Sculpture

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Hungary…The sculptures in the Collection offer a cross-section of European art in the 19th and 20th centuries, covering an extraordinary variety of styles: from Romanticism to Art Nouveau, Symbolism to Expressionism. There are plenty of “exotic” pieces, such as the Egyptian-flavoured bust by Marcel Alphonse Temporal, inspired by the (then) recent discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb. 

The symbol of the House Museum is the sculpture Beethoven by Marcello Mascherini, one of Italy’s leading sculptors in the early 20th century, who adopted Trieste as his home town. Also known as an enthralling raconteur, he was described by poet Alfonso Gatto as “an athlete of the spirit and a strenuous fighter on the formal level”. The statue was produced in 1925 and was the first masterpiece by this eclectic artist, who received numerous accolades, including the San Giusto d’Oro award in Trieste.

The sculpture is a monumental work in the Symbolist style. The lack of eyes alludes visually to the composer’s deafness, skilfully conveying the pain he expressed to his friend Franz Gerhard Wegeler: “But who is there could escape the influence of the external storms? Yet I should be happy, perhaps one of the happiest men, if the demon had not taken possession of my ears”.  However, Beethoven is an indomitable fighter. The pronounced facial features and the twisting powerful neck muscles are indicators of his ability to overcome the constraints of his condition in dignified solitude and reach the highest peaks of his art. An emphatic message of hope. 

zoom_in MARCELLO MASCHERINI, *Udine, 14 September 1906 - †Padua, 19 February 1983.
Large cast bronze head of Beethoven with green patina, height 51 cm, Trieste, 1925. zoom_in KASPAR CLEMENS EDUARD ZUMBUSCH, *Herzebrock 23 November 1830 – †Rimsting 26 September 1915.
Bronze-patinated plaster model of the Beethoven Monument in Vienna, signed and dated on the back “C. Zumbusch 1877”. zoom_in ALBERT DOMINIQUE ROSÉ, *Amiens, 1861 – †Amiens, 1952?
Large polychrome ceramic bust, 1897. zoom_in GUSTAV ADOLF LANDGREBE, *Berlin, 27 December 1837 - †Berlin, 11 June 1899.
Life-size patinated plaster bust, height 60 cm, Gebrüder Micheli of Berlin (casters), 1885. zoom_in FRANZ VON STUCK, *Tettenweis, 23 February 1863 – †Munich, 30 August 1928.
Cast bronze square plaque with high relief of Beethoven’s face (from Franz Klein’s life mask), 460x460 mm, c. 1906. zoom_in T. CURTS (pseudonym of CARL KAUBA), *Vienna, 13 August 1865 – †Vienna, 1922.
Cast bronze monument with brown patina on white Carrara marble base, Vienna, early 1900s. zoom_in BRUNO EYERMANN, *Leipzig, 26 February 1888 – †Hanau, 30 December 1961.
Hollow-cast bronze with dark patina, height 50.5 cm, Leipzig, 1920. zoom_in ADELE SCHALLENMÜLLER, *Lucerne, 13 September 1887 - †Arlesheim, 26 April 1980.
Patinated bust, hollow-cast bronze on original black marble base, signed on the back, Hamburg, c. 1920. zoom_in FRANZ PELESCHKA LUNARD, Austrian sculptor, *Vienna, 1873 † [?].
Terracotta bust patinated with bronze highlights, height 32x21 cm, work signed and numbered, early 1900s. zoom_in BLASCHKE, Austrian sculptor, active in the 1920s, perhaps in Vienna.
Ochre plaster bust with brown patina, signed and dated 1920, possibly a model, height 29x26 cm. zoom_in MARCEL ALPHONSE TEMPORAL, *Saint-Jean-de-Trézy, 15 July 1881 – †1964.
Pharaoh Beethoven, glazed ceramic sculpture, height 48 cm.