In the monument of the family Gnecco, which was made in 1882, the theme of the detachment, as elsewhere the theme of the sorrow, undergoes realism-oriented changes. The sculptor presents an actual narrative scene, picturing a soul ascending to heaven and an angel pointing to two young siblings the place to which their mother had to go before them. In an even higher position, four cherubs are in expectation of the soul’s arrival in heaven. Displaying a notable representational immediacy, the sculptor is able to fix the everyday naturalness of the siblings’ gestures: the boy respectfully holds his cap in his hands and lovingly embraces his sister’s shoulder, whose hands are joined in prayer. The sculptor focuses on the details of their strictly-contemporary garments, their physical traits and their hairstyles, but also the background and the bronze door have been represented in detail.
