Birichino or Gavroche

The sculpture portrays a ragamuffin wearing a beret, with his head turned back over his left shoulder, his chubby face animated with a large spontaneous smile, the open lips revealing his teeth, the eyes full of mischief. The head is presented on top of a breccia marble base in the form of an architectural fragment; it was made by the artist so that the head may be pivoted into various positions. The title exists in both Italian and French, since the artist worked and lived in Milan and in Paris. In Italian Birichino means a lively, insolent, naughty young boy. In French, Gavroche refers to the fictional character in Victor Hugo's celebrated 1862 novel Les Misérables: the young boy, neglected by his parents, is sent to live in the street of Paris, where he participates in and dies during the anti-monarchist 1832 June Rebellion. The sculpture has also been labeled under several other titles such as Dopo una scappata (After an Escapade), Garçon qui rit (Laughing Boy), and Il Monello (The Brat).