by Michael Riddick
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Pietro Torrigiano’s reception as a talented artist has traditionally been obscured due to the lack of accessibility to his collective work, a deficiency of documentary evidence concerning his life and activity and the general disdain given to his persona by Giorgio Vasari1 and Benvenuto Cellini2 in their accounts of him. Both men recount how Torrigiano famously broke Michelangelo’s nose in a fist-fight as the two artists taunted one another about whose skills were greater in copying works by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel at the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence during their youth.
In spite of his conceits, Torrigiano was recognized as a talented sculptor and Vasari praised his “bold and excellent” skill with works held in “great estimation.”3 Francisco de Holanda, in 1548, also cited Torrigiano as one of the ten most important sculptors of the Renaissance.4 Evidence for this is found in the various commissions Torrigiano received from the wealthiest patrons in Europe to include: Margaret of Austria, Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII of England, and possibly also Emperor Charles VI and Empress Isabella of Portugal. Torrigiano’s tomb for King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in Westminster Abbey was his most grandiose production (Fig. 01), judged by the art historian, John Pope-Hennessy as “the finest Renaissance tomb north of the Alps.”5
Torrigiano’s career as an artist, and for a period, also a soldier, entailed a great deal of travel. He remains one of the few Florentine Renaissance artists to work outside of Italy and is the first documented Italian Renaissance artist active in England. He is historically recognized as one of the first to diffuse Italian Renaissance styles into other parts of Europe.
Torrigiano’s surviving sculptures are comprised of works in bronze, terracotta and marble. Vasari noted Torrigiano’s particular skill in the medium of terracotta and also commented on the small bronzes and marbles he produced for Florentine merchants,6 a clientele whose sponsorship would entail his most significant commissions and whose international networks gained him his work abroad.
Particularly unique is a previously unpublished sculpture whose free-standing representation of Saint Francis of Paola, is realized in wood (Fig. 02). Although removed from its original context, the saint’s identity is revealed by his black wool tunic with broad sleeves, a hood, and a short scapular consonant with the Minim habit belonging to St. Francis and his followers.
Features of the St. Francis sculpture indicate other elements may have once accompanied him, such as his staff and a kneeling companion at his side, perhaps forming part of a figure group depicting St. Francis flanked by his two Franciscan brothers praying as they miraculously cross the Strait of Messina or one of any other miracles or visions attributed to the saint.
By art historical standards, Torrigiano is best known for his hyper-realistic polychrome terracotta portrait busts of merchants, nobles and royalty and is not traditionally recognized as a wood sculptor. However, like other Cinquecento sculptors of Florentine origin, Torrigiano would have gained expertise in a variety of mediums inclusive of terracotta, bronze, stone and wood. His youthful instruction under the tutelage of Bertoldo di Giovanni in the Medici family’s San Marco Gardens, would have aptly prepared him for such a range of talent, instructed alongside other future notables like Michelangelo, Giovan Francesco Rustici, Lorenzo di Credi, Baccio da Montelupo, Andrea Sansovino, et al.7
While no previously identified works in wood by Torrigiano are known, Vasari does mention Torrigiano made in England “an endless number of works in marble, bronze and wood, competing with some masters of that country, to all of whom he proved superior.”8
Only one known document records Torrigiano’s work in the medium of wood. As part of his first English commission for the Tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1511, Torrigiano designed and carved a wooden model of the tomb chest employing Italian decorative motifs in preparation for its realization.9
While his work in the medium of wood is hardly recorded, his skill in free-standing sculpture is emphatic of the period leading up to his involvement with Lady Margaret’s tomb.
A contract of 4 April 1504 cites payment to Clément Delamotte from Orléans, a painter who was tasked with polychroming a life-size terracotta sculptural group of the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John Torrigiano modeled for the sacristy of the Church of the Cordeliers in Avignon, France.10 Avignon was then a papal-state and the commission was sponsored by the Florentine merchants Francesco and Giovanni Baroncelli. Regrettably, the church was destroyed during the French Revolution and no trace of these works by Torrigiano survive.
