Antonio Pollaiuolo

Antonio di Jacopo Pollaiuolo (c. 1432 – 1498) was an Italian painter, sculptor and goldsmith during the Renaissance, and did valuable service in perfecting the art of enamelling.

Related Topics:
1432 - 1498 - Italian - Painter - Sculptor - Gold - Renaissance - Enamelling

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His brother was the artist Piero Pollaiuolo and the two frequently worked together. Their work shows both classical influences and an interest in human anatomy; reportedly, the brothers carried out dissections to improve their knowledge of the subject.

Related Topics:
Piero Pollaiuolo - Classical

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Some of Pollaiuolo's painting exhibits an excess of brutality, of which the characteristics can be studied in the Saint Sebastian, painted in 1475, and now in the National Gallery, London. A St Christopher and the Infant Christ is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. However, in contrast, his female portraits exhibit a calmness and a meticulous attention to detail of fashion, as was the norm in late fifteenth century portraiture.

Related Topics:
Saint Sebastian - National Gallery, London - Metropolitan Museum, New York

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But it was as a sculptor and metal-worker that he achieved his greatest successes. The exact ascription of his works is doubtful, as his brother Piero did much in collaboration with him. The museum of Florence contains the bronze group "Hercules strangling Cacus" and the terracotta bust "The Young Warrior"; and in the South Kensington Museum, London, is a bas-relief representing a contest between naked men.

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In 1489 Antonio took up his residence in Rome, where he executed the tomb of Pope Sixtus IV (1493), a composition in which he again manifested the quality of exaggeration in the anatomical features of the figures. In 1496 he went to Florence in order to put the finishing touches to the work already begun in the sacristy of Santo Spirito.

Related Topics:
1489 - Rome - Pope Sixtus IV

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He died having just finished his mausoleum of Pope Innocent VIII, and was buried in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, where a monument was raised to him near that of his brother.

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Pollaiuolo's students included Sandro Botticelli.

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