Lanzirotti Antonio Giovanni (1839-1911) - Large Bust In White Marble, 19th Century

Antonio Giovanni Lanzirotti was born in Palermo on May 9, 1839, where he completed his studies. He then went to Paris, where he was a pupil of Joseph Michel Ange Pollet. A fierce supporter of Sicilian independence, he went on to serve under General Ignace Ribotti in the first grenadiers of Piedmont.

His first sculptural work was the Education of Bacchus, exhibited at the 1855 Universal Exhibition in Paris. The same year, he created a bust of Adélaïde Ristori in the role of Myrrha, which brought him some success.

In 1858-1859, he presented the Prefect of the Seine with a sketch for a project for an "Allegorical Group in Honor of S. M. l'Empereur Napoléon III, et qui pourrait être placé entre les jardins de la cour du nouveau Louvre (place Napoléon )".

In 1863, he was called to Turin, where King Victor-Emmanuel II commissioned statues of Count Verde and Duke Victor-Amédée I^er. He sends the statues of La Pensierosa (The Thinker) and La Schiava greca (The Greek Slave) to Paris. The former now decorates a niche on the first floor of the north wing of the Cour carrée at the Musée du Louvre. And the second is part of the collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules-Chéret, Nice.

In 1860, Lanzirotti joined Giuseppe Garibaldi's movement, and was taken prisoner at Cap Corse. He was imprisoned for two months in Gaete, then returned to Paris. There, he sculpts Amore punito (Punished Love); La Danza (The Dance); the mausoleum of Count Tyzhieviez, and a bather, which he exhibits at the Salon. He also sculpts Il Piacere (Pleasure) and La Follia (Madness).

He also creates numerous busts and portraits, including those of Cassagnac, Émile de Girardin, Doctor Armand Trousseau, Beaumarchais, King Umberto I^e of Italy.

In 1867, he was director of the photosculpture workshops of the Société générale de photosculpture de France, working alongside Auguste Clésinger.

Lanzirotti died on February 28, 1911.