Antonio Giovanni Lanzirotti (1839-1911) - The Dance

Antonio-Giovanni Lanzirotti, "The Dance", large sculpture in white Carrara marble, signed.

Antonio Giovanni Lanzirotti, born in Palermo on May 9, 1839 and died on February 28, 1911, is an Italian sculptor who worked in France and Italy. He fought for the independence of Sicily, then of Italy. And was with Auguste Clésinger the director of the photosculpture workshops of the Société Générale de Photosculpture de France.
He completed his studies in Italy and then went to Paris, where he was a student of Joseph Michel Ange Pollet.
His first sculpted work was the Education of Bacchus, exhibited at the 1855 Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1858-1859, he presented to the prefect of the Seine the outline of a project for an “allegorical group in honor of H.M. Emperor Napoleon III, which could be placed between the gardens of the courtyard of the new Louvre ( place Napoléon).
In 1863, he was called to Turin, where King Victor-Emmanuel II ordered the statues of Count Verde and Duke Victor-Amédée I. He sent the statues of La Pensierosa (The Thinker) and La Schiava grisea (The Greek Slave) to Paris. The first now decorates a niche on the ground floor of the north wing of the Cour Carrée of the Louvre Museum. And the second is part of the collections of the Jules-Chéret Museum of Fine Arts, in Nice.
In 1860, Lanzirotti joined Giuseppe Garibaldi's movement, and was taken prisoner at Cap Corse. He was imprisoned for two months in Gaete, then returned to Paris. There, he sculpted: Amore punito (Love punished); La Danza (The Dance); the mausoleum of Count Tyzhieviez, and a bather that he exhibited at the Salon. He also sculpted Il Piacere (Pleasure) and La Follia (Madness).
He also created numerous busts and portraits, including those of Cassagnac, Émile de Girardin, Doctor Armand Trousseau, Beaumarchais, and King Umberto I of Italy.
In 1867 he was the director of the photosculpture workshops of the Société Générale de Photosculpture de France, alongside Auguste Clésinger.
Lanzirotti was honored by numerous academies, and received the insignia of the Knight's Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the insignia of the Order of Isabella the Catholic. He was also inducted into the Order of the Crown of Italy.

Lanzirotti is recognized as one of the best sculptors of his time. “La Danse,” produced during his stay in Paris, features a half-naked young woman dancing wrapped in a drape that reveals her breasts; as in a still image, Lanzirotti traps it in marble in an intricate twisting pose, arms raised and fabric swinging and quivering.

In excellent condition, signed on the base by A.G. Lanzirotti.

Measures
H cm 93