Francesco di Giovanni Ferrucci (called Francesco del Tadda) - Head of Christ
One of the sculpted gems of the National Gallery in Prague collections was created for the Florentine magnate Cosimo I de´ Medici, who showed the sculpture to Michelangelo and the latter "was amazed" (according to Giorgio Vasari´s record). Among other things, Michelangelo must have admired the processing of the stone, which is both rare and hard to work with. Tadda used red porphyry for the profile of Christ´s head and the so-called verde antico - the green porphyry for the background, which bears Hebrew inscriptions "Jesus" and "Nazarene". The rear side shows an inscription, which proves the importance of this work for Taddo himself: "I was formed by Fiesole" - with which the artist refers to his native town, a traditional place of stonecutting art. As early as 1565 this piece was in the Viennese collection of Emperor Maxmilian II, and later arrived in the renowned collection of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague.
date:
measurements: height 46 cm
width 35 cm
material: red porphyry and verde antico
technique: relief
inscription:
inventory number: P 5
gallery collection: Collection of Old Masters