Giuseppe Bernardi (24 March 1694 in Pagnano – 22 February 1773 in Venice), also called Torretto, was a prominent mid-18th-century Italian sculptor. He is also known as a carver of intaglios and as the first teacher of Neoclassical sculptor

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

. His father was Sebastiano Bernardi whose works include the statues of the park of the Villa Manin di Passariano (

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

) and of the Prato della Valle in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. His mother, Cecilia Torretto, was sister to the sculptor Giuseppe Torretto and Bernardi took the nickname "il Torretto" as a child in honor of his uncle.

Career

Bernardi learned his craft from his maternal uncle whose workshop he later inherited. He worked on both small and large projects, and documents from his workshop indicate that he was quite prolific, taking on numerous projects at a time. Beginning in the 1730s, he was involved with the Santa Maria della Fava sculptural project which took him several decades to complete. He was commissioned to sculpt eight, over-lifesized marble statues of the four Evangelists and the four Western Fathers of the Church. Among Bernardi's students was

. Recognising Canova's talent, Bernardi consented to he and Canova moving to another studio, in Venice. The latter was inherited by his grandchild

Giovanni Ferrari Giovanni Ferrari (; 6 December 1907 – 2 December 1982) was an Italian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder/inside forward on the left. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation, having won Serie A 8 times, as wel ...

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardi 1694 births 1773 deaths 18th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 18th-century Italian male artists