NANNI DI BANCO
(b. ca. 1375, Firenze, d. 1421, Firenze)

St Philip

1410-12
Marble
Orsanmichele, Florence

The statue of St Philip was commissioned by the Calzaiuoli, the Shoemaker's guild, for their niche at Orsanmichele. This gentle work, unlike Nanni di Banco's Four Crowned Saints, does not rely on classical prototypes. It was located in the second niche from the east on the north façade of Orsanmichele. The original assignment to Nanni is documented in a subsequent undated collection of documents in the Arte dei Calzaiuoli.

The niche, decorated with white, green-black and red marble, with blue and gold glass paste tiles in the ceiling, currently has a cast of the original statue, which has been moved to the Orsanmichele Museum (the recent cleaning revealed traces of gold in the hair, in the collar, in the belt and in the hem of the robe).

The St Philip can be considered the most academic of Nanni's works, who chose to minimize the iconographic and descriptive details, preferring to concentrate on a clarification of the figure itself.

The picture shows the copy of the statueoriginal statue in the Museo di Orsanmichele on the façade of Orsanmichele.