Alfonso Lombardi
Italian artist (1497-1537)
Alfonso Lombardi (c. 1497 – 1537), also known as Lombardi da Lucca, Alfonso da Ferrara and as Alfonso Lombardo, was an Italian sculptor and medallist who was born in Ferrara, Italy, in 1497, and died in Bologna in 1537. He was very active in Bologna where he created a number of works that are still present in the most important churches of that city. Giorgio Vasari dedicated a chapter to Lombardi in his Vite.
Works
In his birthplace of Ferrara, Italy, Lombardi entered into his artistic apprenticeship, working with plaster and terracotta—materials that he continued to prefer later in his life. He worked at the court of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, where he executed portrait medals carved in stucco or wax and then cast in metal.
Lombardi relocated to Bologna around the age of twenty. Lombardi's statue of Hercules battling the Hydra, in terracotta, found in the Palazzo d'Accursio in Bologna, was completed in July 1519. In December of that same year, he was commissioned to create the large ensemble of Death of the Virgin for the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita. The work, consisting of fourteen larger-than-life size terracotta figures in highly emotive poses, was likely completed in 1522.
Between 1522 and 1526 he executed other works in terracotta in Bologna: Lamentation of Christ (Bologna Cathedral), St Bartholomew (Santa Maria della Pioggia), and four terracotta statues of the Patron Saints (Torre dell'Arengo of the Palazzo del Podestà).
“Alfonso Lombardi” enters the record as italian artist (1497-1537). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Alfonso, Lombardi and Italian 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 Jan 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1103494. VIAF identifies the subject as 95854275. The Library of Congress control number is n78086853. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1497, 1537, 1519 and 1522.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alfonso Lombardi” 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.