Adamo Tadolini (21 December 1788 – 16 February 1863) was an Italian sculptor. One of a family of sculptors, he studied in Rome with the neo-classical sculptor
Antonio Canova and is linked to him in style.
Life
Adamo was born in
Bologna into a family of sculptors, descending from his grandfather
Petronio Tadolini (1727–1813).
From 1808 to 1813 he attended
the Accademia di Belle Arti in
Bologna under the directorship of
Giacomo De Maria (1762–1838). In 1813 Adamo won a prize for sculpture awarded by the Accademia Curlandese, with a terracotta relief showing Venus and Aeneas carrying weapons. He won a four-year scholarship to Rome. During his scholarship he created a plaster statue of Ajax cursing the Gods. He came to the attention of the famed
Antonio Canova and was invited to work in his studio. He worked there until 1822 when Canova helped him set up his own studio at Via Del Babuino 150 in Rome which now exists as the Canova-Tadolini Museum and is a treasury of his, and his family's, huge range of work.
His sons
Scipione Tadolini (1822–1892) and
Tito Tadolini (1828–1910) worked with him and Scipione took ownership of the studio on Adamo's death. The studio later passed to
Giulio Tadolini (1849–1918) and finally
Enrico Tadolini (1888–1967).