Physical Dimensions: overall: 30.5 x 26.5 x 16.3 cm (12 x 10 7/16 x 6 7/16 in.)
Provenance: Oratory of San Francesco dei Vanchettoni, Florence, before 1756;[1] sold 1940 to Eugenio Venturi, Florence, probably for (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] purchased 1942 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1943 to NGA.
[1] Giuseppe Richa, _Notizie storiche delle chiese fiorentine_, 10 vols., Florence, 1754-1762: 4(1756):92, as by Donatello. This bust and the bust _The Young Saint John the Baptist_ (NGA 1943.4.79) were each placed in a niche above a side door on either side of the high altar. The doors both led into the "Relic Room." The busts were seen there and listed as by Donatello in numerous Florence guidebooks until they were sold.
[2] Walter Paatz, _Die Kirchen von Florenz: Ein Kunstgeschichtliches Handbuch_, 6 vols., Frankfurt, 1940: 2:137, no. 16.
[3] Documents from the Kress Foundation, now in NGA curatorial files, indicate that the Foundation was considering the acquisition of the sculpture as early as 1940.