Thoughts on the apse mosaic of Sant-Ambrogio
in Milan during the Carolingian era
The lower part of the apse mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in
Milan illustrates two episodes of St. Ambrose’s life, both recounted by
Gregory of Tours and in the anonymous De vita et meritis Sancti Ambrosii.
The current mosaic, representing the miraculous presence of St. Ambrose
at St. Martin’s funeral, is the result of a modern makeover. Judging from
some fragments, the original work can be dated to the 9th Century: the
article takes these fragments into consideration, in order to suggest a
more precise date and an innovative interpretation of the mosaic.
St. Ambrose’s features are different from the usual depiction – as in the sacellum
of San Vittore in Ciel d’Oro and in the golden altar of the Basilica –
and appear identical to those of St. Peter. This choice might be explained as
a provocation towards Rome and its most emblematic figure. The hypothesis
is supported by the political situation during the years of Archbishop
Ansperto (868-881), excommunicated and overthrown in 879 after a major
disagreement with Pope John VIII. Such background makes the image in the
apse of Sant’Ambrogio more clearly understandable: given St. Peter’s features,
St. Ambrose is seen as an Alter Petrus, whose importance legitimizes
the position of the Ambrosian church, unwilling to submit itself to Rome.
15th-Century Reliquaries at the Certosa di Garegnano:
a new reading
The article offers a new analysis of the two reliquaries of the Certosa di
Garegnano in Milan, made up of 15th-Century miniatures and golden
glass frames. The relics preserved inside – which have been in the
charterhouse since at least the late 16th Century, when they were
arranged as in the current display – may have already been there by
1477. The hypothesis suggested in the essay is that glass frames and
miniatures, each with its own relic, were originally organized in two
distinct series, and may be dated to as early as the half of the previous
century. The tempera pictures are strictly connected to the Carthusian
environment, and specifically to the community of Garegnano, within
which they might have been conceived. The golden glass frames, the
work of a different workshop, are noted for their high quality and their
affinity with the new language of the Renaissance. The cultural liveliness
of the Certosa around and after the half of the 15th Century, well
represented by the figure of the well-read Prior Matteo Codenari da
Cremona, appears in the background of these masterpieces.
A contribution to the catalogue of the Master of Santa Maria
Maggiore. A wooden Crucifix in Villacampagna di Soncino
The article analyzes a wooden Crucifix in the parish church of San
Bernardo at Villacampagna, and advances a possible attribution to the so called
Master of Santa Maria Maggiore. The characteristics of the artifact
– and specifically its adjustable neck and arms – suggest it was probably
destined to the peculiar ceremony of the “Unnailing”, which was held on
Good Friday, mainly in the churches of the Franciscan Observance. Hence
the hypothesis that the statue might originally be from the suppressed
Convent of the Franciscan Observance of Santissima Annunciata in
Soncino, not far from Villacampagna. A fact supporting the proposed
attribution is that the commission for the Crucifix – which would be the
only known work by the artist from Novara in the Cremona area – was
endorsed by Blessed Pacifico da Cerano, the founder of the convent.
Celio Calcagnini, Terzo Terzi and architectural culture
in early-16th-Century Ferrara (1513-1539)
The essay analyzes a previously unpublished document found at the
Archivio di Stato in Ferrara, which makes it possible to attribute and date
the tomb of local humanist Celio Calcagnini. According to the document,
the project is to be attributed to Terzo Terzi, court architect of Ercole II
d’Este, and its hypothetical reconstruction traces its origin from archaic
models substantially different from those typical of the local tradition.
Through an outline of Terzi’s overall activity, the author suggests a
plausible position of the project within the architect’s body of work.
Calcagnini’s architectural culture is then analyzed through his writings
and library.
A part from the publication of newly discovered archive materials, the
article reveals a virtually unknown aspect of the humanist’s multifaceted
culture, establishing a starting point for further studies on architecture
in early-16th-Century Ferrara.
Recoveries and restorations in San Giorgio su Legnano:
Bernardino Campi and Giovanni Battista Armenini’s Assunta
(with a note on Filippo Abbiati)
Through the examination of documents and sources of the time, the
author could identify the Assumption of the Virgin on board in the parish
church of San Giorgio su Legnano – a small town not far from Milan, on
the route to Varese – as the remaining part of an altarpiece made
according to a project by (and with notable interventions of) Bernardino
Campi and Giovanni Battista Armenini, painter and art writer from
Faenza. Until now, only one of work by Armenini was known, another
Assumption of the Virgin, now part of the collection of the Pinacoteca
Civica in Faenza. This painting is also taken into consideration in the
article, as the author analyzes its style with the intention of tracing its
sources and proposing a possible date of execution. In the appendix,
another painting from the church of San Giorgio su Legnano, formerly
attributed to Andrea Pozzo, is more properly identified as the work of
Filippo Abbiati, thus suggesting further thoughts on local patronage
between late-17th and early 18th Century.
The Bonisoli brothers, painters from Cremona between 17th
and 18th Century
The essay proposes a reconstruction of the artistic career of Agostino
Bonisoli (Cremona, 1637/8-Tornata, 1707), a painter virtually unknown
today, but vastly appreciated by noted patrons of his time.
