DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61668#0314
202
POLLAIUOLO
The statues seem to be, one a very realistic study from
life (Plate XLIX.), the other modelled on a death-
mask (Plate L.) Their superiority to that of Sixtus is
probably due to the dose acquaintance Antonio must
have had with the features of Innocent during his
residence in Rome. The character of the Pope was
genial and good-natured, but he is reproached for
avarice and lack of decision. All these qualities are to
be read in the expressive faces. The weakness of char-
acter, accentuated by Peretta Usodimare in the receding
forehead and chin and feeble mouth of his medal, struck
in 1484, is suggested only with the utmost subtlety by
Antonio, while full justice is done to the noble bearing
and imposing presence for which he was celebrated.
The statues are treated with greater freedom than
that of Sixtus, and less emphasis is laid on the orna-
ments of the robes. The free pose, the declamatory
gesture, and the multiplicity of folds in the draperies,
give to the seated figure a somewhat baroque air, which
certainly was not without effect on the sculptors of the
following century.
The contrast between the living and the dead figures
is sharply emphasised. The former, with its animated,
sweeping gesture seems the incarnation of energy and
power. The hand seems raised, not in benediction, but
in imperious, almost menacing, command. Below, the
corpse lies inert and powerless, the fires of life burnt out,
leaving only great dignity and solemnity of expression.
It must certainly have been executed from a death-mask.
The peaked nose, the skin strained over the bones, the
POLLAIUOLO
The statues seem to be, one a very realistic study from
life (Plate XLIX.), the other modelled on a death-
mask (Plate L.) Their superiority to that of Sixtus is
probably due to the dose acquaintance Antonio must
have had with the features of Innocent during his
residence in Rome. The character of the Pope was
genial and good-natured, but he is reproached for
avarice and lack of decision. All these qualities are to
be read in the expressive faces. The weakness of char-
acter, accentuated by Peretta Usodimare in the receding
forehead and chin and feeble mouth of his medal, struck
in 1484, is suggested only with the utmost subtlety by
Antonio, while full justice is done to the noble bearing
and imposing presence for which he was celebrated.
The statues are treated with greater freedom than
that of Sixtus, and less emphasis is laid on the orna-
ments of the robes. The free pose, the declamatory
gesture, and the multiplicity of folds in the draperies,
give to the seated figure a somewhat baroque air, which
certainly was not without effect on the sculptors of the
following century.
The contrast between the living and the dead figures
is sharply emphasised. The former, with its animated,
sweeping gesture seems the incarnation of energy and
power. The hand seems raised, not in benediction, but
in imperious, almost menacing, command. Below, the
corpse lies inert and powerless, the fires of life burnt out,
leaving only great dignity and solemnity of expression.
It must certainly have been executed from a death-mask.
The peaked nose, the skin strained over the bones, the