Emilio Santarelli (1 August 1801- 29 October 1889) was an Italian sculptor active mainly in Florence.

Biography

He was born in Florence to Giovanni Antonio Santarelli, who worked as an engraver of cameo jewelry. He enrolled in 1814 at the

Academy of Fine Arts of Florence The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze ("academy of fine arts of Florence") is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. M ...

, where he took classes with

Francesco Carradori Francesco Carradori (1747-1824) was an Italian sculptor in Florence. He initially studied in his native Pistoia, under Innocenzo Spinazzi. Later, the patronage of the then Grand Duke Leopold sustained him as a pupil of Agostino Penna in Rome. H ...

and

Stefano Ricci (sculptor) Stefano Ricci (1765 – 1837) was an Italian sculptor, active in a Neoclassical style in Florence. Ricci trained under Francesco Carradori Francesco Carradori (1747-1824) was an Italian sculptor in Florence. He initially studied in his na ...

. In 1824, he won a stipend to study in Rome with

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

. In Rome, he also met with Augustin Dumont. He was a prolific sketch artist and created many plaster models and studies. In 1831, Santarelli collaborated on the stucco decoration for the ballroom of the Meridiana building of Palazzo Pitti, built by Pasquale Poccianti. He was engaged by Poccianti to also complete stuccoes for the Chapel of the Madonna in the sanctuary of Maria Madre di Dio at San Romano, near San Miniato al Tedesco. In Florence, he completed the bas-relief for the tomb of the Countess of Albany in Santa Croce, Florence; the Countess' statue was completed by Luigi Giovannozzi. Also for pantheon- former church of Santa Croce, Santarelli in 1836 sculpted the monument to Giovan Vincenzo Alberti, former minister to the Grand-Dukes of Tuscany. This statue was commissioned by Giovan Vincenzo's son, Leon Battista Alberti, who also commissioned the monument to his famous ancestor of the same name, which is located across the nave and sculpted by Lorenzo Bartolini. He also completed in 1838, a bas-relief for the funerary monument of the painter

Francesco Sabatelli Francesco Sabatelli (February 22, 1803 – August, 1830) was an Italian painter. Born at Florence, he first trained with his father, the Milanese painter Luigi Sabatelli, then later in Rome and Venice. In 1823, he moved to Florence on the ...

. In 1832, he designed the reliefs for the base of the monument to Pietro Leopoldo erected in Pisa. The artist and patron François-Xavier Fabre commissioned from Santarelli an ''Immaculate Conception'' for the

cathedral of Montpellier A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

. Fabre would designate Santarelli as heir to his collections of drawings from artists from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. This collection is now in possession of the Uffizi Museum. In 1837 Santarelli was able to buy a comfortable house and garden in Via della Chiesa #44 in Oltrarno. He was known for his cultivation of Camellias. In 1840, he completed the statue of ''Michelangelo'' for the series of prominent Tuscans displayed in niches on the ground floor courtyard of the Uffizi gallery, commissioned in 1836 by the committee established by

Vincenzo Batelli Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art *Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor *Vincenzo Bella ...

. Among his early free-standing statues were ''Apocrate'' (1838), ''La concezione'' (1858), ''Amor puro'' and ''Amor terreno''. He subsequently also made a number of statues titled Malignant love, Giovinetto cacciatore, Love in ambush, Love with butterfly, Poor Child, "Baccante corcata who is joking with a satirino", The fallen lily, and Prayer of Innocence. In 1865 he completed the monument of

Giuseppe Bezzuoli Giuseppe Bezzuoli (28 November 1784 – 13 September 1855) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassicism, Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence. Biography He studied as a young man under Jean-Baptiste Desmarais a ...

, located in the church of San Miniato al Monte. Santarelli hired the sculptors

Pietro Freccia Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II C ...

and his brother, Clearco, to work with him until 1847. In 1866 he donated to the Uffizi his collection of drawings by ancient and contemporary authors.Encyclopedia Treccani
entry on Santarelli.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santarelli 19th-century Italian sculptors 1801 births 1885 deaths