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Lot Essay
Upon its unveiling at the National Exhibition in Naples, L’Emancipazione della schiavitù was immediately applauded as a great work and acquired by King Vittorio Emanuele as an exemplar of modern art for a newly unified Italy. Similarly lauded when exhibited at the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition, Ginotti was complimented for so expertly texturing the carved surface of the marble that it became almost flesh-like, and this mastery is evident to the present example which retains is original surface, the skin dimpled to the touch. It was said that never before has a sculptor more perfectly mastered marble, that the effort to break her bonds has been studied with the greatest care, a lifelike and sympathetic portrayal achieved without the mawkish sensibility so evident in other Orientalist depictions. That despite the sensual nudity, the realism is compelling and emphasises the ideal meaning. That in the three-dimensional medium of sculpture, Ginotti individualizes the idea and the feeling of slavery.
Giacomo Ginotti first studied at the Barolo School of Varallo, before attending the Albertina Academy in his native Turin under Giovanni Giuseppe Albertoni (1806–1887), Odoardo Tabacchi (1831–1905) and Vincenzo Vela (1820–1891). This tutorage imbued Ginotti with the their same sensual style which favoured pictorial realism. In 1869 he moved to Rome, staying for about fifteen years and opening a studio, before returning to Turin in 1886 to execute a monumental fountain in the courtyard of the Palazzo Martini e Rossi and to be appointed professor at the Albertina Academy.
Whilst working in Rome, Ginotti first presented La Schiava in 1877 at the Esposizione Nazionale in Naples. It remains in Naples at the Royal Palace of Capodimonte museum, and is said to have been purchased by King Victor Emmanuel II for a new gallery of modern art by living artists at the Museo Capodimonte which was created in celebration of Italian unification. Another example of La Schiava in the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, was acquired in 1903 from the Ginotti family. It is said to be a subsequent version by Ginotti who used the plaster cast preserved in the Pinacoteca civica, Varallo, as the model. La Schiava was shown at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1878 where it was priced at 20,000 lire, and another example titled ‘Premiata all'esposizione universale di Parigi 1878' is preserved in a Turin private collection. In testament to the popular appeal of the subject, a commercial edition of bronze reductions measuring 50 cm. high was produced by the Fonderia Nelli, Rome, at the end of the 19th century. A reduced marble version, measuring 80 cm. high, was offered Christie’s, London, 29 October 1998, lot 180.
The present lot is a newly rediscovered example of Ginotti’s chef-d'œuvre. It was acquired by Major Sir Edward Feetham Coates, M.P., J.P., D.L. (1853-1921) a stockbroker and a Member of Parliament. He is known to have been an avid art collector and trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. It is not recorded where Sir Edward bought this statue, but it is possible that he ordered it from Ginotti having seen it at the 1878 Paris Exhibition, or perhaps as a result of attending the Liverpool autumn art exhibition in 1884, where Ginotti was awarded a gold medal for exhibiting another work, titled La Pétroleuse.
Cet habile statuaire dont le nom était jusqu’à ce jour à peu prés inconnu vient en effet de conquérir définitivement ses lettres de noblesse en envoyant à l’Exposition l’Emancipazione dalla schiavitù. […] Nous n’avons pas sous les yeux un marbre insensible, mais de la chair vivante dont tous les muscles semblent frémi à l’unisson; jamais statutaire n’a plus parfaitement assoupli une matière rebelled.
(C. Lamarre, A. Roux, L’Italie et l’Exposition de 1878, Paris, 1878)
Les Italiens ont aussi, en raison de la nudité que le motif autorise, une très grande sympathie pour les captives. Celle de M. Ginotti est une négresse. Elle a les mains enchaînées, et l'effort qu'elle fait pour briser ses liens détermine une tension des bras, des saillies de formes, qui sont étudiées avec le plus grand soin sur la nature vivante. M. Ginotti travaille à Rome dans un milieu où la mignardise n'est pas le premier souci de l'artiste.
(Le Temps, 24 August 1878)
È in questo ordine d ' indirizzo artistico , sempre più de terminato e preciso , che si affermano fra noi Ginotti e Belli ; l ' uno individualizzando l ' idea e il sentimento della schiavitù nella sua Schiava , l ' altro nel pensare ed eseguire un monumento che glorifica l ' idea che lo ha generato , mediante l ' azione . L ' idea adunque e il sentimento , ma espressi nell ' azione : la vita coi suoi caratteri plastici più espressivi , l ' individualizzazione del sentimento e del pen siero nel tipo.
