ANTIQUE MARBLE SCULPTURE.

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A MONUMENTAL MARBLE FIGURE “IL VINCITORE”
BY CONSTANTINO CORTI (1824-1873)

Italian – 19th Century.
Inscribed: “Il Vincitore”. Signed: C. Corti.

The impressive, over life-sized, carved, white marble sculpture depicting the figure of a powerfully built young warrior, sword in hand, naked and with flowing hair, seated on a rocky outcrop. “Il Vincitore” translates as “The Victor”, “The Conqueror” or “The Winner”, and the full force of the title is described here by the energetic  posture, gesture and movement of the model, and the emotion evoked and transmitted through the intense study and skill of the artist.

The Milanese sculptor, Constantino Corti, was born in Belluno in 1824 and studied at the Brera Academy.  He collaborated with Pietro Calvi (1833-1884) on a number of the figures in the Cathedral at Milan and at the Galleria Vittoria Emanuel. He also made the statues of St Senen and Gian Galeazzo Visconti for Milan Cathedral.  Other works by Corti are the monuments to San Carlo Borromeo in Milan and to the astronomer, Piazzi in Ponte, Valtellina. Corti also made the colossal statue of Lucifero, which is derived from a similar pose to the present “Il Vincitore”, but, it is believed, with the addition of wings and without the sword, and which was exhibited in Milan, Florence and Paris, being now in the Museo Nacionale Belles Artes, Bueno Aires, Argentina.  Corti died in Milan in 1873.

Height: 75” (190 cm)