SYNTHESIS OF HUMAN DYNAMISM
Sculpted in 1913, final exhibition in 1924, Galleria Bottega di Poesia, Milan, destroyed in 1927 in Acquabella, Milan.
Rare photos to the rescue
Synthesis of Human Dynamism (1) was the first striding sculpture that Boccioni started working on. It is the most well documented sculpture of all his works, excluding Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.
It occurs in 14 photos, eight of which show the sculpture from angles that can be arranged in a 360-degree circle (2).
Due to its complexity, this sculpture was by far the most complicated and time-consuming to recreate. However, two rarely published photos from the 1916-17 Boccioni retrospective exhibition in Milan were of invaluable help to add details to the back and lower feet. Also, the fact that the whole sculpture extensively merges with, and is penetrated by, perpendicular elements of its surrounding environments (i.e., the "scaffolding" in the upper body) made it easier to align in the 3D software used for the recreation.
Judging by the visible seams in the plaster, Boccioni divided the Synthesis sculpture into at least five parts. However, the reconstruction does not take these seams into account (3).
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