Pierino da Vinci
(b Vinci, c. 1529; d Pisa, 1553). Italian sculptor, nephew of LEONARDO DA VINCI. His brief life was characterized by a precocious and promising sculptural career. He began his apprenticeship in Baccio Bandinelli's Florence workshop when he was about 12 but transferred shortly afterwards to that of Niccol? Tribolo; at the time Tribolo was working on the monumental fountains for the gardens of the Medici villa at Castello, near Florence. Pierino's first works, which can be dated after 1544, are a series of putti so similar in style to Tribolo's as to cause frequent misattributions. Among them are the Putto with a Mask (marble, h. 560 mm; Arezzo, Gal. & Mus. Med. & Mod.) made for a fountain; the Putti Holding a Coat of Arms (pietra serena, h. 430 mm; fragments, London, V&A); and two Putti with a Fish (terracotta, h. 650 mm; London, V&A).
See the Abbreviations for further details.
