Lot Essay
Giovanni Caccini appears to have been trained as a sculptor in Rome by Giovan Antonio Dosio. Master and pupil moved to Florence around 1575, and in so doing were following the example of Giovanni's elder brother, Giulio, who was a distinguished musician and - together with Jacopo Peri - one of the founders of opera. Giovanni's Roman training and deep understanding of antique sculpture never left him, but he is generally - and rightly - regarded as a member of the Florentine school (Pratesi, loc. cit.).
Sculpture in Florence during the last quarter of the sixteenth century was dominated by the towering figure of Giambologna, like Caccini an outsider who swiftly assimilated. Caccini is recorded in a document of 1578 as being at work in Giambologna's workshop ('sta in bottegha di Gio. Bologna. a Sta. M. Nov.'), but it is not specified in what capacity. Nothing suggests, however, that he was a simple apprentice, and at least one of the works he was engaged on - a bust of Charlemagne now in Santi Apostoli (Keutner, op. cit., p. 334, fig. 2) - has survived, and is an entirely independent production.
Furthermore, as has been argued most cogently by Keutner (loc. cit.), Caccini's whole approach as a sculptor is strikingly different from that of Giambologna. He worked predominantly in marble, does not appear to have produced bronze statuettes in any profusion, and eschewed the dramatic contrapposti and elaborately mouvementé poses of so-called mannerist sculpture. Instead he achieved a serenity that harks back to the early cinquecento in Florence, as it is represented in painting by artists such as Fra Bartolommeo and Mariotto Albertinelli. There is even, as there is with these painters, at least an element of quattrocento revival. Keutner (op. cit., p. 338) compares Caccini's art with that of Ludovico Cardi, called Cigoli, but an arguably even more resonant parallel is to be found in the quietism of Cigoli's mentor, Santi di Tito.
This bust of Christ, together with a companion piece representing the Virgin, whose present whereabouts are unknown, was executed for one of a pair of tabernacles for the Benedetti and Anselmi families on either side of the nave of the Dominican basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Each crowned a monument designed by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti: the former contained Cigoli's Assassination of St. Peter Martyr (Faranda, loc. cit.), the latter Jacopo da Empoli's signed and dated Vision of St. Hyacinth of 1594 (Marabottini, loc. cit.). An inscription on the Benedetti tabernacle dated 1598 suggests that the project was being worked on in the years 1593-1598. The tabernacles were dismantled during an extensive remodelling of the church in 1858-60 but are still preserved at Santa Maria Novella. A drawing by Empoli in the Uffizi shows the appearance of the Anselmi tabernacle minus Caccini's Virgin (Marabottini, op. cit., pp. 190-191, no. 26a). The bust of Christ was subsequently acquired directly from the monastery in 1876 as a work of Pietro Francavilla (Keutner, op. cit., p. 336).
Caccini's Christ was intended to be seen from below, and needed to capture attention from a certain distance. Yet one of its most remarkable features is the exquisite quality of its finish, not only in the flesh and hair, but also and most particularly in the drapery. The 1590's were a very busy and highly successful period in Caccini's career, with commissions flooding in from Pisa, Orvieto, and Naples, as well as major undertakings for the Palazzo Vecchio and the Church of Santo Spirito in Florence. Nevertheless, none of these works surpasses the bust of Christ the Redeemer, in which Caccini manages to combine tranquil spirituality and technical virtuosity to create a supreme work of art.
Sculpture in Florence during the last quarter of the sixteenth century was dominated by the towering figure of Giambologna, like Caccini an outsider who swiftly assimilated. Caccini is recorded in a document of 1578 as being at work in Giambologna's workshop ('sta in bottegha di Gio. Bologna. a Sta. M. Nov.'), but it is not specified in what capacity. Nothing suggests, however, that he was a simple apprentice, and at least one of the works he was engaged on - a bust of Charlemagne now in Santi Apostoli (Keutner, op. cit., p. 334, fig. 2) - has survived, and is an entirely independent production.
Furthermore, as has been argued most cogently by Keutner (loc. cit.), Caccini's whole approach as a sculptor is strikingly different from that of Giambologna. He worked predominantly in marble, does not appear to have produced bronze statuettes in any profusion, and eschewed the dramatic contrapposti and elaborately mouvementé poses of so-called mannerist sculpture. Instead he achieved a serenity that harks back to the early cinquecento in Florence, as it is represented in painting by artists such as Fra Bartolommeo and Mariotto Albertinelli. There is even, as there is with these painters, at least an element of quattrocento revival. Keutner (op. cit., p. 338) compares Caccini's art with that of Ludovico Cardi, called Cigoli, but an arguably even more resonant parallel is to be found in the quietism of Cigoli's mentor, Santi di Tito.
This bust of Christ, together with a companion piece representing the Virgin, whose present whereabouts are unknown, was executed for one of a pair of tabernacles for the Benedetti and Anselmi families on either side of the nave of the Dominican basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Each crowned a monument designed by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti: the former contained Cigoli's Assassination of St. Peter Martyr (Faranda, loc. cit.), the latter Jacopo da Empoli's signed and dated Vision of St. Hyacinth of 1594 (Marabottini, loc. cit.). An inscription on the Benedetti tabernacle dated 1598 suggests that the project was being worked on in the years 1593-1598. The tabernacles were dismantled during an extensive remodelling of the church in 1858-60 but are still preserved at Santa Maria Novella. A drawing by Empoli in the Uffizi shows the appearance of the Anselmi tabernacle minus Caccini's Virgin (Marabottini, op. cit., pp. 190-191, no. 26a). The bust of Christ was subsequently acquired directly from the monastery in 1876 as a work of Pietro Francavilla (Keutner, op. cit., p. 336).
Caccini's Christ was intended to be seen from below, and needed to capture attention from a certain distance. Yet one of its most remarkable features is the exquisite quality of its finish, not only in the flesh and hair, but also and most particularly in the drapery. The 1590's were a very busy and highly successful period in Caccini's career, with commissions flooding in from Pisa, Orvieto, and Naples, as well as major undertakings for the Palazzo Vecchio and the Church of Santo Spirito in Florence. Nevertheless, none of these works surpasses the bust of Christ the Redeemer, in which Caccini manages to combine tranquil spirituality and technical virtuosity to create a supreme work of art.