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Vittorio Caradossi
An Exceptional White Statuary Marble Figural Group Entitled ‘Stelle Cadenti’ (‘Falling Stars’)
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An Exceptional White Statuary Marble Figural Group of Two Nymphs, Entitled ‘Stelle Cadenti’ (‘Falling Stars’) By Vittorio Caradossi (Italian, 1861-1918). Sculpted...
Dimensions
Height: 150 cm (60 in)Weight: 130 kg
PrintDescription
An Exceptional White Statuary Marble Figural Group of Two Nymphs, Entitled ‘Stelle Cadenti’ (‘Falling Stars’) By Vittorio Caradossi (Italian, 1861-1918).
Sculpted from a single block of the finest white statuary marble, the two intertwined nymphs, representing shooting stars, are carved atop billowing drapery and clouds.
Signed ‘Prof: V. Caradossi’.
The sculpting of the intertwined nymphs so that they appear to fall through the air is both technically brilliant and composed with masterful elegance. The figures are posed as if dancing in the heavens; transfixed as they fall. Their celestial journey is made real by the fall of their hair and how the drapery clings to their bodies. They personify shooting stars as messengers of love and symbolise divine guidance and good luck.
The virtuoso genius of Vittorio Caradossi in sculpting the spiralling figures is especially evident when viewed in the round. The exceptionally detail can be seen in the decoration of their robes, which are carved with many small stars. These stars are polished so they appear raised, and show that the statue retains its original finish.
‘Falling Stars’ dates to the turn of the twentieth century and is imbued with the sensual elegance of the Art Nouveau. It the most desirable and accomplished of Caradossi’s highly decorative and commercial groups in this style, such as ‘Tre Nereidi’ (‘Three Mermaids’) and ‘Il Fumo che sale verso le Nubi’ (‘Smoke Sweeping up to the Clouds’).
‘Falling Stars’ exhibited at the St. Louis Worlds Fair 1904
Another example was purchased by William F. Woerner at the St. Louis World’s Fair, 1904 and is in the University of Arizona Museum of Art (Gift of Eugene V. Nay 60.7.3). One is in The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Chicago (2017.2.116).
“Falling Stars” by Vittorio Caradossi in The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Chicago
Other examples have sold at auction at Sotheby’s, New York, 8 November 2013, lot 12 and at Christie’s, Paris, 14 December 2018, lot 63.
Italy, Circa 1900.
Date
Circa 1900
Origin
Italy
Medium
White Marble
Signature
Signed ‘Prof: V. Caradossi’.
Portrait of the sculptor Vittorio Caradossi (1861-1918) Florence, circa 1900, Alinari, Fratelli. © Alinari Archives, Florence
Born in Florence, Vittorio Caradossi studied under Augusto Rivalta (d. 1925) at the Accademia di Belle Arti. Following the completion of his training he was commissioned to execute a number of public monuments.
Vittorio Caradossi, ‘Monument to the sculptor Desiderio da Settignano’ 1904, Alinari, Fratelli. © Alinari Archives, Florence
At the 1900 International Exhibition in Paris, Caradossi exhibited his celebrated statue of the Renaissance artist Desiderio da Settignano. In 1904 it was positioned as a monument in the Piazza Desiderio, in Settignano, near Florence. In 1896 Caradossi became Accademico Corrispondente for the highly prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, and in the year of his death he was promoted to the post of Residente.
Technically superb, most of his oeuvre is dominated by highly decorative groups and single nude figures in various symbolic or allegorical guises. In works such as ‘Tre Nereidi’ (Three Mermaids), ‘Il Fumo che sale verso le Nubi’ (Smoke Sweeping up to the Clouds) and ‘Stelle Cadenti’ (Falling Stars).
Literature:
A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori Italiani dell’ottocento e del primo novecento, Turin, 2003, p. 200.
