SANSOVINO, Jacopo
(b. 1486, Firenze, d. 1570, Venezia)

Neptune

1554-67
Marble, height: 305 cm
Palazzo Ducale, Venice

Sansovino executed two huge statues, Mars and Neptune, for the Scala dei Giganti, the staircase leading to the Ducal Palace. Neither exhibit mannerist variety, being conceived with a single view point. The way in which the weathered Neptune holds a dolphin by the tail is a gentle, light-hearted treatment of the victor-over-vanquished theme.