Rebeca Matte Bello

Rebeca Matte Bello (; October 29, 1875 – May 15, 1929) was a Chilean sculptor. Her sculptures are in the collection of the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, including her sculpture Icarus and Daedalus, which resides outside the museum.

Early life and education Rebeca Matte, born October 29, 1875, in Santiago, Chile, was the only daughter of Rebecca Reyes and Augusto Matte, an ambassador for Chile. While living in Santiago, she was educated by her grandmother. Matte was exposed to many intellectuals of Chile at the time, including José Victorino Lastarria, Gabriel Jordan Amunátegui, and Alberto Blest Gana. Her father would move to Paris, and Matte would be educated in Europe.

In Europe, she first studied in Rome, under Giulio Monteverde. In Paris, she studied at the Académie Julian under Paul Dubois and Denys Puech. As a young artist, she found influence in the work of Auguste Rodin. She would marry diplomat Pedro Felipe Larrain Iñíguez, In 1908, the Chilean government commissioned her to design a sculpture for the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

The piece commissioned for the International Court of Justice was installed in 1914; it was called The War. Matte became a teacher at the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze in 1918.

Notable works

Santa Teresa, Paris, 1907 sculpture. Unidos en la gloria y en la muerte (Ícaro y Dédalo), 1922, Bronze, 200 cm de alto, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Chile. Horacio, marble, 200 cm de alto, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. El eco, marble, 142 cm de alto, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts Crudo invierno, 1912, bronze, 60 cm de alto, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Chile. Militza, marble, 155 cm de alto, Museo de Arte y Artesanía de Linares, Chile. La guerra, commissioned 1908, installed 1914, Peace Palace garden, The Hague, The Netherlands (a gift from the Chilean government to the Peace Palace) Tristeza, marble, Galería Pitti, Florence, Italie. Homenaje a los héroes de la Concepción, 1920, bronze, Avda. Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile. Los aviadores, 1923, bronze, Plaza Mauá, Río de Janeiro, Brasil. Icarus and Daedalus, 1922, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. Ulises y Calipso, 1925, marble, Hall del Club de La Unión, Santiago, Chile. Mi hija, marble, Cemetery Général, Santiago, Chile. Dolor, marbre, Cemetery Général, Santiago, Chile. Militza, on loan to Musée des Arts et Métiers de Linares, Chile.