Genova - Colombo giovinetto

COLUMBUS MONUMENTS PAGES

Italy

Genova
Liguria

Castello D'Albertis

Colombo giovinetto

The First Inspiration of the Boy Columbus

Giulio Monteverde
1870

Description

"Colombo giovinetto" or "The First Inspiration of the Boy Columbus"
Columbus as a charming child at play: he is sitting on a mooring-post upon a pier, against which the waves are breaking; he is in deep meditation and holds a book in his hand.

Inscription(s)

On the base of the statue is the coat-of-arms of Genoa, the caravel and the date "MCCCCLX" (1460).
On a plate of the pedestal, the following poem is inscribed:

Al sol che tramontava sull'infinito mondo
Chiedeva Colombo giovinetto ancora
Quali altre terre, quali altri popoli
Avrebbe baciato ai suoi primi albori

Artist

Giulio Monteverde

Annotation

The statue has been ordered to Monteverde by Cap. d'Albertis for his castle in Genoa. Actually, d'Albertis's nephew Filippo was the model for Columbus. From the loggia in d'Albertis castle, the statue looks exactly in the direction of San Salvador, i.e. south-south west.
The sculpture was made in Rome in 1870, and won a gold medal at an exhibition at Parma, Italy.

Copies, in marble and chalk, are in Bistagno (Italy), Boston, Parma, Göteborg, St. Petersburg, and Vancouver (BC).
A different statue of "The Boy Columbus" by Monteverde is in the Christopher Columbus High School in New York.
For other memorials of Columbus in the Castello d'Albertis, see the separate page.

In the Christopher Columbus High School in New York is a different design.

Sources & Information

E-mail by Anna Giulia d'Albertis, 2 September 2004.
Information sent to me by Alex Borgogno.
Photo: Norbert Fiks, February 2003.
Sullacrestadellonda, Genova: Castello d'Albertis (thanks to J.M. Urvoy for this reference).

Index of:

Statue

Location (N 44°25'6" - E 8°55'28")

Item Code: it023
Added: 2 September 2004