Adolfo Laurenti (Monte Porzio Catone, 23 April 1858 - Rome, 1944), Bust of a togatus in terracotta, 21 x 18 x 12 cm. Adolfo Laurenti was born on 23 April 1858 in Monte Porzio (from 1872 Monte Porzio Catone). A pupil of the National Academy of San Luca, he taught sculpture at the Urbino Art Institute. He was repeatedly awarded prizes in international competitions and exhibitions. Adolfo Laurenti was one of the artists who contributed to creating the secular image of the new State born in 1861 by participating in important artistic endeavours of his time aimed above all at the construction of monuments of illustrious personalities. His artistic research started from a realism of classical inspiration, for example in the celebrated bust of a Roman Senator, and then moved on, as in the frieze on the façade of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, to characters closer to floral and symbolism. It was in his studio that Libero Frizzi (1893-1954) and Edgardo Simone (1890-1948) trained, who collaborated with Laurenti on the works for the International Exhibitions in Rome in 1911. In 1908 he worked on the Vittoriano, Rome's most important building site at the time, participating in the competition for the two quadrigas destined for the propylaea. Paolo Bartolini and Carlo Fontana won, but Laurenti was included in the group of artists entrusted with the execution of the bas-reliefs depicting Hunger and Victories for the pronaos. In 1880, he established himself on a national level with an award at the Turin Exhibition where he presented four works: Un arabo, Un araba, Un augure and above all the aforementioned Senatore romano, a bust that was highly successful and had the honour of being published on the cover of Illustrazione Italiana. The present terracotta sculpture depicting a Roman toga can be placed in the wake of this success: the bald head is crowned by laurel leaves while the torso is wrapped in the voluminous drapery of a toga. Laurenti makes the line his plastic medium par excellence: its main characteristic are the undefined contours that highlight the solidity of the character. The artist always managed to give his figures a true monumentality, despite the simplification of volumes and forms.
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SILVER Seller in Milano, Italia
