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Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici by Michael Riddick Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici

In 1864 a terracotta Bust of a Youth1 (Fig. 01) at In 1898, Igino Benvenuto Supino first identified the Museo Nazionale del Bargello entered their the Bust of a Youth as the work of Andrea del collection along with a terracotta Bust of a Young Verrocchio (1435-88), noting also the subject Warrior2 (Fig. 02). Both were formerly located at of the bust, by tradition, as portraying Piero di the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in .3 Lorenzo de’ Medici (1472-1503), the eldest son and successor of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent (1449-92).4

Piero is more popularly known as Piero ‘the Unfortunate’ due to the ill-fated sequence of events that complicated the succession of his father’s legacy. When Lorenzo died, Piero was only twenty years-of-age and though well-educated, lacked the diplomatic verisimilitude possessed by his father. His naivety resulted in his expulsion from Florence in 1494, settling first in Venice and later in the region of Montecassino where he tragically drowned nine years later while fleeing a Spanish incursion during the Battle of Garigliano.5

Maud Cruttwell’s debut monograph on Verrocchio in 1904 excluded the Bust of a Youth, judging its modeling too weak to be his work. She additionally dismissed the subject’s association with Piero noting that if it were by Verrocchio, Fig. 01: Terracotta Bust of a Youth, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del it would have been realized during the period Bargello, Inv. 167M in which he was occupied with the equestrian

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 2 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com monument of Bartolomeo Colleoni, a production Jane Schuyler’s dissertation on Florentine portrait whose superior craftsmanship much exceeded busts accepted the Bust of a Youth as a product what is conveyed in the Bust of a Youth.6 of Verrocchio’s workshop and its association with Piero.8 Likewise, Piero Adorno recently accepted In 1969, Günter Passavant retained the possibility an association with Verrocchio’s workshop, the bust could represent Piero, suggesting a date possibly by a young talent in his studio like Agnolo of origin during the late 1480s. However, he found di Polo (1470-1528),9 although Lorenzo Lorenzi’s its conventional features and simplistic handling monograph on Agnolo excludes the work,10 more in-line with a practiced novice than a master and Andrew Butterfield’s later monograph on like Verrocchio.7 Verrocchio omits any mention of the bust.11

Anthony Radcliffe, in considering the technical facture of both the Bust of a Youth and Pollaiuolo’s Bust of a Young Warrior (Fig. 02), suggested both could be the product of Pollaiuolo’s workshop. While the arms of Pollaiuolo’s Bust of a Young Warrior are lost, details indicate they were separately modeled and extended outwardly from the torso similar in manner to the Bust of a Youth, a stylistic departure less commonly observed in Florentine portraiture of this type.12 Further, the body of each bust was fashioned using a similar technique which Radcliffe suggests were built-up from coils of rolled clay as if preparing a vase.13

Nonetheless, a technical examination of the Bust of a Youth still indicated minor variations distinguishing it from the Bust of a Young Warrior, most notably, the overlapping of clay while modeling the torso. Thermoluminescence testing authenticated its age, settling past arguments against its antique origins.14

While the Bust of a Young Warrior has almost

Fig. 02: Terracotta Bust of a Young Warrior, by Antonio unanimously been agreed upon as a work by Pollaiuolo, Florence, ca. 1469-75, Museo Nazionale del Pollaiuolo, the stylistic inconsistency between Bargello, Inv. 166M both busts suggests an alternate origin for the Bust

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 3 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 03: Portrait miniature of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici, by Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora, 1488, Biblioteca Nazionale, Napoli (left); Terracotta Bust of a Youth during restoration, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M (right)

of a Youth, specifically in the ambit of Verrocchio, marriage to Alfonsina Orsini.16 The miniature, as regularly suggested in the limited attention it’s painted when Piero was sixteen, portrays a relaxed received by scholars. youth with numerous features congruent with the Bust of a Youth (Fig. 03). The almond-shaped face In a recent summary, Maria Grazia Vaccari with widely parted eyes, long nasal bridge, slightly cautiously receded from a firm association of protruding chin, same hairstyle and related attire the bust with Piero though acknowledged its are apparent. The lips, however, are pursed in superficial similarity with a contemporaneous Gherardo’s portrait and his portrayal is more cool miniature portrait of him by Gherardo di Giovanni than principled.17 del Fora,15 presumed gifted on occasion of his

