Some notes on the busts.
This post to act as an aide memoire - the subjects will need to be returned to once things become clearer
and a few notes on the Marble Merchants of Westminster in the 18th Century and the importation of Marble from Carrara via Livorno.
Post under construction.
This post should be read in conjunction with my next post.
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2025/08/an-as-yet-unidentified-marble-bust-in.html
It is good to have a reason to have a slightly closer look at a few mid/late eighteenth century Italian portrait busts - I have already looked at English sculptors working in Italy and in particular the career of the Irish sculptor Hewetson (1737 - 99) who was worked in in Rome from 1765. This is a subject that I haven't finished with yet.
See this post on Hewetson and the following 36 essays.
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-pair-of-anonymous-marble-busts-of.html
I had photographed this excellent pair of busts published here in October 2017 when visiting the Fitzwilliam in order to obtain images of the terracotta busts of Pope, Milton, the bronze of bust of Isaac Newton and the marble reclining Hercules by Roubiliac by Michael Rysbrack, the bust of Princess Amelia by Roubiliac and anything else that took my eye.
It has taken me until now to actually take a closer look at my photographs of this truly excellent pair of busts and to make some sort of assessment of them.
This was initially prompted by researches into a marble bust of Laocoon prompted by Dino Tomasso of London and Leeds dealers Tomasso Brothers.
I think I must have dismissed the Fitzwilliam Chapman Bird marble busts at the time, considering them to be Continental, given the coloured marble socles and the sub Berniniesque Baroque swagger - particularly in the pose and clothing of the boy.
Recently with ref. to the Tomasso Marble bust of Laocoon I have been looking at mid 18th century busts with a view to identifying any further works by Louis Francois Roubiliac which have so far remained "under the radar".
This might be wishful thinking but having so far I think I have identified a group of 14 busts which use (or used - see the Harris Museum Preston of the Roubiliac busts drawings by Nollekens) the type of socle or a slight variation of it - a squatter version, which appear on the elongated socles on the pair of busts illustrated here and which are a signature feature of a substantial number of later busts by Roubiliac.
I suggest that Roubiliac, uses the same socle on 14 different busts known to be from his workshop, the socles on the four unsigned marble busts of Laocoon (with Tomasso Brothers, Spring 2025), Milo of Croton (at Blenheim), the Anima Dannata (the Damned Soul after Bernini sold by Sotheby's) and a man depicted as the Good Roman Emperor Trajan at Goodwood House - these socles are a slightly squatter version of those used by
All these busts would have been carved in the 1750's. - Prior to that he mostly used the more conventional form of socle which was usually square in plan as seen on the busts in the Wren Library at Trinity College ,Cambridge etc etc.
The big question for me here is where did Roubiliac find the original inspiration for the use of this type of socle?
It is more than likely that he would have seen the busts of the Chapman Birds, given that Edward Chapman Bird was a supplier of marble to London sculptors in the mid 18th century from his wharf/yard on the banks of the Thames at Millbank, Westminster.
Roubiliac travelled with a small group of artists to Rome, where he is said to have exclaimed that the sculpture of Bernini made his own look ‘meagre and starved, as if made of nothing but tobacco pipes’.
Is it possible that Roubiliac encountered busts by Cybei in Italy?
This pair of busts certainly illustrate a sort of Late Baroque sensibility and demonstrate the influence of Bernini and his school.
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2025/05/marble-bust-of-laocoon.html
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The Pair of Busts - suggested as Edward Chapman Bird and his son Christopher.
Edward Chapman Bird (1715 - 92) the son of the Catholic Sculptor Francis Bird (1667 - 1731) and his wife Hester nee Chapman.
Hester Chapman was the daughter of Edward Chapman (very successful Stonemason and contractor) of Red Lion Square).
The sister of Edward Chapman Bird was another Hester
Christopher Chapman Bird, born 1739, died 31 October 1810, aged 73.
Christopher Chapman Bird of Reigate, Surrey, married Anne Mary Webb (1748 - 1818).
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Edward was the sons of Sculptor Francis Bird.
