AllegoryofJustice-OldSupremeCourtBuilding-Singapore-20071013

Cavaliere The Italian honours system is a means to reward achievements or service to the Italian Republic, formerly the Kingdom of Italy including the Italian Social Republic. Orders of chivalry Italian Republic There are five orders of knighthood ...

Rodolfo Nolli (1888–1963) was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

and stonework contractor from Lombardy, who worked mainly in Southeast Asia during the first half of the 20th century.

History

Born in 1888 Lombardy,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, he was the nephew of the sculptor

Vittorio Novi Vittorio is an Italian male given name which has roots from the Byzantine-Bulgarian name Victor. People with the given name Vittorio include: * Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, pretender to the former Kingdom of Italy * Vittorio Adorni, pro ...

from Lanzo d'Intelvi, a village close to

Lake Lugano __NOTOC__ Lake Lugano ( it, Lago di Lugano or , from la, Ceresius lacus; lmo, Lagh de Lugan) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situat ...

in northern Italy,

province of Como The Province of Como ( it, Provincia di Como; german: Provinz Como; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and ...

. Around 1914, Novi created the marble decoration for the new Mahaiudthit Bridge in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

and also did marble works for the

Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall The Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall ( th, พระที่นั่งอนันตสมาคม : ''Phra Thinang Anantasamakhom'': translated as 'The place of immense gathering'Noobanjong, page 167) is a royal reception hall in Dusit Palace in ...

. Here Nolli became his assistant. He would be awarded with the Order of the Crown of Italy - a form of knighthood that carried with it the title Cavaliere for his efforts in Siam, whilst based in Singapore in 1925. In

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Nolli later designed the marble decorations of the College of Medicine Building, Singapore (completed 1926) and of the Old Supreme Court Building (completed 1939). Nolli had also designed the cast iron lamps and lion reliefs of the Elgin Bridge spanning the

Singapore river The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

(completed 1929). In 1950 to 1952 he created two iconic crests for

Gan Eng Seng School Gan Eng Seng School (GESS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Bukit Merah, Singapore. Founded in 1885 by philanthropist Gan Eng Seng, the school is the first school established by the overseas Chinese community in Singapore and is ...

at Anson Road, which were lost when the school moved to Raeburn Park in 1986. He had formerly crafted the Royal Coat of Arms and a pair of flambeau pieces for the main entrance of the Fullerton Building built in 192
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Among his last works in Singapore was a pair of lions for the Bank of China Building, Singapore (1954). Probably his last commission was the stonework for the huge

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque ( ms, Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien, Jawi: مسجد عمر علي سيف الدين) is a mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. It is one of the country's two or national mosques (the other Jame' Asr Ha ...

in Brunei (completed 1958) which inspired the novel Devil of a State by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire '' A Clockwork ...

. He died in 1963 in Italy at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolli, Rudolpho 1963 deaths 1888 births 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors