‘Una Grande Opera Al Mio Re’: Gilt-Bronze Effigies in England From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

Abstract

This paper examines the medieval and Renaissance gilt-bronze effigies in England, analysing changes in design and construction techniques. It is argued that the Florentine sculptor Pietro Torrigiano introduced new working methods into English practice, monopolising in his own hands responsibility for design and execution both of the gilt-bronze effigy and ancillary components and of the marble tomb-chest on which the effigy lay. In England, responsibility for these two major elements had always before been distinct. The precise nature of collaboration on individual projects, notably those of Richard Beauchamp and Margaret Beaufort, is clarified and the artistic status of Torrigiano is reassessed.