For an excellent overview of the life and works of Francis Bird see -
https://stlukeslondonsculpture.wordpress.com/2013/09/21/francis-bird/
Francis Bird’s Collection of Sculpture: Vertue refers to several artefacts that suggest that Bird collected with discrimination. He owned a cast of Bernini’s lost bust of Charles I which had been at Whitehall Palace (Vertue II, 50); a Laocoon and an Apollo and Daphne by Nicholas Stone the Younger, modelled in Rome (perhaps the Daphne and Apollo offered in Bird’s sale on 30 April 1751, lot 4) (Vertue I, 90); a counterfeit gold medal of Oliver Cromwell (Vertue II, 50) and a Faun after the Antique, bought at the 1st Earl of Oxford’s sale (Vertue V, 7). Three works ‘by Bernini’, a Neptune and two reliefs of angels, were sold at the 1751 auction (lots 44, 52); ‘A large flying boy, by Algardi’ formed lot 47 and there were several works by Duquesnoy (‘Fiamingo’), including a head of Christ (lot 59) and a Flora, a Farnese Hercules and an Antinous (lots 59-61).
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From the Getty Provenance Index.
"A Catalogue Of Part of the valuable Stock in Trade of Mr. Edward Chapman Bird, Marble Merchant, of Millbank, Westminster, a Bankrupt. Consisting Of Six Elegant Chimney-Pieces, composed of beautiful Marble, elaborately finished in the present Taste.
Also Some fine Jasper, Brocatello, Sienna, and other curious Marble Slabs, Busts, Basso Relievo, &c. &c.
Which will be Sold by
Auction, By Mr. Christie, At his Great Room (late the Royal Academy) in
Pall-Mall, on Monday, March the 18th, 1771."
Getty Ref .Sales Catalog Br-A861, 18 March 1771.
Annoyingly the following short list is all that is available
Lot 3. A head of Venus, statuary marble.
Lot 4. A boy's head.
Lot 7. A figure of a fawn.
Lot 8. A crucifixion in basso relievo.
Lot 9. The death of Lucretia, ditto [in basso relievo]. A very interesting lot which might refer to a now lost work by Louis Francois Roubiliac.
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The Carters, Sculptors at Hyde Park Corner - a brief note - from Biog. Dictionary ... Yale 2009.
The precise nature of the Carter partnership is unclear but
it seems likely that Benjamin was in control for in 1763 the workshop was
advertised in Mortimer’s Universal Director under ‘Carter, Benjamin, Statuary,
Hyde Park Corner’ (p 6). He died late in 1766 and was buried in Datchet,
leaving his share of the business, including all the ‘stocks and effects’ to
his son John and wife Ann, who also inherited his household goods; he also made
provision for three younger children. One of his executors was the marble
merchant Edward Chapman Bird. Benjamin’s son, John Carter (1748-1817), was the
celebrated and eccentric antiquary, draughtsman and writer, noted for his
championship of medieval sculpture and architecture. He later claimed that from
the age of 12 he had prepared designs for assistants in his father’s workshop.
.......................
The Marble and Stone Merchants at Westminster.
This is of necessity very brief and needs to be expanded upon.
I have drawn on the works of Matthew Craske - The Silent Rhetoric.. pub Yale. 2007 and cannot recommend this work strongly enough to anyone interested in English 18th Century Sculpture
The del Medico's of Livorno (Leghorn) and Carrara.
For an interesting look at the supply of marble to England and Holland from Carrara via Livorno (Leghorn) in the 17th/18th Centuries - the Article by Cristina Bates, page 61 in -
Archeologia Postmedievale, 19, 2015 - Gran Bretagna e Italia tra ... edited by Hugo Blake- The Role of British Merchants in Livorno between Italy and Britain during the Eighteenth Century (available on line via google books.
The following paragraphs are adapted from this work
In the 17th Century the Dutch were the prime movers in the marble trade from Livorno Dutch merchants had attempted to buy quarries in Carrara -
Their attempts were successfully resisted and led to the formation of a strong oligarchy of merchants
to defend their interests.
During the 18th century trading conditions in Livorno and Carrara altered, producing different dynamics. It is possible to identify two main changes.
First, the British replaced the Dutch in dominating international trade and so became the main commercial interlocutors of the Carrara merchants.
Secondly, the marble merchants organized themselves as a solid oligarchy, which by controlling not only every stage of marble production but also the social and political establishment in Carrara, could present themselves as a united body able to determine output and consequently the price of their product.
