An Italian painted wood figure of San Leonardo, by Mariano D' Agnolo Romanelli (circa 1376/1390-1410) and workshop, circa 1380-1390, Siena

Some losses and chipping to paint throughout. Worming throughout, now stabilized. Worm losses to back of collar and bottom of base. Some areas of worm damage have been consolidated. Age cracks. Restored old break to proper right sleeve of robe. Areas of refreshed paint throughout, over remains of original paint. Some cracks to paint surface on his face have been stabilized. Hollowed on reverse. Implement originally in his proper right hand now lacking. Beautifully carved.
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The goldsmith and sculptor Mariano d' Agnolo Romanelli was one of the leading artists in Siena during the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Between the 1370s and 1380s, he was awarded two prestigious civic commissions:  a group of nine Apostles for the Chapel of the Piazza del Campo and a group of reliefs for the choirstalls in the Duomo of Siena. Romanelli's prominence and influence were only recognized fully in the 19th century  when a reorganization of documents in the Opera del Duomo revealed the author of these and other works.
Similarities to the present figure, including the plump and flushed cheeks, prominent ears and wide-spread eyes and arched brows, can be seen in Romanelli's documented elegant group of the Annunciation from the church of Santa Maria della Marca of Castelfiorentino (Bagnoli, op. cit., figs 18a and b) as well as the fine reliquary bust of Saint  Ursula in San Gimignano, Museo Civico (Bagnoli, op. cit., no. 17). It has been suggested that the present sculpture was carved at some point between the time of his work on the Annunciation and the St. Ursula.
The graceful and idealizing style of Romanelli's sculptures, including the present imposing figure of San Leonardo, corresponds to figural design in Sienese quattrocento painting. Late Gothic Sienese art was generally more conservative than its Florentine counterpart; compositions were inclined towards decorative beauty and elegance imbuing the works with a sense of mysticism, rather than the naturalism favored by Florentine artists. Like many artists of the period, Romanelli applied the lessons learned from the Pisano family of sculptors in the 13th and early 14th centuries and he was able to successfully preserve the simplicity of Gothic design in his compositions.

 

RELATED LITERATURE

E. Carli, Gli scultore senesi, Milan, 1980
A. Bagnoli and R. Bartalini (eds.), Scultura Maestri di Legname e pittori a Siena. 1250-1450, Siena, 1987, pp. 80-82