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Descriptions of sculpture: Florence, Mercato de Palazzo Vecchio; Donatello: 832/5.f.2

Object information

Awaiting location update

Titles

Descriptions of sculpture: Florence, Mercato de Palazzo Vecchio; Donatello
Description of sculpture: Benvenuto Cellini

Maker(s)

Draughtsman: Flaxman, John

Categories

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1916-12) by Murray, Charles Fairfax

School or Style

British

Materials used in production

Brown ink

Components of the work

Support composed of laid paper
Leaf Size Height 213 mm Width 150 mm

Techniques used in production

Drawing (image-making) : Pen and brown ink on laid paper

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: Florence / Mercato de / Palazzo Vecchio
  • Location: Recto, upper left
  • Method of creation: Brown ink

Inscription present: [i] crossed through in brown ink; [ii] crossed through in brown ink; [iii] both preceding words crossed through in brown ink; [iv] both preceding words crossed through in brown ink

  • Text: An Equestrian Statue in / bronze of Cosmus 1:st with / 2 basreleifs one on each side / the pedestal by John of Bologna, A fountain with an Enormous Statue of Neptune in Marble & by Bandenelli[i] FrancaiVilla very bad / with Tritons & Satyrs in bronze on the / lower part by John of Bologna in a / very extravagant bad taste, on one side / of the Palace door is a group of Hercules / go[ii] killing Cacus, about the size of the / Neptune (12 feet) by Bandinelli very / tame bombastical & bad, on the other / side of the palace door is a single figure / for a companion somewhat better by Bandinelli / Loggia grandiosa next to[iii] facing the old palace / on a whimsical marble pedestal is a bronze group / as large as life of Judith cutting of[sic] the head / of Holofernes, the size[iv] the composition is / poor the attitude of Judith tame, that / of Holofernes unnatural the drapery / ill conceived, the naked parts exessively / Poor / this is by Donatello
  • Location: Recto
  • Method of creation: Brown ink

Inscription present: [i] crossed through in brown ink; [ii] crossed through in brown ink; [iii] the preceding three words crossed through in brown ink; [iv] both preceding words crossed through in brown ink

  • Text: Benvenuto Cellini the 2nd Statue / in this Piazza of the Loggia grandiosa / is the Perseus of Benven: Cellini of bronze / I suppose between 7 & 8 feet high he holds / the head of Medusa high[i] in his left / hand raised above his own head / in his right hand he holds a sword / & he[ii] stands on the body of Medusa / the head of Perseus is beautiful & grand / with a strong resemblance to the head of / Ganymede restored by the same Master / the Contour of the Perseus is grand, the / attitude is Natural & Noble, the parts / are made out with great Intelligence / the figure of Medusa is finely composed / the the limbs are so turned as to be accomodated to the / shape of the plinth, the Pedestal is / white marble, square de carved[iv] with / Arabesque chemerical ornaments carved on / the corners, in a pannel in the front of the bass is a / to the Pedestal / bronze basreleif of Perseus descending to / kill the monsters, & free Andromache
  • Location: Verso
  • Method of creation: Brown ink

Identification numbers

Accession number: 832/5.f.2
Primary reference Number: 37897
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Thursday 20 May 2021 Last processed: Tuesday 13 June 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Descriptions of sculpture: Florence, Mercato de Palazzo Vecchio; Donatello" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/37897 Accessed: 2024-11-25 15:56:35

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/37897 |title=Descriptions of sculpture: Florence, Mercato de Palazzo Vecchio; Donatello |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-25 15:56:35|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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