Where there's a will, there's a way

Cesare Lapini (1848-1893) VOLERE È POTERE

Sculpture in white Carrara marble

Signed on the right side of the base "C. LAPINI Firenze 1889"

Italy

Height 71 cm

Width 32 cm

Depth 41 cm

This sculpture depicts a young girl absorbed in sewing, a symbol of concentration, humility, and hard work. With its delicate naturalism, this work is in the vein of late 19th-century Italian sentimental realism.

The graceful posture, tender features, and meticulous details (curly hair, bare feet, texture of the fabric) attest to the refinement of Lapini, known for his genre scenes imbued with gentleness and bourgeois morality.

The inscription "Volere è Potere" - "Where there's a will, there's a way" - recalls the educational and social ideals of the time: the triumph of will over obstacles, the dignity of work, and the valorization of the domestic sphere.

Cesare Lapini is a major figure in late 19th-century Florentine sculpture. He primarily sculpted female and child figures in marble, treating everyday scenes with an academic aesthetic tinged with Romantic grace.

Highly sought after in European and American bourgeois circles, Lapini regularly exhibited at salons and sold his works through a network of Florentine publishers specializing in the export of decorative art.