Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus reliefs, memorials and large equestrian monuments in bronze and marble. In 1848, Marochetti settled in England, where he received commissions from
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
. Marochetti received great recognition during his lifetime, being made a baron in Italy and was awarded the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
by the French government.
Biography
Early life
Carlo Marochetti was born in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...
, where his father, Vincenzo, a former priest, was a local government official and professor of eloquence at Turin University, but after the family moved to Paris, Carlo was brought up as a French citizen.
He studied at the
Lycée Napoléon
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
and then studied sculpture at the
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
in Paris where his teachers were
François Joseph Bosio and
Antoine-Jean Gros.
At the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
in 1827 he exhibited a marble statue of ''A Young Girl playing with a Dog'' which won a silver medal.
Between 1822 and 1830 Marochetti frequently spent long periods in Rome where his mother was resident and where he collaborated with
François-Joseph Duret
Françoise-Joseph Duret (12 November 1729 – 7 August 1816) was a French sculptor. He was the father and teacher of Francisque Joseph Duret.
Born at Valenciennes, the son of Charles Durez, of Spanish origin, Duret was prince of the Academy ...
and
Antoine Étex and worked briefly at the studio of the Danish sculptor
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danish and Icelandic sculptor medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a working-class Dani ...
.
Career in France
From 1832 to 1848 Marochetti lived in Paris and largely adopted a neo-classical Romantic style of sculpture. He married Camille de Maussion in 1835 and together they had two sons and a daughter.
In Paris, Marochetti received two significant commissions. One was for a relief panel of the
Battle of Jemappes
The Battle of Jemappes (6 November 1792) took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium), near Mons during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. One of the first major offe ...
on the
Arc de Triomphe and the other for a large marble statue group, the ''Elevation of Mary Magdalene'' for the altar of the
Church of La Madeleine.
He delayed completing the altar group to create a monumental equestrian statue of
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy
Emmanuel Philibert ( it, Emanuele Filiberto; pms, Emanuel Filibert; 8 July 1528 – 30 August 1580), known as ( pms, Testa 'd fer, links=no; "Ironhead", because of his military career), was Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580. He is remembered fo ...
which he donated to the city of Turin.
The king of Sardinia,
Charles Albert rewarded Marochetti for his gift by making him a baron of the kingdom of Italy.
Before being sent to Italy the Philibert statue was displayed in the courtyard of the
Louvre Palace
The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and t ...
during 1838. This effectively established Marochetti's reputation for creating equestrian monuments and led to him being commissioned to create such a statue of
Ferdinand, Duke of Orleans, which stood in the courtyard of the Louvre for four years.
In 1839 the French government awarded him the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
.
During 1840 Marochetti was competing to win both the commission for a monument to the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...
for the city of Glasgow and for the commission to design the tomb of
Napoleon for
Les Invalides
The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...
in Paris.
Although he won the Glasgow commission, Marochetti's proposal for the tomb attracted wide-spread public criticism in France and was rejected.
When his father died, Marochetti inherited the family château at
Vaux-sur-Seine outside of Paris and served as mayor of the town there from 1846.
After the fall of the
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...
in 1848, and his subsequent failure to win a seat in the National Assembly, Marochetti followed the French king
Louis-Philippe into exile in the United Kingdom.
Career in London
Marochetti spent the greater part of his time from 1848 until his death in London. He lived on
Onslow Square, and maintained a large studio and his own foundry in the adjacent Sydney Mews.
In his studio, Marochetti created an equestrian statue, in plaster, of
Richard Coeur de Lion which was displayed at the
Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
during 1851.
A public campaign led to a bronze copy being made which was eventually, in 1860, erected in front of the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
on the orders of
Prince Albert
Prince Albert most commonly refers to:
*Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria
*Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco
Prince Albert may also refer to:
Royalty
* Albert I of Belgium ...
.
From his studio and foundry Marochetti, and his workforce, produced numerous statues, memorials and equestrian monuments plus smaller pieces. He also experimented with the use of new materials and the creation of multi-coloured, or polychromic, sculptures.
Between 1853 and 1855 Marochetti created three life-size statues, plus busts and garden ornaments, for the
Kingston Lacy country mansion in Dorset.
His equestrian statues included those of Viscount Combermere in Chester and Sir
Mark Cubbon in Bangalore and for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in Glasgow.
Works featuring mourning angels by Marochetti include the monument in
St. Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...
to Viscounts
William
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...
and
Frederick Melbourne, the Crimean War memorial at the
HaydarpaÅŸa Cemetery
Haydarpaşa Cemetery, also known as Haidar Pasha Cemetery, Istanbul, ( tr, Haydarpaşa İngiliz Mezarlığı), located in the Haydarpaşa neighborhood of Üsküdar district in the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a burial ground established ini ...
in Istanbul, dating from 1856–58, and his ''Angel of the Resurrection'' for the
Cawnpore memorial in India from 1862-65.