However, a bronze Head of Christ, attributed to Torrigiano, preserved at the Musée Calvet in Avignon, is an alleged vestige of his activity there. The effigy follows several other heads of Christ in marble and terracotta confidently ascribed to Torrigiano’s invention.11 The bust features a similar facial physiognomy and beard whose cheek and jaw hair and curved and striated details descending Christ’s chin echo a similar suave motion and manner also observed on the sculpture of St. Francis (Fig. 03).
After his work in Avignon in 1504, Torrigiano is in Florence where he receives his wife’s dowry that same year12 and in 1505-06 he is cited in Rome, having purchased from Jacopo Galli (Michelangelo’s banker), two marble blocks.13 Like Michelangelo and Raphael, Torrigiano appears to have operated between Rome and Florence during the period prior to his departure for to the Netherlands and thence to England.
In the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria’s commission for a free-standing sculpture of Hercules in Bruges, completed by April of 1510, is evidence of Torrigiano’s continued capability with free-standing sculpture before his focus shifts to the design and execution of royal tombs in England.14
The sculpture of St. Francis of Paola descends from an Italian collection and while its provenance is untraced it has theoretically remained in Italy since its creation. The sculpture is suggestive of Torrigiano’s adept skill in carving free-standing statuary just prior to his activity in England where he is presumed to have arrived as early as 1506-07 although he is not officially documented there until 1511.15
Although Torrigiano was realizing life-size free standing statuary prior to his presence in England it is unlikely the sculpture of St. Francis could have been realized before his departure as the saint was not canonized until 1519, the same year Torrigiano returned from England, arriving in Florence to recruit assistants for further commissions he had received in England for the High Altar of Henry VII’s chapel and the monumental Tomb of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon at Westminster Abbey (the latter never begun by Torrigiano and the former destroyed by Puritanical iconoclasts in 1644).16
Cellini’s record of Torrigiano’s attempt to recruit him in Florence for the English commissions confirms Torrigiano’s return in 151917 as well as contracts from September and October which document his employ of two sculptors and a painter he successfully recruited for the effort.18
Scholarship tends to accept Torrigiano returned to England in 1519 with his assistants to complete the High Altar of Henry VII’s tomb, originally commissioned significantly earlier on 5 March 1517.19 However, no documents confirm his reprise in the country. Rather, Cinzia Maria Sicca suggests he never returned to England due to tensions in diplomacy stoked by Torrigiano’s unauthorized departure from London in 1519.20
At the end of 1518 Torrigiano petitioned Cardinal Thomas Wolsey with a request to return to Florence to recruit artists and purchase materials to complete unfinished works (his commission for the High Altar), explaining that his desire to leave England had been delayed due to his enduring wait on the settlement for his work on the elaborate tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His desire to leave London was apparently ungranted.21
In January of 1519 he received the important commission for the Tomb of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.22 Perhaps impatient and enthusiastic to begin work, Torrigiano left London for Florence without royal permission in June of 1519 and with 1,000 pounds sterling worth of promissory notes for the High Altar.23
However, Torrigiano’s departure without royal sanction jeopardized the reputation of the Florentine merchants, Giovanni Cavalcanti and Pierfrancesco de’ Bardi, responsible for backing the commissions, and hindering potential relations between the English crown and the Florentine Medici Pope Leo X, later resulting in the Pope’s request that Cavalcanti commission a new model for the tomb from Baccio Bandinelli in 1521.24 A disparaging letter from the Florentine Consulate in London to the Signoria of Florence sought to cancel the promissory notes to ensure Torrigiano was not granted payment in Florence.25 The letter from the Consul to the Signoria did not reach Florence until August and it is uncertain if or when Torrigiano’s funds were nullified. Sicca suggests the tension with his sponsors and patrons may have resulted in Torrigiano’s apparently disrupted ambitions with the Tomb for Henry VIII.26
Further, the extent of Torrigiano’s involvement with the High Altar commission of 1517 may be questioned. Alan Darr notes “Torrigiano’s work on the High Altar seems to have proceeded slowly at first, if at all.”26 It is to be wondered if Torrigiano’s concerns over payment expressed in the 1518 letter to Wolsey were reason for his apparent delay in beginning the High Altar. In fact, he doesn’t seem to take action on it until he has funds in-hand and goes straight away to Florence to recruit workers for both the High Altar and the newly contracted Tomb for Henry VIII.
