Vault of the staircase (detail)

As Sansovino’s closest collaborator during the 1550s, he worked on a number of projects in Venice that were headed by Sansovino, including the stuccos over the monumental staircase of the Biblioteca Marciana and those over the Scala d’Oro in the Doge’s Palace. In these sumptuous decorations the vaults over the staircases are treated as sculpture, with the result that the frescoes, which in both cases are by Battista Franco, are overwhelmed by the massive stuccos surrounding them.