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Lot Essay
Little is known about the early life of Severo di Domenico Calzetta - popularly known as Severo da Ravenna - despite the efforts of numerous scholars over the past few decades (for the most recent essay on the sculptor see J. Warren, 'Severo Calzetta detto Severo da Ravenna' in Donatello, op. cit., pp. 131-143). He was born in either Ravenna or Ferrara to a sculptor father and may have trained with Pietro Lombardo in his early years. By 1500 he is recorded as being in Padua but he appears to have returned to Ravenna around 1510 and spent the remainder of his working life there.
Severo is thought to be one of the few sculptors of the period who was also capable of executing his own casts, and his workshop developed a widespread clientele for small bronzes. He was patronised by some of the most important figures of his day, including Isabella d'Este, who paid Severo for a bronze figure of Hercules in June 1527 (ibid, p. 134), but also produced objects for everyday use.
The present casket is known in at least one other version, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. 4673-1858). That casket incorporates the coat-of-arms of the Rasponi family of Ravenna. Although Bode, in his 1913 publication of the collection, refers to the maker of the Beit casket as being 'Federico da Ravenna', Warren suggests (ibid, p. 140) that the name on the underside of the lid is, in fact, the name of the man who commissioned the casket, and on whose desk this piece would originally have sat.
Severo is thought to be one of the few sculptors of the period who was also capable of executing his own casts, and his workshop developed a widespread clientele for small bronzes. He was patronised by some of the most important figures of his day, including Isabella d'Este, who paid Severo for a bronze figure of Hercules in June 1527 (ibid, p. 134), but also produced objects for everyday use.
The present casket is known in at least one other version, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. 4673-1858). That casket incorporates the coat-of-arms of the Rasponi family of Ravenna. Although Bode, in his 1913 publication of the collection, refers to the maker of the Beit casket as being 'Federico da Ravenna', Warren suggests (ibid, p. 140) that the name on the underside of the lid is, in fact, the name of the man who commissioned the casket, and on whose desk this piece would originally have sat.