Osti Monument, 1900

The monument dedicated to the family of Alessandro Osti consists of a marble sarcophagus with a fine plant motif decoration, surmounted by a stele culminating in a Greek cross.
Sitting in front of the stele, almost crouching, is the figure of a young sorrowful woman modelled in marble in a highly realistic style, down to the swollen eyes, red from crying. The woman, though wrapped in a traditional veil, is modernised by the large soft and flowing cape and the troubled expression on her face.
This latter feature recalls previous examples in Certosa, such as the Desolation by Vincenzo Vela and the Felsina by Giovan Battista Lombardi. However, the soft lines and movements of the figure reflect the Art Nouveau style which was spreading in Europe in the early 1900s, and of which Diego Sarti (1859-1914) can be considered a precursor thanks to his sinuous and sensual Sirens made for the grand fountain of the 1888 Emilian Exhibition held in the Margherita Gardens, today situated in the Montagnola Garden, and the magnificent marble group of the Ninfa Fountain (1896) sculpted for the grand stairway of the same place.