Carlo Nicoli - Biography

(1843-1915). Born in Carrara, Italy. He studied at the Accademia and won several awards from 1860 onwards. In 1864 he was awarded the gold medal of the Concorso d'Invenzione for his statue Morte di Pompeo. After graduating from the Accademia, he moved then to Florence where he worked under Giovanni Duprè. In 1868 he won the gold medal during the Art Exhibition in Florence for a small piece The Beggar. In 1870, he carved L'angelo sorvegliatore that was heavily criticized but later gained recognition including from King Alfonso of Spain which led to Nicoli being awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Carlo III. The piece was carved several more times and eventually the Spanish Education Board in Madrid bought it. Nicoli moved back to Carrara and in 1875 became Honorary Professor at the Accademia. In 1876, working in a large workshop in San Francesco, he carved the statue Cervantes for Alcalà de Henares – Cervantes’ birthplace and subsequently, in 1878, carved The sitting Cervantes. In 1885, after the death of Demetrio Carusi, Nicoli took over as the permanent sculpture teacher. Amongst his works are listed: Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cinsero which won the Fabbricotti prize and was later installed in the meeting room of the Senate-House, Madrid; Lord Beaconfield, Gladstone, Dickens and Garfield's portraits in Melbourne; Queen Victoria, Brighton; monument to the expulsion of the Portugese, 25 m high. bas-reliefs, statues and trophies in Bahia, Brasil; Garibaldi monument, Piazza del Teatro, Carrara; 18 statues for the Galleria Umberto I, Naples; Monument to T. Stepton, Durban; Monument to General Empecinado, Mexico; Monument to Hidalgo, Mexico; Our Lady with the Rosary for the library in the Vatican City; the statues and the altars in Nuestra Senora de Guadalupa Cathedral, Mexico. Nicoli died in 1915 in his Belvedere house in Avenza. His workshop in Carrara is now managed by his great-grandson. (Source: http://www.nicoli-sculptures.com/sculptures/carlo_nicoli.asp)

The works of Carlo Nicoli: