Like most sculptors before Michelangelo, Desiderio da Settignano was long overlooked by scholars. And yet Desiderio, who may have begun his career in Donatello's workshop, became one of the most original and influential sculptors in Florence. His impact is clear in the numerous replicas of his Virgin and Child reliefs as well as copies of the Bambino in the Basilica of San Lorenzo. His work, showing an early interest in sfumato, may even have influenced the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. Sweetness, strength, and luminosity are the principal qualities of Desiderio's oeuvre. The expressive power, emotion, lightness, and grace visible in his work affirm the place he now occupies in the history of art. This beautifully illustrated book, which was produced to accompany the first retrospective devoted to his work, invites us to discover one of the most important sculptors of the Florentine Renaissance.
288 pages, 160 color, 50 b+w | 8 x 11 inches
