Research | Queen’s University Canada

Santa Fina
Santa Fina
Una D’Elia
Pietro Torrigiani, a competitor of Michelangelo, carved this bust of a saint out of marble and then painted it so that blood seems to run in this determined young girl's veins. This lively piece, made over five hundred years ago, is an example of the kind of naturalistic sculptures that have been little studied, as most scholars focus on monochrome "high art" statuary. The sculptures I am studying were not confined to museums, but were a part of the social lives of Italian men and women, who talked to, touched, kissed, worshipped, attacked, and dressed sometimes uncannily realistic coloured sculptures.
Location of photograph:
Musei Civici, San Gimignano, Italy
Affiliation:
Faculty, Art History and Art Conservation
Submission Year:
2015-16