Attilio piccirilli biography of alberta

I recently discovered the Piccirilli Brothers, a family of renowned sculptors who resided and had a marble carving studio in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

Three brothers from Italy become outstanding sculptors in the USA. When Giuseppe Piccirilli and his wife, Barbera Giorgi came from Massa, Italy to New York in , they brought with them traditional European stone carving skills and the ability to work as a group. With six sons, Piccirilli established a marble cutting studio which not only carried out designs for others, but also contracted independent sculpture work.

Three of his sons, Attilio, Furio and Horatio became creative sculptors. Horatio was a small boy when the family left Italy. Attilio headed the family studio and like his brothers Furio and Horatio, he shared the responsibility for many of the family's sculpture commissions. In , Attilio made his debut as an artist with the McDonogh Monument in New Orleans, a portrait statue on a pedestal of a boy and girl bringing flowers.

Atti1io won the contract for the Maine Monument in This ambitious undertaking, which he worked on for ten years, is placed at one of the entrances to Central Park. It is a tall python preceded by the prow of a ship, with groups of figures around the base and at the top, Columbia in a shell drawn by sea horses. Attilio completed numerous commissions throughout the United States and won many awards including the Gold Medal of the Academy of Design in , again in , and the grand prize for sculpture at the Grand Central Art Galleries the following year.

The sculptor's achievements were rewarded with a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and in , the Jefferson Presidential Medal was bestowed on him in recognition of his service as a United States citizen. Attilio Piccirilli died in New York on October 8, Furio Piccirilli was born in Massa, Italy on March 14, Furio was considered the most creative and the best modeler of the family.

In he designed the sculptural decoration of the Parliament House, Winnipeg, Canada.