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Mario Rutelli – Sculptor
Artisti
Description
Mario Rutelli was born in Palermo to a wealthy family from the Sicilian capital.
He approached sculpture from an early age.
His father, a building contractor, obtained the contract for the construction of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Mario Rutelli was hired by the company as a stonemason.
This first experience was fundamental for the artist's training, who collaborated in the execution of the decorations of the building.
After completing the work, the young man went to Paris, where he participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1878, and then took a study trip to various Italian cities, including Venice, Florence and Siena, and finally settled permanently in Rome in the early 1880s where he entered the Academy of Fine Arts.
A refined and imaginative sculptor, Mario Rutelli masterfully juggled an ever-present veristic substratum and a profound fidelity to classicism, as demonstrated not only by a pure and solid plastic formalism, but also by the choice of themes, always closely linked to mythology and literature.
Starting from the last years of the nineteenth century, he received several commissions from the Municipality of Palermo, which he managed well also thanks to the opening, together with his brother, of the Rutelli foundry in the Sicilian city.
But together with monumental sculpture, Mario Rutelli worked on a series of busts and female portraits that showcased a more intimate type of sculpture.
In 1903, he obtained the Chair of sculpture at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Palermo, but in the meantime, he continued to create monuments and participate in Italian and international exhibitions. From 1909, he also collaborated with the Mint of Rome in the design and casting of commemorative medals.
In 1923, Mario Rutelli returned to Rome where he continued to work intensely on statues and portraits of fundamental importance for the Capital.
From 1935, he returned to Palermo to spend his last years there and died there in 1945, at the age of eighty-six.
He approached sculpture from an early age.
His father, a building contractor, obtained the contract for the construction of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Mario Rutelli was hired by the company as a stonemason.
This first experience was fundamental for the artist's training, who collaborated in the execution of the decorations of the building.
After completing the work, the young man went to Paris, where he participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1878, and then took a study trip to various Italian cities, including Venice, Florence and Siena, and finally settled permanently in Rome in the early 1880s where he entered the Academy of Fine Arts.
A refined and imaginative sculptor, Mario Rutelli masterfully juggled an ever-present veristic substratum and a profound fidelity to classicism, as demonstrated not only by a pure and solid plastic formalism, but also by the choice of themes, always closely linked to mythology and literature.
Starting from the last years of the nineteenth century, he received several commissions from the Municipality of Palermo, which he managed well also thanks to the opening, together with his brother, of the Rutelli foundry in the Sicilian city.
But together with monumental sculpture, Mario Rutelli worked on a series of busts and female portraits that showcased a more intimate type of sculpture.
In 1903, he obtained the Chair of sculpture at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Palermo, but in the meantime, he continued to create monuments and participate in Italian and international exhibitions. From 1909, he also collaborated with the Mint of Rome in the design and casting of commemorative medals.
In 1923, Mario Rutelli returned to Rome where he continued to work intensely on statues and portraits of fundamental importance for the Capital.
From 1935, he returned to Palermo to spend his last years there and died there in 1945, at the age of eighty-six.
