Antonio Berti Biography
Antonio Berti was born in 1904 in San Pietro Sieve and began his career as a designer at the Richard Ginori Florentine ceramic factory at just 17 years old. Subsequently, thanks to the suggestion of the writer Ugo Ojetti who had the opportunity to admire some of his clay works, he attended the Santa Croce Art Institute in Florence. Here he had the famous sculptor Libero Andreotti as his teacher, who introduced him to sculpture. In 1930 Berti made his official debut in an art event, the Venice Biennale, and from that moment on his career had a constant rise. With his art Berti intended to affirm the centrality of the human figure and humanistic problems, the artist's choice for figurative classicism does not however mean that he remained closed towards modernity, but only that his feelings and his education directed him towards research that had man and his relationship with nature and beauty at its centre. He was one of the most sought-after portrait artists internationally, working for sovereigns, rulers, high prelates and famous people. Among his most famous works are the bust of Ugo Foscolo located in the church of Santa Croce in Florence, the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, Alcide De Gasperi, Pope Pius XII, Guglielmo Marconi and Queen Elena. In the 1980s he produced several commemorative medals commissioned by Rodolfo Siviero for the inauguration of the exhibition of works found after the war. Antonio Berti died on 1 December 1990, leaving a rich artistic heritage. He was an Academician of San Luca and one of the most representative exponents of Italian sculpture of the 20th century.
