Related papers
Bollettino d'Arte, Preview fasc. 47–48, s. VII, luglio–dicembre 2020MARIA ANTONIETTA RIZZO Two more Sarcophagi of the Spouses from Cerveteri: previously unpublished fragments found among old site records and recent discoveries During rescue excavations on Caere’s (today’s Cerveteri) burial grounds, supervised by the Author in the role of inspector for what was then the Soprintendenza dell’Etruria Meridionale, some fragments of two terracotta sarcophagi were found. NICOLA BUSINO New considerations on the four–sided portico of Capua Cathedral on the Volturno Recent ongoing research in Capua has brought to light several elements associated with the foundation of the town on the banks of the River Volturno. The town was set up by the Longobard élite in the mid ninth century. Some lines of research in particular sprang from the re–examination of existing documentation of the four–sided portico of Capua Cathedral. It forms part of an Episcopal complex which has been left substantially uninvestigated, given that it was entirely reconstructed after Second World War damage. ORAZIO LOVINO The Renaissance in “Terra di Bari”. New reflections on Maestro d’Andria and Tuccio d’Andria, at a crossroads between Naples and Liguria One of the most fitting pictorial incidents in “Terra di Bari” during the second half of the fifteenth century, if not the whole figurative panorama of what’s known as the southern Renaissance, is made up of the works of the Maestro d’Andria. VERUSKA PICCHIARELLI News about Perugino and his atelier: Two previously unpublished preparatory drawings for the Adoration of the Shepherds by Monteripido The paper centres on two preparatory drawings with Shepherds related to the circle of Pietro Vannucci, known as “il Perugino”. The pieces, previously unknown to art historians, match the characters in a fresco of the Adoration of the Child. This was stripped from the convent of San Francesco al Monte in Perugia, and is now housed in the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria. BEATRICE CACCIOTTI Copies, mutuations and diffusion of old fashioned portraits during the early Renaissance: the codex h–I–4 in the Escorial library Codex h–I–4 in the Escorial library contains 142 drawings of mythological, biblical and historical characters. The latter range from ancient times up to the period contemporary to when they were drawn. Most are accompanied by a brief biographical description. The codex was bequeathed to the Escorial by Phillip II. It had come into his possession in about 1541, from the Lanuza family, whose coat of arms shows up on the cover. LORENZO PRINCIPI More about Alessandro della Scala from Carona: his work in Portugal and new reliefs on a Marian theme The paper systematically discusses traces of Alessandro della Scala’s work in Portugal, taking into account a copious series of reliefs, three of which from Setubal. For the first time the works that make up this group have been written about and systematically published. ENRICO COLLE A “table of joys” for Francis I de’ Medici The tabletop was part of the collection of Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster. The statuary marble base is inlaid with semiprecious stones. The geometrical pattern is typical of works of the kind manufactured in the second half of the 1500s. It had belonged to the Lorraine Medici collection and to the Royal House of Savoy: the court administration then sold it to William Blundell Spence. Recently, its original inventory numbers came to light, handwritten on the underside.Thanks to these numbers, confronting them with the contemporary archive documents, the story of the tabletop became clear. Going back through the years it had been accurately registered in all the Lorraine Medici inventories from the time of Francesco I de’ Medici, who had it placed in the Casino di San Marco, his town house in Florence. GIULIA CERIANI SEBREGONDI A Doge on the scaffolding: the account books for the construction of Palazzo Donà dalle Rose in Venice. Further considerations This paper is the second part of a contribution to this same editorial collection, published in 2019. It is devoted to the construction of Ca’ Donà dalle Rose in Venice, between 1610 and 1612. This was the palace