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Twelve Heads

Not on view
These twelve heads are from a series of at least forty-four panels that decorated the ceiling beams and upper walls of a small room in the palace of San Martino Gusnago, not far from Mantua. Whether they were commissioned by the military commander Francesco Secco or by Eusebio Malatesta, the Jewish advisor of Duke Federigo II Gonzaga, cannot be said. This type of ceiling decoration was especially popular in northern Italy. Only one of the figures can be identified with any likelihood: the one in the costume of a Venetian doge appears to be Marco Barbarigo (doge 1485–86). They were probably painted between 1500 and 1515 and in the insistent perspective of the architecture reveal the influence of the outstanding Milanese painter-architect Bramantino.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Twelve Heads
  • Artist: Italian (Lombard) Painter (first quarter 16th century)
  • Medium: Tempera on wood
  • Dimensions: Square, sides 18–18 1/4 in. (45.7–46.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1905
  • Object Number: 05.2.1–12
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Portrait of a Man in a Fur-Trimmed Coat, Italian (Lombard) Painter Italian, Oil on canvas
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Saint Catherine of Siena Exchanging Her Heart with Christ, Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) Italian, Tempera and gold on wood
Saint Catherine of Siena Exchanging Her Heart with Christ
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Francesco Sassetti (1421–1490) and His Son Teodoro, Domenico Ghirlandaio (Domenico Bigordi) Italian, Tempera on wood
Francesco Sassetti (1421–1490) and His Son Teodoro
Domenico Ghirlandaio (Domenico Bigordi)
ca. 1488
The Flight into Egypt, Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura) Italian, Tempera on wood
The Flight into Egypt
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Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius, Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi) Italian, Tempera on wood
Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius
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