Boxer
Artist
Antonio Calì
(Italian, 1789 – 1866)
Maker
Fonderia Chiurazzi
(Italian, founded 1870)
Dateearly 20th century
MediumBronze
Dimensions76 x 62 x 24 1/2 in. (193 x 157.5 x 62.2 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN5118
Born into a family of sculptors, Antonio Calì studied first with his father in Naples and later, after winning a state scholarship to study in Rome, with Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844). These masters were the foremost European sculptors working in a Neoclassical style. As part of the scholarship, Calì was required to send home to Naples proof of his training, and in 1818 he submitted the <i>Boxer</i> (<i>Pugilatore</i>). The muscular athlete defends himself with his left arm while preparing to strike a blow with his raised right fist. The figure’s stern expression and momentary pose, with feet at right angles, owe much to Canova’s <i>Creugas</i> and <i>Damoxenos</i> (1801, 1806; now in the Musei Vaticani), themselves boxers of the ancient world remembered for their bloody confrontation. So true to Canova’s vision of sculpture was Calì’s <i>Boxer</i> that some believed it modeled by the master himself, while others, so we are told by a contemporary, mistook it for an ancient statue.
On View
On viewLocation
- Museum of Art, Courtyard
