Michele Tripisciano

Between 1880 and 1888 he worked with Francesco Fabi Altini and in 1884 he obtained the silver medal at the Accademia di San Luca for his work Caio Mario sulle rovine di Cartagine (Gaius Marius on the ruins of Carthage). He lived in Rome for many years and then returned to his home town when he died at the age of 53 because of a bronchopneumonia. In 1900, he received the Knight's Cross from king Umberto I of Italy and in 1912 he was awarded a Knight's Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus by Vittorio Emanuele III di Savoia.

Works named in the authority record are Bimbo sdraiato che gioca con pietre, Bust of the stingy man, Marble bust of Ferdinando Tripisciano, Marble bust of Giacomo Leopardi (Rimembranze), Orpheus and Unexpected Fishing. Work by Michele Tripisciano is recorded in the collections of Museo Tripisciano and Biblioteca comunale Luciano Scarabelli di Caltanissetta. Distinctions recorded are Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

• Name — Michele Tripisciano • Birth Name — Michele Tripisciano • Born — 13 July 1860 • Birthplace — Caltanissetta, Sicily • Died — 21 September 1913 • Place of death — Caltanissetta, Sicily • Known for — Sculpture • Training — St Michael Ospice, Rome • Movement — Realism • Awards — Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus

Tripisciano opened his own sculpting workshop and created mythic sculptures getting inspiration from both religious and historical subjects. He got orders for churches and memorials and after winning some competitions he worked on international basis. His work, which was influenced by Francesco Fabi Altini, exemplifies neoclassicism together and with that of such contemporaries as Ettore Ximenes, Nicola Civiletti, Domenico Trentacoste and Mario Rutelli, also of contemporary Romano Vio, Francesco Biangardi, Giovanni Duprè, Luigi Fontana, Giovanni Scarfì and others.

• Illustration — Statue of Belli in Rome • Illustration — Triton Fountain in Marino • Illustration — Statue of Umberto I of Italy in Caltanissetta • Illustration — Plaster bust of his father Ferdinand exhibited in the Museum Tripisciano of Palazzo Moncada in Caltanissetta • Illustration — Portrait of Scarabelli in Caltanissetta • Illustration — The angel of the Tomb of Testasecca in Caltanissetta of 1894 • Illustration — Piety exhibited in the Museum Tripisciano of Palazzo Moncada in Caltanissetta

Works recorded as notable number 8: Bimbo sdraiato che gioca con pietre, Bust of the stingy man, Marble bust of Ferdinando Tripisciano, Marble bust of Giacomo Leopardi (Rimembranze), Orpheus, Unexpected Fishing, Plaster Pietà and Plaster bust of Ferdinando Tripisciano.

• Illustration — The Orfeo, an early work, exhibited in the Tripisciano Museum in the Moncada Palace in Caltanissetta A museum dedicated to Tripisciano (Museo Tripisciano), located in the Palazzo Moncada on Largo Barile in Caltanissetta, displays many works, mostly stucco models, from the sculptor donated to the town. Among these is a work in marble, Orfeo. This work is different from the previous ones from the same author because of the particular introspective analysis on the subject.