Giovanni Battista Naldini (Florence 1537-1591)

A design for an equestrian allegorical sculpture erected in Piazza Sant’ Apollinare, Florence, which formed part of the elaborate civic decorations for the 1565 wedding celebrations of Francesco de’ Medici and his bride, Giovanna of Austria. While the complex iconographical programme was devised by Vincenzo Borghini (1515-1580), Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) was responsible for the overall design and for supervising the numerous Florentine and foreign artists involved in the execution of the wedding apparato (see R.A. Scorza, 'Vincenzo Borghini and Invenzione: the Florentine apparato of 1565', The Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 41, 1981, pp. 57-75 for the entire iconographic programme, and pp. 61-63 for Danti's sculpture). The inscription on the present drawing is in the hand of Borghini.

The equestrian sculpture - an allegory of good government triumphing overf civic chaos and immorality - was probably made in plaster and gilded to imitate bronze. It was executed by Vincenzo Danti (1511-1574). Based on contemporary descriptions the sculpture was nearly identical to that depicted in the present drawing, which reveals the hand of Giovanni Battista Naldini, an important member of Vasari’s workshop who was involved in the design of the wedding decorations.