A Member of the Capponi family; A Man; An Old Man
- Object:
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Medieval and Renaissance, room 64, case WN, shelf ABOVE
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The man might be Niccolò di Giovanni Capponi (1416–91), a leading figure in the Florentine government and army. His descendents were said to have displayed the bust in their library, along with other family portrait busts. It is based on a death mask, made by laying plaster over the face of the deceased to create a mould.
The sitter wears a cappuccio, an elaborate headdress that was commonly worn by Florentines in the 15th century. The possible man represented in the bust, Niccolo di Giovanni Capponi (1416-91) was gonfaloniere di giustizia (magistrate and captain of troops responsible for city magistrates' defence) in 1464.
Physical description
Bust of a member of the Capponi family, terracotta. The bust, which is cut off above the elbows and through the chest, shows a clean-shaven old man. He wears a high-necked gown and a chaperon with lappets. He is a member of the Capponi family.
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (made)
Date
ca. 1500 (carved)
Artist/maker
unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 53 cm, Width: 53 cm, Depth: 30.5 cm
Object history note
When in the Gigli-Campana collection, from which it was purchased, the bust was regarded as a member of the Capponi family, because it had been one of a number of ancestor busts decorating the library of the Capponi house near San Frediano. The bust is a characteristic example of a portrait cast from a death mask. The sitter wears a cappuccio, an elaborate headdress that was commonly worn by Florentines in the 15th century. The bust may represent Niccolo di Giovanni Capponi (1416-91), who was gonfaloniere di giustizia (magistrate and captain of troops responsible for city magistrates' defence) in 1464.
Descriptive line
Bust of a member of the Capponi family, terracotta, Italy (Florence), ca. 1500
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 3
Schuyler, Jane. Florentine Busts: Sculpted Portraiture in the Fifteenth Century. New York, London, 1976, pp. 139-140, fig. 75
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 91
Arnoldi, Franceso Negri, 'Scultura Italiana al Victoria and Albert Museum I&II. In: Commentari, anno XXI, June-July 1970. Fascicoli, pp. 213-214
Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 210, 211
Materials
Terracotta
Subjects depicted
Men; Capponi, Niccolo di Giovanni
Categories
Portraits; Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
