Rudolfo Nolli

Cavaliere Rodolfo Nolli (1888–1963) was an Italian sculptor and stonework contractor from Lombardy, who worked mainly in Southeast Asia during the first half of the 20th century.

Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli
Born	1888 Lombardy, Italy
Died	1963 (aged 74–75) Italy
Nationality	Italian
Known for	sculpture, architecture
Notable work	marble decorations at Old Supreme Court Building, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
Awards	Cavaliere[1]

Pediment sculpture, Old Supreme Court Building, Singapore, 1939

History

Born in 1888 Lombardy, Italy, he was the nephew of the sculptor Vittorio Novi from Lanzo d'Intelvi, a village close to Lake Lugano in northern Italy, province of Como.

Around 1914, Novi created the marble decoration for the new Mahaiudthit Bridge in Bangkok^[2] and also did marble works for the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall.^[3] Here Nolli became his assistant. He would be awarded with the Order of the Crown of Italy - a form of knighthood that carried with it the title Cavaliere for his efforts in Siam, whilst based in Singapore in 1925.^[4]

In Singapore Nolli later designed the marble decorations of the College of Medicine Building, Singapore (completed 1926)^[5] and of the Old Supreme Court Building (completed 1939).^[1][6][7] Nolli had also designed the cast iron lamps and lion reliefs^[8] of the Elgin Bridge spanning the Singapore river (completed 1929).

In 1950 to 1952 he created two iconic crests for Gan Eng Seng School at Anson Road,^[9] which were lost when the school moved to Raeburn Park in 1986. He had formerly crafted the Royal Coat of Arms and a pair of flambeau pieces for the main entrance of the Fullerton Building built in 1924-28. Among his last works in Singapore was a pair of lions for the Bank of China Building, Singapore (1954).^[10][11]

Probably his last commission was the stonework for the huge Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Brunei (completed 1958) which inspired the novel Devil of a State by Anthony Burgess.

He died in 1963 in Italy at the age of 75.

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Mahaiudthit Bridge. Bangkok. 2009". June 17, 2009. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017 – via Flickr.
3. vimanmek.com Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine - bloggang.com Archived 2013-12-07 at the Wayback Machine
4. Lim, Jerome (June 16, 2017). "The knight whose works enriched a cultural desert". The Long and Winding Road. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
5. Teo, ES (July 2005). "The History of the College of Medicine and Tan Teck Guan Buildings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-24. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
6. "Category:Allegory of Justice (Singapore) - Wikimedia Commons". commons.wikimedia.org. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
7. "Old Supreme Court Building, Singapore, Singapore | AsiaExplorers". Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
8. "Singapura Lion roundels | SINGAPORE PUBLIC ART". Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2010-01-29.
9. "Crest and Creator". Singapore Standard. May 12, 1952. p. 2.
10. "Rodolfo Nolli | SINGAPORE PUBLIC ART". Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2010-01-29.
11. "SCULPTOR RODOLFO NOLLI DIES IN ITALY". The Straits Times. Feb 19, 1964. p. 10.