New Advent
 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 
 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 
New Advent
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > S > Desiderio da Settignano

Desiderio da Settignano

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Born at Settignano, Tuscany, 1428; died at Florence, 1463. He is said to have been the son of a stone-cutter and was admitted to the association of "Maestri di Pietra" (stone-workers) in 1453. He studied under Donatello, from whom no doubt he acquired the characteristics of fineness, joyfulness, elegance, and distinction which cause his work to be often confused with his master's. In spite of his brief life his name ranks among those of the great artists of his day. His chief productions are: the architectural tomb covered with fine sculpture of Carlo Marsuppini, secretary of the republic, in the Church of St. Croce; a marble tabernacle at San Lorenzo with a charming standing figure of the Child Jesus; a very interesting bust of Marietta Strozzi in the Strozzi Palace; a graceful relief of the Madonna and Infant on the corner of the Palazzo Panciatichi; portrait bust of a young girl in the Bargello; the wooden statue of the Magdalen over her altar in the Church of St. Trinità (finished by Benedetto da Majano); and a bust in the Palazzo Pubblico at Forli. Besides these, mention should be made of a number of works attributed to Desiderio by some authorities and by others to Donatello or his school — a Pietà in San Lorenzo, Florence; a Beatrice d'Este in the Louvre; a Virgin and Child in the South Kensington Museum, London; a portrait bust of a young woman in the Museum, Berlin; the "Child Laughing" in the Benda Collection, Vienna; and the well-known relief of St. Cecilia in the collection of Lord Wemyss, London.

Sources

PERKINS, Tuscan Sculptors (London, 1886); CICOGNARA, Storia della scultura (Venice, 1853); BODE, Denkmaler der Renaissance-Sculptur Toscanas (Munich, 1905).

About this page

APA citation. Handley, M.L. (1912). Desiderio da Settignano. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13741a.htm

MLA citation. Handley, Marie Louise. "Desiderio da Settignano." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13741a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph E. O'Connor.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT