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Italian Master Sculptors
of the Renaissance
Title: Massacre of the Innocents,
Italian (Milan), Renaissance, about 1520
Artist: Giovanni Angelo del Maino (Italian, about 1475–about 1525)
Medium: Wood 42.563
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
H. E. Bolles Fund
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Donatello to Giambologna
Italian Renaissance Sculpture
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
January 24 - July 8, 2007
Donatello. Giambologna. The names almost immediately conjure images of exquisite sculpture from the Italian Renaissance period. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has organized
an extensive exhibit to show a collection of nearly 100 renaissance sculptures, many of which have never been on view to the public.
Donatello
Title: Madonna of the Clouds
Italian (Florence), Renaissance, about 1425–35
Artist: Donatello (Italian ca. 1386-1466)
Medium: Stone; Marble 17.1470
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr. and
Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Photograph ©: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pre-dating Michelangelo, the greatest Italian Renaissance sculptor, was Donato di Niccolo, more commonly known as Donatello. Early in his career
Dontello worked with the great Ghiberti. Dontello's style radically differed from Ghiberti's favored Gothic influences, preferring an emotional
impact within his sculptures. Donatello is considered to be the greatest European sculptor of the 1400s.
Giambologna
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Title: Architecture,
Italian (Florence), Reniassance, about 1600
Artist: Jean Boulogne called Giambologna (Flemish (worked in Italy 1529-1608)
Medium: Bronze; Marble Base 40.23
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Maria Antoinette Evans Fund and 1931 Purchase Fund
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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Born in Douai, which is now part of France but then part of Flanders, Jean Boulogne
traveled to Italy to study his craft.
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While there he met Michelangelo in 1550. His
plans were to return to Flanders but a visit to Florence changed his mind. He settled in that city
and kept it as his home base for the rest of his life .
He became known as Giovanni Bologna. The latter
part of his name is for the city that is home to his best know sculpture the Fountain of Neptune. Among his patrons were the Medicis of Florence.
Ferdinando Tacca
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Pietro Tacca was the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. Like father like son, upon the death of his father Pietro, Ferdinando Tacca took his job as the main sculptor to Ferdinand II, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
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Title: Rape of a Sabine Woman,
View: Front
Italian (Florence), mid-17th century
Probably by: Ferdinando Tacca (Italian, 1619–1686)
After: Giambologna (Jean Boulogne) (Flemish (worked in Italy), 1529–1608)
Medium: Metal; Bronze 1993.49
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Bequest of William A. Coolidge
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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Tacca produced a design for the first theater in Tuscany for another Medici patron,
Cardinal Giovanni Carlo.
L'Antico
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Title: Bust of Cleopatra
Italian (Mantua), Renaissance, about 1519–22
Artist: Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi called L'Antico (Italian, about 1460–1528)
Medium: Metal; Bronze, with traces of Gilding
64.2174
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
William Francis Warden Fund
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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L'Antico as Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi was known was a sculptor, medalist and goldsmith.
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His smaller bronze sculptures often found inspiration
from well-known classical works earning his his sobriquet. He worked mainly in his home town of Mantua and his patrons were the Gonzaga family. L'Antico
was known for his incredible attention to the most obscure detail of his bronze and their sleek clean lines. He is believed to be the first sculptor
to realize the importance of preserving the wax original of his work to allow for recasts or replicas of the work.
Rustici
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Born into a noble Florence family Giovanni Francesco Rustici used his private income to allow him to study from the vast sculpture holdings in the Medici gardens.
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Title: Saint John the Baptist
View: Front
Italian (Florence), about 1510 to 1520
Attributed to: Giovanni Francesco Rustici (Italian, Florentine, 1474–1554)
Medium: Glazed Terracotta 50.2624
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Gift of Mrs. Solomon R. Guggenheim
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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Artists traditionally studied the masters, and sketched from them to learn their craft in Renaissance Italy.
While working on a public commission for the Bapistry in Florence his roommate was Leonardo
da Vinci.
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Title: Corpus,
View: Overall, front
Italian (Florence), Renaissance, about 1600–10
Attributed to: Jean Boulogne called Giambologna (Flemish (worked in Italy 1529-1608)
Medium: Silver 1982.210
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund and
Gift of Randolph J. Fuller
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image Courtesy: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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One of the many intriguing aspects of the exhibition is its focus on the
important process of conservation.
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Works will be shown in various stages of
restoration as part of the exhibit Donatello to Giambologna:
Italian Renaissance Sculpture.
Donatello to Giambologna
Italian Renaissance Sculpture
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:
January 24 - July 8, 2007
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