Il busto di Ascanio della Corgna dal Sepolcro in San Francesco al Prato a Perugia

The focus of this article is a re-discovered marble bust in the Palazzo dei Priori in Perugia which represents Ascanio Della Corgna, one of the heroes of the battle of Lepanto (1571). Starting with a discussion of two casts located in Palazzo Della Corgna in Castiglione del Lago, and through an in-depth documentary investigation in the local archives (Archivio di San Pietro, Biblioteca Augusta, Biblioteca della Direzione Regionale per i Beni culturali dell’Umbria), the author estabilishes the provenance of the bust as from the destroyed tomb of Ascanio in San Francesco al Prato, Perugia. This paper will reconsider the role played by Della Corgna in the development of Vincenzo Danti’s career, and with the help of comparisons with other famous pieces by the Perugian sculptor, conclusively attributes the bust to the late years of Vincenzo Danti.