ABSTRACT
This chapter, based on new archival sources, discusses the beginnings of Santi Gucci’s work, situating it in the context of the Florentine milieu of the time. Moreover, the artistic profiles of the members of the artist’s family are characterized, presenting new archival documents uncovered in the course of numerous searches carried out in Florence. As the influence of his work and his studies with the Florentine masters shaped the artist’s style, this part of the study also presents the mechanisms of the functioning of, as it were, the model Italian sculptural and architectural workshops of the Renaissance, especially those of Benvenuto Cellini, Bartolomeo Ammannati and Baccio Bandinelli. In view of the confirmation source of Gucci’s collaboration with Cellini on his most important and key sculptural work, the statue of Perseus, the following part of the study characterizes the circle of young artists involved in the process of the creation of this statue, with whom Santi Gucci undoubtedly had direct contact.
