 |
| lLove's Mirror |
A newspaper article from
the Rochester Union and Advertiser, dated December 12, 1878,
announced that "a rare acquisition" was coming to the city. D.
W. Powers had bought one of the finest pieces in the 1879 Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition for his art gallery. The piece referred to
was Love's Mirror, the marble sculpture by Nicola
Cantalamessa-Papotti, now in MAG's 19th-century European gallery.
An influential Rochester
banker with an avid interest in art, Daniel W. Powers owned the impressive
Powers Building with its cast iron facade, and in 1875 opened an art gallery on
its top floor. At first he displayed copies of European art; then he
gradually added his own purchases to the collection.
The newspaper article
goes on to describe the sculpture as that of a "full size female figure
very scantily draped, reclining in a graceful sitting posture and gazing into a
mirror held by Cupid, who is crouched at her feet. The human form is
perfect and every feature of the work full of interest...It must be seen to be
understood." It further states that the piece took three years to
complete and, with its pedestal, weighs about 5,700 pounds.
The description is a
good one. Love's Mirror (66.20) depicts Cupid, the god
of love, smiling mischievously at a maiden of classical beauty to whom he has
presented a mirror. He seems to be enjoying her first realization of her
own beauty.
The work is remarkable
in that, rather than making the figures as unified and as compact as possible,
the sculptor has carved graceful shapes and forms that flow outside the central
mass of the piece, jutting into the space around it. Cupid's wing curls
away from his shoulder; the mirror is held away from the figure; the curve of
the lady's arm is outlined by the space between it and her body. Such
spaces and slender protrusions make the sculpting process both difficult and
dangerous.
Cantalamessa-Papotti
(1833-1910) was an Italian artist who studied in Ascoli and Rome. His
work was well known in his time, and his achievements included commissions from
King Ferdinand II and Pope Pius IX.
He paid his first visit
to the United States in 1857. His works were displayed at the
Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis Expositions, all to great acclaim.
He received many commissions here, including, in 1881, the memorial to
assassinated president James Garfield.
Cantalamessa-Papotti
returned to Italy in 1882 where he sculpted the memorial to Victor Emmanuel II
at Ascoli. He entered the competition for the large equestrian statue of
Victor Emmanuel to be set up in the Piazza Venezia in Rome, but his entry was
not chosen. He did, however, execute two lesser statues
there: Politicsand Victory. He died in Rome
in 1910.
At least three other
sculptures by Cantalamessa-Papotti can be seen in Rochester. Two are in
Mt. Hope Cemetery: the George Ellwanger monument, with its statue
of St. John (the patron saint of writers, shown working on a
manuscript, with his symbol, the eagle, at his left side) and The Weary
Pilgrim. Another work by the artist marks the Barry plot in Holy
Sepulcher Cemetery.
Both Love's
Mirror and Thomas Ridgeway Gould's West Wind had been
exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Both had
been purchased by Daniel Powers and displayed in his Gallery. Though the
Powers Gallery closed in 1897, some of the art remained in the building, almost
forgotten, for over six decades. (Isabel Herdle remembered and
rediscovered West Wind—but that's another story. (See April
2007.) In 1966 both sculptures were donated to the Memorial Art Gallery
through the Isaac Gordon estate. West Wind was put on
display, but Love's Mirror had to wait in storage for its
turn.
No comments:
Post a Comment