GIAN CRISTOFORO ROMANO. - Sculptor, architect, and medallist, Isaia da Pisa (v.), born in Rome in 1470, died at Loreto on 31 May 1512. In 1490 he was in Ferrara to carve the bust of Beatrice d'Este, now in the Louvre. The following year he was in Pavia, engaged in work on the funerary monument of Gian Galeazzo Visconti in the Certosa. The work continued until 1497. In 1498 he was in Mantova with Isabella d'Este Gonzaga, of whom he left a fine medal. In Mantova, where he remained until 1505, he also executed other works, among which should be mentioned the small door of the Marchioness's studiolo in the Palazzo Ducale and the tomb of Blessed Osanna Andreassi. Towards the end of 1505 he was in Rome, where he modelled a medal of Giulio II. Skilled in architecture, in 1509 he went with Bramante to Loreto to study the works required for that Basilica, and at Loreto, three years later, he ended his life.
A characteristic representative of a taste that was, rather than traditional, refinedly neoclassical, following in many respects the path indicated to him by his father, almost indifferent to the great movement of transformation taking place in the artistic field in his day, G. C. enjoyed renown among his contemporaries above all as an engraver of gems and crystals. Nothing of his has remained in that genre of work; nevertheless, his sculptures and medals readily reveal his taste for the courtly manner and perfect execution.