Vincenzo Danti

Vincenzo Danti

Sculptor, brother of Ignazio, b. at Perugia, 1530; d. 24 May, 1576. He also enjoyed some reputation as a goldsmith, a military architect, and a poet. The statue of Pope Julius III on the cathedral square at Perugia is one of his early works. Later he modelled the "Decapitation of St. John the Baptist" over the south portal of the baptistery at Florence, and finished Andrea Sansovino's noble group of the "Baptism of Christ" over the east gate of the same baptistery. He competed against Cellini and Gian Bologna for the statue of Neptune in the fountain of Piazza della Signoria, which was ultimately given to an inferior artist, and he executed a marble group at the entrance to the Boboli Gardens in Florence, a youth raising and attempting to carry an old man bound hand and foot. This is supposed to be an allegory of the victory of honesty over deceit.

M.L. HANDLEY