Attilio Piccirilli

Attilio Piccirilli, the Italian expatriate sculptor associated with Beaux-Arts tradition in America, was born in the town of Massa di Cararra, near Pisa, in 1866. He was one of six sons, all sculptors, of Guiseppe Piccirilli, himself a renowned marble-worker. After demonstrating his artistic ability during his boyhood, Piccirilli entered the Academia di San Luca in Rome at the age fourteen. He completed his training five years later, in 1885, and subsequently joined his father and brothers in the family business.

In 1888, he emigrated to the United States and settled in New York. The rest of his family soon followed, and the famed Piccirilli Studios was quickly founded in a converted stable at Sixth Avenue and Trinity-Ninth Street. As one of the first establishments to import expensive marbles from Italy, this atelier began to issue copies of many of the works of America’s foremost sculptors, such as Daniel Chester French and Herbert Adams. Indeed, the Piccirilli Studios was so successful that their quarters were later moved to a much larger facility in the Bronx.

Of the numerous Piccirilli offspring, it was Attilio who was the first to establish a reputation as a creative sculptor, having enhanced his skills by helping enlarge the models of other prominent artists. By the late 1890s, he was producing his own designs in a style that has been noted for its “discipline, simplicity and dignity” as well as its “refreshing idealism.”[1] His first major commission, the statue of McDonough for New Orleans, was followed by such important projects as the Maine Monument, which stands at the corner of Central Park, and many architectural pieces, including the figures of Indian Literature and the Indian Law Giver for the Brooklyn Museum. He also produced a pedimental composition for the Wisconsin State Capitol Building and several lunettes for the Frick Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York. During the 1930s, his academically-inspired designs become extremely popular with both his fellow sculptors and patrons with conservative taste.

Piccirilli died in New York City in 1945. Throughout his career, he played an active role in local and national art life, holding memberships at the National Academy of Design, the National Sculptors Society and the Architectural League. His work brought him numerous awards and prized including a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco