Enrique Alciati (died after 1912) was a French/Italian sculptor and teacher, born in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, France, who contributed various sculptures in France and Mexico. His most notable artwork is the

Winged Victory The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Nike of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the beg ...

that crowns the Independence Column in downtown

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Career

He began his career in Marseille as a sculptor following the French school. In 1886, he received an honorable mention for his works in the

Salon des Artistes Français 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 ...

, where he exhibited regularly until 1913. In all his works Alciati adhered to the classical tradition, while the influence of

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

is also quite prominent. It is thought he moved to

in 1889, where he quickly won critical acclaim for his

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

busts of Mexican personalities. In 1891 he was commissioned by the Mexican government to create statues of national heroes for

Paseo de la Reforma Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...

, in Mexico City. Of special mention is the statue of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Miguel López, for which Alciati won prizes at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the 1895

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Alciati was appointed professor of sculpture, decoration and modelling at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1895. At the beginning of the 20th century he was commissioned by then

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

to create most of the sculptures for the Independence Column in Mexico City under the direction of

Antonio Rivas Mercado Antonio Rivas Mercado (26 February 1853 – 3 January 1927) was a Mexican architect, engineer and restorer. His most notable project was the design of the Independence Column in downtown Mexico City. He was the father of Antonieta Rivas Mercado ...

. While he made the

s in Mexico and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, he cast the

s exclusively in the Italian city.

Sculptures

Most of his late works are spread over the Mexico City downtown area, some of these include: *Various busts of prominent Mexicans along Paseo de la Reforma. *A bust of Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez located in Santo Domingo Square, northwest of the Metropolitan Cathedral. *Sculptures that decorate the Postal Palace, across the street from Bellas Artes. *A statue of Benito Juárez given as a gift to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government and now located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, near the Department of State.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alciati, Enrique 19th-century Italian sculptors 19th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors 19th-century French sculptors 19th-century French male artists French male sculptors 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists 20th-century French sculptors 20th-century French male artists Sculptors from Marseille Porfiriato 20th-century deaths Year of death missing Year of birth missing

Career

Sculptures

See also

References