The terracotta bust of a young ‘Deacon saint’ in the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo in Florence – believed to be by Donatello from the 18th century until 1957-1958, and then almost unanimously attributed to the later activity of Desiderio da Settignano (ca. 1455-1460) – has always posed, and still does, an iconographical dilemma. It is in fact not immediately recognizable either as a ‘Saint Lawrence’ (i.e. the traditional identification, with which it certainly deserved to be received in the Old Sacristy at the beginning of the 16th century at the latest), or as a ‘Saint Leonard’ (an alternative mentioned in some of the Sacristy’s old inventories and reproposed by canon Domenico Moreni in 1817), but rather as the portrait of a man of Church contemporary to the sculptor. In 1462 Desiderio was paid for a “head” of Prince James of Portugal, cardinal deacon of Sant’Eustachio, who had died in Florence in 1459 at the age of twenty-five and was buried in the celebrated chapel named after him in the basilica of San Miniato al Monte. The payment of two “fiorini larghi” made to the sculptor corresponds to the value that in 1459 had been assigned to a lost terracotta bust of the ‘Redeemer’ by his hand. This paper shows that the “head” of James of Portugal has all the requisites for being the bust of the Old Sacristy, easily becoming a ‘Saint Lawrence’ on its entry into that church, which has thus conserved it as such until present times.

Il busto fittile di un giovane ‘Santo diacono’ nella Sagrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo a Firenze, creduto di Donatello dal Settecento fino al 1957-1958, e poi restituito pressoché unanimemente all’attività matura di Desiderio da Settignano (1455 circa - 1460), ha posto e pone tuttora un dilemma iconografico. Non è infatti immediatamente riconoscibile né come ‘San Lorenzo’ (cioè l’identificazione tradizionale, con la quale di certo meritò di essere accolto nella Sagrestia Vecchia al più tardi all’inizio del Cinquecento), né come ‘San Leonardo’ (un’alternativa posta da alcuni antichi inventari della Sagrestia, e rilanciata dal canonico Domenico Moreni nel 1817), ma piuttosto come il ritratto di un uomo di Chiesa contemporaneo dello scultore. Nel 1462 Desiderio fu pagato per una “testa” del principe Giacomo del Portogallo, cardinale diacono di Sant’Eustachio, morto a Firenze nel 1459 a venticinque anni, e sepolto nella celebre cappella che da lui prende il nome nella basilica di San Miniato al Monte: e il compenso di due fiorini larghi dato allo scultore corrisponde al valore che era stato assegnato nel 1459 a un suo perduto busto del Salvatore in terracotta. Questo contributo mostra che la “testa” di Giacomo del Portogallo ha tutti i requisiti per essere il busto della Sagrestia Vecchia, divenuto facilmente un ‘San Lorenzo’ al suo entrare in quella sede, che l’ha dunque preservato come tale fino ai nostri giorni.

Desiderio da Settignano ritrattista: “una testa del Chardinale di Portoghallo”, ovvero il ‘San Lorenzo’ nella Sagrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo a Firenze

Caglioti, Francesco
2021

Abstract

The terracotta bust of a young ‘Deacon saint’ in the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo in Florence – believed to be by Donatello from the 18th century until 1957-1958, and then almost unanimously attributed to the later activity of Desiderio da Settignano (ca. 1455-1460) – has always posed, and still does, an iconographical dilemma. It is in fact not immediately recognizable either as a ‘Saint Lawrence’ (i.e. the traditional identification, with which it certainly deserved to be received in the Old Sacristy at the beginning of the 16th century at the latest), or as a ‘Saint Leonard’ (an alternative mentioned in some of the Sacristy’s old inventories and reproposed by canon Domenico Moreni in 1817), but rather as the portrait of a man of Church contemporary to the sculptor. In 1462 Desiderio was paid for a “head” of Prince James of Portugal, cardinal deacon of Sant’Eustachio, who had died in Florence in 1459 at the age of twenty-five and was buried in the celebrated chapel named after him in the basilica of San Miniato al Monte. The payment of two “fiorini larghi” made to the sculptor corresponds to the value that in 1459 had been assigned to a lost terracotta bust of the ‘Redeemer’ by his hand. This paper shows that the “head” of James of Portugal has all the requisites for being the bust of the Old Sacristy, easily becoming a ‘Saint Lawrence’ on its entry into that church, which has thus conserved it as such until present times.
2021
Settore L-ART/01 - Storia dell'Arte Medievale
Settore L-ART/02 - Storia dell'Arte Moderna
Settore L-ART/04 - Museologia e Critica Artistica e del Restauro
Scultura italiana del Rinascimento; Firenze; Desiderio da Settignano; Donatello; ritrattistica; Giacomo cardinale del Portogallo
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11384/113724
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