Vittoriano
Antonio Ximenes (Palermo, 1829 – 1896) began his artistic career as a calligrapher and draftsman and only later started to try his hand at sculpture. Distinguished as a patriot in the 1848 Palermo revolution, the artist participated in the 1873 Vienna World Exhibition as the sole representative for the Sicilian capital and exhibited the works Odalisca and Prometeo. For these sculptures, Victor Emmanuel II conferred upon him the prestigious title of Knight of the Crown of Italy.
The works of the Palermo artist, characterized by an illustrative tendency and a realism imbued with heroic accents, offer a testament to the vivid fervour of the Risorgimento. Antonio Ximenes was the progenitor of a large family of artists active in Rome, among whom the renowned Ettore, who also worked at the Vittoriano, is remembered.
