AGNOLO DI POLO - b. ~1470 Firenze, d. 0 ?

Italian sculptor. He belonged to a family of well-known artisans; his grandfather Agnolo di Lippo di Polo had worked as an assistant on the stained glass for the cupola of Florence Cathedral and took the name de’ Vetri, sometimes also used by his descendants. Agnolo’s father, Polo di Agnolo, made masks and had his workshop on the Ponte Vecchio, Florence, and his brother Domenico de’ Vetri engraved precious stones and medals. Vasari said that Agnolo was a pupil of Verrocchio, adding that ‘he worked very well in clay and has filled the city with works from his hands’. Given the artist’s birth date and that Verrocchio left Florence forever in 1483, Agnolo’s apprenticeship would have been very brief; it is probable that he stayed on in the workshop when it was directed by Lorenzo di Credi.

Mary Magdalene

This figure of Mary Magdalene is one of the few extant documented works by Agnolo di Polo. It was made for the Ospedale della Morte in Pistoia in 1495. Documents show that the officers of the Sapienza in Pistoia ordered a terracotta figure of Mary Magdalene to be made for the oratory attached to the Ospedale della Morte on August 16, 1495. A local master, Bernardino del Signoraccio, painted the figure next year, 1496.

The figure suffered damage in 1498, and Agnolo repaired it in 1500 and replaced the broken right hand with one in wood.