Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs
Italian artist

The Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs was an Italian sculptor active around Venice between about 1486 and about 1515. His name is derived from a set of reliefs in bronze, depicting the Coronation and Assumption of the Virgin and the twelve Apostles. These may be seen today in the Ca' d'Oro in Venice; they were formerly on the altar, serving as a double tomb for the Barbarigo family, which once stood in the church of Santa Maria della Carità, which now houses part of the Gallerie dell'Accademia. The tombs were dismantled in 1808, but other pieces survive, including a kneeling effigy of Doge Agostino Barbarigo in marble and a relief in limestone depicting the Resurrection; another kneeling effigy, depicting Doge Marco Barbarigo, is also known to have at one time existed as part of the tomb. The complete tomb design is shown in an engraving from 1692; according to this the bronzes were placed on the altar of the central bay, flanked by the kneeling figures on either side. Further effigies, depicting figures reclining on a bier, were placed in each adjoining bay. Documentary evidence indicates that work on the sculpture was begun around 1486, at Marco Barbarigo's death; the reliefs were probably completed by 1515.
“Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs” enters the record as italian artist. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Master, Barbarigo and Reliefs can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1296297. VIAF identifies the subject as 96482675. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1486, 1515, 1808 and 1692.
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This entry incorporates text from “Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.