In 1668 the most important marble traders in Carrara formed a commercial company and obtained from the Duke of Massa the exclusive right to trade all worked and raw marble to the seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries. In this way they secured an unchallengeable channel to northern Europe (ASMa, Archivio Ducale, Contracti Camerali, b. 18, 168-169, 17 November 1668).
The families, who constituted the oligarchy in the 18th century, were the Del Medico, Monzoni, Luciani, Micheli, Lazzoni and Orsolini.
Even within this restricted group the Del Medico family maintained an undisputed political and economic supremacy. For example, from 1774-77 they exported to Livorno an average of 1,130 tons of raw marble a year in comparison with the 1,330 tons despatched by the other five families (ASMo, Archivio Cybo-Gonzaga, Commercio, BelleArti, Mani atture, b. 330, 'Dazio sui marmi greggi a favore dell'Accademia .
By the end of the18th century, competition prevailed over the cartel.
Once in Livorno, marble was stored in a public yard beside the Fortezza Vecchia where it could be sold to a merchant or kept in the name of the Carrara merchant. For instance, the Del Medico family, the most powerful members of the oligarchy, sold much of their marble to George Renner, a German who became naturalised Englishman but they also kept a considerable stock in order to supply the family firms in England and, Prussia and Naples and to sell to other merchants in Livorno.
The activities of George Renner are also useful in understanding how marble merchants abroad acquired the material in Livorno.
An example is given by the company of Wallinger and Fletcher, probably the most important marble merchants in London, who supplied marble over three generations, covering the entire span of the 18tk century.
For their usual trade they used an agent in Livorno, Anthony Lefroy. He is one of the most studied and well known English merchants in Livorno, thanks not only to his trading ability (he did well until he went bankrupt in 1762) , but mainly on account of his artistic and literary interests, as he put one of the most important coin collections of the century, collected books, antique statues and paintings,
He corresponded with famous people like Thomas Hollis, and was a member of learned societies. He also had a particular relationship with Carrara, since his daughter married a member of the Del Medico
family. Although one would expect a preferential business relationship between the two, this did nothappen, probably for personal reasons. Lefroy did not act for them in Livorno, whereas he represented Giulio and Andrea Lazzoni, other important members of the Carrara oligarchy.
Descended from a Huguenot family, Anthony Lefroy settled in Livorno in about 1728, where he became a partnerin the banking house of Peter Langlois. For the extensive biblioraphy on the Lefroy Emily see Lefroy 1965, pp. 604-25; 1957-82, pp. 240-51: 1976. pp. 81-9.
Lefroy did, however, acquire most of his marble for Wallinger from Renner as is clear from Lefroy's bankruptcy documents, when Renner, unable to obtain payment from the Livorno agent, contested Wallinger's bill of 1,700 pezze (£380, worth about £47,000 today).
So, George Renner could sell marble to an agent in Livorno, like Lefroy, but he could also be in contact directly with a buyer in London. For ex-ample, he dealt with John Devall the Elder, who with his son John Devall the Younger was among the busiest builders in London in the 18th century.
'They worked for the Crown as chief masons at the
Gunnis 1968, pp. 128-9. John Devall is also listed as a 'Stone Merchant' at 2 Little Portland Street in LD 1781 and again in LD 1784 in Abingdon Street, Westminster, around the corner from Millbank Street, the epicentre of the marble trade.
From their bank account in London it is possible to see how much marble they purchased from Livorno through Renner between 1752 and 1767, from a minimum
of £125 (approx. £13,000 today) in 1764 to a maximum of £915 (£89,000 today) in 1756. These are considerable sums and the four known Devall mantelpieces produced in this period cannot possibly account for the supply from Livorno.
Either much of the Devall workshop production has been lost or has not yet been located, or excess marble was sold to other sculptors.
Although research may increase the number of attributions to Devall's workshop, the second option is more likely, considering that successful sculptors like Peter Scheemackers and Joseph Wilton appear on Devall's balance sheet.
In Livorno another significant business figure the mezzano pubblico and sensale (broker), whoserole was to bring together buyers and sellers." An important mezzano Pietro Porciani, who seems to have been involved in almost every marble transaction. He also acted as an agent for Renner, the Del Medico and Otto Frank, who exported to Hamburg and Russia. Frank described Porciani as «I have employed for many years, to keep the books, the balances and to supervise this particular business". 3'
Another Englishman involved in the marble trade was Francis Jermy who died in Livorno in 1781, after fifty five years spent there working as a merchant and banker.
