Two Portraits by Giovanni Gonnelli

by Gerardo Moscariello

This volume presents the history of two busts owned by the Rob Smeets Gallery – a Portrait of Ferdinando II de’ Medici and a Portrait of a Gentleman – as well as their creator, Giovanni Gonnelli. Gonnelli was born in Gambassi, and joined the workshop of the Settignanese sculptor Chiarissimo Fancelli, himself a pupil of Giovanni Caccini and over Gonnelli continued his training in the renowned workshop of Pietro Tacca in Borgo Pinti.

Gonnelli left Florence and, according to Baldinucci, moved to Mantua, possibly at the explicit invitation of Duke Carlo I of Gonzaga-Nevers. He returned to Florence not after a decade of inactivity caused by blindness, but possibly already by 1633 – if one accepts the attribution of the terracotta bust of Cosimo II, now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello – possibly rejoining Tacca’s workshop for a brief period. By this point in his career, the artist had perfected his prodigious technique of shaping clay by studying his subjects solely through touch. Specialising in portraiture – a genre in which he was both prolific and highly sought after – Gonnelli earned extraordinary renown, not only in Italy but also among Europe’s leading dignitaries and was employed by the pope, cardinals, and the city’s most illustrious dignitaries, who almost competed to secure a portrait modelled by the Blindman of Gambassi.

Digital version available on
https://digital.casalini.it/9788874617999