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Bust

ca. 1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Bastianini, Giovanni (sculptor)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

This is a terracotta bust of a lady made by Giovanni Bastianini in Florence in about 1860. This bust was thought to be a copy of a polychrome wooden bust now in the Louvre ascribed to Desiderio da Settignano. However, the bust in the Louvre is itself probably a forgery by Bastianini and the present bust may well have been the model for it.


Object details

Category
Sculpture
Object type
Bust
Materials and techniques
Terracotta
Terracotta
Modelling
Brief description
Terracotta bust of a lady, Florentine, ca. 1860.
Physical description
Bust in terracotta. Looking straight forward, her hair bound with a scarf which is looped at the sides; wearing a high-waisted brocade gown, with V-shaped neck and puffed sleeves.
Dimensions
  • Height: 46.5cm
Subject depicted
Female
Summary
This is a terracotta bust of a lady made by Giovanni Bastianini in Florence in about 1860. This bust was thought to be a copy of a polychrome wooden bust now in the Louvre ascribed to Desiderio da Settignano. However, the bust in the Louvre is itself probably a forgery by Bastianini and the present bust may well have been the model for it.
Bibliographic references
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. The forging of Italian Renaissance Sculpture. Apollo. 99, 1974. p. 260.
  • Schuyler, Jane. Florentine Busts: Sculpted Portraiture in the Fifteenth Century. New York: Garland Pub., London, 1976. pp. 217-218. fig. 109.
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: HMSO, 1964. cat. no. 730. fig. no. 720.
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. London, 1932. p. 169.
  • Bormand, Marc, Strozzi, Beatrice Paolozzi and Nicholas Penny, eds. [Exhibition catalogue] Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. Catalogue of exhibition held Musée du Louvre, Paris, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence and National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2007. p. 156.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.9-1916

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Record createdFebruary 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O192365/bust-bastianini-giovanni/
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