Luigi Acquisti (1745–1823) was an Italian sculptor mainly known for his works in the neoclassical style. He was born in

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

the 29 March 1747 and died in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in 1823. His works are distributed throughout Italy. Among them are reliefs of ''

Arco della Pace Porta Sempione ("Simplon Gate") is a city gate of Milan, Italy. The name is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district (''quartiere''), a part of the Zone 1 division (the historic city centre), including the major avenu ...

'' in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

; the statue of the ''Vecchia Legge'' for the facade of

Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdi ...

; ''Mars and Venus'' for the

Villa Carlotta Villa Carlotta is a villa and botanical garden in Tremezzo on Lake Como in Northern Italy. Today the villa is a museum, whose collection includes works by sculptors such as Antonio Canova, Bertel Thorvaldsen, and Giovanni Migliara; painters such ...

Tremezzo Tremezzo is a ''comune'' (or municipality) of some 1,300 people in the Province of Como, in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). It is located on the western sho ...

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

; statues in

Palazzo Braschi Palazzo Braschi () is a large Neoclassical palace in Rome, Italy and is located between the Piazza Navona, the Campo de' Fiori, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Piazza di Pasquino. It presently houses the Museo di Roma, the "Museum of R ...

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, ...

; and an ''Atlanta'' (c. 1806) for the Villa Belgiojoso Bonaparte in Milan.

Biography

Acquisti was still young when he moved to Bologna in order to study at the Accademia Clementina as a student of Filippo Balugani and Carlo Bianconi. He consecutively won the prestigious 1st class Marsili-Aldrovandi prize with his works ''Enea condotto dalla Sibilla ai Campi Elisi'' (1774) and ''Un Romano che rapisce una Sabina'' (1775). In 1785 he was nominated ''Academico del Numero'' in the figurative sculpture class, and in 1780 he became the ''Direttore di Figura''. He was an honorary member of the Gran Ducale Fiorentina academy (1782), the

Academy of St Luke 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; ...

(1803), and the Academy of Mantova.

Bologna

His work in Bologna (1774–1791) was typified by the ''decorazioni all'antica'' or decorations in imitation of the Greco-Roman classics. His work is also imbued with a search of the magnificent and impressive as seen in his enormous statue for the ''Chiesa del Triregno'' (1781). His masterpiece from this period is found in the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

of the Santuario Santa Maria della Vita (1787).

Rome

In 1792 Acquisti left Bologna for Rome (1792–1807) which was influenced by Acquisti having been a member of the board for the Curlandese prize. In the 1789 edition he saw the neoclassic style typical of

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 ...

, in the marble

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

''Le arti incoronate dal Genio'' by

Giacomo De Maria Giacomo De Maria (1762–1838) was an Italian sculptor, active in Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in ...

. While in Rome he worked alongside Canova and Valadier. During this period he decorated the

near

Piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the 1st century AD Stadium of Domitian and follows the form of the open space of the stadium in an elongated oval. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' a ...

, and sculpted a large bas-relief for the main altar of the church of

San Pantaleo, Rome San Pantaleo is an ancient church located on a piazza of the same name along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II in the Parione neighborhood of Rome, Italy. It shares the Piazza with the Museo di Roma in Palazzo Braschi. A church at the site dates from ...

. 1793/1794 he made a white marble bust of Duke Frederick August of Oldenburg for the Duke's monument in the vestibule of the St Lambert Church in Oldenburg, Germany.Ralph Hennings/Torben Koopmann: St. Lamberti-Kirche in Oldenburg, Berlin/Munich 2011, p. 64-65.

Milan

After 1807 Acquisti moved to Milan, where he produced among his most famous works such as the marble statue ''Atalanta'', the marble group ''Mars and Venus'', the statue of ''David'' on the façade of the

and reliefs on the

. These last works were completed in neoclassical style.

Return to Bologna

Acquisti returned to Bologna in 1814, from then until his death producing sculptures for the Certosa of Bologna. However, in the only two works that are known to be his in the cemetery (another pair is attributed to him with the consensus of experts), the artistic level has diminished and the monuments are of a modest nature with sparse detail.

Legacy

Acquisti, along with Giacomo Rossi, helped promote the transition from the graceful figures of the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and the flowery

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

to the heroic scenes inspired by

Benedetto Alfieri 180px, Benedetto Alfieri from the treatise of "Leben des Vittorio Alfieri" Benedetto Innocenzo Alfieri (8 June 1699 - 9 December 1767) was an Italian architect, a representative of the late-Baroque or Rococo style. Biography and works Born in R ...

. Despite having travelled around Italy, he is considered a Bolognese artist due to having spent most of his childhood in Bologna, having been educated in Bologna, and producing many of his most important works in Bologna. He is buried in the Certosa of Bologna.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acquisti, Luigi 1740s births 1823 deaths Burials at Certosa cemetery Artists from Forlì Sculptors from Bologna Neoclassical sculptors 18th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 19th-century Italian sculptors 19th-century Italian male artists 18th-century Italian male artists Artists from the Papal States