LEONI, LEONE. – Sculptor, medallist, and architect, born in Menaggio (Como) of an Aretine father in 1509 and died in Milan in 1590. He worked chiefly in Milan and in Spain at the court of Philip II, displaying eminent skill as a modeller and bronze-founder in the manner of Michelangelo and Sansovino.
His most celebrated works include the solemn tomb of GIOVANNI CARLO MEDICI in Milan cathedral, that of FERRANTE GONZAGA at Guastalla, the statue of VESPASIANO GONZAGA in the Incoronata at Sabbioneta (Mantua), statues and busts of CHARLES V and PHILIP II in the Prado and in the Escorial at Madrid. His rare gifts for incisive and dignified realism enabled him to rank among the finest medallists of his day, with some sixty pieces to his credit (notable among them the effigies of CHARLES V, PHILIP II, MARIA OF HUNGARY, and MICHELANGELO). In the field of civil architecture he left a significant mark with the design of his own Milanese house, known as the Casa degli Omenoni, so called from the giant caryatids that adorn its façade, a typical pre-Baroque motif.
A faithful and worthy collaborator of L. L. was his son Pompeo (born c. 1533, died in Madrid on 13 Oct. 1608). Under the patronage of Philip II of Spain he completed in the Escorial the great altarpiece begun by his father, and there also executed the tombs of CHARLES V and PHILIP II and that of the Dukes of Lerma at Valladolid. He likewise continued his father’s manner in the art of the medal.