Berthe Grosso Bonin has been Orlando Grosso’s first wife. He has worked as a painter and an art historian. Since 1909 he has worked in the Fine Arts’ Office in Genoa, first as its secretary and then as its director. He has valued and struck up a friendship with Eugenio Baroni, who performed the excellent bronze sculpture which Grosso wanted to put on his wife’s tomb. This work of art, even if a bit sober and tragic, according to Baroni’s style, portrays a standing woman who is weakened by the pain; she is almost lifeless, lets her arms drop on her sides and holds a baby bonnet in her hand, while her pregnancy is easy to guess: in fact, this monument is also dedicated to the memory of Ornella Grosso, who was stillborn on the 21st of May 1912. The sculpture who portrays ideally Berthe, who died six years after her girl, has the job of remembering forever the earthly drama which has left its mark on the couple. The tomb is situated in the Protestant Cemetery.
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