2-747-688 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Virgin and Child, early 1530s. Mary’s classicizing head and the relatively rough finish are characteristic of northern Italian Renaissance sculpture. Artists rarely signed bronzes in this period, so Sansovino’s name on the base indicates this work’s importance, although the patron has yet to be identified. Compared to the Hercules and the Hydra behind you, this sculpture was meant to be seen only from the front, typical of Renaissance sculpture in the early 1500s.