Italian sculptor Salesio Pegrassi was born on 12 November 1812 in Verona. He became famous in his native city, but also in England; where he worked in the court of Queen Victoria and under the patronage of William John Bankes, a notable explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer.
The Veronese painter Giovanni Calieri discovered Pegrassi’s talent in painting and helped him enter the Academy of Fine Arts in Verona. There, he undertook lessons of sculpture and devoted his life into it. He would also later become the president of the above Academy.
He is known for his marble statues in many churches in Verona and for the fireplaces he produced for the British Royal family.
He died in Verona on 6 December 1879.