Circle of Jacopo di Andrea del Mazza

St Sebastian is shown half-length, his arms bound behind his back. A cloth hangs from his waist and falls over the moulded edge of the marble frame. There are no indications of the wounds from the arrows used in the saint’s martyrdom, which creates an image analogous to an Ecce Homo. Above the saint’s head, his halo also overlaps the frame’s edge. The whole composition is handled with restraint and almost perfect symmetry.

The handling of St Sebastian’s hair in broad, flowing curls, his robust physiognomy and idealized anatomy all point to a sculptor working in the orbit of Andrea del Verrocchio. Sebastian’s hair has clear affinities with the central figure of Christ in Verrocchio’s Forteguerri monument in Pistoia cathedral. The handling of the drapery, whilst flatter also compares with Verrocchio’s work.

Investigating this relief in 2014, Prof. Gentilini and Dott. Principi associated the relief with the work of the sculptor Jacopo di Andrea del Mazza. Born in Florence around the middle of 15th century, Mazza’s only documented work is the tomb of Marco Albertoni in Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, commissioned in 1487. Mazza also believed to have collaborated with Francesco di Simone Ferrucci on his work in Santa Maria dei Servi, Florence and with other commissions in Fiesole Cathedral, the Baptismal font in Pistoia Cathedral and the Martini-Salviati Monument, today in the V&A (inv. no. 6742:59-1859).

The present lot is the subject of an expertise by Prof. Giancarlo Gentilini and by Prof. Lorenzo Principi, dated 25th September 2014.

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