Guido Righetti was born in Milan on 29 September 1875. As a young man he frequented the Casa Ricordi, a famous music publishing house, where he doubtless would have mixed in artistic and literary circles with painters, poets and musicians.

Righetti developed an interest in drawing and it was animals that became the focus of his work. He observed his subjects from life, at both Milan Zoo and the Natural History Museum, reworking his compositions back at his studio. Righetti turned to modelling, inspired by Prince Paul Troubetzkoy, a family friend and a successful sculptor who at this time was teaching at the Academia Brera. Largely self-taught, Righetti worked in clay, wax and plastiline often depicting the animals surrounding his fam...