Simoli Monument, 1895

Seventh Cloister, west courtyard

The tomb, dedicated to the city locksmith Gaetano Simoli and his wife Liberata Morini, was certainly the most successful work of the sculptor Tullo Golfarelli (1853-1928), demonstrating both artistic inspiration and adherence to the ideals of progressiveness and class struggle that were associated with his friends Giosue Carducci and Giovanni Pascoli.

The life-sized statue depicts a young blacksmith, proud and haughty, caught in a moment of rest, one hand resting on the hip, the other on the hammer resting on top of the anvil.
The work was the result of a request in Simoli's will, who saved his whole life to fulfil the dream of a funeral monument that would pass down his memory to posterity. At the foot of the statue the inscription "labor" bears witness of the pride of the deceased in his class, becoming the very symbol of the exaltation of work. On the pedestal is placed a medallion with the image of the two elderly spouses.

Originally placed in front of this work was the tomb of the Stoppani family, its ideal counterpart, then moved to the Nineth Cloister, also the work of Golfarelli.

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