Bronze bust portrait of Giuseppe Verdi by Vincenzo Gemito (1851-1929), seen just today at the Petit Palais in a wonderful retrospective in honor of the immense Neopolitan sculptor.
Fun fact: The young Gemito was allowed, thanks to the persuasion of his mentor, the painter Domenico Morelli, to make a bust of the famous composer who was in Naples in the winter of 1872-1873 to supervise two productions of his operas. Gemito was apparently intimidated by the haughty Verdi, and was not inspired by his subject until Verdi sat at the piano to play. This explains the inclined and pensive position of Verdi’s head, as we can imagine him bent over the keys of an invisible piano.
