The J. Paul Getty Museum

The son of a tailor in the Italian city of Trent, Alessandro Vittoria became one of the dominant artists in Venice from 1550 to 1600. After apprenticing to sculptors in his hometown, Vittoria moved to Venice, where he worked on commissions for both aristocratic patrons and the churches of Venice in the studio of Jacopo Sansovino. By 1550, he was an independent master. Following a quarrel with Sansovino, Vittoria began working outside Venice, in the cities of Trent and Vicenza.

Upon his return to Venice, Vittoria reconciled with Sansovino, and the two renewed their work together on large sculptural projects in marble and bronze. In the 1570s, after Sansovino's death, Vittoria took over many of his master's unfinished projects. He also increasingly won commissions from aristocratic patrons who sought him out as a sculptor, medalist, and decorator and who particularly valued his portrait busts and medallions. Vittoria was also an architect and painter, but little is known of his work in these media.