Raffaelle Monti

Parian porcelain bust of "Love" by Raffaelle Monti. Issued by the Ceramic and Crystal Palace Art Union, and exhibited at the International Exhibition, London 1872. Photographed by William England, London Stereoscopic Company.

Raffaele Monti (1818–1881) was an Italian sculptor, author and poet born in Milan. He studied under his father, the noted sculptor Gaetano Matteo Monti in the Imperial Academy. He was invited to Vienna while aged only 20 where he received extensive patronage, he subsequently returned to Milan in 1840. In 1846 Monti travelled to England for the year, and later settled there.

Monti exhibited at the Royal Academy, and soon earned recognition as a leading sculptor with his piece for the 6th Duke of Devonshire, the "Veiled Vestal" a figure with illusionistic veil, a specialism of his. A bust based on this work, cast in Parian porcelain by Copeland titled "The Bride", but often known as "The Veiled Bride", was issued in 1861 by the Crystal Palace Art Union. This bust became one of the most popular Parian busts ever produced.^[1]

Monti produced sculptures working in marble, but he also created in metals and porcelain, while he remained active in the applied arts.

Works

""La Donna Velata" (bust) 1845 Castle of Racconigi
"Veiled Vestal" 1847 Chatsworth House .^[2]
"A Circassian Slave in the Market Place at Constantinople" 1850 Wallace Collection.^[3]
"Cupid" and "Modesty", a pair, 1853: davidwilsonfineart.com
"Veritas" 1853 Medeiros e Almeida Museum Medeiros de Almeida Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal.
"River Thames" 1854 St John's Lock on the River Thames below Lechlade Originally for the fountains at The Crystal Palace Sydenham
"La Donna Velata" (The Veiled Woman) 1854 Metropolitan Museum of Art
Proscenium Arch 1858 Royal Opera House
"Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry 1858 Market Place, Durham .^[4]
"Veiled Lady" (bust) 1860 Minneapolis Institute of Arts
"The Sleep of Sorrow and the Dream of Joy" 1861 Victoria and Albert Museum

(Also produced in Parian by Copeland)

"Night" 1862 Parian figure produced by Copeland
"Morning" 1862 Parian figure produced by Copeland

Picture gallery

Veiled Vestal ca 1848. Now at Chatsworth House.
Father Thames ca. 1853, at St John's Lock, Lechlade
Veritas ca 1853. From plaster original at the Crystal Palace Sydenham [destroyed 1936]
Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry ca 1861 at Durham.
The Sleep of Sorrow and the Dream of Joy ca. 1862. Victoria and Albert Museum

References

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