that Doge Leonardo Donà had chosen to build as his family house. From an analysis of the building site accounts (receipts and account books) housed in the private family archives, as well as contemporary treatises from the Veneto region, and comparisons with a few other sporadic sources, it’s been possible to piece together in detail the construction techniques and materials used to build the palace. In an overall reconstruction of the evolution of the Donà building site this paper concentrates on the masonry, plastering, guttering and flooring. PATRIZIA TOSINI Baldassarre Croce in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, a gift for Pedro Fernàndez de Castro, Viceroy of Naples, and his wife Catalina de la Cerda y Sandoval The paper presents two previously unpublished frescoes. They were painted in 1610 by the Bolognese artist Baldassarre Croce in Palazzo dei Canonici attached to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The paintings are mentioned in documents, but were thought to have been lost. They depict two canonical stories associated with the veneration of the Liberian Basilica. One was dedicated to the Procession of Pope Gregory I with the icon of Salus Populi Romani to put an end to the plague of 590. The other is the Foundation of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore by Pope Liberius. ADRIANO AMENDOLA Giovanni Alto is not Giovanni Grosso. New considerations on the Swiss Ciceroni from Lucerne and Giacomo Lauro’s “Antiquae Urbis Splendor” Starting from Francesco Villamena’s two engraved portraits, the author was able to resolve the question of the identity of two Swiss guards, Giovanni Alto and Giovanni Grosso. They were among the most famous Ciceroni of Baroque Rome, still remembered and long debated by scholars. Using heraldry it’s been possible for the first time to distinguish Alto from Grosso, who have often been taken as the same person. An analysis of Alto’s Stammbuch, housed in the Vatican Library and the discovery of his unpublished will has made it possible to better understand the story behind Giacomo Lauro’s Antiquae Urbis Splendor. GIANLUCA PUCCIO In the steps of Padre Resta in the Capodimonte drawings A series of photographs of the so called “Collezione borbonica” in the Capodimonte museum has come to light in the archives. They date to the mid 1960s and provide a chance to reconstruct the original appearance of many of the drawings, before being subjected to a radical restoration that unfortunately led to them being detached from their original supporting sheets. The photographs show that about 250 of them were mounted inside a frame in ANNA MARIA RICCOMINI Two artists at the Mausoleum of Augustus: Joseph Nollekens and Pietro Ronzoni The paper analyses a drawing thought to be by Joseph Nollekens, now housed in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London, and a painting held in a private collection, by the Bergamascan artist Pietro Ronzoni. They are both views of the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome. The pictures provide further evidence about the Soderini family collection of ancient sculpture, on display among the ruins of the Imperial tomb. It’s Nollekens drawing that best captures the four statues that, from the middle of the 1500s, stood at the entrance to the hanging gardens and at the foot of the stairs leading up to the entrance to Palazzo Soderini. BERTRAND DE ROYERE A silver table service by Charles Nicolas Odiot for King Charles Albert of Savoy In 1834 King Charles Albert of Sardinia ordered an exceptional silver service from Charles Nicolas Odiot for his palace in Turin. The wealth and beauty of this collection of silverware earned it the right to be presented the same year at the Paris Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie. The preparatory drawings for the tableware are identified here amongst those formerly in the archives of Odiot’s famous Parisian maison, subsequently scattered and lost. These have thrown light on the technical and stylistic evolution of French goldsmiths during the Restoration. This was a period of uncertainty between the very captivating neo–Baroque taste coming out of England at the time and echoes of the great neoclassical goldsmiths.
