This bust depicting the humanist poet Antonio Galli may have come from Galli’s funerary monument in the church of San Francesco in Urbino, in central Italy. The sitter was associated with a circle of prominent Renaissance poets that included Pietro Aretino, whose portrait by Titian is also in the Frick’s collection. Galli worked under the duke of Urbino, Guidobaldo II della Rovere, educating the duke’s son, Francesco Maria II, and he served as ambassador to the Venetian Republic and to two popes, Paul III and Julius III. Here, the sculptor conveys with subtlety the texture of Galli’s sumptuous doublet, which opens at the neck to show the slight ruffle of his shirt collar, and his beard, which frames his mouth, held open as if to speak. The Urbino-based sculptor, Federico Brandani, did not originally include the inscription of the sitter’s name that is visible today. It was probably added when the bust was detached from the funerary monument.
Antonio Galli
The portrait is identified as Antonio Galli (1510–61) by an inscription on the base, added at a later date. A distinguished diplomat, poet, and humanist, Galli served Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, as tutor to his son and as his ambassador at prestigious posts in Rome and Venice. As poet he wrote sonnets, odes, pastorals, and a version of the Psalms. Galli knew Pietro Aretino, Ariosto, Tasso, and other literary notables of his day.
The essentials of this man's nature and status are delineated in his bronze portrait with a precision and restraint to match the subject's own character. His carefully detailed costume, with its brocaded doublet, stiff collar framing a ruffled shirt, and woven buttons, is rich but not ostentatious. His head recalls classical portraits of noble leaders or philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius. The brow is lofty, the eyes with their deeply cut pupils and slight circles sagging beneath them are reflective. The full lower lip, brushed by a softly waving moustache and beard, seems sensuous. The poet-courtier is portrayed as the dignified, intelligent, and sympathetic personality he must have been.
The attribution of the bust to Brandani was made on the basis of similarities to his sculpture in stucco and terracotta, especially to his masterpiece, the Nativity group in the Oratory of S. Giuseppe, Urbino. No other work in bronze has yet been ascribed to Brandani.
Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.
Baron Achille Seillière, Château de Mello, Oise. His sale, May 5–10, 1890, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Lot 446, withdrawn. His sale, March 9, 1911, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Lot 72, sold for 185,000 francs to Jacques Seligmann. Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, Paris. Baron Maurice de Rothschild, Paris. Duveen. Frick, 1916.
Source: Sculpture in The Frick Collection: Italian. Volume III. New York: The Frick Collection, 1970.