One case provides a particularly revealing insight into the technicalities of marble trade." Jermy, acting for Pietro Del Medico who was based in London, signed a contract with a certain Benedetti in order to have seventeen pieces of marble loaded on the Imperial ship San Giovanni Banista e San Nicolö, which was bound for London.
Benedetti, evidently a man whose job was to transport marble from the deposit at the Fortezza to the ship, loaded fifteen pieces and then argued with the captain who refused to take on board thetwo remaining pieces because they were too big and therefore too dangerous to transport. Jermy did not agree and refused to sign the insurance policy unless the remaining two pieces were loaded. At thispoint, a number of people involved in the marble trade were called to testify and give their expert opinion.
From this it emerges that a typical ship of 280 tons could carry sixty tons of marble; that marble was stowed in the bow and stern, leaving space amidships for other heavy cargo; that some-times ships were loaded only with marble; and that a captain received goods on board only on the order of the shipowner.
In this case the cargo included marble blocks belonging to two other merchants, Fonnerau, a Huguenot member of the British Factory, and Nataf, a Sephardic name usually associated with the Jewish community in Tunisia.
Finally, we also learn about the costs of marble in Livorno and its transport to London. In 1781 oneton of statuary marble was worth £5 10 shillings. (£450) and to transport it to London cost four pieces of
eight (£84), whereas to carry the same piece from Carrara to Livorno cost two shillings (about £10).
In Carrara one cubic palm (25cm3) of statuary could cost from £10 to £21 (the bigger the block the higher the price), while in Britain the cost of one cubic foot (30cm) could vary from £90 to, when war impeded supply, almost £200
Thus, a piece a marble could be bought for €20 in Livorno and sold for €200 in London." Clearly someone along the way made money and, as British Factors in Livorno did not find the trade lucrative, the London merchants must have been the ones who profited most. (Wallengers? )
Perhaps this is why the Del Medico sent members of their family to London. Francesco Antonio, anexperienced merchant and politician, had already travelled in England, France and Germany, when he moved to London in 1768. He was followed by his youngest brother Pietro who stayed in England from 1772 until his death in 1801.
They set up their residence, office and warehouse next to Wallinger on Millbank (fig. 4) and dealt directly with English clients payments in their bank accounts show.
Instead of to Renner, payments for shipment from Livorno were made to Porciani, the mezzano pub-blico.
As the owners of marble quarries they able to set a competitive price, which soon attracted customers. Financially, they did well; the annual balance in their bank account was £3,000 (£290,000).
In short, a sculptor in London who wanted to buy marble had several choices. The first option was to acquire it in London from a merchant like Wallinger or Del Medico, who could order for a specificcommission, but who presumably also had a well stocked warehouse in loco.
In some cases a sculptor could become a regular customer as Westmacott did for Pietro Del Medico.' I
Usually sculptors (for example, Thomas Banks and William Tayler) bought marble from more than one merchant.
The second option was to use an 'unofficial' marble supplier. Builders acquired a large quantity of stone for their work and resold some to a few clients, perhaps sculptors working on the same building.
'The third way was to order directly from Carrara or Livorno less likely because there were too many risks involved.
First, a trustworthy merchant was indispensable to ensure the delivery of good-quality marble of the required size. It was only a possibility for artists who travelled to Italy and had the opportunity and the inclination to cultivate this practical aspect during their tour.
Secondly, it required a high level of organization to ship a block or more from Carrara to London, and few saw the advantage of going to the trouble.
Finally, the buyer had to factor in the risks involved in transport. -the ship could fall prey to pirates, could sink, or could be stuck in a port for months because of bad weather or war. thus only those who ordered regularly and in large quantities would take the risks and advance the costs.
Often, in order to assess the commercial relationship between Britain and Livorno and to establish which goods were traded, the number of British ships that reached the Tuscan port is used as evidence. For example, between 1774 and 1777 the Carrara oligarchy exported an average of 4,800 tons of raw marble every year to Livorno, while in the same period of the 415 ships docking in Livorno 163 were British.
Francesco Antonio Del Medico had already opened an account at the Drummond Bank in 1760 and 1761 during earlier visits to England (Drummonds Bank Account, 1760, Ledger A-H, p. 257, and 1761, Customer LedgerA-H, p. 208). He had travelled in the guise of both merchant and ambassador of theDuke of Modena, with whom he corresponded on a weekly basis.