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 4 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 04: Terracotta Bust of a Young Warrior, by Antonio Pollaiuolo, Florence, ca. 1469-75, Museo Nazionale del Bargello,

Inv. 166M (left); Portrait miniature of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici, workshop of Agnolo , ca. 1555, , Florence (right)

Another early, though notably different, portrait The scarcity of portraits depicting Lorenzo likely of Piero is found in a series of twenty- necessitated a reliance on the . Similarly, four oil-on-tin miniatures of the Medici family a lack of available portraiture of Piero may have attributed to Agnolo Bronzino and his workshop, also required a dependency on a sculptural realized around 1555 or thereafter. The portrait source, in this case, perhaps Pollaiuolo’s Bust of shows Piero wearing a similar cap though dressed a Young Warrior, whose characteristics appear in armor. His features are fuller, compressed and casually reflected in the painted portrait (Fig. 04). his nose and lips are portrayed broader. While The notion suggests Pollaiuolo’s Bust of a Young most portraits from the Medici series depend Warrior may have once been thought to portray upon earlier painted sources the portrait of Piero’s Piero, at least during the 16th century, though to father, Lorenzo the Magnificent, instead depends the present author’s knowledge, this has never upon a celebrated terracotta bust preserved at been proposed in modern historical discourse the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.18 19 and would invite reasonable skepticism.

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 5 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com The series of Medici miniatures must have been completed by 1568 when Vasari mentions them in the second edition of his Vite.20 However, its realization post-dates both Lorenzo and Piero’s life-time requiring the artist and his workshop to have depended upon other sources.

Both the Bust of a Youth and Bust of a Young Warrior were each coated by a layer of bronze coloring applied during the 19th century though beneath was a contemporaneous ochre paint simulating a gilt surface. Undiscussed is the evidence this coloring provides in understanding the possible function and context of the busts. Examples of such busts are depicted in a few contemporary Florentine , most notably a panel portraying the Triumph of Mardocheus from a series representing the story of Esther by Jacopo del Sellaio.21 A detail from the panel shows a half-length gilt bust of a woman set within a lunette above an entryway (Fig. 05). Its truncated form, lacking a pedestal-base, recalls the comparable format of the Bust of a Youth.

Giorgio Vasari mentions busts of this kind can Fig. 05: Detail of the Triumph of Mardocheus by Jacopo del be seen “in every house in Florence, above the chimneypieces, doors, windows and cornices, Sellaio (Uffizi, Florence) innumerable portraits of this type, so well made were removed, with the portraits of many other and so naturalistic that they seem to be living.”22 illustrious men of that house, to the guardaroba of Cosimo I de’ Medici.”23 More specifically, Vasari describes a portrait bust of “Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici and his Alison Wright suggests a terracotta figure painted wife, marvelously lifelike and true to nature.” He in the color of metal, referenced in Cosimo’s 1553 continues stating how “these two heads stood for Medici inventory, could refer to Pollaiuolo’s Bust 24 many years over two doors in Piero’s room at the of a Young Warrior, however, this could equally Palazzo Medici, each in a lunette; afterwards they apply to the Bust of a Youth, which, if representing

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 6 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 06: Terracotta Portrait of a Woman, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), private collection (left) Fig. 07: Portrait of a Woman, by , Florence, 15th cent., (right)

