CAMPAGNA, Girolamo

Italian sculptor. He was one of the most important sculptors working in Venice and the surrounding region in the late 16th century and the early 17th. Although his older rival Alessandro Vittoria was a more versatile artist, Campagna's talents centred on a remarkable gift for religious statuary. In this he was unrivalled in Venice and scarcely equalled elsewhere in Italy.

He studied under Jacopo Sansovino and Danese Cattaneo, and completed many of the latter's works. He was responsible for the figure of Doge Leonardo Loredano on the tomb which Cattaneo made in Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. After his master's death, Campagna went to Padua where he secured the commission intended for Cattaneo in the BasilicaGLOSSARYa church building, usually facing east, with a tall main nave and two or four side aisles of lesser height. There may also be a transept between the nave and the choir, which is reserved for the clergy. Originally, the basilica was an ancient Greek administrative building, and the Romans used this form for markets and law courts; it then became a place of assembly for the early Christians, and thus a church. of Saint Anthony of Padua. The greater part of his life was spent in Venice, and there we have the majority of his works: the statues of St Francis and St Clare bearing the ostensorium at Santa Maria dei Miracoli; that of St Justina of Padua over the door of the Arsenal, commemorating the Battle of LepantoGLOSSARYNaval battle during the course of which the 208 ships belonging to the Holy League gained a decisive victory on 7 October 1571 over the 210 ships of the Ottoman Turkish fleet on the edge of the Gulf of Corinth. (1571), which occurred on her feast-day (7 October), during Campagna's lifetime; the colossal St Sebastian at the Zecca; the figures of the Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel and patron saints of Venice, in reliefGLOSSARYA sculptural work in which all or part projects from the flat surface. There are three basic forms: low relief (bas-relief, basso rilievo), in which figures project less than half their depth from the background; medium relief (mezzo-rilievo), in which figures are seen half round; and high relief (alto rilievo), in which figures are almost detached from their background. on the Ponte di Rialto. He also made terracottaGLOSSARYUnglazed fired clay. It is used for architectural features and ornaments, vessels, and sculptures. figures in San Zulian and worked in the Frari.

Among his most impressive achievements are the high altars for the Venetian churches of San Francesco della Vigna, Il Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore. His brother Giuseppe Campagna (d. 1626) was also a sculptor and assisted him.