Prospero Spani (16 February 1516 – 25 May 1584) was an Italian sculptor of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, active mainly in the

Province of Reggio Emilia The Province of Reggio Emilia ( it, Provincia di Reggio nell'Emilia, Emilian: ''pruvînsa ed Rèz'') is one of the nine provinces of the Italian Region of Emilia-Romagna. The capital city, which is the most densely populated comune in the provin ...

. He is variously known as Prospero Clementi or Prospero Clemente or il Clemente.

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

claimed he was Modenese.

Biography

Spani was born and died in Reggio Emilia. He initially trained with his grandfather, Bartolommeo Clementi, and then apprenticed with

Antonio Begarelli Antonio Begarelli, also known as Begarino (1499–1565) was an Italian sculptor. He was born at Modena, and is said to have been instructed by Giovanni dell'Abbate, the father of the painter Niccolò. Begarelli worked chiefly in Modena, where m ...

. He soon modeled much of his work after the

mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

style of Michelangelo. The ''Funeral Monument for the blessed Bernardo degli Uberti'' (1544) in the

Cathedral of Parma Parma Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Parma; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Parma, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Parma. I ...

is his first work. He also completed some works for the Prati family in Parma. In the church of San Andrea in Mantua, he sculpted a monument for the Bishop Andreossi (Andreasi) (1549), with a sphinx and bronze swan, flanked by sculptures of ''Faith'' and ''Charity'' . He also worked for the Cathedral of Carpi and the church of San Domenico in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. He was prolific in his native Reggio Emilia, where he left in a bronze tabernacle; and a monument of Bishop Rangone (Rangoni) in 1567, for which, after five years, he was handsomely paid 1250 gold scudi. He complete a monument for Bishop Filippo Zoboli (1554) in San Nicolò of Reggio Emilia, which is flanked by grieving maidens. Algarotti extolled him as the "''

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

of sculpture''". William Waters, less kindly, called his works "''some of the worst sculpture of the time..monstrous..and absurdity''". For the

Cathedral of Reggio Emilia Reggio Emilia Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Reggio Emilia; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral (and one of the three main religious buildings) in Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy). The dedication is to the A ...

, he completed a ''Christ with the Cross'' and statues of ''St Grisanto and St Daria'' outside west door, while over the main portal, he had statues of a recumbent ''Adam and Eve'' (1552–1557). He also completed statues of ''Lepidus and Hercules'' at Modena, the statue of ''St Procolo'' for the Volta tomb at

, and a recumbent Figure of

Alberto Pio del Carpi Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albert ...

in the Louvre.Waters, Page 212-213

Notes and sources

* * Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors, and architects, Volume 4 (1883) By Giorgio Vasari, translated by Jonathan Foster. Publishers George Bell and Sons, London. Page 51

* Italian Sculptors. William George Waters. (1926) Methuem, Publisher. pages 212-213. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spani, Prospero 16th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Renaissance sculptors 1516 births 1584 deaths