DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0437
SCULPTURE
2-95
ixoa), though an early work, illustrates his characteristics.
Here we see a colossal figure, seated; the head, made all the more
massive because of the shaggy hair and heavy beard, is held erect
and turned toward the left; the left foot is drawn back, as if
something toward which he is looking had caught his attention
and he were about to rise. This in itself makes a restless figure;
but that quality is further accentuated by the nervous way in
which the right hand holds the beard, and by the sharply con-
trasting lines of the heavy drapery that falls in deep folds over
the knees. The rugged form, with deep-set eyes, the great
muscles of the arms, the hands finished with marvelous delicacy
and with almost incredible anatomical accuracy, the mighty
torso and projecting knee, emphasized rather than hidden by the
clothing — all communicate a wonderful feeling for the structure
of the body. Although the outline is compact, yet within it the
contrasting lines and masses militate against any feeling of repose
such as we find in Donatello’s Saint George and Gattamelata, but
infuse it with a feeling of conflict and struggle, which, aided by
the colossal scale of the statue, is overpowering.
This note of restlessness we see again in the Tomb of Giuliano
de' STedici (Pl. 119 c), especially if we compare it with Desiderio’s
Tomb of Carlo M.arsuffini (Pl. 118 c). In the latter we noticed
that the deceased was represented reclining asleep above the
sarcophagus, which was placed within the niche and architec-
turally subordinate to it, while all the surface shimmered with
the play of delicate decoration. In the Medici tomb we see three
figures so placed that they form a unified triangular group stand-
ing out against an architectural background. It is a question in
the spectator’s mind whether the sculpture is subordinate to the
architecture or the architecture to the sculpture. The rounding
lid of the sarcophagus is decorated with two volutes upon which
rest colossal figures of Day and Night. Back of these rise an
architectural setting cut horizontally about one-third way up by
a cornice, above which is the figure of Giuliano seated in a niche
that is very simply finished by a horizontal cornice while the side
niches have rounding pediments supported by curved brackets,
and have also decorative garlands. Thus the ornamentation is
kept away from the figure, about which are almost plain, un-
broken surfaces. The three figures, although placed in different
planes, present a unity within the bounding triangle, for the feet
of Giuliano are on a level with the heads of Day and Night, which
break the cornice just behind them that would otherwise entirely
separate the group. Giuliano wears a suit of armor magnificently
2-95
ixoa), though an early work, illustrates his characteristics.
Here we see a colossal figure, seated; the head, made all the more
massive because of the shaggy hair and heavy beard, is held erect
and turned toward the left; the left foot is drawn back, as if
something toward which he is looking had caught his attention
and he were about to rise. This in itself makes a restless figure;
but that quality is further accentuated by the nervous way in
which the right hand holds the beard, and by the sharply con-
trasting lines of the heavy drapery that falls in deep folds over
the knees. The rugged form, with deep-set eyes, the great
muscles of the arms, the hands finished with marvelous delicacy
and with almost incredible anatomical accuracy, the mighty
torso and projecting knee, emphasized rather than hidden by the
clothing — all communicate a wonderful feeling for the structure
of the body. Although the outline is compact, yet within it the
contrasting lines and masses militate against any feeling of repose
such as we find in Donatello’s Saint George and Gattamelata, but
infuse it with a feeling of conflict and struggle, which, aided by
the colossal scale of the statue, is overpowering.
This note of restlessness we see again in the Tomb of Giuliano
de' STedici (Pl. 119 c), especially if we compare it with Desiderio’s
Tomb of Carlo M.arsuffini (Pl. 118 c). In the latter we noticed
that the deceased was represented reclining asleep above the
sarcophagus, which was placed within the niche and architec-
turally subordinate to it, while all the surface shimmered with
the play of delicate decoration. In the Medici tomb we see three
figures so placed that they form a unified triangular group stand-
ing out against an architectural background. It is a question in
the spectator’s mind whether the sculpture is subordinate to the
architecture or the architecture to the sculpture. The rounding
lid of the sarcophagus is decorated with two volutes upon which
rest colossal figures of Day and Night. Back of these rise an
architectural setting cut horizontally about one-third way up by
a cornice, above which is the figure of Giuliano seated in a niche
that is very simply finished by a horizontal cornice while the side
niches have rounding pediments supported by curved brackets,
and have also decorative garlands. Thus the ornamentation is
kept away from the figure, about which are almost plain, un-
broken surfaces. The three figures, although placed in different
planes, present a unity within the bounding triangle, for the feet
of Giuliano are on a level with the heads of Day and Night, which
break the cornice just behind them that would otherwise entirely
separate the group. Giuliano wears a suit of armor magnificently