The young Michelangelo carving the head of a faun

The work, un-known prior to its entry into Casa Buonarroti (1989), testifies to the popularity of a subject that was repeated several times by the workshop of the Zocchi family. Here it is handled with a special grace and polish. Cesare Zocchi represents a celebrated episode from Michelangelo’s adolescence: the young artist, in the garden of San Marco, is carving the head of a faun in imitation of an ancient marble statue and attracts the attention of Lorenzo the Magnificent.