Donatello and Verrocchio
Rediscovered Masterpieces

edited by Timothy Verdon

Exhibition catalogue, Florence, Opera of the Duomo Museum, 21 October 2016-26 February 2017

Two sculptures – a terracotta bust of St Lawrence and a terracotta relief of the Beheading of St John the Baptist – from the Collection of Peter Silverman e Kathleen Onorato exhibited at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence shed light on important masterpieces conserved in the museum, revealing links with other creations and other artists from the first half of the 15th century. The St Lawrence – recently acknowledged by Francesco Caglioti to be an original piece by Donatello – presents the early Christian martyr as a young, handsome and calm cleric, inviting comparison with numerous other works by the artist, which likewise establish a relationship between youthful masculine beauty and heroic trust in God. The terracotta relief of the Beheading of St John the Baptist has a much more direct link with the Opera del Duomo, as Alessandro Vezzosi reports in his acute observations. It is practically the same size and features the same figurative and perspectival/architectural composition as the relief commissioned from Andrea del Verrocchio for the Silver Altar.

Digital version available on
http://digital.casalini.it/9788874615377