Presented by the Right Hon. Sir J. Savile Lumley, GCB in 1885
Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-88), cast by Alessandro Leopardi
Campo di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, Italy
This head is from the large equestrian monument to Bartolommeo Colleoni (d.1475), a condottiere or mercenary leader, who had commanded the Venetian troops. In his will, he bequeathed a sum of money for this monument. The commission was awarded to Verrocchio in April 1480, but he left the statue unfinished at his death in 1488. It was cast by Alessandro Leopardi of Ferrara, whose signature appears on the girth of the horse.