by Michael Riddick
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In 1944 a sensitively modeled gilt bronze corpus of Christ was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) by the philanthropist Susan Dwight Bliss (cover, Figs. 01, 07).1 The quality of the corpus is remarkable with its thinly cast walls, exquisite gilding and inclusion of a two-piece detachable perizonium cast in silver. The cold-work and finishing suggests a confident, able-hand of remarkable talent. A monogram, LG, is incised beneath the left foot of the corpus, likely the mark of a previous unidentified owner.2
The emaciated Christ is elegant in composure and peaceful in his expiration. Its origin is distinctively Roman in character and its appeal is indebted to the influence of Michelangelo, particularly being related to a nude corpus whose original model has been considered by his hand (Fig. 02).3 However, variations such as the traditional placement of the feet, Christ’s proper right foot atop his left, and the use of a single nail to secure them, distinguishes the present corpus from that associated with Michelangelo. Further distinct is the modeling of the lower ribs and upper diaphragm, portrayed by a severe upward pointing arch rather than a semi-circular arrangement.
Apart from an auction catalog entry discussing a later over-worked solid-cast example of the MET corpus,4 the present sculpture has largely remained undiscussed. However, another cast of equivalent quality and facture secures a terminus ante quem for the sculpture and assists in providing a context for its origin and a possible author based on stylistic grounds.
The Museo diocesano di Mantova (Francesco Gonzaga Museum) has in its collection a Roman altar cross featuring a near exact gilt bronze corpus with removable silver perizonium confidently derived from the same workshop (Fig. 03). The altar cross must date from before 1598 when it was in possession of Pope Clement VIII who donated it to Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga in that year.5 The Duke afterward presented it to the Gonzaga family chapel at the Church of Santa Barbara on 20 April 1599.6
The altar cross is an elaborate production indicative of types found in Rome during the last quarter of the 16th century. It features elegant miniatures inspired by Michelangelo and Raphael and realized in a manner recalling the influence of Giulio Clovio’s final years in Rome. The object is adorned by a variety of tiered flanking bronzes and is beset with various appliques, most notably, the silver cast arms of Pope Clement VIII (Fig. 04), an indication of its presumed patron and suggesting a possible terminus post quem, if assumed the altar cross was conceived during his tenure as Pope, beginning 2 February 1592.
With Clement VIII as probable patron of the altar cross a natural candidate for its realization is Sebastiano Torrigiani whose workshop along Borgo Pio was, according to Emmanuel Lamouche, “the most important in Rome for the production of precious bronze and silver objects.”7 Torrigiani’s service under Clement VIII included other important projects like casting the circular bronze gate above the grottoes of St. Peter’s Basilica and the colossal gilt bronze globe for the lantern of its dome.8 Torrigiani is also credited as the author of a bronze bust of the Pope realized in 1593. Most noteworthy, however, is Clement VIII’s assignment of Torrigiani as Head of the Papal Foundry in 1591, a post he held until his death on 5 September 1596.9
The varied quality of the statuettes and appliques on Clement VIII’s altar cross suggest various authors active in a localized workshop responsible for its production.10 However, the highlight of the altar is its corpus, noteworthy for its superior quality and excellence in modeling and indicative of a qualified master like Torrigiani.
Further qualifying Torrigiani as a possible author of the MET corpus is his specialized experience with the preparation and casting of crucifixes, a skill he developed during the 1570s while active as an assistant and collaborator in the workshop of Guglielmo della Porta,11 whose workshop he later inherited after Guglielmo’s death in 1577.12
Torrigiani continued producing crucifixes in his workshop, noted in a testimony by his pupil, Baldo Vazzano, who stated: “Bastiano had crucifixes and models to make crucifixes.”13 14 Torrigiani’s continued production of crucifixes derived from Guglielmo’s models is observed by examples commissioned from Pope Gregory XIII in 1581 as part of an altar service for San Giacomo Maggiore in Bologna15 and another in 1583, later donated to St. Peter’s Basilica.16
Torrigiani’s casts of Guglielmo’s models diverge from the nervous manner and adroit power of Guglielmo’s original sculptures. Torrigiani redacts the nervous temperament of Guglielmo’s hand with a refined approach more controlled and austere, inflected with crisply idealized facial features recalling classical statuary and a distinct modeling of hair, grooved and spiraling from the crown whilst terminating in intricate curls (Fig. 05).17
The apex of Torrigiani’s sculptural style is most apparent on the near life-size angels he created for the Santa Maria Maggiore tabernacle in Rome (Fig. 06). The angels feature a similar treatment of hair upon the crown-of-the-head and display elegant browlines with smoothed, classicized facial features. In particular, the nostrils are chased into the bronze by a brief hook-like stroke that curves eloquently downward in a sharp point, an apparently distinctive feature in his work.
