Giovanni Battista Lorenzi (1527/8 – 8 January 1594), known as Battista Lorenzi or Battista del Cavaliere, was an Italian sculptor.

Alfeo e Aretusa, Metropolitan Museum, New York

Lorenzi was born in Settignano in 1527 or 1528. His father was Domenico di Piero Lorenzi. He was a cousin of the sculptors Antonio [it] and Stoldo Lorenzi. He entered the workshop of Baccio Bandinelli in 1540.[1]

Lorenzi's earliest known work was a statue of youth for the tomb of Pope Paul V, completed jointly with Vincenzo de' Rossi in 1558–1559. It is lost. According to Raffaello Borghini, another early was a set of statues representing the four seasons, done for the French residence of the Guadagni family [it]. Three of four statues were completed by 1568. All are now lost.[1]

In 1560, Lorenzi met and befriended Benvenuto Cellini. In 1563, he was one of the consuls of the Accademia del Disegno in Florence. Around 1568, he carved a statue of Painting and Michelangelo's bust for the artist's tomb in Santa Croce. He made temporary works for the wedding festivities of Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici and Joanna of Austria (1565) and Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici and Christina of Lorraine (1589).[1]

In 1571, Lorenzi inherited Cellini's workshop in the Via della Pergola [it] in Florence. In late 1583 or early 1584, he relocated to Pisa to take over Stoldo's workshop that was working on the Piazza dei Miracoli. He died there on 8 January 1594 and was buried in San Marco in Calcesana.[1]

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Bibliography edit

  • Cicconi, Maurizia (2006). "Lorenzi, Giovanni Battista, detto Battista del Cavaliere". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 66: Lorenzetto–Macchetti (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.