Model for the funerary monument to Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri thumbnail 1
Model for the funerary monument to Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Model for the funerary monument to Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri

Model
ca. 1476 (made)
Artist/Maker
Verrocchio, Andrea Del (maker)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

In 1476 the commune of Pistoia commissioned the Florentine sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) to make a marble monument for Pistoia Cathedral. It was to commemorate Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri (1419-1473). This terracotta is probably the documented model that formed the basis for the commission.

The terracotta shows the figure of Christ in a mandorla (an almond shape) supported by four flying angels. Beneath is a figure representing Charity. Below Faith holds a chalice. She moves towards the Cardinal, who is shown kneeling on a sarcophagus, with the figure of Hope to the right. The lower part has been repaired. There are areas of pigmented stucco (such as the heads of Hope and the Cardinal) and red wax (including the Cardinal’s hands).

The upper part of the existing marble monument in Pistoia Cathedral varies in detail from the model. Verrocchio worked with his assistants on the monument but did not complete it before he left for Venice in 1483. It was not erected until 1514, long after his death. In 1753 it was moved and modified. At this time a bust replaced the figure of the kneeling cardinal, which is now in the Museo Civico, Pistoia. Terracotta models of this early date are extremely rare. Terracotta models are known as bozzetti in Italian.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Christianity
Religion
Object type
Model
TitleModel for the funerary monument to Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Terracotta
Terracotta
Brief description
Sketch model for the monument in Pistoia of Cardinal Niccolò Forteguerri, terracotta, by Andrea del Verrocchio, Italy, 1476
Physical description
Terracotta model for a marble monument. Design shows the kneeling Cardinal Niccoló Forteguerri surrounded by the virtues Faith, Hope, Charity, with Christ above in a mandorla supported by four angels.
Dimensions
  • Height: 44.6cm
  • Width: 31.8cm
  • Depth: 8.5cm
  • Weight: 6.12kg
  • Depth: 9cm
  • Width: 31.5cm
  • Height: 44.8cm (Mount)
  • Width: 31cm (Mount)
  • Depth: 22.5cm (Mount (approximate))
  • Depth: 3.3cm (Lip of mount)
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
(2008)
SKETCH-MODEL for the monument of Cardinal Niccoló Forteguerri
1476
Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-88)

This was the winning sketch-model for a competition for a marble monument in Pistoia Cathedral. Verrocchio's free handling of the clay is masterful, with some areas sketchy and others more precisely worked. The innovative design shows the kneeling cardinal surrounded by the virtues Faith, Hope, Charity, with Christ above in a mandorla supported by four angels.

Italy, Florence
Terracotta
Museum no. 7599-1861
Object history
Sketch model for the monument of Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri. The monument was commissioned from Verrocchio by the commune of Pistoia in 1476 and the present model was probably prepared that time. Verrocchio's free handling of the clay is masterful, with some areas sketchy and others more precisely worked.
Subjects depicted
Faith
Charity
Hope
Angel
Figures
Nimbus
Foteguerri, Niccolo (Cardinal)
Jesus Christ
God
Summary
In 1476 the commune of Pistoia commissioned the Florentine sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) to make a marble monument for Pistoia Cathedral. It was to commemorate Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri (1419-1473). This terracotta is probably the documented model that formed the basis for the commission.

The terracotta shows the figure of Christ in a mandorla (an almond shape) supported by four flying angels. Beneath is a figure representing Charity. Below Faith holds a chalice. She moves towards the Cardinal, who is shown kneeling on a sarcophagus, with the figure of Hope to the right. The lower part has been repaired. There are areas of pigmented stucco (such as the heads of Hope and the Cardinal) and red wax (including the Cardinal’s hands).

The upper part of the existing marble monument in Pistoia Cathedral varies in detail from the model. Verrocchio worked with his assistants on the monument but did not complete it before he left for Venice in 1483. It was not erected until 1514, long after his death. In 1753 it was moved and modified. At this time a bust replaced the figure of the kneeling cardinal, which is now in the Museo Civico, Pistoia. Terracotta models of this early date are extremely rare. Terracotta models are known as bozzetti in Italian.
Bibliographic references
  • Williamson, Paul, ed. European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. 191p., ill. ISBN 1851771883.
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, pp. 58, 59
  • 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. 29
  • Seymour, Jr., Charles. The Sculpture of Verrocchio. London, 1971, p. 164
  • Passavant, G. Verrocchio, Sculptures, Paintings and Drawings, Coplete Edition. London, 1969, pp. 8, 24-26, 28, 36, 39, 57, 178-180, 184, cat. no. 9, pl. 40
  • Seymour Jr., Charles Sculpture in Italy 1400-1500 Pelican History of Art, Harmondsworth 1966. pp. 176-77, 246, note 14
  • Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 102
  • 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, pp. 164-166
  • Poeschke, J. Die Skulptur der Renaissance in Italien, Band I. Donatello und seine Zeit, (Munich, 1990), pp. 33, 190, fig. 88
  • Avery, Charles. Florentine Renaissance Sculpture. New York, 1970. p. 141, pl 109
  • Avery, Charles. Fingerprints of the artist. European Terra-Cotta from the Artur M. Sackler Collection. Exh. Cat, Washington, 1981, pp. 18-19
  • Bückling, Maraike. 'Bozzetti, Modelle und Musterfiguren. Der Entwurfsprozess von Skulpturen bei Verrocchio'. In: Beck, H.; Bückling, M. and Lein, E., eds. Die Christus-Thomas-Gruppe von Andrea del Verrocchio. Frankfurt, 1996, pp. 219-232: p. 221, fig. 117
  • Wittkower, R. Sculpture. Process and Principles . London, 1977, p. 89, fig 6 and pp. 89-90
  • Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 39, pl. 59
  • Bormand, Marc; Paolozzi Strozzi, Beatrice; Penny, Nicolas. Desiderio da Settignano. Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. Exhibiton Catalogue, Musée du Louvre, Paris; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence; National Art Gallery, Washington, 2007, p. 83, fig 54
  • Carl, Doris. Benedetto da Maiano. A Florentine Sculptor at the Threshold of the High Renaissance. Regensburg, 2006, pp. 86, 87 - n. 121, 320, fig. 30
  • Boucher, Bruce, (ed.), Earth and Fire, Italian Sculpture from Donatello to Canova New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2001
  • Rubin, Particia Lee and Wright, Alison, Renaissance Florence: The Art of the 1470s, London : National Gallery Publications Ltd, 1999 no.13
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
7599-1861

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Record createdNovember 18, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70273/model-for-the-funerary-monument-model-verrocchio-andrea-del/
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