{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O90420"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O90420/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AT3296/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AT3296/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AT3296","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT3295","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT3294","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT3195","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O90420/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O90420","accessionNumber":"A.29-1982","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Following their return to Florence in 1512 after being exiled in 1494, the Medici family sought to reassert their power. This painted terracotta bust of Giovanni de’ Medici documents the centrality of art to the family’s strategy. The head projects out over the chest, making the face more prominent when viewed from below. This feature suggests it was designed to be viewed from below and was perhaps placed above a doorway or in a niche above eye level (Boucher 2001).\n\r\nGiovanni is identifiable as a cardinal by his clerical cap (biretta), which was originally dark purple, and cloak (cassock). Given Cardinal Giovanni became Pope Leo X in March 1513, the bust was probably made between his return to Florence in 1512 and the papal election. \n\r\nThe face was cast from a life mask of Giovanni, while the rest of the bust was modelled. The use of a life mask is evident from the firing fissure running around the face, where the mould was attached to the modelled head and neck. Modelled and cast clay have different densities which results in different drying rates, sometimes causing firing cracks, as here. The modelled upper body was hollowed out to an even wall thickness, and tool and finger marks attesting to this procedure are visible from the underside of the bust (Boucher 2001). This method allowed for even drying of the clay, to prevent further cracking due to differences in the water content of the clay. \n\r\nThe process of life casting, which entailed taking a plaster mould of the patron’s face for cast reproductions, was popular throughout the Renaissance. Tuscan painter Cennino Cennini (1370 – c. 1440) wrote detailed instructions for life casting in his 1390s <i>Libro dell'Arte</i> (<i>The Craftsman’s Handbook</i>). \n\r\nLife-size painted terracotta busts and other votive images, often made of wax, were popular in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy and both materials were used to make casts of face masks. This bust is attributed to the workshop of Antonio de’Benintendi. Trained by his father Orsino de’ Benintendi, a wax sculptor who specialized in these votive images, Antonio would have been familiar with the appropriate techniques for making both life-cast terracotta busts and wax ex-votos. \n\r\nThe Benintendi workshop, first run by Orsino and later by Antonio, was the principal producer of effigies of the Medici family from the late 1400s onwards (Boucher 2001). \n\r\nClay analysis determined that the bust is likely made of loessic clay (Boucher et al. 1996; Analysis report and notes; Hubbard and Motture in Boucher 2001). This is a non-swelling type of clay, meaning it has lower water absorption and therefore shrinks less than most other types of clay when fired. Analysis using x-ray diffraction determined that the bust was fired between 500°c and 800°c, which would have further helped the clay retain its size (Boucher et al. 1996). Such material and technical considerations were important for portrait busts made from life masks or death masks, as the effigy needed to retain its life size. \n\r\nThe bust has undergone two conservation treatments since it entered the V&amp;A. Two layers of overpaint have been removed in these campaigns, revealing well-preserved original polychromy. \n\r\nPigment and material analysis carried out by the V&amp;A science section in collaboration with a conservator from the National Gallery revealed that the paint had traces of egg, likely used as a binding medium or to seal the paint. Traces of oil were also found, which slowed the drying time and facilitated the blending of pigments. This technique allowed the painter to achieve highly naturalistic flesh tones. Particular care was taken in painting the lips and stubble to give the bust a life-like appearance.\n\r\nThe bust is an important surviving example of fifteenth-century Florentine effigy and votive production. The material knowledge and technical skill employed demonstrate the specialized expertise of sculptors and painters in the Italian Renaissance. Using a life cast and naturalistic polychromy achieved a close likeness, speaking to the period interest in realism (Boucher 2001; Panzanelli 2008).\r\n\nLast updated: 24/07/2025","physicalDescription":"The figure has been identified as Giovanni de’ Medici based on comparisons with other depictions of him in paintings and medallions. \r\n\r\nGiovanni is depicted as a cardinal, with a cap (biretta) lined with red at the bottom, a white undershirt, and black cloak (cassock). \r\n\r\nThe right shoulder, right side of the nose, and right ear are damaged. Small firing cracks are visible. Around the face is a major crack from where the life mask mould was joined with the modelled neck and head.\r\n\r\nThere is original polychromy on the nose, indicating the damage occurred during production and was covered up during painting.\n\r\nTool and finger marks on the underside of the bust indicate it was hollowed out before firing. