There was not a great tradition of bronze casting in Venice as there was in Milan, Rome, Florence or Genoa. That this St. Stephen statue still exists in situ is a minor miracle. It and its following companion are by Nicolo Roccatagliata who was from Genoa.
Nicolo Roccatagliata
Active 1580 - 1636
Roccatagliata spent most of his career in Venice. He made three-dimensional figures used by the painter Tintoretto to plot his compositions. He made the statues of St. George and Stephen on the choir balustrade in San Giorgio Maggiore. He worked with Pietro Boselli on the two bronze angles on the high altar. He spent almost a decade working in Maggiore. He created the 'Allegory of the Redemption' in St. Moise. He may have worked in Genoa for a period of time but documentation is weak. He also worked on the altar frontal at St. Moise, which depicts a mystical entombment. Numerous small bronzes are ascribed to him but no one knows their authorship for sure.
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1) San Giorgio Maggiore [202]
