Bust of the Princess of Urbino

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Portrait of a young lady "Princess of Urbino" ()
Portrait of a young lady "Princess of Urbino"
unknown artist; 2nd half of the 15th century
Marble bust,
47 cm × 43 cm × 23 cm
Bode Museum; Sculpture Collection and Museum for Byzantine Art of the State Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage

The so-called bust of the Princess of Urbino , made of limestone , depicts an anonymous young woman and was probably made in Italy in the second half of the 15th century . The sculptor is unknown, but at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century , Wilhelm von Bode , among others, suspected that Desiderio da Settignano was the author. In addition, Wilhelm von Bode assumed that the bust came from Urbino because the sculptor apparently used the same limestone for the production of the bust as for the construction in the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. Due to the chronological assignment, the bust could represent an illegitimate daughter of the warlord and art patron Federico da Montefeltro . Since its purchase in 1887 for the sculpture collection of the Royal Prussian Museums , doubts about the authenticity of the bust have repeatedly been raised.

description

On the slim neck of the approximately life-size female bust , which measures 47 cm × 43 cm × 23 cm, sits an oval head turned slightly to the right . The eyes peek out from under lowered lids and the mouth is slightly contracted. The hair is gathered in a full strand that is artfully wrapped around the head. The braid is held by means of hairpins and a band-like cloth that covers the ears. A thin cord lies on the high forehead and is intertwined with the hair. The dress, which has a round cut out at the back, has a bead-embroidered hem and shows the half-gathered bodice and shirt hem at the front .

material

The female bust is made of limestone . This seems unusual, as marble , terracotta and wooden busts from the Quattrocento are known. Similar to soapstone , limestone is very soft when broken and only gradually begins to dry in the air, so that in contrast to the harder and more brittle marble, a finer and more detailed treatment of the material can be carried out using a knife. This precise elaboration can be seen in the present bust especially when comparing the shiny skin with the rough-looking robe.

Status

The female bust shows various damage: the braid on her left side and some pieces of the robe have broken off. On the left half of the forehead and on the left eyebrow, some areas have flaked off and several cracks run through the face. A broken piece of stone has been restored on the left cheek.

Part of the damage and the dark gray color can be traced back to a fire in 1945 in the Flakbunker Friedrichshain, one of the main storage locations of the Berlin museums during the Second World War .

Versions of the bust

In 1888 Wilhelm von Bode reported on a stucco replica of the bust made using the clay model , which was said to have been in the possession of the Earl of Wemyss in London at the time. The head shows hardly any differences in design, but down the shoulders the busts differ significantly: while the Berlin bust shows a dress that covers the chest in the style of the second half of the 15th century , the bust in the London bust becomes loose because of it Shirt hardly covered on the broad shoulders. In terms of style, the latter therefore looked more like from a later period.

Authorship

Wilhelm von Bode and his contemporaries ascribed the bust to the sculptor Desiderio da Settignano at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century . In the 1920s, however, doubts about Desiderio's authorship increased: In 1922 Wilhelm von Bode was unsettled by a comparison with a round relief of a sibyl from the Berlin sculpture collection. In 1926 he also wrote to Clarence Kennedy, who took photographs of works that were considered authentic for a publication on Desiderio da Settignano, that the sculptor had not been in Urbino . For stylistic reasons, Adolfo Venturi also became skeptical in 1923 and assigned the work to Francesco di Giorgio Martini . However, this proposal was not accepted in the research community. After Wilhelm von Bode's death in 1929, the bust of Frieda Schottmüller was included in the inventory catalog of the Berlin Sculpture Collection published in 1933 as a work from around 1475 without naming the master, so that Desiderio da Settignano's authorship had to be indirectly excluded due to the date after Desiderio's death in 1464. As a result, the field was opened for new attributions. In 1938, Reinhold Valentiner suggested the sculptor Andrea dell'Aquila as the author. In 1962 Ida Cardellini contradicted this assignment in her monograph on Desiderio da Settignano and suggested the "Master of the Sibilles" because of its similarity to a Sibill Tondo from Urbino. After Cardellin's contribution, the research community no longer discussed the bust in detail. Only in 2005 with the exhibition "Il Rinascimento a Urbino: Fra 'Carnevale e gli artisti del Palazzo di Federico" in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino and the assignment of Matteo Ceriana to Pasquino da Montepulciano did the bust again attract greater research interest. Michael Knuth, former head of the sculpture collection in the Bode-Museum , assigned the bust to Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (2001) or Andrea del Verrocchio (2011). In 2011 Michael Knuth wrote that in the decades since Cardellini's assignment, colleagues had repeatedly raised doubts about the authenticity of the bust when visiting the collection - a problem that many busts that came onto the art market in the 19th century had encountered.

Dating and identification of those portrayed

Since no documents are known about the origins of the female bust, the identification of the portrayed remains speculative. Depending on which sculptor the bust is attributed to with the help of style criticism , there are different ways of identifying the portrayed based on the life dates and the age of the people involved.