Piero, is noted here by Vasari, removed from its this bust to , comparing her former location in the Palazzo and presumably dress with a costume in one of his sketches that is destined for display in Cosimo’s “new hall.” now understood to be typical Florentine attire.26 Willem von Bode and Cruttwell both attributed Schuyler, in recognizing the Bust of a Youth as the terracotta to Verrocchio,27 though Schuyler a representation of Piero, keenly suggested a suggested its generic modelling linked it more terracotta Portrait of a Woman from the Edmond closely with a possible pupil in Verrocchio’s Foulc collection as its pendant: a presumed bust of workshop, though not Leonardo.28 Schuyler Piero’s wife, Alfonsina Orsini (Fig. 06).25 commented on the similar characteristics the terracotta shares with a portrait by Sandro Scarcely discussed in the literature, Wilhelm Botticelli accepted as representing Alfonsina Reinhold Valentiner first preemptively attributed (Fig. 07).29

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 7 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 08: Terracotta Bust of a Youth (Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici?), by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M (left); Terracotta Portrait of a Woman (Alfonsina Orsini?), by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), private collection (right)

When paired, the homogeny of the two busts is The pairing of the two busts may suggest an apparent, both in scale, and attractiveness impetus for their creation: the celebration of Piero (Fig. 08). Later, the Portrait of a Woman suffered and Alfonsina’s marriage. from deep skepticism concerning its authenticity and was condemned as a forgery, deaccessioned Although Lorenzo the Magnificent rarely from the Pierpont Morgan Library and , commissioned portraits of himself except in times and was sold at auction for a modest sum. of duress and political necessity, he may have been However, in similar reprieve as the Bust of a compelled to commission busts of his successor Youth, the auction house offering thePortrait of and daughter-in-law as a gesture of dynastic a Woman subjected it to thermoluminescence continuity.31 32 The quantity of surviving Florentine testing revealing it was indeed fired in or around busts portraying young women is noted as tacit the fifteenth century.30 evidence they were made near the time of their subject’s marriages, commissioned by the couple

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 8 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com themselves or by family members.33 The terracotta not reach Florence until 1488 when her formal Bust of a Youth and Portrait of a Woman may have partnership with Piero was to begin on 22 May. been commissioned on occasion of the couple’s However, the premature death of Piero’s sister, marriage, displayed at the festivities surrounding Luisa de’ Medici, delayed celebrations until the the event and later placed domestically at their beginning of June.35 The couple were both aged residence in the Palazzo Medici. In anticipation sixteen at the time of their marriage ceremony and of continuing his legacy, Lorenzo’s carefully this youthfulness is evident in the character of crafted marriage arrangement between Piero and the busts. Alfonsina would have been a noticeable event for the Medici dynasty, evident by the many It is conceivable the proposed commission of important figures in attendance at the banquet the busts would have depended upon a familiar festival in honor of their marriage at the Villa sculptor in service to the Medici. Lorenzo the Medici at Careggi during June of 1488.34 Magnificent’s careful control over the use of his image consistently required involvement of artists Although Piero’s marriage to Alfonsina was loyal to him such as the post- arranged earlier by proxy in 1486, Alfonsina did propagandic medals made by his friend and

Fig. 09: Terracotta Bust of a Youth, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello,

Inv. 167M (left); Marble bust of Pino III Ordelaffi, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, Civic Museum of Forli (right)

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 9 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com a terracotta Bust of a Youth, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. Fig. 10: Detail of the marble Madonna Bianca, by Simone Ferrucci, 1488, Chiesa della Madonna Bianca - Ancarano (left); Detail of 167M (center); Marble putto by Simone Ferruci, ca. 1480s, Fine of San Francisco (right)

