Angel of Monteverde
The Angel of Monteverde ( Italian Angelo di Monteverde ) - also called the Angel of the Resurrection - is an angel statue that adorns one of the most famous monumental graves (that of the Oneto family) at the Staglieno cemetery in Genoa . It is one of the most famous works by the Italian sculptor Giulio Monteverde , who created the statue with the monumental tomb in 1882 at the height of his artistic maturity. Among the sculptures depicting angels (a large number of which adorn the graves in the Genoa cemetery), this angel is considered to be one of the most important of this genre.
The work was commissioned by Francesco Oneto, a wealthy businessman and president of the Banca Generale , who wanted to preserve the memory of his family in this way.
A strong expression of sensual emotion emanates from the depiction of the angel, which breaks with the sculptural schemes customary at the time : Although he holds the horn of the Last Judgment with his right hand , his posture and his unfathomable gaze make anything but a comforting impression, like one would expect it from an angel figure. On the other hand, he appears distant and distant from the event of which he is silent witness.
The uniqueness of the masterpiece of Monteverde (who created the Monumento Pratolongo in Staglieno in 1868 and the Tomba Celle in 1893 ) subsequently stimulated the imagination of many sculptors and developed into a style of its own. Many imitations - including those made by the artist himself - can be found in the Staglieno cemetery as well as in other cemeteries in Europe and America.
literature
- F. Resasco, La Necropoli di Staglieno , Genova 1892
- T. Crombie, The Sculptors of Staglieno, Genoese nineteenth-century funerary monuments , in Apollo 1973 n.135
- R. Bossaglia-MFGiubilei, Cadaveri eccellenti , in Arte 1982, n.124
- F. Sborgi (a cura di), L'Ottocento e il Novecento. Dal Neoclassicismo al Liberty , in La scultura a Genova e in Liguria. Dal Seicento al primo Novecento , Genova 1988
- G. Berengo Gardin-G.Nessi Parlato, Il giardino del tempo , Pomezia 1993
- F. Sborgi, Staglieno e la scultura funeraria ligure tra Ottocento e Novecento , Torino 1997
- S. Diéguez Patao-C. Gimènez (a cura di), Arte y architectura funeraria, Dublin, Genova, Madrid (XIX-XX) , Torino, Electa España 2000
- G. Berengo Gardin-G.Nessi Parlato, Staglieno, Giganti di marmo. Marble Giants , Tormena 2002
Web links
- Staglieno Cemetery website (Italian)