Massimiliano Soldani
Massimiliano Soldani , later Massimiliano Soldani Benzi (born July 15, 1656 in Montevarchi , † February 23, 1740 there ), was an Italian sculptor and medalist at the Medici court in Florence .
Surname
Soldani initially lived under his name, but later claims that he descended from the family of the Bishop of Fiesole and from the noble Benzi family from Figline Valdarno . In 1693 he applied for a certificate of descent in an official letter, which he also received. From that day on he called himself Soldani Benzi , which has been proven by numerous documents.
Life
Soldani began his training at the Medici drawing school in Florence , where he attracted the attention of Grand Duke Cosimo III. de 'Medici attracted him. He then sent him to his grand ducal academy in Rome to study with Ciro Ferri and Ercole Ferrata and to train him in the art of coinage . During his time in Rome (1678–81) he showed promise and was asked by Queen Christina of Sweden to create several medals for her. Soldani started this venture, but soon had to give it up because Cosimo had sent him to Paris to work with Joseph Roettiers, another medalist .
There Soldani came into contact with Charles Le Brun and the French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert in 1682 . When Soldani was working on a medal portrait of Louis XIV and a courtier, because Soldani identified Louis duc d'Aumont as the officer and he was very interested in his art of minting, the latter introduced him to King Louis XIV . The model of this medal is on display today in the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto .
In the meantime, Grand Duke Cosimo decided it was time for Soldani to return to Florence to take over the Grand Ducal Mint, a role he had intended for him from the start. After the death of the last director, Soldani was officially appointed Maestro dei Coni e Custode della Zecca in 1688 . As such, he had his workshop and living space in the Uffizi . Soldani Benzi worked until the old age of 80, only then to say goodbye to professional life. He then retired to the Villa Petrolo he built himself near Bucine in Tuscany , where he lived until his death.
Work
In the course of his career Soldani developed into one of the best bronze casters in Europe. At first he still worked as a medalist, but later he specialized in the production of bronze reliefs, bronze vases as well as free-standing figures and busts. For Joseph Johann Adam , the 6th Prince of Liechtenstein , he produced a series of bronze copies of works from the Medici collection, mainly antique busts and figures, but also based on works by Michelangelo and Gian Lorenzo Bernini .
Klaus Lankheit recognized a small bronze Pietà attributed to Soldani in the Walters Art Museum to be a “balanced triangular composition” that is “almost a relief in shape” and suggested that it had first been composed as a relief. A more expensive version with additional characters in the Kress Collection in the Seattle Art Museum was designed by Ulrich Middeldorf also assigned as a creation Soldani. In the Walters Art Museum there is also a second table bronze Venus and the wounded Adonis on a richly armed ebony foot with bronze paw feet .
In rare cases he exhibited Terra Cotta Bozzetti at the irregularly staged exhibitions of the Accademia del Disegno in Florence. 1715 it was a Pietà in terracotta from "Sig. MS " . It was a high-precision terracotta relief with the name Agony in the garden of Gethsemane , which undoubtedly served as a model to be later cast in bronze as a private devotional work. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City .
literature
- Klaus Lankheit, Florentine Baroque sculpture , Munich 1962
- Klaus Lankheit, Soldani (Benzi), Massimiliano , Oxford Art Online
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Soldani, Massimiliano |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Soldani Benzi, Massimiliano (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian sculptor and medalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 15, 1656 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Montevarchi |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 23, 1740 |
| Place of death | Montevarchi |