He studied in Florence, Naples and Rome; from 1874 to 1878 he lived in London. An indirect follower of Cecioni, at first he intended to react to academic mannerism with works of intense verism, such as the Nerone vestito da donna ( Nero dressed as a woman ) (1873) that, due to the open-mindedness of the subject, aroused a highly spirited controversy. Once he returned to Rome (1878) he modelled in realistic fashion some figurines whose genre and groups range from sentimental to anecdotic themes ( Sorelle di latte; Fumo negli occhi ). In 1884 he was entrusted the task of erecting the monument to Garibaldi, afterwards inaugurated (1895) on the Janiculum in Rome (iter 5); on account of the balanced architecture of the ensemble and the vigorous taste for the picturesque of both the equestrian statue and the groups placed around the plinth, this work is one of the most beautiful monuments of that time. The one raised to Pietro Metastasio (1886), also in Rome, is, instead, much poorer.