A unique quality of the MET corpus is its nudity (Fig. 07), almost certainly influenced by the nude corpus associated with Michelangelo (Fig. 02). It is not only an homage to the master but also characterizes a celebration of human anatomy and beauty practiced by him.18
Rome (MET)
The additional unique feature of a removable perizonium, allowing the sculpture to be revered naturally or more conservatively draped, is a certain result of the artistic regulations instituted by Pope Pius V after the year 1566 during the onset of persecuting Counter-Reformists. Its facture is almost certainly a product of Torrigiani’s workshop. For example, a quantity of late 16th century bronze and silver casts of the nude corpus associated with Michelangelo incorporate a removable perizonium and are possibly indebted to an initial production in Torrigiani’s workshop (see Appendix and Fig. 16).
The remarkably complex drapery of the perizonium, conforming to Christ as though saturated, is commensurate with the draperies featured also on Torrigiani’s angels for Santa Maria Maggiore (Fig. 08). Although superficial, the excessive use of a burin to render a continuous punched texture on Christ’s perizonium is a treatment also observed on the clothing of the evangelists, rendered in low-relief for the finials of his two aforementioned altar crosses of 1581 and 1583, informing of a possible preference for his small-scale production of draperies.
A similar treatment of excessive punchwork is likewise observed on the drapery of a gilt and silvered bronze saint whose sticky, yet fluid draperies and classicizing features again compare with Torrigiani’s large-scale angels as well as two large statuettes, frequently associated with Torrigiani, of Saints Peter and Paul in the Treasury of St. Peter’s (Fig. 09).19 The manner in which the curls of the saint’s beard terminate into the fabric of his garment are also comparable with the locks of Christ’s hair terminating along his back on the MET corpus (Fig. 10).
The saint was cataloged as belonging to another of Guglielmo della Porta’s collaborators: Jacob Cornelis Cobaert, drawing upon associations with a group of similar silver saints with gilt drapery that form part of an elaborate altar cross at the Museo Nazionale del Palazzo Venezia in Rome.20 21 However, the less severe mannerist personality of the present saint statuette distances itself from Cobaert’s more firmly attributed works.
The careful craftsmanship of the saint might connect it with an important commission. Documents record five silver apostles Torrigiani completed in 1582 for the Gregorian Chapel in St. Peter’s, considered lost or unidentified.22 Steven Ostrow suggested a group of twelve models of apostles remaining in the workshop of Guglielmo after his death may have inspired the group of silver apostles.23 Unfortunately, the scale of Guglielmo’s apostles is confounding. The earlier 1577 inventory of Guglielmo’s belongings describes them as approximately 22 cm in height,24 whereas they are later described as almost twice that size in his 1578 inventory.25 Nonetheless, also possible is the link between Guglielmo’s apostle models and another lost or unidentified group of bronze apostles executed by Torrigiani and mentioned in his mid-17th century Vite by Giovanni Baglione,26 of which the present saint may be a rare survival. It’s height, approximately 25 cm, is casually notable.