permanent house guest, Bertoldo di Giovanni,36 or medalist di Guglielmino Tanaglia the execution of life-cast wax votives representing and goldsmith Michelangelo di Viviano, each of his likeness, displayed strategically throughout whom he maintained contact with during his Florence after the attempt on his life, realized Florentine tenure and exile.40 collaboratively by Verrocchio and Orsini de’ Benintendi.37 A choice artist for the creation of family portrait busts would have sensibly been passed to Giancarlo Gentilini, in discussing a later terracotta Verrocchio, of whom Vasari credited with the bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s other son, revival of such in Florence.41 Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici,38 attributed to Antonio de’ Benintendi, noted how Antonio likely A settlement of debts, dated 27 January 1495, given had exclusive access to his patron for reasons of to Lorenzo the Magnificent’s heirs by Verrocchio’s loyalty and security over the dissemination of his brother Tommaso, cites: “twenty masks taken from image.39 Antonio was the son of Orsini, noted life.”42 43 The citation refers to Verrocchio’s use of already for producing the wax effigies of Lorenzo, life-masks in the creation of sculpted portraiture,44 thus indicating a family practice for the exclusive a Florentine practice common in the last-half of employ of artists loyal to Medici ambitions. the 15th century.45 Considering the quantity of Documents likewise confirm Piero’s preference masks cited it could be assumed that these do not for retaining Medici court artists via his healthy all represent casts of Lorenzo the Magnificent, but repertoire with Michelangelo Buonarroti, the also members of his family.

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 10 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 11: Detail of a terracotta Bust of a Youth, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M (left); a cast life-mask and preparatory model in stucco or plaster for the Bust of a Youth, Florence, 15th cent., private collection (right)

The theoretical dating for the creation of the busts in Florence. However, was a helps to narrow the possibilities for their maker, painter and would have thus relied upon another especially if reliant on Verrocchio with whom both of Verrocchio’s trusted collaborators skilled in busts have been almost continually associated or sculpture and still connected to Verrocchio’s attributed. workshop, even after Verrocchio’s death, the sculptor: Francesco di Simone Ferrucci.47 Alfonsina did not arrive in Florence until May of 1488, thus providing a notional terminus post Verrocchio died at the end of June 1488, the month quem for the creation of the busts. However, of Piero and Alfonsina’s wedding. A commission of Verrocchio was not in Florence at this time, the busts would have fallen logically into Ferrucci’s occupied with his statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. domain, a capable sculptor and one familiar with Verrocchio had established a second workshop Verrocchio’s working methods. The essence of the in Venice five years earlier and moved there two busts indeed maintain a Verrocchio-like aura probably in May of 1486.46 Lorenzo di Credi, at while their eloquent yet generic formalities echo this time, was in-charge of Verrocchio’s workshop the work of Ferrucci.

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 11 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 12: A cast life-mask and preparatory model in stucco or plaster for the Bust of a Youth, Florence, 15th cent., private collection (left); Detail of a terracotta Bust of a Youth, during restoration, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M (right)

In Vaccari’s most recent discussion of the Bust of pensiveness suggested by her lips. His marble a Youth she maintained its connection with the Madonna Bianca, completed also in 1488, likewise circle of Verrocchio while also noting its affinity shares the same tranquil yet exalted presence (Fig. with Ferrucci’s marble bust of Pino III Ordelaffi at 10, left) and his jovial marble putto at the Fine Arts the Civic Museum of Forli (Fig. 09).48 Passavant Museums of San Francisco, featuring similarly had first suggested Ferrucci as a possibility due incised eyes of equivalent depth-and-dimension to the stylistic influences Verrocchio had upon which stare into the distance, imparting a him.49 Though not his pupil, Ferrucci regularly conscious liveliness both arresting and noble collaborated with Verrocchio during the 1470s-80s, (Fig. 10, right). particularly on the funerary monument for Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri.50 Although no other examples of its kind are known, the discovery of a possible Further comparisons of the busts can be made preparatory model (Figs. 11, 12, 13, cover), either against other works attributed to Ferrucci like his in stucco or plaster and painted at some advent in marble Virgin Adoring the Child whose figure of its history, adds potential new knowledge to the Mary maintains a similarly relaxed, yet dignified development of the Bust of a Youth.

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 12 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Following Florentine practice, and particularly the methods employed by Verrocchio, Ferrucci would have likely depended upon life-masks for the creation of the busts. The stucco model, life- size and in approximate scale to the terracotta, appears to have been worked-up from a cast taken from the mold of a life-mask, later worked over with modestly idealized features in the finished terracotta production.

