Aldo Buttini (It.), Female Nude (stone)

Description

‘Nudo Femminile’ (‘Female Nude’).
Life size sculpture, executed in Peperino Grigio (Italian limestone marble).
Created between December 1932 and September 1933, by Italian sculptor Aldo Buttini.
Signed: ‘A.B. F. XI’ Meaning: ‘Aldo Buttini fece XI anno dell’era fascista’ (‘Aldo Buttini made in year XI of the Italian Fascist Era*).
As a model stood Maria Elle Heye, poet of German origin who married in 1928 the Neapolitan count Francesco Falvella. After several requests, count Francesco Falvella agreed that his wife posed naked, but under the condition that a student of the dell’Istituto Superiore di Belle Arti di Roma would make the drawings, which Aldo Buttini subsequently had to use for modelling the sculpture.

The figure, made from a block of marble found in the park of Falvella’s Roman villa, was placed in the garden when the work was completed. The historical villa was destroyed during the bombings of Rome in 1943; the art works witch were saved were moved to Naples until Falvella’s death in 1950.

* The Era Fascista (‘Fascist Era’) was a calendar era used in Fascist Italy. The March on Rome, or more precisely the accession of Mussolini as prime minister on 29 October 1922, is day 1 of Anno I of the Era Fascista. The calendar was introduced in 1926 and became official in 1927 (Anno V). Each year of the Era Fascista (E.F.) was an Anno Fascista, abbreviated A.F.

Left: the villa of count Francesco Falvella in Rome, before the bombings.
Right: the sculpture located in the park of the villa.

– condition	: II
– size	: height 158 cm. Weighting 350 -400 kg
– signed	: at base: ‘A.B. F. XI’ (Aldo Buttini fece XI anno dell’era fascista)
– type	: Peperino Grigio (Italian limestone marble)

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BIOGRAPHY: ALDO BUTTINI

Stadio dei Marmi
The Stadio dei Marmi (‘Stadium of the Marbles’) is one of four stadiums in the colossal sports complex Foro Italico, initially named Foro Mussolini. Located near the Roman neighborhood Monte Mario, it was designed in the 1920s as a complement to the annexed Fascist Academy of Physical Education, by the architect Enrico Del Debbio, under supervision of Benito Mussolini. The Stadio dei Marmi opened in 1932, on the 10th anniversary of the March on Rome. Encircled by sixty, 4-meter tall classical statues of athletes made from Carrara marble, it was built to celebrate Fascist accomplishments in general, and for the Gioventú del Littorio, the youth movement of the National Fascist Party of Italy.
The sixty towering Carrara marble athletic statues were donated by the Italian provinces and embodied the ancient cardinal Roman values: virilitas, fortitudo, disciplina, gravitas and dignity. They were designed and produced by twenty-four sculptors, including Nicola D’Antino, Aldo Buttini, Silvio Canevari, Carlo de Veroli, Publio Morbiducci, Eugenio Baroni, Arnolfo Bellini, Francesco Messina, and Romano Romanelli. The sculptors adhered to classical forms and elements, using Greek and Roman statues as models, like Doryphoros of Polykleitos and Discobolus of Myron. Eleven statues in the Foro Italico are by Aldo Buttini (8 in the Stadio dei Marmi).
After WWII, the Stadio dei Marmi was used to host some of the field hockey preliminaries for the 1960 Summer Olympics and also hosted the opening ceremony for the 2009 World Aquatics Championships.

Marble obelisk with the inscription ‘Mussolini Dux’, at the entrance of the Foro Italico. Revealed at 4 November 1932. Total height 36 meter.

Stadio dei Marmi, Rome.

The 11 statues by Aldo Buttini in the Foro Italico (8 in the Stadio dei Marmi):

‘Pole Vauter’, donated by the city of Trieste, north-east Italy. Created in 1933. Inscribed: ‘A. Buttini Roma A. XI’.

‘Tennis Player’, donated by the city of Ragusa, capital of the province of Ragusa on Sicily. Created in 1933. Inscribed: ‘A. Buttini Roma A. XI’.

Untitled. Created in 1936. Inscribed: ‘A. Buttini A. XIV’.

