The Pietro Bazzanti and Son Art Gallery (Italian: Galleria d'Arte Pietro Bazzanti e Figlio) is a historic art gallery located in Florence, Italy. Renowned for its craftsmanship of marble, bronze, alabaster, and stone sculptures and mosaics, the gallery specialises in reproductions of Classical, Neo-classical and Renaissance art, while also producing original works by contemporary artists.[1] It has long catered to foreign customers seeking high-quality replicas of masterpieces admired during their travels.
View of the Lungarno Corsini in Florence with the Art Gallery Pietro Bazzanti e Figlio, Florence 1890
Situated along the Lungarno Corsini by the Arno river, the gallery became a popular destination for art enthusiasts.[2] The gallery's origins trace back to 1815, to a studio originally opened by Luigi Bozzolini, the last descendant of a family of sculptors and decorators who worked for the Corsini family since the 17th century.[3] In 1822, Pietro Bazzanti took over the studio and expanded it as a showroom for his work. The first mention of the gallery appears in 19th century city guidebooks, which describe its location in the current Palazzo Corsini, as a "space with a large window on the Lungarno with a sculpture atelier in the rear with access from Via del Parione".[4]
Pietro Bazzanti and the early years
Pietro Bazzanti (born 1775) lived in Via della Carraia,[5] the current stretch of Borgo San Frediano from Via dei Serragli to Piazza San Frediano. He later moved into an apartment above his studio in Via del Parione at number 13.
He continued the work of his predecessor, Luigi Bozzolini, producing high-quality replicas of classical and ancient sculptures. The 1841 Florentine population census declares "...makes sculpture statues".[6]
Niccolò Bazzanti and his contributions
Pietro's son, Niccolò Bazzanti (1802-1869), was also a prominent sculptor. In 1822, Niccolò won an award for two sketches at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in 1824. He continued to work with his father while establishing his own artistic career. In 1840 he was nominated by the academy "Academician Professor of Sculpture in the First Class of the Arts and Design".
Andrea Orcagna statue, Uffizi Lodge, Florence, carved by Niccolò Bazzanti
In 1834, Niccolò sculpted the plastic decoration of the palace that the publisher Vincenzo Batelli had built in 1831–1832 in via Sant'Egidio at number 12. The project involved the decoration of the facade with statues of the four seasons made from Bazzanti, all gone during the last war.
Niccolò was also commissioned in 1834 to sculpt, along with other artists, the series of 28 statues of the "Illustrious Tuscany Men" for the Uffizi Lodge.
In 1861, it participated as a "Fine Arts Trader" at the National Exposition of Florence, showcasing several marble sculptures and various other works, and was awarded a medal in the sculpture category.[10]
The gallery was also well-regarded by sculptors of the time, employing several notable sculptors, including Fortuno Galli (d. 1918), E. Giolli and Ferdinando Vichi.[19] The studio became a centre for other important sculptors such as Cesare Lapini and Guglielmo Pugi, whose works were often inscribed with the gallery’s name, a mark of the high esteem in which the workshop was held.[20]
Ownership transitions and modern era
In the 1870s, Niccolò sold the gallery to his American employee Thompson, who subsequently sold it to another employee, Biagioli, in the mid-1930s.
In 1960, the gallery underwent a significant transformation when the Marinelli family acquired it, introducing the production of bronzes from its own Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry.[21] This marked a new era for the historic workshop, allowing for stricter control over the artistic quality of its works and improved export capabilities. In addition, 19th-century models inherited from previous owners were added to the extensive collection of plaster moulds of the foundry.
↑ The Lustrous Trade: Material Culture and the History of Sculpture in England and Italy, c.1700-c.1860. Leicester University Press. 2000. p.12. ISBN0-7185-0209-4.
Jacopo della Quercia, also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of Michelangelo.
Giambologna, also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small works in bronze and marble in a late Mannerist style.
The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, or "Gallery of the Academy of Florence", is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is best known as the home of Michelangelo's sculpture David. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large collection of paintings by Florentine artists, mostly from the period 1300–1600. It is smaller and more specialized than the Uffizi, the main art museum in Florence. It adjoins the Accademia di Belle Arti or academy of fine arts of Florence, but despite the name has no other connection with it.
Pietro Tacca was an Italian sculptor, who was the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. Tacca began in a Mannerist style and worked in the Baroque style during his maturity.
Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) Foggini was an Italian sculptor active in Florence, renowned mainly for small bronze statuary.
Pierre Francqueville, generally called Pietro Francavilla, was a Franco-Flemish sculptor trained in Florence, who provided sculpture for Italian and French patrons in the elegant Late Mannerist tradition established by Giambologna.
The Venus de' Medici or Medici Venus is a 1.53 m tall Hellenistic marble sculpture depicting the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. It is a 1st-century BC marble copy, perhaps made in Athens, of a bronze original Greek sculpture, following the type of the Aphrodite of Knidos, which would have been made by a sculptor in the immediate Praxitelean tradition, perhaps at the end of the century. It has become one of the navigation points by which the progress of the Western classical tradition is traced, the references to it outline the changes of taste and the process of classical scholarship. It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Niccolò di Piero Lamberti, also known as Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti, Niccolo Aretino, Niccolò d'Arezzo and il Pela, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect. Little is known about his life other than that he was married in Florence in 1392. His son, Piero di Niccolò Lamberti (1393–1435), was also a sculptor, and the two are notable for exporting the Tuscan style of sculpture to Venice, where they were active in the late 1410s and 1420s.
The Apollino or Medici Apollo is a Roman copy of a Hellenistic sculpture of the adolescent god Apollo of the Apollo Lykeios type. It is now in the Uffizi, Florence.
The Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, popularly known as the Loggia del Porcellino, is a building in Florence, Italy. It is so called to distinguish it from the Mercato vecchio that used to be located in the area of today's Piazza della Repubblica.
Raffaello Romanelli was an Italian sculptor, born in Florence, Italy.
José Belloni was a Uruguayan sculptor of the Realist school.
Antonio Frilli was a Florentine sculptor who specialized in marble and alabaster statues for public and private customers.
Giovanni Spertini was an Italian sculptor.
The Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry is one of the last remaining Florentine foundries, producing works in bronze utilizing the Renaissance technique of lost-wax. A large number of bronze sculptures produced in Florence over the last century come from this artistic foundry. One of the most famous and popular works in Florence, the 'La Fontana del Porcellino', was cast by the Marinelli Foundry in 1988 and replaced the antique in 1998.
The Palazzo Martelli was a residential palace, and since 2009, a civic museum displaying in situ the remains of the original family's valuable art collection, as well as its frescoed rooms. The palace is located on Via Ferdinando Zannetti 8 near the corner with Via Cerretani in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy.
Pasquale Romanelli was an Italian sculptor, and apprentice of Lorenzo Bartolini.
Michele Niccolai is a sculptor born in Livorno. He spent his youth in Cecina. He learned to sculpt and fire clay using his garndfather's furnace.
Antonio Berti was an Italian sculptor and medalist. He taught at the Accademia di San Luca and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence.
Giuseppe Graziosi was an Italian sculptor, painter and graphic designer.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
