Vincenzo Danti (1530 – 26 May 1576) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...

. His father was an architect and goldsmith, and Vincenzo developed an interest in drawing and goldsmithing. In 1545 he went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to study sculpture and in 1553 he managed to secure a commission for a bronze statue of

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

which was placed outside Perugia Cathedral. In 1557 he went to Florence. In 1559 he made a bronze relief depicting ''Moses and the Brazen Serpent''. This was influenced by bronze reliefs by

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...

. It is cast in low relief and is not finished to a very high degree, but is not

non finito ''Non finito'' is a sculpting technique meaning that the work is unfinished. Italian in etymology, it literally means "not finished". ''Non finito'' sculptures appear unfinished because the artist only sculpts part of the block, the figure sometim ...

either. Although the competition in 1560 for the

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 time ...

fountain was mainly between the two more established sculptors,

Bartolomeo Ammanati Bartolomeo Ammannati (18 June 151113 April 1592) was an Italian architect and sculptor, born at Settignano, near Florence. He studied under Baccio Bandinelli and Jacopo Sansovino (assisting on the design of the Library of St. Mark's, the ''Bibl ...

and

Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

, Danti also tried to prove his worth by competing. In 1561 he carved ''Honour Triumphs over Falsehood'', a statue 'in the round' - interesting to view from all angles. The marble for this statue was bought for him by his patron Danti Sforza Almeni for him to prove his skill. The statue was notable for the fact that it was carved from a single block of marble, something that took great skill to do. In 1567 he started writing a book about rules of order and proportion in architecture. He did intend to write fifteen of these but only did one. In 1569–71 he produced what is probably his most famous work, ''The Beheading of St John the Baptist''. This is positioned above the bronze doors of the south entrance of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence. This bronze group shows the Baptist kneeling in the middle waiting for the sword of the executioner on the right, with Salome on the left. This is in a mannerist style with the bodies and limbs elongated, and bizarre folds in the material. The poses of all are very elegant. In 1568-72 he carried on Michelangelo's new tradition of depicting modern men in ancient armour (from the Medici Chapel), when he carved ''Cosimo I as Augustus''. This was commissioned for the Uffizi in Florence where it remained until replaced by another statue of Cosimo (a member of the powerful Medici family) by

Giambologna Giambologna (1529 – 13 August 1608), also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small ...

. In 1575 he returned to Perugia where he died in 1576. Girolamo Danti, a brother of Vincenzo, was a painter; he frescoed a chapel including a ''Resurrection'' in the ceiling in the church of San Francesco al Prato of Perugia. In

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and '' comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

, he painted a ''Nativity of the Virgin'' for the church of San Domenico. He also painted in Rome for the

Gallery of Maps The Gallery of Maps (Italian: ''Galleria delle carte geografiche'') is a gallery located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican containing a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geogra ...

, under the supervision of his brother

Ignazio Danti Ignazio (Egnation or Egnazio) Danti, O.P. (April 1536 – 10 October 1586), born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer, who served as Bishop of Alatri (1583–1586). ''(in ...

.Storia della pittura in Perugia e delle arti
By Angelo Lupattelli, Published by F. Campitelli, Foligno (1895) page 56.

References

*Avery, Charles, Studies in Italian Sculpture, London, The Pindar Press, 2001. *Mclean, Alick, “Renaissance Architecture in Florence and Central Italy”, in Rolf Toman (ed.), ''The Art of the Italian Renaissance,'' KÖNEMANN, 2005. *Poeschke, Joachim, Michelangelo and His World, New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1996. *Vasari, Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Volume 1 and 2, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danti, Vincenzo 1530 births 1576 deaths 16th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors People from Perugia