French school of the 19th century

French school of the XIX century.
"Beatrice Portinari".
Marble.
Measurements: 47 x 45 x 24 cm.
Bust carved in marble round bulk, Belle Époque period and fully Art Nouveau aesthetics. Thus, we see a female figure with wavy hair and melancholic attitude, carved with great virtuosity. On the cartouche of the pedestal appears the name of Beatrice Portinari, also called Bice, according to some literary critics is the historical figure behind the Dantesque character of Beatrice. She was the woman Dante Alighieri loved and the muse that inspired him. The woman is considered at this time, under the influence of symbolist literature, as a being of transformation and metamorphosis, and therefore is often reflected with extreme fantasy, being associated with the supernatural and the unknown. The feminine is intimately associated with the hidden part of nature, with the mysterious and therefore attractive and seductive.