Bollettino d'Arte, Preview fasc. 50, s. VII, aprile–giugno 2021Bollettino d'Arte Ministero della cultura
ANGELO BOTTINI, Metaponto and the Italic tribes: the Garaguso marbles. This paper presents the results of a detailed re–examination of the Paros marble “small temple” and “goddess” that came to light in Filera di Garaguso in 1916. Garaguso is a small hillside village built on traces of an Italic, Enotrian, settlement. The contribution is accompanied by images, and provides a few considerations as to the mid fifth century BCE date given to the pieces, as well as their attribution to a Metapontine workshop. More generally it looks into the relationship between the Achaean Polis and inland Italic tribes. COSTANTINO CECCANTI, Giambologna the architect. The name Giambologna (1529–1608) is the Italian version of the name, and the one with which he was known, of the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne. He was born in Douai and went on to become the foremost Late Renaissance sculptor. On top of this, especially from the 1570s onwards, he also worked as an architect. Of this side of his work, which continued up to his death, little is known, as yet. His first architectural projects were for a Florentine nobleman, Bernardo Vecchietti (1514–1590). It was for him that he designed the Ninfeo della Fata Morgana and the Villa del Riposo, south of Florence. BARBARA AGOSTI, On a possible sojourn of Federico Barocci in the Rome of Pope Gregory XIII. The Burial of Christ, in the Uffizi, is believed to be a preparatory study by Federico Barocci for his painting of The burial of Christ in the Church of Santa Croce in Senigallia. Annotations on the back of the drawing imply that the maestro from Urbino had paid a visit to see the decoration of the Sala Regia in the Vatican, only just finished by Giorgio Vasari. This, along with other evidence, indicates that Barocci spent some time in Rome in the early years of Gregory XIII Boncompagni’s Pontificate. LUCA BARONI, Barocci in Portugal (with a memoir of Rudolf Heinrich Krommes). Juan de Silva was Count of Portalegre and Groom to the King of Portugal. In 1588 he wrote from Lisbon to the artist Federico Barocci da Urbino (c. 1533–1612). The object of the text was a commission for an altarpiece depicting The Crucifixion of Christ and mourners. The go–between in the project was Filippo Terzi. He’d been living in Portugal for years, but had always kept up his ties with his homeland, the Duchy of Urbino. Although the deal never went through, the episode shows how Barocci’s fame on the international circuit was growing. It also sheds light on the diplomatic channels that he was using, putting himself in touch with foreign markets. He provides us with a fortuitous insight into the political and artistic relationship between Urbino and Spain in the second half of the 1500s. ANTONELLA PAMPALONE, Giovanni Lanfranco’s 1615 contract for the Leonessa altarpiece and details of a painting to attribute to Francesco Cozza. The contract for the creation of Lanfranco’s splendid Leonessa altarpiece has only recently been uncovered by the writer. It sheds light on the chronology of the painting in 1615, the cultural context in which it was created and any possible intermediaries. With concise reasoning the paper looks into why the original requested subject of the painting was modified, and the thinking behind the iconographic layout. This focuses on the Saints represented and their cult. The persons involved with the contract have been placed in their historical context, within the town of Leonessa, at the time an important commercial hub. Stylistic analysis sheds light on any comparisons with other, contemporary works, hints of Correggio filtered through the works of the Carracci, and the influence of Carlo Saraceni. There is also a suggestion of this artistic model being revisited by some artists, including Francesco Cozza, who is now attributed a work from Goriano Valli (L’Aquila), previously thought to be by Lanfranco. FRANCESCO GATTA From Rome to Europe. New findings on the landscape paintings of Domenichino and Giovanni Battista Viola during the Ludovisi pontificate, and a surprise for Carlo Maratti, painter and collector. An important landscape painting, that has come to light, depicting the Baptism of the eunuch, in the Carracci style, is attributed to a late phase Giovanni Battista Viola. It provides a chance to look into the image of an ideal landscape during the Ludovisi pontificate (1621–1623), suggesting an answer to the attribution of several works that may be by Domenichino or Viola. It would appear that the Baptism of the eunuch was commissioned by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi. It stands out as having been painted in the same year as the conception of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide (1622). It is likely that the work benefitted from iconographic suggestions from Giovan Battista Agucchi, a scholar and secretary to the Cardinal, as well as a strong believer in the Carracci school. The fame of the painting is confirmed by the list of collections to which it has belonged. Passing through the hands of the famous art dealer Jaques Meyers in the early 1800s, it ended up in the collection of Philip V of Spain. GIUSEPPE PORZIO, At the origins of naturalism in Southern Italy. A contribution for Loys Croys and the debut of Carlo Sellitto Thanks to the discovery of a legal deed dated 1601, it has been possible to attribute an impressive, and until now anonymous, altarpiece to Loys Croys. This elusive artist was one of the principal personalities in the colony of Flemish artists that had settled in Naples between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The altarpeiece depicts The Last Supper and is housed in the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Albano di Lucania, province of Potenza. The work has a robust naturalism to it and incorporates the typology and stylistic motifs that will then be picked up by two of Croys better known pupils, the Caravaggesque Carlo Sellitto and Filippo Vitale. The former is referred to in the document as a witness. The artistic language of the piece, with a strong Nordic accent, is here at its clearest.
