Vincenzo Vela

Vincenzo Vela ( May 3, 1820 Ligornetto, Ticino Canton, † October 3, 1891 ) was a Swiss sculptor of the 19th century and a major representative of verismo.

Life

Vela was born the son of a small farmer and a landlady in Mendrisio. After a basic training in the craft of stone carving he formed in 1834 to further the Fabric in Milan. A year later, he enrolled at the local Academia Brera, which he attended until 1844. After graduation, he was awarded first public and private commissions. Vela was a staunch Republican. When Sonderbundskrieg of 1847 he participated voluntarily on the side of the federal troops under Guillaume -Henri Dufour. In 1848 he fought under Antonio Arcioni on the Republican side during the first Italian War of Independence. He fled from the Austrian Milan and stayed from 1852 to 1866 in the independent Turin, where he ran his own studio and a professor at the Royal Art Academy ( Accademia Albertina delle belle arti ) the Verismo taught, influenced the art of Italy sustainable.

In 1867 he returned to Ligornetto, where he left a palazzo built, he as a museum opened to the public in 1868. In addition to art friends Patriots came out of the united Italy in 1871 to visit their National Monument to the Hall of Fame of the Risorgimento. As a politically interested person Vela was a member of the Grand Council Ticinese and participated in the revolution in 1890 in Lugano.

Work

Vela created many statues of patriots, kings and philosophers for Italian and French cities. Its unusual for that time social engagement comes in many works expressed. An important example is his memorial to the casualties the Gotthard railway tunnel Vittime del lavoro, he created his own initiative and without payment.

Monument

In the cemetery of Ligornetto is the built in 1893 by Augusto Guidini Mausoleum. It shows Vela on a funeral bed and is mourned by the top of a figure of the suffering of Jesus. In addition, shows a still life in bronze snap hook, hammer, chisel and Order, the attributes of the celebrated Republican, and sculptor.