Golden Gate Park – Verdi

Golden Gate Park

Music Concourse

*

*

*

*

Giuseppe Verdi by Orzio Grossoni March 23, 1914.

The statue was dedicated to the sounds of the sweet voice of soprano Luisa Tetrazzini.  She sang the aria from Aida to a reported audience of 20,000.  The memorial was a gift of the Italian Community spearheaded by Ettore Patrizzi owner and publisher of San Francisco’s Italian newspaper L’Italia (published form 1887 to 1943). The subscription fund raised $15,000 for the statue and commissioned the work through a contest at the the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.

The sculptor chosen was Italian Orazio Grossoni of Milan. Grossoni studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan with,  Raffaele Casnedi and Ambrogio Borghi and worked in the studio of the sculptor Ernesto Bazzaro. Grassoni specialized in portraiture, genre and funerary sculpture, as well as, the design of medals.

The allegorical figures around the statue represent the four muses; Love, Tragedy, Joy and Sorrow, the fundamental elements said to inspire most artists.

In 2003 the 6′ tall bronze bust of Verdi was regilded along with an inscription on the rear face of the granite pedestal. The bronze frieze and sculptures below were spot repatinated and treated with a custom wax coating. Copper stains were chemically poulticed from the pedestal and a sacrificial graffiti barrier was applied; a new dedication plaque was fabricated and installed.