Large Renaissance Sculpture in Pietra Serena, Florence, 16th century

16th century Florentine sculptor, greyhound in pietra serena.
This fascinating sculpture, which has come down to us in a fragmentary state, represents a dog, an elegant crouching greyhound, its head raised in a threatening bark. The exquisite workmanship testifies to the hand of a sculptor of great level, working in the first half of the 16th century in Florence.
The pietra serena is an indigenous Tuscan stone that was quarried on the hills above Florence, precisely in Fiesole. For centuries observed in the form of architectural elements, in 15th century Florence it was chosen as the material to be shaped into the sinuous forms of sculpture. Its compactness and the homogeneity of the materials, as well as the characteristic chromaticism contribute to make the sculptural effect particularly elegant and delicate, so much so that it lends itself to interesting composition experiments in the expert hands of sculptors such as Donatello. , Geri and Desiderio da Settignano. They are the ones who show the city that gets to know the pietra serena through the revolutionary architectures of Filippo Brunelleschi, how it can also contain vigorous animal forms, living tableaux of life-size figures, gentle profiles of women and of children.

The gray stone gives the animal a new majesty, vitality and solemn elegance thanks to the expressiveness of the face.

Splendid century-old patina intact.

The sculpture comes from a Tuscan castle, which for a long time housed a famous collection of statues in pietra Serena in its rooms.

Measure

W cm 70
D cm 30
H cm 45