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UPCOMING AUCTIONS THE MAGAZINE
The face of the Italian
Renaissance
31 May
Sales of estates sometime throw up a few surprises, like this one in terracotta, discovered
in a Paris apartment in the chic 16th arrondissement. Everything in this
powerful work, to be sold on 31 May in Paris (Claude Aguttes), points towards Italy,
and more specifically Florence, city of the arts during the Renaissance. At that time,
Florence ruled the roost and was home to the leading artists of the day. One of
them, a native of the region, directed a flourishing studio. His name was Andrea del
Verrocchio, and he was the pupil and successor of the great Donatello. Verrocchio,
too, worked for the illustrious Medici family, embodying the perfect image of the
Renaissance artist who excelled in sculpture, painting and even architecture.
His workshop teemed with new talent as promising as one Leonardo da Vinci. That
alone would have made Verrocchio famous… The head here provides numerous
parallels with works by the master: the Cabinet Dillée, the expert for the sale,
compares the treatment of the eyes with that of the bust of Giuliano de' Medici now
in the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, and the head of Christ in the Hermitage,
Saint Petersburg. We could also cite the bust of a warrior now in the Bargello
in Florence. The artist has lavished great care on the portrait here, capturing not
only his subject's physical features but also his proud and haughty character. And
yet it is hard to see the hand of the master in this remarkable effigy. We know that
Verrocchio, who ran a large studio, would hand over many projects to his pupils: not
only Leonardo da Vinci and Perugino, but also Lorenzo di Credi and Agnolo di Polo.
These artists were influenced by his style and adopted a number of his particularities,
like the figura serpentinata. Here the position of the head, turned to the side,
unquestionably reflects the sculptor's formal world. Might it be the head of a
horseman, in the line of his remarkable Bartolomeo Colleoni? The only certainty is
the power and beauty of this piece of sculpture, which a thermoluminescence test
has dated to between 1480 and 1520. Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
>
Head of a man, terracotta, studio of Verrocchio or one of his followers, c. 1480-1520, 37 x 28 cm.
Estimate: €200,000/300,000.
N° 25 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
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