Augusto Passaglia (1838 in

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

– 1918 in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

) was an Italian sculptor. Firenze

As a young man, he was awarded a stipend to study in Florence under Giovanni Duprè, and was active there for the remainder of his life. Among his first works were a bronze ''Art and Science (sold to private buyer in St Petersburg, Russia), and a larger than life statue of the writer ''Boccaccio'', erected in the town of the writer's birthplace,

Certaldo Certaldo () is a town and (municipality) of Tuscany, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, located in the middle of Valdelsa. It is about southwest of the Florence Cathedral (50 minutes by rail and 35 minutes by car from the city), and 40 m ...

. He also sculpted a young

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

, annoyed of having to play the flute for his father, lays the instrument on his stool, and stretches in an act of extreme disgust. He submitted proposals for monuments to Vittorio Emanuele for Venice and Turin. While not chosen, his proposal at Turin was awarded a 4000-lire prize, at Venice, 2500 lire. The Turin proposal consisted of the king Vittorio Emanuele astride a horse; while the Venice proposal had him riding alongside the Genius of Peace and Liberty and on the other side, Rome offering her crown to the king. Passaglia's design for a ''Monument to Vittorio Emanuele'' in

was accepted, and the work inaugurated by September 20, 1885. It depicts not an equestrian king, but a standing leader of his people, without a crown. Passaglia also sculpted the monument to the bishop of Lucca, Monsignor Arrigoni, consisting of a bust and a Renaissance-style base. He was commissioned by a lady from America for a sculptural group of ''Mother and Child''. He also completed much work for the facade and other parts of the

Duomo of Florence Florence Cathedral (), formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower ( ), is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Florence in Florence, Italy. Commenced in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed by ...

. This included the bronze bas-reliefs for the main entrance of the Cathedral. He also sculpted the marble tympanum that includes of a triangle of 6 meters, representing the seated Madonna surrounded by seraphim; at her feet is the immaculate lamb. Around them are the Gonfaloniere and the Priories of the Florentine Republic (who ordered the construction of the church),

Pope Callistus III Pope Callixtus III (, , ; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alonso de Borja (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his death, in August 1458. Borgia spent his early career as a professor ...

; Christopher Columbus and his friend the franciscan father

Giovanni Perez Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

;

Saint Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

; and

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

. He also made two panels in the altar with Queen Ester and the prophetess Debora. The Legend reads: ''Foederis arra''. At the ends of the tympanum, Jacob and Judah. Above the left portal, he sculpted the half-figure of a bound Jesus in the tympanum with two flanking angels below. Passaglia was named professor of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, and knight of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

. He was commissioned by the city of Lucca a monument to the famous criminalist and lawyer Francesco Carrara. Enciclopedie Treccani on line
biography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passaglia, Augusto 1838 births 1918 deaths Grand Duchy of Tuscany people Artists from Lucca 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Academic staff of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze 19th-century Italian male artists