Bearded Man

Object Type

An interest in antique culture and artefacts prompted the revival of the bronze statuette in 15th-century Italy. By the mid-16th century, when this bronze was made, sophisticated reproduction techniques were used. This model is known in five bronze versions and there is a wax version in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Design & Designing

The designer of this work is unknown, but it has been associated with Michelangelo, or one of his followers, and with Alessandro Vittoria (1525-1608) who ran an important workshop in Venice. Drawings of this figure were made by the Venetian painter, Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594), who possibly copied a version made of cheaper material, such as plaster, clay or wax. The use of sculptural models for pictorial design was common practice.

Ownership & Use

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Bronzes statuettes of this kind were often housed alongside antique examples by wealthy collectors, and displayed on shelves in their studies, above doorways and other settings.They would also have been handled and admired by their owners. The only way to see the face of this bronze properly is to turn it in one's hands to appreciate the spiral composition of the figure more fully.