Benedetto da Maiano (1442 – May 24, 1497) was an Italian Early Renaissance sculptor.

Biography

Born in the village of

Maiano Maiano is small hilltop locality, now part of Fiesole, in Tuscany. The Chiesa di San Martino was founded there in the eleventh century and subsequently restored in the fifteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. A '' palagio'' existed at Ma ...

(now part of

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Sin ...

), he started his career as companion of his brother, the architect

Giuliano da Maiano Giuliano da Maiano (1432–1490) was an Italian architect, intarsia-worker, and sculptor, the elder brother of Benedetto da Maiano, with whom he often collaborated. Biography He was born in the village of Maiano, near Fiesole, where his fathe ...

. When he reached the age of thirty he started training under the sculptor

Antonio Rossellino Antonio Gamberelli (1427–1479), Janson, H.W. (1995) ''History of Art''. 5th edn. Revised and expanded by Anthony F. Janson. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 465. nicknamed Antonio Rossellino for the colour of his hair, was an Italian Renaissance ...

. There he learned to work with marble and eventually became more famous than Rossellino and one of the most important sculptors of the 15th century. During his early life he specialised in wood-mosaic, with the Studiolo of Federico da Montefeltro and other works. King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary invited him to his court, and it is said that the destruction on the journey of some inlay work he was taking to his royal patron made him decide to seek more durable material. His early attributed works include a shrine dedicated to San Savino for the cathedral of Faenza. Although he was more prolific in sculpting religious subjects, he also carved some portraits of important Florentines; for instance, in 1474, the bust of Pietro Mellini in the

Bargello The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People), was a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. Terminology The word ''bargello'' appears ...

. In 1475, he worked with his brother Giuliano on the Collegiata church in San Gimignano. Benedetto's most important contribution was the carved altar in the chapel of Santa Fina. In 1480, he made the framework of the doorway of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The marble pulpit in the Santa Croce in Florence is considered his masterpiece. On the pulpit are scenes from the life of

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

. Also in 1480, with his brother Giuliano, he built and made the sculptures for the little oratory of the Madonna dell'Olivo, outside Prato. The adolescent ''St. John'' of the Bargello is ascribed to the year 1481. In 1489 Benedetto designed the Strozzi Palace in Florence which still stands (continued by Cronaca). It is believed he went to

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 ...

in 1490, and there finished the works begun by Rossellino in the Sant'Anna church. He also executed various sculptures in Naples, among them an Annunciation at the church of Monte Oliveto. As an architect, he created the tomb of Filippo Strozzi, with its

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of diff ...

of Mother and Child supported by cherubs in the church of

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...

in Florence, and the portico of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Arezzo. He died in Florence at the age of 55.

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Sources

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 Benedetto da Maiano (see index)
''The Gubbio Studiolo and its conservation, volumes 1 & 2''
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Benedetto da Maiano (see index) *Carl Brandon Strehlke, �
''Putto Carrying a Festoon'' by Benedetto da Maino (cat. 1133)
” in
The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works
', a Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication {{DEFAULTSORT:Maiano, Benedetto Da 1442 births 1497 deaths People from Fiesole 15th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Renaissance sculptors Catholic sculptors

Biography

See also

Notes

Sources

External links