Biography

Italian sculptor. A wood sculptor (intaiador) by profession, Savin was a friend of Antonio Lombardo. When Lombardo abandoned his work on Cardinal Zen's chapel in San Marco, Venice, in 1506, he must have recommended Savin to the Procurators of San Marco as his successor. In July 1506 Savin and Giovanni Battista Bregno were commissioned to produce six Virtues to be cast in bronze for the sides of the tomb of Cardinal Zen, four of which were completed by 1507. Savin seems to have gradually replaced Antonio Lombardo, furnishing models for two statues of St Peter and St John the Baptist for the altar, a model for the relief of the Resurrection for the antependium (1508-12) and finally models for the sarcophagus and its effigy (completed in 1519). These were cast in bronze by Pietro di Giovanni Battista Campanato (or delle Campane).

Savin's style is derived from that of the Lombardo family but is clumsy and reveals a mediocre talent. The two saints for the Zen chapel are of higher quality than the rest of his work, perhaps the result of the participation of other artists or possibly because Savin was completing models actually begun by Antonio Lombardo. Savin fell into obscurity and no more is known of him.