It would seem Torrigiano occupied himself with other commissions while waiting for settlement on the Henry VII tomb. Other works he completed in England could have been realized before or during the period preceding his departure to Florence in June of 1519. These include the marble and terracotta wall tombs of Dr. John Yonge (d. 1516) and Dean John Colet (d. 1519), a marble head of Christ the Redeemer for Abbott Islip’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey and the terracotta bust of Sir Gilbert Talbot (d. 1517).
The High Altar was not officially complete until 1526 when Benedetto da Rovezzano, another Florentine sculptor, erected it.27 It remains possible the High Altar could have been completed by other artists working from Torrigiano’s proposed designs, while Bandinelli was subsequently commissioned to complete the never-realized and incredibly ambitious tomb for Henry VIII. Lastly, a transfer of land in Florence from Torrigiano to his nephew on 17 June 1525 may also suggest his continued presence in Italy rather than England after returning to Italy in 1519.28
The skillful carving with which the St.Francis sculpture is wrought belongs to what Darr defines as the third stage of Torrigiano’s career: a period from 1510-28 in which Torrigiano is active as a mature master and an internationally recognized sculptor.29 The articulation of the subject’s expressive character anticipates Torrigiano’s masterfully realized Penitent Jerome for the convent of Buena Vista made toward the end of his life (Fig. 04).
The canonization of St. Francis of Paola in 1519 could suggest the sculpture was realized that year or sometime thereafter, falling into a period of Torrigiano’s elusive activity between 1520-28. If Torrigiano never returned to England after parting on ill-terms with his merchant-backed financiers-to-the-crown, he may have remained in Italy or elsewhere until later venturing to Spain, or first to Portugal.
Torrigiano is thought to have arrived in Spain sometime between 1522-25. Various theories have been posited concerning his arrival and work there.30 Francisco de Holanda mentions a portrait bust of Isabel of Portugal Torrigiano made, either in silver or painted terracotta, and presumably as a gift for her marriage to Charles V in March of 1526.31 By October 1526 he produced a terracotta figure of St. Jerome for the High Altar of the Royal Monastery in Guadalupe, still located in the Sacristy of that monastery (Fig. 05, left). Torrigiano’s terracotta Penitent Jerome (Fig. 04) and Virgin and Child, realized for the Jeronymite convent of Buena Vista outside of Seville, exemplify the peak of Torrigiano’s sculptural output. The works Torrigiano left in Spain at the end of his career remained a significant influence on subsequent Spanish artists like Alonso Cano, Juan Martínez Montañés, Francisco de Zurbarán, et al.
It remains plausible the St. Francis could have been realized in Spain. There is a particular homogeny between the St. Francis and Torrigiano’s two Jeromes that could suggest the same human model was employed (Figs. 06, 07). Vasari records how Torrigiano’s “highly prized” Jerome was modeled after a house-steward of the Botti family who were Florentine merchants active between Italy and Spain.31 32 However, the strong countenance of the Buena Vista Jerome contrasts subtly with the fatigued St. Francis whose expression conveys struggle and hope, looking up toward the glory of God rather than ahead as Jerome who is determined for his salvation (Figs. 06, 07).
