Raimondo Trentanove

Born in Faenza, Raimondo Trentanove was initiated into the sculptor's craft through 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, on the monument of George Washington, which had been commissioned by the state of North Carolina.

The present bust is influenced by Canova’s famed teste ideali (ideal heads), which date to the last decade of his life. Carved in a state of ‘amore caldissimo’ (heated passion), these busts were intended to transcend the limits of natural beauty and present Canova’s vision of universal facial perfection. This desire to create sculptures that embodied idealised aesthetics influenced Canova’s students and can be felt in Trentanove’s Portrait of a Lady. The bust speaks to an idealised feminine beauty in it’s delicate rendering of her tumbling ringlets and elegant classicising drapery.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori Italiani dell'ottocento e del primo novecento, p. 911