Girolamo Masini (December 29, 1840 – 1885) was an Italian sculptor.

Biography

He was born 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 ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, where he studied with

Aristodemo Costoli Aristodemo Costoli (1803–1871) was an Italian sculptor who spent his entire career in the city of Florence. He is also known for attempting in 1843 to clean and conserve the famed Renaissance-era sculpture ''David (Michelangelo), David'' by ...

. Masini's most prominently-sited work is the bronze statue of

Cola di Rienzi Nicola di Lorenzo Gabrini (1313 8 October 1354), commonly known as Cola di Rienzo () or Rienzi, was an Italian politician and leader, who styled himself as the "tribune of the Roman people". During his lifetime, he advocated for the unificatio ...

(1877) on the left of the stairs leading to the

Campidoglio The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. The word ''Capitolium'' first referre ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Contemporary bronze reductions of it were made. Masini, a minor member of the Romantic realists of the generation that reacted to the cool

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

of Canova, taught at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

, Rome, where among his pupils were Ernesto Biondi and Attilio Piccirilli, later of New York. A marble seated ''Ruth'' exhibits the realist attention to minor details and the sentimental aura of Masini's style. Another of his works, ''Fabiola'' is in the Museum of Modern Art in Rome. Masini exhibited at the Esposizione Internazionale (1874) in Rome. The same year he finished for the commune of

Gropello Cairoli Gropello Cairoli is a ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of 4,235 in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is located in eastern Lomellina, a short distance from the edge of the terrace that overlooks the Ticino rive ...

(province of Pavia) a standing figure of Donna Adelaide Bono Cairoli, mother of five patriot sons, memorialized by the comune as five columns round a fountain. In

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Masini executed the mourning female figure on the Zimmer tomb at Ohlsdorf Main Cemetery (Hauptfriedhof Ohlsdorf

Masini died in Florence in 1885.

References

*Lombardo, Josef Vincent, ''Atilio Piccirilli: Life of an American Sculptor'', Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York 1944 *Mackay, James, ''The Dictionary of Sculptors in Bronze'', Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England 1995

External links

La sculptura italiana: ottocento

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masini, Girolamo 1840 births 1885 deaths Sculptors from Florence 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery 19th-century Italian male artists