Ignazio Jacometti (16 January 1819 in

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 ...

– 22 April 1883 in Rome) was an Italian sculptor. He was a professor of sculpture 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 ...

Biography

He was born the third of five children to Antonio and Anna Maria Lang. His family was linked to the ancient aristocratic family of the

Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: *Angel ...

. His parents initially wanted him to study law, but in 1835, Ignazio abandoned the Collegio Nazareno, where he had enrolled in 1828, and attended instead the ''Accademia di San Luca'' in Rome.Jacometti, Ignazio Entry by Simona Sclocchi in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 62 (2004)
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By 1850, he had a studio in

Piazza Barberini Piazza Barberini is a large piazza in the ''centro storico'' or city center of Rome, Italy and situated on the Quirinal Hill. It was created in the 16th century but many of the surrounding buildings have subsequently been rebuilt. The current ...

, just below where he lived, where he sculpted the statue of ''Bacio di Giuda'' (Kiss of Judas), encouraged by the painter

Tommaso Minardi Tommaso Minardi (December 4, 1787 – January 12, 1871) was an Italian painter and author on art theory, active in Faenza, Rome, Perugia, and other towns. He painted in styles that transitioned from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. Biography Mi ...

, professor in the

. When

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

visited the studio in August 1852, he decided to acquire the sculpture and place it on 6 December 1855, flanking the atrium at the base of the

Scala Santa The ( en, Holy Stairs, it, Scala Santa) are a set of 28 white marble steps that are Roman Catholic relics located in an edifice on extraterritorial property of the Holy See in Rome, Italy proximate to the Archbasilica of Saint John in Lateran ...

San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

. In 1854, the secretary of the Papal state, Giovanni Antonelli, commissioned the statuary group of ''Ecce Homo'', which now stands across from the Bacio group. Ignazio completed a statue of ''Moses'' (1857) for the Column of the Immacolata that was erected in 1856 in front of the palace of

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

Piazza di Spagna Piazza di Spagna ("Spanish Square"), at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome, Italy. It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. There is also the famed Colum ...

. It is on one of the four pedestals upholding the column, along with statues of David, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. In 1855 he was resident professor at the Accademia di S. Luca, then in 1861, chair of nude sculpture at the Accademia di San Luca. That same year he became councillor of the institute and secretary of the academic council until 1863. In 1879 he was elected president but his office lasted only a year. In 1857, he completed the stucco model of the ''Deposition''; a marble counterpart was never completed. In the Basilica of

San Paolo fuori le Mura The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls ( it, Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the ...

, which had been recently been rebuilt after a fire in 1823, Jacometti completed the angels that hold the heraldic shield of Pius IX that found over the entrance doorway. The shield was carved by

Giovanni Meli Giovanni Meli (4 March 1740 – 20 December 1815) was an Italian poet. Meli was born in Palermo. , after studying philosophy and medicine he worked as a doctor in Cinisi in the province of Palermo. It was during this early period of his life th ...

. He also made the statue of St Peter at the end of the nave, flanking the entrance to the tomb of Paul. Alessandro Revelli completed the paired ''St Paul with the sword'' inside the church. In the center of the piazzetta before the church of

San Bartolomeo all'Isola The Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island ( it, Basilica di San Bartolomeo all'Isola , la, Basilica S. Bartholomaei in Insula) is a titular minor basilica, located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 998 by Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor and co ...

is a four-sided guglia (pyramidal shape) with saints in niches, erected here in 1869. In 1870, he was nominated director of the Papal Galleries and Museums, and was influential in compiling an inventory of the possessions. In the year, Pius IX named him knight, then commendatore of the

Order of St Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

. In 1879 he was president of the Academy of St. Luke for a year. His son, Francesco, published a biography of his life.

Works

He also completed numerous funereal and other monuments. Among those are the monuments for: *''Count Luigi Pelagallo'' in San Bartolomeo della Pietà a Fermo (1854) *''Luigi Lezzani'' in the church of San Girolamo degli Schiavoni (1862) *''Cardinal Gaspare Bernardo Pianetti di Jesi'', bas-relief of the ''Madonna and four angels'' for the funereal monument in the church of

San Salvatore in Lauro San Salvatore in Lauro is a Catholic church in central Rome, Italy. It is located on a piazza of the same name in the rione Ponte. It stands on Via Vecchiarelli, just south of the Lungotevere Tor di Nona and north of via dei Coronari. Within Rom ...

(1862) *''Abbot Pigiani'' in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (1863) *''Countess Piccolomini Moroni Mozzi'' in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (1866). *Monument to Pius IX'' in the piazza of the church of

(1869) *''St Paul of the Cross'' one of the 39 Founders statues in

St Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...

(1876) * ''Statue of Pius IX in prayer'' (1880), commissioned by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

for the crypt of the basilica di

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 ...

. *''Madonna with four angels'' for the monument of the Immaculate Conception in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

*Design for ''Monument to the Immaculate Conception'' was commissioned for

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1881."Jacometti, Ignazio", Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacometti, Ignazio 1819 births 1883 deaths Artists from Rome 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 19th-century Italian male artists