‘Hammer Thrower’, donated by the province of Fiume (nowadays Croati). Created in 1932. Inscribed: ‘Aldo Buttini Roma Anno X’.

‘Boxer’, donated by the province of Mantua. Created in 1938. Inscribed: ‘Aldo Buttini Anno XVI’.

‘Saluting Athlete’, donated by the province Massa Carrara in Tuscany, central Italy. Created in 1931. The statue of Massa Carrara still bears the bronze fig leaf added during the 1960 Olympics.

‘Boxer’, donated by the city of Chieti, capital of the province of Chieti, central Italy. Created in 1932. Inscribed: ‘Aldo Buttini Roma Anno X’.

‘Javelin Thrower’, donated by the city of Perugia, capital of Umbria, central Italy. Created in 1932. Inscribed: ‘Aldo Buttini Roma Anno X’.

Aldo Buttini, ‘Guerriero’ (‘Warrior’), 1943. Carrara marble. Statue at the facade of the Palazzina C.O.N.I. (building on the grounds of the Foro Italico).

Left: Aldo Buttini, ‘Young Man with Roman Standard and Dagger’, marble statue at the facade of the ‘L’Accademia fascista maschile di educazione fisica’ (building on the grounds of the Foro Italico). Inscribed: ‘ALDO BUTTINI CARRARA A. XVII’.
Right: Aldo Buttini, ‘Young Man with Roman Standard and Dagger’, bronze. Created 1930-35. Height 119 cm. Sold by an Italian auction house in 2018.

Left: Aldo Buttini, ‘Guerriero’ (‘Warrior’), 1939. Carrara marble. Located at the facade of the ‘L’Accademia fascista maschile di educazione fisica’ (building on the grounds of the Foro Italico). Inscribed: ‘ALDO BUTTINI CARRARA A. XVII’.
Right: Aldo Buttini, ‘Guerriero’, bronze. Height 119 cm. Sold by an Italian auction house in 2018.

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Left: Aldo Buttini, ‘Bust of Mussolini’, displayed by the Museo Di Salò. The museum building is the former seat of the Republican National Guard (Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana), a gendarmerie force of the Italian Social Republic created by decree on December 8, 1943.
Right: the same bust by Buttini displayed by the Museum Arte del Novecento, Milan. Height 65 cm.

Aldo Buttini, ‘Fontana delle Venere’ (‘Fountain of Venus’), marble, 1934. Located in the city of Carrara.

Aldo Buttini, World War I Memorial, inaugurated on 10 October 1928 in Villafranca Lunigiana. Originally located in the Piazzetta della Vittoria. In the 1970s it was moved to Piazza di San Niccolò to remain there until 2009 when it was placed where it still stands today, in Piazza Aeronautica, in the gardens in front of the town hall. On this occasion the statuette depicting the Vittorietta (originally in bronze) was replaced by a marble copy.

Aldo Buttini (date unknown).

Aldo Buttini (It.)
Professor Aldo Buttini, born in 1898 in Monti di Licciana, was an Italian sculptor. From 1914 to 1918 he served as officer in the Alpine Regiment and was awarded the War Merit Cross (Croce al Merito di Guerra). After the war he settled in Cararra. From 1922 to 1923 Buttini, son of an art dealer, studied at the ‘Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara’ under sculptor Carlo Fontana and Artura Dazzi. He was especially influenced by the works of Michelangelo. In Carrara he married Alma Dell’Amico and opened a sculpture studio.
One of his first prominent works was ‘La Leva’, created in 1927 and placed in the gardens of Mussolini’s house Villa Torlonia. From 1932 to 1938 Buttini created 8 of the 60 huge marble statues (each 4 meter high) of athlete’s in the Stadio dei Marmi, and 3 statues at the facades of buildings in the Foro Italico. The statues by Buttini, donated by the Italian provincial capitals, included:
-‘Pole Vauter’, donated by the city of Trieste, north-east Italy. Created in 1933;
-‘Tennis Player’, donated by the city of Ragusa, capital of the province of Ragusa on Sicily. Created in 1933;
-‘Hammer Thrower’, donated by the province of Fiume (nowadays Croatia). Created in 1932;
-‘Boxer’, donated by the province of Mantua. Created in 1938;
-‘Saluting Athlete’, donated by the province Massa Carrara in Tuscany, central Italy. Created in 1931;
-‘Boxer’, donated by the city of Chieti, capital of the province of Chieti, central Italy. Created in 1932;
-‘Javelin Thrower’, donated by the city of Perugia, capital of Umbria, central Italy. Created in 1932.