In discussing a bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent at the Ashmolean Museum, Alison Luchs observed the likelihood it had been based upon a life- mask, idealized or regularized, particularly with respect to his nose whose character is more refined than that featured on Lorenzo’s death mask preserved at the Palazzo Pitti (Fig. 14).51 A similar idealization is apparent in comparing the terracotta Bust of a Youth against the stucco model (Fig. 15). The stucco model is a more faithful likeness that recalls a reasonable combination of both his parent’s noses, the broadness of his father’s and the refinement of his mother’s particularly with its horizontal underside.

Other features of the stucco model indicate it represents a mask taken from life. The soft forms of the face are flattened during this process due to the weight of gradually applied layers of wet plaster, resulting in heightened cheek bones, a flattened chin and slightly broadened lower Fig. 13: Detail of a terracotta Bust of a Youth, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo jaw with subtly widened lips. These features are Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M (top); a cast life-mask and corrected in the finished bust with the cheeks preparatory model in stucco or plaster for the Bust of a Youth, heightened by a supple fleshiness around the Florence, 15th cent., private collection (bottom) lower jaw, the lips raised to eliminate an unnatural frown and the chin modeled with a delicate .

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 13 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 14: Detail of a terracotta bust of Lorenzo de’ Medici, possibly from the workshop of Antonio Benintendi, early 16th cent., Florence,

(right) Ashmolean Museum, Inv. WA1888.CDEF.S23 (left); detail of a stucco death mask of Lorenzo de’ Medici, 1492, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

On the stucco model, circular nasal holes suggest use of this breathing device may also explain the where straws would have been inserted for the widening of the upper nostrils whereas this has subject to breathe during the process, a method been made to appear more natural in the delineated by in his discussion finished bust. of preparing masks in Il libro dell’ arte.52 A portion of damp plaster may have been dragged downward The upper lip has also been flattened due to the during their removal, resulting in the flaw beneath weight of the plaster and perhaps also due to some the proper right nostril (see cover photo). This restraint from the sitter during the process of has been corrected in the terracotta bust. The taking the mold. There is a casting flaw along the

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 14 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Fig. 15: A cast life-mask and preparatory model in stucco or plaster for the Bust of a Youth, Florence, 15th cent., private collection (left); Detail of a terracotta Bust of a Youth, before restoration, by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (?), Florence, 15th cent. (1488?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M (right)

proper left eyebrow, perhaps due to hair sticking a rather sharp angle implies additions made to the to the wet plaster during the process, usually working model. The presence of the independent remedied by the application of oil over the hair, model of the head with a protruding unfinished though not always successful. neck also indicates it was prepared separately from the worked-up torso and set into its vase- The clearly defined eye sockets with their “three- like opening at the top. dimensional egg-shaped forms,”53 modeled and recessed deep beneath the lids is also The marvel of the stucco model is not so much characteristic of modifications made to a life its artistic merit inasmuch as its utilitarian and mask. The rough surface of the bust with its pits historic significance. It offers a potentially tactile and raised bubbles is due to the settling of the glimpse into the working methods of Florentine plaster in the mold where air-pockets would have sculptors often described but scarcely observed formed while casting. The dull, muted texture and foremost, if representing Piero, is possibly atop the head suggests also a cap worn during the the only true living quattrocento visage of a process and the sudden outcropping of the hair at Medici family member known.

