“Man’s first mother stands facing the observer, clutching in her left hand a branch of the fateful tree around which the serpent is coiled and proffering the forbidden fruit to Adam with her right. Her face is beautiful, her head inclines sweetly to one side, her lust-filled eyes look longingly at Adam and her lips, a smile playing on them, urge him to sin again. Adam, with manly features and robust limbs, is seated in profile on a stone, looking at her with affection as he raises his hand to receive the fruit.” (L. Venturi, 1885) Ettore Spalletti GIOVANNI DUPRÈ THE TEMPTATION OF ADAM Ettore Spalletti Ettore CONTENTS The Temptation of Adam of The Temptation

FRONT COVER AND PREVIOUS PAGES Ettore Spalletti Giovanni Duprè (, 1817 - , 1882) 1. GIOVANNI DUPRÈ The Temptation of Adam Marble relief, 94 x 70 cm THE TEMPTATION OF ADAM Signed and dated on the bottom left-hand side: G. Dupré 1853 Signed on the front, bottom left: G. Dupré 10 provenance: Mario Bianchi Bandinelli, Villa “Il Pavone”, Siena; Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (archaeologist), Siena; APPENDIX LETTERS Alessandro Santucci, Milan (1950); Luigi Santucci (writer), Milan; Santucci heirs, Milan. APPENDICE LETTERE bibliography: Giovanni Duprè, Pensieri sull’arte e ricordi autobiografici, Florence 1879 (ed. cons., Florence 1882), p. 200; A Giovanni Duprè. Siena nel centenario della sua nascita, Siena, Samperia Lazzeri 1917, p. 42, plate IX; Amalia Duprè, “Un fiore sulla tomba paterna” in Giovanni Rosadi, ed., Giovanni Duprè scultore 1817-1882, Milan 1917, p. 44; 32 Ettore Spalletti, Il secondo Ottocento, in Carlo Sisi, Ettore Spalletti, La cultura artistica a Siena nell’Ottocento, Milan 1994, pp. 320-324, fig. 13; Ettore Spalletti,Giovanni Duprè, Milan 2002, pp. 41-42, figs. 42, 43.

TEXT BY Ettore Spalletti Ettore Spalletti 2. GIOVANNI DUPRÈ LA TENTAZIONE DI ADAMO EDITORIAL COORDINATION Svetlana Barni Italian Text

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PHOTOGRAPHS Arrigo Coppitz

TRANSLATION FROM THE ITALIAN Stephen Tobin

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Every effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyright material. If proper acknowledgement has not been made, we invite copyright holders to inform us of the oversight. 10. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam Ettore Spalletti 1 OF ADAM THE TEMPTATION DUPRÈ GIOVANNI

11. 12. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam Ettore Spalletti to cloud my judgment.” a certain amountofconfusion theories onartwith me,caused discussing anddebating their time […].Allofthese gentlemen, the hauntofmanyliteratiat “My workshop,[….]was The Temptation of Adam marble. St.Petersburg, 1. G.Duprè, RIGHT Hermitage Museum). Hermitage Museum (photo TheState Giovanni Duprè, Dying Abel, The State detail. , autobiography severaldecadeslater: control.He was torecallthoseyearsinhis excessive naturalism and lackofformal rapidrisetofame,alsodrewfrequentcriticismfortheir for theyoungsculptor’s statue of Giovanni Duprècontinuedtoproduceaseriesofworks(forinstancehis naturalcharacterofitsnakednesscausedsomethinganuproar,but thewarmly entina’s exhibitionof1842,wherethestatuearousedagreatdealenthusiasm Dying Abel In the wake of the triumphant reception Giotto (Fig.1) that he carved fortheUffiziLoggia)which,whiletheyaccounted thathecarved

when heshowedaplasterversionofitattheAccademia Fior affordedhiscelebrated Cain , orthe -

13. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam 14. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam Ettore Spalletti autobiografici with aScorpion 1879 (ed.cons.1882), Hermitage Museum). 1 and G.Duprè, Hermitage Museum

