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| Santi Buglioni |
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| Sculptor |
| Florence, 1494 – 1576 |
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After his training under his paternal uncle Benedetto, Santi Buglioni
continued to collaborate with him until his death (1521), when he
inherited all the unfinished commissions and gradually became more and
more influential in Florentine artistic spheres. His definite
affirmation took place after the death of Giovanni Della Robbia (1529),
the last head of the family workshop in Via Guelfa, who left Santi as
the undisputed heir of the "secrets" of the Robbia techniques.
Influenced by the new Mannerist trends, Santi almost immediately showed
his preference for more refined forms and brilliant technical effects
rather than the stereotyped models of Della Robbia and this can already
be seen in the first works he carried out with his uncle, as in the
lavabo in the Church of NiccolÚ di Tolentino in Prato.
One of the
earliest works to express a well developed mature style, recognisable
by the refined details and elegant gestures of the figures, was the
altarpiece for the high altar in the Church of Sant'Angelo at Badia
Tedalda, carried out in the mid 1520's. The polychrome altarpiece with
St. Peter and St. Paul adoring the Eucharist in Santa Maria at La
Panca, followed by the Deposition of Montedoglio at La Verna, dates
from the same period.
The many altarpieces he carried out between the
third and fourth decades of the century include: the two Noli me
tangere at the Bargello in Florence (1520-25, 1530-40), the altar with
the Madonna and Child between St. Rochus and St. Sebastian in the
Oratory of the Madonna del Ponte at Stia (1531), and the Madonna and
Child between St. Jacob the Elder and St. Giovanni Gualberto in the
monastery of Vallombrosa. In the latter, his adhesion to the Mannerist
school becomes even clearer, especially noticeable in the twisted
figures of the Saints and the unusual position of the Child.
Santi Buglioni worked in Pistoia between 1526 and 1528 at the request
of Leonardo Buonafede who commissioned him to carry out the glazed
frieze that runs across the facade of the portico of the Spedale del
Ceppo, certainly the most important assignment the artist ever
received. It involved a complex iconographic cycle that illustrated the
Seven Works of Mercy and Giovanni Della Robbia also took part in its
execution by creating the medallions of coats of arms and scenes from
the life of the Virgin Mary in the lower order. In the mid 16th century
Buglioni's workshop, where his son Michelangelo Domenico was also
training, was extremely busy, mainly on completing commissions that
came from the churches and oratories in towns outside Florence. These
churches, often rather behind the times, usually preferred styles and
fashions that had already been passed over in the city.
From the mid century onwards much of the sculptor's time was spent in
working to satisfy his Medici patrons. He collaborated with Tribolo in
making the Equestrian Monument of Giovanni delle Bande Nere in 1539 and
then, on a design by Tribolo, carried out the terracotta flooring in
the Laurentian Library in Florence. From 1551 onwards he was a member
of a team of artists involved in restructuring Palazzo Vecchio, where
he created the terracotta floors for several rooms. Florence's ancient
tradition of glazed terracotta came practically to an end on his death
in 1576.
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