View of the Loggia della Mercanzia

In September 1451 Federighi was commissioned to carve three statues of saints for the Loggia di Mercanzia (Loggia di San Paolo), Siena, but the monies advanced to him were withdrawn in 1453, when he failed to deliver the figures within the specified time. From 1451 to 1456 Federighi served as capomaestro of Orvieto Cathedral, which, no doubt, contributed to his failure to fulfil his Sienese obligations.

Federighi returned to Siena in 1457, lured, perhaps, by a more lucrative contract for the Loggia di Mercanzia, the decoration of which had remained dormant in his absence. In March 1457 his statue of St Peter (untraced) was already installed in a niche on the first pier of the Loggia. A second, documented, figure of St Ansanus (c. 1458-59), on the adjacent pier, is reminiscent of Jacopo della Quercia's Angel Gabriel (San Gimignano, Collegiata). The treatment of the massive tubular folds of St Ansanus's robe recalls della Quercia's handling of the garments of the saints in the Trenta Altarpiece (Lucca, San Frediano). The figure of St Victor (c. 1457-58) on the third pier is less subtle but more dramatic; barely contained within the niche, the warrior saint gazes defiantly into the distance. The intensity of his expression is accentuated by the straining tendons of his neck and the exaggerated folds of his voluminous mantle. In spirit, the saint is reminiscent of Donatello's St George (Florence, Orsanmichele). Donatello was in Siena at this time (1457-61) and was offered the commission to carve a statue of St Bernardino (unexecuted) for the same Loggia.

The picture shows the five statues of the Loggia della Mercanzia in Siena, from the left: St Sabinus (Italian:San Savino) by Federighi), St Peter by Vecchietta, St Ansanus (Italian: Sant'Ansano) by Federighi, St Victor (Italian: San Vittore) by Federighi, St Paul by Vecchietta.