Fabiano Toti, who was born in Orvieto, was a pupil of Ippolito Scalza, under whom he worked at the Duomo.
Duomo, Orvieto
Apostles (1560-6)
A team under Raffaello da Montelupo began work on the figures of Apostles for the niches above the rose window in the facade of the Duomo in 1560. The middle four figure (two of which are illustrated here) are attributed to him. Work continued until 1570, by which time Raffaello da Montelupo was dead. The four to the right, which presumably belong to the later phase of the project, are attributed to Fabiano Toti.
Virgin (1580-2) and Adam (1575)
Virgin Adam
According to Giorgio Vasari, “[Simone Mosca] having then returned to Orvieto, arrangements were made to erect after his designs, in the cross at the head of the church, two great tabernacles of marble, works truly graceful, beautiful, and well-proportioned, for one of which Raffaello da Montelupo made in marble a nude Christ with the Cross on His shoulder in a niche, and for the other [Francesco Mosca, il Moschino] made a St Sebastian, likewise nude.
These two tabernacles in the Duomo, for which a payment was recorded in 1555, now contain figures by or attributed to Fabiano Toti:
✴The niche to the right of the entrance to the Cappella del Corporale, which originally housed the figure of the Risen Christ that Giorgio Vasari attributed to Raffaello da Montelupo, now houses a figure (1579-82) of the Virgin (documented).
✴The niche to the left the entrance to the Cappella Nuova, which originally housed the figure (1554-7) of St Sebastian that Giorgio Vasari attributed to Francesco Mosca, il Moschino (which Ippolito Scalza apparently finished when Francesco Mosca left Orvieto in 1554) now houses a figure (16th century) of Adam (attributed).
The history of their earlier placement in the Duomo is given in the page on the 16th century remodelling.
Libyan Sibyl (1588)
Figures from the Duomo (1589-1601)
Fabiano Toti executed a number of figures for the Duomo towards the end of the 16th century. They were removed in ca. 1890 and are now exhibited in the ex-church of Sant’ Agostino. The history of their placement in the Duomo is given in the page on the 16th century remodelling.
St Andrew (1589-94)
St Roch (1593)
St Constantius (1593-6) and St Brictius (1601)
St Constantius (1593-6) St Brictius (1601)
These marble figures by Fabiano Toti were originally in the Cappella Nuova, where they flanked the altarpiece of the Madonna della Stella. They were documented in 1632 on the counter-facade of the Duomo.
Read more:
F. Piagnani and L. Principi, “La Scultura del Cinquecento in Orvieto”, in
C. Benocci et al. (Eds), “Storia di Orvieto: Quattrocento e Cinquecento” (2010) Pisa, Volume II, pp 585-636
Return to the page on Art in: Orvieto.