Venetian Boy Catching a Crab by Henrietta Montalba (1840-1929). 1892-93. Bronze. Length: 1512mm; depth: 492mm; height: 675mm; weight (excluding plinth): 192kg). Image credit for all the images on this page: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. [Engraving in an Art-Journal article of 1899.] Click on these images to enlarge them.
Left: Close-up of the fisher-lad's upper body and face as he reaches to catch the crab. Left: The group (fisher-lad and crab) from an angle.
Pamela Gerrish Nunn describes this as "Montalba's principal work (which was also her last), ... a full-length bronze recumbent figure exhibited in 1893 at the Royal Academy and in Chicago."
Left: close-up of crab,which is highly detailed, seemingly from life. Right: Right: The sculptor's signature on the surface of the rocks.
It is an unusual subject, beautifully captured, instinct with pleasure in the youthful form and unself-conscious grace of a subject entirely intent on his mundane act.
Images downloaded, caption material selected, and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee. [Please see the museum website's terms of use if you wish to reproduce these images: https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/va-websites-terms-conditions.]
Bibliography
Collections. V&A website. Web. 2 August 2024. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O40421/venetian-boy-catching-a-crab-group-henrietta-skerrett-montalba/
Guide to the Now You See Us exhibition at the Tate, 2024. [Exhibition and Catalogue Review]
Hepworth-Dixon, M. "Henrietta Montalba: A Reminiscence." The Art-Journal (new series 1894): 215-217. HathiTrust, from a copy in the Getty Research Institute. Web. 2 August 2024. [Full text in the Victorian Web.]
Nunn, Pamela Gerrish. "Montalba, Henrietta Skerrett (1856–1893), sculptor." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.. Web. 1 August 2024.
Created 2 August 2024