Of additional note concerning the MET corpus is the treatment of Christ’s curling locks of hair which converge along the back-of-the-head in paralleling spirals which reveal an open lenticular shape betwixt them. This idiosyncratic treatment is observable on another enigmatic bronze of late 16th century Roman origin, that of a Siren thought commissioned by the Colonna family (Fig. 11).27 Olga Raggio noted the relationship of the Siren to Taddeo Landini’s bronze youths for the Fontana delle Tartarughe28 while James David Draper loosely connected it with the lions supporting the Vatican obelisk in St. Peter’s Square cast by Ludovico del Duca after models by Propsero Antichi and Francesco da Pietrasanta.29 30 More recently, Fernando Loffredo suggested Camillo Mariani as a possible maker of the Siren.31 Peter Jonathan Bell has also noted a handful of sculptors potentially apt for producing the Siren, inclusive of Torrigiani.32
It is notable the only other Siren comparable in scale and medium is one cast later by Giacomo Laurenziano for the Tomb of Lucrezia Tomacelli, a project designed and overseen by Teodoro della Porta on commission from Lucrezia’s husband, Filippo Colonna, Duke of Paliano.33 As Torrigiani raised Teodoro della Porta, as a step-father, from his teens,34 the MET Siren, if executed by Torrigiani, would have provided ample impetus for his step-son’s inspiration.
The Siren’s tranquil though attentive gaze and classical features again recall the essence of Torrigiani’s angels for Santa Maria Maggiore and may preclude them as a work in large-scale (Fig. 12). A similarly polished expression is also featured on his much smaller-scale stylized and distinctive cherubim adorning the altar service for San Giacomo Maggiore, particularly the protruding chin and eloquently modeled lips (Fig. 13).
Of the corpus, the present author counts a sum of six known casts. The primary model is represented by the MET cast. It must slightly preclude the Clement VIII altar cross example whose features are only subtly reduced with the outcropping of hair upon the forehead being eliminated and featuring an alteration to the hair along Christ’s proper left shoulder. The overall length of the perizonium is also slightly reduced.
A subsequent iteration of the model, derived from the example featured on the altar cross, features a slightly reworked face (Fig. 14). This model must have enjoyed some circulation as an example was apparently acknowledged by El Greco who used it as a model for his Crucifixion of 1597-1600, located at the Museo Nacional del Prado.35 A sketch inaccurately linked with the corpus associated with Michelangelo36 may instead relate to this corpus whose character more accurately matches it with regard to the rendering of the lower ribs and traditional placement of Christ’s feet (Fig. 15).
Three further casts are known: a later bronze cast of the altar cross example featuring an alternatively modeled integrally cast perizonium; a late fragmentary gilt aftercast formerly with Gallarus Arts in NY; and an unconventional gilt solid cast example offered at auction, already mentioned.
If the MET corpus is indeed a late production of Torrigiani we may observe in it the realization of his capability as a noteworthy sculptor. In its genesis he no longer depends upon the model of his former collaborator but leverages such influence to create an image of Christ successfully and uniquely his own.
With thanks to Paola Venturelli and Roberto Brunelli for their kind assistance concerning the Clemente VIII altar cross.
Appendix
The presence of a nude corpus associated with Michelangelo is already noted, though the model certainly dates before 27 January 1574 where it crudely appears integrally cast on a bronze door panel for a tabernacle realized by Jacopo del Duca and developed from designs by Michelangelo. The project began while Michelangelo was alive and Jacopo was serving as his assistant.37 Jacopo inherited the commission which became stalled and delayed yet culminated in its completion in 1574, observed by the aforenoted date inscribed into wax residue applied on the reverse of the bronze door panel featuring a modified example of the corpus model.38
There is reason to believe this nude corpus was familiar to Guglielmo della Porta and his workshop. It appears to have had an impact on the development of his corpora, most apparent in a Christ rendered for a wax Crucifixion scene on slate which survives at the Galleria Borghese in Rome. Subsequent corpora by Guglielmo appear inspired by its fine details, copying verbatim the articulation of veins along Christ’s arms, hands and feet and borrowing from the physiognomy of his back. However, there are evident differences which distinguish the corpus associated with Michelangelo from Guglielmo’s autograph corpora and those known to descend from his workshop. However, considering Guglielmo’s specialization in the casting of crucifixes, it is possible an important model could have entered his studio, as Guglielmo was himself a collector and also an emulator and friend of Michelangelo’s.39 Guglielmo’s assistant and collaborator, Antonio Gentili da Faenza, also claimed to have personally owned models by Michelangelo40 and Michelangelo was not averse to giving his models away as he saw fit, perhaps even with the tacit hope specialists in bronze would preserve them.41
Nonetheless, the possibility of casting a nude bronze corpus in Guglielmo’s studio during the Counter-Reformation era would have required the necessary solution of preserving an important and original model by a master while also remaining conscientious of contemporary eyes viewing it. This would suffice as impetus for the invention of a removable perizonium.
