Jacopo d’Antonio Sansovino (1486 - November 27, 1570) was an Italian sculptor and architect. He apprenticed with Andrea Sansovino whose name he subsequently adopted, changing his name from Jacopo Tatti.
In Rome he attracted the notice of Bramante and Raphael and made a wax model of the Deposition of Christ for Perugino to use. He returned to Florence in 1511 where he received commissions for marble sculptures of St. James for the Duomo and a Bacchus, now in the Bargello. His proposals for sculpture to adorn the façade of the Church of San Lorenzo, however, were rejected by Michelangelo, who was in charge of the scheme, to whom he wrote a bitter letter of protest in 1518. During these years he shared a studio with the painter Andrea del Sarto, with whom he shared models. He subsequently returned to Rome where he stayed for nine years, leaving for Venice in the year of the Sack of Rome.
In 1529 Sansovino became chief architect (or Protomagister) to the Procurators of San Marco, making him one of the most influential artists in Venice. His best known work there is to be found in Piazza San Marco, specifically on the buildings the Zecca (public mint) the Loggetta adjoining the Campanile and various statues and reliefs for the Basilica of San Marco. His most famous work is the Library of San Marco, Venice's first truly classical building. In it he successfully made the architectural language of classicism, traditionally associated with severity and restraint, palatable to the Venetians with their love of surface decoration. This paved the way for the graceful architecture of Andrea Palladio.
Jacopo's chief claim to distinction rests upon the numerous fine Venetian buildings which he designed, such as the public library, the mint, the Scuola della Misericordia, the Palazzo de' Cornari and the Palazzo Delfino, with its magnificent staircase - the last two both on the grand canal.
In 1545 the roof of the public library, which he was then constructing, fell in; on this account he was imprisoned, fined and dismissed from the office of chief architect of the cathedral, to which he had been appointed by a decree of the signoria on the 7th of April 1529.
Sansovino's architectural works have much beauty of proportion and grace of ornament, a little marred in some cases by an excess of sculptured decoration, though the carving itself is always beautiful, both in design and execution.
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