Style Other / Ref.15277

Odoardo TABACCHI, La Tuffolina or The Diver, after 1877

This sculpture representing a diving bather, titled La Tuffolina in Italian (from the verb “tuffare”, to dive), was created by the sculptor Odoardo Tabacchi after 1877.

Odoardo Tabacchi (1831-1905) was a student at the Accademia di Brera, before working in sculptors’ studios in Milano, Rome, Firenze, and Napoli. He established his own practice in Milano between 1860 and 1868, before moving to Turino, where he became a professor at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in 1867. While he was primarily interested in monumental sculpture, his reputation was also built on his delicate and expressive female figures.

The sculptor created a marble statue on this subject and presented it at the Esposizione Artistica di Napoli in 1877. It was acquired by the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, following its presentation. He sent it to Paris for the 1878 Paris Exposition, where it was exhibited in the Italian section of the Galerie des Beaux-Arts. Today, it is on display at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.

There are numerous reproductions of this work. Our silvered bronze statuette, signed on the side of the base (“O. Tabacchi Torino”), is one of them. The young woman is depicted as if at the water’s edge, about to dive. With her legs pressed together and straight, she bends forward at the waist, arms extended, just before making the final leap. She wears a knitted swimsuit covering her from the upper thighs to the upper arms, but her forms are visible through the fabric. Her face is highly expressive, her lips stretched into a smile that reveals her teeth.

The Musée La Piscine in Roubaix holds a bronze version of this sculpture, appropriately placed at the water’s edge. Numerous bronze statuettes of various sizes, mostly with a brown patina, were also made, evidence of the enduring success of this work.