emy, taking the academic name Actius Syncerus. King
Federico also recognized his erudition, giving him the
Villa Mergellina in 1499. He remained devoted to the
Aragonese royal house after its downfall and followed the
king into exile in France in 1501, returning to Mergellina
after Federico’s death in 1504. He thereafter lived in re-
tirement and was buried in Sta. Maria del Parto in a tomb
he had himself designed.
Sannazaro’s earliest poetry, about a hundred Petrar-
chan sonnets and canzoni, was published posthumously
(Rime, 1530). By the end of the 1480s he had completed
most of his major work, the PASTORALromance L’Arcadia,
in which poetic eclogues alternate with prose narrative
(see ARCADIA). It appeared in some 50 editions in the 16th
century, from 1504 onward. Initially depicting the tranquil
idyllic world of shepherds, the poem shifts to a more dra-
matic and tragic mood with the introduction of themes of
mutability, unrequited love, and political protest. The
principal figure, Sincero, suffers from MELANCHOLIA, the
first of many heroes thus afflicted. Although anticipated
by BOCCACCIO’s Ameto (1342), L’Arcadia, which rifled vir-
tually the entire classical heritage of bucolic poetry, estab-
lished the pastoral in European verse for the next two
centuries. Sannazaro’s Latin poems, influenced by Pon-
tano, are among the outstanding examples of the Renais-
sance. These include epigrams and three books of Elegies
(1535), five Eclogae piscatoriae (1526), in which fisher-
men replace the conventional shepherds, and De partu vir-
ginis (On the Parturition of the Virgin; 1526), a Christian
epic in Virgilian hexameters dedicated to Pope Clement
VII.
Further reading: William J. Kennedy, Jacopo San-
nazano and the Uses of Pastoral (Hanover, N.H.: University
Press of New England, 1983).
Sano di Pietro (Ansano di Pietro di Mencio) (1406–
1481) Italian painter
Born in Siena, Sano di Pietro was a pupil of Stefano SAS-
SETTAand GENTILEda Fabriano and established a reputa-
tion for his decorative and religious paintings and
illustrations. His large body of work includes altarpieces,
panels, predellas, and numerous scenes from the life of St.
BERNARDINO, of whom he was a follower. Most notable of
these is the Sermon of St. Bernardino (Siena cathedral);
other works are the Coronation of the Virgin (Palazzo Pub-
blico, Siena) and St. Francis receiving the Stigmata
(Nantes).
Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea Contucci) (c. 1460–1529)
Italian sculptor and architect
He was born at Monte San Sovino, near Siena, and having
trained in Florence under Antonio POLLAIUOLO and
BERTOLDOhe worked there until 1491, when he was sent
by Lorenzo de’ Medici to Portugal. The years 1493–96 he
spent in Florence working on the Baptistery and he then
returned to Portugal until 1499, but very little is known of
the reason for his two visits there. After his eventual re-
turn to Florence he began one of his best-known works:
the Baptism of Christ over the central door of the baptis-
tery. The style of this work, which was completed by Vin-
cenzo DANTInearly 70 years later, reflects the transition to
the High Renaissance. It was, however, during his stay in
Rome (1502–12) that he executed his most famous works:
the tombs in Sta. Maria del Popolo of the cardinals As-
canio Sforza (1505) and Girolamo DELLA ROVERE(1507).
These were influential works and the sleeping attitudes of
the deceased were an innovation that was widely copied.
In his later years Sansovino worked mainly in Loreto, su-
pervising decorative and building work. He died in Monte
San Sovino.Sansovino, Jacopo (Jacopo Tatti) (1486–1570) Italian
sculptor and architect
A Florentine by birth, he was the pupil and most impor-
tant follower of Andrea SANSOVINO, whose name he
adopted. In 1505 he went to Rome to carry out a commis-
sion for Pope Julius II to restore ancient statues. With the
Florentine architect Giuliano SANGALLOhe also studied
examples of ancient architecture. Before his move to
Venice in 1527, Sansovino worked in Florence and then
again in Rome, producing mainly sculptures; some of
these showed the influence of MICHELANGELO, while oth-
ers derived more from ancient models and from the style
of Andrea Sansovino. However, like many other artists, he
fled after the Sack of Rome in 1527 and two years after his
arrival in Venice he was made chief architect of the city. It
was in this post, which he held until his death, that he car-
ried out the designs for which he is most famous. Chief
among these was the Libreria Sansoviniana on the Pi-
azzetta (1536; see MARCIANA, BIBLIOTHECA, Venice) one of
the major architectural works of the 16th century and one
which PALLADIOdescribed as the richest and most ornate
building since antiquity. Sansovino’s other designs in
Venice include the Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Grande
(1533) and the Zecca (mint) (1537). His most famous
sculptures are the large statues of Mars and Neptune
(1554–56) on the Scala dei Giganti of the doge’s palace,
which show his severe late style. He remained an expo-
nent of the restrained style of the High Renaissance de-
spite the increasing dominance of Mannerism in Italy.
Further reading: Bruce Boucher, The Sculpture of Ja-
copo Sansovino (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
1992); Deborah Howard, Jacopo Sansovino: Architecture
and Patronage in Renaissance Venice (New Haven, Conn.
and London: Yale University Press, 1975; repr. 1987).Santi di Tito (1536–1603) Italian painter
He was born at Borgo San Sepolcro, near Florence, and
was trained by BRONZINO and then probably by BAN-
DINELLI. He also studied in Rome, where he was influ-44226 6 SSaannoo ddii PPiieettrroo