Cattainin (Caterina) Campodonico

Orengo, Lorenzo 1838-1909
Monument to Cattainin (Caterina) Campodonico 1881
Campo Santo di Staglieno, Genova, Liguria, Italy

Caterina Campodonico sold nuts and sweetmeats in the city of Genova. She wears her produce as decorative garlands

The purpose was to raise money for the purpose of raising a funeral monument.

Each chestnut and bread roll is lovingly carved, as is her lace-trimmed apron, her earrings and fringed shawl. She has become a dignified proletarian.

It was not by chance that Campodonico chose Orengo as the sculptor of her monument. He was the favourite sculptor of the other monuments of the deceased middle class who rest in the cemetery.

It is a statue of the age of realism; an affirmation of the individual. The deceased--no longer portrayed on a medallion but in full relief--is studied in an anecdotally realistic manner.