{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O128345"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O128345/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FC7121/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FC7121/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011FC7121","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2011FC7122","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2011FC7123","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BM5796","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BM5792","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LM7501","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LM7504","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O128345/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O128345","accessionNumber":"REPRO.1869-8","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Bust of a Woman","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This plaster cast is taken from a marble bust of a woman by an unknown sculptor in Ravello, Southern Italy. Until 1973 the bust was on the parapet of a staircase leading up to the pulpit signed by Nicola di Bartolomeo da Foggia, dated 1272, in the Cathedral at Ravello. An inscription records that the pulpit was commissioned by a wealthy merchant of Ravello, Nicolo Rufolo and his wife, Sigligaita. The head is recorded on the pulpit from 1540, and it was thought at that time to represent the Virgin. More recently attempts have been made to identify this regal head with Sigligaita herself. There is, however, no secure evidence to confirm that the bust now in the Museo del Duomo was originally designed to sit upon Nicolo di Bartolomeo da Foggia's pulpit, and so its identity remains uncertain. The plaster cast was made by an Italian firm based in Milan.\n\nPlaster casts were especially sought after during the 19th century, when reproductions of great works of sculpture and architecture were thought crucial for the training of artists. A separating substance was applied to the surface of the work to be reproduced, and a plaster mould made from that. The mould would then be used to make any number of additional plaster copies. These were often sold to artists, and later in the century to art colleges for study purposes.\n\n","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plaster cast","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Plaster Cast","id":"THES270451"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2011FC7121","2011FC7122","2011FC7123","2007BM5796","2007BM5792","2019LM7501","2019LM7504"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"46B","id":"THES49798"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"N","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":"AAT47457"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ravello","id":"x40108"},"association":{"text":"sculpted","id":"x30774"},"note":"original"},{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"cast","id":"x32615"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1272","earliest":"1267-01-01","latest":"1276-12-31"},"association":{"text":"sculpted","id":"x30774"},"note":"original"},{"date":{"text":"ca. 1869","earliest":"1864-01-01","latest":"1873-12-31"},"association":{"text":"cast","id":"x32615"},"note":"plaster cast"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"47.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"34.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased for in 1869 for £12, further details of acquisition are not recorded.","historicalContext":"Until 1973, this bust was on the parapet of a staircase leading up to the pulpit signed by Nicola di Bartolomeo da Foggia, dated 1272, in the Cathedral at Ravello. An inscription records that the pulpit was commissioned by a wealthy merchant of Ravello, Nicolo Rufolo and his wife, Sigligaita. The head is recorded on the pulpit from 1540, and was thought at that time to represent the Virgin. More recently, attempts have been made to identify this regal head with Sigligaita herself, or to see it as a personification of the Church. In support of the latter interpretation its function has been likened to that of allegorical heads on the triumphal gate of Frederick II at Capua and a parallel has been drawn between this and a female bust formerly in Berlin (destroyed 1945), which is known to have been placed upon a pulpit at Scala, near Ravello. There is, however, no secure evidence to confirm that the bust in the Museo del Duomo was originally designed to sit upon Nicolo di Bartolomeo da Foggia's pulpit, so that some doubt remains concerning the above interpretations.","briefDescription":"Plaster cast, painted plaster, after an original marble bust of a woman, in the Museo del Duomo di Ravello, by an unidentified Ravello sculptor, ca. 1272, cast probably in London, ca. 1869 ","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"women","id":"AAT25943"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"This cast shows a bust of a woman by an unknown sculptor in 13th-century Ravello, Southern Italy. The bust was once on the parapet of a staircase to the pulpit in the cathedral there. It is not known who the woman might be. She was once assumed to represent the Virgin Mary, but it has also been suggested that she might be Sigilgaita, the wife of the wealthy merchant who commissioned the pulpit.","date":{"text":"2014","earliest":"2014-01-01","latest":"2014-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["REPRO.1869-8"],"accessionNumberNum":"8","accessionNumberPrefix":"REPRO","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN2948","2019LN9551","2019LU3983","2019LV9518"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-10-05","availableToBook":false}}