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FLORENTINE, late fifteenth century. Circle of Benedetto da Maiano (Maiano 1442 – Florence 1497)
Bust of a Man |
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Terracotta; the man’s head slightly inclined to the right and with downcast eyes; traces of polychromy
Height: cm 28,5
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Provenance:
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| Sotheby’s, New York, 26 January 2007, lot 236 |
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This striking portrait, the man depicted with slightly hooded eyes and a piercing gaze, stems from the humanistic tradition of Donatello and his later Florentine followers; the evident influence of antique portraiture has its Renaissance origins in works such as Donatello’s forceful figure of an identified prophet, made for the Campanile in Florence. 1 The modelling is close to that found in the terracotta bust of Filippo Strozzi, made by Benedetto da Maiano in 1475. 2
The present bust must have been made to be placed at the top of a monument, presumably set fairly high, as is suggested by the cut-off shoulders which would not have been visible had it been thus positioned.
A recent careful cleaning revealed that the painted decoration on the bust at the time of the New York sale was not original, and indeed there were indications that the bust had been repainted several times in the past. However, some traces of old pigmentation suggest that the bust was originally coloured. A good example of contemporary polychrome decoration, applied in tempera, is to be seen on the terracotta portrait bust of Cardinal Giovanni Medici 3, circa 1512, attributed to the little-known Antonio de’Benintendi, which also offers parallels in the handling and modelling with the present bust. The Medici portrait appears to have been made from a life cast, possibly also the case with our bust.
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1 Now in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence ; J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Renaissance Sculpture, London, 1958, plate 15.
2 Berlin, Staatliche Museen; illustrated in B. Boucher (ed.), Earth and Fire, exh. cat., Houston and London, 2001-2002, no. 18, pp. 142-3.
3 Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Inv. no. A.29-1982), attributed to Antonio de’Benintendi; exhibited in Earth and Fire, op. cit., no. 28, pages 162-165.
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