Raimondo Trentanove

London, Robiliant + Voena & Stair Sainty, Napoléon. Antiquity to Empire, 18 June-30 July 2015.

Born in Faenza, Raimondo Trentanove learned the art of sculpture from his father, Antonio (1742-1812). He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Carrara with Lorenzo Bartolini before moving to Rome in 1815 under the tutelage of Antonio Canova. Trentanove's close relationship with this master of neoclassicism resulted in commissions in both Italy and beyond. He collaborated with Canova on busts for the Pantheon and, between 1817 and 1821, the monument of George Washington, which had been commissioned by the state of North Carolina.

In 1816 Trentanove modelled a bust of his mentor after Canova’s famous self-portrait (Museo Gypsotheca, inv. no. 213). The present lot is a version of this model, with a further example held in the Galleria d'arte moderna in Milan. As well as copies of Canova's works, Trentanove executed highly accomplished portrait busts, creating considerable demand among an illustrious clientele throughout Europe.

Many of Trentanove's British and American clients visited his Roman studio as part of their Grand Tour. As well as the Duke of Devonshire, he was patronised by other members of the English nobility, including Lady Elizabeth Berkeley and Richard Grenville, first Duke of Buckingham. Trentanove's funerary monument for Sir John Elley remains at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell’Ottocento e del Primo Novecento, Turin, 2003, p. 911; S. Massari, 'Trentanove, Raimondo' in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 96, 2019 [accessed via treccani.it]