Gian Cristoforo Romano

GIAN CRISTOFORO ROMANO. - Sculptor, architect, medallist, son of Isaia da Pisa (v.), born in Rome in 1470, died at Loreto on 31 May 1512. In 1490 he was in Ferrara to sculpt the bust of Beatrice d'Este, today in the Louvre. The following year he was in Pavia, engaged in work on the funeral monument of Gian Galeazzo Visconti in the Certosa. The work continued until 1497. In 1498 he was in Mantua at the court of Isabella d'Este Gonzaga, of whom he left a fine medal. In Mantua, where he remained until 1505, he also did other works, among which should be remembered the little door of the Marchioness's studiolo in the Palazzo Ducale and the tomb of the b. Osanna Andreassi. Toward the end of 1505 he was in Rome, where he modelled a medal of Julius II. Skilled in architecture, in 1509 he went with Bramante to Loreto to study the works needed for that Basilica, and at Loreto, after three years, he ended his life.

A characteristic exponent of a taste that was, rather than traditional, refinedly neoclassical, along the path in many respects marked out for him by his father, almost indifferent to the great movement of transformation that was taking place in his day in the field of art, G. C. enjoyed fame among his contemporaries above all as an engraver of gems and rock crystal. Nothing of his remains in that kind of work; nevertheless his sculptures and his medals easily convey what his tastes were for the courtly manner and perfect execution.

Emilio Lavagnino