The son of an important Florentine goldsmith, Baccio Bandinelli was one of the sculptors favored by the Medici family. Laden with honors and orders, detested for his pretension, arrogance, insufferable character, greed, negligence, and constant scheming, he was one of the darker figures in the history of Florentine art.

The Louvre’s exhibit of some forty drawings and three sculptures by Bandinelli from its collection demonstrates the astonishing variety to be found in a realm that is all too often limited to Michelangelo’s posterity.