Vittoria, Alessandro (1525–1608) Italian sculptor
A native of Trent (Trento) in northern Italy, Vittoria
was active after 1543 chiefly in Venice where he became
the leading sculptor in the city. A friend of TITIAN, TIN-
TORETTO, PALLADIO, and other notable mannerists, Vittoria
was a pupil of Jacopo SANSOVINOand undertook work in
several different media—marble, bronze, and terracotta.
Among his best-known work is the elaborate stucco deco-
ration of the Scala d’Oro (1555–59) in the doge’s palace in
Venice, where he also created three statues in the Sala
delle Quattro Porte (1587) and other pieces, both before
and after the fire of 1577. He also produced a number of
important religious works for the church of Sta. Maria de’
Frari and other Venetian churches. Other works included
stucco decorations at Daniele BARBARO’s Palladian Villa
Barbaro (now Villa Volpi) at Maser, near Asolo, and sev-
eral important tombs, numerous portrait busts, and
bronze figurines. His own particular brand of MANNERISM
survived after his death in the styles of several of the
pupils of the school he founded.
Vittorino da Feltre (Vittorino de’ Rambaldoni) (1378–
1446) Italian humanist educator
Vittorino is generally called after his birthplace, Feltre,
north of Treviso. He studied and then taught at Padua uni-
versity, met GUARINO DA VERONA, and began to evolve the
educational theories that laid the foundation of humanis-
tic pedagogy. In 1423 he was invited to Mantua by Gian-
francesco (I) Gonzaga to establish a school for the
children of the Gonzaga court. For 22 years Vittorino ad-
ministered every aspect of the intellectual, moral, and
physical development of about 70 pupils, including some
paupers, who were boarded in the Gonzaga villa known as
the Casa Giocosa.
The basis of the curriculum was the teaching of Latin
and Greek grammar, and the classical ideal of the eloquent
and virtuous citizen was held up for the pupils, among
them a number of girls, to emulate. One of Vittorino’s star
pupils was Gianfrancesco’s daughter, Cecilia (1424–51),
who became so passionate about her studies that she re-
jected the marriage that had been arranged for her with
the duke of Urbino and opted instead to enter a convent.
Mathematics, music, and philosophy (both Platonic and
Aristotelian) were also taught, but there was a strong em-
phasis on sound Christian doctrine, and physical educa-
tion was not neglected.
Vivarini family A family of artists in 15th-century
Venice. The founder of the Vivarini workshop at Murano
was Antonio Vivarini (c. 1415–84), also known as
Antonio da Murano. His early commissions included a
number of Madonnas, such as that painted for the
Oratorio dei Filippini in Padua (c. 1440). A prolific artist,
Antonio favored a more naturalistic approach in his later
works, many of which were executed with the col-
laboration of his brother-in-law Giovanni d’Alemagna
(died 1450). The two men together produced several
gilded and elaborate altarpieces for churches in Venice
and also collaborated upon Antonio’s masterpiece, the
polyptych Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (1448;
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna), which also exhibits the
influence of Antonio’s younger brother Bartolommeo
(1432–91). From 1447 to 1450 Antonio and Giovanni
d’Alemagna lived in Padua, where they worked alongside
Andrea MANTEGNA and Niccolò Pizzolo upon a fresco
cycle in the Ovetari chapel of the church of the Eremitari
(destroyed in World War II) that reflected the influence of
GENTILEda Fabriano and MASOLINO. Antonio’s son Alvise
(1445–1505) was influenced by ANTONELLO DA MESSINA
and Giovanni BELLINIand produced a number of original
works, including Christ Blessing (1498; Brera, Milan) and
St. Anthony of Padua (undated; Museo Correr, Venice).Vivès, Juan Luis (1492–1540) Spanish humanist scholar
and educator
Vivès was born and educated in Valencia and subsequently
studied at Paris (1509–c. 1512), Bruges, and Louvain.
While in Paris (1519) he met ERASMUS, who already knew
of him through Thomas MORE. In 1520 Vivès was ap-
pointed lecturer at Louvain, and soon afterwards began
work at Erasmus’s request on a commentary on St. Augus-
tine’s City of God (1522). When HENRY VIIIand Catherine
of Aragon visited Bruges (1521), Vivès was presented to
them, and they and Cardinal Wolsey welcomed him when
he moved to England in 1523. He made his home at Ox-
ford, becoming a fellow of the newly founded Corpus
Christi College. His support for Catherine over the royal
divorce proceedings cost him Henry’s favor and even led
to his being placed under house arrest for six weeks. He
then withdrew to the Continent, where, between 1528
and 1531 he wrote his famous treatise on education De
tradendis disciplinis (1531). This ranks as his major edu-
cational work but he also wrote a book on the education
of women, translated into English as The Instruction of a
Christian Woman (1540), and Linguae Latinae exercitatio
(1539) to provide practice in Latin for schoolchildren. His
educational theories marked an important development in
Christian humanism. In philosophy, his De causis corrup-
tarum artium (1531) embodied his opposition to scholas-
ticism and De anima et vita (1538) offered a fresh
approach to psychology. He died in Bruges of fever.Volterra, Daniele (Ricciarelli) da See DANIELE(RICCIA-
RELLI) DA VOLTERRAVos, Maarten Pietersz. de (1532–1603) Netherlands
painter and print designer
De Vos was born in Antwerp and trained by his artist fa-
ther Pieter de Vos and by Frans FLORIS. He seems to have
visited Italy, possibly in the company of Pieter Brueghel.VVooss,, MMaaaarrtteenn PPiieetteerrsszz.. ddee 4 49977