At the time of Giorgio's death the work had progressed as far as the roofing in of the apses, if one may trust the arms of Bishop de Tollentis (elected in 1468), placed above the upper arch of the transept; while upon the external arch to the north are those of Count Captain Piero Canal, who left in 1470; and on the arch of the central apse inside, behind the sculptured bust representing God the Father, are those of Count Captain Girolamo Pesaro, who began to rule in 1476. At that time, therefore, the nave and cupola remained to be completed. Upon the cupola there are no arms. Those of Count Nicolò Mulla on the clerestory north wall show that it was finished to the cornice in 1491-1493. Those of Nicolò Navager, who died 1489, fastened with iron clamps in the same place, suggest that it was not completed at his death, though it was probably in course of construction. The arms of Count Andrea Gritti, captain in 1534-1537, on the summit of the façade, show that the western end of the vault was completed by Giovanni Masticevich in 1536. The western rose (at which Giacomo, son of Matteo da Mestre, capo mastro, 1528-1535, was working in 1531) has Gothic cusped arches to the radiating bars, but the mouldings round are Renaissance, as are the angle pilasters to the nave wall and the pateræ decorating the quarter-circles of the aisles. The fluted pilasters of the dome are in harmony with the pilasters of the open gallery above the nave arcade. The pointed arches, which were certainly finished in 1444, are probably Massegna's work, though the leafy cornice above bears great resemblance to carving for which Giorgio was responsible at Ancona.
The baptistery is a queer little building at the eastern end of the south aisle, and one of the entrances to the cathedral is through it. The font has a bowl and base of variegated marble, like that used at Veglia, very flat in shape and unmoulded, supported by three amorini, carved in Istrian stone, who stand round the supporting stem. The plan of the building is cruciform, the arms of the cross being semicircular niches which have shell-heads. The wall above them has Gothic tracery, on the eastern side pierced to give light. The ribs at the angles are supported on engaged columns, above which are Gothic figures beneath canopies, of which two, David and Simeon, remain; the other two were destroyed or stolen, I understand, by thieves who broke into the building. The figures bend forward awkwardly beneath the curve of the vault, which becomes domical, with angels and cherubs upon it. The boss in the centre bears a head of God the Father and the Holy Dove, with an inscription round the edge: "Hic est filius meus," &c.
LATE VENETIAN-GOTHIC DOORWAY, SEBENICO
The question of the part played by Giorgio in the construction of the cathedral is difficult to decide, being complicated by the mixture of styles and the possibly later insertion of several of the coats of arms of the rectors and bishops. The western piers of the crossing are considered to be part of the earlier work, because of the close resemblance of the carved foliage to Venetian-Gothic ornament; but it must be remembered that Giorgio was trained in Venice, just as Massegna was, and would be familiar with such work. Foliage of similar style occurs in domestic work at Traù, and in other places along the coast, so that it is scarcely safe to consider it the sign-manual of any one sculptor. The time from 1441, when he signed a contract for six years, to 1443 was spent in widening the street to allow of the eastward extension of the church. On June 16, 1442, the demand for the rebuilding of the façade of the count's palace (which was on the other side) was formally made for the bishop, procurators, and chapter. This additional space was necessitated by the design of the apse, &c., as laid down in Giorgio's plan, and still existing.[2] The Gothic character of the domestic doorway illustrated, with the late form of shield in the tympanum, shows that such forms lingered late in Dalmatia. The same may be said of the design of the rose-window, finished in 1531, and of similar details which occur in undoubted work by Giorgio in Ancona.
SOUTH-EAST PORTION OF CHOIR, CATHEDRAL, SEBENICO
The door of the lions in the north aisle is quite Gothic in character, yet the arms above it are those of Leonardo Vernier (1453-1454), Bishop George Sisgoreo (☦1453), and of Bishop Vignacco (elected 1454), apparently fixing its date thirteen years after Massegna had received his congé. If it be contended that these arms are a later insertion, which the arrangement of the masonry makes possible, the value of all the coats of arms as fixing the dates of the portions of the building on which they occur must be discounted. The design of the lowest portions of the shafts in the right-hand jamb is different and apparently later than the rest of the work, and the foliage on the brackets beneath the lions also is very different from the fine caps to the west of the crossing, so that one scarcely likes to assume that they are by the same hand. Upon the pier, above one of the capitals attributed to Giorgio, which has been compared disparagingly with the caps last named, is the date 1524. This is below the level of the door of the sacristy, which we know Giorgio built, and one would assume that the pier must be anterior to the door, as the construction of the sacristy would scarcely precede the roofing in of the aisle from which it is entered. Moreover, the baptistery is beneath the apse which terminates this aisle, and it was certainly completed in 1452, since it is mentioned in the contract for the sacristy. The mixture of Gothic and Renaissance forms is characteristic of Giorgio's work throughout; and it is difficult to agree wholly either with Mgr. Fosco or Mr. T.G. Jackson in the different conclusions on this subject which they draw from the same data. The fact of Massegna having been dismissed on the definite ground of errors made and defects discovered, with the additional complaint of the throwing away of money upon ornament, suggests that the earlier portion was not left as we now see it by the first architect, of whom Mr. Jackson says: "To us there seems no fault in the design of Antonio." The design of the western pair of caps of the piers at the crossing is as different from that of the nave caps, which are certainly Massegna's, as from that of the two eastern piers. Mr. Jackson says, probably quite rightly, that the torus moulding decorated with the laurel above the leaf cornice of the nave marks the commencement of Giorgio's work in that part; the same moulding occurs in the same relative position in the ambos to which he assigns the date of 1547: and one does not quite understand why the same detail should not have the same origin in both places. The only contract of 1547, quoted by Mgr. Fosco, is one with "Checcus" of Padua for 350 squared paving-stones and for laying them.
Whatever part George of Sebenico had in the construction he must be classed with the great architectural designers. Leo Battista Alberti commenced the recasing of S. Francesco, Rimini, which is generally quoted as the earliest Renaissance work in Italy, in 1446, and the stone for the work was imported from Istria. In that year Giorgio's first contract was renewed for ten years. The Lombardi were then only commencing their work. S. Zaccaria at Venice was built by Martino in 1456, and the Scuola di S. Marco in 1485. Pietro was engaged on the Madonna dei Miracoli in 1483. So that Giorgio's work antedates theirs by some years. He had numerous pupils, whose names have been recorded; the other workmen came from Durazzo, Curzola, and Spalato. The best known of them, Andrea Alexis, the Albanian of Durazzo, was much employed in Spalato, Arbe, and Traù.
The votive church of S. Salvatore, just inside the Porta Pile, Ragusa, built in 1522 after the earthquake of 1520, and designed by Bartolommeo da Mestre, master mason at Sebenico in 1528, bears considerable resemblance to the cathedral.