\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Flemish sculptor active in Italy. \par
Trained in Flanders, he went to Rome around 1550 to study ancient statues and the works of Mi
chelangelo. On his way back from Rome he stopped in Florence, where he was introduced at the court of Francesco I deÆ Medici. Around 1562 he carved his first work of considerable size, \i Samson Slaying the Philistine\i0 (London, Victoria and Albert Mus
eum). Over the following years he became the favorite sculptor of the Medici, supplying works for private houses (the \i Fountain of the Ocean\i0 , 1575, and the \i Venus of the Grotticella\i0 for the Boboli Gardens) and public buildings (the \i Rape of
the Sabines\i0 , 1574-80, and the \i Hercules and Nessus\i0 for the Loggia dei Lanzi) and contributing to the celebration of the grand dukes with equestrian statues and reliefs. He also received important public commissions from the cities of Lucca, Ge
noa, and Bologna (\i Neptune Fountain\i0 , 1563-66). He was very successful and had many followers in Italy, Germany, and Flanders, representing a link between the Renaissance and Bramante in European sculpture.
