Affry, who took the pseudonym Marcello in 1863 at her Paris Salon debut, was without question the most popular female sculptor working in Paris during the Second Empire.
The sculptor to whom Garnier referred was Adèle d'Affry, the Duchess Castiglione-Colonna, otherwise known as Marcello (1836–1879). This statue has been criticized by some, praised by others, such is the state of human things even divine things do not escape this but these discussions do not remove anything from its energetic allure and its characteristic silhouette. It is she who has sculpted the Pythia, which is found under the central vault, and it is only fair that we acknowledge that it is a virile work, robust and far from being indifferent. I want to take this opportunity to immediately say some words on an interesting work of one of these women, the Duchess Colonna (in sculpture, Marcello). In a chapter entitled "Du grand escalier," Garnier wrote, with a mixture of caution and praise, about the only decorative work in the entire building that was not especially created for the Opera Garnier:
Shortly after the opening of the celebrated Paris Opera, the architect Charles Garnier (1825–1898) published an extraordinarily detailed account of the history of the building, in which he discussed many of the artists involved in its construction and decoration. 1 Marcello (Adèle d'Affry, Duchess Castiglione-Colonna), Pythia, 1870 (installed 1875). "A New Formula for High Art": The Genesis and Reception of Marcello's Pythiaįig.
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