The cultural part of the Exercise Report is dedicated to Vincenzo Vela, a leading exponent of the artistic scene and the renewal of the figurative language of sculpture in the realist sense in the second half of the nineteenth century. He was a man of his time in the round, participating in the first person of the political and cultural climate of those years.
Always proudly sided in defense of the ideals of freedom and social justice both in his professional and private life, he was also resolutely ready to discount the price of his opinions against opponents and detractors, earning at the same time the friendship and esteem of many protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento, as well as the unconditional approval of a wide audience of admirers.
Born on 3 May 1820 in the Ticino village of Ligornetto, not far from Mendrisio, Vincenzo was the last of six children born from the marriage of Giuseppe Vela and Teresa Casanova: a family of humble conditions, dedicated to the cultivation of ungenerous land whose modest fruits were integrated by the operation of a tavern and the work of their children, all started very soon to earn a living.
Around the age of twelve, Vincenzo himself began working as a stonemason in the nearby quarries of Besazio, from which a reddish granite is extracted, mainly used for the creation of architectural and ornamental elements. There he learnt the first rudiments of the trade, and then moved to the employment of Saverio Franzi in the nearby Viggiù, home of another eminent sculptor of his age, Giosuè Argenti (1819-1901).
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