Victor de Pol (1865 - 1925) 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 sc ...

and

medallist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

most active in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Born in Venice, de Pol was a student of Giulio Monteverde. (Monteverde was also the mentor to Argentine sculptor

Lola Mora Dolores Candelaria Mora Vega (17 November 1866 – 7 June 1936), known professionally as Lola Mora, was an Argentine sculptor. She is known today as a cultural rebel and a pioneer of women in her artistic field. Early life left, 150px, Mora i ...

.) He immigrated to Argentina at the age of 22 and participated in the development of

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

, designing Beaux-Arts-style sculpture for major public buildings. At least judging from his commissions related to President

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874. He was a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the '' Generation of 1837'', who had a great influence on 19th-century Argent ...

, de Pol was socially well-connected. From 1890 through 1895 de Pol returned to Europe. His return to Argentina brought the major work of his career, the 8-meter, 20-ton heroic

quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

on the

Argentine National Congress The National Congress of Argentina () is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, a third of whose members are elected to ...

building, 1906. He is buried in

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery () is a cemetery located in the Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Recoleta Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, President of Ar ...

in the family vault of

Aristóbulo del Valle Aristóbulo del Valle (15 March 1845 – 29 January 1896) was a lawyer and politician born in Dolores, . He was, together with Leandro Alem, one of the founders of the Radical Civic Union. Del Valle studied in the Faculty of L ...

, the great-uncle of de Pol's wife Asimilda del Valle.

Work

* bust of President

Sarmiento Sarmiento may refer to: Places Argentina *Sarmiento Department, San Juan, a subdivision of the San Juan Province * Sarmiento Department, Santiago del Estero, a subdivision of the Santiago del Estero Province * Sarmiento Department, Chubut, a subdi ...

, at the Sarmiento Museum, circa 1887Buenos Aires: a cultural and literary history By Jason Wilson, pg. 194 * sculpture of a condor atop a pylon at the tomb of Sarmiento, designed by Sarmiento himself, at

, 1888 * twelve facade busts of scientists, and the two sabertoothed

Smilodon ''Smilodon'' is an extinct genus of Felidae, felids. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats ...

flanking the entrance to the

La Plata Museum The La Plata Museum () is a natural history museum in La Plata, Argentina. It is part of the (Natural Sciences School) of the National University of La Plata. The building, long, today houses three million fossils and relics (including 44,000 bo ...

, 1888 *

at the

, circa 1906 * tomb of Archbishop Federico León Aneiros,

Archbishop of Buenos Aires The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bonaerensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Argentina. It is a metropolitan archdiocese with 13 suffragan sees i ...

, inside the

Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity () is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina.online biography
1865 births 1925 deaths Argentine sculptors Argentine male artists Argentine male sculptors Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Sculptors from Venice Italian emigrants to Argentina 20th-century sculptors 19th-century sculptors {{Argentina-sculptor-stub