Giovanni Bandini

Giovanni Bandini, sometimes known as Giovanni dell'Opera, was the talented pupil and collaborator of Baccio Bandinelli (1493 - 1560).  Drawings by the two artists are frequently confused, due to the similarity of their techniques, and the fact that both master and pupil worked on the same projects (such as the marble reliefs of standing male figures for the recinto of the choir of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, begun by Bandinelli in the early 1550s and completed after his death by Bandini).¹  The pupil's work is distinguished from that of his master by its rather simpler and more generalized technique, more fragile outlines, and less distinctive characterisation of physiognomy.  As the bold, stylised cross-hatching in the present sheet demonstrates, however, Bandini had a considerable talent for generating dramatic effects of the fall of light and shadow across his figures, and was able to create works of considerable visual interest.

This drawing may be compared with Bandini's study of a standing saint, at the Courtauld Institute, London, which was included in Roger Ward's exhibition of Bandinelli's drawings at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.²  That figure is also very intensely lit, which deepens the folds of the otherwise abstracted drapery.  Furthermore, the saint's facial type, wild hair and unkempt beard are virtually identical to that of the kneeling figure in the Horvitz sheet.

Although the present study has not been connected with another work, the subject of hermit-like figures contemplating a skull is suggestive of an allegory of the Ages of Man, with the kneeling man representing old age, and his companions middle age and youth.

1. Roger Ward, Baccio Bandinelli 1493-1560, exhibition catalogue, Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, 1988, p. 78, under cat. no. 45

2. Ibid.