Domenico Fancelli (1469–1519) was an Italian sculptor who worked primarily in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where he was one of those who introduced

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

. His most notable works are the tomb of

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, in the

Cathedral of Seville The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (), better known as Seville Cathedral (), is a Catholic cathedral and former mosque in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alc� ...

, and the tombs of the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

(

Queen Isabella I Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

of Castile and King Ferdinand II of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

) in the

Royal Chapel of Granada The Royal Chapel of Granada () is an Isabelline style building in Granada, Spain. Constructed between 1505 and 1517, it was originally integrated in the complex of the neighbouring Granada Cathedral. It is the burial place of the Spanish monarchs ...

."Royal Chapel of Granada: Royal Tombs", CurateND
/ref> He was born in

Settignano Settignano is a ''frazione'' on a hillside northeast of Florence, Italy. The little '' borgo'' of Settignano carries a familiar name for having produced three sculptors of the Florentine Renaissance, Desiderio da Settignano and the Gamberini broth ...

, near

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. We know little about his education as a sculptor, but he appears to have studied in Florence and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones, (1440– 20 July 1515) was the 1st Marquis of Mondéjar () and 2nd Count of Tendilla (). He was known as ("The Great Tendilla") and was a Spanish noble of the House of Mendoza. He was the son of Íñigo ...

, Count of Tendilla, commissioned him in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

to sculpt a tomb for Mendoza's brother, Cardinal Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who had died in 1502. The tomb was transported to Seville, where Fancelli helped to place it in the Cathedral. Around 1510 he was commissioned to design and sculpt the tomb of

John, Prince of Asturias John, Prince of Asturias and Girona (; 30 June 1478 – 4 October 1497) was the only son of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, and heir apparent to both their thrones for nearly his entire life. Early life The only ...

, son of the Catholic Monarchs, who had died in 1497 at the age of 19. The tomb was to be located in

Ávila Ávila ( , , ) is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

at the Royal Monastery of Saint Thomas. The success of this project led to what might be his best known work, the tomb of the Catholic Monarchs in the

Royal Chapel A royal chapel is a chapel associated with a monarch, a royal court, or in a royal palace. A royal chapel may also be a body of clergy or musicians serving at a royal court or employed by a monarch. Commonwealth countries Both the United Kin ...

of the Cathedral of Granada, which he completed in 1517. Commissioned also to create tombs for

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...

and

Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to: * Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC) * Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC) * Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor * Philip I of France (1052–1108) * Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) ( ...

of Castile, he died before the project could be executed, and Bartolomé Ordóñez took his place. His great influence on Spanish sculpture can be seen in the work of such artists as

Vasco de la Zarza Vasco de la Zarza (died 1524) was a Spanish Renaissance sculptor. He flourished between 1499 and 1524, and worked mainly for the Cathedral of Avila and convents of the same city, but also performed works in Ampudia, Cuéllar, Olmedo, Valladolid, O ...

References

15th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 16th-century Italian sculptors Spanish sculptors Spanish male sculptors Italian Renaissance sculptors 1519 deaths 1469 births Expatriates in Spain {{Spain-sculptor-stub