Ugolino en zijn vier zonen de hongersdood stervend
ca. 1550
Medium
stucco
Dimensions
43; 10; 56
About this artwork
height 56 cm x width 43 cm x depth 10 cm
Art Historical Context
In the haunting relief *Ugolino en zijn vier zonen de hongersdood stervend* (Ugolino and His Four Sons Dying of Hunger), created around 1550 by Pierino da Vinci, we encounter a poignant scene drawn from Dante Alighieri's *Inferno*. The work depicts the medieval Tuscan noble Ugolino della Gherardesca and his sons, imprisoned and starving in a Pisan tower—a tale of political betrayal and unimaginable despair from Canto XXXIII. Pierino, the talented nephew of Leonardo da Vinci, captures the raw agony of this literary tragedy in stucco, a versatile medium of molded plaster that allowed for intrica...
About the Artist
Pierino da Vinci · 1520–1553
Pierino da Vinci (c. 1529–1553/54), born Pier Francesco di Bartolomeo di Ser Piero da Vinci, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor whose brief but brilliant career was cut tragically short by malarial fever at age twenty-three. Born in Vinci, Tuscany, around 1529, Pierino was the nephew of Leonardo da Vinci—the son of Leonardo's younger half-brother Bartolomeo. His family recognized his artistic tal...