Attributed to Benedetto Buglioni (1461 - 1521), Italian, Florence, circa 1510-1520

Sotheby's New York, 31 January 2013, lot 349.

According to Giorgio Vasari, Benedetto Buglioni was initiated into the secret technique of glazed terracotta by one of the employees of the Della Robbia workshop (Le vite de’ più eccellenti architetti, pittori et scultori italiani, da Cimabue insino a’ tempi nostri, 1550). Scholars now generally agree that Benedetto probably apprenticed under Luca della Robbia before establishing his own workshop. With the arrival of his wife’s nephew, Santi Michele—better known as Santi Buglioni—the studio became a family enterprise that remained active for much of the 16th century.

The handsome face with its serene expression, the half-closed eyes typical of this iconography, the undulating hair, and the finely curled beard seen in the present bust, all derive from the Christ of the Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Andrea del Verrocchio (between 1467 and 1483; Orsanmichele, Florence)—a work that profoundly influenced the sculptors of his workshop and his circle. Pietro Torrigiani and Agnolo di Polo would model comparable busts of Christ the Redeemer. Among those attributed to the latter are the examples in the sacristy of Santa Felicita in Florence and another one in the Museo Civico of Pistoia (dated 1498). The present example can be most closely compared to another bust of Christ the Redeemer that appeared on the market in 2012, likewise attributed by Professor Giancarlo Gentilini to Benedetto Buglioni (Pandolfini, Florence, 18 October 2012, lot 45). Another bust of the same type, this one attributed to Santi Buglioni and partially glazed in yellow and blue, was sold by Sotheby’s London on 4 December 2018 (lot 54).

Particularly noteworthy is the quality of the modelling in the present work, distinguished by the delicate treatment of the curls in the beard and the wavy locks of hair, rendered with exceptional care, as well as by the attention given to the details of Christ’s garment—most notably the charming cherub in relief adorning the open neckline of His robe.

We are grateful to Professor Giancarlo Gentilini for his invaluable assistance in the description of the present work.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Marquand, Benedetto and Santi Buglioni, Princeton 1921 ;

G. Gentilini, I Della Robbia. La scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento, Florence 1992, II, pp. 390-497;

G. Gentilini (dir.), I Della Robbia e l’ “arte nuova” della scultura invetriata, exh. cat. Fiesole, Florence, 1998, pp. 332-361 ;

P. Helas, “Ondulationen zur Christusbüste in Italien (ca. 1460 - 1525)”, in J. Kohl, R. Müller (dir.), Kopf / Bild. Die Büste in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit, Munich/Berlin, 2007, pp. 153-209;

G. Gentilini (dir.), I Della Robbia. Il dialogo tra le Arti nel Rinascimento, exh. cat. Arezzo, Milan 2009.