G. Duprè, sull’arte ericordi sull’arte (photo TheState St.Petersburg, 2. L.Bartolini pp. 140-141. ,

The State Florence , marble. Pensieri Nymph had left unfinished,the had left widow to complete two statues that her husband missioned by ’s fuelledsomeyearslater,reflections weretobefurther in1850,whenhewascom Andthose had beentotallyabsentfromhissimple,spontaneous approachtoart. to reflectonpreciselythosethemeswhich,upuntil thatmoment(themid-1840s), forms whose surfaces andanatomyhewastohandle withalmoststerilepurity. whosesurfaces forms In expressing alessdirectandtranquilbeauty,trived formality towardsthe searchfor towardsthesearchforamorecon and morefirmly were topropelhimevenfurther ter withtwounfinishedmasterpiecesbytherecognised masterof“NaturalBeauty” the study oftheancientsandsculptors15 literati andcriticsontheproperwaytoimitatenature,NaturalBeauty discussionsof must havefeltconfusedandincompetentinthefaceoferudite muddled, toviewnature,itsflawsandvulgaritywithsuspicion of confusiontocloudmyjudgment. amount withme,causedacertain men, discussinganddebatingtheirtheoriesonart My workshop,[….]wasthehauntofmanyliteratiattime[…].Allthesegentle This criticismclearlytriggereddoubtsinthemindofyoungsculptor, who Serpent Nymph fortheMarcheseAlaPonzoni ofMilan Nymph withaScorpion [….] Yes sir, tobecome mylittleheadstarted th (Fig. 2) century. Duprè wasthusprompted

for theCzarofRussia and . This hands-on encoun This hands-on 1 . - - - - highlights hissearchforabstractioninaPurist,neo-15 Monument toPiusII Maria ofRussia, the forhisart. ceived tobeamoreennoblingintellectualpointofarrival trendnowbroadlyoutdatedyetwhichhemusthaveper a traditionalistartistic tojoin doubts andinconsistencies,suggestinganalmostfranticattemptonhispart are alsomoreconventionalinthattheyaproductofnumerousfreelyconfessed point inhiscareerconsistedsculptureswhich,whileunquestionablyattractive, astray, styleofhisearlyyears.Thusoutputatthis farfromthedirect,forthright thesereflectionspromptedhimtofallbackonastylisedpurismwhichled short, Exemplary inthatsensearetwosculpturescommissionedbytheGrandDuchess Exemplary which he carved for Siena (Fig. which he carved 3). This latter work admirably Fisherman and Innocence , and,toanevengreaterextent,the th century vein,possiblyeven century - Church ofSant’Agostino. marble. Siena, Monument to PiusII 3. G.Duprè, ,

15. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam 16. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam Ettore Spalletti is worth pointingtothehighlylikely influenceofPietro is worth whom Tenerani, anartist pleased meevenless washy result which pleased neither the Academics nor the Naturalists, and which thepopehimself. copeandfaithfulinportraying Theupshotwasawishy-crumpled thepope’s where Ishouldhavebeenboldandfaithful:in honestlyportraying (oddly, forme)towin theAcademics’approval,copyingnaturewithtimiddiffidence some who misliked settoworkand endeavoured the subjectmatter [...] I grudgingly cism oftheAcademics,withpraiseNaturalists andwiththecontemptof After indeed inhisautobiograhyhedescribedtheworkthus: Duprèwasclearlyawareofthis, and surfaces. accentuated stylisationofhiscarved ive poisewithwhichhisfiguresplayouttheirroleand,aboveall,onaccountofthe styleofPurismonaccountthealmostna ownlofty more austerethanBartolini’s In connection with his output at this time, and in particular with his In connectionwithhisoutput at thistime, andinparticular Giotto I turned myhandto Iturned 2 . Pius II , andwithmyheadringingthecriti Pius II , it - - . Galleria d’Arte Moderna, oil oncanvas. Florence, Portrait of Giovanni Duprè (1821-1891), Antonio Ciseri detail. The Temptation of Adam sull’arte 2 LEFT

G.Duprè, Giovanni Duprè, ,

cit., p.147. Pensieri , ,

17. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam 18. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam Ettore Spalletti 5 4. G.Duprè, “Ricordi autobiografici”

di GiovanniDuprècon

Scritti minorielettere un’appendice aisuoi Florence 1885,p.24. Fiesole, VillaDuprè. per Luigi Venturi 4 3 plaster bozzetto.

