A tour-de-force of 19th-century marble sculpture, this enchanting statue by the great Donato Barcaglia is a smaller version of his masterpiece, Children at Play. Created using the finest Carrara marble, this lively group brings a whimsical balcony scene of a boy teasing a girl with a piece of candy to life, utilizing marble mined from the very quarry used by the great Michelangelo. Every aspect of this sculpture is truly lifelike, from the children’s intricately decorated clothes and sandals to the delicate roses and thorny cactus at the back. Even the dish of candy, set on the railing beside the boy, is filled with sweets. Only 25 years old when the original sculpture was carved, Barcaglia possessed the ability to convey a large variety of textures and to combine his understanding of the ideal, or antique, human form with naturalism, a talent which distinguishes him as one of the most accomplished marble sculptors of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Donato or Donatello Barcaglia trained in Milan under Abbondio Sangiorgio, and finished his training in Rome. Renowned for the quality and detail of his carving, his academically-inspired, neoclassical style was tempered with his own stylistic flourishes. He exhibited widely in Europe and America, and he won medals in Philadelphia, Boston and St. Petersburg. He won the Gold Medal for his Amore Acciece (Cupid Teasing Venus or Love is Blind) at the 1875 Florentine Exposition, and was a member of the Legion of Honor.