DOMENICO PELLEGRINO
(Reggio Calabria, 1873 - documented until 1940)
Bust of Mussolini, 1934
Bronze, height 63 cm, base 63x38 cm
Signed and dated on the right side "Pellegrino/1934"
Stamp of Fonderie Artistiche Laganà, Naples
Domenico Pellegrino was active in Naples alongside the sculptor Francesco Jerace in the plastic decoration of the façade of the Cathedral and in the sculptural arrangement of the atrium of the Federico II University building. In the park of the Villa Comunale in Naples is preserved the marble bust of Luigi Settembrini, executed in 1920; in 1925 he created the Monument to Biagio Cavagna in Reggio Calabria; in 1926 in Marano di Napoli he executed the Monument to the Fallen of the First World War; in 1930 he is documented in Reggio Calabria where he created the Monumento complesso Fante (Complex Soldier Monument).
In our bust, executed during Mussolini's period of maximum popularity, unlike the work executed by Adolfo Wildt in 1923, in which the Master represents the dictator as a sort of Roman emperor, stern and vigilant, with a furrowed brow adorned with a band that sanctions his composure and gives wisdom to the figure of the Dux, Pellegrino reworks the Wildtian scheme stripping it of idealizing interpretations, but rather placing the emphasis on the physical and psychological strength that the character had gained in relation to the people. The figure is composed, immobile, unyielding; it seems to fear nothing.
GC
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