Clement Papi (circle of) (1803 - 1875) - Head of David late 19th century 118 x 80 x 40 cm An important life-size plaster cast depicting the head of Michelangelo's David. The model reproduces the famous Renaissance masterpiece with extraordinary accuracy, highlighting the expressive intensity, the concentrated tension of the gaze and the refined plastic definition of the curly hair.The work is part of the moulding campaign promoted in the mid 19th century by Grand Duke Leopold II, when it was decided to remove Michelangelo's colossus from Piazza della Signoria to save it from the damage caused by centuries of exposure to the elements and transfer it to the Accademia Gallery. It was on this occasion that in 1847 the complex integral form of the work was created by Clemente Papi, a celebrated foundryman and sculptor active at the Regia Fonderia in Florence and recognised as one of the greatest 19th-century interpreters of the reproduction in bronze of the great antique and Renaissance sculptures. The characteristic cut at the base of the neck, with interruption of the slingshot, corresponds to the isolation of the head made there. The surface retains an antique patina and natural colour variations due to time; also visible are the thin joint lines of the mould blocks, deliberately not flattened according to the practice of 19th-century scientific casts. In terms of its quality of execution, dimensions and technical characteristics, the work can be traced back to the series of casts taken from the form made by Papi before the transfer of the original in 1873 or in any case derived from the first official moulding campaigns. It is likely that the present exemplar belongs to one of the 19th-century replicas that passed between the great Milanese gipsoteche (plaster casts), including the Museo Carlo Campi and later the Vallardi collection, which were dispersed after 1927. The work is a rare example of Florentine scientific production in the mid-19th century and one of the very few examples on the market today taken directly from Michelangelo's original.The sculpture stands on a coeval wooden base decorated with imitation marble.Bibliography: - G. Rizzo, Clemente Papi, "Real Fonditore". Vita e opere di un virtuosistico maestro del bronzo nella Firenze dell'Ottocento, Florence, Kunsthistorischen Institutes, 2, 54 (2010-2012), 2012, pp. 259-318. Rizzo, Il "risorgimento" dell'industria fusoria a Firenze: la regia fonderia di statues in bronzo di Clemente Papi prima e dopo l'Unità d'Italia (1837-1875), in "Boll. della società di studi fiorentini", 20 (2011), 2012,pp. 121-131.