Name of Object:

The Builders

Name in original language:

I costruttori

Location:

Rome, Italy

Holding Institution:

National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)

 About MIBACT | National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM), Rome

Holding Institution (original language):

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM)

Date of Object:

1907

Author:

Arturo Dazzi (1881, Carrara-1966, Pisa)

Inventory Number:

inv. 1365

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Bronze

Dimensions:

168 cm x 228 cm x 90 cm

Provenance:

Italy

Description:

Arturo Dazzi was the son of the owner of a marble quarry and remained attracted to this raw material throughout his life. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara and then won two national contests. The group of The Builders, as stated by the artist, was made for his final examination during the four years he spent at the Pensionato Nazionale di Scultura between 1904 to 1907. For this reason, the sculpture is very complicated and needed a lot of study and work in order to be completed. Nonetheless it gave great satisfaction to the artist: exhibited in 1907 in Italy and in 1909 in Munich the group was awarded both times with gold medals. The work shows an idealized version of the social “verism”, or truth, a concept common among young Italian sculptors of the time, and shows the influence of the painting of Constantin Meunier, Enlèvement d’un creuset brisé, done in 1884.

Type of Object

Sculpture

Additional Copyright Information:

Copyright image: Soprintendenza alla Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea.

Citation of this web page:

Marina Minozzi "The Builders" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;it;243;en

Prepared by: Marina Minozzi
Copyedited by: Anne Dowell

MWNF Working Number: IT2 102