A STONE BASE FOR A COLUMN

That this base for a column is by a master is clear. The hyper-sophisticated design, and that the stone-carver was able to translate this fantasy into the third-dimension, turns this into a tour-de-force of Renaissance workmanship. And, while there are losses, what remains is almost miraculous given the delicacy of the carving. It seems very likely this piece was carved by Benedetto da Rovezzano’s workshop, if not by the hand of the master himself. There are many examples of da Rovezzano’s that relate to the present piece, such as the celebrated fireplace originally for the Palazzo Borgherini and now in Florence’s Muzeo Nazionale (especially the flanking columns and capitals), the Centafio Soderini, Florence, Santa Maria del Carmine and the Altoviti tomb in Santi Apostoli, Florence, among others. However, without question, the present lot is most closely connected to da Rovezzano’s Tomb of San Giovanni Gualberto, Museo di San Salvi in the Convent of San Salvi, Florence. Da Rovezzano arrived in Florence in 1505 for this project and it was largely completed in 1515. The siege of Florence in 1530 damaged the monument and this project, possibly da Rovezzano’s most spectacular, was destroyed and survives only in fragments. The surviving decorative panels, with their grotesque amalgams of humans and animals, often with dolphin tails, and with other arabesque motives and fluttering ribbons – all carved with extreme delicacy --  are some of da Rovezzano’s most intimate and impressive work. And all, both in design and execution, recall this column base. One panel, in particular, is extremely close to the present lot, that with the two eagles, wings spread, above fruiting cornucopia with ribbons between them (see E. Luporini, ‘Battista Pandolfini e Benedetto da Rovezzano nella Badia Fiorentina. Documenti per la datazione,’ Prospettiva, no. 33/36 (April, 1983-January, 1984), pp. 112-123 and particularly figs. 9 and 10.).