Bonino da Campione and assistants, Equestrian monument of Bernabò Visconti, marble with gold and polychrome traces, circa 1360-1385/1386 (inv. n. 733 bis)

The harmonious composure of the monument, the quality of the sculptural details and the profusion of the decorative elements, where the gold leaf almost entirely covers the marble, make this work a masterpieces of Lombard sculpture. Bernabò Visconti (1323-1385), seated upon a powerful steed holding a cudgel is accompanied by the allegorical figures of Justice and Strength. The group, carved from a single block of Candoglia marble, was commissioned by Bernabò himself before 1363. Upon his death, his nephew, Gian Galeazzo ordered the completion of the work and the inclusion of a sarcophagus sculpted by craftsmen from Campione and had the various parts assembled in the Palatine church of San Giovanni in Conca. The work has been most credibly attributed to Bonino da Campione in his late period, and the artist was responsible for the design and execution of the figurative elements of the sarcophagus of Cansignorio della Scala (Verona, Scaligere tombs), brother of Beatrice della Scala - consort of Bernabò, whose tomb is thought to be the monument on exhibit in room II of the museum (inv. n. 858), also from San Giovanni in Conca.