Portrait of Andrea Ferrucci - Cristoforo Coriolano

A sixteenth-century woodcut portrait of the sculptor Andrea Ferrucci, originally published in Giorgio Vasari's 'Le Vite'.

This woodcut portrait depicts the Italian sculptor Andrea Ferrucci, also known as Andrea da Fiesole. It originates from the second edition of Giorgio Vasari's 'Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori', published in 1568. The artist, Cristoforo Coriolano, was a German woodcutter active in Venice who produced many of the portrait illustrations for this influential biographical collection.

The composition features a profile view of the subject enclosed within an oval frame. The figure wears a simple cap and period attire, rendered with clear, decisive lines typical of the woodcut medium. The background of the oval is filled with vertical hatching, which provides a sense of depth and contrast against the subject. The portrait is surrounded by a decorative border featuring a repeating foliate motif, a common stylistic element in sixteenth-century book illustration.

Andrea Ferrucci (1465-1526) was a notable sculptor of the Florentine school, known for his work on the Duomo in Florence and other ecclesiastical commissions. This print serves as a visual record of his appearance as documented by Vasari. The technical execution reflects the constraints and requirements of book illustration during the period, where clarity and legibility were prioritised for mass production. The text below the portrait identifies the subject as 'ANDREA DA FIESOLE' and includes his profession as 'Scultore', along with the date of his death, 1522, and the page number 89. This print is a fine example of the intersection between historical biography and graphic art in the late Renaissance, demonstrating the role of woodcut illustrations in disseminating the likenesses of historical figures to a wider audience of scholars and artists.