Italian Icarus Statue on Stone Fragment

A beautifully rendered and evocative depiction of Icarus, executed in warm brown-stained terracotta and mounted upon an angular, natural stone base. The sculptor captures the mythological figure at a moment of dramatic suspension — wings extended, body poised between ascension and inevitable descent — conveying both movement and vulnerability through confident modeling and expressive line.

The work is signed, though the inscription is somewhat difficult to decipher and appears to read “Faffa Alessoundro.” It is further inscribed “fece” (Italian for “he made”) and dated 1940, Perugia, Italia — firmly situating the piece within mid-20th-century Italian sculptural tradition. The inclusion of fece follows a classical Italian convention of authorship, lending the work an air of old-world atelier practice.

The reverse features a neatly finished circular aperture measuring approximately ½ inch in diameter, suggesting the sculpture may have been designed for wall mounting. The sharply angled stone base supports this possibility, allowing the figure to project dynamically outward when hung. The base itself retains its natural, rough-hewn edges, providing a striking contrast to the refined modeling of the terracotta figure.

There is a small chip to the right wing, measuring approximately ¾″ x ¼″, clearly documented in image five. Rather than detracting, the minor loss subtly enhances the sculpture’s sense of age and authenticity, echoing the fragility inherent in the Icarus myth itself.

An expressive and character-rich example of Italian figural sculpture from the early 1940s.