📖 "Reading Girl" is a marble statue

📖 "Reading Girl" is a marble statue.

Pietro Magni (1817-1877) was a Milanese sculptor.

1856

National Gallery of Art

Washington














This statue became the work that brought Magni fame. It was repeatedly exhibited internationally throughout Europe and America, invariably winning the admiration of critics and the public.
The work's realism and lyricism impressed viewers.
In "Reading Girl," Magni managed to convey not only the outward calm but also the inner world of the heroine, immersed in reading.
Stylistically, "Reading Girl" is a combination of two movements: realism and romanticism.
Realism is reflected in the precise depiction of the human figure and in the elaboration of the smallest details—from the soft folds of clothing to the girl's natural pose. However, elements of romanticism are also noticeable here. The lyricism of the scene, the somewhat idealized image, and the attention to the heroine's emotional state connect the work to earlier Romantic traditions.
Each copy of the statue has its own unique details. The original version, housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, is distinguished by a medallion depicting Giuseppe Garibaldi around the girl's neck.
One copy of the statue, housed in the Museo Bottacino in Padua, contains a unique detail. The pages of the marble book the girl holds are engraved with a quotation from Alessandro Manzoni's novel "The Betrothed." This literary element reinforces the symbolic connection between the sculpture and the world of the book.
Despite her apparent modesty, the girl is so immersed in her reading that she doesn't notice her bare breasts.

The sculptor recreates the most natural gesture of a reader—folding a page to insert a bookmark. Another detail—the clothes casually thrown over the back of the chair—suggests that the girl was perhaps getting ready for bed but was unable to tear herself away from her reading.
Pietro Magni's "Reading Girl" remains one of the most recognizable and iconic sculptures of the mid-19th century.

Sources:
nga.gov
artsy.net
patrickdandy-photography.org
#sculpture
#art
#readinggirl
#pietromagni
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