Desiderio da Settignano

Florentine, c. 1429 - 1464

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Italian artist (1430-1464)

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A man wearing a cloak tied around his body kneels with his hands together at the foot of a crucifix, set against a rocky outcropping on this stone panel. The scene is shallowly carved in low relief from pale, apricot-peach marble. Both the kneeling man, Saint Jerome, and the man hanging on the cross have raised, disk-like halos. Slightly right of center, the kneeling man looks up at the cross from under heavy brows. He has hollow cheekbones and short hair. His robe is tied over his shoulders and falls across his hips, but his feet and slender arms are bare. The man on the cross is smaller in scale, less than half the size of Saint Jerome. He hangs heavily from his hands, which are nailed into the cross, and his head falls forward. He is nude except for a loincloth across his hips. A rocky, hut-like form fills the space behind Saint Jerome. A few details are lightly carved so are visible only on closer inspection. These include a smaller cross along the left edge of the panel and a skull at the base of the crucifix. Between the crucifix and rocky structure, a male and female lion run toward Saint Jerome, mouths open. In the space between Saint Jerome and the right edge of the panel, another person is lightly carved into the background. He runs to our right while looking back over one shoulder, perhaps at the lions. One hand is flung high, his mouth wide open, and his hair stands on end. His voluminous robe flutters around his body. Beyond him, triangular trees recede into the distance under a cloud-streaked sky.
Desiderio da Settignano, Saint Jerome in the Desert, c. 1461, marble, Widener Collection, 1942.9.113

Saint Jerome in the Desert

Desiderio da Settignano · c. 1461 · marble ·  Accession ID  1942.9.113

Desiderio da Settignano, The Christ Child (?), c. 1460, marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.94

The Christ Child (?)

Desiderio da Settignano · c. 1460 · marble ·  Accession ID  1943.4.94

Florentine 15th Century, Desiderio da Settignano, Florentine 19th Century, Ciborium for the Sacrament, 1460s-c.1470 (stem with integral base); probably 1860s-c. 1870 (dome, enclosure, base beneath enclosure); 1870s (finial, bottom plinth), marble, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.100

Ciborium for the Sacrament

Florentine 15th Century, Desiderio da Settignano, Florentine 19th Century · 1460s-c.1470 (stem with integral base); probably 1860s-c. 1870 (dome, enclosure, base beneath enclosure); 1870s (finial, bottom plinth) · marble ·  Accession ID  1952.5.100

This free-standing, white marble bust shows the head, shoulders, and upper chest of a young boy. In this photograph, the sculpture is angled to our right. The boy has full cheeks, a slightly upturned nose, and short, wavy hair. He stares straight ahead, his faint eyebrows slighty lifted. His loose garment drapes from his right shoulder, on our left, down and across his chest to just below his left shoulder.
Desiderio da Settignano, A Little Boy, 1455/1460, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.113

A Little Boy

Desiderio da Settignano · 1455/1460 · marble ·  Accession ID  1937.1.113