Bollettino d'Arte, Preview fasc. 44, s. VII, ottobre-dicembre 2019GIULIA ROCCO Fragments of a bas–relief from Spoleto’s Roman theatre. A possible reconstruction and interpretation. Some fragments of a marble bas–relief came to light during the excavation of Spoleto’s Roman theatre during the 1950s. They formed part of the scaenae frons. An analysis of the subject matter and iconography has suggested some possible interpretations for the scenes, ranging from mythological representations to gods and goddesses. The reliefs date to the second quarter of the second century CE, showing that the theatre was renovated between the end of Hadrian’s reign and the beginning of Antoninus Pius’. The original structure was built during the last decades of the first century BCE. GIOVANNI BORACCESI Fifteenth and sixteenth century processional crosses in the diocese of Tricarico The article focuses on the fifteenth and sixteenth century processional crosses in some of the churches of the diocese of Tricarico, in Basilicata. The protagonists of this cultural phenomenon were bishops, lay and regular ecclesiasts, non clerical guilds, as well as everyday church goers and members of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies’ wealthy landowning families. The group of crosses includes excellent examples of Late Gothic and Renaissance work, some, until now, unpublished. They reveal an unexpected dynamism present in this part of Lucania, adding another piece to the puzzle of the heritage left by the goldsmiths of this southern region, as well as the artists themselves, both home grown and from other parts. GIACOMO MONTANARI Tomaso Orsolino between Pavia and Certosa (1628–1635): a more accurate chronology and new clues as to the role of Ercole Ferrata Though he worked in Genova, Tomaso Orsolino was born in Ramponio in the Val d’Intelvi. From 1628 onwards he worked on some of the most important sculptural projects of early seventeenth century Lombardy. This paper hopes to sort out the order in which the sculptor produced his works for the Certosa of Pavia. It looks in greater detail into the numerous works that the artist produced for the important monastery. The focus is on the period between 1628, when we know for sure that he arrived in Lombardy, and the middle of the 1630s. The close ties to the greats of Lombardy painting are the underlying thread in the stylistic evolution that was without a doubt one of the main players of the later fashion, a “sniff” of the new Baroque language in Lombardy. This is in spite of the critical misfortunes it has witnessed even up to recent times. In such a prolific workshop, it’s no surprise that Ercole Ferrata’s deft chisel was to emerge. This paper hopes to reveal some of those first traces of his independent work, prior to his move to Naples. LAURA GIGLI Bartolomeo Lupardi bares his soul in the architectural and decorative facade of his home The facade of 104 Via di Parione (today’s Via del Governo Vecchio) speaks of a man of humble origins, Bartolomeo Lupardi, who went on to become a successful publisher and printer. He was capable of innovating the spirit of his times, against which he pitted himself, unwilling to remain a bystander in a world whose script was being dictated by the powers that be, curtailing any desire for individual freedoms. This was a man who had chosen to anchor his activity in the hostile world rooted in the art of publishing. This was the right place to guarantee success in his life mission. An expression of this success was the construction of his house. After the restoration of its facade in 2015 his choice of flaunting his achievement can once again be admired. It’s the manifestation of a man who had changed the way in which social standing could be represented. This was a specific cultural innovation not so much for himself, considering the fact that for him his accrued economic fortune was enough satisfaction in itself, but more for his descendents. He managed to give them the opportunity to stand on level ground with the dominant social structures, thanks to his invention, from scratch, of a new mythography, hinged on legal science. Evidence of this can be seen in the enormous cultural objectives followed and reached in the field by his son Andrea, recognising his studies as a means of emancipation, overturning what could have been his destiny at birth. ANDREA G. DE MARCHI Painted pseudo North European Roman furniture using recycled Ancient Roman marble. Traces of Francesco Allegrini and Daca Poelen The paper establishes the true cultural identity of a pair of dressers in the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini. When they were