Bust of a Woman
Piero Strozzi (1855-1907), Villa del Boschetto, Florence; Jacques Seligmann (1858-1923), Paris; from whom acquired by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1908 (as Mino da Fiesole).
When Morgan acquired this bust in 1908, it was believed to be the work of the 15th century sculptor Mino da Fiesole. The scholar Wilhelm Bode posited instead that it was by Mino's contemporary Desiderio da Satignano, and that it depicts Marietta Strozzi, a member of a powerful Florentine banking family during the Renaissance. Despite the appeal of the attribution and identity of the sitter, neither is sustainable.
It has recently been argued that the bust could be the work of the Florentine sculptor Gregorio di Lorenzo, but scholars have not found this attribution entirely convincing either. Concerns have been raised over some unusual aspects of the bust, including the coarse treatment of the sleeves, the thinness of the body and profile, and the square apertures at the side of the head. These elements raise the question of whether the object was modified or created by restorers or dealers in the 19th century.