Nanni di Bartolo (attr.), Prophet called Poggio Bracciolini

White marble statue, depicting an unidentified prophet (which for an unfounded tradition is considered the portrait of the humanist Poggio Bracciolini), work of the 1420s. attributed to Nanni di Bartolo and coming from the ancient medieval facade of the Cathedral (after the facade was dismantled in 1587 it was placed in the current faux marble aedicule).

The prophet is on a polygonal base and is depicted standing, while he turns towards the bottom right and unrolls a scroll with an inscription in imaginary characters. The figure wears a loose robe, and a gown with embroidered hems. He’s a thin man, close to old age, clean-shaven and with thinning and short hair, a face marked by wrinkles, a proud and serene expression.

Scholars have much debated the identity of this prophet and who was its author. Some have attribuited it to Bernardo Ciuffagni, perhaps in collaboration with Donatello, Nanni di Banco and, more recently, to the young Nanni di Bartolo, which would have been inspired by Donatello's "beardless prophet".

This work well expresses the values of early Florentine Renaissance’s Christian humanism: the prophet is imagined with the features of the ancient philosopher, that is, of the wise man, a moral and spiritual virtues’ example, who addresses an imaginary audience to invite him to the fear of God.