(b Florence, 17 Aug 1585; d after 17 Oct 1653). Nephew of (1) Antonio Susini. He studied in his uncle’s workshop, becoming a highly skilled bronze-caster: his first documented commission, in 1614, is for a bronze altar frontal (untraced) for the Pitti Palace. But he also worked in marble, and the marble Dissimulation (Florence, Pitti)—in Giambologna’s idiom, but with gestures derived from the Antique—may be his earliest surviving work. He travelled to Rome c. 1624–6, making copies of newly discovered antique works such as the Hermaphrodite (Paris, Louvre) for casting as bronze statuettes. Francesco’s masterpiece, the bronze statuette group Paris and Helen (1626; Dresden, Skulpsamml.), made after his return to Florence, improvises on Giambologna’s theme of a male figure lifting a female and masterfully employs Giambologna’s multiple-viewpoint system, but also shows the Roman influence of Bernini’s Pluto and Proserpina (1621–2; Rome, Gal. Borghese) in the energetically contrasted diagonals of the bodies. The undated bronze statuette David with the Head of Goliath (Vaduz, Samml. Liechtenstein) draws on the Ludovisi Mars in Rome (Mus. N. Romano).

Part of the Susini family

• Susini, Francesco
  • Susini
  • Susini: (1) Antonio Susini
  • patrons and collectors
    • Medici, de’: (22) Ferdinando II de’ Medici
  • works
    • Florence, §IV, 9(iii): Palazzo Pitti: Boboli Gardens
    • Statuette, §II, 1(iii): Baroque Italy: 17th century
  • workshop
    • Bourbon, §I: (8) Louis XIV, King of France, §3: Sculpture, engraved gems, coins and medals