Carlo Albacini
Encyclopedia
Carlo Albacini was an Italian sculptor and restorer of Ancient Roman sculpture, a pupil of Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
, an eminent sculptor and restorer of Rome. Albacini was notable for his copies after classical originals such as the Farnese Hercules
; his version of the Castor and Pollux at the Prado is now in the Hermitage Museum
) or the Capitoline Flora from Hadrian's Villa
, for the Grand Tour
ist market. Like Cavaceppi, he also restored classical sculptures, notably the Farnese marbles, which Albacini worked on in 1786-89, in preparation for their transfer to Naples
under the direction of the German painter Philipp Hackert and Domenico Venuti. Some of his restorations were free, by modern standards: in the famous Farnese Aphrodite Kallipygos at Naples, the head, the exposed right breast, left arm and right leg below the knee are restorations by Albacini. Not restored in Rome before shipment to Naples, however, were the Farnese paired Tyrannicides restored as Gladiators. Albacini was the principal restorer for Thomas Jenkins
, whose pre-eminent client was Charles Townley
; Townley's collection is at the British Museum
. Townley introduced Albacini to Henry Blundell
whose collection of Roman sculptures was magnificently displayed at Ince Blundell
. In 1776 Blundell, considering that a fine modern copy was superior to a mediocre antiquity, commissioned from Albacini a copy of a colossal marble head of Lucius Verus
; when the young Antonio Canova
visited the workshops of Cavaceppi and of Albacini in 1779-80, he spoke to one of Albacini's garzonieri who said he had already spent fourteen months pointing up
a copy of the Borghese bust of Lucius Verus and had five months of work still to do.
He catalogued the immense collection of antique sculpture, some of its freely restored, left by Cavaceppi, and he assembled the collection of casts of Greco-Roman portrait busts that was sold by Filippo Albacini and can be seen in the Capitoline Museums
, the Vatican Museums, in Naples, and at the Prado and Casa del Labrador, Aranjuez
, and especially at the National Gallery of Scotland
, where the presence of a large group of plaster casts purchased from Albacini's son in 1838 was the subject of a colloquium on the varying reputation and cultural significance of casts of classical sculptures and the varying parameters of ethical restorations.
On a smaller scale his workshop, working with Luigi Valadier
, produced the elaborate table-setting in gilded and patinated bronze and rare coloured marbles on the Romantic-Classical theme The Ruins of Paestum that was designed for Maria Carolina
by Domenico Venuti, 1805.
As marble masons, Albacini's workshop also executed architectural sculptures, such as the two simple chimneypieces of white and coloured marble for the gallery of Ferdinand IV of Naples' hunting box, the Casino Reale at Carditello
, about 14 km northeast of Naples. Pedestals for sculpture, for which Albacini was to be paid, were shipped from Livorno in 1780 by Gavin Hamilton
intended for Thomas Pitt, later Lord Camelford
, who did not take them.
His son, also Carlo Albacini (1777 – 1858), was a sculptor.
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi was an Italian sculptor who worked in Rome, where he trained in the studio of the acclimatized Frenchman, Pierre-Étienne Monnot, and then in the workshop of Carlo Antonio Napolioni, a restorer of sculptures for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who was to become a major patron of...
, an eminent sculptor and restorer of Rome. Albacini was notable for his copies after classical originals such as the Farnese Hercules
Farnese Hercules
The Farnese Hercules is an ancient sculpture, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed by a certain Glykon, from an original by Lysippos that would have been made in the fourth century BC...
; his version of the Castor and Pollux at the Prado is now in the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
) or the Capitoline Flora from Hadrian's Villa
Hadrian's Villa
The Hadrian's Villa is a large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy.- History :The villa was constructed at Tibur as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD...
, for the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
ist market. Like Cavaceppi, he also restored classical sculptures, notably the Farnese marbles, which Albacini worked on in 1786-89, in preparation for their transfer to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
under the direction of the German painter Philipp Hackert and Domenico Venuti. Some of his restorations were free, by modern standards: in the famous Farnese Aphrodite Kallipygos at Naples, the head, the exposed right breast, left arm and right leg below the knee are restorations by Albacini. Not restored in Rome before shipment to Naples, however, were the Farnese paired Tyrannicides restored as Gladiators. Albacini was the principal restorer for Thomas Jenkins
Thomas Jenkins (antiquary)
Thomas Jenkins was a British antiquary and minor painter who went to Rome accompanying the English landscape painter Richard Wilson about 1750 and remained behind, establishing himself in the city by serving as cicerone and sometime banker to the visiting British, becoming a dealer in Roman...
, whose pre-eminent client was Charles Townley
Charles Towneley
Charles Townley was an English country gentleman, antiquary and collector of the Townley Marbles ....
