No documents likely existed to give the work's original location or commissioner, but it is probably the work referred to by
Vasari as a
Mercury exactly attributed to Donatello, described by him as "one '''' (arm, c. 60 cm) and a half tall, sculpted in the round and dressed in a certain bizarre way" and stated to be in Agnolo Doni's house. The poppy capsules on the belt symbolise sleep as well as being the
heraldic symbol of the Bartolini Salimbeni family, though it has not yet been proven that that family definitely commissioned the statue. It was definitely not paid for by Doni, since his family's fortunes were insufficient to commission such a fine bronze work, only rising in the 16th century. Its very particular iconography has not yet been fully explained but may suggest a very specific private commission, perhaps linked to cultured
humanist circles in Florence. In 1677 Cinelli wrote that he believed the work was a classical antiquity due to its pagan attributes and unbridled vital joy. It was also listed in a 17th-century inventory of works at palazzo Doni on corso dei Tintori, locating it over a fireplace in a ''
(living room) and calling it a Lucifer.
Giovanni Battista Doni owned it in the 17th century and sought opinions on its iconography from scholars and Roman antiquarians such as Luca Holstenio and Giovan Pietro Bellori, who were the first to name it Attis.'' In the 18th century Pietro Bono Doni decided to sell the work to the Gallerie fiorentine for 600
scudi, with Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni taking care of the negotiations. On 25 June 1778 it was exhibited for the first time at the
Uffizi as
Ancient Idol. Its attribution, dating and meaning were all then the subject of some debate. At that time Pelli Bencivenni had a drawing made by Francesco Marchissi and sent copies to major scholars of the era.
Luigi Lanzi, then in Rome, showed it to
Ennio Quirino Visconti and
Scipione Maffei among others, who initially identified it as an ancient work, possibly showing
Bacchus as a child. However, they then changed their mind and theorised that it was a modern work, finally accepting the attribution by
Vasari in 1782. Later art historians have almost unanimously accepted this attribution to Donatello, dating it to the time between his trip to Rome in 1433 and his departure for
Padua in 1443, when he created works showing a deep knowledge of Greek and Roman antiquity, such as his famous
David. In his essay
Ritorno Amore, Francesco Caglioti criticised the dating to 1436–1438, comparing the work to the two
putti candle-holders now in the
Musée Jacquemart-André. A 2001–2005 restoration revealed the original patina (with the wings a different colour to the body) and major traces of the original gilding. File:Scuola fiorentina, basamento di statua con imprese bartolini salimbeni, forse dell'attys di donatello, 1465-70 ca. (v&am) 04.jpg|Base of the probable column for the statue, with the insignia of the Bartolini Salimbeni family, c. 1465–70,
V&A Museum, London File:Attis Altieri Chiaramonti Inv1656.jpg|The
Attys Chiaramonte, ancient statue of
Attis in the
Musei Vaticani ==Notes==