The St. Francis shares with Torrigiano’s Guadalupe Jerome a nearly exact turn-of-the-head, desperate gaze, similarly agape mouth, carefully carved wrinkles and convincingly self-aware personal expressiveness (Fig. 05). The modeling of the brows, deeply set eyes (especially cavernous where the eyes meet the bridge) and strong delineation of the lacrimal caruncle with a sunken periorbital beneath the eyes, suggest the true-to-life age of the sitter as observed also on his terracotta busts like those probably portraying Mary Tudor and Louis XII, recently identified by Felipe Pereda and Tony Sigel (Fig. 08).33
Other features of the St. Francis compare with Torrigiano’s confirmed or attributed works. Specifically, the modeling of the hair whose thick striated tufts of serpentine-like forms terminate in softly blunted tips like those observed on his terracotta portrait bust of King Henry VII, for example (Fig. 09). The carefully carved strands and their rhythmic pattern compare also with the bronze putto situated on the corners of Henry VII’s tomb (Fig. 10) and other works by Torrigiano.
Further characteristic features include the choice manner in which the feet are modeled with knob-like knuckles, an index toe extending beyond the hallux toe and a plump outer toe (Fig. 11). Finally, the thickly modeled drapery of the St. Francis follows the type observed on Torrigiano’s other life-size or near-life size statuary (Fig. 12). In particular is the distinctive folding of drapery that produces an indented narrow cavity on the lap of his subjects (Fig. 12).
Although speculative, an impetus for the creation of a sculpture representing St. Francis of Paola may be due to the saint’s canonization in 1519 by Leo X, resulting in a possible commission wittingly or tacitly endorsed by the Florentine Medici Pope on behalf of his fellow Florentine Torrigiano whose career began under the sponsored tutelage of Leo’s own father, Lorenzo de’ Medici. If not already present in Sicily and Calabria, Torrigiano’s work on such a sculpture may have prompted a journey to the region where St. Francis of Paola was born and began his movement that would later give birth to the Minim friars. The saint remains venerated in the region to-this-day. However, it is more likely that Torrigiano’s aptitude in patronizing merchants would have led him to the coasts of Sicily where trade was affluent, notwithstanding the possibility his experience as a soldier may likewise have proved favorable to the Spanish rulership seeking primacy in the Mediterranean via control of the ports at Messina and Palermo.
The previously unexplored notion of Torrigiano’s presence is Sicily sometime between 1520-25 may be given further consideration on account of an accomplished terracotta crucifix preserved in the convent of San Francesco in Cefalù (Fig. 13).34 The crucifix is a regional outlier in terms of style, quality and medium and infers the work of a talented Florentine, namely Torrigiano, as suggested by Giuseppe Fazio. Fazio notes how the convent became the memorial epicenter for Cefalù’s Renaissance nobles and suggests the possibility of a commission for the crucifix by the Indulsi family of Spanish Andalusia. Indeed, Sicily’s possession under the Spanish King Charles V and Torrigiano’s here suggested presence in the region may have been the contextual impetus leading him first to Portugal where he is noted to have produced the portrait bust of Charles V’s soon-to-be wife, Isabel, as previously discussed, and thence to Spain.
Charles V and Isabel were married in March of 1526 and by October of that year Torrigiano was subsequently in Spain completing the commission for the Royal Monastery in Guadalupe. In fact, the Cefalù crucifix may preclude two now lost terracotta crucifixes Torrigiano executed shortly after his arrival to Spain, one for the same convent of Buena Visita for whom he executed the celebrated Jerome and another, according to Vasari, that was the most “highly prized in all of Spain.”35
In sum, the sculpture of St. Francis may help bridge the lack of knowledge concerning Torrigiano’s works in wood and may additionally promote further speculation concerning the activity and whereabouts of his late years, presumably with a short period in Sicily as suggested here. In all, the sculpture may improve an appreciation of Torrigiano’s skill and talent as one of the finest and most versatile artists of the Renaissance, praised by contemporaries and patronized by some of the most historically potent figures of his era.
Additional observations:
The sculpture of St. Francis appears to have been intended to be observed in-the-round and probably placed upon a base or pedestal. It is near life-size (132 x 81 cm) and the detail given to modeling St. Francis’ face, gazing upwards, suggests he was to be seen at near eye-level and up-close.