bought in 1962 it was thought they were Dutch, and later considered a forgery. In actual fact they were manufactured in Rome. The craftsman, as yet, remains anonymous, but was probably from the Netherlands. Other pieces of furniture, made by the same hand, have been identified and are analysed here. They date to around 1640. A previously unknown international milestone in seventeenth century Roman furniture production has been revealed, in which Ancient Roman marble is reused. FABIOLA JATTA The refound colour scheme of the monumental complex of San Michele in Rome The paper reports on the results of the restoration of the decoration of a small inner cloister in the monumental complex of San Michele in Rome, unveiling another aspect of the building’s long history. The complex took one and a half centuries to finish, its first stone being laid in 1686, during the reign of Pope Innocent XI. It wasn’t until 1839 that Luigi Poletti finally finished the job. Poletti also renovated the cloister in question, which has recently been restored. The works uncovered important information as to the original colour scheme. The colour of the panels of what was known as the “Odescalchi lodge” were previously “a shade of the air”. This was a light grey colouring obtained by adding a dash of Vine Black pigment to the slaked lime. The paper provides confirmation that the long facade giving on to the River Tiber was painted light grey up until the end of the 1700s. This can be seen in illustrative plates, oil paintings, wall and tempera paintings and printed watercolours. The pale coloured complex is seen as it was up until the end of the 1700s, not in the red brick hue that we’ve been accustomed to from the eighteenth century up to the present day. FRANCESCA ROMANA GAJA Notes about Jan Miel’s work in Turin’s Palazzo Reale Italy’s cultural ministry recently acquired an overdoor by Jan Miel. It depicts Alexander the Great consulting an astrologist before embarking. The painting was originally housed in Turin’s Palazzo Reale. Jan Miel was named as court painter by Duke Charles Emmanuel II, from 1658 to his death in 1664. The acquisition provides a chance to take a brief look at what he produced for the palace in Turin, and to add something new to the catalogue of paintings commissioned by the House of Savoy. Miel took part in the renovation of the state rooms of the piano nobile of the Royal Palace, fitting in with the complex celebratory iconography drawn up by Father Emanuele Tesauro. Tesauro also oversaw the Flemish artist’s illustrations for the volume Regno d’Italia sotto i barbari (Turin 1664), for which Miel produced two frontispieces and forty three royal portraits. FRANCO BOGGERO – CHIARA MASI Nino Lamboglia and the preservation of the artistic heritage of the West Ligurian Riviera during the Second World War
Bollettino d'Arte, Preview fascc. 51–52, s. VII, luglio–dicembre 2021Bollettino d'Arte del Ministero della cultura, 2021
EUGENIO POLITO A colossal head with a laurel crown from Aquinum Marble fragments of a head with a laurel crown were recently found during the excavation of ancient Aquinum. They have been preliminarily studied prior to restoration. By analysing the dimensions of the fragments it has been possible to gauge the size of the colossal statue. The appearance of what remains of the face, with its flat and uniform surfaces, and the hairstyle with its short locks cropped close to the skull, identify the statue as a male portrait from the Julio–Claudian era. BENEDETTA CAGLIOTI The Cathedral of San Giorgio Martire in Ferrara: Notes and observations on its Fourteenth–century phase The construction of the Cathedral of San Giorgio Martire in Ferrara began in the 12th century. It was a symbol of the new position the city held in relation to the papacy, as opposed to the latter’s traditional links with Ravenna. Mixing written evidence with a project of surveying and drawing, focussing on the actual physical evidence, the medieval phase of the Cathedral appears to have a harmonious composition within an overall precise scheme with a regular design and a balanced arrangement of the facades. GIUSEPPE CASSIO A new attribution to Cola dell’Amatrice: The Lamentation over the Dead Christ in the Collegiate Church of Fara in Sabina A fresco with a Lamentation over the Dead Christ, recently uncovered in the Collegiate Church of Sant’Antonino in Fara in Sabina (Rieti), is one of the earliest known paintings in that religious building. It’s an example of the close link between the town and the nearby Abbey of Santa Maria di Farfa. Between the second half of the fifteenth century and a large part of the sixteenth, the imposing