Il Buggiano and Giovanni Bandini, Funeral mask and portrait of Filippo Brunelleschi
- Authors
- Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti, called il Buggiano - Giovanni dell'Opera (Giovanni Bandini)
- Date
- 1446, 16th cent
- Collocation
- Galleria della Cupola
- Original location
- Headquarters of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore (current Museum)
- Material
- Plaster, white marble
- Technique
- Modelling, sculpture
The bust of Filippo Brunelleschi with its inscription in an aedicola is attributed to Giovanni Bandini and dates back to the 16th century, while the wax funerary mask of Brunelleschi by Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti, nicknamed Il Buggiano, was made in 1446. Two portraits of Filippo Brunelleschi, one intimate and private, the other official. The funerary mask was made by Brunelleschi’s adopted son, Il Buggiano, from an application of a layer of wax on the deceased man’s face, an impression later used to cast the mask. Funerary masks had been used since antiquity to obtain accurate likenesses. Il Buggiano used the mask to sculpt the marble bust of Brunelleschi today housed in the Cathedral, while the more flattering bust attributed to Giovanni Bandini was executed in the 16th century especially for the Opera del Duomo as a worthy commemoration of the architect of the dome.