Niccolo Sirigatti thumbnail 1
Niccolo Sirigatti thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery

Niccolo Sirigatti

Bust
1576 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Florentine men were known for the relative sobriety of their dress. Here the artist’s father wears a sleeveless overcoat atop his coat. The brocade of the undercoat is a variation of the pomegranite pattern worn by his wife. The delicate whorls on the buttons are meant to indicate that they are made of metal.
In his own day Ridolfo Sirigatti (active ca. 1570-1600) seems to have been regarded as a sculptor of considerable eminence. The son of a rich textile merchant and of Cassandra, daughter of the painter Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Ridolfo continued his father's mercantile activity and brought fame to his family by becoming one of the Knights of Santo Stefano (the order instituted by Grand-Duke Cosimo I de' Medici) in 1581.
This bust is a rare example of Ridolfo Sirigatti's activity as a sculptor. Together with its companion piece, depicting Cassandra Sirigatti (A.13-1961), it shows high technical skill and an unusual and original style in comparison with Florentine contemporary sculpture. The peculiar disposition of the shoulders in both busts, with the right one pulled slightly back from the rest of the figure, and the left pushed slightly forward, shows the artist's intention to give an impression of movement.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleNiccolo Sirigatti (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved marble
Brief description
Bust, marble, of Niccolo Sirigatti, by Ridolfo Sirigatti, Florence, Italy, dated 1576
Physical description
Bust of a man, cut below the chest, on a circular, moulded, pink and brown veined white marble socle. The head is bearded and shown looking to one side, the body clothed in a buttoned jacket and robe.
Dimensions
  • Height: 73.5cm
  • Width: 69.5cm
  • Depth: 48cm
  • Weight: 153kg
  • Width: 71cm
  • Depth: 45cm
  • Weight: 150kg (Note: average maximum weigth)
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'NICOLAVS. SIRIGATTIVS. M D LXXVI' (Inscription between bust and socle)
  • QVEM GENVI RODVLPHVS ANIMI CAVSA CAELAVIT (Inscription on back of bust)
    Translation
    Ridolfo, whom I bore, has carved this as a tribute of love
Gallery label
  • The portrait bust of the sculptor's father, and its pendant, of his mother (A.13-1961, exhibited nearby), are described in the Riposo of Raffaello Borghini (1584). Sirigatti himself is one of the participants in this imaginary dialogue, and was a friend of Giovanni Bologna and the master of Pietro Bernini (father of the famous Gian Lorenzo). The inscription reads: Ridolfo, whom I bore, has carved this as a tribute of love.(December 1995)
Object history
Bought together with A.13-1961, from A. & C. Canessa, Rome, for £1502.

Historical significance: This bust is a rare example of Ridolfo Sirigatti's activity as a sculptor. Together with its companion piece, depicting Cassandra Sirigatti (A.13-1961), it shows high technical skill and an unusual and original style in comparison with Florentine contemporary sculpture. The peculiar disposition of the shoulders in both busts, with the right one pulled slightly back from the rest of the figure, and the left pushed slightly forward, shows the artist's intention to give an impression of movement. The technical virtuosity, visible especially in the draping of the fabric, foreshadows the taste of seventeenth century Roman sculpture. It is possible to identify some elements that would appear in the sculptures by Pietro Bernini, who received his first artistic training from Ridolfo Sirigatti.

It is exceptional in structure, the sitter's right shoulder is retracted and his left shoulder is advanced, while his head is turned slightly to his left, so that the bust has the spiral character of Giambologna's marble groups.
Historical context
In his own day Ridolfo Sirigatti seems to have been regarded as a sculptor of considerable eminence. The son of a rich textile merchant and of Cassandra, daughter of the painter Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Ridolfo continued his father's mercantile activity and brought fame to his family by becoming a Knight of Santo Stefano (the order instituted by Grand-Duke Cosimo I de' Medici) in 1581.
He was also very interested in the arts and practised sculpture. Before the discovery of the present bust and its pendant in 1961, his only documented work was a bust of grand-duke Francesco I in a niche of the façade of the Palazzo dei Cavalieri di Santo Stefano in Pisa (Sirigatti only provided the model for the bust). Ridolfo features as one of the four protagonists in Raffaele Borghini's art treatise Il Riposo (1584), as an art expert and collector. In the dialogue between Sirigatti and the collector Bernardo Vecchietti some works by the former are mentioned. Amongst them is the "marble head of his father done from like which is extremely alike", which can be identified with the present bust.
It is inscribed with the sitter's name and the date on the socle (NICOLAVS SIRIGATTIVS MDLXXVI). On the back there is another inscription, a dedication presenting the bust as a tribute from Sirigatti to his father: QVEM GENVI RODVLPHVS ANIMI CAVSA CAELAVIT (Ridolfo, whom I bore, sculpted this as a tribute of love).
Subjects depicted
Summary
Florentine men were known for the relative sobriety of their dress. Here the artist’s father wears a sleeveless overcoat atop his coat. The brocade of the undercoat is a variation of the pomegranite pattern worn by his wife. The delicate whorls on the buttons are meant to indicate that they are made of metal.
In his own day Ridolfo Sirigatti (active ca. 1570-1600) seems to have been regarded as a sculptor of considerable eminence. The son of a rich textile merchant and of Cassandra, daughter of the painter Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Ridolfo continued his father's mercantile activity and brought fame to his family by becoming one of the Knights of Santo Stefano (the order instituted by Grand-Duke Cosimo I de' Medici) in 1581.
This bust is a rare example of Ridolfo Sirigatti's activity as a sculptor. Together with its companion piece, depicting Cassandra Sirigatti (A.13-1961), it shows high technical skill and an unusual and original style in comparison with Florentine contemporary sculpture. The peculiar disposition of the shoulders in both busts, with the right one pulled slightly back from the rest of the figure, and the left pushed slightly forward, shows the artist's intention to give an impression of movement.
Associated object
A.13-1961 (Set)
Bibliographic references
  • Pope-Hennessy, J. 'Portrait Sculpture by Ridolfo Sirigatti' in V&A Bulletin April 1965, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 33-36.
  • Avery, C. Bernini: Genius of the Baroque London, 1997, p. 33.
  • Falciani, Carlo and Natali, Antonio, eds. The Cinquecento in Florence: 'Modern Manner' and Counter-Reformation, exh. cat., 2017, pp. 170-172.
Collection
Accession number
A.12-1961

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Record createdMarch 3, 2006
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