Benedictine “stronghold” had been subjected to frenetic renovation, called for by the commendatory abbots. This included work by Giovanni Battista Orsini (1482–1503). From 1486 to 1514 the Sabine monastery was home to a community of Teutonic monks from the Sacro Speco in Subiaco. There, Nicola di Filotesio, known as Cola dell’Amatrice, had painted the frescoes in the Old Chapter. Documents mention the painter at work in Farfa’s Abbey in 1508. ENRICO NOÈ A Saint John the Baptist by Giulio del Moro In the parish church of Donada, in the province of Rovigo, there is a little–known marble statue of Saint John theBaptist, signed by the painter and sculptor Giulio del Moro (Verona, around 1555 – Venice, 1616). From an analysis of the piece, the paper moves on to research its possible provenance, perhaps the Church of Santa Giustina in Venice, and above all its chronology, in the context of the artist’s extensive production. The hypothetical conclusion is that it dates to around 1590. This was the most youthful, and perhaps happiest, period of the maestro. MARIA TERESA CANTARO Some news about Lavinia Fontana: From her debut to about 1590 An analysis of some autographed works by Lavinia Fontana (Bologna 1552 – Rome 1614) is presented. They have changed hands on the antiques market over the last three decades and are now kept in private collections. They include some unpublished works, attributable to the time of the painter’s earliest period. They start with her debut between 1570 and 1575, up to around 1590 when the artist’s activity was now recognised and well known. Brief clarifications are proposed regarding a couple of paintings already linked to Lavinia Fontana and some new attributions. Finally, some observations are put forward concerning a document transcribed in its entirety for the first time and which casts doubt on the hypothesis of the artist’s stay in Rome during the years of the pontificate of Sixtus V. CARMELA CAPALDI From Divus Augustus to Bonaparte: Notes on the restoration of the colossal seated statues from the Augusteum in Herculaneum During the first excavations of Herculaneum in what was then known as the Basilica, two colossal marble statues were found representing seated male figures, wrapped only in paludamenta. The building was later correctly identified as the Augusteum, a place for the worship of deceased and deified emperors. The statues, lacking their heads and arms, were subjected to additive restoration, first by Joseph Canart, then Filippo Tagliolini, which made it harder to identify them. Placed in the Bourbon Royal Museum collection, they are mentioned in the first inventory of the museum in 1819, as statues portraying Augustus and Claudius. Scholars have, for the most part, accepted this definition. It has been argued that the plaster head of Augustus was modelled on the portrait of the prince in the Gemma Augustea now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. LUCILLA DE LACHENAL – ANNA MARIA CARRUBA Behind the scenes at the Torlonia Marbles exhibition. New contributions to the exhibition in Milan: analysis, explanation, bibliography and restorations The new outlay for the Torlonia Marbles exhibition in Milan, in the large and prestigious rooms of the Gallerie d’Italia, provided the opportunity to enrich the exhibition of sculptures already presented in Rome with some new pieces. The paper lists them, giving updated datasheets in terms of bibliography and explanations, recognising two busts as modern. Moreover, a marble copy of Leda and the Swan and the sarcophagus decorated with a Consular procession are accompanied by valuable observations and remarks by those who restored it. MAURIZIO RICCI The entrance portal to the Orange Garden: A few annotations Savello Park, in Rome’s Ripa district, is better known as the Giardino degli Aranci. It was transformed into gardens by Raffaele de Vico in 1932. Its current, Sixteenth–century portal, originally came from Villa Balestra. It was taken apart in 1910 and laid to rest in the municipal deposits. Antonio Munõz had it rebuilt on the Aventine in 1936, partially modifying its construction. The paper, based on an analysis of the remains of Villa Balestra and an important unpublished plan, clarifies once and for all the original site of the gateway. ALESSIO CIANNARELLA The Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda: New documents on the restoration of the Domenichino altarpiece and a hypothetical attribution to Giovan Battista Beinaschi The paper deepens and broadens information about the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda and the rich decorative apparatus inside. Documents held in the church