In Italy. 249 skilful in every branch of sculpture, produced the splendid monument of the Cardinal of Portugal, in San Miniato, Florence. The only Italian school of the fifteenth century which approached at all in importance to that of Florence, was the Venetian. Bartolommeo Buono paved the way for the family of the Lombard i * and Alessandro Leopard o, to whom Venice owes her finest monuments. The principal works of all these artists are the monuments of the Doo-es of Venice, in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo. That of Doge Pietro Mocenigo, by the Lombardi, is a splendid composition — completed in 1488 — surpassed, however, in grandeur of conception and delicacy of execution, by that of the Doge Andrea Vendramin in the same church, by Leopardo (1480 — 1540), in which sculptures in the round and reliefs are admirably combined. The school of Milan attained to a distinctive position in Italy, in consequence of the activity promoted by the works of the Duomo, and the Certosa or Carthusian monastery, near Pavia. The most celebrated sculptors employed were Fusina, Solari, Amadeo, Sacchi, and great- est of all, Agostino Busti, better known as Bambaja (1480—1550). The decoration of the marble facade of the Certosa f was commenced about 1473. The architectural sculptures of the principal portal have been ascribed to Busti. They are remarkable for the great technical skill displayed, and for the absence of the realism characteristic of most of the works of this period. The decorative sculpture of the
- Pietro Lombardo and his sons Tullio and Antonio,
f A reproduction of one of the large windows of the Certosa is in the South Kensington Museum.