The state of the wood toward the lower extremity of the sculpture appears to show signs of old water damage. It was likely exposed to humidity and dampness for an extended period judging by the excessive woodworm it has suffered. A hypothetical presence of the sculpture along the northern coast of Sicily may account for such damages over time, notably the historic flood of 1557. Some old damages or modifications that were made prior to this excessive exposure could include damage to a section of drapery along the proper right arm which has been truncated and an exposed portion along the proper right leg where we are to assume an additional independently carved attribute or figure may have once been joined against it. Another old loss, less conspicuous, is along the drapery of the proper left leg. There are various splits in the wood commensurate with age, in particular a large split descends behind-the-head and along the hood of the saint’s habit. There is also a concave portion along the back-of-the-hood where an exposed knot was present in the wood. There is a V-shaped cut along the proper right of the saint’s forehead, either due to worming or possibly from a tool used for an unknown purpose. The legs and upper body appear to have been formed using at least two large blocks of wood, cleverly joined. The arms are separately modeled and attached. The termination of the cuffs are also separately modeled pieces, prepared to allow a deep cavern on the cuffs of the robe from which the separately modeled hands emerge. The hands are later, probably 19th or 20th century replacements, eloquently accomplished. Two of the fingers on the proper right hand have been broken at the extremity and reattached. The face of St. Francis is presumed carved separately. If not, the detail accomplished at such depth of sculpting on the interior of the hood would require an avid, steady-hand. The mouth and nostrils are cut deep into the sculpture, commensurate with Darr’s assessment of Torrigiano’s characteristic approach to sculpting (see Fig. 09, right).36
The polychromy appears original on St. Francis’ habit, prepared with a very thin coat of plaster followed by a dark brown or black (probably a carbon black from organic sources). The polychrome of the face, rubbed in areas, might not be original and the eyes are likely retouched. There is no apparent undercoating to the polychromy of the face, suggesting the original paint and plaster were probably removed and a new paint applied, perhaps in conjunction with the addition of the sculpture’s hands. Traces of original polychrome for flesh tones remain present on the upper wrists where the replacement hands have been attached and also along St. Francis’ toes.
Endnotes
1 Giorgio Vasari (1568): Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. Translated by Gaston Du C. De Vere. Macmillian, London, 1913, vol. IV, pp. 182-88.
2 Benvenuto Cellini (1558-63): The Life of Benvenuto Cellini written by himself. Trans. By J.A. Symonds, London, 1949, pp. 18-19.
3 G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 1).
4 Francisco de Holanda (1548, published 1563): De la Pintura Antiqua. Madrid, 1921, p. 238.
5 John Pope-Hennessy (1972): The Tombs in Westminster. Westminster Abbey, London and NY, pp. 214-15.
6 G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 1).
7 G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 1). For the most recent discourse concerning Bertoldo di Giovanni’s school in the Medici’s San Marco gardens see Caroline Elam (2019): Custode and Capo: Bertoldo di Giovanni in Lorenzo de’ Medici’s Sculpture Garden. Bertoldo di Giovanni. The Frick Collection, NY, pp. 108-33.
8 G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 1).
9 Alan Phipps Darr (1992): New Documents for Pietro Torrigiani and other early Cinquecento Florentine Sculptors active in Italy and England. Kunst des Cinquecento in der Toskana. Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florence, pp. 108-38.
10 A. Darr (1992): op. cit. (note 9), see Docs. 10A, 10B.
11 Musée Calvet Inv. 23690. Philippe Malgouyres (1998): Dessins de la donation Marcel Puech au Musée Calvet, Avignon, 2 vols. Paris and Naples, pp. 106-07. The finest of these Heads of Christ by Torrigiano is the marble version for the Abbott Islip’s Chapel, now preserved in the Wallace Collection (Inv. S7). Others include the terracotta Head of Christ for Torrigiano’s Monument to Dr. John Yonge, and a marble Head of Christ in the Burghley House collection. For a discussion of these busts see Jeremy Warren (2016): The Wallace Collection. Catalog of Italian Sculpture. The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London, no. 14, pp. 68-83 and Francesco Caglioti (2014): Puro semplice e naturale nell’arte a Firenze tra Cinque e Seicento. Ufizzi, Firenze, no. 70, pp. 304-07.
