Study after a Bust by Benedetto da Maiano

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Drawing details

Title: Study after a Bust by Benedetto da Maiano
Date: 1853
Media: Pencil on white paper
Dimensions: 29.8 x 23.3 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/0940
Inscriptions: Inscribed, monographed and dated, upper right "Pietro Mellini ..aff. da. Ben. Majano / (busto artist. agh Uffizi in Firenze.) / 18 FL 53" in pencil, in the artist's hand. Inscribed lower left "8" in pencil. Stamped lower left "LLC" encircled, embosse

Interpretation

This bust from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is of the Florentine merchant Pietro Mellini (d.1483) and was made by Benedetto da Maiano (Italian sculptor, 1442-1497) in 1474. This drawing was owned by the architect Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905). Waterhouse and Leighton were both living in Rome in the early 1850s. As they shared mutual friends, it is very likely that they met during that time.

Description

Study of the head of the bust of Pietro Mellini (1474) by Benedetto da Maiano (Italian sculptor, 1442-1497). The bust is shown facing the viewer. The collar of the robes are also indicated. Unlike the actual bust, the pupils of the eyes are indicated. 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (n+e Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (n+e Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); purchased by the Fine Art Society in 1896 (Fine Art Society reference number Q46); collection of Alfred Waterhouse RA (architect, 1830 - 1905); presented to Leighton House Museum by Waterhouse in c.1897 

Bibliography

• Anon., 'Catalogue of Drawings by the late Lord Leighton Preserved for the Nation', Leighton House Committee, 1897, catalogue number 17 "Studies of heads"
• Barrington, Mrs. Emilie Isabel, 'Catalogue: Lord Leighton's House and What it Contains', 1900, reprinted as part of 'A Collection of Essays on Lord Leighton and his Works with Illustrated Catalogue of the Contents of Leighton House', privately published, London, 1900-01, p.168 catalogue number 47 

Exhibition history

• 09 April 1900 to at least 1936, 'The Leighton House Collection' (intended to be a permanent display), Leighton House Museum, London, catalogue number 47 (exhibited in the Silk Room)