BORGO SAN LORENZO (pieve di San Lorenzo) – The story of this polychrome terracotta bust and the similar but colour-free bust placed on the central portal lunette of the facade of the church have recently been revealed and are quite mysterious. In both cases it seems two copies were made in different periods from an original, recently recognized in a private collection, but coming from the pieve in Borgo, executed no less than by the great Donatello. According to the reconstruction of the facts made by a well-known scholar (Prof. Francesco Caglioti), the original Donatello piece, crafted for the church of Borgo, was possibly commissioned by Jacopo di Giovanni Ugolini (who ruled the church from 1432 to 1447). The bust was replicated in an unspecified time, realizing another bust that would correspond to this one now housed on the altar of St. Michael the Archangel. The original of Donatello, on the other hand, would have been originally placed on the facade of the pieve, where it was recognized by the antiquarian Stefano Bardini who managed to take it (we are at the end of the 19th century), replacing it with a specially executed copy.
© Il Filo – Idee e Notizie dal Mugello
