This magnificent marble statuette from Florence, dated to the first half of the 14th century, is part of a group of followers by the Tuscan sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio.
The work shows a man standing on a sculpted base.
His head is broad and round. His short hair shows traces of trepanning. His face, somewhat effaced by natural erosion, shows lively eyes, a flat nose and a half-open mouth. His head is turned slightly to the right.
He wears loose-fitting clothes with heavy folds. His right hand is holding his coat. In his left hand, he holds a rolled-up scroll, identifying him as a prophet.
His sculpted knees are visible beneath the thick fabric, breaking the formal rigidity of the sculpture. His feet are shod with open sandals.
There are two sculpted holes: one in the back of the statue, the other on the base, between the two feet.
The hole at the base of the sculpture is used to hold it in place, while the hole at the back was used to hang the sculpture from the back, to prevent it from falling or tipping over.
The formal and stylistic characteristics of this work bear many similarities to six other statuettes on display at Florence’s Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. These six statuettes, dated to the first quarter of the 14th century and made by followers of Arnolfo di Cambio, were originally placed in the embrasures of the major doorway of the Gothic façade of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
There are several similarities between the statues preserved in Florence and that of our Prophet, which need to be addressed. Firstly, the dimensions and proportions of the figures are identical. Then there’s the width of the head, the drooping shoulders, the heavy folds of the drapery, the short legs, the elongated fingers and the open sandals. In some cases, there is an attempt at contrapposto through the protruding knee, and finally, there is a sculpted shaft running from the base to the statue, acting as a support. Although this shaft is not found on the statue of the prophet, its trace is clearly present in the hole appearing between his feet.
The work presented here has some similarities with the work of Arnolfo di Cambio, but the similarities are not sufficiently developed to make a claim of authorship. The statuette is closer to the work of di Cambio’s followers, the decorators of the façade of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral.