VALDAMBRINO, Francesco di

Although Francesco di Valdambrino was a capable marble worker, his best works are polychromed wooden sculptures, a medium that enjoyed a considerable vogue among Sienese sculptors. St Stephen (Museo della Collegiata di Sant’Andrea, Empoli) and St Ansano (Santi Simone e Guida, Lucca) are both depicted as pensive, introspective figures. A number of wooden Annunciation groups have been attributed to Francesco (Santa Maria in Vitaleta, San Quirico; Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam); the most accomplished in the emotional interaction of the figures and their fluid linear rhythms and grace are the Virgin Annunciate and the Angel Gabriel (Museo Civico Archeologico e d’Arte Sacra, Asciano).

Valdambrino’s statues of the Annunciation group at Asciano are exquisitely child-like figures unsullied by the least trace of interpretative emphasis.

Although Francesco di Valdambrino was a capable marble worker, his best works are polychromed wooden sculptures, a medium that enjoyed a considerable vogue among Sienese sculptors. St Stephen (Museo della Collegiata di Sant’Andrea, Empoli) and St Ansano (Santi Simone e Guida, Lucca) are both depicted as pensive, introspective figures. A number of wooden Annunciation groups have been attributed to Francesco (Santa Maria in Vitaleta, San Quirico; Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam); the most accomplished in the emotional interaction of the figures and their fluid linear rhythms and grace are the Virgin Annunciate and the Angel Gabriel (Museo Civico Archeologico e d’Arte Sacra, Asciano).

This painted wooden statue with gilding belongs to an Annunciation group made by Valdambrino to flank the high altar of the church of San Francesco in Pienza. The group depicts angel Gabriel telling the Virgin that she will conceive a child. The figures’ slim proportions and long drapery folds typify the so-called ‘International Gothic’, an elegant style that flourished during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

The statues of the Annunciation in Santa Maria in Vitaleta in San Quirico d’Orcia and those, from the same subject, in the cathedral of Montepulciano, were sculpted in his last years: they show a certain late Gothic mannerism, greater plasticity of forms and redundancy of the draperies.

The statues of the Annunciation in Santa Maria in Vitaleta in San Quirico d’Orcia and those, from the same subject, in the cathedral of Montepulciano, were sculpted in his last years: they show a certain late Gothic mannerism, greater plasticity of forms and redundancy of the draperies.

In addition to the statues of the patron saints of Siena, Francesco also completed three Sienese coats of arms for the new sacristy of the cathedral, for which at the end of 1409 he also executed a Christ Child.

The wooden statue of Madonna, attributed to Valdambrino, is in the Cappella dell’Annunciata in Oristano Cathedral, the largest cathedral in Sardinia. The picture shows the statue on the altar of the chapel.

The wooden statue of Madonna, attributed to Valdambrino, is in the Cappella dell’Annunciata in Oristano Cathedral.

The Fonte Gaia in Siena included allusions to the city’s Roman history and Christian virtues, culminating in the central Madonna and Child. While most of the sculpture was in relief, two freestanding figures formed part of the Roman iconography: Acca Larentia, the goatherd’s wife who cared for the young Romulus and Remus, and Rea Silvia, their mother. The latter was carved from Jacopo della Quercia’s model by his collaborator Francesco di Valdambrino.

A friend and assistant to Jacopo della Quercia, Francesco di Valdambrino had also taken part in the competition of 1401 for the second Baptistery door in Florence. Various works have been attributed to him on the basis of three documented polychromed busts depicting the patrons of Siena, San Crescenzio, San Savino and San Vittore, which were commissioned from him in 1408. Because of their small dimensions, these works are rather different from the large wooden statues that have been attributed to the artist.

The freshness of San Crescenzio’s face is rendered with a still-Gothic preciseness combined with very rich modelling.

