Ettore Ximenes was a Sicilian sculptor who followed the Neo-Renaissance style and in 1895 he produced this bronze statue called ‘la Rinascita.’ The original plaster sculpture was exhibited at the Venice Biennale of 1895: on that occasion, the Ministry of Education commissioned the bronze casting, which was completed and entered the collections of the gallery two years later.The woman depicted in the bronze sculpture is inspired by the feminine presence in paintings by Sandro Botticelli. The graceful forms, clothing and hairstyle, are reminiscent of the Florentine Quattrocento and are typically "Botticellian." Also the title of the work and the inscription on the base: "Alexander Botticellius Florentinus lumens dedit" refers directly to the
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The artist appears to be linked to the new Art Nouveau style that spreads at the end of the century in Europe: nature becomes a source of inspiration for decorative reasons to be submitted to a progressive stylization and …show more content…
The Stile Botticelli described a particular type of painted ceramic decoration which were based on the paintings of Botticelli; in particular the Primavera and The Birth of Venus. Some of these designs were derived from assorted studies taken from these paintings with various alterations made and other designs were purely imitiative. What is interesting is the way some ceramic workshops in particular the Fantechi, Colonnata and Galileo Chini factories reinterpreted the Botticelli style through the literary and artistic lense of Pre-Raphaelitism which later became part of the Italian design repertoire. There was a gradual diffusion of knowledge about Pre-Raphaelitism in the 1890s which had come relatively late to Italy. The workshops were taking their influences from the recently discovered Pre-Raphaelitism which became fashionable after the Venice Biennial of 1895 and in the same year the journal ‘Emporium’ dedicated an article to Burne Jones. Helping this diffusion of knowledge was presence in Florence of many artists who belonged to the late development of the Pre-Raphaelites such as Fairfax Murrey, Spencer Stanhope,
The artist appears to be linked to the new Art Nouveau style that spreads at the end of the century in Europe: nature becomes a source of inspiration for decorative reasons to be submitted to a progressive stylization and …show more content…
The Stile Botticelli described a particular type of painted ceramic decoration which were based on the paintings of Botticelli; in particular the Primavera and The Birth of Venus. Some of these designs were derived from assorted studies taken from these paintings with various alterations made and other designs were purely imitiative. What is interesting is the way some ceramic workshops in particular the Fantechi, Colonnata and Galileo Chini factories reinterpreted the Botticelli style through the literary and artistic lense of Pre-Raphaelitism which later became part of the Italian design repertoire. There was a gradual diffusion of knowledge about Pre-Raphaelitism in the 1890s which had come relatively late to Italy. The workshops were taking their influences from the recently discovered Pre-Raphaelitism which became fashionable after the Venice Biennial of 1895 and in the same year the journal ‘Emporium’ dedicated an article to Burne Jones. Helping this diffusion of knowledge was presence in Florence of many artists who belonged to the late development of the Pre-Raphaelites such as Fairfax Murrey, Spencer Stanhope,