LOMBARDO, Tullio
(b. ca. 1460, d. 1532, Venezia)

St Mark Baptizing Anianus

c. 1489
Marble
Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

Tullio Lombardo executed the reliefs flanking the two portals of the Scuola Grande di San Marco. These extremely pictorial reliefs complement the ostentatiously decorated façade, which has been called the most picturesque architectural concept of the 15th century.

The picture shows St Mark Baptizing Anianus, one of the two reliefs flanking the right portal of the Scuola. They are the earliest relief sculptures definitely by Tullio and establish certain principles that can be traced in his later narrative reliefs.