Felipe Moratilla (1823 - 1878)

Private collection, from a French château.

Possibly Salon of 1885, Paris (no. 4030).

With this virtuoso bronze, Moratilla offers an interpretation of a subject of defining importance to 19th-century European sculpture: the figure of the young Neapolitan fisherman.

This picturesque theme finds its origin in François Rude’s Young Neapolitan Fisherman (1784–1855), presented at the Salon of 1833 (Louvre, inv. LP 63). The naturalism of this new subject created a sensation, and the theme was subsequently adopted by various artists throughout the century. Among others, one may cite Francisque Duret, Vincenzo Gemito, Claude Vignon, and, notably, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, who produced its most celebrated interpretation. Moratilla here takes over the adolescent physiognomy typical of the subject. The young boy wears a woolen cap and characteristic short, baggy trousers. Captured in mid-action, he leans forward to grasp a crab hidden among the rocks with one hand, while firmly holding a net in the other, from which a few crustacean claws emerge, the fruits of his successful catch.

Several examples of this model are known, including one exhibited in Paris by Moratilla at the Salon of 1885 (no. 4030), which may correspond to the present bronze with its original imposing Nero Portoro marble base. A bronze acquired directly from the artist in 1879 is in the Museo del Prado (Height 133.5 cm, cast 1877, inv. E000590). In this first version, presented in Paris at the 1878 Exposition Universelle—where Moratilla was awarded a second-class medal—the adolescent is depicted undressed. Another bronze example of the naked fisherman appeared on the New York market in 2004, cast by Nelli and edited by Tiffany & Co. (Christie’s New York, 24 April 2004, lot 84). Among known examples of the model, the present bronze, also lost-wax cast by Nelli in Rome, stands out for the exceptional quality and precision of both casting and chasing, rendering even the smallest details with singular realism, particularly the net brimming with crustaceans.

FELIPE MORATILLA

The details of the Spanish sculptor’s life remain to be fully rediscovered, and his dates are known primarily from the records of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Felipe Moratilla was born in Madrid in 1827 to a father who was a goldsmith and jeweler to Queen Isabella II (1830–1904). Admitted to the Royal Academy of San Fernando, he received a scholarship enabling him to travel to Rome, where he spent his entire career—sometimes leading him to be referred to as Filippo. Unfortunately, several of his works were destroyed during shipment from Rome to Spain due to the transportation difficulties at this time, significantly reducing his known corpus.

The Museo del Prado displays a representative selection of his models, including several works acquired during the various exhibitions in which he participated in Spain. In addition to the Neapolitan Fisherman, notable works by Moratilla include a marble Nymph at the Fountain (1866, inv. E000592), another of Faith, Hope, and Charity (1876, inv. E000787), and a bronze Herm with Pan and Bacchus (1877, inv. E000581). Additionally, he executed a funerary monument in 1866, dedicated to the three children who died in exile of Queen Marie-Christine of Bourbon (1806–1878), fourth wife of Ferdinand VII (Rueil-Malmaison Cemetery).

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli sculpori italiani dell'ottocento e del primo novecento, Turin, 2003, p. 589 ;

Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1878, à Paris. Catalogue officiel publié par le commissariat général, tome I, Paris, 1878, p. 255.