b. about 1460 Mantua, Italy, d. 1528 Mantua, Italy
sculptor
Italian

Born in Mantua around 1460, Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, called Antico, followed his father, a butcher, in holding the privilege of owning a stall in the meat market. Early on, however, Antico became well known as a sculptor. Like many fifteenth-century sculptors, he trained as a goldsmith; his use of silver for contrast in his later bronzes reflects this background. His earliest surviving works are medals made in 1479 on the occasion of the marriage of Antonia del Balzo and Count Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, the ruler of Mantua. These are signed with his pseudonym Antico, indicating that he was already known for his signature antique style.

For his entire career, Antico worked in the thriving artistic court of Renaissance Mantua, which clearly appreciated his antique-style sculptures. As was typical for court artists, Antico lived at Gianfrancesco's palace at Bozzolo beginning in the 1480s. There he also made bronze reductions of Roman antiquities for Gianfrancesco's young brother, Bishop Ludovico Gonzaga. In the early 1500s Antico began working for Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga. After 1506 Antico replaced Andrea Mantegna as Isabella's artistic advisor in her purchases of antiquities. Later in his life, Antico turned towards architecture.