Ibidem,p.175. Ibidem,p.200. after theirSin after Adam and Eve Adam andEve , ,

the Eternal Fatherthe Eternal Adam andEve,seated,make atthevoiceof asiftoriseyetremainbowedinterror inwhich subsequently devisedanothermodel,morevigorousinstyleandform, tohideforshameoverthesinthattheyhavecommitted.And[Duprè] most trying withfigleaves,theyfeeltheburdenoftheirremorse,al joined inagroupandgirt Venturi waslatertodescribethus: missioned todoso,hehadinfactpreparedamodelofAdam andEve earlier, thus without beingcom the first family”, “withtheintentionof portraying tastici between1825and1828.We readinDuprè’sautobiographythatafewyears his suburbanvillacalled“IlPavone”, designedandbuiltforhimbyAgostinoFan GiovanniDuprètograce society andwishedtoownaworkbyhisfellowcountryman mentions thework.Mario,however, wasanequallyinfluentialmemberofSienese inhisautobiography Duprè mistakenlyreports ofSienaGiulioBianchias commissioned byMarioBianchi,nottheGovernor Italian Quattrocento. tothemuch-cherished stylisticseverityofthe wouldsoonreturn art that modern signing AntonioBianchini’sfamous“ManifestoofPurism”whichvoicedthehope arenes. InfactTenerani evenjoinedFriedrick OverbeckandTommaso Minardiin and close to the ideas of the Naz a Purism austere of form espoused by Bartolini, Tenerani’s differentkindofPurismfromtheanalogicalvariant workreflectedavery he hadmet(andadmiredasagreatmaster)whilewinteringinRome1844–5. The reliefwiththe 5 . Temptation ofAdam , carved between1851and1853,was , carved 3 onthesoleoccasioninwhichhe 4 whichLuigi - - - - tell me to complete the work and that only then would we come to an agreement, nor tell metocompletethework andthatonlythenwouldwecometoanagreement, nor of whichweomittedtoagree onan estimated pricebecauseyouhadthekindnessto incumbent uponmetoremind youoftheconversationwhichwehadandincourse kindly commissionedfrommethroughthemostexcellent Milanesi[Carlo],Ifeelitis Most esteemedMr. Mario[…].Regardingthe ofSiena): the outskirts to hispatronon4June1851(nowintheBianchiBandinelli archivesinGeggiano,on plumping forthe Eden a bas-relief, initiallytoyingwiththe concept wasdiscarded,however, totheideaofmaking soonturned andDuprèvery The 4). –andatthethoughtofdivinepunishmentawaitingthem(Fig. arm left at thesintheyhavecommitted–aalludedtobyserpentbeneathAdam’s in theroundposedescribedbyVenturi, andshame displayingtheirterror which he made in late 1850 or in the early months of 1851, showing Adam and Eve second can safely be identified as one of those now in the Villa Duprè in Fiesole same sumoftwohundredmonete” other, namelytheApple,for composition, Iwouldpropose the did notlenditselftoafine,broad Garden ofEden,asweagreed, design, theExpulsionfrom the to sayso),andgiventhatthefirst arrangement (thoughitpainsme I cannolongercountenancethis “...I mustconfesstoyouthat I amnotfamiliarwiththefirstmodelthat Venturi mentions,butIthinkthatthe (althoughhemayneverevenhaveproducedamodel forthis)andeventually Temptation ofAdam Expulsion ofAdamandEvefromtheGarden , aswereadinaletterwhichDuprèaddressed reminder for the bas-relief that you so forthebas-reliefthatyouso detail. The Temptation of Adam Giovanni Duprè, FOLLOWING PAGES ,

19. Giovanni Duprè The Temptation of Adam