Bertoldo di Giovanni Sultan Mohammed II (1430 - 1481) Conquering Greece, Trebizond and Asia, in Triumph, 1451) About 1480

Biography

Born about 1420
Died 1491
Nationality Italian

Bertoldo was a highly respected Florentine sculptor and medallist. A pupil of Donatello, he spent most of his career working on projects for the powerful Medici family, most notably for Lorenzo the Magnificent. Bertoldo was famous for his small bronze statues inspired by ancient Roman sculpture, but he also produced narrative reliefs and medals. Lorenzo appointed Bertoldo as the supervisor of the ‘academy’ he founded in his sculpture garden to encourage promising Florentine artists and nurture their interest in works of classical antiquity. They included the young Michelangelo.