Adelaide Pandiani Maraini (1836/43-1917)
VERY FINE MARBLE FIGURE OF POMONA, Circa 1890

Life Size Italian Marble Figure of Pomona with a Bacchic Herm By Adelaide Pandiani Maraini, Rome. Circa 1890-1900. Inscribed Adelaide Maraini/Roma, was born in Milan in 1843. She learned from her father Giuseppe, and studied in Florence under the direction of Giovanni Dupre and Lorenzo Bartolini, eventually working in Rome and Lugano. Her marble figure of Saffo was exhibited at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle and is now at the National Museum of Modern Art in Rome. CLASSICAL CARRARA MARBLE.Youth weeping over the tomb of the dead monument to Attilo Lemmi – Cimitero Allori, Florence cemetery By Adelaide Pandiani Maraini life-size Italian marble figure of Pomona with a Bacchic herm By Adélaide Pandiani Maraini, Rome, Circa 1890-1900. Inscribed ADELAIDE MARAINI/ROMA on an associated granite plinth with title plaque cast with POMONA & VERTUMNE/Godess of Flowers & God of Gardens/by Adelade Maraini/Roma Circa 1850.

The group 84 in., Height of pedestal 33 1/2 in., Width of pedestal 33 3/4 in.
The group 213 cm, Height of pedestal 85.09 cm, Width of pedestal 85.7 cm

In Florence, she trained under Lorenzo Bartolini and renowned sculpture Giovanni Duprè (who also trained his own daughter Amalia). Pandiani Maraini worked in both Rome and Lugano, but most of her collection is in Switzerland, where she became a citizen in 1862. In Rome, her marble statue Salummite Woman can be found in the atrium of the Palazzo Civico and her Te Precor is in the neoclassical Civic Museum. Her most famous piece, Sappho, is also in Rome. In storage at the National Art Museum, it is a later rendition of her teacher Giovanni Dupre's sculpture on the same subject. Pandiani Maraini's Sappho was exhibited at the Third World Fair in Paris in 1878 at the same time the Statue of Liberty's head was being unveiled in America. It was the one of the most admired pieces of the Fair. Displayed in the Salone Italiana, the stunning, albeit small, marble statue was named after Plato's ‘tenth muse,' a Greek lyrical poet who, according to legend, inspired Athenian historian Solon to be taught one of her songs, so he could ‘learn it and die.' Her wide acclaim was not a surprise as her father, uncle and cousin all carved professionally-a family tree sculpted in stone! An example of Pomona, possibly the present marble, was sold Gérard-Tasset & Juge, Paris, 25 June 1987, lot 160 (220,000 francs).

Good condition