The modillion probably comes from the pronaos of the Church of St Sebastian. Often mistaken for an antique, it instead represents a refined citation of classical stylistic features and a direct revival of the antiquarian culture introduced with great fortune in Mantua by Alberti.
The corbel is to be compared with the very worn ones out now inside the narthex of St. Sebastian’s but once on the façade, while the two corbels now on the front of the building are in all likelihood, a copy, made during Andrea Schiavi’s restoration done by 1925, derived from this piece.
Where to see this work of art
second half of the 15th century
