The Tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci (or Brancaccio) is a sculptural work in the church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, southern Italy, executed by

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...

and

Michelozzo Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (1396 – 7 October 1472) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici architect who was extensively empl ...

around 1426-1428. Built in marble, partly gilt and polychrome, it has a height of 11.60 meters and a width of 4.60.

History

The work was produced during the partnership of Donatello and Michelozzo, which lasted from 1425 until the late 1430s. It was commissioned when Brancacci was still alive: a letter to him of 5 June 1427 mentions the work as completed for some one quarter. In 1426 the two rented a workshop in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, from where the pieces of the tomb could be more easily shipped to Naples by sea; the city was also nearer to the marble quarries of

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

. Assistants, including perhaps

Pagno di Lapo Portigiani Pagno di Lapo Portigiani (1408 — 1470) was an Italian Renaissance decorative sculptor, a minor follower of Donatello who worked on numerous occasions in projects designed and supervised by Michelozzo. Biography Pagno di Lapo was born at Fiesol ...

, collaborated to the work, which was completed and sent to its destination in 1428.

Description

The work is based on a socle from which two composite columns start. They support a round arch with side

pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

s decorated by chamfered pilasters and tondo reliefs. At the top is the cusp, in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

with, at the centre, a relief tondo of "Christ Redeemer" and two statues of puttos with trumpets (an allusion to the biblical

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

and the resurrection of the dead). The tomb itself is enclosed in the architectural frame, supported by three

caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

s. The sarcophagus' front has two coat of arms at the sides, and a

stiacciato Stiacciato is a technique that allows a sculptor to create a recessed or relief sculpture with carving only millimetres deep and with mere scribing. To give the illusion of greater depth, the thickness of the carving gradually decreases from the f ...

relief of the "Assumption of the Virgin" executed by Donatello. Above it is the lying portrait of the cardinal and two angels who are opening a stone drapery hanging from the arch. Behind them is a

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

with a bas-relief of the "Madonna between Two Saints".

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brancacci Naples Sculptures by Donatello 1428 works Monuments and memorials in Naples

History

Description

See also

Sources