Lucrezia Donati

ca. 1865 · Bust

Can I see it?

Unknown

Where is “Lucrezia Donati” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Unknown.

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.

In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the sculpture

This is a marble bust made by Giovanni Bastianini in Florence, Italy in about 1865. The bust purports to represent Lucrezia Donati, the mistress of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Its style is a pastiche of that of the Florentine 15th century sculptor Mino da Fiesole, and at its first appearance it was declared to be the masterpiece of Mino by the art historian Cavalcaselle. The bust was exposed as a forgery by Dr. Alessandro Foresi in 1868, who acquired it at high price from Giovanni Freppa, and it was a forgery of exceptional quality that the V&A acquired for £84 (a price then comparable to that paid for genuine Renaissance pieces) in 1869.

Read on

From the mid-nineteenth century ealry Renaissance sculpture was in high demand and short supply. The Florentine dealer Freppa found a solution to this problem in the sculptor Bastianini, who worked for him from about 1850 to 1867. The well known art historian Cavalcaselle was overwhelmed when he saw the present bust and offered to place it on exhibition in the Bargello. Giovanni Bastianini (1830 – 1868) was an Italian sculptor who started as a stonecutter in the quarries at Fiesole. Bastianini's name became famous in relation to his skillfull art forgery. Bastianini loved Renaissance sculpture and took this for his main inspiration. For Freppa he produced numerous neo-Renaissance works, most often busts and bas-reliefs in the style of Donatello, Verrocchio, Mino de Fiesole and other Italian masters.

Victoria and Albert Museum