Omodeo stands at the head of northern Italian sculptors in his dexterous use of his chisel; his ease in composition and his skill in the management of drapery would have made him eminent; but the effect of all these good qualities was injured by his mannerism, and the fact that his standard of beauty was not a high one. This may be partly accounted for by the fact that in Lombardy an artist had no opportunity to study the remains of classic art, and this one circumstance very largely excuses the inferiority of the northern sculptors to those of Tuscany, whose taste had been much improved by close study of ancient plastic art.
There are many sculptors mentioned as having done some part of the work upon the Milan Cathedral, but very few are known, except by casual remark. Cristoforo Solari, called "Il Gobbo, or del Gobbo," was one of the most prominent, and yet we know almost nothing of his history until, in 1490, he was so disappointed when Omodeo was made architect of the cathedral instead of himself that he went to Venice, and remained there during several years.
After a time Solari was appointed ducal sculptor to Ludovico Moro, and the monument which he erected to Beatrice d'Este was one of his principal works. When Ludovico lost his power Solari went to Rome, and remained until he was recalled to Milan to execute sculptures for the cathedral. He was very independent in his reply, and refused to go unless his conditions were complied with; one of these conditions was that he should not be under the direction of any one, but should select his marbles and his subjects to please himself. The statues he made are not as fine as we might expect them to be after this beginning; however, he was at length appointed head architect. Soon after this he was engaged in making a new model for a cupola, and then suddenly his name ceases to appear upon the registers.
The Cathedral of Como is another of those vast edifices which afforded opportunities for artists to make themselves famous. The principal part of the façade to this cathedral was ornamented by Tommaso and Jacopo Rodari. The first was at one time architect of the cathedral, and together they executed a large portion of the sculptures. Their best work was in the ornamental parts.
In the southern parts of Italy, both in the states of the Church and in Naples, there are many works of the fifteenth century which were executed by artists from Florence and other parts of Italy. Thus there is nothing new to be said concerning sculpture in Southern Italy during this period, since the works which are not by foreign artists are in the same style as theirs; for the native sculptors copied those from Central and Northern Italy, and no great progress or original manner can be found in these southern districts.
CHAPTER VI.
SCULPTURE IN GERMANY, FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND SPAIN, FROM 1450 TO 1550.
In Italy, as we have seen, the sculpture of the Renaissance was much advanced by the fact that in the beginning of its growth the architecture of the country was largely an imitation of Greek architecture; and as the same artist was frequently an architect, sculptor, and painter, edifices were designed with the purpose of placing the works of the sculptor in the most favorable positions.