If it is assumed that Desiderio da Settignano is the author of the bust, the bust must have been created before his death in 1464. Federico da Montefeltro's first marriage to Gentile Brancaleoni, which was herself excluded because of age, remained childless. In 1460 he married Battista Sforza , who is known from contemporary pictures and does not look like the one shown. The first children together were not born before Desiderio da Settignano's death, so that the identity of the young woman could be sought among the illegitimate daughters from his first marriage who lived at court and were married to distinguished friends of Federico da Montefeltro.

If the date of creation of the female bust is set after Desiderio's death, other women connected with the court in Urbino have been suggested: The bust could be Elisabetta da Montefeltro by Andrea dell'Aquila (Reinhold Valentiner 1938), Elisabetta Feltria by an unknown urbanist master ( Michael Knuth 1985) or Elisabetta Gonzaga by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (Michael Knuth 2001).

Client

Based on the thesis that the bust depicts an illegitimate daughter of the warlord and patron of the arts Federico da Montelfetro from Urbino , a noble person from the court in Urbino could be the client. The sitter appeared too young to be the client herself, so that her father was considered as the client.

Contrary to this assumption, the sitter could have come from the Italian bourgeoisie of the Quattrocento , since the Italian feudal nobility was politically, economically and ideologically strongly linked to the upper bourgeoisie at that time.

function

Busts that are cut off under the chest and have no plinth were often placed on mantelpiece or over doors in the living room to commemorate family members who were still living or who had already died. If the thesis of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that women bust from Urbino is followed, a location in the Duke 's Palace of Urbino is likely. Based on this, Hannelore Sachs suspected in 1973 that the bust could have been created when one of Federico da Montefeltro's illegitimate daughters left because of a marriage.

title

As early as 1888, Wilhelm von Bode in the “Yearbook of the Royal Prussian Art Collections” and an anonymous author in the magazine “Archivio Storico dell'Arte” stated that the bust came from Urbino because of its materiality. The fine-grain limestone used appears to be the same as that used in the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. It was therefore generally assumed that the person depicted was a daughter of Federico da Montefeltro and thus a princess. Ida Cardellini stated as early as 1962 that this untested thesis made such sense to contemporaries that it was blindly trusted. After Bode's death in 1929, further research into the identity of the portrayed and the sculptor began - but without reaching a common consensus. Nonetheless, the title “Princess of Urbino” is used to this day: In the sculpture collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin , the bust is called “Portrait of a young lady ('Princess of Urbino').

Provenance

The female bust is in the sculpture collection of the State Museums in Berlin . Wilhelm von Bode had it in 1887 through the art dealer Stefano Bardini from the Viennese collection of Dr. Albert Figdor for 50,000 lire. Shortly before, the bust with the Urbin inheritance is said to have passed into the possession of the Barberini family in Rome .