Pietro del Medico from 1772 d. 1801. described as Marble Merchant, Abingdon Street (business next to - Wallinger). Abingdon Street (formerly Dirty Lane). The street ran southward to Millbank from Old Palace Yard.
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The Wallengers (Wallinger).
John Wallenger (d.13 Aug 1767) and his nephew John Arnold who changed his name to Wallenger.
Probably the most successful of the Westminster Stone Merchants.
The Wallengers were city merchants of Botolph Lane, City who had relocated to Channel Row, Westminster in the mid/late 1730's from Botolph Lane, Billingsgate, City of London.
Christopher Wren lived at what is now 5 Botolph Lane until moving to Hampton.
Fletcher, Arnold and Wallenger.
John Wallinger, Channel Row, Westminster or next door to the Sun, Butolph (Botolph Lane) City of London. The Intelligencer: or, Merchants Assistant: Shewing, ... the Names and ... 1738.
Channel Row - The Street Runs North from (Westminster) Bridge Street, It runs parallel with Parliament St with close access to the River and wharfs at Manchester Wharf.
The premises were one of the largest rateable properties in the Parish of St Margaret. ( a plan survives in the Greater London Record Office - BRA 4399)
Michael Rysbrack was an executor of the will of John Wallenger (PCC1772,28).
John Arnold Wallenger was an executor of the will of Rysbrack
In 1773 Messrs Fletcher and Wallenger signed? a Crown lease for 50 years on a stone Quay Pier and Wharf in the Waste of the Manor of Portland (Dorset)and the liberty to draw stone there (Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries 1897, Vol 5. page 132.
Wallinger and Turner - Millbank Street (described as Stone Merchants see - Wakefield's Merchant and Tradesman's General Directory for London - 1794).
John Wallenger d. 1767 and John Arnold Wallenger are buried in a Mausoleum at Chelmsford Cathedral.
There are records of Wallengers at Chelmsford from the 1390's.
I suspect that John Wallenger married into the City Stone Merchant business of the Arnolds - at this stage I have no proof of this.
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John Wallenger and John Arnold Wallenger and Hare Hall, Romford, Essex. (now The Royal Liberty School).
Designed by James Paine and clad in Portland Stone.
Will dated 20 March 1766; & proved 19 August 1767.
“a messauge and certain lands at Hare Street called the
“Hare”. John Wallinger died in the 1767 and his will proved in 1767 left
Hare Hall to his nephew John Arnold on the condition that he “procure an Act of
Parliament to authorise him and the heirs male of his body to assume take and
bear the name of Wallinger”.
John Arnold Wallinger took the name in 1768 and work began
on a new house which was completed in 1769. The house was built to the designs
of James Paine, Paine’s
designs for Hare Hall are contained in the second volume of his 1783 book
“Plans Elevations and Sections of Noblemen’s Houses”.
John Arnold Wallinger was a cork and stone merchant. His
death in 1792 saw the house transferred to his eldest son William. William
styled himself John Wallinger Arnold Wallinger and was left with the difficult
task of maintaining the estate without the benefit of his father’s full estate
which had also been divided with his mother and two brothers. The estate was subject to complex financial
deals throughout this period and the problems hadn’t been resolved by the time
of his death in 1805.
William Fletcher witnessed his will in 1792
The Copperplate engraving by Lodge from William Thornton's New,
Complete and Universal History of the City of London, Alexander Hogg, King's
Arms, No. 16 Paternoster Row, London, 1784.
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Christopher Chapman Bird, Bankrupt of Abingdon Street, Westminster, still the same address in early 19th century.
Edward Chapman Bird was still in Millbank Street, Westminster in The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture, Volume 5, of 1797, along with .... (John Arnold) Wallenger.
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The Anonymous Marble Bust of Christopher Chapman Bird (1739 - 1810).
Almost certainly carved by Giovanni Antonio Cybei (1706 - 1784).
Christopher Chapman Bird is aged around 12 - 15 years old.
The bust was probably carved in about 1750.
A significant feature of these busts is that they do not appear to have been "got at" by restorers in the past and retain their original surface or polish.
Hopefully they will remain unmolested.
Archeologia Postmedievale, 19, 2015 - Gran Bretagna e Italia tra ... edited by Hugo Blake.
