Carlo Finelli

Exhibited by Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art

Material Carrara marble

Dimensions 158 x 119 x 67 cm

Place of Creation Rome

Status Vetted

About the Work

"The uniqueness of Carlo Finelli’s Graces: ‘au premier coup’ is fine! "

Three young female figures are portrayed at the precise moment in which their delicate adolescent lines are evolving towards the more sensual and mature curves of femininity.

Finelli decided to sculpt this life-size work directly into the marble, ‘au premier coup’, that is, without the aid of a reference plaster model, in an exceptional practice for the time and whose boldness, admitting no errors or time for regret, immediately evoked the technique of the great Michelangelo. However, Finelli never finished the work, which he always kept hidden from visitors to his studio and it only became known after his death. The unfinished nature of the Three Graces, limited to the base and the girls’ feet, is a unique case in the sculpture of the time and, as a result, is full of charm.

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Provenance

The artist to 1853; upon Finelli’s death to Filippo Massani; then by descent to his daughter Anna Massani Camuccini and her husband Giambattista Camuccini, Palazzo Camuccini, Cantalupo in Sabina Italy; then by descent in the Camuccini family to the collection of Baron Vincenzo Camuccini.

Literature

Exhibition:
Equilibrium, by Stefania Ricci and Sergio Risaliti, Florence, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, 19 June 2014 - 12 April 2015, p. 114; DOPO CANOVA: Percorsi della scultura a Firenze e Roma, curated by Sergej Androsov, Massimo Bertozzi and Ettore Spalletti, Cucchiari, Carrara, 8 July - 22 October 2017.