Lorenzo Bartolini
(Florence 1777-1850)
La Fiducia in Dio
1834
White marble
Signed 'Bartolini'
Carved by Bartolini's workshop ca. 1840-1850
Height 68,6cm
The inspiration for this iconic model by Bartolini is reputed to have occurred as the sculptor’s model rested one day during a sitting. Bartolini was working on his ‘La Nimfa Oceania’ when his young model fell to her knees in exhaustion, submissively looking up at the artist. From this ephemeral moment Bartolini captured a composition of intriguing suggestion. The sculptor’s soft interpretation of Neoclassicism gives the girl a natural, vulnerable sensuality, yet the innocent purity of the subject has allowed the theme to switch from a girl at the mercy of the artist to a girl, symbolic of the whole of mankind’s faith, humbly kneeling before God, completely free of any accoutrements, as if on the day of judgment.
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