How the miniature “Montefeltro officer – Malatestian standard-bearer” came about

I will quote, as a matter of curiosity, brief references about the technique used by my friend Andrea Iotti during the concept and sculpting stages of the master, refined over several years of research and experimentation in the small world of the historical collectable soldier:

“In creating subjects of the Italian 1400s, one must keep in mind the postures that have to be compatible with the style of the time.

It was much easier for Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, because I had as a model the medallion by Pisanello in which one can read the rank, the family lineage and the authority given by the stick, as a symbol of command.

The second subject, an infantryman of the same period, has a posture derived from the spirit of the period and clothing researched from the paintings of Carpaccio (S. Orsola cycle), Paolo Uccello and Pisanello and finally Mantegna.

For the sculpting I start off with some sketches of academic models which I made myself over the years, cut, joined and remodelled with plasticine, thin sheet metal and putty such that I build reference models and from which then I choose the most appropriate model to produce.

At this point the real work starts. Sculpting starts from the metal wire to Magicsculpt or from anatomical parts of the body which had been produced beforehand. For the infantryman, I used a pair of legs, adapting them to a torso leaning every so slightly to the left and arching the spine following the style of that period.

For the successful production of a model it is of utmost importance to choose the best putties to recreate the anatomy and the details. My favourite material is the Magicsculpt, modelled with toothpicks or small clay sticks. To smoothen the surfaces I use a very soft brush dipped in alcohol or sprinkled with talcum powder and if necessary I finish off with a touch of sandpaper. For the brigandine, needing a more elastic medium, I mixed 20 per cent Duro with the Magicsculpt, using the same mixture for the buckles of the shoes, for the laces of the brigandine and the strip of the legging straps (pulling the sheet with a rolling pin).

The buckles of the brigandine are made with Milliput, the studs are tabs and the pole is a small tube that was filed and adapted.”

Andrea Iotti