A friend and assistant to Jacopo della Quercia, Francesco di Valdambrino had also taken part in the competition of 1401 for the second Baptistery door in Florence. Various works have been attributed to him on the basis of three documented polychromed busts depicting the patrons of Siena, San Crescenzio, San Savino and San Vittore, which were commissioned from him in 1408. Because of their small dimensions, these works are rather different from the large wooden statues that have been attributed to the artist.

Valdambrino’s bust of St Victor (which was cut down from a reliquary statue carved for the Cathedral), refined and rather feminine, appealing for our sympathy with parted lips and wide-spaced eyes, is a figure that we meet repeatedly in Sienese Quattrocento painting. The sculptor fits readily into the context of the Sienese Quattrocento style.

In the third phase of his artistic career, from about 1420 to his death, Francesco di Valdambrino produced two works dated 1425, which are the reference points for the attributions of other works. They are the St Antony the Abbot, coming from the Sienese church of San Antonio in Fontebranda, now in San Domenico in Siena, and St Peter Enthroned, formerly in San Pietro in Montalcino, now in the Museo Civico e Diocesano d’Arte Sacra in Montalcino.

The statue came from the Conservatorio di San Pietro in Volterra.

This statue, executed in the workshop of Francesco Valdambrino, represents Dorothy, one of the Christian martyrs of the 4th century. The emotionally charged piece shows the tender style of beauty that prevailed in Siena.

This statue, documented in 1407, was carried out for Sant’Agostino in Lucca.

Although Francesco di Valdambrino was a capable marble worker, his best works are polychromed wooden sculptures, a medium that enjoyed a considerable vogue among Sienese sculptors. St Stephen (Museo della Collegiata di Sant’Andrea, Empoli) and St Ansano (Santi Simone e Guida, Lucca) are both depicted as pensive, introspective figures. A number of wooden Annunciation groups have been attributed to Francesco (Santa Maria in Vitaleta, San Quirico; Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam); the most accomplished in the emotional interaction of the figures and their fluid linear rhythms and grace are the Virgin Annunciate and the Angel Gabriel (Museo Civico Archeologico e d’Arte Sacra, Asciano).

This painted wooden statue with gilding belongs to an Annunciation group made by Valdambrino to flank the high altar of the church of San Francesco in Pienza. The group depicts angel Gabriel telling the Virgin that she will conceive a child. The figures’ slim proportions and long drapery folds typify the so-called ‘International Gothic’, an elegant style that flourished during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

The statues of the Annunciation in Santa Maria in Vitaleta in San Quirico d’Orcia and those, from the same subject, in the cathedral of Montepulciano, were sculpted in his last years: they show a certain late Gothic mannerism, greater plasticity of forms and redundancy of the draperies.

The statues of the Annunciation in Santa Maria in Vitaleta in San Quirico d’Orcia and those, from the same subject, in the cathedral of Montepulciano, were sculpted in his last years: they show a certain late Gothic mannerism, greater plasticity of forms and redundancy of the draperies.

Valdambrino’s first dated work is a polychromed wooden statue of the standing Virgin and Child (1403), in Sant’Andrea, Palaia. Both the delicate Virgin and Child and the rigidly iconic St Peter (Museo Civico e Diocesano d’Arte Sacra, Montalcino) are in the Late Gothic style then current in Pisa and show the influence of Nino Pisano in particular.

This statue comes from the Cathedral of Volterra.

This statue comes from the Cathedral of Volterra.

Apart from the loss of the top layer of paint on the robe, which would formerly have muted the current strongly glowing red lead colour, this statue of the Virgin, worked to be viewed from any side, is in a very good state of preservation. What became of the angel that would originally have been part of the group is not known.

The sculpture dates from the master’s middle period, when his statues were particularly notable for their sturdy composition and the high degree of ideal beauty and grace in the movement of the figures and the draping of the robes. In dispensing with the cloak that had hitherto been customary in figures of Mary, the artist was able to render the body more clearly apparent under the long, high-waisted robe. In spite of the dawning Early Renaissance, Francesco di Valdambrino remained an artist of the Late Gothic.