St. Romulus and Companions

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Abstract

This glazed terracotta sculpture group, of which two of the orignal statues are missing, may have been commissioned by Pope Leo X when he was visiting the Badia Fiesolana (the original location of the group). The pope is said to have lowered his ring into a well, where the bodies of Romulus and his companions had been thrown, and then when he retrieved it, the ring was covered in blood. The proposal of a papal commission is supported by the fact that the artist, Benedetto Buglioni, was working for the Leo at the time of the creation of these works. The two companion saints are entirely of glazed terracotta, whereas the face of St. Romulus was likely orginally cold painted and the figure shows traces of gilding. Further, his mitre is embedded with azure stones, all of which makes this a particularly materially rich and splendid statue of the saint who was revered in this spot. The group can be found today in the Museo Bandini in Fiesole. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Museo Bandini, Fiesole

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Cristinia Gnoni Maravelli, ed., Museo Bandini di Fiesole: Guida alla visita del museo e alla scoperta del territorio (Florence: Edizioni Polistampa, 2011), 98-99.

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