Enrico Pazzi (20 June 1818 – 27 March 1899) was an Italian sculptor, mainly active 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 ...

, Italy. He is known for his ''

Monument to Dante The Statue of Dante Alighieri () is a monument to Dante Alighieri in Piazza Santa Croce, outside the Basilica of Santa Croce, in Florence, Italy. Erected in 1865, it is the work of the sculptor Enrico Pazzi. History In the early 1850s, a pro ...

'' (1857-1865) in the

Piazza Santa Croce Piazza Santa Croce is one of the main plazas or squares located in the central neighbourhood of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. It is located near Piazza della Signoria and the National Central Library, and takes its name from the B ...

, and for the

Prince Mihailo Monument Prince Mihailo Monument () is a monument of Prince Mihailo. It is located in the main Republic Square in Belgrade, Serbia, and was erected in 1882. It was the first public monument with representation of an equestrian figure of a ruler in Serbi ...

in the center of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n capital city

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Biography

In 1833, he enrolled in the Institute of Fine Arts of

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, his birthplace, under Ignazio Sarti. He was fired after an angry outburst where he destroyed one of his incomplete works at the eve of the yearly exhibition. With the help of the cardinal Legate of the city, Luigi Amat, he was readmitted to the Academy. With a stipend from the Academy, he moved to Florence and worked under the mentorship (1845-1851) of

Giovanni Duprè 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 ...

. Enrico opened a studio on Via dei Maccheroni with fellow artist from Ravenna, Luigi Majoli.

Monument to Dante

In the early 1850s, a project for a statue of Dante for a piazza in Ravenna was declined. Pazzi subsisted on small private projects for tomb monuments and house decorations. He completed for Dupre a commission for a nativity scene, destined for the Signora Bianchi of Siena, however, had difficulty getting paid. In the 1857–1859, a move was made to complete the Dante statue, but now for Florence. The patriotic Pazzi recalls an unfortunate episode when the

Prince Leopold, Count of Syracuse Prince Leopold of the Two Sicilies (22 May 1813, in Palermo – 4 December 1860, in Pisa) was a House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, prince of the Two Sicilies and was known as the Count of Syracuse. Life Leopold was the third son of Francis I of the ...

(brother of the King of Naples) visited the studio accompanied by the interior minister of the Grand Duke, Leopold II. The visiting Prince inquired why Dante was surrounded by beasts. Pazzi indicated the lions were the ''Marzocchi'', long a symbol of Medici Florence. However, when asked why the eagle did not have a double head, the symbol of the

Habsburg dynasty The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

, Pazzi impertinently replied that this was a Roman Eagle, arising from the ashes of the fallen Roman Empire. With this, the retinue left. Pazzi's statue would take nearly half a decade to rise in the piazza.Pazzi, page 56. Pazzi's Monument to Savonarola would also have a tortuous and controversial route to finding a home in Florence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pazzi, Enrico 1818 births 1899 deaths People from the Papal States People from Ravenna 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors