, New York City. 1913 *North pediment,

Wisconsin State Capitol The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Governor of Wisconsin, Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. 1915 *''Mothers' War Memorial'', Mater Christi Memorial Grove, South Lake and New Scotland Avenues,

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, 1923 *

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

Statue,

Ash Lawn Highland, formerly Ash Lawn–Highland, located near Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, and adjacent to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, was the estate of James Monroe, a Founding Father and fifth president of the United States. Purchased ...

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a United States county (United States), county located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Piedmont region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, Virginia, Charlottes ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

Bust, Rotunda of

Virginia State Capitol The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the state capital. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established a ...

Capitol Square Capitol Square is a public square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The square includes the Ohio Statehouse, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded to the north and west ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, 1931. *

Bust, Rotunda of Virginia State Capitol, Capitol Square, Richmond, Virginia, 1931 *''Joy of Life'' (''Young Faun''), Governor's Mansion, Richmond, Virginia, 1931 *''Advance Forever Eternal Youth'' (Sempre Avanti Eterna Giovinezza), The first of two glass sculptures, above Palazzo d'Italia entrance for Rockefeller Center, New York City, 1935, removed in 1940, destroyed 1968 *''Youth Leading Industry'', The second of two glass (Pyrex) sculptures (the first being 'Eternal Youth'), over the main entrance of the International Building 636 Fifth Avenue,

, New York City, 1935 *''Contemporary Postman'', lobby,

William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building The William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building is a complex of several historic buildings located in the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C., across 12th Street, NW from the Old Post Office. The complex now houses the headquarters of the Enviro ...

, Washington D.C., 1936 *''Joy of Life'', frieze above doorway, One Rockefeller Plaza (48th Street Entrance), New York City, 1937 *'' Guglielmo Marconi Memorial'',

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

1941

Selected personal works

''Fragilina''

Fragilina is the name given to a sculpture completed by Attilio Piccirilli in 1923. The original is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York. It is 48 ½ inches by 15 ½ inches by 25 inches. It is completely made of marble. Piccirilli also made five additional smaller copies, one of which is in the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary. "Fragilina" in Italian means "the little delicate one." Fragilina is part of a series of female nudes that Attilio sculpted, beginning with "A Soul" in 1909. The woman in Fragilina is almost identical in pose to the woman in "A Soul." Though, in Fragilina, more marble is cut away to leave a freer, fluid, and abstract work. Going with the theme of the work being abstract, many art critics criticize the oval-shaped head that gives less definition to the hair and face. Some say, "the eyes appear almost veiled in stone." When discussing Fragilina, Piccirilli said, "Every person has his own ideal of beauty stored away in his subconscious mind. When facial characteristics are precisely delineated, the observer is denied the opportunity of personally visualizing his ideal type. This reaction frequently takes place without full realization." So, as can be seen with Fragilina and his subsequent works, it can be said he was a minimalist. Piccirilli was described impeccably in the book, Attilio Piccirilli: Life of an American Sculptor, by Josef Vincent Lombardo. Lombardo writes, "Piccirilli's art stands out boldly for its discipline, simplicity, and dignity.... His sculpture was and is simply tailored, free from adventitious detail and superficiality... Piccirilli's style is distinctly personal and highly selective. Simplicity is his gospel, restraint his creed." Fragilina was one of five works Piccirilli showed at the exhibit at the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding member ...

in New York in 1923.National Sculpture Society, Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue, 156th Street of Broadway New York, The National Sculpture Society 1923 p. 341 It was also exhibited at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

commemorative exhibition in 1925. Piccirilli also made smaller versions of Fragilina, including two bronze casts. One of which is at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Notes

References

*Balfour, Alan, ''Rockefeller Center – Architecture As Theater'', McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY, NY, 1978 Washington D.C. 1974 *Goode, James M. ''The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C.'', Smithsonian Institution Press, *Kvaran and Lockley ''Architectural Sculpture in America'', unpublished manuscript *Lombardo, Josef Vincent, ''Atilio Piccirilli: Life of an American Sculptor'', Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York 1944 *National Sculpture Society, ''Contemporary American Sculpture 1929'', National Sculpture Society, New York, NY 1929 *Opitz, Glenn B, Editor, ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters'', Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986 *Proske, Beatrice Gilman, ''Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture'', Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 1968 *Reynols, Donald Martin, "Masters of American Sculpture" Abbeville Press Publishers *Crayen, Wayne, "Sculpture in America From the Colonial Period to the Present" *Thayer Tolles (1999). American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2 *Albert Ten Eyck Gardner (1965). American Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art *Kennis Forte (2011). Curators at Work: 16 Memoranda for the Curatorial Files

External links

* * http://metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/20012130 {{DEFAULTSORT:Piccirilli, Attilio 1866 births 1945 deaths People from the Province of Massa-Carrara American architectural sculptors 19th-century American sculptors American male sculptors Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists National Academy of Design members Artists from the Bronx Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) 19th-century Italian male artists 19th-century American male artists