Giuseppe Moretti | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1857-02-03)3 February 1857 |
| Died | February 1935 (aged 77-78) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | Vulcan, the largest cast iron statue in the world |
| Movement | Beaux arts[1] |
| Awards | Bronze Medal, 1900Paris Exposition Silver Medal, 1904St. Louis Exposition Silver Medal, 1911Turin International[2] |
Giuseppe Moretti (3 February 1857 – February 1935) was an Italianémigrésculptor who became known in theUnited States for his public monuments inbronze andmarble. Notable among his works isVulcan inBirmingham, Alabama, which is the largestcast ironstatue in the world.[3] On a personal level, Moretti was "known for his eclectic personality and for always wearing a green tie,"[1] but professionally, is claimed to be "the first man to usealuminum in art."[2] Moretti enjoyed some celebrity in his lifetime, and was a friend of famed Italian tenorEnrico Caruso. It is even reported that the singer repeatedly praised Moretti's voice.[3]
Giuseppe Moretti was born inSiena,Italy, on 3 February 1857,[3] the nephew of CardinalVincenzo Moretti,[4] a notedart patron. He began studying marble sculpting at the age of 9 with themonks of San Domenico and with sculptorTito Sarrocchi, whose studio was in thecloister of the church in Siena.[2] Moretti's precocious nature is emphasized in an anecdote about his early fascination with becoming an artist. Apparently aware that distantFlorence was the nexus of Italian art, the young Moretti set off down the road in search of a career in the art world. An alert neighbor returned the would-be runaway, and soon after, Moretti was placed under the tutelage of Serrochi.[3]
Moretti later studied at theAccademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Academy of Fine Arts of Florence), working in the studio ofGiovanni Dupre.[2]
Intrigued by the medium of marble, Moretti moved toCarrara to perfect his skill. In about 1879, aDalmatian sculptor,Ivan Rendić, who saw his work was impressed and invited Moretti to assist him in his studio inZagreb,Croatia. Moretti set up shop in Zagreb and made several important commissions beforea large earthquake devastated the area. Moretti decided to leave, moving toVienna,Austria,[3] where he worked on theRothschild palace[2] and executed a marble bust of theEmperor Franz Josef which was to be exhibited in theParis Exposition of 1900.[3]
Moretti's next residence was inBudapest,Hungary, where he executed some works to commemorate the city's history. However, a dispute with German authorities over a marble field that Moretti wanted to use for his projects and as an incentive to local sculptors frustrated Moretti and in the summer of 1888, he decided to relocate to theUnited States of America.[3]
Moretti arrived inNew York City and opened a studio.[2] Soon, Moretti was working on his first commission in America, sculpture forMarble House, the seasonal residence ofWilliam K. andAlva Vanderbilt inNewport, Rhode Island. On this project, Moretti worked withRichard Morris Hunt to produce the interior's marblefriezes and statuary, including work onbas-reliefs of the architect himself andJules Hardouin Mansart, the master architect forLouis XIV during the construction ofPalace of Versailles; and which stood side by side on themezzanine level of the staircase.[3]
After working on the Vanderbilt estate, Moretti became well known inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, maintaining a presence there from 1895 until 1923.[2]Edward Bigelow, Pittsburgh's director of public works commissioned Moretti in 1885 for works inSchenley Park. Moretti immediately recognized the potential of Pittsburgh's rugged terrain for such a vast project.[3]Arthur Hamerschlag, the first president of theCarnegie Institute of Technology, also did much to popularize Moretti's work in Pittsburgh.[2] Moretti sculpted the family of bronze figures atop granite columns at the entrance to Highland Park, a pair of boys taming horses at the Stanton Avenue entrance to the park, a statue of Stephen Foster and an African-American bard playing "Uncle Ned" paid through children's donated pennies in the park, and a marble fountain above the N. St. Clair stone steps entrance to the park. In Pittsburgh's civic center of Oakland, he cast a bronze tribute to Bigelow, four bronze panthers for the Panther Hollow Bridge, the University of Pittsburgh bronze panther mascot, and Hygiea as a tribute to the county's doctors in World War I, as well as numerous tablets, plaques, and award statuettes. Moretti has been called the "go-to civic sculptor during Pittsburgh's City Beautiful period." When Bigelow failed to get reelected, Moretti's commission was discarded by the new city officers.[3]
The first of many failed business ventures for Moretti was in 1897, when he and fellow Italian immigrant Riccardo Bertelli (future husband of actressIda Conquest) launched a smallbronze foundry in December of that year with the help of a $20,000 loan from another Italian émigré, Celestino Piva, a wealthysilk importer. However, in two years the company collapsed and Piva withdrew support. Yet Bertelli bought out Moretti's share, reorganized the business, and renamed it "Roman Bronze Works." By 1900, the foundry had relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn, secured the financial backing of Piva once again, and acquired the exclusive casting rights to the works of American sculptorFrederic Remington.[3]
Despite his financial misdealings, Moretti retained his reputation as an artist, and soon won his most famous commission from James A. MacKnight, secretary ofBirmingham, Alabama's Commercial Club. Moretti agreed to charge only $6,000 for the massive plaster model ofVulcan, which was to be Birmingham's contribution to theSt. Louis Exposition. Moretti created the model inNew York City and moved to Alabama to work on the sculpture in 1904.[3] In 1907, he tookGeneva Mercer of Alabama on as an apprentice. She served as his apprentice until 1909, after which she stayed on as his assistant until his death in 1935.[5][6]
Having discoveredAlabama's rich marble deposits, Moretti made it a personal goal to institute proper mining procedures for the material.[3]
Circa 1911–1914, Moretti and Mercer worked together on their greatest achievement, the completion of Moretti's ninety-seven sculptures for theGran Teatro de La Habana.
