He was the son of sculptor
Adamo Tadolino (1788–1868), one of
Antonio Canova's main assistants. He was the brother of the sculptor
Tito Tadolini (1828–1910), and in turn father of sculptor
Giulio Tadolini (1849–1918). His works were in a romantic form of the Neo-classical tradition. Tadolini was trained in his father's studio. His first major work was
Ninfa Pescatrice (Nymph Fishing) in 1846. During his career, he created a statue of Santa Lucia for the
Santa Lucia del Gonfalone Church in Rome, a bust of
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, an
equestrian portrait of
Simon Bolivar for
Lima, Peru, and
St Michael Overcoming Satan, commissioned by merchant
Gardner Brewer and now in
Boston College. His family's studio, at 150a-b Via del Babuino, Rome, has now been restored as the
Museo Atelier Canova Tadolini, which preserves the works of
Canova and the Tadolini family. == Selected works ==