Large sculpture. Possibly Italian, second half of the 19th century.

Large sculpture. Possibly Italian, second half of the 19th century.
"Young man with amphora".
Bronze and white marble.
Stand in green marble.
Measurements: 147 cm. height; 95 x 59 x 49 cm. pedestal.

Important sculpture in white marble and bronze representing a girl carrying an amphora and wrapped in a tunic of ceremonial aspect. Although in a first reading the theme could be interpreted as costumbrista (that of the water carrier), the ceremonial tunic connotes it with a solemn and mysterious image, which leads us to think that it could represent a priestess. Both in the subject matter and in the technique we can appreciate the wake of the models of Ancient Greece, although reinterpreted with great freedom, updating them, which distances this piece from the neoclassical canon. The combination of bronze (for the costumes) and marble (for the flesh tones) evokes an ancient Greek procedure reserved for the most sublime and monumental statues, in which gold and ivory were used. The luminosity of the white emphasizes the perfect definition of the idealized features of the facial oval framed by long braids and in which the almond-shaped outline of the eyes with half-closed eyelids stands out. This suggests an introspective withdrawal. The braids, however, give the young woman a "modern" look, contemporary to the sculptor. With her right hand, the young woman holds the amphora with carefully turned fingers. Worked full-length and in round bulk, with a somewhat smaller than life-size measurements, the figure brings forward her right leg in a walking attitude. This could suggest a ceremonial procession. The tunic tight at the waist, the mantle trimmed with embroidery and the headdress evoke an exuberant costume that, while revealing the beautiful forms of the young woman, wraps her with superimposed bows and folds of thick fabric. Underneath, two graceful feet in sandals appear. This is a unique sculpture, both for the quality of the materials and technique, and for being to a certain extent unclassifiable in terms of style. Already distanced from the classicist and romantic postulates, but also still distanced from the modernist delicacies of the end of the century, this magnificent sculpture belongs to a transitional period. The drapery tends to be broken and angular, and the jug has a geometrical structure, aspects that point to a certain essentialist search that would be accentuated in later decades. But, at the same time, the ensemble is dominated by a classical and timeless idealization that coexists with a great naturalistic precision in the details.