Vincenzo Gemito

(Napoli, 1852 - 1929)

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«His name was Vincenzo Gemito. He was poor, born of the people; and to the implacable hunger of his seeing eyes, open on the forms, was sometimes added the brute hunger that twists the insides. But he, like a Hellene, could nourish himself with three olives and a sip of water."

Gabriele D'Annunzio


In his notes, the doctor who treated him describes the sculptor's face as an objective novel, which bears tragedy and obsession imprinted in his features. It is from this tormented soul that the self-portrait becomes a continuous exercise in which the author investigates himself and his fragilities through various means, from drawing to bronze modeling.

Wanda Marasco, Il genio dell'abbandono, Vicenza, 2015