Later casts of the corpus associated with Michelangelo are documented by Francesco Pacheco in Spain, who records polychroming one such cast on 17 January 1600.42 The cast was produced by Juan Bautista Franconio, a silversmith who arrived in Seville from Rome in 1597, bringing with him a bronze cast of a crucifix “made by Michelangelo.”43 Examples of such painted metal corpora reproducing this model survive in the Grand Ducal Palace of Gandia, Cuenca Cathedral and in a private collection. The Gandia and Cuenca examples both feature a removable perizonium and one formerly accompanied the privately held example, now lost. The removable perizonium appears on additional important casts of the corpus throughout Spain, however, the previously cited core examples convincingly connected with Juan Bautista’s facture indicate his familiarity with producing this special accessory.
Unfortunately, there is little known about the silversmith who brought the corpus from Rome to Seville. Judging by his namesake, Juan Bautista Franconio was probably a Nuremberg silversmith who traveled to Rome for training or employment like others of his tradecraft. Given the climate of Rome’s goldsmith scene during the 1590’s Juan Bautista may have become connected with Torrigiani’s prolific workshop. Guglielmo was known to hire foreigners and journeymen in his workshop. It is during Juan Bautista’s time spent in Rome that he may have gained his expertise in the serial making of crucifixes under the employ of a workshop already responsible for their production. Juan Bautista already displays an adequacy in this specialized skill upon his arrival to Spain in 1597. When Torrigiani died in 1596, Juan Bautista, if under his employ, may have decided to leave Rome seeking new work in Spain where Torrigiani’s workshop already had connections. In fact, Torrigiani’s predecessor, Guglielmo, realized his earliest works in Seville.44
Unfortunately, no record has been located that can inform us of Juan Bautista’s activity in Rome, although Juan Riaño’s census of Spanish gold and silversmiths lists Juan Bautista Franconio as still active in Seville in 1630.45
Of note is the feature of the backside of the removable perizonium observed reworked and integrally cast on other corpora emanating from Guglielmo’s workshop (Fig. 16). Its use can be dated from before 1597 on account of a silver cast of a corpus featuring this integral perizonium at the Palazzo Apostolico in Loreto, documented in that year.46 Tradition suggests this corpus may have belonged to a silver altar service donated by the Duchess Joanna of Austria who visited the Palazzo in 1573.47
Other notable examples of corpora with removable perizonium’s include Giambologna’s large nude gilt bronze Christ of about 1590,48 a large silver corpus attributed to Peter Pachmayr, ca. 1660,49 and a unique wooden corpus with removable perizonium by Georg Schweigger, ca. 1600.50
Endnotes
1 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Inv. 44.142.2.
2 Collector and expert, Jean-François (private communication, March 2019) has noted monograms on crucifixes are scarce and to his knowledge, the placement beneath the feet on this corpus is unique. However, he notes complete signatures, rather than monograms, have been inscribed beneath the feet of some crucifixes, namely Georg Petel’s dated and signed ivory of 1621 and the ivory crucifixes of Cruppevolle, active in Dieppe, France during the 18th century.
3 Manuel Gómez-Moreno was first to suggest Michelangelo as the author for the model of this corpus, followed also by John Goldsmith-Phillips and Charles de Tolnay. See Manuel Gómez-Moreno (1930): Obras de Miguel Angel en Espana. Archivo Espanol de Arte y Arqueologia, pp. 189-98 and M. Gómez-Moreno (1933): El Crucifijo de Miguel Angel. Archivo Espanol de Arte y Arqueologia, pp. 81-84; J. Goldsmith Phillips (1937): A Crucifixion group after Michelangelo. The Art Bulletin, vol. 79, no. 4, pp. 647-68; and Charles de Tolnay (1960): Michelangelo V. The Last Judgement, Princeton, p. 173. An in-depth survey on this model and its casts is forthcoming by the present author. An association between a later cast of the MET corpus, here discussed (note 4), also observed the relatability of the corpus with that associated with Michelangelo. The Sotheby’s catalog entry suggested Michelangelo’s late assistant and bronze foundryman, Jacopo del Duca, was its author.
