Getty Adds a Desiderio da Settignano

The Getty Museum has purchased a Bust of a Young Boy (c. 1460-64) by Desiderio da Settignano. It's a pensive counterpart to the artist's famous Laughing Boy in Vienna. Desiderio pioneered the portraiture of Renaissance children, but only four such autograph busts are known to survive. The other two, both in the National Gallery of Art, are probably from a few years earlier. Desiderio died in 1464, in his mid 30s. The Getty bust is a late work from the peak of a short career.

Early Renaissance sculptures were avidly sought by East Coast collectors of a century ago. Few major works from this period have have come on the market in recent decades. The new acquisition becomes the Getty's earliest Italian Renaissance sculpture and the only Desiderio bust on the West Coast. (The Norton Simon Museum's Beauregard Madonna is a c. 1455 marble relief attributed to Desiderio, though with some controversy.) Remarkably, the Getty owns a drawing believed to be by Desiderio or his studio.

Bust of a Young Boy is to go on view at the Getty Center in May.