Cloaked old man with a scroll, prophet?

myminifactory

This is one of a series of finely carved reliefs by Baccio Bandinelli (1493-1560), created to line the Cathedral sanctuary of Santa Maria del Fiore - the world's third largest church after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London. The epic 86 reliefs were commissioned by Cosimo I de'Medici to modernize the cathedral according to Mannerist taste at that time. Each relief features a different saint, depicting male figures dressed in antique attire or nude. These individuals are likely patriarchs, prophets of Israel, and Greco-Roman heroes, similar to those painted 40 years earlier by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The meaning of these choir sculptures is completed by the mural on the inner dome's shell. Bandinelli was a skilled sculptor and court follower who often prioritized pleasing his patron over creating truly great art. His style, influenced by Michelangelo, focused on massive muscular bodies rather than abstract heroic concepts.