19th Century Italian Antique Carved Alabaster Grand Tour Portrait Bust of Michelangelo Buonarroti

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The bust depicts Michelangelo as an older man, closely modeled after the famous 16th-century portrait bronze by his faithful pupil, … Read more The bust depicts Michelangelo as an older man, closely modeled after the famous 16th-century portrait bronze by his faithful pupil, Daniele da Volterra. The bust depicts Michelangelo as an older man, closely modeled after the famous 16th-century portrait bronze by his faithful pupil, Daniele da Volterra.

The piece is sculpted from alabaster, a soft, translucent mineral prized by Italian carvers since antiquity. It allows light to softly penetrate the surface, giving the skin a smooth, lifelike glow. The bust rests on a turned, circular spool (socle) that locks into a separate cylindrical column pedestal, culminating in a square plinth base.
This sculpture is a classic 19th-century Italian Grand Tour souvenir, likely carved in workshops around Florence or Volterra. Affluent travelers visiting Italy during the 1800s eagerly purchased these miniature stone busts of ancient Roman emperors and legendary Renaissance masters (like Dante, Michelangelo, and Raphael) to display in their library cabinets and scholarly studies back home.

Dimensions: Height 8.6 in See less