Antonio Pollaiuolo | Dissecting Corpses for
Art
|
Hercules and
Anteus Antonio Pollaiuolo, c.
1470s Bronze, height: 45 cm
Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence
|
Click here to see
our art
reproductions.
|
Patronized by the Medici
family, the workshop owned by the brothers Antonio and Piero
Pollaiuolo was a thriving business in Florence during the
Early Italian
Renaissance. The Pollaiuolo brothers executed bronze and
gold sculpture, paintings, and other decorative art. Intensely
interested in the movement of the human body, Antonio
Pollaiuolo is thought to have dissected corpses to improve his
understanding of human anatomy.
Antonio was the more talented of the
two Pollaiuolo brothers.
Scholars disagree as to which Pollaiuolo brother did what
work, but it is generally assumed that Antonio Pollaiuolo was
the more talented of the two brothers. The sculpture of
Hercules and Anteus showcases Pollaiuolo's ability to
depict the human form in an emotional and physical way. Both
Leonardo and
Michelangelo
were influenced by this work.
His most significant works are the bronze papal tombs of
Sixtus IV (1493) and Innocent VIII (1498).
Brenda Harness, Art Historian
|