; Townley's collection is at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Townley introduced Albacini to Henry Blundell
Henry Blundell (art collector)
Henry Blundell was an English art collector.-Life:Blundell was born at Ince Blundell, Lancashire. A Catholic, like his friend and fellow collector Charles Townley he was thus barred from the British university system and was educated at the college of the English Jesuits at St Omer and...
whose collection of Roman sculptures was magnificently displayed at Ince Blundell
Ince Blundell
Ince Blundell is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, England but historically in Lancashire. It is situated to the north of Liverpool on the A565 road and to the east of the village of Hightown...
. In 1776 Blundell, considering that a fine modern copy was superior to a mediocre antiquity, commissioned from Albacini a copy of a colossal marble head of Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus , was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.-Early life and career:Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian . He was born and raised in Rome...
; when the young Antonio Canova
Antonio Canova
Antonio Canova was an Italian sculptor from the Republic of Venice who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh...
visited the workshops of Cavaceppi and of Albacini in 1779-80, he spoke to one of Albacini's garzonieri who said he had already spent fourteen months pointing up
Pointing machine
A pointing machine is a measuring tool used by stone sculptors and woodcarvers to accurately copy plaster, clay or wax sculpture models into wood or stone....
a copy of the Borghese bust of Lucius Verus and had five months of work still to do.
Capitoline Museums
The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The museums are contained in three palazzi surrounding a central trapezoidal piazza in a plan conceived by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536 and executed over...
, the Vatican Museums, in Naples, and at the Prado and Casa del Labrador, Aranjuez
Aranjuez
Aranjuez is a town lying 48 km south of Madrid, in the southern part of the Community of Madrid. It is located at the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama rivers, 48 km from Toledo. As of 2009, it has a population of 54,055.-History:...
, and especially at the National Gallery of Scotland
National Gallery of Scotland
The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens...
, where the presence of a large group of plaster casts purchased from Albacini's son in 1838 was the subject of a colloquium on the varying reputation and cultural significance of casts of classical sculptures and the varying parameters of ethical restorations.
On a smaller scale his workshop, working with Luigi Valadier
Giuseppe Valadier
Giuseppe Valadier was an Italian architect and designer, urban planner and archeologist, a chief exponent of Neoclassicism in Italy.-Biography:...
, produced the elaborate table-setting in gilded and patinated bronze and rare coloured marbles on the Romantic-Classical theme The Ruins of Paestum that was designed for Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
by Domenico Venuti, 1805.
As marble masons, Albacini's workshop also executed architectural sculptures, such as the two simple chimneypieces of white and coloured marble for the gallery of Ferdinand IV of Naples' hunting box, the Casino Reale at Carditello
Cardito
Cardito is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 14 km northeast of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 20,752 and an area of 3.2 km²....
, about 14 km northeast of Naples. Pedestals for sculpture, for which Albacini was to be paid, were shipped from Livorno in 1780 by Gavin Hamilton
Gavin Hamilton (artist)
Gavin Hamilton was a Scottish neoclassical history painterwho is more widely remembered for his hunts for antiquities in the neighborhood of Rome...
intended for Thomas Pitt, later Lord Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford was a British politician and connoisseur of art.-Early life:He was the son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc , a brother of William Pitt the Elder, and was born and baptised at Boconnoc in Cornwall on 3 March 1737. His mother was Christian, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas...
, who did not take them.
His son, also Carlo Albacini (1777 – 1858), was a sculptor.
Some other sculptors in Rome renowned for their restorations
- Orfeo BoselliOrfeo BoselliOrfeo Boselli was an Italian sculptor working in Rome. As with most Roman sculptors of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, a great part of his commissioned work was in restoring and completing fragmentary ancient Roman sculptures...
- Bartolomeo CavaceppiBartolomeo CavaceppiBartolomeo Cavaceppi was an Italian sculptor who worked in Rome, where he trained in the studio of the acclimatized Frenchman, Pierre-Étienne Monnot, and then in the workshop of Carlo Antonio Napolioni, a restorer of sculptures for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who was to become a major patron of...
- Ippolito BuzziIppolito BuzziIppolito Buzzi was an Italian sculptor from Viggiù, near Varese, in northernmost Lombardy, a member of a long-established dynasty of painters, sculptors and architects from the town, who passed his mature career in Rome...
- Ercole FerrataErcole FerrataErcole Ferrata was an Italian sculptor of the Roman Baroque.-Biography:A native of Pellio Inferiore, near Como, Ferrata initially apprenticed with Alessandro Algardi, and became one of his prime assistants...
- Francesco Nocchieri
- Francesco FontanaFrancesco FontanaFrancesco Fontana was an Italian lawyer and astronomer.He created woodcuts showing the Moon and the planets as he saw them through a self-constructed telescope...
- Giovanni Battista PiranesiGiovanni Battista PiranesiGiovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...
- Vincenzo PacettiVincenzo PacettiVincenzo Pacetti was an Italian sculptor and restorer from Castel Bolognese, particularly active in collecting and freely restoring and completing classical sculptures such as the Barberini Faun — his most famous work— the Hope Dionysus and the Athena of Velletri and...
External links
- Carlo Albacini on artnet.com