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 15 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Further remarkable is the survival of both of her own portrait bust. The work may have terracotta busts in spite of Piero’s exile from been protected by her as she travelled later to Florence. It’s quite possible they could have other parts of , prompting its survival from remained intact at the Palazzo Medici during the Bonfires of Vanities enacted by Girolama the French occupation of Florence. Soon after Savonarola in 1497 and 1498 where many female his departure on 9 November 1494, the Signoria portrait busts were destroyed.56 of Florence, responsible for banishing Piero, thereafter placed a ban on the looting of objects While the timing of Piero’s tenure as successor from the Palazzo Medici which various sources to the Medici dynasty may have been ill-fated, as note had already begun when Piero left the also perhaps with the lost identity of his possible city. The reported extent of this looting varies portrait bust and that of his wife, our present considerably, however, it is known that Piero survey, speculative as it may be, hopes to suggest prepared the Palazzo for the arrival of King a brief moment in time when the prospect Charles VIII and for this reason, the Palazzo did of a continued Medici legacy in Florence was receive ample protection by both the government sustained, hopeful even, and captured brilliantly of Florence and the French soldiers arriving ahead in the austere yet noble visages portrayed by a of the king.54 sculptor whose talents herewith have rendered what Cruttwell described of the Alfonsina as “one While objects belonging to the Medici did suffer of the most attractive portraits of the fifteenth losses during their exile from the city, a reasonable century.”57 quantity of artworks and valuables, especially those in the Palazzo, were either preserved by the French and the Florentine government or were hidden away and protected by loyal sympathizers until the Medici returned in 1512. It is under these conditions that the busts could have survived such perilous circumstances while many other public effigies of the family were destroyed during the sacking of loyalist homes and public spaces.55

Charles’ support of Piero and the preservation of the remaining Medici collection would have also encouraged the survival of these busts. In particular, the allowance of Alfonsina to remain in Florence, further suggests the endurance

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 16 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Endnotes

1  Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 167M. 14  Francesca Kumar (2001): Tecnica e stato a lost or unidentified bust of Piero di di conservazione. Pollaiolo e Verrocchio? Cosimo de’ Medici’s wife, Lucretia 2  Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Inv. 166M. Firenze, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Tornabuoni. The 1492 inventory of the pp. 73-76. Palazzo Medici notes Mino’s bust of 3  Andrea della Robbia’s glazed terracotta of Piero (di Cosimo) as located above the a Boy also accompanied the two terracotta 15  A larger example of the same portrait, door of the antechamber to Lorenzo’s busts, all probably once donated by attributed to Perugino, is in the private room. See Eugene Muntz (1888):Les private citizens during the hospital’s long collection at Firle Place in Lewes, UK. Collections des Medicis au XVs siecle, Paris- history. London, p. 62. Since Mino died when 16  George Frederick Young (1917): The Lorenzo’s son, Piero, was thirteen years- 4  Igino Benvenuto Supino (1898): Catalogo Medici. Vol. 1. E.P. Dutton and Company, of-age, Vasari either wrongly identified del R. Museo Nazionale di Firenze. , NY, p. 267. the artist or the sitters of the busts he p. 413, no. 165. describes. Such oversights by Vasari 17  Several of these same features are also are not uncommon. See for example: L. 5  After several unsuccessful organized observable in the painted depiction of Fusco and G. Corti (2006): op. cit. (note attacks on the , in Piero at age 11-to-13, as portrayed in 40), p. 139 or a wider range of examples retribution for his expulsion, he later ’s Confirmation in Wolfgang Kallab (1908): Vasaristudien. joined the army of Louis XII in 1503. of the Franciscan Rule from the Sassetti W. Grasser & Kie, Wien, Austria. During a retreat of the French at the Chapel frescos. Battle of Garigliano, Piero drowned while 24  Alison Wright (2005): The Pollaiuolo attempting to transport equipment to the 18  Alison Luchs (2000): Lorenzo from Life? Brothers: The Arts of Florence and Rome. mouth of the river. See Lisa Goldenberg Portrait Busts of Lorenzo de’ Yale University Press, pp. 142-47. For the Stoppato (1999): Research Notes for an Medici. Sculpture Journal, 4, pp. 6-24. 1553 inventory see Cosimo Conti (1893): entry on Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici. The La Prima Reggia di Cosimo I de’ Medici Medici Archive Project, accessed February 19  Michael Belman, Alison Luchs, Shelley nel Palazzo gia della Signoria di Firenze. 2020: bia.medici.org Sturman (2013): A Renaissance of Florence. Color: The Conservation of Lorenzo 6  Maud Cruttwell (1904): Verrocchio. the Magnificent. Facture: Conservation, 25  The bust was also coated with a 19th London, NY, p. 92. Science, , vol. 1, pp, 32-57. century bronze patina.

