“A boxer’s victory is gained in blood.”
G. Kaibel, Epigrammata Graeca (Berlin, 1878), p. 942; and Moretti, Inscrizioni agonistiche greche, no. 55.
A pencil drawing of the colossal statue of “The Boxer” (Italian : Il Pugilatore) by Italian sculptor Francesco Messina in The Stadio dei Marmi (Stadium of Marbles) in the Foro Italico.
Il Pugilatore was created in 1931-1933. Messina created a series of sculptures that show boxers. This larger-than-life marble statue was depicted in the Berlin 1936 catalog.
The boxer Marino Girolami is said to have been the model.
Inspired by the Roman forums of the imperial age, The Foro Italico was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini’s Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti.
The Stadio dei Marmi is lined with 59 (originally 60) colossal statues, which portray a range of sporting disciplines. Each statue was the gift of one of the provinces of Italy. The Boxer was donated by the Province of Ascoli Piceno.
Messina is considered one of the most important Italian sculptors of the twentieth century. He was director of the Accademia di Brera between 1936 and 1944.
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