Inv. 4 A
Seated female saint (?) making a blessing gesture; dragon head.
Monster swallowing the base of the volute. Painted saints in bust under arches around the knop.
Foliated decoration. Inscription along the volute; four saints under arches painted around the knop (one is completely lost).
Museum's opinion 2014: 13th century.
Chiesi 2011: France, 1360-1380.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive polychromy and gilding: gold, black and red.
Inscription along the volute; four saints under arches painted around the knop (one is completely lost).
Reverse
Carved in the round.
Object Condition
There certainly was another figure in the volute, but it is now missing. Some foliated terminals are also missing.
Provenance
According to a post-medieval inscription on the staff, belonged to Jacopo Altoviti, Dominican bishop of Fiesole from 1389 to 1408 (inscription: 'Pastorale di Monsign[o]r Jacopo Altoviti già Dom. Vesc. di Fiesole'). Came from the convent of Santa Maria Novella to the Museum on 13 June 1867.
Bibliography
A. Galletti, Descrizione del Museo nazionale (Florence, 1873), p. 23.
A. Campani, Guida per il visitatore del R. Museo Nazionale nell'antico palazzo del Potestà in Firenze (Florence, 1884), p. 121.
I. B. Supino, Catalogo del R. Museo Nazionale di Firenze (Rome, 1898), p. 369.
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