Bertoldo di Giovanni

Bertoldo di Giovanni (after 1420, in Poggio a Caiano – 28 December 1491, in Florence) was an Italian sculptor and medallist.[1]

Mehmed the Conqueror. Medal of Bertoldo di Giovanni. Electrotype

Bertoldo di Giovanni, medal on the Pazzi conspiracy, 1478

Life

Bertoldo was a pupil of Donatello. He worked in Donatello's workshop for many years, completing Donatello's unfinished works after his death in 1466,[2] for example the bronze pulpit reliefs from the life of Christ in the Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze in Florence.

Bertoldo later became head and teacher of the informal academy for painters and in particular for sculptors, which Lorenzo de' Medici had founded in his garden. At the same time, Bertoldo was the custodian of the Roman antiquities there.[3] Though Bertoldo was not a major sculptor, some of the most significant sculptors of their time attended this school, such as Michelangelo, Baccio da Montelupo, Giovanni Francesco Rustici and Jacopo Sansovino.

Works

Di Giovanni was the sculptor of a medal of Sultan Mohammed II (see image). Di Giovanni along with a number of collaborators created the "Frieze for the portico of the Medici Villa at Poggio a Caiano.[4] He is the author of several medals that were formerly attributed by error to Antonio del Pollaiolo.[5]

References

1. Bertoldo di Giovanni, The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
2. Bertoldo di Giovanni, Encyclopædia Britannica', retrieved 26 April 2015.
3. "Brief Biography Bertoldo di Giovanni". Answers.com. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
4. https://fineartconnoisseur.com/2019/09/bertoldo-di-giovanni-renaissance-sculpture/
5. Forrer, L. Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Volume I, London 1904, p. 176–78.

External links

• Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Bertoldo di Giovanni (see index)
• European sculpture and metalwork, a collection catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Bertoldo di Giovanni (see index)