12 A. Darr (1992): op. cit. (note 9), see Doc 27.
13 A. Darr (1992): op. cit. (note 9), see Docs 9C, 9D.
14 See Alan Phipps Darr (1980): Pietro Torrigiano and his Sculpture for Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey (Vols. I-III), New York University, PhD Thesis. See Doc. 11.
15 Although it is reasonable to assume Torrigiano went directly from the Netherlands, where he is documented in 1510, to London, where he is first documented in 1511, scholars have considered he may have arrived in London as early as 1507, involved in the early plans for Henry VII’s tomb or to create the terracotta portrait bust of Henry VII prior to Henry’s death in 1509. However, the portrait of the king could also have been realized using the death mask of Henry VII, still preserved. It is also thought he was in England at this early date to realize a terracotta portrait bust (now lost) of Mary Tudor he repaired for Margaret of Austria in 1510 (Harvard Art Museums, Inv. 1981.189). It is further speculated that he may have accompanied Baldassare Castiglione on a journey to London in 1507 as part of the embassy sent by the Duke of Urbino, Federigo II of Montefeltro, on occasion of his appointment to the Order of the Garter. A medal commemorating the event is thought to be by Torrigiano (National Gallery of Art, Inv. 1957.14.1323). See A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see Docs. 11, 13B and Ricardo García Jurado (2016): Pietro Torrigaini, sculptor (1472-1528). Project Image and Identity of Andalusia in the Modern Age. Ministry of Economy, Knowledge, Companies and Universities. Junta de Andalucía. Edited by the University of Almería, Almería.
16 A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), pp. 56-7.
17 B. Cellini (1558-63): op. cit. (note 2).
18 A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see Docs. 18- 20. These documents, dated September 23, 28 and October 26 involve the contracting of Antonio di Piergiovanni di Lorenzo (a sculptor from Settignano), Antonio detto Toto del Nunziata (a painter from Florence) and Giovanni Luigi di Bernardo di Maestro Jacopo (a sculptor from Verona, working in Florence) for a period of four-and-a-half years.
19 A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see Doc. 13B.
20 Cinzia Maria Sicca (2006): Pawns of international finance and politics: Florentine sculptors at the court of Henry VIII. Renaissance Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1., pp. 1-34.
21 C. Sicca (2006): op. cit. (note 20).
22 Torrigiano’s contract for the Tomb of Henry VIII was signed 5 January 1519. See A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see Doc. 14H. Sicca theorizes this commission was in-part, masterminded and prompted by mercantile duties about-to-be-owed to the crown from Giovanni Cavalcanti and Pierfrancesco de’ Bardi, with the tomb’s commission providing a way to continually defer sums due. See C. Sicca (2006): op. cit. (note 20).
23 A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see Doc. 17.
24 Documents from September 1522 thru January 1523 are presumed to indicate the arrival of Bandinelli’s terracotta models for Henry VIII’s tomb in London. See Margaret Mitchell (1971): Works of art from Rome for Henry VIII: A study of Anglo-papal relations as reflected in papal gifts to the English King. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 34, pp. 178-203.
25 The letter to the Signoria was written 28 June 1519. The complaint filed in this letter also suggests Torrigiano had not begun work on the High Altar. See A. Darr (1992): op. cit. (note 9), see Doc. 17.
26 C. Sicca (2006): op. cit. (note 20).
27 The presence of Benedetto da Rovezzano is recorded in London as early as 24 June 1523 and Givovanni da Maiano the Younger is present there in 1519. Both artists may have arrived in 1519 to adopt Torrigiano’s High Altar commission. For Rovezzano’s ambition and efforts on the High Altar see Francesco Caglioti (2012): Benedetto da Rovezzano in England: New Light on the Cardinal Wolsey-Henry VIII Tomb. The Anglo-Florentine Renaissance: Art for the Early Tudors. Studies in British Art, 22. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, pp. 177-202.
