Italian Mannerist sculptor who worked in many parts of Italy and in the service of the emperor Charles V in Germany and the Netherlands. He was trained as a goldsmith but none of his works in that medium survives.
From 1538 to 1540 he was coin engraver to Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese), but he was then condemned to the galleys for conspiring to murder the papal jeweller. He was released in 1541 and for most of the rest of his life was master of the imperial mint in Milan.
His sculpture consists mainly of portraits - both medals and busts. Many of his works for the emperor were sent to Spain, where his son Pompeo, who moved there in about 1556, gave them the finishing touches. The most important was a group of 27 bronze statues (finished 1582) for the high altar of the Escorial.

Works