BELLANO, BARTOLOMEO

BELLANO, BARTOLOMEO. - Sculptor, b. in Padova about 1434, d. there between 1496 and 1497. He is believed to have collaborated on the two choir lofts of S. Lorenzo in Firenze, thus coming into contact with the art of Donatello, whose stiacciato he sought to render in the reliefs for the marble reliquary in the sacristy (1469) and in the bronze reliefs (1484–88) for the choir in the church of the “Santo” in Padova: there he displays a harshness of line devoid of pictorial explorations, together with a narrative interest of northern taste. The qualities of incisive plasticity and expressive vigour in his sculpture are more successfully displayed in the Roccabonella monuments (1491) in S. Francesco at Padova (relief with the Madonna, the Child, and saints). He worked in Roma and Perugia on commission from Paolo II.