Andrea Sansovino

{"Id":2763,"Name":"Andrea Sansovino","Biography":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESANSOVINO, ANDREA CONTUCCI DEL MONTE (1460-1529),\u003C/strong\u003E Florentine sculptor, was the son of a shepherd called Niccolo di Domenico Contucci, and was born at Monte Sansavino near Arezzo, whence he took his name, which is usually softened to Sansovino. He was a pupil of \u003Ca href=\u0022/asp/database/art.asp?aid=2764\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EAntonio Pollaiuolo\u003C/a\u003E [c.1432-1498], and at first worked in the purer style of 15th-century Florence. Hence his early works are by far the best, such as the terra-cotta altarpiece in Santa Chiara at Monte Sansavino, and the marble reliefs of the \u003Cu\u003EAnnunciation\u003C/u\u003E, the \u003Cu\u003ECoronation of the Virgin\u003C/u\u003E, a \u003Cu\u003EPiet\u0026agrave;\u003C/u\u003E, the \u003Cu\u003ELast Supper\u003C/u\u003E, and various statuettes in the Corbinelli chapel of S. Spirito at Florence, all executed between the years 1488 and 1492. From 1491 to 1500 Andrea worked in Portugal for the king, and some pieces of sculpture by him still exist in the monastic church of Coimbra. (See Raczinski, \u003Cu\u003ELes Arts en Portugal\u003C/u\u003E, Paris, 5846, p. 344.) These early reliefs show strongly the influence of \u003Ca href=\u0022/asp/database/art.asp?aid=91\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EDonatello\u003C/a\u003E [c.1386-1466]. The beginning of a more pagan style is shown in the statues of \u003Cu\u003ESt John baptizing Christ\u003C/u\u003E over the east door of the Florentine baptistery. This group was, however, finished by the weaker hand of \u003Ca href=\u0022/asp/database/art.asp?aid=28\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EVincenzo Danti\u003C/a\u003E [1530-1576]. In 1502 he executed the marble font at \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.comune.volterra.pi.it/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EVolterra\u003C/a\u003E, with good reliefs of the \u003Cu\u003EFour Virtues\u003C/u\u003E and the \u003Cu\u003EBaptism of Christ\u003C/u\u003E. In 1505 Sansovino was invited to Rome by \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08562a.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EJulius II.\u003C/a\u003E [1443-1513] to make the monuments of \u003Ca href=\u0022http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=43068\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003ECardinal Ascanio Maria Sforza\u003C/a\u003E [1455-1505] and Cardinal Girolamo della Rovere for the retro-choir of S. Maria del Popolo. The architectural parts of these monuments and their sculptured foliage are extremely graceful and executed with the most minute delicacy, but the recumbent effigies show the beginning of a serious decline in taste. These tombs became models which for many years were copied by most later sculptors with increasing exaggerations of their defects. In 1512, while still in Rome, Sansovino executed a very beautiful group of the \u003Cu\u003EMadonna and Child with St Anne\u003C/u\u003E, now over one of the side altars in the church of S. Agostino. From 1553 to 1528 he was at \u003Ca href=\u0022http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loreto\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003ELoreto\u003C/a\u003E, where he cased the outside of the Santa Casa in white marble, covered with reliefs and statuettes in niches between engaged columns; a small part of this sculpture was the work of Andrea, but the greater part was executed by \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?find=Montelupo\u0026role=\u0026nation=\u0026prev_page=1\u0026subjectid=500002967\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003E[Raffaello da] Montelupo\u003C/a\u003E [1504-c.1566], \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tribolo_niccolo.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003E[Niccolo] Tribolo\u003C/a\u003E [c.1500-1550] and others of his assistants and pupils. Though the general effect is rich and magnificent, the individual pieces of sculpture are both dull and feeble. The earlier reliefs, those by Sansovino himself, are the best.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cu\u003ESource:\u003C/u\u003E\u003C/strong\u003E Entry on the artist in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http://86.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SANSOVINO_ANDREA_CONTUCCI_DEL_MONTE.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E1911 Edition Encyclopedia\u003C/a\u003E.\u003Cp\u003E","Awards":null,"HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":false,"HasRelationships":true,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":false,"HasLetters":false,"HasLibraryItems":false,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":true,"TotalArtworks":7}