MINO DA FIESOLE

born 1429, Poppi, Republic of Florence died 1484, Florence early Renaissance sculptor notable for his well-characterized busts, which are among the earliest Renaissance portrait sculptures. Mino was trained in Florence, probably in the studio of Desiderio da Settignano, and he executed monuments of Leonardo Salutati, bishop of Fiesole, and of Bernardo Giugni and Count Hugo of Andersburg. The latter work was begun in 1471 and completed after Mino's return from Rome in 1482. Mino was active in Rome in 1454 and 1463 and from about 1473 to 1480. In that city he executed, among many other works, monuments of Cardinal Pietro Riario and Cardinal Cristoforo della Rovere. Much of Mino's work in Rome was undertaken in conjunction with Andrea Bregno. Mino enjoyed popularity as a portrait sculptor. His earliest portrait bust, that of the wealthy and politically prominent Florentine merchant Niccol Strozzi, was carved in Rome in 1454 . Included among other of his major portrait busts are those of Astorgio Manfredi, Rinaldo della Luna (1461), and Diotisalvi Neroni (1464). Though much admired in the 19th century, Mino's sculptures have come to occupy a place below those of the contemporary Desiderio da Settignano and Antonio Rossellino. In his larger works the treatment of form is frigid and mannered, and he appears to have lacked the technical proficiency of his great contemporaries.