Julius Caesar (c. 1455–60): Art, History and Details

Julius Caesar (c. 1455–60) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Mino da Fiesole (Italian, c. 1430–1484); Mino da Fiesole and Workshop (Italian, c. 1430–1484).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Renowned Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE) appears here as a political rather than military leader, worn by the burdens of office, with carefully described signs of aging. Mino probably used ancient coins from the collection of the Medici, Florence's ruling family, as his starting point for this sculpture. However, the complex carving, the clinging drapery, and the psychological intensity all characterize the inventiveness Renaissance artists brought to classical subject matter. In this case, Caesar offered an important model for leadership, masculinity, and composure. The garland is clearly by a different hand, but passages, such as the ribbons and flowers in low relief, correspond to details found in other decorative carvings from Mino's workshop. Initially, the limestone setting was probably put into a wall, perhaps in a lunette over the door, from which it was later removed. However, the relationship between the garland and the relief has not yet been clarified and is the subject of ongoing research.

Object facts

• Title: Julius Caesar
• Date: c. 1455–60
• Creator attribution: Mino da Fiesole (Italian, c. 1430–1484); Mino da Fiesole and Workshop (Italian, c. 1430–1484)
• Culture: Italy, Florence
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble with traces of bole (red clay) and limestone with traces of paint
• Dimensions: Overall: 83 x 84 x 25 cm (32 11/16 x 33 1/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 2009.271

A detail from the museum

Traces of paint on this white marble relief indicated that it was once brightly painted.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Seydl, Jon L. "High Renaissance Sculpture." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 50, no. 4 (July/August 2010): 10-12.
• Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Scala Books, 2012.London, United Kingdom: Scala Books, 2012.
• Calzona, Arturo, and Matteo Ceriana. Per un nuovo Agostino di Duccio: studi e documenti. VeronaItaly: Scripta, 2012.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.