Furio Piccirilli (March 27, 1868 – January 17, 1949) was an Italian-born American sculptor and one of the

Piccirilli Brothers The Piccirilli brothers were an Italian family of renowned marble carvers and sculptors who carved many of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1920) in the ...

. Piccirilli was born in

Massa, Italy Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...

into a family with a long tradition of carving and sculpting. Like his older brother Attilio he was educated at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. With his brother Attilio he immigrated to England in the mid-1880s and then moved to the United States in 1888. With their father and brothers he helped establish the Piccirilli Brothers carving business. He was a well known and respected sculptor aside from being known in connection with his family firm. He was "considered the most creative and the best modeler" of all the brothers. Piccirilli Brothers carved the architectural sculpture for the Parliament Building in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Furio modeled the four larger-than-life seated figures that flank the side entrances. Furio returned to Italy to get married in 1921, and then moved there permanently in 1926. He died in Rome in 1949.

Selected works

* Five white marble portrait busts over Front Lobby doors,

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

Headquarters, Washington, D.C. **''Bust of

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...

'' (1911) **''Bust of

Isaac Shelby Isaac Shelby (December 11, 1750 – July 18, 1826) was the first and fifth Governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic an ...

'' (1911) **''Bust of

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

'' (1911) **''Bust of

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the ...

'' (1911) **''Bust of

John Stark Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Batt ...

'' (1911) *''Eurydice'' (1911), marble. Exhibited at 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition (silver medal). * Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915 ** Fountain of Spring ** Fountain of Summer ** Fountain of Autumn ** Fountain of Winter * Facade and West Gate (1915), California State Building, Balboa Park,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

* '' Portia'' (niche figure) (1915),

Martha Cook Building Martha Cook is a Collegiate Gothic women's residence hall at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The building houses approximately 140 women pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University. Women may live in the building th ...

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Ann Arbor * Seated figures flanking side entrances, Parliament Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba **'' Lord Selkirk'' **'' Marquis of Dufferin'' **''

General Wolfe James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. ...

'' **'' Sieur de La Vérendrye'' (1920)Baker, Marilyn, ''Symbols in Stone: Manitoba’s Third Legislative Building: The Art and Politics of a Public Building'', Hyperion Press Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1986 * ''Seal'' (1927),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, Manhattan, New York City. Another carving is located at

Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails thro ...

, Murrells Inlet,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. * Penguin (1936),

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

, Manhattan, New York CityPenguin
from SIRIS. File:DAR MCH, 1911 - FRONT LOBBY.png, Front Lobby (1911), DAR Headquarters, Washington, D.C. File:Piccirilli Furio Eurydice Perry & Calder p. 157.jpg, ''Eurydice'' (1911) File:Piccirilli Perry Sculpture of PPIE p.97.jpg, ''Fountain of Spring'' (1915), Panama-Pacific International Exposition File:Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, USA - panoramio (169).jpg, California State Building façade (1915), Balbo Park, San Diego, California File:F Piccirilli in San Diego 78.jpg, West Gate, California State Building. The spandrel figures represented the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. File:Portia.jpg, ''Portia'' (1915), Martha Cook Building, University of Michigan File:Piccirilli Furio La Vérendrye 1920 Manitoba.jpg, ''Sieur de La Vérendrye'' (1920), Manitoba Government Building, Winnipeg File:Manitoba Legislative Building dome 2014.1.jpg, Side entrance, Manitoba Government Building, Winnipeg File:Piccirilli Furio Seal 1927 MMA SAAM-S0001862.jpg, ''Seal'' (1927), Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Piccirilli Furio Penguin SAAM-S0001859.jpg, ''Penguin'' (1936), National Academy of Design

References

* Baker, Marilyn, ''Symbols in Stone: Manitoba’s Third Legislative Building: The Art and Politics of a Public Building'', Hyperion Press Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1986- * Koffler, Jerry and Eleanor, ''Freeing the Angel from the Stone: A Guide to Piccirilli Sculpture in New York City'', The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, New York, 2006 * Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, ''An Annotated Inventory of Outdoor Sculpture in Washtenaw County'', Independent Study, Eastern Michigan University, 1989 * Lombardi, Josef Vincent, ''Piccirilli: Life of an American Sculptor'', Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York. 1944 * Opitz, Glenn B., ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers'', Apollo Books, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1988 {{DEFAULTSORT:Piccirilli, Furio 1869 births 1949 deaths American sculptors of Italian descent Italian emigrants to the United States 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century Italian male artists American male sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors People from Massa Artists from the Bronx 19th-century American male artists