Severo Calzetta Biography
Severo Calzetta da Ravenna, nicknamed the "Master of Dragons", was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance and Mannerist period, probably born in Ravenna around 1465/1475 and died in Ravenna around 1543. Considered one of the most important creators of small bronzes in Italy, together with other masters such as Andrea Briosco, known as the Ancient.
The main subjects of his sculptures concerned pagan themes, dragons and satyrs, as well as functional objects such as inkwells, candlesticks and oil lamps. Despite this, he also produced religious depictions, such as the Corpus of a crucifix present at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The period of his activity developed between 1496 and 1543 and was mainly concentrated in Ravenna, Ferrara and Padua. Although he worked mainly on miniature bronzes, his most famous work is the sculpture of Saint John the Baptist, commissioned in 1500 for the entrance to the chapel of Saint Anthony in the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, signed by the artist himself.
In 1509, before the arrival of the armies of the League of Cambrai and the Emperor Maximilian, he left Padua and settled in Ferrara where he opened several laboratories, and then moved to Ravenna where he spent the rest of his life and opened a fusion laboratory particularly prolific bronze.
