(b Genoa, 14 June 1877; d Rome, 9 Sept 1958). Italian sculptor. He first became known as a sculptor with his group the Brides of the Lord (untraced) at the Esposizione Nazionale, Turin, in 1898. His early sculptures—psychological portraits, and groups of children and animals—took their inspiration from the impressionistic technique of Medardo Rosso and also, in their sense of veiled melancholy, the funereal symbolism of Leonardo Bistolfi. At the beginning of the 20th century Prini moved to Rome, where he was granted an entire room in the Mostra degli amatori e cultori di belle arti of 1905. His association with Giacomo Balla, Duilio Cambellotti (1876–1960) and Giovanni Cena (1870–1917) brought him into contact with social themes. He continued, however, to find his main inspiration in more melancholy sentiments, which were expressed particularly in his numerous funerary monuments. For the Esposizione Internazionale in Rome in 1911 he produced the low-relief frieze of the Artist and the Artistic Battles for the façade of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna. He participated in the exhibitions of the Secessione in Rome and also worked in the field of decorative arts (e.g. a lamp and Life (a vase), both 1912, priv. col., see exh. cat., figs 176, 178). In the 1920s and 1930s he was particularly interested in monumental works, generally with solid architectonic compositions (e.g. Female Torso, 1935; Rome, G.N.A. Mod.). Prini received numerous public commissions, for example a bronze portal (1928) for the Casa dei Mutilati, Rome, and a large lunette for the monument to The Fallen (1931) in Genoa. He taught sculptural decoration at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome.