Tomb of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza
- Object:
Plaster cast
- Place of origin:
Florence (sculpted)
- Date:
1505-1509 (sculpted)
1852-1854 (cast) - Artist/Maker:
Sansovino, Andrea, born 1467 - died 1529 (sculptor)
- Materials and Techniques:
Plaster cast
- Credit Line:
Given by the Trustees of the Crystal Palace
- Museum number:
REPRO.A.1938-12
- Gallery location:
Cast Courts, Room 46b, The Weston Cast Court , case WE, shelf S
Pope Julius II (1503-13) erected a tomb to the memory of his former enemy, Ascanio Sforza, who was the younger brother of Ludovico il Moro, the Duke of Milan (1451-1508). The project for the tomb was first mentioned in a papal brief of 12 June, 1505, less than three weeks after Ascanio's death. The monument is located in the Cappella Maggiore of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.
This is one of a number of casts which came to the Museum after the disastrous fire at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in 1936. The Palace itself was destroyed, as were many of the contents, but some plaster casts were salvaged from the inferno, and presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum.