Rudolfo Nolli

Who was Rudolfo Nolli?

Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli was a sculptor and architect from Lombardy, who during the first half of the 20th century worked mainly in Southeast Asia.

He was the nephew of the sculptor Vittorio Novi from Lanzo d'Intelvi, a village close to Lake Como in northern Italy.

Around 1914, Novi created the marble decoration for the new Mahaiudthit Bridge in Bangkok and also did marble works for the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. Here Nolli became his assistant and was so successful that he earned himself the title of Cavaliere.

In Singapore Nolli later designed the marble decorations of the College of Medicine Building, Singapore and of the Old Supreme Court Building. Nolli had also designed the cast iron lamps and lion reliefs of the Elgin Bridge spanning the Singapore river and the four allegorical marble reliefs of Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and Transport at the entrance hall of the Tanjong Pagar railway station.

In 1950 he created two iconic crests for Gan Eng Seng School at 155 Waterloo Street, which were lost when the school moved to Raeburn Park in 1986. He had formerly crafted similar decorations for the Fullerton Building built in 1924-28. He also created a pair of lions for the Bank of China Building, Singapore, and for the Merdeka Bridge.