|
Antonio's first signed and documented sculpture is his monumental relief of the Miracle of the Newborn Babe for the Cappella dell'Arca in Il Santo, Padua. The relief was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1504. Antonio's sculpture met with such favour that in 1501 he was hired to carve the Miracle of the Miser's Heart. Although he never executed the relief (Tullio replaced him in 1520), Antonio must have worked out a basic composition because a drawing of the subject (Private collection) reflects Antonio's style in the Newborn Babe relief.
Together with Tullio's contemporary relief of the Miracle of the Reattached Leg, Antonio's relief set the standard for the remaining seven reliefs in the chapel. Nevertheless, there are distinctions between Antonio's and Tullio's interpretation of the set compositional formula: Antonio's figures are understated in their emotional reaction, more three-dimensional, full-bodied, softly sensuous and languid, whereas Tullio's are tense and melodramatic.
|
