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Brutus and the Sculpted Bust
A work of tremendous psychological presence, Michelangelo's marble Brutus reintroduced into the tradition of Italian bust sculpture a sobriety of style -- described as "pure without ornament" (puro senza ornato) -- that had not been seen since Donatello. Michelangelo sought inspiration in ancient Roman portraiture, specifically the marble Caracalla, also on view here. According to a guidebook of 1556, it was owned by a collector living on the same street as the artist. In contrast to the Brutus, the bust of Julius Caesar by Michelangelo's sometime associate Andrea Ferrucci exemplifies the delicately ornate, all'antica (in the manner of the ancients) style of Florentine sculpture fashionable in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
The comparison of these three marble busts -- a rare opportunity -- attests to Michelangelo's powers of invention in transforming the art of the past to forge a new, profoundly personal style. |