Zambelli Family
The Zambelli Family was formed by Italian-Brazilian artists who lived in Caxias do Sul and dedicated especially to sacred statuary and decoration of temples and residences.
Tarquinio Zambelli [pt], born on September 8, 1857, in Canneto sull'Oglio, province of Mantua, in Italy, was the fifth generation of a family of artists.
He designed some chapels and carried out their internal decoration, participated in several art salons in the state and in Brazil, and was awarded in all of them, most of the times with a gold medal.
Other authors, such as Lazzari, João Spadari Adami, and Luís de Boni, place him in a privileged position, seeing in him the most important carver of the Italian colonial region.
When Tarquinio realized that his son was really talented, he sent him, at the age of 16, to improve himself in Italy, staying with relatives and entering the Brera Academy in Milan, where he specialized in modeling, decoration, and art applied to industry.
[3] Michelangelo returned to Caxias do Sul briefly, at the age of 21, but realizing the limitations of the local art market, he soon moved on to the state capital, where he hoped to find more favorable conditions.
Wishing to expand his knowledge even more, he traveled, together with his brothers Estacio and Mario, to Buenos Aires, where he deepened his studies and participated in the decoration of the Teatro Colón, besides undertaking other works, holding exhibitions and directing a company, the Atelier de Escultura P. Piedra Arenistica.
At this time, Ludovina Valesca Reis took over the creation of the statuary, employing several assistants, among them Mário Spiandorello, André Schiavo, and Nadyr dalle Molle.
Following the example of his brother Michelangelo, he also traveled to Europe in search of improvement, studying in France and Italy, specializing in funerary art and building decoration.
The engraved tombstones, with an exquisite decorative style full of floral motifs in intricate and meticulous interlacing, are the highlights of his production.
Back home, he opened his own sculpture studio while maintaining an importing and trading business for a variety of items, from motorcycles to pressure cookers, as well as objects of worship.
[3] He dedicated himself to sacred statuary in wood and plaster, working with great ease and speed, despite being color-blind, which required him to ask for frequent help from other people when painting the statues.
[3] Among his many works are the statues of the Maria Bambina, St. Agnes, and the crucified Christ, all in the Cathedral of Caxias do Sul, the sculptural decoration on the facade of the old Cine Central, and the Via Crucis in relief and images on the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes.
He then moved to Rio de Janeiro, and from there to Italy, serving in the Italian army as a sergeant, becoming a prisoner of war and being sent to Langensalz, Germany, where he died on March 2, 1918, from pneumonia.
