Tebe in costume

Giacomo Manzù’s favourite themes are relatively few in number: portraits (particularly of his wife, Inge), cardinals, skaters, the artist and his model, lovers, and, from 1931 onwards, the young girl seated on a chair. Over the years, the representation of a female figure in an armchair evolved and became more dynamic. Tebe in Costume is part of this series of pieces by the artist, in which he looked for increasingly minimalist lines. Manzù generally produced unique bronze pieces obtained using the lost wax casting technique from proofs carefully modelled in clay, plaster, or wax.
The work was exhibited for the first time in the Principality in 1989 as part of the 2nd Biennale de Sculpture de Monte-Carlo.

Giacomo Manzù was an Italian sculptor born in Bergamo on 22 December 1908. One of twelve children from a poor family, Giacomo Manzù’s talent for drawing was clear from a very early age. He was set to work for a decorator in Bergamo and at thirteen, he took evening classes with a stucco artist. Largely self-taught, he developed an interest in sculpture during his military service. During World War Two, he produced numerous reliefs on the theme of the Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross. He decorated a number of religious buildings, including the Door of the Dead in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the central door of Salzburg Cathedral, the Door of Love and later the Door of Peace and War at Saint Lawrence Church in Rotterdam, and the central door of Orvieto Cathedral. He created the Monument to the Partisan in his native town of Bergamo, in 1977.
Produced in 1989, his last monumental sculpture, Mother and Child, was presented by the Italian Government to the United Nations in New York. Giacomo Manzù died in Rome on 17 January 1991.