Virgin and Child

Held in the Bargello Museum in Florence, the marble relief, which is also known as the Fontebuoni Madonna after its former owners, portrays the Virgin and Child. The relief, which had been attributed to Andrea del Verrocchio before being ascribed to Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, is now considered, based on the latest research, to have been the work of Giovanni Francesco Rustici. Coming from a noble family, the sculptor began his career as an amateur but achieved recognition as one of the greatest Italian sculptors on account of his group of Saint John the Baptist, a work that was placed above the north doors of the Florentine Baptistery. The precursor for his relief of the Virgin and Child seems to have been a work by Verrocchio. Indeed, a similar terracotta version attributed to Verrocchio is housed by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.