Ecce Puer (Portrait of Alfred Mond)

"Ecce puer" is the last original work crafted by Rosso, who, in the years that followed, devoted himself to replicating and creating variants of the works he had molded up to that point. The Galleria d'Arte Moderna's plaster is the original model of the work. Emile Mond, a wealthy industrialist, commissioned the sculptor to create a portrait of his son, Alfred, when the artist visited the wealthy family's London home in 1906. The legend goes that Rosso crafted the piece during a night of fevered work at the London residence, but some critics believe that the portrait was actually modeled at a studio in Batignolles after he returned to Paris, from a mix of sketches and memory.
The French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau, visited his studio in 1907 and personally selected this plaster work for inclusion at the Musée du Luxembourg, which was dedicated to living artists.
The work was exhibited in Luxembourg until 1920—a label with the French reference number still appears on the front—when it was removed and sent to the Musée des Écoles Étrangères. After the artist died, his son Francesco got the plaster form back in exchange for a bronze cast and brought it to Barzio. It remained there until 1946 when, on the occasion of Medardo Rosso's first posthumous exhibition, it was given to the painter Ezio Pastorio, who later sold it to the Municipality of Milan.