Moretti moved around east of theMississippi frequently after 1916, returning to Pittsburgh, where he established a permanent residence and studio onBigelow Boulevard.[2][3]
Moretti soon made war memorials a major source of his income, completing sculptures and tablets in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Moretti is known to have remarked that "... art, in its various meanings is to be benefited greatly by the sentiment that the world war had reawakened..." Moretti also believed that Pittsburgh would become the "Athens of the New World," spurred on by artistic creation. "No," declared Moretti, "I shall not leave Pittsburgh – it is the fine home for the artist – strong, mighty, rugged-so!"[3]
Meanwhile, Moretti was pursuing a career in business by purchasingmarblequarries, becoming a pioneer in theAlabama marble industry, and traveling toBirmingham in 1901 to develop the Alabama marble fields. In 1923, when he finally left Pittsburgh, he bought his last Alabama marble quarry, which failed in 1925.[2]
One of Moretti's last works in America was the 1927 "Battle of Nashville Monument", erected on the site of that 1864 battle. It was commissioned by the Ladies Battlefield Association, and honored both sides of the conflict in theAmerican Civil War.
In 1897, Moretti designed the bronze statue ofCornelius Vanderbilt on the campus ofVanderbilt University in Nashville.[7][8] It was first erected on the grounds of theParthenon, but moved to the campus the following fall.[8]
In 1921, Moretti designed a bronze and granite statue on the tomb ofSumner Archibald Cunningham, a Confederate veteran and editor of theConfederate Veteran, at the Willow Mount Cemetery inShelbyville, Tennessee.[7]
Moretti's last business venture having fallen through in 1925 and his health failing, he decided to return to Italy with his wife, Dorothea Long Moretti, and his assistant, Geneva Mercer, in 1930.[3] He remained there until his death inSan Remo in 1935.[2]
Moretti was a prolific artist, having completed twelveWorld War Imemorials, nineteenmonumental works, sixchurch sculptures, twenty-four memorial tablets, fourteencemetery memorials, twenty-seven sculptures inmarble,bronze, andaluminum, and twenty-seven bronzestatuettes.[1][3]
At least 17 Moretti works remain and have been restored in Pittsburgh's east end. Moretti's notable work in Pittsburgh includes the Highland Avenue entrance toHighland Park, an imposinggranite construction decorated withbronze groups and figures; the Stanton Avenue entrance to Highland Park, depicting two groups of lean, heroic youths taming wild horses; the four bronzePanthers erected onPanther Hollow Bridge; andStephen Foster, a tribute to the songwriter which features a rendering of "Old Black Joe" playing thebanjo at the feet of the composer.[3] His statues ofEdward Manning Bigelow (1895) andHygeia (1922) also populateSchenley Park.[9]
Moretti's most important works in Alabama are hisVulcan and the one most prized by Moretti himself,Head of Christ. Moretti said, "I selected the marble myself with infinite care, the very first piece from theSylacaugaquarries ever to be used for an artistic purpose."[3] He also told his friend, Alice Jeffress Boswell, "I have a peculiar affection for it. Where I go, my Christ goes also.... I feel that the final resting place of this first sculpture from Alabama marble should be in that state."[10]
He also sculpted a baptismal font for the 1st Presbyterian Church of Birmingham; a life-size Sylacauga marble statue of Mary Cahalan, a beloved public school teacher; and a larger than life-size bronze statue of William Elias B. Davis, a noted surgeon and co-founder of the Southern Surgical Association.
Moretti'sHead of Christ is on display inMontgomery'sAlabama Department of Archives and History.
![Head of Christ, what Moretti considered to be his personal magnum opus. Moretti carved the bust by hand from Alabama marble.[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHeadofchristmoretti.gif)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
