Due aggiunte al Marrina plasticatore: una figura e un busto di Santa Ctaerina da Siena
Gabriele Fattorini
Lorenzo di Mariano known as Marrina (1476-1534) emerges from the most recent studies as the last
great Sienese sculptor of the Renaissance. He was able to stand out not only for his extraordinary “ornati
all’antica” in marble, but also for continuing the tradition of polychrome sculpture into the Sixteenth
century. In this field Vecchietta and Francesco di Giorgio, deeply marked by Donatello’s lesson, used to
carve in the second half of the Quattrocento above all wooden statues, while Marrina showed a particular
preference for modeling terracotta figures, with a personal interpretation of the painting of Sodoma and
Beccafumi, as confirmed by two images of Saint Catherine of Siena here added to the last period of his
career