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Lot Essay
This highly sensitive yet powerful bust is attributable, on the basis of style, to the Florentine renaissance sculptor Andrea di Piero (di Marco) Ferrucci (da Fiesole), generally known as Andrea di Piero Ferrucci. It is clear that this bust, with its idiosyncratic and elaborately carved hair, deeply set eyes with a fixed gaze, strong nose and narrow parted lips, represents an amalgamation of stylistic elements from both Donatello and Michelangelo. One need only consider the closeness between this bust and the former's St George, now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, or the latter's David in the Accademia di belle Arti, Florence, to see the stylistic debt that Ferrucci owed. Nevertheless, this bust is still firmly rooted in an individual style that is unquestionably Ferrucci's own.
This is most evident when comparing the present bust to other known works such as the figures of SS John the Baptist and John the Evangelist from his tomb of Giovan Battista Cicaro in the church of Santi Severino and Sossio, Naples (Naldi, op. cit., p. 108, fig. 97). With both figures one can see a similar treatment to the thick locks of hair that terminate in pointed peaks and the same fixed and enigmatic expression. These same elements recur on his figure of Saint Andrew in the Duomo, Florence (ibid., p. 229, fig. 255) where the head of St Andrew bears an uncanny resemblance to the youth offered here. Perhaps the most relevant comparisons can be seen in the tall squared forehead, the horizontal brow with delicately indicated eyebrows, the long straight prominent nose with flared nostrils and the large deep-set almond-shaped eyes with deeply drilled pupils and irises.
It appears that Ferrucci spent much of his career in the employ of the Church and was principally in the service of the Opera del Duomo, Florence. Given the scale, intimacy and idealised nature of this portrait, it is unlikely that the present work was commissioned there. It is more likely that Ferrucci carved this handsome bust as an individual work of art and for the pleasure of a private patron.
This is most evident when comparing the present bust to other known works such as the figures of SS John the Baptist and John the Evangelist from his tomb of Giovan Battista Cicaro in the church of Santi Severino and Sossio, Naples (Naldi, op. cit., p. 108, fig. 97). With both figures one can see a similar treatment to the thick locks of hair that terminate in pointed peaks and the same fixed and enigmatic expression. These same elements recur on his figure of Saint Andrew in the Duomo, Florence (ibid., p. 229, fig. 255) where the head of St Andrew bears an uncanny resemblance to the youth offered here. Perhaps the most relevant comparisons can be seen in the tall squared forehead, the horizontal brow with delicately indicated eyebrows, the long straight prominent nose with flared nostrils and the large deep-set almond-shaped eyes with deeply drilled pupils and irises.
It appears that Ferrucci spent much of his career in the employ of the Church and was principally in the service of the Opera del Duomo, Florence. Given the scale, intimacy and idealised nature of this portrait, it is unlikely that the present work was commissioned there. It is more likely that Ferrucci carved this handsome bust as an individual work of art and for the pleasure of a private patron.