Marcello

"Le Chef Abyssin" by Marcello, Adele d'Affry (Swiss-Italian, 1836-1879). The sculpture is signed "Marcello, Musée du Luxembourg". Bronze with a fine, mid-brown patina. Dimensions: 72 x 54 x 30 cm, 33 kg. Designed in 1869, this bronze statue was cast circa 1870. Marcello: At the end of the nineteenth century, only seven female artists had works exhibited in the Musée du Luxembourg in France, and only one of them was a sculptor: Adèle d'Affry (1836-1879), the Duchess Castiglione Colonna, professionally known as Marcello. Adèle d'Affry, who would later choose the pseudonym Marcello, was born into an aristocratic family and decided to become an artist at fourteen. She wrote that she felt she had found her vocation upon discovering the sculpture collection of Louis I of Bavaria. She writes: “For me, art becomes a profession.” Between 1853 and 1854 Marcello learned the basics of drawing from the Fribourg portraitist Joseph Auguste Dietrich (1821-1863) and painting from Joseph Fricero (1807-1870) in Nice. She then pursued sculpture in Rome with Heinrich Maximilian Imhof (1795-1869). In late 1857 she modeled from memory the bust of her recently deceased husband, Don Carlo Colonna, Duke of Castiglione-Aldovrandi, as well as his self-portrait for his mother. Among the early sketches are drawings of figures in the Sistine Chapel. Inspired by Michelangelo (1475-1564), she asked him in a sonnet to name her his heiress. In 1859 she rented a studio in Paris and trained by copying the masters in the Louvre. Dressed as a man, she followed the anatomy lessons of Professor Sappey at the Practical School of Medicine. She studied animal drawing at the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle with Antoine-Louis Barye (1795-1875), received advice from Auguste Clésinger (1814-1883) and met Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), who shared her admiration for Michelangelo. Another version of this work in marble is in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay. Another bronze cast in the Marcello Foundation, Fribourg A second bronze was sold to the Dahesh Museum, New York by the Robert Bowman Gallery. Literature: Marcello: Adèle d'Affry (1836-1879), Duchess of Castiglione Colonna, Publisher: CINQ CONTINENTS; 1st edition (6 Nov. 2014) The photos are part of the description. All our items can be viewed in our showroom in Belgium. #classicinteriorsexclusive

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