Alessandro Vittoria funerary monument, San Zaccaria, Venice Alessandro Vittoria (1525 – 27 May 1608) was an Italian

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

sculptor of the Venetian school, "one of the main representatives of the Venetian classical style" and rivalling Giambologna as the foremost sculptors of the late 16th century in Italy, producing works such as ''

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

'' (Art Institute of Chicago).

Biography

Vittoria was born Alessandro Vittoria di Vigilio della Volpa, in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

, Italy, in what is now northern Italy, and was the son of a tailor. Vittoria was trained in the atelier of the architect-sculptor Jacopo Sansovino; he was a contemporary of

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

whose influence can be detected in his compositions. He was a virtuoso in terracotta, often presented with gilded surfaces, marble and bronze. Like all Italian sculptors of his generation, Vittoria was influenced also by

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

and by the Florentine Mannerist, Bartolomeo Ammannati. The closeness of his associations in projects by architects Sansovino, Sanmicheli and Palladio, working with painters

Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...

and

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, ...

placed him squarely among the protagonists of the art world in late 16th-century Venice.

Career

Alessandro Vittoria - Bust of Marino Grimani - Walters 27225

Vittoria was first trained in his native city,

, then moved to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

on 25 July 1543, where he trained and worked with Jacopo Sansovino. His long artistic relationship with Sansovino was a stormy one. After one quarrel with Sansovino, he removed from Venice and worked in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

, where he collaborated with Veronese on the decorations of the Villa Barbaro at Maser (1560–62) before returning. The two masters worked jointly on great sculptural commissions until Sansovino's death. Vittoria took up his studio and completed Sansovino's unfinished commissions. His pupils included

Camillo Mariani Camillo Mariani (1565 in Vicenza – 1611 in Rome) was a major Italian sculptor whose work bridged the artistic worlds of Venice and Rome, forming a base for the Baroque style of the seventeenth century. Biography Camillo Mariani was born in 1565 ...

and Andrea di Alessandro. Vittoria joined the Scuola Grande di San Marco on 24 January 1563 and the Accademia del Disegno, Florence, . He died at Venice on 27 May 1608. His tomb, with his self-portrait bust, is in the church of

San Zaccaria The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice. It is a large edifice located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is dedicated ...

. Vittoria is known for his classicising portrait busts, a genre that scarcely existed in Venice before him, and for medals as well as for his full-length figures, some of which surmount Sansovino's ''

Biblioteca Marciana The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark (, but in historical documents commonly referred to as the ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and ...

''.

Sources

His diary is an important source for the details of his career, as is his will, of 29 July 1576.Giuseppe Gerola, "Nuove documenti veneziani su Alessandro Vittoria" ''Atti del Reale Instituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti'' 84 (1925:349-50). An exhibition at Trento, 1999 is memorialised in a catalogue by Andrea Bacchi, Lia Camerlengo and Manfred Leithe-Jasper, ''"La Bellissima Maniera": Alessandro Vittoria e la Scultura Veneta del Cinquecento'' (Trento 1999) which is the basic text for its introductory essays on Vittoria's art and career, by Manfred Leithe-Jasper; his patrons, by Thomas Martin; his connections with Venetian painting, by Stefano Tumidei; and Vittoria's role as a collector, by Victoria Avery.

Gallery

Alessandro Vittoria, San Zaccaria (1543).jpg, San Zaccaria, San Zaccaria, Venice Cappella Montefeltro di Francesco Smeraldi, Sant' Antonio abate Statue d'Alessandro Vittoria.jpg,

Anthony the Great Anthony the Great (; ; ; ; – 17 January 356) was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as , by various epithets: , , , , , and . For his importance among t ...

San Francesco della Vigna San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello, Venice, Castello in Venice, northern Italy. History Along with Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, this is one of two Franciscan churches in Venice. The site, original ...

Cappella Montefeltro San Rocco Statue d'Alessandro Vittoria.jpg,

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

, San Francesco della Vigna, Venice San Salvador Venezia - San Rocco - Alessandro Vittoria.jpg,

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

, Venice Cappella Montefeltro San Sebastiano Statue d'Alessandro Vittoria.jpg,

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

, San Francesco della Vigna, Venice San Salvador Venezia - San Sebastiano - Alessandro Vittoria.jpg,

, San Salvador, Venice Chapel of the Crucifix Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Saint John the Evangelist by Vittoria.jpg,

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

, San Zanipolo, Venice Chapel of the Crucifix Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - the Virgin of pain by Vittoria.jpg, Virgin of pain, San Zanipolo, Venice Alessandro vittoria, mercurio, 1559-60 ca..JPG Alessandro vittoria, giunone.JPG Alessandro vittoria, apollo.JPG Alessandro vittoria, san sebastiano, 1566 circa.JPG File:Cast of Vittoria's Bust of Apollonio Massa.JPG, Cast of Vittoria's bust of Apollonio Massa

Notes

External links

J. Paul Getty Museum: vitaPortrait of the artist
by

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

.
Relief of ''Annunciation''
at

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vittoria, Alessandro 1525 births 1608 deaths People from Trento Italian male sculptors Republic of Venice sculptors Italian Mannerist sculptors 16th-century Italian sculptors 17th-century Italian sculptors