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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

Ranieri Tommasi

Sculpture
1801 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This fine terracotta bust, about half life-size (h. 27 cm.) portrays Ranieri Tommasi, a member of an aristocratic family of Cortona in Central Italy. The sitter is shown looking forward, with an alert facial expression, clean-shaven, slightly curly hair and side-burns, with the suggestion of a toga around his shoulders. The bust is truncated as a herm, which is inscribed in Greek lettering on the front with the sitter’s name. On the right side is the artist’s signature and date: ‘M. VAN-LINT/ F.A. 1801’. The naturalism of the sculpture is balanced by its classical restraint and overall form. The working of the surface of the terracotta is evident, for instance in the rendering of the incised pupils of the eyes, and the suggestion of lines on the forehead. The Adam’s apple on the throat is visible, and the hair is naturalistically modelled, while at the same time the bare chest and hint of drapery recall antique forms. Similarly, the use of ancient Greek for the inscription of the name reminds us of the sitter’s classical inclinations.
Tommasi evidently formed part of an enlightened group of individuals in Cortona. An earlier member of his family of the same name belonged to the Accademia Etrusca, a learned society, established there in 1727. Michele Enrico van Lint (b. Rome 1767- d. after 1814) came from a dynasty of artists originally heralding from Antwerp; his father was a silversmith; Michele himself was born in Rome, where he lived until 1792. Thereafter he was based in Tuscany, active in both Cortona and Pisa. The style of this piece is a confluence of the eighteenth-century tradition of terracotta sculpture in Flanders, while the neo-classical handling of the material seen in the work of the French artist Joseph Chinard, or van Lint’s contemporary in Rome, Antonio Canova.



Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleRanieri Tommasi (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Modelled terracotta.
Brief description
Bust, terracotta, of Ranieri Tommasi, by Michele Enrico van Lint (Italian),1801
Physical description
The sitter is shown looking forward, with an alert facial expression, clean-shaven, slightly curly hair and side-burns, with the suggestion of a toga around his shoulders. The bust is truncated as a herm, which is inscribed in Greek lettering on the front with the sitter’s name. On the right side is the artist’s signature and date: ‘M. VAN-LINT/ F.A. 1801’.
Dimensions
  • Height: 27cm (Note: Dimensions taken from Lullo Pampoulides' catalogue. )
Credit line
Purchased with the generous help of David and Sarah Kowitz
Association
Summary
This fine terracotta bust, about half life-size (h. 27 cm.) portrays Ranieri Tommasi, a member of an aristocratic family of Cortona in Central Italy. The sitter is shown looking forward, with an alert facial expression, clean-shaven, slightly curly hair and side-burns, with the suggestion of a toga around his shoulders. The bust is truncated as a herm, which is inscribed in Greek lettering on the front with the sitter’s name. On the right side is the artist’s signature and date: ‘M. VAN-LINT/ F.A. 1801’. The naturalism of the sculpture is balanced by its classical restraint and overall form. The working of the surface of the terracotta is evident, for instance in the rendering of the incised pupils of the eyes, and the suggestion of lines on the forehead. The Adam’s apple on the throat is visible, and the hair is naturalistically modelled, while at the same time the bare chest and hint of drapery recall antique forms. Similarly, the use of ancient Greek for the inscription of the name reminds us of the sitter’s classical inclinations.
Tommasi evidently formed part of an enlightened group of individuals in Cortona. An earlier member of his family of the same name belonged to the Accademia Etrusca, a learned society, established there in 1727. Michele Enrico van Lint (b. Rome 1767- d. after 1814) came from a dynasty of artists originally heralding from Antwerp; his father was a silversmith; Michele himself was born in Rome, where he lived until 1792. Thereafter he was based in Tuscany, active in both Cortona and Pisa. The style of this piece is a confluence of the eighteenth-century tradition of terracotta sculpture in Flanders, while the neo-classical handling of the material seen in the work of the French artist Joseph Chinard, or van Lint’s contemporary in Rome, Antonio Canova.

Collection
Accession number
A.1-2017

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Record createdJuly 15, 2016
Record URL
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