4 Sotheby’s auction, 10 July 2014, Lot 85.
5 The donation and receipt of the altar cross is cited by Ippolito Donesmondi (1625): La vita del venerabile vescovo di Mantova Francesco Gonzaga. See Paola Venturelli (2012): Vincenzo I Gonzaga, 1562-1612 – il fasto del potere. Museo Diocesano Francesco Gonzaga, Mantova. No. 69.
6 ASDMn Santa Barbara, Inventari, b. 111, “Libro nel sacro Reliquario della Chiesa di S. Barbara de Mantova” 1587-1617, c. 54r. Again noted in the inventory of 1611: ASDMn, Santa Barbara, Inventari, b. 111, cc. 7v-8r. See P. Venturelli (2012): op. cit. (note 5).
7 Emmanuel Lamouche (2019): Bastiano Torrigiani. Biographical Dictionary of Italian Artists. Treccani.it (accessed March 2020).
8 Giovanni Baglione (1642): Le vite de’ pittori scultori et architetti. Dal pontificato di Gregorio XIII del 1572. In fino a’ tempi di Papa Vrbano Ottauo nel 1642, p. 324.
9 E. Lamouche (2019): op. cit. (note 7).
10 The statuettes of the altar cross recall the character of some of the figures also featured on an earlier realized Cabinet for Pope Sixtus V. Torrigiani also served Sixtus V on various projects like the tabernacle for Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and the casting of the monumental sculptures of Saint Peter and Paul for the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius. It is to be speculated if his workshop had involvement in the celebrated Sixtus V cabinet (National Trust, UK, Inv. NT 731575).
11 A testament to the prolific production of crucifixes in Guglielmo della Porta’s workshop is evident by his posthumous inventory citing at least 58 examples, finished and unfinished and ranging in size from approximately 22 to 70 cm. See Rosario Coppel (2012): Catalogue (Christ Crucified). Guglielmo della Porta, A Counter-Reformation Sculptor. Coll & Cortés, pp. 62-73.
12 Torrigiani assumed control of Guglielmo’s workshop when he married Guglielmo’s partner, Pamphilia Guazzaroni, and became the guardian of Guglielmo and Pamphilia’s natural-born son Teodoro della Porta (Guglielmo and Pamphilia were never formally married). When Teodoro came of age in 1589 he granted permission for Torrigiani and his son Michelangelo to continue using and borrowing his father’s molds and designs for their work. See Emmanuel Lamouche (2011): L’activité de Bastiano Torrigiani sous le pontificat de Grégoire XIII. “Dalla gran scuola di Guglielmo Della Porta.” Revue de l’art, footnote 47 and also G.L. Masetti Zannini (1972): Notizie biografiche di Guglielmo della Porta in documenti notariali romani. Commentari, XXIII, p. 301.
13 Described in Baldo Vazzano’s testimony in the 1609 trial initiated by Teodoro della Porta against the illegal use of his father’s models. See Antonino Bertolotti (1881): Artisti lombardi a Roma, II. Milan pp. 157-61.
14 Baldo Vazzano was Torrigiani’s pupil and assistant between 1582-85. See Emmanuel Lamouche (2011): op. cit. (note 12), p. 54.
15 Andrea and Stefano Tumidei Bacchi (2002): Il Michelangelo incognito: Alessandro Menganti ew la arti a Bologna nell’eta della Controriforma. Edisai SRL, pp. 228-236.
16 Rosario Coppel (2012): Guglielmo della Porta, A Counter-Reformation Sculptor. Coll & Cortés, p. 48.
17 For a discussion of Torrigiani’s treatment of Guglielmo’s corpora see Michael Riddick (2017-a): Reconstituting a Crucifix by Guglielmo della Porta and his Colleagues. Renbronze.com (accessed, March 2020).
