Venanzo Crocetti is an Italian sculptor who has always remained linked to his homeland, Abruzzo. After a childhood marked by the pain of the loss of his parents, Crocetti successfully began his art studies. In advance of the celebrations of the Centenary of the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome (1925-2025) during which the museum's contemporary collection will be highlighted through a series of exhibitions, the exhibition is a tribute to a great Italian art figure of the twentieth century. After approximately two years of careful and specialized restoration, the sculpture The dance pupil (1960) by Venanzo Crocetti returns to the GAM. Purchased in 1960 by the Municipality of Rome following the VIII National Quadrennial of Art, the work represents one of the first large-format sculptures by Crocetti dedicated to the theme of dance, which already appears in various sketches of the 1940s and which, starting from the end of the 1950s, it would become a recurring theme within his production.