Antonietta Raphaël (1895 – 5 September 1975) was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

heritage and

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

birth, who founded the ''

Scuola Romana Scuola romana or Scuola di via Cavour was a 20th-century art movement defined by a group of painters within Expressionism and active in Rome between 1928 and 1945, and with a second phase in the mid-1950s. Birth of the movement In November 192 ...

(Roman School)'' movement together with her husband Mario Mafai. She was an artist characterised by a profound anti-academic conviction, also affirmed by her sculptures which, especially after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, dominated her output. They highlighted the tender and vibrant carnality present in stone, with works such as ''Miriam dormiente (Sleeping Miriam)'' and ''Nemesis''.

Biography

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

's daughter, Raphael moved to London with her mother after her father's death. There she attended the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, and came to know

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American and British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1910. Early in his ...

and

Ossip Zadkine Ossip Alexeevich Zadkine (; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Russian and French artist of the School of Paris. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born o ...

, the renowned

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

sculptor of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

origin and member of the

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

movement. However, Antonietta in those days concentrated on studying music, and eventually graduated in piano at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

and teaching '' solfeggio'' in the East End. At her mother's death in 1919, she moved to Paris and in 1924 to Rome. In 1925 Antonietta attended the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The of ...

, befriended artist Mario Mafai and went to live with him, in a long-lasting relationship. They had three daughters:

Miriam Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...

(1926), a journalist, partner of Communist politician

Giancarlo Pajetta Giancarlo Pajetta (24 June 1911 – 13 September 1990) was an Italian communist politician. Biography Pajetta was born in a working-class district of Turin to Carlo, a bank employee, and Elvira Berrini, an elementary school teacher. He attende ...

; Simona (1928) member of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic (), or simply the Senate ( ), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform iden ...

and author; and Giulia (1930), a scenographer and costume designer.

Career

In 1927, Raphael and Mafai moved to an apartment in via Cavour in Rome which quickly became a meeting point for literati including

Giuseppe Ungaretti Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experi ...

and Leonardo Sinisgalli, as well as young artists including Scipione, Renato Marino Mazzacurati, and Corrado Cagli. This represented the birth of the

. In 1929, Raphael exhibited for the first time at ''I Sindacale'' of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, supported by art historian

Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 1 ...

. In 1930 she and Mafai went to Paris, and there she began to concentrate on sculpture rather than painting. In 1932 she was in London and met

. She then moved permanently to Rome and started working on her masterpiece ''Fuga da Sodoma (Escape from Sodom)'', working as a guest of sculptor Ettore Colla in his studio for a year. Between 1936 and 1938 she exhibited at the ''Sindacali''. Her

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

shapes, during this phase, show a lack of influence from any Italian sculpture movement of the period, but there are distinct references to Emile-Antoine Bourdelle. When the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout the history of antisemitism and Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Jewish "disabilities". During the 1930s and early 1940s, some law ...

were implemented, Raphael escaped to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

together with her husband and daughters. The family was assisted and kept safe by art collector Emilio Jesi and philanthropist Alberto Della Ragione. During

(from 1943 to 1945) Raphael stayed in Rome with her daughter Giulia, then moved again to work in

with an influential group of older sculptors, though one that did not have a common style. This included

Edoardo Alfieri Edoardo Alfieri (1913 in Foggia, Italy – 1998 in Sanremo, Italy) was an Italian sculpture, sculptor. Although he was born in Foggia, southern Italy, his family was of Piedmont, Piemontese origin and soon moved to Genoa, where he spent his ...

, Nanni Servettaz, Raimondi, Camillo Maine, Lorenzo Garaventa, Sandro Cherchi,

Agenore Fabbri Agenore Fabbri (20 May 1911 – 7 November 1998) was an Italian sculptor and painter. He moved between a rigorous expressionism and experimental informalism. Biography Fabbri was born in Quarrata, Tuscany. At the age of 12, he attended the Sc ...

, Roberto Bertagnin (brother-in-law of

Arturo Martini Arturo Martini (1889–1947) was a leading Italian sculptor between World War I and II. He moved between a very vigorous (almost ancient Roman) classicism and modernism. He was associated with public sculpture in fascist Italy, but later renoun ...