archives have shed light on when and how Raffaele Vanni (1670) unfortunately attempted to restore a painting by Domenichino. His Madonna and Child with Saints Philip and James had been painted between 1626 and 1627. The paper also looks at Vanni’s realisation of an altarpiece of a similar subject to repair the damage after his work on Domenichino’s, it dates to the same year as the restoration. Working from an Eighteenth–century manuscript kept in the Casanatense Library in Rome, and some stylistic comparisons, it is thought that Giovan Battista Beinaschi painted the Crucifix adored by Saint Francis. FRANCESCA MATTEI Clay elements in the construction of the vaults of Palazzo Naselli Crispi in Ferrara. History and geography on Sixteenth–century Este building sites Palazzo Naselli (1529–1537) was restored between 2018 and 2020. During the work, clay elements came to light, immersed in the cement conglomerate of the vaults of some rooms. The paper traces the building techniques used for the construction of these ceilings, and highlights the relationship between the earliest material evidence, architectural treatises and the architectural projects of the time. Este. LUCA LEONCINI Giovanni Maria Mariani at the Palazzo del Quirinale: Documentation of the decoration entrusted to Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the apartments of Alexander VII This paper presents a complete transcript of the account of the work carried out by Giovanni Maria Mariani on the main floor of the Palazzo del Quirinale, between March and August 1656. He was a perspective painter and decorator, under the supervision of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Mariani’s assignment was a few months prior to that of the group of artists chosen by Pietro da Cortona to decorate the Gran Galleria, later known as that of Alexander VII. Mariani was involved there too. Until now Giovanni Maria’s duties had been considered «work of an artisan nature», limited to gilding the gallery’s ceiling. Careful examination of documents in Rome’s State Archive has shown instead that the gilding was not done by him, whereas the sweeping painted glossy stucco decorations were. The detailed specifications of what the painter from Ascoli Piceno was responsible for are to be found in a document which has never previously been analysed, in its entirety, leaving important data untouched upon.
Bollettino d'Arte, Preview fasc. 45, s. VII, gennaio-marzo 2020FRANCESCA GIRELLI - The Arch of Sant’Agostino in Pavia: a work by Giovanni di Balduccio The Arch of Sant’Agostino is to be found in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, Pavia. It’s one of the most disputable monuments of fourteenth century Italy. There is debate over both its date and who created it. There are a series of argumentations that tie it to the later period of Giovanni di Balduccio. Works by this Pisan sculptor date to between 1318 and 1349, and are to be found in Pisa, Florence, Bologna and Milan. The problem of who produced the Pavian Arch is complicated by the difficulty in giving a convincing date to the tomb. It has been variously placed between about 1350 and 1380, and occasionally even as late as the fifteenth century. Following a new photographic project and a complete overhaul of the fonts, bibliography and other on hand data, this paper re–evaluates the monument. Its intention is to demonstrate that Giovanni di Balduccio provided the design as well as onsite direction for the project. To do this, a “broader” vision has been taken, from an entrepreneurial point of view, in which the authorship of the work is shared with, if not delegated to, the site supervisor and administrator of the artistic studio, the concept of a brain behind a project. FEDERICA SIDDI - Additions to Lombardy’s Late Gothic: two wooden sculptures of the Madonna and Child This paper presents two previously unpublished wooden images of the Madonna. One is housed in the Church of San Vittore in Casalzuigno (Varese), the other in the Church of San Rocco Confessore in Zeccone (Pavia). The two works came to light during a broader survey carried out by the author in Lombardy. They go to join the body of examples of early fifteenth century Lombard carvings. The two of them fit into the pattern of figurative representations that had been honed down during the construction of Milan’s Duomo, from the beginning of the fifteenth century onwards. When taking the province as a whole, considering they were found scattered far and wide, the rediscovered Madonna’s offer a chance to reflect on the diffusion of such a fortuitous idiom also amongst the wood carvers of the time. They go to show a