This book focuses on 19th-century sculpture in Rome, a subject that has received little attention to date. While art history has predominantly recounted the triumph of modernism as a narrative of French painting and dismissed Roman sculpture as an outdated, academic reiteration of classicist forms, the essays gathered here reveal its unexpected vitality and international scope. Despite the rise of new artistic centres in Paris and London, Rome remained a global hub for sculptural production. It was here that innovative works were created and exported worldwide, and it was here, too, that the foundations of American sculpture were laid. The volume reconstructs the conditions of production within this international milieu and explores the creative innovations that unfolded within the dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity.

• Rediscovery of 19th-century sculpture
• Novel perspective on Rome as a centre of art
• Innovative quality of classicist sculpture