February 3, 1867

Classical sculptor Giuseppe Moretti was born in Italy. Trained under master sculptors in Sienna and Florence from the age of 9 until 17, Moretti established himself across Europe casting sculptures in bronze and his favorite medium, marble, before moving to New York. In 1903, the Commercial Club of Birmingham hired Moretti to sculpt a 56-foot cast iron statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking, to represent the city at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, where it won a grand prize. While in Alabama, Moretti visited the marble quarries in Sylacauga and discovered the outstanding quality of the region’s white and blue marble, which he spent much of the rest of his life promoting.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Giuseppe Moretti (1857-1935) created most of his works in marble, particularly the high-quality marble he found around Sylacauga. But he is perhaps best known in Alabama as the creator of the monumental iron statue of Vulcan, which stands atop Red Mountain in Birmingham. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Birmingham Public Library Archives) Sculptor Giuseppe Moretti, center, and a group of workmen pose before the lower right leg of the statue of Vulcan in 1904, the year it was displayed at the St. Louis World’s Fair. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.