Grazioso Rusca (1757 – 18 June 1829) was a Swiss sculptor who was also active in northern Italy.

Biography

Originally from

Rancate Rancate was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 5 April 2009 the municipalities of Arzo, Capolago, Genestrerio, Mendrisio, Rancate and Tremona Tremona was a municipality in the district of ...

in the Swiss canton of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, he was trained as a stonemason by architects including

Simone Cantoni Simone Cantoni (Muggio, Switzerland , 1736- Gorgonzœla, Milan, Italy , 3 March 1818) was a Swiss architect of the Neoclassical period, active mainly in Northern Italy. Biography His father was his first mentor, but sent him as a young man to R ...

. He worked at the

Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano The Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano ("Venerable Factory of the Duomo of Milan") is a 600-year-old organization that was established to supervise the construction of the Cathedral of Milan (the "Duomo"). The organization is still active and ...

in Milan where he created reliefs for the cathedral's facade. In the 1880s, he worked with Austrian architect

Leopold Pollack Leopoldo Pollack (1751 – 13 March 1806) was an Austrian-born Italian architect who was active in Milan where he became one of the leading proponents of Neoclassical architecture. Career In Vienna, Pollack was trained by Paul Ulrich Trientl be ...

at the College of Pavia, creating two large statues representing Philosophy and Theology. From 1796 to 1797, his decorations for the

Palazzo Belgioioso The Palazzo Belgioioso (also spelled ''Belgiojoso'') is a palatial residence in the northern Italian city of Milan, completed in 1781 in a Neoclassical style by Giuseppe Piermarini. Considered to be one of Milan's architectural treasures, the man ...

included bas-reliefs depicting

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

helping Italy. In

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

's Cappella Colleoni, he sculpted the two angels supporting Pollack's altar table. Again working with Pollack in Bergamo, he decorated the high altar at

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

and created the bas-reliefs of Apollo and the muses at the Palazzo Agosti. In 1805, he replaced Carlo Maria Giudici at the Fabbrica del Duomo, earning him a position of great prestige as head of one of the major sculpture workshops of the times. His son, Gerolamo and his nephew Antonio also were employed by the Fabbrica del Duomo.

Selected works

*Madonna del Rosario,

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

, Milan "Grazioso Rusca: Opere"
''Appacuvi''. Retrieved 14 September 2012 *High altar statue, Santa Maria Nuova, Milan *Statua della Pace (1802),

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

Dii Consentes The ''Dii Consentes'', also known as ''Di'' or ''Dei Consentes'' (once ''Dii Complices''), is an ancient list of twelve major deities, six gods and six goddesses, in the pantheon of Ancient Rome. Their gilt statues stood in the Roman Forum, a ...

(c. 1812),

Palazzo Saporiti The Palazzo Saporiti, also known as Palazzo Rocca-Saporiti, is a historic Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical mansion in the centre of the north Italian city of Milan. History The mansion was commissioned in 1800 by Gaetano Belloni who manage ...

, Milan *Sculptural decorations,

Arco della Pace Porta Sempione ("Simplon Gate") is a city gate of Milan, Italy. The name is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district (''quartiere''), a part of the Zone 1 of Milan, Zone 1 division (the historic city centre), including ...

, Milan *Statue of the Redeemer,

Santa Maria del Carmine, Milan Santa Maria del Carmine is a church in Milan, Italy. It was built in 1446. History In 1268, the Carmelites obtained a site near the Castello Sforzesco where, starting from the 14th century, they built a convent with an annexed church. The latter ...

*St Augustin and the child on the beach,

Basilica of San Gaudenzio The Basilica of San Gaudenzio is a church in Novara, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the highest point in the city. It is dedicated to Gaudentius of Novara, first Christian bishop of the city. It was built between 1577 and 1690 following the des ...

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

"Grazioso Rusca: Sant'Agostino vescovo e il bambino sulla spiaggia"
''Associazione Storico-Culturale S. Agostino''. Retrieved 14 September 2012

References

This article is based on Wikipedia's Italian version.

Bibliography

*Luigi Angelini, ''L'Arte Neoclassica in Bergamo. Gli interni del Palazzo Maffeis ora De Beni in via Pignolo 74'', in La Rivista di Bergamo, July 1965, 3. *Giuseppe Martinola, ''Inventario d'arte del Mendrisiotto'', I, Edizioni dello Stato, Bellinzona 1975, 433–440. *R. Ferrante, ''Palazzi nobili di Bergamo'', Bergamo 1988, 106. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusca, Grazioso Swiss sculptors 1757 births 1829 deaths People from Ticino

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

Bibliography