literature

  • Bode, W. (1888). Desiderio da Settignano and Francesco Laurana: Two Italian female busts of the Quattrocento in the Berlin Museum. In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian Art Collections. 9 (4). 209-227. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/25167182 .
  • Busto di Desiderio da Settignano. (1888). In: Archivio storico dell'arte . 1.1888. 234. Retrieved June 23, 2020, from https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/archivio_storico_arte1888/0332 .
  • Schottmüller, F. (1913). No. 125, (I. 78) Portrait of a Princess of Urbino. In: The Italian and Spanish sculptures of the Renaissance and Baroque in marble, clay, wood and stucco . Berlin: Reimer. 54-55.
  • Bode, W. (1922). Handbooks from the National Museums in Berlin. The Italian sculpture, Berlion / Leipzig: Association of Scientific Publishers. 1922 (6th edition). 97.
  • Venturi, A. (1923). Francesco di Giorgioni Martini Scultori. In: L 'arte: rivista di storia dell'arte medievale e moderna , 26.1923, 197-228. v. a. P. 220, pp. 224-227. Retrieved June 23, 2020, from https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/arte1923/0242 .
  • Schottmüller, F. (1933). 78. Portrait of a Princess of Urbino. In: The Italian and Spanish sculptures of the Renaissance and Baroque: The sculptures in stone, wood, clay and wax . Berlin: de Gruyter. 41-42.
  • Valentiner, WR (1938). Andrea dell'Aquila in Urbino. In: Art Quarterly , pp. 275-288.
  • Cardellini, I. (1962). Desiderio da Settignano. Ed.di Comunita, 272-274.
  • Ceriana, M. (2005). 46 Busto di Dama (Principessa urbinate). In: Il Rinascimento a Urbino: Fra 'Carnevale e gli artisti del palazzo di Federico . Ed. by Marchi, A., Valazzi, MR, & Galleria nazionale delle Marche. Milano: Skira. 175-179.
  • Knuth, M. (2011). Desiderio da Settignano and sculptures attributed to his circle in Berlin. In: Desiderio da Settignano. Collana del Art History Institute in Florence , Max Planck Institute. (16). 189-204.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b c d e f g Wilhelm von Bode: Desiderio da Settignano and Francesco Laurana: Two Italian female busts of the Quattrocento in the Berlin Museum . In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian Art Collections . tape 9 , no. 4 , 1888, p. 209-227 , here p. 212 , JSTOR : 25167182 .
  2. ↑ Arnold Victor Coonin: The Most Elusive Woman in Renaissance Art: A Portrait of Marietta Strozzi . In: Artibus et Historiae . tape 30 , no. 59 , 2009, p. 48 , JSTOR : 40343663 .
  3. ^ Italian Sculpture in the Berlin Museums: Losses and Survivals Source . In: Burlington Magazine . tape 96 , no. 612 . Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd., 1954, p. 69 , JSTOR : 871442 .
  4. ↑ Michael Knuth: Desiderio da Settignano and his circle attributed sculptures in Berlin . In: Joseph Connors (ed.): Desiderio da Settignano . Marsilio, Venezia 2011, p. 189–203 , here p. 194 .
  5. ^ Wilhelm von Bode: Desiderio da Settignano and Francesco Laurana: Two Italian female busts of the Quattrocento in the Berlin Museum . In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian Art Collections . tape 9 , no. 4 , 1888, p. 209-227 , here p. 213f. , JSTOR : 25167182 .
  6. ^ Frieda Schottmüller: Monuments of the Renaissance Sculpture Toscanas. In historical arrangement . Ed .: Wilhelm von Bode. Publishing house F. Bruckmann, Munich 1905, p. 96 .
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ida Cardellini: Desiderio da Settignano . Edizione di Comunità, Milano 1962, p. 272–274 (A detailed overview of the attributions up to 1962 can be found here).
  8. ^ Wilhelm von Bode: Handbooks of the State Museums in Berlin. The Italian sculpture . Ed .: National Museums in Berlin. 6th edition. Association of Scientific Publishers, Berlin / Leipzig 1922, p. 97 f .
  9. ↑ a b c Michael Knuth: Desiderio da Settignano and his circle attributed sculptures in Berlin . In: Joseph Connors (ed.): Desiderio da Settignano . Marsilio, Venezia 2011, p. 189–203 , here p. 193 .
  10. ^ Adolfo Venturi: Francesco di Giorgio Martini . In: L'arte: rivista di storia dell'arte medievale e moderna . No. 26 , 1923, pp. 197–228 , here pp. 220, 227, 228 ( uni-heidelberg.de [accessed June 29, 2020]).
  11. ↑ Frieda Schottmüller: 78th Portrait of a Princess of Urbino . In: The Italian and Spanish sculptures of the Renaissance and Baroque . 1: The sculptures in stone, wood, clay and wax: with the images of all sculptures. de Gruyter, Berlin 1933, p. 41 f .
  12. ^ A b Michael Knuth: Berlin possibilities. Paintings and sculptures of the Italian Renaissance in dialogue . In: Museums Journal . tape 13 , no. 3 , June 2001, p. 62- ?, p. 63 f .
  13. ↑ Michael Knuth: Desiderio da Settignano and his circle attributed sculptures in Berlin. In: Joseph Connors (ed.): Desiderio da Settignano . Marsilio, Venezia 2011, p. 189–203 , here p. 191 .
  14. ↑ Anita Fiderer Moskowitz: Forging Authenticity. Bastianini and the Neo-Renaissance in Nineteenth-century Florence . Leo S. Olschki Editore, Florence 2013, p. XIIIff .
  15. ↑ Michael Knuth: Urbinatischer Meister. Portrait of a Princess of Urbino . In: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (ed.): World treasures of art, - preserves humanity . (= Aust. Kat., Altes Museum, Berlin (East), 1985). Berlin 1985, p. 225 f .
  16. ^ A b c Peter H. Feist: Florentine early Renaissance sculpture in the State Museums in Berlin . Seemann, Leipzig 1959, p. 29-32 .
  17. ^ Jeannette Kohl: Talking Heads. Reflections on a phenomenology of the bust . In: Jeannette Kohl and Rebekka Müller (eds.): Head / image. The bust in the Middle Ages and early modern times . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2007, p. 9–30 , here p. 17 .
  18. ^ Hannelore Sachs: Youth in three millennia of art . Special exhibition on the occasion of the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students in Berlin July to September 1973. Ed .: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Berlin 1973, p. 30 .
  19. ↑ a b Busto di Desiderio da Settignano . In: Archivio storico dell'arte . 1888, p. 234 ( uni-heidelberg.de ).
  20. ^ Frieda Schottmüller: The Italian and Spanish images of the Renaissance and Baroque: in marble, clay, wood and stucco. With the illustrations of all pictures . Reimer, Berlin 1913, p. 54 f .
  21. ↑ a b Portrait of a young lady "Princess of Urbino". Retrieved June 29, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Wilhelm von Bode: My life . tape 2 . Reckendorf, Berlin, p. 29 f . ( zeno.org ).