A major exhibition devoted to Vincenzo Danti is to be held at the Bargello Museum in Florence. The reason for the exhibition is the recent restoration of his best-known bronze group.
The artist who produced the statues representing the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist above the ‘Doors of Paradise’ of the Baptistry also produced many other sculptures, most of which are held in the Bargello Museum.
Danti worked for a long time in the service of the Medici family alongside Giambologna. The exhibition comprises works held in various museums around the world and offers a good opportunity for assessing his oeuvre.
Born in Perugia in 1530, Danti was not a pupil of Michelangelo in the strict sense of the term, but worked in his shadow, carefully studying Michelangelo’s stylistic forms and taking him as a model. Even the large bronze statue of Julius III produced by Danti between 1553 and 1555 is based on the Michelangelesque prototype for the statue of Julius II.
Apart from the sculptures held in Florence, there are works on loan from The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City), the National Gallery of Art (Washington DC), the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Civiche Raccolte d’Arte and Castello Sforzesco (Milan) and the Musée Jacquemart-André (Paris). The other works are normally held in museums in Perugia.
The exhibition runs from 16 April to 7 September at the Bargello National Museum.
For further information visit www.danti2008.it
