Читать книгу The Museo Vincenzo Vela in Ligornetto - Marc-Joachim Wasmer - Страница 13

In 1873, Charles II, Duke of Brunswick, died in exile in Geneva. As an eminent Swiss sculptor, Vela was commissioned by the duke’s executors to create a Neo-Gothic mausoleum and, together with his friend, the Ticino architect Antonio Croci, he designed a model on the lines of the Scaliger Tombs in Verona (IV). Work on the two life-size statues in plaster and the monumental Equestrian Statue (I) were well underway when the two lawyers who had commissioned the piece requested some unwarranted changes, which turned out to be a mere pretext. Once again, Vela was the victim of shady machinations and, feeling that his creative freedom had been curbed, he rescinded the contract. The work, whose imposing scale would have made it a crowning achievement of his career, was completed in a relatively short time by other sculptors supervised by the architect Jean Franel and was unveiled on the Quai du Mont-Blanc in Geneva in 1879.

Unknown, Vincenzo Vela and His Coworkers (Turin), 1855–1860 (1938), salt print based on the original photography.

Vincenzo Vela, Bozzetto of the Monument to Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (first version), 1863, terracotta and patinated plaster.

Vincenzo Vela, The Victims of Labour, 1882, plaster original.