Clay modelling is one of Vincenzo’s favorite parts of the sculpting process.
Galerie Alpine: Bonjour, Vincenzo. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Have you been back to Italy?
Vincenzo Romanelli: I actually just arrived yesterday from the south of Italy, but I’m going back in September for some work.
Galerie Alpine: Was the south of Italy a holiday?
Vincenzo Romanelli: Yes, I was learning to kite surf.
Galerie Alpine: That takes quite a bit of strength and agility.
Vincenzo Romanelli: It’s quite technical. I’m still a beginner.
Galerie Alpine: I’m sure you handled it well, especially as you’re accustomed to the physically taxing and technical work required to create your sculptures.
Vincenzo Romanelli: For large pieces, building the armature, lifting the clay, and moving the sculptures does require strength. It can be physical, but mainly, it is mentally challenging. It requires a lot of concentration. The clay modelling process itself is quite gentle, as I’m capturing fine details. Marble carving is more physically demanding.
Vincenzo prefers sculpting outdoors, which he does at his atelier in Gryon.
Galerie Alpine: What do you find mentally challenging about sculpting?
Vincenzo Romanelli: It is the focus and concentration required to allow my mind to transmit what I see to my hands and recreate my vision. This connection is very important and necessary especially when the sculpture is at an advanced point. Very small, subtle details or shapes can make a big difference. Sometimes it’s hard to see. You have to train your eyes to spot the differences between the model and the sculpture.
Galerie Alpine: Are you hinting at the sight-size technique?
Vincenzo Romanelli: Partly, though training your eye to recreate what you see in proportion does relate to the sight-size technique. The sight-size technique helps you to replicate what your eye sees. It’s a method which is also used in drawing and painting. The subject and sculpture are situated side by side. From a certain distance, they both appear the same size, so you can easily compare the two as you work. It allows you to reproduce what you see with exact proportions.
Galerie Alpine: You sculpt in a studio as well as outdoors. How do the two environments differ for you?
Vincenzo Romanelli: A studio is a closed environment. It’s very good for sculpting as you have optimum conditions—the right light, temperature, tools, and water, but it’s not always possible to sculpt in a studio. I enjoy sculpting outside, from life when possible, especially for commissions. In their natural environment animals are more engaging and show their personality. The difference is that you have limited time to create your sculpture. This can end up being better, as you capture their essence, features, and expression with more immediacy. I have a studio in Gryon in the back garden which I use when I’m in Switzerland. It has a beautiful view, which I find very inspiring. The light is also good.
Galerie Alpine: I imagine it's smaller than your family studio in Florence. What other advantages does working in Gryon offer over working in Florence?
Vincenzo Romanelli: My studio in Gryon is tiny compared to the Florence studio which was an old church. It’s very large. In Gryon, I get direct contact with nature. During the winter I go skiing in search of the resident wildlife. The sightings inspire my sculptures. All of my alpine animals have been created after real-life encounters. Last winter I had the rare privilege of spotting a lynx in the Villars backcountry.
Vincenzo’s draws inspiration for his sculptures from his encounters with Swiss wildlife.
Patination on a bronze sculpture
Sea Urchin, 2018
bronze
40 x 40 x 18 cm
A lynx bronze is part of Vincenzo’s 2021 collection.
An armature, roughly resembling the subject, is built in order to provide a foundation for clay modelling.
Vincenzo his and his brother Raffaello are the latest generation of an art dynasty that has endured for two centuries.
Galerie Alpine: Should we expect to see a lynx sculpture from you in the near future?
Vincenzo Romanelli: I was astonished by the lynx’ beauty, and made a sculpture straight away. I wanted to capture what I felt when I saw her before that feeling faded away. The sculpture is being cast at the Florentine foundry now. It’s part of the 2021 collection, which will be released soon!
Galerie Alpine: Your sculptures are such faithful renderings, and they are truly a personal diary of your experiences with nature. Does each of your sculptures originate in a similar way like your lynx?
Vincenzo Romanelli: Yes, most of my sculptures, especially of undomesticated animals. I refer to books, photos, and documentaries for those which I make just for the pleasure of modelling. Commissions originate from a client’s wish, so they don’t arise from a particular encounter. If it’s a horse or dog, I spend time with them and model them from life. I try to interact or see the animal I’m sculpting.
Galerie Alpine: I’m sure many people are unaware of all the work that goes into completing a bronze sculpture. How long does the entire process take?
Vincenzo Romanelli: There is no set time. The whole process can take anywhere from one month for a small sculpture to years for monumental sculptures. It depends on the size and the pose, and how complicated the form is. Big commissions and sculptures are made in my family’s Florentine studio as the space can accommodate the large scale. The process starts with the creation of a structure to hold the clay. Clay is applied to the armature, and the details are modelled. The biggest I’ve sculpted so far was a life-size jumping horse which took six weeks just to model in clay. It’s quite fast for that scale, but I worked very long days. Once I arrive at the point where I’m happy with the piece, a negative mould is created using silicon and a plaster shell. After the mould has set, it’s opened and cleaned. The mould is used to create a positive form in wax. This step takes part in the foundry using the traditional lost wax method and is the longest part of the process.
Galerie Alpine: What part of the process is your favorite?
Vincenzo Romanelli: Modelling in clay, as this is the moment that I interact for the first time with both my creation and my subject. It’s then when I can capture the expression, movement, and pose. I watch as the clay transforms in my hands into a life-like form. I also enjoy the patination of bronze. It’s very exciting, as it gives life and colour to the raw material.
Galerie Alpine: Do you prefer marble or bronze?
Vincenzo Romanelli: Bronze is the best material for the kind of sculptures I make. My great-grandfather Romano believed that a sculptor had to master the carving of a hard stone, but for my subjects and for the texture I give them, marble is often not the right material.
The process of realizing a bronze sculpture has many steps and can be long and arduous.
Cinghiale, 2015
bronze
30 x 16 x 23 cm
Galerie Alpine: You come from a long line of sculptors. Did you always want to be a sculptor?
Vincenzo Romanelli: I grew up surrounded by art. My father is a sculptor, and my mother is a ceramicist, so I was often playing with clay. I always felt my life would be in the arts. When I was 18 I wanted to replicate the maquette of my great-grandfather’s sculpture of Hercules and the Lion, as I loved the power of the pose. I realised I needed more technique to replicate it, so I studied at the Charles H. Cecil Studios to learn the sight-size technique by sculpting the human figure from life..
Galerie Alpine: You started out with human portraiture and your older brother specializes in human portraiture. Why did you decide to specialize in animals?
Vincenzo Romanelli: I decided to sculpt animals for the variety of the forms and anatomies that the animal kingdom offers. It’s always a new discovery, a new pose, a new expression. I’ve always loved animals. I’m able to get closer to them through my creative process—discovering their behaviours, different anatomies, and habitats. It’s also a way to make people more conscious of and sensitive to the animal kingdom and to connect them to animals, which is evermore vital, as we have become more detached from animals and nature.
Galerie Alpine: What would you be doing if you were not a sculptor?
Vincenzo Romanelli: I love the fine art world and would probably have been more involved in the family gallery which is still being run by my brother. Otherwise, I’ve always been close to nature growing up in the Tuscan countryside, so I may have chosen something which allows me to be outside and connect with the outdoors. But now that I’ve found my place as a sculptor, I can’t imagine being in another profession.
Vincenzo in his studio in Florence.
