Giacomo Merculiano

GIACOMO MERCULIANO (Naples, 1859-1935).
"Bengal Tiger".
Patinated bronze.
Signed.
With foundry stamp.
Measurements: 52 x 36 x 40 cm.

Giacomo Merculiano follows in this sculpture the naturalism and the animalistic tradition, looking for above all the fidelity to the nature. Like him, around 1900 artists put great emphasis on the precise anatomical study, representing the musculature, the tension of the body and the posture of the animal with almost scientific rigor.

Giacomo Merculiano trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples, where he developed within the Italian academic tradition of the late nineteenth century; throughout his career he specialized in decorative and small-format sculpture, working mainly in bronze and other materials, with a production closely linked to the bourgeois and ornamental taste of the time; His works include both allegorical figures and genre scenes and children's themes, characterized by delicate modeling, detail and an elegant style that evolved towards certain features of Art Nouveau taste and, to a lesser extent, Art Deco; he participated in national and international exhibitions and enjoyed recognition in his time, being today appreciated especially in the field of European decorative art of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.