) and Luigi Navone. In 1948, Raphael exhibited at the

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Architecture Biennale (), which are held in alternating ye ...

, after a difficult period of financial restrictions. As from 1952 art critics began fully appreciating Raphael's work and selected pieces were exhibited at the Galleria dello Zodiaco in Rome. In 1956 she travelled to China, where she exhibited in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

her artwork together with

Aligi Sassu Aligi Sassu (17 July 1912 – 17 July 2000) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Biography Aligi Sassu was born in Milan, Lombardy, the son of Lina Pedretti (from Parma, Emilia) and Antonio Sassu (from Sassari, Sardinia). His father was one ...

, Giulio Turcato and others, while continuing to participate in other exhibitions throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. At the 8th ''

Rome Quadriennale The Rome Quadriennale ( Italian: La Q''uadriennale di Roma'', also called in English the ''Rome Quadrennial'') is the Italian national institution entrusted with the task of researching about and promoting Italian contemporary art. It is a foun ...

'' of 1959-1960, dedicated to the

, many of her works were presented to the public, placing her among the greater exponents of this school. By this stage, Raphael was working almost exclusively on sculpture, leaving aside painting.

Critical appraisal

Due to her free and open personality, and her diverse cultural experiences, Antonietta Raphael introduced within the Roman circle a note of unconventional

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectura ...

. During the Via Cavour years, she produced portraits and landscapes characterised by a formal simplification, with compositive deformations in between the

Naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

and the

Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

ian oneiric fantasy. From 1932, her sculptures achieved vigorous naturalistic tones with symbolic and monumental emphases, recalling eastern art cultures.F. N. Arnoldi, ''Storia dell'Arte'', vol. III, p.616 (1989).

Citations and references

Cited sources and other sources

*V. Martinelli, ''Antonietta Raphaël'',

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

1960 *Raphaël, catalogue edited by A. Menzio,

Ivrea Ivrea (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it straddles the Dora Baltea and is ...

1960 *Raphaël, ''Scultura lingua viva'', catalogue edited by M. Fagiolo, E. Coen,

1978 *''Antonietta Raphaël - Sculture'', catalogue edited by F. D'Amico *''Gardens and ghettos. The Art of Jewish Life in Italy'', catalogue edited by V. Mann,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

1989 *''Arte italiana, presenze 1900-1945'', catalogue edited by P. Hulten, G. Celant,

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

1989 *F. N. Arnoldi, ''Storia dell'Arte'', vol. III,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

1989 *F. D'Amico, "Antonietta Raphaël", in ''Nove Maestri della scuola Romana'',

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

1992 *''I Mafai - Vite parallele'', catalogue edited by M. Fagiolo, with biography by di F. R. Morelli *''Antonietta Raphaël sculptures and painting 1933-1968'', catalogue, Paolo Baldacci Gallery,

1995. *

Enzo Siciliano Enzo Siciliano (27 May 1934 – 9 June 2006) was an Italian writer, playwright, literary critic and intellectual. Siciliano was born in Rome. He was a collaborator of Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elsa Morante and many other famous w ...

, ''Il risveglio della bionda sirena. Raphaël e Mafai. Storia di un amore coniugale'',

2005 *Serena De Dominicis, ''Antonietta Raphaël Mafai. Un'artista non conforme'', Selene Edizioni 2006

Filmography

*''Io non sono un altro - l'arte di Mario Mafai (I Am Not the Other - The Art of Mario Mafai)'', DVD, Studio Angeletti &

Archive, 2005, directed by Giorgio Cappozzo

External links

Antonietta Raphaël
on ''Scuolaromana.it''
Archive of the ''Scuola Romana''
at Villa Torlonia
Archivio Contemporaneo "Alessandro Bonsanti" - The Mario Mafai-Antonietta Raphaël Fund

Her Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphael, Antonietta 1895 births 1975 deaths Artists from Kaunas 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian sculptors Jewish anti-fascists Jewish Italian sculptors Jewish Italian painters 20th-century Italian Jews Italian anti-fascists Lithuanian emigrants to Italy 20th-century Italian women painters