Rembrandt Bugatti was born in Milan on 16 October 1884. He was the son of the decorator and furniture designer Carlo Bugatti, and the brother of Ettore Bugatti, the famous car manufacturer. He began modelling at the age of 17, influenced by the sculptor Troubetzkoy, one of the first Impressionist sculptors, and Segantini, leader of the Lombard Divisionists. His move to Paris in 1903 and his association with the foundryman and gallery owner Hébrard, who had just created the new lost-wax casting technique, marked the start of a dazzling career. His creative process was spontaneous and quick, a freehand vision, almost immediate, of animal true personality in the Impressionist style of his mentor, then in the Cubist movement. But it is undoubtedly his design, his line and the spatial composition of his works are the hallmark of his genius. After the great war, zoo animals were killed, sculpture sales collapsed and the Hébrard gallery closed. Refusing to accept his brother's help, he killed himself in his studio at the age of 32.