Pasquale Romanelli (Italian, 1812–1887)

The original source of inspiration for this statue is the play La Sulamitide by Giuseppe Maria Ercolani, published in 1733, about a son of the king of Egypt and the daughter of Solomon called Sulamita. An opera of the same title by Domenico Fischetti released in 1753 reinforced the character of Sulamitide as a beautiful Odalisque. Pasquale Romanelli studied at the Academy in Florence under Luigi Pampaloni and Lorenzo Bartolini, swiftly becoming Bartolini’s favoured pupil and taking over his atelier on his death. Romanelli was much-admired in his own right, much commissioned for public monuments and exhibited in Paris and London.