(b Marseille; d after 1912). Italian sculptor and teacher, active in France and Mexico. He began his career in Marseille as a sculptor of the French school, and in 1888 he received an honourable mention at the Salon des Artistes Français, where he exhibited regularly until 1913. He probably moved to Mexico at the end of 1889. He won critical acclaim for his first works there, marble and bronze busts of important Mexican figures. In 1891 the government commissioned him to create statues of national heroes and dignitaries for the Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City; the statue of Col. Miguel López was exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL, in 1893 and at the World’s Fair in Atlanta, GA, in 1895, winning prizes on both occasions. This was Alciati’s most dramatic and realist work, and the influence of Rodin is clear. In 1895 he was appointed professor of sculpture, decoration and modelling at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. At the turn of the century he was commissioned to create, under the direction of Antonio Rivas Mercado, all the sculptures for the Independence Column in Mexico City. He sculpted the marbles in Mexico and Florence, and the bronzes were also cast in Florence. The monument was inaugurated in September 1910. In all Alciati’s work his fine technique and his adherence to the classical tradition are evident.

• Alciati, Enrique
  • collaboration
    • Rivas Mercado, Antonio
  • works
    • Mexico, §III, 2(i): Eclectic architecture, c 1870–c 1910
    • Mexico City, §II, 2: Later history and urban development, 1822–1920