18 A genesis for the depiction of mature nude Christ’s in Italy, apart from the cinquecento carved wooden corpora intended to be cloaked by physical linens, would be Michelangelo’s Risen Christ for Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome from 1521. Another potential influence could have been Benvenuto Cellini’s nude marble Christ made circa 1556-62, however, early graphic reproductions of it feature it shown with and without a cloth perizonium, indicating it may or may not have been covered in public sight.
19 James David Draper (1982): The Vatican Collections: the papacy and art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, p. 70.
20 Sotheby’s auction, 10 July 2014, Lot 113.
21 The altar cross (Inv. PV 13475) was attributed to Jacob Cornelis Cobaert by Pietro Cannata. See Pietro Cannata (2011): Sculture in bronzo. Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, pp. 142-154.
22 Three documents (Nos., 3-5) uncovered by Lamouche involve five figures of the apostles for which Torrigiani was paid the superlative price of 1,050 scudi. See E. Lamouche (2011): op. cit. (note 12).
23 Steven Ostrow (2015): The Ludovisi St. Peter. A New Work by Bastiano Torrigiani in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Eternal Baroque. Studies in Honour of Jennifer Montagu. Skira, Milan, p. 423.
24 Dodezi apostolic di cera renetti di uno palmo in circha. See G.L. Masetti Zannini (1972): op. cit. (note 12), p. 305.
25 The twelve models of apostles are described in Gugliemo’s 1578 inventory: dodezi apostoli de cera renetti / twelve wax Apostles, cleaned. These same models are again referred to in the 1578 inventory ordered by Torrigiani: 12 forme de apostoli de doi palmi scarzi de tutto rilievo / 12 molds of the apostles measuring barely two palms all in relief (almost 44 cm). See S. Ostrow (2015): op. cit. (note 23).
26 Fece in que tempi una muta d’Aposftoli di bronzo per la Basilica di s. Pietro, come anche per l’istessa ne getto un’altra d’argento, ben formate, e polite. See G. Baglione (1642): op. cit. (note 8), pp. 323-24.
27 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Inv. 2000.69.
28 Olga Raggio (2000): Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1999–2000. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 58, no. 2 (Autumn 2000), p. 24.
29 Ian Wardropper (2011): European Sculpture, 1400–1900, In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, no. 28, pp. 90-92.
30 Torrigiani worked with Ludovico on the Sta Maria Maggiore tabernacle between 1587-90 and regularly associated with Landini whose bust of Pope Gregory XIII is considered a possible collaboration between the two sculptors. For Torrigiani’s collaboration with Ludivico del Duca, see Jennifer Montagu (1996): Gold, Silver & Bronze: Metal Sculpture of the Roman Baroque. Princeton University Press, p. 28. For Torrigiani’s camaraderie with Landini, see Carla Benocci (1988): Taddeo Landini e la statua di Sisto V in Campidoglio. Storia della città, XIII, p. 121.
31 Fernando Loffredo (2016): Sculpting against the grain: Camillo Mariani in the Roman context at the turn of the sixteenth century in M. S. Bolzoni, P. Tosini, F. Rinaldi (ed.), Dopo il 1564, l’eredità di Michelangelo a Roma nel tardo Cinquecento, pp. 186-207.
32 Peter Jonathan Bell (2011): The Bronze Siren from the Del Monte and Barberini Collections. Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 161-70.
33 G. Baglione (1642): op. cit. (note 8), p. 325.
34 Emmanuel Lamouche (2011): L’activité de Bastiano Torrigiani sous le pontificat de Grégoire XIII. “Dalla gran scuola di Guglielmo Della Porta.” Revue de l’art, footnote 47 and also G.L. Masetti Zannini (1972): Notizie biografiche di Guglielmo della Porta in documenti notariali romani. Commentari, XXIII, p. 301.
35 Michael Riddick (2017-b): El Greco’s Roman Period and the Influence of Guglielmo della Porta. RenBronze.com (accessed March 2020).
