Date

1562

Object Type

Statue

Subject

Bust portrait of Carlo Cybo Malaspina

Holding institution

Accademia di Carrara

About The Work

The marble bust portrays Carlo Cybo Malaspina (1581–1662), Prince of Massa and Marquis of Carrara from 1623 to 1662. The work is of an official character and depicts the prince wearing plate armour, an iconographic type also attested on a coin bearing his effigy, described in the Memorie della famiglia Cybo e delle monete di Massa di Lunigiana by Giorgio Viani (1808). The marble base, with a moulded plinth, bears on its front surface the inscription: ANNO A SAL/ UTE MUNDI MDLXII. The date 1526 is not plausible for chronological reasons, but it may result from an error and could instead refer to 1662, the year of the prince’s death. The bust, together with other sculptures such as the portrait of Elisabella della Rovere and the bust of Maria Teresa Cybo by the sculptor Giovanni Antonio Cybei (1774), bears witness to the former history of the Palazzo del Principe as an administrative and aristocratic residence.

Title

Carlo Cybo Malaspina

Subject

Bust portrait of Carlo Cybo Malaspina

Object Type

Statue

Original Function

Collection

Date

1562

Inscriptions

On the pedestal: Incision "ANNO A SAL/ UTE MUNDI MDLXII"

Technique / Support

Marble

Dimensions

cm 74 x 73 - [Pedestal: cm. 90x52x54]

Holding institution

Accademia di Carrara

Bibliography

CANALI D., L'Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Emmeesse edizioni, 1992, p. 69.

Conservation status

Fair

Unique identifier

0900390364