Carlo e Luigi Rigola

Carlo e Luigi Rigola, scultori Canturini

Translation: Chiara Marelli


The collaboration with Pogliaghi

The Rigola twins were born in Milan on 27th July 1883 from a middle-class Milanese family. For their whole life the brothers shared choices, experiences and acknowledgements, and were often mistaken one for another. Carlo and Luigi attended together the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, from which they graduated in 1904 under the direction of the sculptor Lodovico Pogliaghi, soon becoming his favourite pupils. The twins worked and lived closely, so close that it is now impossible to establish the correct attribution of their works.

They lived in Via Brera, in the building adjoining the Academy.
Ludovico Pogliaghi was the undisputed mentor of the two young sculptors; he was one of the most famous, most wanted and well-paid artists of that time. He was able to recognize and appreciate their astonishing technical ability, so that he decided to choose them as partners in a series of extraordinary works. Some of these are the main doors of the Duomo (the Cathedral) in Milan, the sculptural group of Concordia for the Altare della Patria (Altar of Fatherhood) in Rome and a group of angels for the main altar of the Duomo in Pisa. The collaboration to such important works in just a few years opened a multitude of unimaginable new opportunities to these young artists.

In the decade following the inauguration of the bronze-made door of the Duomo, the companionship between the young apprentices and the artist was uninterrupted. Around 1910 they realized the magnificent decoration of the left transept’s vault, known as Cybo Chapel, in the Cathedral of Genoa. Between 1910 and 1911 they assisted Pogliaghi in realizing the marble group of "Concordia" for the Altare della Patria in Rome. At the same time they created the sumptuous stuccoworks of the pilaster strips for the Duomo in Chiavari, which portray palm, vine and oak branches twisted round groups of joyful “putti”.
The relationship that tied the three sculptors was based on the rules of the academic art workshop, where the skill of the master is handed down to the apprentices, who acquire its features and signs. The touch of the master is mixed up and blends with the apprentices’ one.
The Ligurian sites of Genoa and Chiavari encouraged a stronger familiarity among the three sculptors. In the Cathedral of Genoa Pogliaghi entrusted the Rigola brothers to create some groups of putti, some figurine for the friezes and four angels destined to be put on the corners of the vault. This is the place where the structural tension grows acute.Thanks to the collaboration with Pogliaghi, the “Ligurian cycle” continued with the creation of four angels designed for the Church of the Sacred Heart in Bussana Nuova. Then they worked on their own, creating the statue of Saint John the Evangelist for the Duomo in Savona and a plaster cast for the altar of the Sacred Heart in the Chiesa del Gesù in Genoa (Church of Christ) .

The frequentation of the Milanese artistic world enabled the Rigola brothers to receive highly esteemed jobs. In 1905, right after their graduation from Brera, architect Paolo Mezzanotte entrusted them to create the portal and some bronze-made decorations for the Giudici family’s aedicule, at the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan.

Their entry in the army corresponded to the gradual detachment from their master, a detachment that would have grown bigger at the beginning of the Twenties, when the twins moved to Cantù.

The years of maturity

In the middle of the Twenties the production of the Rigola brothers focused once again on sculpture and more precisely this activity became predominant in concomitance with the works made for the city of Como. Around 1935 the Fabbrica del Duomo decided to finish the internal decorative works. The Rigola brothers were in charge of creating the statue of Santa Cecilia, destined to be put on the pillar number 76, which towers above the choir. The statue was completed between 1938 and 1939

The theme to which the two sculptors have been committed for their entire career was the production of bronze statues for cemeteries, some of which were considered true “open-sky” museums. More specifically, this activity saw an increase in the years of maturity.

After realizing the Giudici’s aedicula in 1905 at the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan, they created funeral monuments in Meda, Appiano Gentile, Lissone, Cantù, Albiolo and Busto Arsizio. Another remarkable work of the brothers is the bronze-made statue of Christ with a Crown of Thorns in the cemetery of Menaggio, on Como’s Lake.

Among the works carried out in Cantù one of the most remarkable is the alto-rilievo of Vittorio Vergani, a famous entrepreneur, and the bronze bust of his young nephew Vittorio Cattaneo. Carlo and Luigi created a bas-relief made of marble and bronze for the Vergani family, which was dedicated to Vittorio Vergani and was put in the building were the offices were located.

Some of the works they completed after 1930 are a Christ Crucified, the antependium and the entire decorative apparatus for the altar of the Collegio De Amicis in Cantù. This work reveals the ability to renew the contents of that classicism of which they were rare disciples.

The work they realized for a “dating house” in Milan was completely different: a love scene between a Satyr and a young girl. The sculptors opposed the feminine suppleness to the aggressive presence of the mythological semi-human divinity.

Other works, which are more connected to the decorative apparatus, are an oval made of bronze portraying a grape harvest for the Alemagna store in Milan and a pair of gazehounds made of plaster cast, that were created to hold a crystal-made flat surface.


In the months following the end of the war, Carlo realized the work that could be considered his masterpiece: a couple of angels holding candlesticks for the main altar of the Church in Lissone (Milan). This work clearly recalls the angels realized, by order of Pogliaghi, about twenty years before for the Cathedral church of Pisa and previously for the angels of Bussana, always signed by Pogliaghi.


The base of the Main Altar of the Duomo in Milan

The esteem of the Milanese artistic world for the Rigola brothers was also expressed through the assignment they received in 1912. The Fabbrica del Duomo asked them to complete the “necessary works of shaping for the completion of the lateral parts of the Main Altar”, as it was planned to replace the old wooden parts with two new bronze heads.

