**SPERANDIO of MANTOVA** – Sculptor and engraver, son of the Roman goldsmith Bartolomeo di S. Savelli, born in Mantua in 1431, died there in 1504. He moved to Ferrara where he gained renown as an engraver and sculptor, particularly in terracotta. He also worked in Faenza, Bologna, Padua (1494), and then in Venice (1496), where he remained for some time as a founder for the Republic.
His medals are distinguished as belonging to six periods: Ferrara (1460–77), Faenza (1477–78), Bologna (1478–90), Ferrara (1490–95), Mantua (1495–96), Venice (1496–1504). The finest periods were those in Ferrara and Mantua, with medals of the Este and Gonzaga families. As a sculptor, he was especially noted for marble and terracotta bas-reliefs. Among these, one depicting Hercules of Este is in Ferrara, and two of the same subject—one in terracotta and one in marble—are in the Louvre. Notable is the terracotta model for the tomb of Alexander V in the church of S. Francesco in Bologna (1482). Painted terracottas by him also exist in Berlin and London, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where there is a portrait and a bas-relief with the image of Eleonora d'Este. Typical is the small plaque with the *Deposition of Christ*, of which several examples survive in Paris, and a plaque with the *Resurrection*, now in Berlin. His architectural work includes the model for the reconstruction of the bell tower of S. Petronio in Bologna.