Giuseppe Sanmartino or Giuseppe Sammartino (1720 – 1793) was an Italian sculptor during the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

period. Sanmartino was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. His first dated (1753) work is '' Veiled Christ'' or ''Christ lying under the Shroud'', commissioned initially from the Venetian sculptor

Antonio Corradini Antonio Corradini (19 October 1688 – 12 August 1752) was an Italian Rococo sculptor from Venice. He is best known for his illusory veiled depictions of human body, where the contours of the face and bodies beneath the veil are discernible. Bo ...

who did not live to complete the work. Sammartino interpreted his sketches freely to create a masterly sculpture which can be seen in

Sansevero Chapel The Cappella Sansevero (also known as the Cappella Sansevero de' Sangri or Pietatella) is a chapel located on Via Francesco de Sanctis 19, just northwest of the church of San Domenico Maggiore, in the historic center of Naples, Italy. The chapel ...

(also called ''Cappella Sansevero'' or ''Pietatella'') in Naples. Other contributors to this chapel were

Francesco Celebrano Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

and the Genoese sculptor

Francesco Queirolo Francesco Queirolo (1704–1762) was an Italian Genoese-born sculptor, active in Rome and Naples during the Rococo period. Biography He trained together with Giuseppe Rusconi in Rome. Here he executed the statues of St. Charles Borromeo and St. ...

. The statue of ''Veiled Christ'' is elaborately artificial (art historian Wittkower labeled it as a ''hypertrophic'' effort) by reproducing in stone the effect of a thin veil. In the same chapel, Corradini's antecedent statue of ''Chastity''Antonio Corradini's Modesty
/ref> (also called ''Modesty'') is present.

Innocenzo Spinazzi Innocenzo Spinazzi (1726–1798) was an Italian sculptor of the Rococo period active in Rome and Florence. Biography Born in Rome the son of a silversmith, he became the leading sculptor in Florence, where he died. He was trained by Giovanni Bat ...

, a contemporary Florentine sculptor, also completed statues with this effect. Successful completion of this commission earned Sammartino further commissions. These included the group of St. Augustine in the Neapolitan church of Sant'Agostino alla Zecca, the decoration of the Annunziata church, and the monument to Prince Filippo of Naples, Duke of Calabria in the

Basilica of Santa Chiara The Basilica of Saint Clare (''Basilica di Santa Chiara'' in Italian) is a church in Assisi, central Italy. It is dedicated to and contains the remains of Saint Clare of Assisi, a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and founder of the Order of ...

. He also executed a series of

nativity scene In the Christianity, Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian language, Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christ ...

References

Sources

External links

Web Gallery of Art
1720 births 1793 deaths 18th-century Neapolitan people Italian Baroque sculptors Italian male sculptors Rococo sculptors {{Italy-sculptor-stub