Matteo Civitali

(1436 - 1501)

Expertise by Prof. G. Gentilini.

"The elegant composition, previously attributed to Antonio Rossellino, is easily recognizable as an invention of the versatile and prolific Lucca sculptor Matteo Civitali: it is indeed a 'further and hitherto unpublished terracotta derivation of the exceptional marble relief kept in Prato, in the Church of San Vincenzo Ferrer and Santa Caterina de Ricci [...] Contrary to the atelier of Antonio Rossellino, in which countless, timely, replicas of successful marble prototypes, that of Matteo Civitali does not seem to have been a context, where serial reproduction was a particularly pursued commercial trend. every circumstance, variations and customizations [...] that allow us to distinguish the various replicas of the Madonna of Prato in small subsets. [...] Returning to d It is possible to observe the relief in question more specifically as well as in this circumstance we find ourselves in the presence of an example similar to those of the Louvre in Paris, the Victoria and Albert in London, the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld (all of the same format ), but which, like these, results in some customized solutions. " Extract from the expertise of Prof. G. Gentilini.