From 1864 Marochetti collaborated with
Sir Edwin Landseer on the four bronze lions to be placed at the base of
Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, and cast them at his Sydney Mews foundry.
[ He experimented in using coloured marble following the work of John Gibson and a coloured statuette of Queen Victoria was exhibited at a London studio but is now lost.]
Not all of Marochetti's designs were so successful. His proposed design for the tomb of the Duke of Wellington was rejected. Marochetti's equestrian monument to George Washington for the 1855 New York Exhibition was destroyed by fire. In the 1860s he championed a scheme for a set of statues celebrating British engineers to be erected in the churchyard of St Margaret's, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...
. The scheme was rejected but three of the statues, of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
, Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father. ...
and Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as o ...
were erected separately elsewhere. His monumental statue of Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Excheque ...
in Parliament Square was melted down and the metal used for the smaller model of Peel by Matthew Noble which replaced it.
With the support of the exiled Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.
As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...
, Marochetti had first met Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1849 and subsequently received a number of royal commissions. Marochetti's first royal commission in England was for a marble portrait bust of Prince Albert in 1849, which was commercially reproduced in Parian ware by the Mintons
Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...
company in 1862. That year Queen Victoria commissioned Marochetti to produce a portrait bust of herself as a birthday gift for Prince Albert and that too was reproduced by Mintons for the retail market. Rather than a crown, he depicted her wearing a head piece of various flowers, including roses and shamrocks, to represent the nations of the United Kingdom.
Marochetti designed Victoria's memorial to Princess Elizabeth and a bust of Prince Albert at Newport Minster on the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
. He also created the marble recumbent effigies for the tomb of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore
Frogmore is an estate within the Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England. It comprises , of primarily private gardens managed by the Crown Estate. It is the location of Frogmore House, a royal retreat, and Frogmore Cottage. ...
in Windsor Great Park. He was commissioned to make the seated figure of Albert for the Albert Memorial
The Albert Memorial, directly north of the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, London, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic ...
in Kensington Gardens. However the first version was rejected by the architect of the monument, Sir George Gilbert Scott, and Marochetti died before a satisfactory second version could be completed. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...
1861 and a full academician in 1866.
Marochetti died, suddenly, at Passy in Paris and was buried at the Vaux-sur-Seine cemetery.
Selected public works
1830-1839
1840-1849
1850-1859
1860 and later
Other works
* Seated statue in marble of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 1st Baronet Jejeebhoy of Bombay CMG (15 July 1783 – 14 April 1859), also spelt Jeejeebhoy or Jeejebhoy, was an Indian- Parsi merchant and philanthropist. He made a huge fortune in cotton and the opium trade with Ch ...
, 1857, in the Asiatic Society Library, Mumbai Town Hall. Two versions in bronze of the same design, at the entrance to the JJ Institute and on Narriman Road, are also known.
* Memorial, in marble and black stone, to ''Sixteen Officers of the Engineers of 1857-58'', c. 1862, in St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata. The memorial has a central inscription listing the names of British officers killed in the Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
with a surround containing their portraits in carved relief above a panel depicting the Siege of Lucknow
The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British The Residency, Lucknow, Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel Sepoy, sepoys (Indian soldiers in the East India Company, British East India Company's Army) during the Indian ...
.
* Bust of Queen Victoria, Haddo House
Haddo House is a Scottish stately home located near Tarves in Aberdeenshire, approximately north of Aberdeen (). It has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1979.
The Gordons, who later became the Earls of Aberdeen and Marques ...
, Scotland
* East Devonshire Regiment Crimean War memorial, Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 14 ...
* Memorial plaque, with portrait medallion, to Prince Albert, Sts Thomas Minster
Sts Thomas Minster, Newport Minster or The Minster Church of Sts Thomas, until 2008 Sts Thomas Church, is civically recognised as the main Anglican church on the Isle of Wight. Unusually, it is dedicated to both Thomas Becket and Thomas the Apost ...
, Newport, Isle of Wight
* Monument to Princess Elizabeth, 1635-1650, Sts Thomas Minster, Newport, Isle of Wight, 1856
* Tomb of Lady Margaret Leveson Gower, Church of St Mary Magdalene, Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire, c. 1858
* Statue of St Michael, Parish Church of Champmotteux, Essonne
Essonne () is a department of France in the southern ÃŽle-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.[Henri Gatien Bertrand
Henri-Gatien Bertrand (28 March 1773 – 31 January 1844) was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Under the Empire he was the third and last Grand marshal of the palace, the head of the Mi ...]
, 1773-1844, at Châteauroux, Indre
Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...
, France
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marochetti, Carlo
1805 births
1867 deaths
19th-century French sculptors
19th-century Italian male artists
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
Artists from Paris
Artists from Turin
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Italian expatriates in France
Italian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Italian male sculptors
Lycée Henri-IV alumni
Pupils of Antoine-Jean Gros
Royal Academicians