Italian Antique Bronze Sculpture "Genius of Franklin" by Giulio Monteverde

GIULIO MONTEVERDE
Italian, 1837–1917

"Genius of Franklin" (1871)

Patinated bronze
Signed MONTEVERDE and inscribed Roma
Raised on a black marble plinth with polished bronze collar

28" H x 8 1/4" diameter

ref. 511XJT09S

Conceived in 1871, The Genius of Franklin forms part of Giulio Monteverde’s series of allegorical figures honoring historical personages, and is closely associated in scale and base design with his Young Christopher Columbus. We may currently have the matching Young Christopher Columbus - check our gallery inventory to see if it remains available. The present model is structured as a pendant composition, sharing comparable proportions and an analogous circular socle with bronze plate base, suggesting intentional pairing for a unified theme and presentation.

The Genius of Franklin presents a winged youth in contemplative attitude, seated against a cylindrical support and accompanied by a vertical lightning rod. This was an explicit reference to Benjamin Franklin’s experiments with electricity in 1752. When Monteverde presented it in Milan in 1871, it was incredibly well-received and won a silver medal. The present cast encapsulates his passion for scientific progress, the realism of form of the Romantic spirit and the incredibly fine finishing work. This cast was almost certainly executed in Paris, like the pendant to it we currently have in the gallery of Christopher Columbus (marked as being cast by E. Colin et Cie of Paris). This stands as a contrast to many of his Italian contemporaries who used the highly competent Roman and Napoli foundries for an entirely different approach to casting and finishing: often freer and less fussy, but also lacking the refinement and precision of the Parisian fondeurs. We have cataloged in the gallery another example of Christopher Columbus from the Gilgore collection that was cast in Rome with a very different overall feeling despite being identical.

The present example is quite scarce, almost rare. A very fine example - and particularly powerful when displayed together with Columbus, though we have them cataloged separately.

Condition: Very good overall presentation. Patina with light wear and variation, particularly to the raised elements (hair, fingers, etc.). Crevices with some accretion. Originality of patina is unknown, as it appears to be both chemical and lacquered pigment, though we suspect it is original. The "lightning rod" upper portion (above the figure's head) is a carefully fabricated replacement. Marble base with some minor flea bites. Ready to place.

Biography:
Giulio Monteverde was born in 1837 in Bistagno, in the province of Alessandria. In his youth he learned wood carving. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Genoa as a pupil of Santo Varni. In 1865 Monteverde was awarded a stipend to study in Rome where he executed a sculpture of his two daughters. He produced early genre subjects including Children Playing with a Cat (1867).

Monteverde received a gold medal at the Parma Exposition of 1870 for Christopher Columbus as a Youth. In 1871 Monteverde executed The Genius of Franklin and won the silver medal at Milan. His sculpture Jenner Inoculating His Son (1873) was shown in Vienna and takes as its subject the English physician associated with vaccination. Works by Monteverde on related themes and subjects in this period include Simplicity (1872) and Child Playing with a Rooster (1875).

By 1874 Monteverde was receiving commissions for commemorative and funerary monuments, including a monument to Giuseppe Mazzini in Milan (1874). In 1883 he executed a monument to Vincenzo Bellini in Catania. He was nominated senator from the Regno in 1888.

A documented late work in the Symbolist manner is The Soul Above (1911).