Jacopo Sansovino was the leading sculptor and architect of sixteenth-century Venice. His position and abilities enabled him to reshape Venetian sculpture, and his influence remained dominant long after his death. This beautiful book by Bruce Boucher is the first study of Sansovino’s sculpture in over fifty years and the first ever to present a catalogue raisonne of his works.

Boucher begins by discussing Sansovino’s career chronologically and thematically. He describes how the sculptor was trained in his native Florence and in Rome, how he established himself as a serious rival to Michelangelo, and how the Sack of Rome in 1527 forced him to flee to Venice where he enjoyed a second, even more successful career. In Venice, says Boucher, Sansovino was taken up by a small band of influential patrons, became architect of the Doge’s chapel, and received important commissions from both the state and individuals. Boucher discusses in detail commissions such as the Loggetta and the colossal Mars and Neptune for the Doge’s Palace, critically assesses Sansovino’s artistic style, analyzes the relationship between Sansovino’s sculpture and sixteenth-century paintings, describes Sansovino’s workshop and the division of labor in his major commissions, and explores Sansovino’s influence during his life and after his death. The text and catalogue raisonne are complemented by an appendix of documents, some of which have never been published before, that add greatly to our knowledge of the sculptor in his social and artistic context. The resulting book is a superb visual and analytical record of the work and career of one of the greatest sculptors of the High Renaissance.