An Italian painted terracotta bust of Christ, from the workshop of Agnolo di Polo (1470-1528) circa 1495-1500

Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Sculpture, Salander-O'Reilly Gallery, New York, 2005, cat. no. 16

Hole in top of head for halo. Seemingly several breaks very well-restored. Restoration to left shoulder. Shallow loss with in-painting approximately 1 1/2 inches long where hair falls over proper right shoulder. Restoration to tip of nose. Some plaster added in back for support. Paint refreshed throughout with evident areas of early paint. Otherwise standard chipping, losses, and small repairs throughout. Stamped 389 in ink on back at proper left shoulder.
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The facial type of the present bust, including the oval shape, serene expression, typically heavily lidded eyes, and the thick locks of hair, all bear close affinity to other known works of Agnolo di Polo, the most obvious parallel being his bust of Christ the Redeemer in the Museo Civico, Pistoia dated to 1498.  

A Thermoluminescence Analysis Report from Oxford Authentication, Ltd. dated 11 December 2012 states that sample N112n6 taken from the present lot, was last fired between 400 and 700 years ago (1313-1613 AD).

RELATED LITERATURE
Bruce Boucher, Earth and Fire: Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova, New Haven, 2002
Alan Darr, Italian Sculpture in the Detroit Institute of Arts, 2002
Lorenzo Lorenzi, Agnolo di Polo: scultura in terracotta dipinta nella Firenze di fine Quattrocento, Ferrara, 1998
Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, trans. and reprinted London, 1965