Thoughts on Art
AND
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
OF
Giovanni Duprè
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN BY
E. M. PERUZZI
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY W. W. STORY
BOSTON
ROBERTS BROTHERS
1886
Copyright, 1886
By Roberts Brothers
INTRODUCTION TO NEW EDITION.
This book contains the record of the life andthoughts upon Art of Giovanni Duprè, one of themost eminent sculptors of the present century inItaly. It was written by him from time to time,during the latter years of his life, in the intervalsof work in his studio, and given to the publicabout three years before his death. Those threeyears, of which it contains no account, were assiduouslydevoted to his art. Every day had its work,and it was done faithfully and joyously even tothe last. "Nulla dies sine linea." Within theseyears, among other works of less importance, hesuccessively executed a basso-relievo of the Baptismof our Lord, a portrait statue of Pius IX. forthe Cathedral of Piacenza, one of Victor Emmanuelfor the public square at Trapani, one of RaimondoLullo for a chapel in the island of Majorca, andone of St Francis of Assisi which now adornsthe front of the Cathedral at Assisi. This was[6]the last statue which he ever made. The modelhe had completed in clay and cast in plaster,and had somewhat advanced in executing it inmarble, when death arrested his hand. It was finishedby his daughter Amalia, who had for yearsbeen his loving and faithful pupil, and who hadalready won distinction for herself as a sculptor.In this his last work he found a peculiar attractiveness,and his heart and hand were earnestly givento it. "I am most happy," he says in his replyto the authorities of Assisi, who gave him thisorder, "that the Commission has thought of me,—notso much on account of what little talent I maypossess, as for the love I bear to religious art."The statue itself is very simple, and informed bya deep religious sentiment. It is clothed in thedress of the order which St Francis founded, thehands crossed over the breast, the cowl falling behind,the head bent, and the eyes cast down in anattitude of submission and devotion.
The statue had not only deeply interested allhis feelings and sympathies, but in its treatmentand sentiment he seems to have been satisfied. Asingular presentiment, however, came over him ashe was showing it to a friend upon its completion."It will be a triumph to you and a glory toAssisi," said his friend. "Ah," he answered, "whoknows that it may not be the last!" So indeed itproved. But a few days after this conversation hewas seized by an attack of peritonitis. From this,however, he recovered, as well as from a secondattack, which shortly afterwards followed. As he[7]was rec