19th Century, Cesare Beccaria

19th century

Cesare Beccaria

Bronze, 49 x 13 x 15 cm

The bronze statue is a reproduction of the famous Monument to Cesare Beccaria by Giuseppe Grandi (1843–1894), situated on a Montorfano granite pedestal in the Milanese square of the same name, once the site of Austrian executions. It is a bronze copy from 1914, which replaced the original stone statue that had deteriorated; the latter is now preserved in the Milan Palace of Justice.

The idea for the monument originated in 1865 in the pages of *Cronaca grigia*, a *Scapigliatura* magazine edited by Cletto Arrighi, in support of the abolition of the death penalty. Grandi won the 1868 competition; the work was completed in December 1870 and unveiled on March 18, 1871.

The sculpture depicts Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), an Enlightenment jurist and author of *On Crimes and Punishments*, a treatise against the death penalty and torture that also inspired the penal reform of Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany. The theme is reinforced by a plaque bearing an excerpt from the work and by allegorical bas-reliefs depicting Civilization—austere and just—and Time flying over a landscape of death. The chiaroscuro effects of the bronze surface—a feature that would become more pronounced in Grandi’s later works—reflect his affinity with the “Scapigliati” painters Cremona and Ranzoni and foreshadow stylistic elements that would later be taken up by Medardo Rosso.