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Vincenzo Gemito

The Water Carrier

Maker

Vincenzo Gemito (Italian, 1852-1929)

Title

The Water Carrier

Year

ca. 1880

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

bronze

Dimensions

40.5 x 22.9 x 27.9 cm (15 15/16 x 9 x 11 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

On base:Dall Originale Propta Del Re Di Napoli S.M. Francesco II Napoli GemitoProprietà Artistica.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Miss Ellen D. Sharpe

Object Number

54.147.23

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

Raid the Icebox Now with Nicole Eisenman
Tonight We Are Going Out And We Are All Getting Hammered
Nov 01, 2019 – May 01, 2021
Pilgrims of Beauty
Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy
Feb 03, 2012 – Jul 08, 2012

Label copy

This statuette of a young water vendor was one of Vincenzo Gemito’s most acclaimed and best-selling works, available from the artist’s bronze foundry in Naples either nude (as seen here) or wearing a loincloth. Breaking with the tradition of idealized marble sculpture dominant from the time of Antonio Canova and still practiced by contemporaries like Randolph Rogers, Gemito presents an Italian street urchin in an unconventional pose, humanized by his cheeky grin and dynamic, engaging gesture. The statue’s nudity blurs lines between the past and the present, allowing viewers to interpret him as a figure from ancient Roman history or as an impoverished citizen of modern-day Naples. Gemito himself had grown up an orphan on the streets, eventually receiving training in sculptural modeling. Familiarity with this world may account for his sympathetic portrayal of the beggar child. The size of this piece and its basin pedestal also suggest a relation between contemporary sculpture and small fountain bronzes excavated from ancient Pompeii.

Italian Art in Celebration of Rhode Island’s Italian Festival; Seven Centuries of Italian Art
CRIA Benefit Exhibition
Apr 12, 1967 – May 21, 1967

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Vincenzo Gemito (Italian, 1852-1929)
The Water Carrier, ca. 1880
Bronze
40.5 x 22.9 x 27.9 cm (15 15/16 x 9 x 11 inches)
Bequest of Miss Ellen D. Sharpe 54.147.23

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