In 1668 the most important marble traders in Carrara formed a commercial company and obtained from the Duke of Massa the exclusive right to trade all worked and raw marble to the seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries. In this way they secured an unchallengeable channel to northern Europe
(ASMa, Archivio Ducale, Contracti Camerali, b. 18, 168-169, 17 novembre 1668).
The families, who constituted the oligarchy in the 18th century, were the Del Medico, Monzoni, Luciani, Micheli, Lazzoni and Orsolini. Even within this restricted group the Del Medico family maintained an undisputed political and economic supremacy. For example, from 1774-77 they exported to Livorno an average Of 1,130 tons of raw marble a year in comparison with the I,330 tons despatched by the other five families (ASMo, Archivio Cybo-Gonzaga, Commercio, BelleArti, Mani atture, b. 330, 'Dazio sui marmi greggi a favore dell'Accademia .
Peter Del Medico listed at Abingdon St in - The London Directory, of 1789;
He was representing the Del Medico family in England from 1772.
Peter Del Medico of Massa di Carrara Marble Merchant died 2 October 1805 aged 61 buried St Pancras
For an history of the Del Medico family of Marble Merchants see
https://journals.openedition.org/crcv/13627
The Marble Busts of Giovanni Antonio Cybei (February 3, 1706 – September 7,
1784).
It seems that Cybei spent most of his working life in Carrara working with the del Medico family who exported marble from the free port of Livorno (Leghorn).
“Giovanni Antonio Cybei (1706-1784) is as yet little known and little studied.
Born in Carrara to a Jewish textile merchant, orphaned at the age of four, he grew up in the workshop of Count Giovanni Baratta, becoming his favorite pupil. He learned to sculpt marble alternating rough and polished surfaces to create depth, luminosity, and depth.
In 1768, with Carlo Bianconi, he created the funerary monument for Francesco Algarotti (Pisa, Camposanto), In the summer of 1769, Cybei was commissioned to paint a life-size portrait of Alexei Orlov, commander of the Russian Imperial Fleet: it was the beginning of his rise, both socially and professionally.
He was soon appointed Chief Director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara . His fame grew thanks to a series of fine busts. His works are held in Russia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, England, France, and the United States.
The Cybei exhibition in Carrara in 2021.
It includes the exceptional bust of Maria Teresa D'Este Cybo Malaspina, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara., founder of the Academy in 1769,
Her proud gaze, the lace, the curls, and the ermine fur of a marble
that has no veining, because it was personally selected among the most prized
of the Apuan Alps; and also the "Two Little Brothers" from England,
which according to the curators will be the most photographed busts, because
they have no history, no one knows who they are, they bear an unknown coat of
arms, pearls and roses in their hair. Also on display are the remains of the
immense equestrian monument of Duke Francesco III d'Este, commissioned from
Cybei in 1774 for a square in Modena.
For more on Cybei and Dominica Andrea Pellicca see -
Images below courtesy the website.
Prince Peter Leopold
attrib. Domenico Andrea Pelliccia
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.jpg)
.jpg)
Portrait of Giovanni Bonaventura Neri, Ferrara, coll.
Cavallini Sgarbi.
_01.jpg)
.jpg)
Model for the statue The Equestrian Monument of Francesco III d'Este-
by Giovanni Antonio Cybei.
1772.
Height 85 cms - base cm. 53 x 27 cms.
The engraving is part of the book titled "Per la solenne dedicazione della Statua equestra…”
.. which, in addition to this plate featuring the equestrian monument to Francis III, larger than the others in the volume, also includes the frontispiece and another plate prefacing the dedication.
The statue, nearly 7 metres tall was originally located in the large Piazza di Sant'Agostino in Modena, was commissioned by Francis III in the second half of the 18th century and installed in 1774, the same year the square was created.
During the Napoleonic Revolution, in 1796, a bookseller Giovanni Battista Fornieri destroyed it with a hammer.
Preparatory stucco model by Giovanni Antonio Cybei,
Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Italy (inv. 0,900,254,635)
Engraving of the View of Piazza Sant’Agostino with the equestrian monument of Duke Francesco III, by Guglielmo Silvester, 1791 (Source: Modena, Civic Museum of Art).
Piazza Sant'Agostino. Modena
by Giuseppe Maria Soli (1747 - 1822).
c. 1780.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
3.0 Unported license.
