A terracotta bust found in a private residence in Tuscany may have been made by
Leonardo da Vinci. Discovered by chance in 1990, in the attic of a
fourteenth-century palazzo in Siena, the sculpture was originally attributed to
Andrea del Verrocchio. Art experts now believe that it may be Leonardo’s only
extant sculpture.
Leonardo studied sculpture in
Verrocchio’s workshop between 1469 and 1476 but later dismissed it, considering
it inferior to painting.
The bust, a sorrowful-looking
old man, is thought to depict St. Jerome. The statue has a chipped nose and
shows evidence of hasty repairs to its chin and ears.
As part of the terracotta exhibit currently
running in Impruneta (Florence), the bust is being shown to the public for the
first time, along with terracotta sculptures by Brunelleschi, Ghiberti,
Donatello, Michelozzo, Desiderio da Settignano, Verrocchio and Benedetto da
Maiano.
For more information on the exhibit, see www.impruneta.it
The head was discovered by art
historian and professor at Perugia University, Giovanni Gentilini, when he was
commissioned to make a digital catalogue of the hundreds of works stored in
Siena’s Palazzo Chigi Saracini.
While exploring the vast attics
of the palazzo, Gentilini came across the bust. ‘We discovered that various
works in chalk and terracotta had been placed there, probably removed from the
rooms because they were thought to be of little value or in a bad state of
conservation. And on the floor, under a heap of rubbish, we saw the bust’, he
said.
Gentilini
believes the bust was probably ‘not an autonomous work, but a model to study,
draw and eventually translate into painting or sculpture.’ He asserts that
there are ‘clear analogies’ between the bust and two other works depicting St.
Jerome: a tempera of the saint’s head conserved in Florence’s Galleria
Palatina, which has recently been reattributed to Leonardo; and a painting
stolen in 1970, depicting St. Jerome and St. Anthony with a crucified Christ,
which experts believe was made in Verrocchio’s workshop.
The
possibility that the bust was made by Leonardo is supported by the fact that he
often sketched the heads of old men as St. Jerome. For example, Leonardo
compiled an inventory of his works in 1482 before moving to Milan, in which he
listed ‘certain St. Jeromes’ and ‘many heads of old men.’
In another
development, new evidence has restarted the search for Leonardo’s lost fresco
at Palazzo Vecchio.
A document
in an archive of Medici materials
may provide evidence in the search for Leonardo da Vinci’s fabled long-lost
fresco, the Battle of Anghiari. Dated June 14, 1567, the document
attests to the delivery of 14,000 bricks to Palazzo Vecchio. Art experts
believe that the bricks were ordered by architect Giorgio Vasari and were
likely used to construct a wall to protect the fresco. Leonardo’s work is
believed to be behind the fresco painted by Vasari in the Salone dei Cinquecento.
The search
for Leonardo’s fabled Battle of Anghiari has been at a stand-still for
months, but this recent discovery has opened a new phase of investigation. In
June 2009, work will begin again, funded by the state and a group of private organizations.
Local artist Antonio De Vito
will showcase a replica of the Leonardo’s fresco at the upcoming Mostra
dell’Artigianato in Florence, which opens April 25. Visitors can watch De Vito
work using the same techniques and tools that were used in fresco painting during
the Renaissance. To catch De Vito in action, see www.mostraartigianato.it.
Recommended reading: Finding Leonardo. The case for recovering the
battle of Anghiari by Rab Hatfield. Published by The Florentine Press, 2007.
