Italian family of sculptors. Pietro di Lorenzo da Sal? ( fl 4 July 1535; d Venice, after 22 Dec 1561, before 1563) worked in Venice and Padua. His style principally shows the influence of his teacher, Jacopo Sansovino, but also derives from that of Alessandro Vittoria and Danese Cattaneo. Two records of payment exist, from 4 July 1535 and 5 July 1549, for some unspecified works carried out at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice, and in 1536 he executed and signed the statue of Mars for Doge Andrea Gritti's balcony at the Doge's Palace. Further works there include two chimneys executed in 1553-4 in collaboration with Danese Cattaneo. From 1557 Pietro also worked on figural decorations on the fa?ade of the library of St Mark's. In 1554 he competed unsuccessfully for the prestigious office of Proto al Sal (Master Builder of the Doge's Palace). Besides state commissions he executed a portrait bust for the tomb of Pietro Lando (c. 1545; ex-S Antonio, Venice; untraced) and some of the figure sculpture for the tomb of Alessandro Contarini (1555-8; Padua, S Antonio). His son Domenico di Pietro da Sal? ( fl Venice, 1542-71) was also a pupil of Sansovino. His earliest identifiable work is the sculpture for the tomb of Vincenzo Cappello above the main portal of S Maria Formosa, Venice. In 1556 he received payment from Sansovino for his collaboration on the statues of Mars and Neptune (Venice, Doge's Pal., Scala dei Giganti). Besides portrait sculptures of the Ruzzini Family (Venice, Pal. Ruzzini-Priuli, S Maria Formosa), he executed and signed a marble relief dated 1571 for an altar in S Giuseppe, Venice. In comparison with his father's work, Domenico's appears more wooden and lifeless. The violin-maker Gasparo da Sal? (b Sal?, bapt 20 May 1540; d ?Brescia, 14 April 1609) was a member of this family, but it is uncertain whether the military architect Donato Grazioli ( fl Brescia, late 16th century) and Francesco di Tommaso da Sal? ( fl Venice, mid-16th century), who engraved a view of Venice in 1567, also belonged to it.
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