7  Günter Passavant (1969): Verrocchio, 20  “Fatti di piastra di stagno e tutti d`una 26  Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner (1944): sculpture, paintings. London, p. 211. grandezza medesima … tutti naturali, Two Terracotta Reliefs by Leonardo.Art vivaci e somigliantissimi al vero.” / Quarterly, VII, pp. 182-84. 8  Jane Schuyler (1976): Florentine Busts: “Small squares made of tin plate and all Sculpted Portraiture in the Fifteenth Century. of one size, portraits made natural, lively 27  M. Crutwell (1904): op. cit. (note 6), New York/London. PhD Thesis, Columbia and very similar to the truth, with an p. 111. University, p. 30. excellence of painting.” 28  J. Schuyler (1976): op. cit. (note 8), p. 176. 9  Piero Adorno (1991): Il Verrocchio. Firenze, 21  J. Schuyler (1976): op. cit. (note 8), p. 25. p. 237. 29  Other proposals for the sitter include 22  Giorgio Vasari (1568): Lives of the most Simonetta Vespucci, Clarice Orsini 10  Lorenzo Lorenzi (1998): Agnolo di Polo: Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects. or Lucrezia Tornabuoni. See Carlo Scultura in terracotta dipinta nella Firenze di Vol. 03 (of 10), Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Montresor (2010): Galleria Palatin di fine Quattrocento. Italy. Soggi. Translated by Gaston du C. De Palazzo Pitti. Monografia d’arte. Botticelli. Vere, 1913. Macmillan and co. ld. & the ATS Italia Editrice, p. 42. Botticelli’s 11  Andrew Butterfield (1997):The Sculptures Medici Society, London, p. 274. portrait also compares favorably with of . Yale University a scarce Renaissance medal at the Civic Press. 23  G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 22), p. 157. Museum of Vicenza depicting a profile Schuyler points out (J. Schuyler [1976]: bust of Alfonisa in her advanced years. 12  Bruce Boucher (ed.) (2001): Earth and Fire: op. cit. [note 8], p. 24) that while Vasari See Bernardo Morsolin (1892): Una Italian Terracotta Sculpture from describes this bust as the work of Mino medaglia di Alfonsina Orsini. Rivista to Canova. Yale University Press, pp. 138- da Fiesole, the text is frequently misread Italiana di Numismatica, pp. 71-78. 41, no. 17. as a referring to Piero (di Cosimo) de’ Medici, Lorenzo’s father, of whom Mino 30  James Fenton (1998): Leonardo’s Nephew: 13  Anthony Radcliffe (2001): Portrait-Busts made a marble bust whereas it explicitly Essays on Art and Artists. University of in Renaissance Florence: Patterns and describes the name of Lorenzo’s son, Chicago Press, pp. 50-52. With thanks to Meanings. Pollaiolo e Verrocchio? Firenze, Piero. The statement has led to the Jennifer Tonkovich for additional details Museo Nazionale del Bargello, pp. 15-34. presumption that Mino also realized concerning its deaccession from the

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 17 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com Endnotes

Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum 43  The 1495 settlement also mentions 53  J. Schuyler (1976): op. cit. (note 8), p. 200. (private communication, February 2020). payment due for “the heads in the cortile,” which Cruttwell suggested 54  L. Fusco and G. Corti (2006): op. cit. (note 31  Alison Wright (1996): A portrait for the might relate to the twenty life-masks, 40), pp. 159-77. visit of Galeazzo Maria Sforza to Florence as sculpted busts would have filled the in 1471 in Lorenzo the Magnificent: Culture friezes in the courtyard. 55  Ibid. and politics. London, p. 80. 44  Vasari commented “it was Andrea’s habit 56  Pseudo-Burlaacchi’s account of objects 32  Mark Danford (2013): The Evolution of the to model in this way living things, to be destroyed in the two bonfires mentions Medici Portrait: from business to politics. able to catch their essence and imitate “sculptures of extremely beautiful John Carroll University (Masters Thesis), them more easily.” See G. Vasari (1568): women of earlier times, both Romans p. 33. op. cit. (note 41). and Florentines, who had been portrayed in sculpture by great artists” and 33  J. Schuyler (1976): op. cit. (note 8), 45  J. Schuyler (1976): op. cit. (note 8), p. 136. “some sculpted heads of women from pp. 10-11. former times who were famous for their 46  Eleonora Luciano (2019): Chronology .” See A. Butterfield (1997):op. cit. 34  Alfred von Reumont (1883): Lorenzo de’ in Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of (note 11), p. 96. Medici il Magnifico, vol. .2 Duncker & Renaissance Florence. Princeton University Humblot, pp. 256-58. Press, pp. 345-49. 57  M. Cruttwell (1904): op. cit. (note 6), p. 111. 35  Ibid. 47  Linda Pisani (2007): Francesco di Simone Ferrucci: Itinerari di uno scultore fiorentino 36  Xavier Salomon, Aimee Ng, Alexander fra Toscana, Romagna e Montefeltro. Noelle (2019): Bertoldo di Giovanni. The Florence, pp. 37-40. Frick Collection, NY, pp. 401-05, no. 14. 48  Maria Grazia Vaccari (2001): Pollaiolo e 37  Jeremy Warren (2014): Medieval and Verrocchio? Firenze, Museo Nazionale del Renaissance Sculpture in the Ashmolean Bargello, pp. 48-52. Museum, Vol. 2: Sculptures in Stone, Clay, Ivory, Bone and Wood. Ashmolean 49  In a past lecture, Alison Luchs also Museum Publications, UK, pp. 456-66, speculated that Ferrucci could have been no. 125. involved in the creation of the Bust of a Youth, though inquires whether he was 38  Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici was talented enough to have produced it. Piero di Lorenzo de Medici’s younger She notes another Florentine bust of a brother, the future Leo X. Gentleman (National Gallery of Art, Inv. 1943.4.75) is possibly by the same hand 39  Giancarlo Gentilini (1996): Il Beato Sorore or from the same workshop (private di Santa Maria della Scala. Antologia di communication, January 2020). Belle Arti. La Scultura, II. Turin, p. 30. 50  Andrew Butterfield (ed.) (2019): 40  Laurie Fusco and Gino Corti (2006). Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Lorenzo de’ Medici: Collector and Renaissance Florence. Princeton University Antiquarian. Cambridge University Press, Press, pp. 189-91, 280-83; nos. 21, 44. p. 184. 51  A. Luchs (2000): op. cit. (note 18). See also 41  Giorgio Vasari (trans. Gaetano Milanesi, Jeremy Warren (1998): A Portrait Bust of 1878-1906) (1568): Le vite de’ piu eccellenti Lorenzo de’ Medici in Oxford. Sculpture pittori scultori e architettori. Vol., 3 9 vols., Journal, Vol. II, pp. 1-12 and J. Warren pp. 372-73. (2014): op. cit. (note 37), p. 459.

42  Cornelio von Fabriczy (1895): Andrea del 52  Cennino D’ Andrea Cennini (Trans. Verrocchio ai servizi de’ Medici. Archivio Daniel V. Thompson, Jr.) (1437): The storico dell’arte, seria seconda, Vol. I, pp. Craftsman’s Handbook / Il Libro dell’ Arte. 163-76. NY, Dover Publications, Inc. 1933, by Yale University Press, pp. 259-66.

Lorenzo’s son, from Life: a possible model, from life, of Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici 18 Michael Riddick - RenBronze.com