La Lettrice, also known as "Reading Girl", is a marble sculpture created by Pietro Magni in 1856, the original version is kept at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Milan),

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Unlike traditional sculptures, La Lettrice does not have an unexpressive goddess face, instead it has human facial expressions. The girl is sitting on a chair with no shoes, reading a book written by poet and playwright

Giovanni Battista Niccolini Giovanni Battista Niccolini (29 October 1782 – 20 September 1861) was an Italian poet and playwright of the Italian unification movement or Risorgimento. Life In 1782, Niccolini was born in Bagni San Giuliano to a family of limited means. He ...

. On the original sculpture, lines from the text can be read: one of them is celebrating the freedom of Lombardy from

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

persecution after the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

with an emotive expression with a tear on her cheek. La Lettrice represent

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as a young nation coming into maturity.

Further versions

After the creation of the original sculpture, other versions were created and can be seen in other places, another version of La Lettrice can be seen at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

References

Pietro Magni at Answers.com
*Julius Bryant, 'Bergonzoli's Amor degli angeli: the Victorian taste for contemporary Latin Sculpture', Apollo, CLVI (2002): 16-21. *http://www.palacioajuda.pt/pt-PT/coleccoes/escultura/ContentDetail.aspx?id=216 {{Authority control Sculptures in Italy Marble sculptures

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Further versions

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References