Giuseppe Moretti

Giuseppe Moretti (3 February 1857 – February 1935) was an Italian émigré sculptor who became known in the United States for his public monuments in bronze and marble. Notable among his works is Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama, which is the largest cast iron statue in the world. On a personal level, Moretti was "known for his eclectic personality and for always wearing a green tie," a noted art patron. He began studying marble sculpting at the age of 9 with the monks of San Domenico and with sculptor Tito Sarrocchi, whose studio was in the cloister of the church in Siena.

Having discovered Alabama's rich marble deposits, Moretti made it a personal goal to institute proper mining procedures for the material. It was first erected on the grounds of the Parthenon, but moved to the campus the following fall.

In Alabama Moretti's most important works in Alabama are his Vulcan and the one most prized by Moretti himself, Head of Christ. Moretti said, "I selected the marble myself with infinite care, the very first piece from the Sylacauga quarries ever to be used for an artistic purpose."

He also sculpted a baptismal font for the 1st Presbyterian Church of Birmingham; a life-size Sylacauga marble statue of Mary Cahalan, a beloved public school teacher; and a larger than life-size bronze statue of William Elias B. Davis, a noted surgeon and co-founder of the Southern Surgical Association.

Moretti's Head of Christ is on display in Montgomery's Alabama Department of Archives and History.

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