Temi e inediti di scultura quattrocentesca a S. Maria del Cengio

This paper intends to propose some reflections on two interesting sculptures of the fifteenth century in the sanctuary of Santa Maria del Cengio at Isola Vicentina, near Vicenza: a stone Madonna and Child in the middle of the Baroque high altar in the church and the stone statue depicting a Holy Bishop who may be St. German that is kept in a convent serving room. The Madonna and Child, already known in the specialist literature, was made by Girolamo Vicentino (about 1490-1500). It shares a series of features with the terracotta Madonna and Child Enthroned in Pievebelvicino (near Schio) and, unlike what has been believed so far, suggests that the figure in Pievebelvicino might be not a Paduan but a Vicentine work. The Holy Bishop, unpublished until recently, can be dated instead at the beginning of the Quattrocento and must be attribuited to Antonio da Mestre: it is therefore an important addition to the corpus of this sculptor.