“Su Su” (or Farmer with a Wineskin)

Costantino Barbella (Chieti 1852 – Rome 1925)

Autographed replica of the model exhibited at the 1883 Fine Arts Exhibition in Rome, this small bronze was so successful that it was reproduced numerous times over a long period of time. The small sculpture depicts a bare-footed farmer, wearing only smock and wide, worn-out trousers turned up on his left leg, as he attempts to lift a heavy wineskin in order to drink.
Great example of his training as a Nativity scene sculptor in his father’s workshop and the influence Michetti had on him in the years when he attended the “Conventino” in Francavilla, the little peasant boy encapsulates the essence of Barbella’s poetics, who loved the taste for rural scenes treated with anecdotal descriptivism and pure feeling for truth.
The work became part of the National Museum of Abruzzo’s collections in 2007.