The marble altar-piece of the baptistery, attributed to the Sansovino, or to the workshop of the Lombardo or Lorenzo Bregno
This is one of the most interesting works works preserved in the Basilica, attributed in the past to Sansovino, the Venetian brothers Antonio and Tullio Lombardo and ultimately, but with some reservations, to Lorenzo Bregno.
The piece is a curious and original fusion of architectural elements, sculpture and painting which acts as a reredos for the baptistry and which was originally part of the high altar of the church. The work offers an unusual and singular scenographic effect achieved through intelligent use of central perspective and through the insertion of sculptural and pictorial elements evident in the paneled ceiling section – much reminiscent of Brunello, and of the floor which also strongly accentuates the field of depth and spacial illusions, in some ways this piece may remind us of Palladio's Teatro Olimpico.