Stadio dei marmi
The Stadio dei Marmi (‘Stadium of the Marbles’) is one of four stadiums in the colossal sports complex Foro Italico, initially named Foro Mussolini. Located near the Roman neighborhood Monte Mario, it was designed in the 1920s as a complement to the annexed Fascist Academy of Physical Education, by the architect Enrico Del Debbio, under supervision of Benito Mussolini. The Stadio dei Marmi opened in 1932, on the 10th anniversary of the March on Rome. Encircled by sixty, 4-meter tall classical statues of athletes made from Carrara marble, it was built to celebrate Fascist accomplishments in general, and for the Gioventú del Littorio, the youth movement of the National Fascist Party of Italy. The sixty towering Carrara marble athletic statues were donated by the Italian provinces and embodied the ancient cardinal Roman values: virilitas, fortitudo, disciplina, gravitas and dignity. They were designed and produced by twenty-four sculptors, including Nicola D’Antino, Aldo Buttini, Silvio Canevari, Carlo de Veroli, Publio Morbiducci, Eugenio Baroni, Arnolfo Bellini, Francesco Messina, and Romano Romanelli. The sculptors adhered to classical forms and elements, using Greek and Roman statues as models, like Doryphoros of Polykleitos and Discobolus of Myron. Eleven statues in the Foro Italico are by Aldo Buttini (8 in the Stadio dei Marmi).
After WWII, the Stadio dei Marmi was used to host some of the field hockey preliminaries for the 1960 Summer Olympics and also hosted the opening ceremony for the 2009 World Aquatics Championships.

From 1935 Buttini worked as sculpting-professor at the Licea Artistico di Carrara. He displayed his marble ‘Crisalide’ at the XVII Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition 1930, and also participated in the Florence Portrait Exhibition and the Sacred Art exhibition in Bergamo. In the Marble Hall in Carrara, Buttini exhibited the Fountain of Venus (‘Fontana della Phryne’) in white marble, adorned with dancing Cupids at its base. Buttini displayed ‘Peso Massimo’ (‘Schwergewicht’) at the ‘Olympische Kunstrausstellung’ in Berlin, 1936.

Other well known works by Buttini are:
– Carrara. Palazzo delle Poste: Fountain of Venus (‘Fontana della Phryne’):
– Carrara. Marble group of Adam and Eve;
– Carrara. Bronze of St. Sebastian;
– Carrara. Marble group with Leda and the Swann;
– City of La Spezia. Public gardens: monument to the poet Ceccardo Roccatagliata;
– City of Massa. Bas relief of the Deposition of the Cross;
– City of Salò. Museo di Salò: marble Bust of Mussolini;
– New York. St. John: Bas relief of Madonna and Child;
– Pittsburg. Twelve colossal statues;
– Rome. Entrance of the Maternity Hospital: Maternity-group and a bust of Marquis Serafini;
– Rome. Garden of the villa Francesco Falvella: statue of Maria Elle Heye;
– USA. Cemetery. Polychrome marble The Last Supper;
– USA. Arlington Memorial Gardens, Ohio. Several monuments;
– Village of Novi Ligure. Monument to the bishop Antonio Martini;
– Village of Pontremoli. Cathedral: Funerary Monument to Bishop Fiorini;
– Village of Vado Ligure. Monument to Arturo Martini.

Until his death on 1 December 1957 in Carrara, Buttini worked on a colossal statue of Christ (20 meters high) destined for Cuba, based on a sketch by the Cuban sculptor Jillma Madera.
Two polychrome marble reliefs, Holy Supper and Nativity, were found after his death in his studio in Carrara. The high relief Nativity measures 4,5 x 2,2 meter and consists of thirty-seven different kinds of colored marble.
In 1997 the city of Carrara dedicated a celebratory exhibition to him. Buttini was one of the artists on display at the 2000 Biennale curated by Antonio Paolucci.