This impressive bronze sculpture bust of Italian immigrant Prospero Bernardi was made by famous sculptor Pompeo Coppini for the 1936 Texas Centennial. It stands in a place of high honor near the Hall of State at Fair Park in Dallas TX.
The bust sits on a plinth of polished Texas Red granite, and it decorated with a Greek design inlaid with gold leaf. Under neath the bust these words identify the man and his place in history:
"PROSPERO BERNARDI
Italian Texan Hero
At the Battle of San Jacinto, 1836"
The bust looks slightly larger than life size to us, because it sits atop a tall pedestal. Bernardi wears the typical frontier dress of the time, as Texian Army soldiers did not have formal uniforms. The fought in the clothes they had.
Bernardi wears a fringed buckskin jacket over a collared "homespun" shirt. Knotted tie strings serve as button-substitutes and protrude from his buckskin jacket. His neckerchief (indespensible on the frontier to protect from dust, bind wounds, keep off flies, carry food, etc) is knotted around his neck and held in place with a deer-antler-bone ring. He wears a sash around his waist
Bernardi stares straight ahead, with a calm but determined air as if he sees the enemy and is ready to face them in battle. His arms are carried at his waist with elbows bent. His left hand grasps the butt of his pistol. His right hand grasps his knife.
Around the back of the statue, we can see Bernardi's powderhorn handing down his back from a buckshin string looped around his neck.
From the handbook of Texas online: (
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BERNARDI, PROSPERO (1794–ca. 1837). Prospero Bernardi, participant in the Texas Revolution, was born in Italy in 1794 and was a notary by trade. He arrived in Texas aboard the schooner Pennsylvania on January 28, 1836, as a member of Capt. Amasa Turner's volunteer company, raised in New Orleans. Bernardi enlisted in the Texas army on February 13, 1836, and distinguished himself in the battle of San Jacinto.
He remained in the army until January or February 1837, when he was medically discharged from John Smith's company at Galveston because of a spinal injury sustained during combat. Bernardi received a bounty grant and a first-class headright grant for his military service, but both were assigned to other parties.
Bernardi's whereabouts by 1838 were unclear. In February of that year two former fellow soldiers testified that they understood he was deceased. A bust of the Italian soldier stands in front of the Hall of State, Fair Park, Dallas, to commemorate his participation in the battle of San Jacinto.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Sam Houston Dixon and Louis Wiltz Kemp, The Heroes of San Jacinto (Houston: Anson Jones Press, 1932). San Jacinto Notebooks, L. W. Kemp Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
by Valentine J. Belfiglio"
More information about the statue comes from the Historic Heart of Fair Park blog: (
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"Prosperi Bernardi Bust
Only a few steps from the Berlin Bear statue, atop a granite pedestal, stands a heroic-sized bust that was a gift to the Texas Centennial Exposition from Italian residents of Texas. It depicts Prospero Bernardi, an Italian immigrant who took part in the Battle of San Jacinto, where he was wounded on April 21, 1836.
Italian artist Pompeo Coppini, who also executed the six statues in the Texas building's Hall of Heroes, sculpted the bust. Governor James V. Allred unveiled it on Italian Day at the Texas Centennial Exposition, October 12, 1936. At that time, the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini ruled Italy. Among the dignitaries attending the dedication ceremony was Commendatore Bartolomeo Migone, First Secretary to the Royal Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., who remarked: "The Fascist Government was proud and is proud today that Governor Allred asked that it send a representative to take part in the ceremonies here." He added: "It is proud to know that you are honoring an Italian hero at this great American world fair, the Texas Centennial Exposition."
Said Allred: "Prospero Bernardi was one of many unsung heroes who fought and gave their blood for Texas 100 years ago. Some of them are known, like Bernardi. Others are unknown but all live in the hearts of our people.""
From the Smithsonian Datebase: (
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"Prospero Bernardi, (sculpture).
Artist: Coppini, Pompeo, 1870-1957, sculptor.
Roman Bronze Works, founder. (possibly by)
Title: Prospero Bernardi, (sculpture).
Other Titles:
Bust of Prospero Bernardi, (sculpture).
Dates:
1936. Dedicated Oct. 12, 1936.
Medium:
Figure: bronze; Base: pink granite.
Dimensions:
Figure: approx. 6 ft. x 3 ft. x 1 ft. 6 in.; Base: approx. 8 1/2 x 3 x 3 ft.
Inscription:
(On side of figure:) Pompeo Coppini Sc (On front of base:) PROSPERO BERNARDI/ITALIAN TEXAS HERO/AT THE BATTLE OF/SAN JACINTO 1836 signed
Description:
Waist-length figure of Prospero Bernardi. He is bearded and wears western clothing. He holds an object in each of his hands at his waist. The object in his proper right hand seems to be a gun.
Subject:
Portrait male -- Bernardi, Prospero -- Waist length
Ethnic -- Italian
History -- United States -- Texas
Object -- Weapon -- Gun
Object Type:
Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Dallas
Sculpture
Owner:
Administered by City of Dallas, Department of Park & Recreation, Division of Cultural Affairs, 1925 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75201 Accession Number: CD.1936.25
Located Fair Park, Near the Hall of State, Dallas, Texas
Exhibitions:
Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas, 1936.
Remarks:
Prospero Bernardi was a hero at the Battle of San Jacinto. Figure was commissioned by the Dallas Italian-American newspaper La Tribuna Italiana, donated by Italian residents of Texas, and dedicated on October 12, 1936 in honor of Italian Day at the Texas Centennial Exposition.
Condition:
Surveyed 1992 September. Treatment needed.
Control Number: IAS 63760017"