[Illustration: FIG. 102.--BACCHUS. _By Jacopo Sansovino._]
In 1514 Jacopo Sansovino was employed upon the decorations for the visit of Leo X. to Florence. Soon after this he went again to Rome and submitted plans for the Church of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini, which the Florentines were about to erect--for this master was an architect as well as a sculptor. The taking of Rome by Constable de Bourbon, in 1527, drove Sansovino away; he went to Venice, intending to go to France, but Venice charmed him, and his work pleased the Venetians, and the result was that from 1529 he served the Venetians as long as he lived. He was appointed Protomastro of the Republic of Venice, and had the care of St. Mark's, the Campanile, the Piazza, and the surrounding buildings. He received a good salary, and was provided with a handsome house to live in.
He first restored the cupolas of St. Mark's; then completed the Scuola della Misericordia; he next made the interior of San Francesco della Vigna; then the Zecca, the Fabbriche Nuove, and the Loggietta of the Campanile. He also erected other churches and palaces, besides smaller sculptural works. But his architectural masterpiece was the Library of St. Mark's. The bronze gate to the Sacristy of St. Mark's was one of his principal works. It is subject to criticism as being too crowded; but it is a fine work and full of strong feeling.
His statues are numerous and seen all over Venice; indeed, it is proper to speak of him as a Venetian, so thoroughly did he adopt that city, and so industriously did he work for it during forty years. Had he remained in Florence he might have been a better artist; the splendor and luxury of the Venetians brought out corresponding traits in Jacopo, and he fell short of the purity which the influence of Florence might have given him. He is one of the masters in whom the sensual influence of the study of pagan art was fully manifested. Many of his subjects were mythological; among them were the story of Phrixos and Helle, Mercury, Apollo, Pallas, Mars, and Neptune, the last two being colossal figures on the steps of the Doge's Palace.
Among the pupils and associates of Sansovino were NICCOLO BRACCINI (1485-1550), called IL TRIBOLO, and FRANCESCO SANGALLO (1498-1570), neither of whom were important artists, though many works by them are seen in various places in Italy.