H: 59 cm
This bisque sculpture represents a winged woman holding a torch in her right hand, at her feet a child. The sculpture stands on a small mound.
The woman wearing a crown of flowers is girded from the waist down with an imposing drapery swirling and flying towards the back of her body.
Rafaelle Monti (1818-1881), son of a sculptor, studied in Milan and then at the age of 20 left for Vienna for two years. In 1846, he went to England where he spent part of his life. He worked with the Copeland & Garrett factory, which gave him an alternative to marble. It was with this material that he became known, in particular with his bust entitled "The Veiled Vestal" featuring a woman's face with an illusionist veil, exhibited at the Royal Academy, a commission from the Duke of Devonshire.
This sculpture could be the counterpart of "Night" in the Dahesh Museum of art in New York, which was included in the 1862 catalogue of the London International Exhibition under the title Night and Morning (the latter not yet known)
Dahesh Museum of Art - New York
