AN ITALIAN MARBLE FIGURE ENTITLED 'LA SORPRESA' (THE SURPRISE)

Cesare Lapini was a sculptor of allegorical and genre subjects and models after the Antique which he sold with great success from his Florence shop. He contributed six sculptures to the Esposizione Generale Italiana di Torino in 1884, including his Sorpresa. The model of a girl with an open chemise, stepping back from the approaching waves, was extremely popular and was subsequently carved in various sizes of which the present marble is a particularly large and fine example. Another example of the same size, dated one year later, was sold Sotheby's, London, 28 June 2007, lot 94.