TORRICELLI, Giuseppe Antonio
(b. 1659, Firenze, d. 1719, Firenze)

Cosimo III de' Medici

c. 1710
Hard stone, bronze and wood, height 46 cm
Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

This unfinished statuette was perhaps intended for the exterior of a cabinet. Cosimo's head, hands and feet have been sculpted in hard chalcedony, probably by the specialist in free-standing semiprecious stone carving, Torricelli. Besides the parts in chalcedony, the bronze flag and military trophies are also original. The Grand Duke's armature was carved in wood and the pieces were mounted in 1952.