Antonio del Pollaiuolo

Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429/1433-1498) was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, engraver and goldsmith active in Florence and later Rome, regarded as one of the originating forces in the history of European art. His work often shows muscular male figures in dynamic, violent poses, frequently depicting Hercules, and his engraving Battle of the Nude Men is credited with raising the artistic ambitions of the Italian print. He also created two papal tombs that were among the few monuments to survive the demolition of Old St Peter's Basilica and were reconstructed inside the present building, and his analytical study of the moving human body strongly influenced later Florentine painting.