DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO
(b. ca. 1428, Settignano, d. 1464, Firenze)

Portrait of Marietta Strozzi

c. 1460
Marble, height 53 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

The sitter of this bust is probably Marietta Strozzi, daughter of Lorenzo Strozzi who died in 1451. She was one of the most beautiful young girl in the patrician circles of Florence.

This bust can be considered the most important surviving example of female portraiture in Florentine sculpture prior to Verrocchio. The bust is a masterpiece of delicate sensibility, perfectly developed in the definition of volumes and the sense of vibration that marks the surfaces. Devoid of extravagant ornaments on her dress or in her hair, the girl entrusts all her charm to the freshness of her complexion, the vivacity implicit in her slowly turning pose, and the spontaneous expression of her perfect face.

Formerly the bust was attributed to Antonio Rossellino.