This was an important assignment for the young sculptors, who previously proved their plastic ability when, thanks to the collaboration with Pogliaghi, they took part to the creation of the main door of the Duomo. The contract signed by the Rigola brothers with the Veneranda Fabbrica included the execution of the design of the frontal parts, the realization of the plaster casts, the fusion, the chiselling and the installation. It was a detailed agreement that stressed the fact that the work had to be as prestigious as the other works kept inside the Duomo. “[…] The Rigola brothers declare to understand the artistic importance of this work, which has to bond and merge together with the exquisite artistic work of Pellegrini, in order to create an harmonious ensemble[…]
Despite the fact that in 1914 the modelling of the plaster casts was almost finished, the begin of the war caused a long postponement of the works: the fusion was completed in 1927.
The two heads of the main altar portray a group of angels, each one representing a different behaviour. Only the head of the central Cherub between the angels is the same for both the head parts.
On the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to the Rigola brothers, the museum of the Duomo lent the plaster casts of a head, which. These were restored under the direction of the Museo del Duomo and the Monuments and Fine Arts Office of Milan, thanks to the contribution of the City of Cantù. At the end of the exhibition the plaster casts were brought back to the Museo del Duomo, until the end of the restoration of the exhibition centre.

The season of the commemoration

At the end of the long, endless First World War every Italian town counted hundreds and thousands of young victims. In order to express the grief for the deaths of those young soldiers, it was decided to build several monuments to the fallen. These monuments were intended to solemnize the immensity of the sacrifice that had been made. In the Twenties their construction kept busy the best Italian sculptors and the Rigola brothers.

In 1919 the Rigola brothers were ordered to realize the Monument to the Fallen in Rovellasca (Como) The work was one of the most dynamic compositions of the whole production of the two sculptors: it was 4 meters tall and represented an infantry man opposing to the enemy. Unfortunately the huge statue was casted during the Second World War in order to build cannons.

In 1919 the Rigola brothers also built the Monument to the Fallen in Zogno (Bergamo), whose creation was supported by Bortolo Belotti, a Honourable Minister of the Italian kingdom, who was also councillor for the City of Milan. Belotti met the Rigola twins in Milan and, as they had become quite famous, he asked them to build the monument. The citizens of Zogno decided to dedicate a bust to Belotti, which is now kept at the Archivio Belotti in Zogno.

The works in Como

The contest for the monument to the fallen

Although the intense artistic activity of the Rigola brothers began in Milan, in the second half of the Twenties they mostly worked in Como.
In the autumn of 1925 the proclamation of a competition to build a Monument to the Fallen in Como offered the brothers thechance of a return to this theme, although the background in which the memorial chapel had to be planned would have proved to be more problematic than the previous works.
The monument had to be built where the pronaos of the Church of San Giacomo was before its demolition, that is to say next to the Broletto. Thirty projects entered the competition. The young architects Mario Asnago and Claudio Vender planned together with the Rigola brothers a imposing/majestic monument. A first screening identified the projects of Giuseppe Terragni and Pietro Lingeri, of G. Zanotta, and of Asnago and Vender as finalists. After a further evaluation the jury declared Asnago and Vender the winners; the Rigola brothers had to carry out the decorative part.
But due to the many critics regarding the dimensions and the delicate position of the work,the satisfaction for the outcome of the contest did not last long,
In 1928 the municipal administration decided to put up a scaffolding that simulated the actual dimensions of the monument: its dimensions caused a negative impression among the public and in 1929 the concession of the area was denied.

But the brothers weren’t worried about the negative outcome of the contest, as they were busy carrying out the decorative apparatus of the Tempio Voltiano.

The Tempio Voltiano

Francesco Somaini, a cotton entrepreneur from Como, was the promoter and only financial supporter of this work: he wanted to honour the memory of Alessandro Volta, the well known physicist from Como, on the occasion of the centenary of his death.
In September 1925, after the city of Como granted the concessionof the area, the “Commissione d'Ornato” praised the initiative and the quality of the project made by the engineer Federico Frigerio.
The neoclassical building, with a skeleton of reinforced concrete, was able to bear the comparison with the neoclassical architecture of the Teatro Sociale and of the many villas of the lake, near which it had been built.
In 1927 everything was finished but the official opening was in 1928.
The long lasting collaboration with Lodovico Pogliaghi and their move to Cantù increased the popularity of the Rigola brothers also in the territory all around Como.

The classical style adopted by Frigerio requested the decorative apparatus to have an appropriate plastic style that could be able to express the purpose of the mausoleum.

This was one of the first important jobs for the execution of marble works. Although they thought that modelling technique suited them better, the twins showed to be skilful also in the art of marble working, which was considered the best plastic technique ever.

But the Rigola brothers were really good sculptors, and the statues of Faith and Science that surround the entrance of the Tempio Voltiano confirm their ability. The statues, characterized by a classical and severe austerity, reaffirmed their knowledge of the art of marble working.
Their commitment in the construction site continued with the execution of a marble bas-relief of the pediment, which portrays Volta, and four couples of stone griffons that are put on the top of the building.
The City of Como assigned the Rigola brothers the realization of a marble medallion dedicated to Francesco Somaini and placed in the hall of honour of the town hall in 1929.



Following the bombardments on Cantù in October 1942, Luigi died.
Carlo died in 1949.

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