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Madame Marianna Russell
(c. 1888-1889); cast (c. 1900-1904)
Medium
bronze
Measurements
46.1 × 23.8 × 24.6 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Paula Fox, Max Beck, David Goldberger, John Higgins, Rosie Lew, Clare Myers, Lloyd Williams, Bank of Queensland, Daimler Chrysler and the Pratt Foundation, 2004
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The subject of this work is the Italian-born model Marianna Mattiocco (1865–1908), wife of the Australian artist John Peter Russell (1858–1930). The couple became acquainted with Auguste Rodin in 1888, and they remained lifelong friends of the celebrated sculptor. Rodin admired Marianna’s perfect classical beauty and referred to her as ‘L’Italienne’ in reference to her origins. The sculptor believed that the people of each country or region possessed their own distinctive facial characteristics. Throughout the 1890s, Rodin used Marianna Russell’s noble features as the basis for a variety of classicising portrait busts in plaster, marble and bronze.
Artwork Details
Inscription
cast in rear l.r.: A Rodin
Accession Number
2004.805
Department
International Sculpture
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited