MARIA IGHINA BARBANO | CUPID TOWERING OVER SATAN

Maria Ighina Barbano is a rare example of a woman sculptor in the history of 19^th century sculptor. Occasionally women had found success in the male dominated world of sculpture, such as Harriet Hosmer, the pupil of John Gibson. However, the uncertainty of life as a sculptor and the physical demands of marble carving meant that there are far fewer women sculptors than painters. Ighina Barbano is an exception. She was the pupil, and niece, of the Genoese sculptor Santo Varni. Her marble portrait of her teacher, Varni, is in the museum of the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti in Genoa. Her oeuvre is not extensive and the largest collection of her work is in the Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Genoa which has five portraits by her of Orietta Doria, L’ingegner Carlo Barbano, Emanuele Filiberto, Santo Varni and a self-portrait, in addition to a figure of Pandora.

The present striking bronze of Cupid Towering over Satan, made on the eve of the 20^th century, is a rare subject piece by Ighina Barbano, which reveals her inventive creativity in capturing the unusual dynamic relationship between the diminutive Cupid dominating the large winged figure of Satan.