Lost wax casting, from a model by Sirio Tofanari
Sirio Tofanari (Florence, April 9, 1886 - Milan, October 12, 1969) was an Italian sculptor famous for his works depicting animals.
He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence for just one year and then left his studies and went first to Paris and then to London, where he was able to study animals in the then Zoological Garden.
He can be considered self-taught; his style between 1920 and 1923 has evolved and consolidated, with the achievement of a classicism of the form which the impressionistic experience gives an unexpected liveliness, as can be observed in its marvelous fountains. The Sturgeon Fountain was built in 1940, currently in a private collection. Fully Mannerist in style, this replica has the classic reference to the grotesque and late Renaissance oriental taste. The beautiful fountain, depicting sinuous sturgeons with their tails arched in motion, features a central jet of water that creates an important and effective scenographic game.
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