Brescian Renaissance sculpture

Brescian Renaissance sculpture was an important offshoot of Renaissance sculpture developed in Brescia from around the 1460s within the framework of Venetian culture, peaking between the end of the century and the beginning of the next. In this period, a series of public and private worksites were able to produce absolutely original works, ranging from the refined and experimental sculptural style of the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli to the regular classicism of the Palazzo della Loggia.

The protagonist of this brief period, cut short in 1512 with the invasion of the French and the subsequent sack of Brescia, was Gasparo Cairano, acknowledged author of works of the highest artistic level such as the ark of St. Apollonius, the Caprioli Adoration, the Martinengo Mausoleum, and, first and foremost, the cycle of the Caesars for the elevations of the Palazzo della Loggia, praised in print as early as 1504 by Pomponius Gauricus' De sculptura. Contemporaries of Cairano were other more or less Brescian authors, often present in Brescia only for short chapters of their careers, such as Tamagnino and the Sanmicheli workshop, together with other minor artists who could be placed in the master's circle, such as Antonio Mangiacavalli and Ambrogio Mazzola, while the many sculptors of Venetian influence who worked in the city throughout the second half of the 15th century remain largely anonymous.