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"de' Benintendi, Antonio","id":"A11635"},"association":{"text":"workshop of","id":"x28708"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"terracotta","id":"AAT10669"},{"text":"","id":""}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},{"text":"moulding","id":"AAT53134"},{"text":"modelling","id":"AAT53130"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Polychrome terracotta","categories":[{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AT3296","2006AT3295","2006AT3294","2006AT3195"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"64","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"SCREEN3","shelf":"WW","box":"EXP"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"bust","id":"AAT47457"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Florence","id":"x28848"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1512","earliest":"1507-01-01","latest":"1516-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased under the bequest of Dr W. L. Hildburgh FSA.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"38.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"39","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"30","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The bust was purchased in Florence in May 1912 by J. Pierpoint Morgan from Professore Commendatore Elia Volpi. It was sold by the Pierpont Morgan Library at Christie’s on 11 December 1979 (lot 212), where it was bought by Howard Ricketts for £1,400. It was purchased by the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum from Rosewood Investments in 1982 for £2,800 (Dr W. L. Hildburgh Sculpture Fund).","historicalContext":"Giovanni de' Medici probably commissioned this bust from the workshop of Antonio de' Benintendi after his return to Florence in 1512 and before he was elected pope in 1513. \n\r\nThe bust is a well-preserved example of an effigy made from life casting techniques, a practice popular in Renaissance Italy. \r\n","briefDescription":"Terracotta bust of cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, ca. 1512, attributed to the workshop of Antonio de’ Benintendi.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Warren, Jeremy (ed.), with contributions by Seoyung Kim and Alexandra Kosinova. <i>The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Italian Sculpture</i>, volume 1. London: The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, 2016. See p. 86, fig. 15.3."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kohl, Jeanette. ‘Casting Renaissance Florence: the bust of Giovanni de’ Medici and indexical portraiture.’ In <i>Carving, Casts, and Collectors: The Art of Renaissance Sculpture</i>, edited by Peta Motture, Emma Jones, and Dimitrios Zikos, pp. 58-70. London: V&A Publishing, 2013."},{"reference":{"text":"Panzanelli, Roberta (ed.). <i>The Color of life: polychromy in sculpture from antiquity to the present</i>. Los Angeles: J Paul Getty Museum, 2008.","id":"AUTH356742"},"details":"","free":"See cat. no. 1, pp. 100-1."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Panzanelli, Roberta. ‘Compelling Presence: Wax Effigies in Renaissance Florence.’ In <i>Ephemeral Bodies: Wax Sculpture and the Human Figure</i>, edited by Roberta Panzanelli, pp. 13-39. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2008. See especially p. 18."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Fisher, Wendy. ‘Terracotta.’ In <i>The Making of Sculpture: The materials and techniques of European Sculpture</i>, edited by Marjorie Trusted. London: V&A Publishing, 2007. See p. 42, pl. 67."},{"reference":{"text":"Boucher, Bruce, (ed.), <i>Earth and Fire, Italian Sculpture from Donatello to Canova</i> New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2001.","id":"AUTH353458"},"details":"","free":"See Charlotte Hubbard and Peta Motture on pp. 93-4, and cat. no. 28, pp. 162-5."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Luchs, Alison. ‘Lorenzo from Life? Renaissance Portrait Busts of Lorenzo de' Medici.’ <i>The Sculpture Journa</i>l IV (2000): 6-23. See p. 18 and fig. 26."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Boucher, Bruce, Anne Broderick, and Nigel Wood. ‘A terracotta bust of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici.’ Antologia di Belle Arti: La Scultura II, Studi in Onore di Andrew Ciechanowiecki 52-55 (1996): 32-9."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gentilini, Giancarlo. ‘Il beato sorore di Santa Maria della Scale.’ <i>Antologia di Belle Arti: La Scultura Studi in Onore di Andrew Ciechanowiecki vol. II</i>, 52-55 (1996): 17-31. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kosinova, Alexandra. ‘The Conservation of the Portrait Bust of Giovanni de' Medici.’ <i>Victoria and Albert Conservation Journal</i> no. 17 (1995): 14-5."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Broderick, Anne. ‘The construction, composition, and firing methods of some Han Dynasty architectural ceramics from tombs: the application of results to the study of European clays.’ In <i>Proceedings of International Symposium</i> (1992)."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Masi, Gino. ‘La ceroplastica in Firenze nei secoli XV-XVI e la famiglia Benintendi.’ <i>Rivista d’arte</i> IX (1916): 124-42."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Pope Leo X, Giovanni de' Medici (Cardinal)","id":"N4925"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["A.29-1982"],"accessionNumberNum":"29","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1982,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2025PC0386","2019LN8074","2019LU6461","2019LV2204","2019LW2907"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-09-11","recordCreationDate":"2004-01-28","availableToBook":false}}