Ettore Ximenes
Encyclopedia
Ettore Ximenes was an Italian
sculptor
of mostly religious
and mythological
subjects.
Academy of Fine Arts. His training was completed in close contact with the Neapolitan school of Verism as a pupil of Domenico Morelli
and Stanislao Lista
at the Naples Academy from 1872 on. He also established a close relationship with Vincenzo Gemito
.
He returned to Palermo
in 1874 and won a competition for a four-year grant, which enabled him to study Renaissance sculpture in Florence. He exhibited work in 1878 in Paris
, where he came into contact with Auguste Rodin
and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
. On returning to Italy, he established his place on the art scene with a broad repertoire of portraits, genre works and funerary statuary, in which his initial realism gave way to Symbolist and Neo-Renaissance elements. In addition to sculpture, he also produced illustrations for the works of Edmondo De Amicis
published by Treves.
Ximenes was involved in all the major official monumental projects in Italy
from the 1880s on and devoted his energies as from 1911 primarily to commissions for important public works in São Paulo, Kiev, New York and Buenos Aires.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
of mostly religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and mythological
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
subjects.
Biography
Ximenes initially embarked on literary studies but then took up sculpture and attended the courses at the PalermoPalermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
Academy of Fine Arts. His training was completed in close contact with the Neapolitan school of Verism as a pupil of Domenico Morelli
Domenico Morelli
Domenico Morelli was an Italian painter, one of the most important Neapolitan artists of the 19th century. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Naples in 1836. His early works are Romantic and contain imagery drawn from the Middle Ages and Byron...
and Stanislao Lista
Stanislao Lista
Stanislao Lista was an Italian sculptor active in Naples.He was teacher at the academy of fine arts in Naples where he was teacher of artists likeVincenzo Gemito, Francesco Jerace, Ettore Ximenes,Costantino Barbella,Antonio Mancini....
at the Naples Academy from 1872 on. He also established a close relationship with Vincenzo Gemito
Vincenzo Gemito
Vincenzo Gemito was an Italian sculptor and artist.Although he worked in various studios of well known artists in his native Naples, Rome and Paris, he is considered to have largely been self-taught, the reason he produced such distinctive works for that time, replacing sentiment with outstanding...
.
He returned to Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
in 1874 and won a competition for a four-year grant, which enabled him to study Renaissance sculpture in Florence. He exhibited work in 1878 in 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...
, where he came into contact with Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was a French sculptor and painter.Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1844 and won the Prix de Rome in 1854, and moving to Rome to find inspiration, he there studied the works of...
. On returning to Italy, he established his place on the art scene with a broad repertoire of portraits, genre works and funerary statuary, in which his initial realism gave way to Symbolist and Neo-Renaissance elements. In addition to sculpture, he also produced illustrations for the works of Edmondo De Amicis
Edmondo De Amicis
Edmondo De Amicis was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet and short-story writer. His best-known book is the children's novel Heart.-Early career:...
published by Treves.
Ximenes was involved in all the major official monumental projects in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
from the 1880s on and devoted his energies as from 1911 primarily to commissions for important public works in São Paulo, Kiev, New York and Buenos Aires.
Works
There are several significant works by Ximenes in the United States. These include:- Giovanni da Verrazzano http://downtownexpress.com/de_348/100year.html, Battery ParkBattery ParkBattery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
, Manhattan, New York, 1909 - Dante AlighieriDante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
in Dante ParkDante ParkDante Park or Dante Square is a park in front of Lincoln Center in New York City, New York.The park was established by Italian-Americans in honor of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Carlo Barsotti, editor of the paper Il Progresso Italo-Americano, originally wanted to gather funds for a much more...
at Lincoln Center, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Meridian Hill ParkMeridian Hill ParkMeridian Hill Park, is located in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Columbia Heights in the United States. The 12 acres of landscaped grounds are maintained by the National Park Service as part of Rock Creek Park, but are not contiguous with the main part of that park...
, Washington D.C. - castings of the same work, 1921