By Anne Leader
Architect and sculptor Jacopo Sansovino was baptized on 2 July 1486 in Florence. Born Jacopo Tatti, he trained with Andrea Sansovino and adopted his name. He worked in Florence and Rome until the Sack. In 1527 Sansovino fled the Eternal City and settled in Venice, where he would remain for the rest of his career. He is credited with bringing the High Renaissance style to Venetian sculpture and architecture. Named state superintendent of building in 1529, Sansovino designed palaces, churches, and public buildings with a signature style that fused classical tradition and Venetian ornamentation. Sansovino is best known for the Libreria Vecchia (Old Library, 1536-88), which faces the Piazzetta San Marco. Based on the ancient Roman Theater of Marcellus Sansovino’s library utilizes Doric columns for the ground-floor arcade and Ionic columns in the piano nobile to create a majestic, classicizing façade. The architecture is richly decorated with sculpture.
Reference: Bruce Boucher and Donata Battilotti. “Sansovino.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Door Knocker with Nereid, Triton, and Putti, c. 1550, bronze, Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, 1979.10.1
Madonna and Child, c. 1550, papier mache and stucco, painted and gilded, Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.1.6
Neptune, 1554-67, marble, Palazzo Ducale, Venice,
Palazzo Dolfin-Manin, 1538-70, Venice.
Palazzo Corner Ca’Grande, Venice.
Biblioteca, Venice.