36 Paul Joannides first linked this sketch with the school of Michelangelo, presumed reproducing a lost sketch by Michelangelo, and tentatively attributed it to his Roman assistant of the early 1540s, Raffaello da Montelupo. See Paul Joannides (1996): Michelangelo and his Influence: Drawings from Windsor Castle, UK, p. 96 and Paul Joannides (2003): Michel-ange eleves et copistes – dessins italiens du musee du louvre. RMN, Paris, no. 78, pp. 224-25.
37 Jennifer Montagu (1996): op. cit. (note 30), p. 199, Appendix A.
38 Gonzalo Redin (2002): Jacopo del Duca, il ciborio della certosa di Padula el il ciborio di Michelangelo per Santa Maria degli Angeli. Antologia di Belle Arti, 63-66, p. 132.
39 Charles Avery (2012): Guglielmo della Porta’s relationship with Michelangelo. Guglielmo della Porta: A Counter-Reformation Sculptor. Coll & Cortés, pp. 112-37.
40 A court record of 1609 records Gentili’s comment, “In my workshop…I have had many plasters and molds of many brave men and of Michelangelo and of others.” See Antonino Bertolotti (1881): Artisti lombardi a Rome nei secoli XV, XVI, XVII. Studi e ricerche negli archivi romani, 2 vols., Milan, Vol. 2, pp. 136-37.
41 Victoria Avery (2018): Divine Pipe Dreams: Mature Michelangelo and the mastery of metal. Michelangelo: Sculptor in Bronze. Bloomsbury Publishing, UK, pp. 80-105.
42 Quiso Dios por su misericordia desterrar del mundo estos platos vidriados, y que con mejor luz y acuerdo se introdujesen las encarnaciones mates, como pintura más natural, y que se deja retocar varias veces, y hacer en ella los primores que vemos hoy, bien es verdad que algunos de los modernos (entre los antiguos y nosotros) las comenzaron á ejercitar, y las vemos en algunas historias suyas de escultura en retablos viejos; pero el resucitarlas en España, y dar con ellas nueva luz y vida á la buena escultura, oso decir con verdad, que, yo he sido de los que comenzaron, si no el primero desde el año 1600 á esta parte, poco más á lo menos en Sevilla, porque el primer Crucifijo de bronce de cuatro clavos de los de Micael Angel, que vació del que trajo de Roma Juan Bautista Franconio (insigne platero) lo pinté yo de mate en 17 de Enero del dicho año. See Francesco Pacheco del Rio (1649): Arte de la Pintura. Su antiguedad y grandezas.
43 Micael Angel, clarísima luz de la pintura y escultura hizo para modelo un crucifijo de una tercia con cuatro clavos, que gozamos hoy. El cual trajo á esta ciudad (Seville) vaciado de bronce Juan Bautista Franconio, valiente platero, el año de 1597. See F. Pacheco (1649): op. cit. (note 38).
44 Margarita Estella (2012): Guglielmo della Porta’s early years and some of his works in Spain. Guglielmo della Porta: A Counter-Reformation Sculptor. Coll & Cortés, pp. 14-27.
45 Juan Facundo Riaño (1879): The Industrial Arts in Spain. London.
46 This source is in the archival notices in Loreto, collected by Settimani and Lapini. See Katherine Watson (1978): The Crucifixes of Giambologna. Giambologna, 1529-1608, Sculptor to the Medici. Arts Council of Great Britain, pp. 45-47. Watson associates this corpus with Giambologna but the model is confidently derived from Guglielmo della Porta. See M. Riddick (2017-a): op. cit. (note 17).
47 Joanna’s visit is documented between 18 April and 9 May 1573. See K. Watson (1978), op. cit. (note 42).
48 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Inv. Schatzkammer, GS E 19.
49 Sotheby’s auction, 3 December 2014, Lot 91.
50 Herbert Beck and Peter Bol (eds.) (1981): Dürers Verwandlung in der Skulptur zwischen Renaissance und Barock. Ausstellung im Liebieghaus, Museum alter Plastik, Frankfurt am Main.
Renaissance Bronze 
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