(Pittura e scultura in Piemonte 1842-1891, Catalogo cronografico illustrato della esposizione retrospettiva 1892, Torino, 1893, p. 515.)
Giacomo Ginotti first studied at the Barolo School of Varallo, before attending the Albertina Academy in his native Turin under Giovanni Giuseppe Albertoni (1806–1887), Odoardo Tabacchi (1831–1905) and Vincenzo Vela (1820–1891). This tutorage imbued Ginotti with the their same sensual style which favoured pictorial realism. In 1869 he moved to Rome, staying for about fifteen years and opening a studio, before returning to Turin in 1886 to execute a monumental fountain in the courtyard of the Palazzo Martini e Rossi and to be appointed professor at the Albertina Academy.
Whilst working in Rome, Ginotti first presented La Schiava in 1877 at the Esposizione Nazionale in Naples. It remains in Naples at the Royal Palace of Capodimonte museum, and is said to have been purchased by King Victor Emmanuel II for a new gallery of modern art by living artists at the Museo Capodimonte which was created in celebration of Italian unification. Another example of La Schiava in the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, was acquired in 1903 from the Ginotti family. It is said to be a subsequent version by Ginotti who used the plaster cast preserved in the Pinacoteca civica, Varallo, as the model. La Schiava was shown at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1878 where it was priced at 20,000 lire, and another example titled ‘Premiata all'esposizione universale di Parigi 1878' is preserved in a Turin private collection. In testament to the popular appeal of the subject, a commercial edition of bronze reductions measuring 50 cm. high was produced by the Fonderia Nelli, Rome, at the end of the 19th century. A reduced marble version, measuring 80 cm. high, was offered Christie’s, London, 29 October 1998, lot 180.
The present lot is a newly rediscovered example of Ginotti’s chef-d'œuvre. It was acquired by Major Sir Edward Feetham Coates, M.P., J.P., D.L. (1853-1921) a stockbroker and a Member of Parliament. He is known to have been an avid art collector and trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. It is not recorded where Sir Edward bought this statue, but it is possible that he ordered it from Ginotti having seen it at the 1878 Paris Exhibition, or perhaps as a result of attending the Liverpool autumn art exhibition in 1884, where Ginotti was awarded a gold medal for exhibiting another work, titled La Pétroleuse.
Cet habile statuaire dont le nom était jusqu’à ce jour à peu prés inconnu vient en effet de conquérir définitivement ses lettres de noblesse en envoyant à l’Exposition l’Emancipazione dalla schiavitù. […] Nous n’avons pas sous les yeux un marbre insensible, mais de la chair vivante dont tous les muscles semblent frémi à l’unisson; jamais statutaire n’a plus parfaitement assoupli une matière rebelled.
(C. Lamarre, A. Roux, L’Italie et l’Exposition de 1878, Paris, 1878)
Les Italiens ont aussi, en raison de la nudité que le motif autorise, une très grande sympathie pour les captives. Celle de M. Ginotti est une négresse. Elle a les mains enchaînées, et l'effort qu'elle fait pour briser ses liens détermine une tension des bras, des saillies de formes, qui sont étudiées avec le plus grand soin sur la nature vivante. M. Ginotti travaille à Rome dans un milieu où la mignardise n'est pas le premier souci de l'artiste.
(Le Temps, 24 August 1878)
È in questo ordine d ' indirizzo artistico , sempre più de terminato e preciso , che si affermano fra noi Ginotti e Belli ; l ' uno individualizzando l ' idea e il sentimento della schiavitù nella sua Schiava , l ' altro nel pensare ed eseguire un monumento che glorifica l ' idea che lo ha generato , mediante l ' azione . L ' idea adunque e il sentimento , ma espressi nell ' azione : la vita coi suoi caratteri plastici più espressivi , l ' individualizzazione del sentimento e del pen siero nel tipo.
(Pittura e scultura in Piemonte 1842-1891, Catalogo cronografico illustrato della esposizione retrospettiva 1892, Torino, 1893, p. 515.)