Renaissance Electrotype Medal of Bertoldo di Giovanni

Bertoldo di Giovanni (after 1420, in

Poggio a Caiano Poggio a Caiano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Prato, Tuscany region Italy. The town, birthplace of Philip Mazzei, lies south of the provincial capital of Prato. Sister towns Poggio a Caiano has two sister cities: * Charlottesvi ...

– 28 December 1491, in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

) was an

Italian Renaissance sculptor Italian Renaissance sculpture was an important part of the art of the Italian Renaissance, in the early stages arguably representing the leading edge. The example of Ancient Roman sculpture hung very heavily over it, both in terms of style and t ...

and medallist.

Life

Bertoldo was a pupil of

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 ...

. He worked in Donatello's workshop for many years, completing Donatello's unfinished works after his death in 1466, for example the bronze pulpit reliefs from the life of Christ in the

Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze The Basilica di San Lorenzo (Basilica of St. Lawrence) is one of the largest churches of Florence, Italy, situated at the centre of the main market district of the city, and it is the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici famil ...

in Florence. Bertoldo later became head and teacher of the informal academy for painters and in particular for sculptors, which

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

had founded in his garden. At the same time, Bertoldo was the custodian of the Roman antiquities there. Though Bertoldo was not a major sculptor, some of the most significant sculptors of their time attended this school, such as

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

Baccio da Montelupo Baccio da Montelupo (1469–1523(?)), born Bartolomeo di Giovanni d'Astore dei Sinibaldi, was a sculptor of the Italian Renaissance. He is the father of another Italian sculptor, Raffaello da Montelupo. Both father and son are profiled in ...

, Giovanni Francesco Rustici and

Jacopo Sansovino Jacopo d'Antonio Sansovino (2 July 1486 – 27 November 1570) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, best known for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. These are crucial works in the history of Venetian Renaissance archi ...

Works

Di Giovanni was the sculptor of a medal of

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Mohammed II (see image). Di Giovanni along with a number of collaborators created the "

Frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

for the

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

of the

Medici Villa The Medici villas are a series of rural building complexes in Tuscany which were owned by members of the Medici family between the 15th century and the 17th century. The villas served several functions: they were the country palaces of the Medic ...

. He is the author of several medals that were formerly attributed by error to

Antonio del Pollaiuolo Antonio del Pollaiuolo ( , , ; 17 January 1429/14334 February 1498), also known as Antonio di Jacopo Pollaiuolo or Antonio Pollaiuolo (also spelled Pollaiolo), was an Italian painter, sculptor, engraver, and goldsmith during the Italian Rena ...

.Forrer, L. ''Biographical Dictionary of Medallists'', Volume I, London 1904, p. 176–78.

References

External links

''Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle''
exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Bertoldo di Giovanni (see index)
European sculpture and metalwork
a collection catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Bertoldo di Giovanni (see index) *''Bertoldo di Giovanni: The Renaissance of Sculpture in Medici Florence'', an exhibition at the

Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...

and accompanying catalogu

15th-century births 1491 deaths People from the Province of Florence Renaissance sculptors Italian medallists Year of birth uncertain 15th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Italian Renaissance sculptors {{Italy-sculptor-stub