Circle Of Romano Alberti - Page - Italy Circa 1530-40

Circle of Romano Alberti, called Il Nero da Sansepolcro
(Sansepolcro, 1521–1568)
Page
Mixed media: wooden core, papier-mâché, stucco, polychromy, and gilding
Italy, circa 1530–1540
Height: 88 cm

Standing gracefully, originally holding a torch or curtain in his left hand, this youthful page is dressed in opulent attire featuring a gilded tunic partly made of real fabric, and wears finely detailed, buckled sandals. The figure, poised upon a circular wooden base, radiates vitality and courtly elegance. His delicate features and subtly expressive gaze invite the viewer into a refined Renaissance world of artifice and beauty.

This sculpture represents a rare surviving example of larger-scale statuary executed in a mixed-media technique combining stucco and wood, now associated with Romano Alberti, known as Il Nero da Sansepolcro, and his circle. The richly ornamented costume and all’antica sandals, enhanced with gilded decoration, exemplify the sophisticated taste of the mature Italian Renaissance.

The refined modelling of the face and hands reflects the expressive style characteristic of Alberti’s workshop, where figures were typically built around a poplar wood core, covered with layers of papier-mâché, coated with gypsum, and finally polychromed and gilded.

Only in recent years has scholarly research clarified the oeuvre of Romano Alberti, allowing the reattribution of many mixed-media sculptures—once grouped under the so-called Maestro di Magione—to this accomplished artist. Confident in his success, Alberti established a well-equipped workshop, later expanding to Rome, which specialized in devotional and draped figures. The workshop remained active until his death in 1568, leaving behind a legacy of remarkable technical and artistic invention.

Bibliography

• S. Castri, “Il Vesperbild in cartapesta della collezione Forese: una variante povera della Pietà eroiche altorenane,” in R. Casciaro (ed.), Cartapesta e scultura polimaterica. Atti del convegno 9–10 Maggio 2008, Galatina, 2012.
• C. Galassi, Sculture da vestire: Nero Alberti da San Sepolcro e la produzione di manichini lignei in una bottega del Cinquecento, Firenze, Electa / Editori Umbri Associati, 2005.
• C. Galassi, “Arte e serialità nella bottega di Nero Alberti a Sansepolcro,” in Nero Alberti, 2005.
• E. Neri Lusanna, “Tra arte e devozione: la tradizione dei manichini lignei nella scultura umbro-marchigiana della prima metà del Cinquecento,” in G. B. Fidanza (ed.), Scultura e arredo in legno fra Marche e Umbria, Atti del Primo Convegno, Pergola, 24–25 ottobre 1997, Perugia, 1999