substantial alignment in styles with those of their better known colleagues, the painters and sculptors. This was an exchange of views that was to prove to be extremely productive and long lasting. ELENA CERA - Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino, Bartolomeo Buon and a few questions about Venetian sculpture in the mid fifteenth century This paper looks into the relationship between Bartolomeo Buon and Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino with the attribution of two works still under debate. One is the group including the Annunciation, housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the other a Madonna and Child in the Liebighaus Museum in Frankfurt. The attribution of these pieces to Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino suggests that he may well have already been present in the studio of Bartolomeo Buon by the late 1540s or early ‘50s. Niccolò could have collaborated with Bartolomeo in the design of the Porta della Carta in Palazzo Ducale, Venice. His may be the two Virtues in the lower niches, Temperance and Strength. The paper also covers the complicated affair of the critique aimed at the Porta della Carta over the past hundred years. The ideas of Leo Planiscig, Wolfgang Wolters, Anne Markham Schulz, Massimo Ferretti and Matteo Ceriana are taken into particular account. MICHELA ZURLA - Sculpture in Genoa around 1450: between Maestri caronesi and Giovanni da Bissone Some recent critiques have better pinned down the activity in Genoa, and Liguria as a whole, of Andrea da Ciona and Filippo Solari da Carona. Their work was fundamental to the development of wood carving in the mid fifteenth century. A series of works that have come down to us reveal the influence that the two Maestri caronesi had on the Genoese circle of artists. As yet, it has been impossible to attribute any one of the homogenous group of works to one particular known artist. Andrea and Filippo’s example was fundamental to the development of Giovanni di Andrea da Bissone. His early years have been pieced together by confronting his first documented or previously attributed works. MATTEO FACCHI The quality and industry of Rinaldo de Staulis: the building of the Certosa di Pavia and the Madonna with Child in Soncino Castle The first part of this paper reveals how much research has gone into the modeller Rinaldo de Staulis to date. His activity has been documented from 1450 to 1494. His serial friezes can be found in Cremona, Milano, Pavia, Lodi, Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Zibello, Busseto, Cortemaggiore, Castelleone, Soncino and elsewhere. The writer proposes that the Madonna and Child on the outer side of the circular tower of Soncino Castle could also be attributed to this maestro from Cremona. This work, until now overlooked by academics, plays an important part in piecing together the early activity of the sculptor, a field as yet not fully investigated by scholars. The basis for the proposed attribution lies in a comparison of styles with the reliefs in the cloister of the Certosa in Pavia, documented as the work of the sculptor. The paper clears up the question of which parts of the Certosa complex were assigned to Rinaldo de Staulis, and which to other sculptors, amongst whom the hand of Cristoforo Mantegazza can be recognised. MARCO SCANSANI Ludovico Castellani, a rediscovered sculptor of the Officina Ferrarese Ludovico Castellani was a terracotta modeller, engraver, jewel smith and painter from Ferrara. He’s one of the best documented artists in the town during the reigns of Borso and Ercole I d’Este. His influence over the sculpture of the Emilian town must have been equivalent to that of the better known Domenico di Paris and Sperandio Savelli. However, not even the most recent of studies have been able to identify with any certainty any piece as a work of his. Thanks to a reappraisal of documents mentioning the mysterious artist, a terracotta sculpture has been recognised as his. This has led to the artist’s style being classified, and a first corpus of works pinned with his name. This forms an initial nucleus of Ludovico Castellani’s works, fitting in perfectly, and mirroring, other pictorial representations from the Officina Ferrarese at the time. LORENZO PRINCIPI Self portrait of Alessandro della Scala da Carona, a sculptor in Northern Italy in the first half of the sixteenth century LUCA ANNIBALI Antonio Begarelli in Bologna FERNANDO LOFFREDO Martino Regio da Viganello and his sculptural subject matter FRANCESCA PADOVANI Previously unpublished information for a profile of the book lover Hans Reichle
Bollettino d'Arte Ministero della Cultura