The manneristic celebrated group Rape of the Sabines by the Flemish artist Jean Boulogne, better known as Giambologna (1529-1608), is part of the statuary under the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence’s Piazza Signoria.
The massive statue is 4.10 meters high (statues became much bigger after Michelangelo’s David) and depicts a young man lifting a girl up over his shoulder, as an older man is crouched at his feet in complete dismay. For this reason, the statue is also known as the "Three ages of Man". At the base of the statue there is a bronze plaque that depicts scenes of the abduction of the Sabine women in bas-reliefs.
Shrouded within the park of Villa Demidoff, in Medici Villas (Unesco World Heritage List, 2013), Pratolino, Vaglia, Tuscany, just 7 miles north of Florence, Italy, there sits a gigantic 16th century sculpture - 14-meter-tall masterpiece statue - known as Colosso dell'Appennino, or the Appennine Colossus. The brooding structure was first erected in 1580 by Flemish sculptor Giambologna, pseudonym of Jean de Boulogne (Douai, 1529 - Florence, 1608).
Antonio Canova (1757-1822) was the leading proponent of Neoclassicism and Italy's last internationally famous artist.
The sculptor Antonio Canova, born in the village of Possagno in 1757, rose to celebrity from humble origins. For biographical notes -in english and italian- and works by Canova see Antonio Canova ~ Neoclassical sculptor.
Tieni sempre presente che la pelle fa le rughe,
i capelli diventano bianchi,
i giorni si trasformano in anni.
Però ciò che é importante non cambia;
la tua forza e la tua convinzione non hanno età.
Il tuo spirito e` la colla di qualsiasi tela di ragno.
Dietro ogni linea di arrivo c`e` una linea di partenza.
Dietro ogni successo c`e` un`altra delusione.
Bahram Dabiri [بهرام دبیری] was born in the city of Shiraz, Iran in the year of the Tiger, 1950, under the sign of Sagittarius, whose symbol, the Centaur with bow and arrow figure greatly in his works. Looking at the reliefs and sculptures on the walls of nearby Persopolis and the splendid inscription of the Naqsheh Rustam Monument, are amongst the artist’s treasured childhood memories.
At the age of twelve, without encouragement or tutelage but strictly on his own, Dabiri started his career in what he likes to call “The Paintings”.
