Franz Tavella

Franz Tavella began his career as a carpenter and woodworker. He then discovered a talent for sculpture and attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. His sculptures won first prize at exhibitions in Innsbruck and Bolzano. He was commissioned to sculpt a life-sized Pietà for the 1900 Paris Exposition. It can still be found in the cemetery chapel in Bressanone. Tavella ran his own workshop in Val Gardena and taught at the School of Art. After that, he transferred his studio to Bressanone, where he worked on important commissions for the clergy. He died in Bressanone in 1931.