Pompeo Marchesi (born Saltrio

Saltrio

Saltrio is a comune in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km northwest of Milan and about 9 km northeast of Varese, on the border with Switzerland...

, near Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, 7 August 1790; died Milan, 6 February 1858) was a Lombard

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 sculptor of the neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 school.

He first studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, and then in 1804 he won a scholarship to study in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 under Canova, from whom he received much encouragement. The greater part of his life was spent in Milan, where for many years he was professor of sculpture at the Academy. He executed a large number of groups in marble and portrait busts. One of his earliest works was a colossal statue of St. Ambrose, patron of the city, for the duomo. For the Arco della Pace (commemorative arch now in the Parco Sempione), completed in 1838, he made various reliefs including of Terpsichore

Terpsichore

In Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...

 and Venus Urania

Urania

Urania was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus. She is usually depicted with a globe in her left hand. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars...

, and of the rivers Adige

Adige

The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with ....

 and Tagliamento. He decorated the façade of the Castello with twelve figures of great Italian captains, and that of the Palazzo Saporiti with reliefs in modern classic style. One of his best-known compositions is the group of the "Mater Dolorosa", in the church of San Carlo

San Carlo al Corso (Milan)

San Carlo al Corso is a neo-classic church in the center of Milan.The church is managed by the Servite Order.This church, finished in 1847, also served as a model for the Chiesa Rotonda in San Bernardino, Switzerland, 1867, which has a great acoustics....

, at which he worked for many years.

Works outside of Milan are the colossal statue of Charles Emmanuel III

Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia

Charles Emmanuel III was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death.-Biography:...

 in Novara

Novara

Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...

; that of Philibert Emanuel of Savoy

Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy

Emmanuel Philibert was Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580....

 in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

; the sitting figure of Goethe for the library in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

; two statues of the Emperor Francis I of Austria, one made with the assistance of Manfredoni, for Goritz

Göritz

Göritz is a municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany....

, and another, unassisted, for the Hofburg

Hofburg Imperial Palace

Hofburg Palace is a palace located in Vienna, Austria, that has housed some of the most powerful people in Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria...

 in Vienna. He also executed the monument to Volta

Alessandro Volta

Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta was a Lombard physicist known especially for the invention of the battery in 1800.-Early life and works:...

 in Como

Como

Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....

; the monument of the singer Maria Malibran

Maria Malibran

The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...

; others to Beccaria and Bellini and a bust of Professor Zuccala for the Atheneum of Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

. There is a portrait of him by Francesco Hayez

Francesco Hayez

Francesco Hayez was an Italian painter, the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories and exceptionally fine portraits.-Biography:...

 in the Civica Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan.

Sources

The entry cites:

• • Boccardo, Nuova Enciclopedia Italiana, XIII (Turin, 1882);
  • Baedeker, Guide Book for Italy (New York, 1904).