28 A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see Doc. 24.
29 A. Darr (1992): op. cit. (note 9).
30 Alan Darr suggests Torrigiano, if having returned to England after recruiting workers in 1519, may have been present in England when Charles V and his entourage visited London in 1522 to meet Charles’ aunt, Queen Catherine of Aragon, and King Henry VIII. Inspiring news of the New World may have prompted Torrigiano to go to Spain. See A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), p. 61. Vasari’s record suggests Torrigiano travelled to Seville from London (G. Vasari [1568]: op. cit. [note 1] while Antonio Palomino and J.A. Ceán Bermúdez suggest he went to Granada first in search of work on the royal funerary chapel of the Catholic Kings (see A. Palomino [1947]: El museo pictórico y escala óptica, Madrid 1715-24, ed. Aguelera, Madrid, p. 235-37 and J.A. Ceán Bermúdez [1800]: Diccionario histórico de los mas ilustres profesores de las bellas artes en España, 6 vols. Madrid, ed. by Reales Academias de Bellas Artes, Madrid in 1965, vol. 5, p. 65) and Giuseppe Fiocco and Mario Salmi suggested Torrigiano first traveled to Lisbon from Italy in 1521 (see G. Fiocco [1941]: Pietro Torrigiano in Portugallo in Rivista d’Arte, 23, pp. 203-16 and M. Salmi [1942]: Ancora di Pietro Torrigiani in Portugallo in Rivista d’Arte, 24, pp. 60-63).
31 F. Holanda (1548): op. cit. (note 4).
32 G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 1).
33 It is to be wondered if the Florentine Botti family of merchants and bankers may have attracted Torrigiano to Spain or provided him residence there not unlike the Florentine merchant, Pierfrancesco de’ Bardi, whose London home Torrigiano lived in until 1514. See A. Darr (1992): op. cit. (note 9), see Docs. 14H-L. The Botti brothers conducted business between Italy and Spain and had commercial operations in Seville where Torrigiano appears to have been most active. Jacopo Botti, in particular, was a near-permanent resident in Spain during the 1520s, heading their family operations there, and like other prosperous merchants, may have desired to secure his social status through donations to churches in areas in which his business was conducted. For the mercantile efforts of the Botti in Spain see Catia Brilli and Manuel Herrero Sánchez (2019): Italian Merchants in the Early-Modern Spanish Monarchy: Business Relations, Identities and Political Resources. Routledge. If the St. Francis of Paola was realized in Italy, and if it represents the same house-steward featured in Torrigiano’s terracotta Jerome’s, it could suggest Torrigiano knew this steward in Italy and was close with the Botti family whose mercantile efforts in Spain were initiated in 1519, the year Torrigiano returned from England. Certainly, Vasari seems to have become witting of this information through some channel of communication between Spain and Italy by the time his second edition of the Lives was completed.
34 Tony Sigel and Felipe Pereda (2021): Authorship Rediscovered: New Evidence about Harvard’s Pair of Renaissance Terracotta Busts. harvardartmuseums.org/index.php/article/authorship-rediscovered-new-evidence-about-harvard-s-pair-of-renaissance-terracotta-busts (accessed December 2021). The terracotta busts of Mary Tudor and Louis XII at the Harvard Art Museums (Invs. 1981.188, 1981.189) have entertained several previous attributions but were first connected to Torrigiano in Elías Tormo (1918): Obras conocidas y desconocidas de Torrigiano in Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Exursiones, pp. 100-03.
35 Giuseppe Fazio (2014): Un Crocifisso fiorentino in terracotta a Cefalù in Conoscere il territorio: Arte e Storia delle Madonie. Studi in memoria di Nico Marino, Vol. 1, pp. 181-91.
36 G. Vasari (1568): op. cit. (note 1).
37 A. Darr (1980): op. cit. (note 14), see p. 418.
