Renato Signorini

Renato Signorini (Asmara, 29 August 1902 – Rome, 30 December 1966) was an Italian sculptor, painter and medalist.

Owner of the Hotel Flora, situated along the via Veneto in Rome, Renato Signorini was especially known for his sculpted heads in silver, vermeil, glazed or gilded bronze and, more rarely, gold, portraying popes, monarchs and actresses. The sculptures, obtained using the so-called cire perdue casting technique, were later polished and often decorated with gems and semi-precious stones. Generally, the portraits were small half-length busts, depicting the subject in a front head pose gazing distantly, with simple and neat details, as inspired by the Tuscan renaissance portraiture. Or else, they were carved in bas-relief on medals and medallions.

Signorini’s career started in 1937, as declared by the artist himself in his personal file now kept at the "Fondazione La Quadriennale di Roma". He was the pupil of the sculptor Aurelio Mistruzzi in the "Scuola dell'Arte della Medaglia", inside the Mint of Rome.

In 1945 he sculpted a bust in Carrara marble (cm. 80 x 70 x 35) portraying Filippo De Grenet, a victim of the Fosse Ardeatine massacre by the German occupation troops in Rome. The work is currently located in the "Sala delle Galere" at Palazzo Chigi in Rome.

In November 1948 he took part in the "Great Exhibition of Italian Art" in Pretoria, as reported by the artist himself in his personal file kept at the Fondazione La Quadriennale di Roma.

In 1948 he also participated in Rome V Quadrennial Exhibition – at the National Gallery of Modern Art – with his "Portrait of Ms Lever". He exhibited at several art galleries, in Italy and abroad, among which: Galleria Giosi, Rome (1954); in the Galleria Montenapoleone, Milan (1955); O’Hana Gallery, London (1956); Sagittarius Art Gallery, New York, and its branch in Rome (1957). In 1958 he exhibited in Palm Springs, at the Venetian Room of the Tennis Club (Desert Sun, December 2, 1958) and in 1959 at the Pasadena Museum (San Martino Tribune, April 16, 1959).

A major event took place in 1957, when 45 of his works were exhibited at Tiffany & Co., 727 5th Avenue, New York. Among them, the portraits of: Pope Pius XII; Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987), ambassador of the United States to Italy in the 50s; Princess Isabelle Colonna; Audrey Hepburn; Queen Elizabeth II (New York Times, 9 October 1957). The works on display also included a small bust of Empress Soraya, a mantel designed for the Tokyo opera season, a Chiang Kai-shek commemorative medal, more than 10 drawings. The opening ceremony was held by the Italian Consul General in New York, baron Carlo De Ferrariis Salzano (Pacific Stars and Stripes, 10 October 1957, p. 9). The introduction of the catalogue was by the writer James Albert Michener (New York 1907 – Austin 1977).

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