Eleonora of Aragon
by SPERANDIO SAVELLI, Marble, 29 x 24 cm
The authorship of Sperandio is not universally accepted because the work so little resembles his only signed portrait relief and a related portrait bust, both of which show Ercole I d’Este. Sperandio was employed as a sculptor and medalist by a succession of Este rulers between 1445 and 1477.
The present marble relief of Eleonora of Aragon (1450-1493), duchess of Ferrara, is remarkable for its small scale and the shallowness of the carving.