Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Stadio dei Marmi (3) and the nude male bronze sculptures

Although the majority of male statues in the Foro Italico, or Stadio dei Marmi actually, are in marble, there are also a few male athletes statues in bronze. On the Western side of the Stadio dei Marmi, we can observe two couples of nude male athletes wresling. The sculptor is Aroldo Bellini, who also executed several of the marble statues.

Aroldo Bellini was born in Perugia in 1901, had his training at the Academy of Fine Arts, and went to Rome in 1932, where he executed most of his sculptures for the Stadio dei Marmi. He was part of the project to create a gigantic monument for Mussolini, the Duce, which was planned to be taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York. But he only achieved a foot, and the head, before the fall of the Mussolini's regime.
 





And two other single athletes have been represented in bronze, including one archer. The sculptor is unknown.