Desiderio da Settignano

Desiderio da Settignano (dāzēdĕ`rēō dä sĕt'tēnyä`nō), 1428–64, Florentine sculptor, a follower of Donatello. His marble carving, of exquisite delicacy, is best seen in his church decorations and in his busts of women and children. His Laughing Child in Vienna is characteristic of his style and charm. His tomb of Carlo Marsuppini in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence, is one of the most beautiful of early Renaissance monuments. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., has several examples.

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Desiderio da Settignano

(born c. 1430, Settignano, republic of Florence—died January 1464, Florence) Italian sculptor. Born into a family of stonemasons, he entered the Stone and Wood Carvers' Guild of Florence in 1453. He based his style on Donatello's work of the 1430s, and his skill as a marble cutter established him as a master of bas-relief. His delicate, sensitive, original technique was best expressed in portrait busts of women and children. His most important public work was the tomb of Carlo Marsuppini in the church of Santa Croce; the tomb's rich architectural detail makes it one of the most outstanding of all Florentine wall monuments.