Costantino Corti (1823/1824–1873) was a Milanese sculptor who exhibited at Brera and in Florence, London, and Paris. Corti was most noted for his colossal statue Lucifer. He also produced statues commemorating Federico Borromeo, Conrad of Swabia, and the astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. Works Corti's marble Lucifer (sometimes titled as Satan) was commissioned by the Count d'Aquila, brother of the former king of Naples. At the end of the 19th century, a traveler and amateur critic offered this assessment of the work: Lucifer was reviewed by Francesco dall' Ongaro at rhapsodic length as a worthy representation of the Satanic ideal shared in the literary works of John Milton or Lord Byron. Dall' Ongaro found the figure "androgynous," in keeping with the theological view that gender came into existence only with the creation of human beings and was not a characteristic of angels. The sculpture received notice for its "extraordinary vigor." Corti's monument to Cardinal Borromeo was commissioned in 1861 for the plaza of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. The statue was completed in 1864, and dedicated the following year. The statue of Giuseppe Piazzi, dedicated in 1871, is located in the main plaza of Ponte in Valtellina, the astronomer's birthplace. Sources Clement, Clara Erskine, and Laurence Hutton. Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works: A Handbook. Houghton, Mifflin, 1889, 5th ed., vol. 1, p. 162 online. Corna, Andrea. Dizionario della storia dell'arte in Italia. C. & C. Tarantola, 1915, p. 196. Thieme, Ulrich. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Leipzig, 1912, vol. 7, p. 485 online. External links An 1886 photogravure print depicting Lucifer from a more startling angle may be viewed (scroll down for larger image) at the WebCite archive. Notes Year of birth uncertain 1820s births 1873 deaths 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 19th-century Italian male artists