maestri, adriano de'

Adriano de' Maestri, also known as Adriano Fiorentino. We do not know the date of birth, conventionally fixed at the decade 1450-60, of this sculptor, foundryman and medallist, born in Florence to a certain 'Johannis de Magistris'. He worked in the milieu of the Medici court and perhaps also frequented the garden of San Marco. In Naples he was in the service of some important members of the Aragonese court and of Elisabetta Gonzaga, duchess of Urbino. In addition to numerous medals, the sculptures of Venus in the Museum of Art in Philadelphia and Hercules in the Frederiks Collection are worthy of note. His date of death is unknown, but it is likely to have been in the last years of the 15th century.