Funerary Monument of Leonardo Bruni

The ideal model of the humanist tomb, after the early interpretations by Donatello and Michelozzo, was created by Bernardo Rossellino around 1450 with the tomb of Leonardo Bruni. The crystalline structure of its triumphal arch, which frames the relief of the lunette and the figure of the deceased, is enlivened at the top by the movement of the putti holding the garland. It was a result of exceptional purity. This model, unrepeatable in its absolute simplicity, became the basis for more or less organic and coherent variations and elaborations in various tombs of the second half of the century. Desiderio transformed it from the formal projection of an Olympian wisdom into a precious casket of symbols of refined culture, spiritual elegance and exquisite sensibility.