"Monument to the Indian Prince consists of a domed canopy with twisted cast iron columns and in the center houses the marble bust of the young maharajah of Kolhapur. It is supported by a cubic pedestal with vegetable bands bearing the same inscription in four different languages, one for each face of the solid. The entire structure described is supported by a sculptural base decorated with serrations.
The project was conceived by the architect Charles Mant according to the Indo-Saracenic canons of oriental architecture and the bust was sculpted by Charles Francis Fuller; the sculptural canopy was worked in Fiesole and finally the cast iron part was cast in England.
Fuller's work was inspired by the prince's clothes in which he was dressed for the funeral ceremony. The bust of the young man is, in fact, dressed in a brocaded sherwani, a turban rich in reliefs and decorations and two large rows of pearls, which he wore during the funeral and which cost 50,000 francs."
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The monument, already finished on June 22, 1874 was completely restored in 2020
"Monumento all'Indiano, Florence
The Monumento all'Indiano or Monument to the Indian, more specifically "Monument to the Maratha Maharajah of Kolhapur, Rajaram Chhatrapati" consisting of a chhatri or small raised dome, in Italian terms a baldacchino, over the bust of the Indian prince, at the west end of the Parco delle Cascine in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
Description
This is an unusual monument attached to an unusual event. In 1870, returning from London after paying his respects to Queen Victoria, the 21-year-old Maharajah Rajaram II died from a febrile illness in his hotel room in the "La Pace Hotel". His courtiers asked to conduct a cremation, or Antyesti ceremony, at the confluence of two rivers. They were able to perform a ceremony at the confluence of the Arno and stream of the Mugnone, near this site in the park. The events and the ceremony elicited a great deal of curiosity in the public.
The act of cremation, banned in Florence, led to a fierce argument among doctors and scientists as to the merits and morals of the funeral technique. The costs of the monument were financed by the British government, who employed the sculptor Charles Francis Fuller, who used an Indian form in a version of Indo-Saracenic architecture. The base has inscriptions in English, Italian, Hindi, and Punjabi.
In 1972, a modern bridge was built near the site and takes the name of Ponte all'Indiano."
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