CIVITALI, Matteo, che-ve-taTe, Tuscan sculptor and architect: b. Lucca, 5 June 1435; d. 12 Oct. 1501. He followed the occupation of a barber until about 1470, and evidently found some time to study sculpture. In 1495 he re moved to Carrara, the site of the famous marble quarries. His first important work was the mausoleum erected in the cathedral at Lucca to Pietro de Noceto, secretary to Pope Nicholas V. His greatest works are, in the same church, six statues of white marble rep resenting personages of the Old Testament; a bust of the humanist, Pietro di Av-enza• two beautiful angels belonging to the former Altar of the Sacrament, the shrine of which is in the South Kensington Museum, London; the tomb of his friend and patron, Domenico Bertini, a miniature octagon temple; the statue of Saint Sebastian; the altar of Saint Regulus, and the pulpit of the cathedral. Among his archi tectural works is the Bernardini palace at Lucca, of simple style, and also the little temple which contains the tniraculous crucifix in the church of San Martino. He also erected a monument
to Saint Romanus in the church of San Romano. The Uffizi Gallery at Florence con tains Civitali's statue of 'Faith,' and another of the Saviour. The Metropolitan Museum of New York contains a charming painted terra cotta (Angel of Annunciation.' His last surviv ing work is the group of statues in the chapel of Saint John the Baptist in the cathedral of Genoa, in the style of the high Renaissance. As an architect and engineer, he constructed a bridge near Lucca and the fortifications of his native town. He is best classed with the Floren tine School, but his style is simple and more rugged and sincere. Consult monographs by Yriati; RoseIli (1891); Cappellette (1892); Volpi (1893).