Augusto Rivalta

(Alessandria, 1837 - Firenze, 1925)

Original Portoro marble base with coeval label which specifies that it is a sketch of the sculpture.

Augusto Rivalta worked mainly in Florence, maintaining strong ties with the city of Genoa where he created public works, such as the monument to Garibaldi in Piazza de Ferrari. Like almost all the sculptors of his era, he worked for the funerary monuments of the Staglieno cemetery, studied in Dupre' workshop in Florence and frequented the Macchiaioli. He created mythological-themed bronzes depicting satyrs and nymphs.

The bronze presented here is a bozzetto and depicts the "First Death". The shiny modeling of the bodies and the sculptural technique, almost impressionist in the sketched parts, make this fusion a true work of art.