Giovanni Turini (May 23, 1841 – August 27, 1899) was an American sculptor, born in Verona, Austrian Empire. He immigrated to the United States in the late 1860s. He is best remembered as a portrait and historical sculptor. His portrait bust of Giuseppe Mazzini, which he created in 1876 and was dedicated in 1878 was funded by the New York Italian American community and was one of the early examples of public statuary in the city. Turini, who served with

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

as a volunteer during Italy's war with Austria in 1866, created Garibaldi's statue in Washington Square Park in 1888. His statue was initially designed to be a part of a three figure group, with Garibaldi standing on top of a boulder. However funds to complete the entire project, which was running well above projected costs, proved to be inadequate, so while Turini was abroad the design was changed and Garibaldi was placed atop a fairly standard pedestal. It turned out in order to get the statue's feet to stand properly on the base, following its being designed and cast to be placed on an uneven surface, the legs had to be repositioned, leading to Turini's calling those responsible "cruel amputators" and the '' New York Times'' writing, "The man who suggested the change is said to have argued with Garibaldi's friends in the Italian colony on the basis that Garibaldi was dead anyway, and he would not object, forgetting that the public might some day realize that it had a monstrosity of a statue on its hands." His submission for a statue of Simon Bolivar for New York was "flatly rejected" by the National Sculpture Society in about 1899. The commission was ultimately awarded to

Sally James Farnham Sally James Farnham was an American sculptor born Ogdensburg, New York, on November 26, 1869, into a prominent local family. Early life Born in Ogdensburg, New York November 26, 1869, Sarah “Sally” Welles James raised in a wealthy househo ...

. Turini's granddaughter was painter and muralist

Verona Burkhard Verona Burkhard (1910–2004) was an American artist, known for her murals painted for the U.S. Treasury Department. She participated in four public projects including three United States post office murals and five murals completed for the Immig ...

Selected works

* Giuseppe Mazzini, Central Park, New York, New York, 1878 *

, Washington Square Park,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

, 1888 * Evangeline, Jersey City Museum,

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.1841 births 1899 deaths 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors Sculptors from New York City Italian emigrants to the United States Sculptors from New York (state)