Dancing putto
after Donatello (Florence c.1386 – Florence 1466)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1870 - 1970
Materials
Bronze
Measurements
220 mm (H)120 mm (Length)
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
2 Willow Road, London
NT 112326
Summary
A bronze figure of a winged boy (putto), his right arm held out and left arm raised, balancing upon a shell. A modern copy of a bronze figure in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, attributed to Donatello and thought to have been made in the 1430s, as one of a series of angel figures for the font in the Baptistry of the Cathedral of Siena.
Full description
Donatello worked on the font for the Baptistry of Siena Cathedral for several years from the mid 1420s, alongside other sculptors. His share of the work included a relief panel as well as three figures of dancing putti, two of which remain on the font, the third today in the Bodemuseum in Berlin. The figure of a dancing putto in the Bargello in Florence is very similar to the other three. It is thought most likely to have been made by Donatello for the Siena project but then to have been rejected for some reason. The copy could have been made in the nineteenth century, when Donatello’s works enjoyed great public popularity. There are some minor differences from the original figure, notably the hexagonal base and the string of beads issuing from the shell. Jeremy Warren, 2017
Provenance
Owned by Ernö Goldfinger and Ursula Ruth Blackwell, also known as Mrs Ernö Goldfinger. Purchased by the National Trust in 1994.
Credit line
National Trust Collections (2 Willow Road, The Ernő Goldfinger Collection)
Makers and roles
after Donatello (Florence c.1386 – Florence 1466), sculptor