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Lot Essay
In June 1501, Antonio Lombardo and his brother Tullio were commissioned to execute two further marble reliefs as part of the cycle they had been carving for the chapel of S. Antonio at the Santo, Padua. The subject of Antonio's relief was to be The Miracle of the Miser's Heart, representing one of Saint Anthony's miracles. Preaching on the sin of greed, Saint Anthony told his listeners that a man's heart ends up with his treasures; to prove his point, he showed them the body of a miser who had recently died. On opening his body, it was found empty: his heart was discovered, as Saint Anthony had predicted, with his gold in his money-chest.
Antonio did not complete the relief, which was eventually executed by Tullio in 1520-25 with significant differences (Fig. 1). The present drawing appears to be the only record of Antonio's original idea for the composition. McHam (op. cit.) has noted the marked differences between the drawing, with its frieze-like assembly of serene figures, and Tullio's more agitated, dramatic relief. She suggests that this offers a valuable insight into the change in early 16th-Century Venetian sculpture brought about by the discovery of the Laocoön in 1504 and the consequent broadening of antique references for Italian sculptors.
Antonio did not complete the relief, which was eventually executed by Tullio in 1520-25 with significant differences (Fig. 1). The present drawing appears to be the only record of Antonio's original idea for the composition. McHam (op. cit.) has noted the marked differences between the drawing, with its frieze-like assembly of serene figures, and Tullio's more agitated, dramatic relief. She suggests that this offers a valuable insight into the change in early 16th-Century Venetian sculpture brought about by the discovery of the Laocoön in 1504 and the consequent broadening of antique references for Italian sculptors.