Lot 52: ATTRIBUTED TO DOMENICO POGGINI (1520-1590), ITALIAN, FLORENCE, 16TH CENTURY

ATTRIBUTED TO DOMENICO POGGINI (1520-1590), ITALIAN, FLORENCE, 16TH CENTURY BUST OF A NAVAL COMMANDER white marble, on a white marble socle overall: 69.5cm., 27 3/8 in.

Domenico Poggini was the most accomplished and versatile pupil of Benvenuto Cellini. The attribution of this marble to Poggini is based on stylistic comparisons with two marble busts. The same facial type with distinctively oval features, fixed stare and short curly hair find striking affinities with the Bust of a Youth in cuirass that appeared as lot 62 in these rooms on 9υth July 2009 also attributed to Poggini. The overall conception of the young Naval Commander in elaborate armour has clear parallels with Poggini's more soberly conceived bust of Francesco de' Medici in the Uffizi, Florence. The inventive design and elaborate carving, still evident despite obvious weathering, is also reminiscent of Benvenuto Cellini's famous bronze bust of Cosimo I in the Bargello, Florence. The iconography of the armour, with mermaids and mermen on the shoulders and Neptune and sea-monsters around the bottom, likely indicates that the bust represents a Naval Commander.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture, London, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 95-96; H. Utz, 'Sculptures by Domenico Poggini', Metropolitan Museum Journal, New York, 1975, vol. 10, pp. 63-78; K. Langedijk, 'Two Portrait Busts of a Child: Filippo de' Medici by Domenico Poggini', Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisches Institues in Florenz, 1974, pp. 379-383