Focus on Dante Alighieri (Ximenes) and explain the Acquisition and dedication.
Dante is a casting of a statue located at Dante Park in New York City. The founder of Dante Park and editor of Il Progresso Italiano-Americano, Carlo Barsotti, donated the replica in 1921 as a tribute to Italian Americans. The total cost of the statue reached upwards of $20,000 and weighs at least 3,000 pounds.
The statue was dedicated on December 1, 1921, as a "gift of the Italians of the United States." Barsotti, also head of the Dante Memorial Commission of New York, gave a speech, as well as M. Rene Viviani on behalf of the French people, and Italian ambassador Vittorio Rolandi Ricci. President Warren G. Harding and his wife also attended the dedication.Dante was covered in Italian and American flags and was unveiled by Clarence Caldwell and Minne Elizabeth Sherrill, the children of the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds at the time. Other notables who attended the event included the French Ambassador of the time and his wife, the President of the Italian Delegation Carlo Schanzer, the High Commissioner of Italy, Signor Quattrone, and numerous military and Italian community members. Music was played, celebrating Italian and American heritage and contemporary culture of the time.Italian poet and scholar Giovanni Pascoli believed that this was the best figure of Dante ever sculpted after viewing a version of the work in Ximenes' studio. When influenced by art critic Florence Brooks about the sculpture and the public reception of it Ximenes was quoted as saying "That is not for me or you to say but for the public, for posterity. Every work performed by an artist is a page in history."The sculpture was founded by Roman Bronze Works in New York City.
American flag New York City Dante Park Vittorio Rolandi Ricci American Carlo Barsotti Italian Americans Carlo Schanzer French people Il Progresso Italiano-Americano Roman Bronze Works Italian Giovanni Pascoli Warren G. Harding