Pope Martin V

As the fifteenth century advanced, Lombard Gothic sculpture became a force in its own right, reaching its zenith in the figure of Pope Martin V commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti in 1419 from Jacopino da Tradate. Here the statue of the Pope is set on a plinth rising from naturalistic foliage, and the features, rendered with the painstaking fidelity of late Gothic portraiture, are submerged in a rippling sea of drapery.

While adhering to the convention of a frontal and enthroned pose for the pope, Jacopino enlivened the image with cascades of drapery on the back and sides of the throne and over the majestic figure of the pontiff. Apart from the purposefully rigid pose and fixed gaze of the pope, every element has been carefully observed from nature and rendered with the utmost fidelity. Martin’s legs and hand, offering his blessing in perpetuity, extend realistically into space; his torso has weight and presence.