Manzù was mainly a self-taught artist, who studied antique, Romanesque and Renaissance sculptures. He was also inspired by Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol and Edgar Degas. Early on in his career, he received commissions for religious sculptures and became famous for his reduced depictions of cardinals. In 1938 Manzù had a separate room at the Venice Biennale. He taught for at the academies of Turin and of Milan. At the Quadriennale die Roma 1943, he received the Grand Prize, at the Venice Biennale in 1948, the Grand Prize for Sculpture, together with Henry Moore. He created a portal for St. Peter in Rome and was invited to documenta in Kassel in 1959. He was honoured during his lifetime with exhibitions in Germany, Russia, the USA, and Japan. In 1981 the Manzù Museum in Ardea, which was founded in 1969, was transferred to the Italian State.
