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| Antonio Lombardo Rosette with Gryphons ca. 1508 marble relief panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
Antonio Lombardo belonged to a family of Venetian marble carvers. His own career led him to court service in Ferrara where he ran a workshop producing extremely refined relief-work such as the set of decorative panels seen here (each between three and four feet long). Much later, this set was purchased in Italy by Russian plutocrats and shipped home. Yet the panels did not enter the Hermitage until a relatively late stage – in the 1930s – during the nastiest period of Stalin's domestic terror. They were confiscated from a noble palace under circumstances that have sunk already into the longer, semi-legendary history of these objects. What is truly startling about them is the fact that – despite their spectacular beauty and their Renaissance provenance – they are at present, according to the museum's information, consigned to storage rather than display.
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| Antonio Lombardo Phoenix between Tritons ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo Rosette with Hippocamps ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo Unicorns flanking Armor ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo Pelican with Foliated Ornament ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo Winged Sphinxes with Foliated Ornament ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo Triumph of Herakles ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo Rosette with Hippocamps ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo & workshop Tritons flanking Naiad ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo & workshop Woman between Tritons ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo & workshop Female Faun flanked by Tritons ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo & workshop Dolphins flanking Mask ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo & workshop Youth with Foliated Ornament ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Antonio Lombardo & workshop Palmette with Foliated Ornament ca. 1508 marble relief Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |