Costantino Corti
Encyclopedia
Costantino Corti was a Milan
ese sculptor who exhibited at Brera
and in Florence
, London
, and Paris
. Corti was most noted for his colossal statue Lucifer
. He also produced statues commemorating Federico Borromeo
, Conrad of Swabia, and the astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi
.
, brother of the former king of Naples. At the end of the 19th century, a traveler and amateur critic offered this assessment of the work:
Lucifer was reviewed by Francesco dall' Ongaro at rhapsodic length as a worthy representation of the Satanic ideal shared in the literary works of John Milton
or Lord Byron. Dall' Ongaro found the figure "androgynous," in keeping with the theological view that gender came into existence only with the creation of human beings and was not a characteristic of angels. The sculpture received notice for its "extraordinary vigor."
Corti's monument to Cardinal Borromeo was commissioned in 1861 for the plaza of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
. The statue was completed in 1864, and dedicated the following year. The statue of Giuseppe Piazzi, dedicated in 1871, is located in the main plaza of Ponte in Valtellina
, the astronomer's birthplace.
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
ese sculptor who exhibited at Brera
Brera
Brera is a district of Milan, ItalyBrera may also refer to:* the Palazzo Brera, a historical building in Brera; the palace also houses:** the Brera Art Academy** the Brera Art Gallery** the Brera Astronomical Observatory...
and in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Corti was most noted for his colossal statue Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
. He also produced statues commemorating Federico Borromeo
Federico Borromeo
Federico Borromeo was an Italian ecclesiastic, cardinal and archbishop of Milan.-Biography:Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borromeo, Count of Arona, and Margherita Trivulzio...
, Conrad of Swabia, and the astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi
Giuseppe Piazzi
Giuseppe Piazzi was an Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer. He was born in Ponte in Valtellina, and died in Naples. He established an observatory at Palermo, now the Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo – Giuseppe S...
.
Works
Corti's marble Lucifer (sometimes titled as Satan) was commissioned by the Count d'AquilaL'Aquila
L'Aquila is a city and comune in central Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 73,150 inhabitants, but has a daily presence in the territory of 100,000 people for study, tertiary activities, jobs and tourism...
, brother of the former king of Naples. At the end of the 19th century, a traveler and amateur critic offered this assessment of the work:
Lucifer was reviewed by Francesco dall' Ongaro at rhapsodic length as a worthy representation of the Satanic ideal shared in the literary works of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
or Lord Byron. Dall' Ongaro found the figure "androgynous," in keeping with the theological view that gender came into existence only with the creation of human beings and was not a characteristic of angels. The sculpture received notice for its "extraordinary vigor."
Corti's monument to Cardinal Borromeo was commissioned in 1861 for the plaza of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Biblioteca Ambrosiana
The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo , whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books...
. The statue was completed in 1864, and dedicated the following year. The statue of Giuseppe Piazzi, dedicated in 1871, is located in the main plaza of Ponte in Valtellina
Ponte in Valtellina
Ponte in Valtellina is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km northeast of Milan and about 9 km east of Sondrio...
, the astronomer's birthplace.
Sources
- Clement, Clara Erskine, and Laurence Hutton. Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works: A Handbook. Houghton, Mifflin, 1889, 5th ed., vol. 1, p. 162 online.
- Corna, Andrea. Dizionario della storia dell'arte in Italia. C. & C. Tarantola, 1915, p. 196.
- Thieme, Ulrich. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Leipzig, 1912, vol. 7, p. 485 online.
External links
- An 1886 photogravurePhotogravurePhotogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...
print depicting Lucifer from a more startling angle may be viewed (scroll down for larger image) at the WebCiteWebCiteWebCite is a service that archives web pages on demand. Authors can subsequently cite the archived web pages through WebCite, in addition to citing the original URL of the web page. Readers are able to retrieve the archived web pages indefinitely, without regard to whether the original web page is...
archive.