Style Other / Ref.2742

Luigi FRULLINI - Exceptional wood fireplace mantel In sculpted walnut

LUIGI FRULLINI - Florence, March 25th, 1839 – Florence June 29th, 1897.
Sculptor, engraver and cabinet maker. His workshop was via Santa Caterina.

Luigi Frullini was trained by his father Agostina Frullini, a wood carver. Of humble birth, Luigi quickly showed a natural artistic talent. When he was 12, his father managed to enrol him in the Fine Arts Academy of Florence for a drawing class, most likely under the direction of Alessandro Maffei. Between 1853 and 1856, he studied ornamentation with the Florentine drawing master Giuseppe Benelli. He continued working in partnership with his father. Then at his father’s death in 1856, he decided to finish his artistic training and took an apprenticeship with the cabinetmaker Barbetti. Frullini’s ambition was to go beyond the condition of a simple artisan. His dream was to become an artist and open a large studio. This dream came true in 1859.

From that moment on Frullini’s career took off. The excellence of his work brought him repeated honors and many prestigious commissions. At the age of 26, he became honorary professor at the fine Arts Academy of Florence, a rare distinction for someone so young.

By 1870, his studio became famous because of his personal fame. In 1876, he received the cross of the knights of the crown, the highest distinction in the Kingdom of Italy. Luigi Frullini is considered as the one who gave a second wind to wood carving, in which in the previous centuries Florence excelled. A real scholar, Luigi was inspired by the Renaissance models and participated in the Italian Neo-Renaissance movement.

From the very beginning, Frullini developed a unique decorative style and was singled out for his amazing animal motifs. His sculpture was abundant and very neat. In contrast to other Italian Neo-Renaissance artists, Frullini’s work was full of subtlety and naturalism, he associated lightness with opulence. Frullini carved his motifs on all types of furnishings, from large pieces of furniture to small caskets, frames or candelabras.
Until the mid 1870’s, Frullini was very inspired by the fantastic, peopling his work with griffons, dragons and sphinxes. Then towards 1878, he added a new more naturalistic line to his work that announced the future Liberty style, name of the Italian Art Nouveau.

In 1861, Frullini first participated in the National Fairs in Florence presenting a few bas-reliefs for a casket and was awarded a medal. This success prompted him to open his own workshop and especially participate in the World’s Fair in London in 1862.
There, he displayed only small pieces: two bas-relief with historical themes, Meeting between Charles VIII, King of France, and Pier Capponi and The Pazzi Conspiracy ; a few carved heads of grotesque animals; and a copy of the famous Giambologna Devil of Florence, in walnut wood. They were noticed by the jury and Frunelli was awarded a medal «for carvings in wood of a great artistic merit».
He was equally successful in the Dublin Fair in 1865 and, in 1867, displayed a large collection of his work at the World’s Fair in Paris : among these, a carved portrait of Prince Amadeus of Savoy in bas relief, in an elaborately decorated ebony frame with Jujube wood bas-reliefs figuring the four seasons, and a surrounding openwork Greek frieze.
But it was the large carved panel with foliage and floral motifs that most interested the critics. The Art Journal reproduced a print of the panel and noted the extraordinary creativity of the artist, placing Frullini’s work among the “rare treasures brought from Italy”.

Frullini then participated in the World’s fair in Vienna in 1873 where he received an honorary diploma. The year 1876 was marked by a grand display he made in the Philadelphia World’s Fair where he presented bas-reliefs similar to those of 1867, and different pieces of furniture.

In the year 1878, during the World’s Fair in Paris, he received full recognition. Indeed, Frullini impressed the public with a fabulous sculpted wood cabinet for which he received a gold medal: “We commend Mr. Frullini’s (furniture) especially for the refinement of their make and their perfect taste.” Greatly admired, Frullini also received the Légion d’Honneur, the highest honor in France. Furthermore, he was awarded another medal for the many ornamentations and decorations he presented.

Apparently Frullini did not participate in the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. He died in 1897, but his work was presented in the Fair of 1900, probably by his brother, an architect. It was warmly welcomed. And again his work won a gold medal: “Mr. Frullini is probably the best Italian sculptor from whom we have received work to appraise. His inspiration comes directly from the marvels of Florence, the immortal works of Donatello and Robbia. Everything he sends is incomparably made and let us praise his sideboard, his waiting room bench, his buffet with their delightful foliage ornamentation. Above all let us note the charming panels where processions and dances of demi-gods unfold in the manner of Mino da Fiesole. These are very remarkable pieces.”

Frullini’s brilliant success at the exhibit of 1862 immediately brought him fame in the official art world and foreign art collectors filled him with commissions. The Royal Italian family, the Court of England – the daughter of Queen Victoria – Russian nobles, and rich American and English collectors can be counted among his patrons.

He imagined for them several “cassoni” or low chests. These are low chests typical of the Italian culture that were painted and sculpted and made for weddings. These chests were numerous in the Renaissance period and greatly appreciated by collectors and antique dealers in the 19th century. It was not unusual to see Renaissance and Neo-Renaissance cassini side by side in a collection. With his erudite knowledge of art history, Frullini excelled in this production reserved to connoisseurs. He provided such pieces for example to William Blundell Spence the famous Victorian artist and art dealer.

Like many of his compatriots, Luigi Frullini was summoned to work on the East Coast of the United States. Hungry for historical styles, the rich landowners of New York and Newport, Rhode Island, discovered most of these artists at the Philadelphia World’s Fair. The Neo-Renaissance style was seen by the American architects and designers a perfect vehicle for creativity.

Frullini honored many commissions but the most significant, and the one still standing today, is in the property of George Peabody Wetmore in Chateau-sur-Mer, Rhodes Island. Here Frullini created most outstanding decorations for the dining room and library using all his savoir-faire and themes.

The fireplace insert is made out of Campan marble.