His body of work, characterized by a general unevenness in both style
and quality, is here thoroughly reconsidered. During her research, the
author could establish that such inconsistency was a consequence of the
frequent interventions by the artist’s workshop and his younger brother
Carlo, who is barely mentioned in the bibliography.
A catalogue of Agostino Bonisoli’s paintings could then be completed,
with 8 documented works, 30 lost and 17 excluded. The newlydiscovered
documents also make it possible to identify Agostino as the
author of a canvas from the Ala Ponzone Museum in Cremona, previously
attributed to Jacopo Ferrari.
Carlo Bonisoli’s artistic career also receives attention for the first time,
as eight paintings on canvas and the frescoes in the church of Beata
Vergine delle Grazie in Cortemaggiore, made in collaboration with
Giuseppe Natali, are now attributed to Agostino’s brother.
Andrea Pozzo in Giovanni Battista Barella’s letters to Livio
Odescalchi: clarifications and new discoveries on the (failed)
commissions for San Sebastiano in Milan and Turin’s Royal
Palace
The essay describes Andrea Pozzo’s early years in Rome (1681-1685),
according to the information found in a number of letters written
between December 10, 1681 and January 17, 1685 by Jesuit Giovanni
Battista Barella, a resident of the San Fedele convent in Milan, and
addressed to Livio Odescalchi, who had been convinced to settle in Rome
by his father Carlo and his uncle Benedetto, Pope Innocent XI since 1676.
These letters, kept in the Odescalchi Archive, currently part of the Archivio
di Stato in Rome, are just a small portion of a vast and interesting
correspondence – ranging between 1677 and 1686 and regretfully limited
to incoming letters – offering a lively perspective on Milanese society of
the time, a subject about which the recipient was particularly curious.
The letters regarding Andrea Pozzo are focused on Barella’s attempt –
prompted by the delegates of the Temple of San Sebastiano– to persuade
the artist to move back to Milan and decorate the cupola of the church,
as anticipated in a contract signed before the his departure in 1681. The
Jesuit Father seeks help from Livio, whose influence, however, would
eventually fail to convince the artist. The same unsuccessful result would
later be obtained by other requests from the Jesuits of Turin and Vittorio
Amedeo, Duke of Savoy, both aimed at persuading Pozzo to come to
Turin, respectively to complete the decoration for the church of Santi
Martiri and to work on one of the galleries of the Royal Palace.
Despite his important role in artistic life in Italy from the 1920s – both
as a member of the committee of the “Novecento” movement, supported by his friend Margherita Sarfatti, and as a respected and decorated artist
– Arturo Tosi (1871-1956) still leaves many unanswered questions
regarding his career and particularly his early years.
By joining the information found in newly-discovered documents
together with that deduced from the bibliography, the article fills the
void concerning Tosi’s artistic education, his studies, his beginnings as a
painter and the relationships with other artists. Through the scrutiny of
the painter’s correspondence, it is possible to reveal his network of
connections and friendships, also dating several of his traveling
experiences. Such data, together with the finding of previously unknown
works from the 1890s, allows the author to better clarify Tosi’s language
and his debts towards other masters, both ancient and modern, clearly
visible in his paintings from the “alcoholic period”, a term used since
1951 to indicate the artist’s “expressionist” phase (1894-1910).
On a «bel gonfalone dipinto dal Lucchese» in Carpenedolo
The old pieve of Santa Maria dell’Annunciazione in Carpenedolo
(Brescia) houses an Annunciation on canvas, here attributed to Pietro
Ricchi, known as “Lucchese” (Lucca, 1606 – Udine, 1675). The painting
has been long ignored by art historians, due perhaps to its less-thanideal
state of preservation until its restoration in 1993. New inquiries
allowed the author to identify the work as the “beautiful gonfalone
painted by Lucchese”, witnessed by Francesco Paglia in the parish
church of Carpenedolo in the late 17th Century, and considered lost until
now. The presence of two more paintings on canvas by Ricchi in
Carpenedolo (a St. Anthony and a Madonna with Child) supports the
hypothesis that the “gonfalone” seen by Paglia is actually the work here
analyzed, which would constitute the only plausible explanation for its
current location.
A previously unknown painting by Filippo Abbiati for the
Sanctuary of Madonna del Bosco in Imbersago
The article analyzes a late-17th-Century painting recently discovered
during the cataloguing of the assets of the Diocese of Milan, and
originally displayed on the high altar of the Sanctuary of Madonna del
Bosco in Imbersago. The painting depicts the miraculous apparition of
the Virgin on May 9, 1617: while resting against a chestnut tree, the
Madonna presents three burs to a group of shepherds kneeling at the
bottom of the scene, next to an ox, a dog and some sheep.
The extremely good quality of the work immediately suggested an
attribution to an important master, later identified with Filippo Abbiati,
who had worked here together with another painter, a specialist in the
rendition of animals and plants. A validation to this hypothesis is given
by the will of Alberico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, patron of a chapel in the
Sanctuary, dated September 19, 1692, in which he endows a budget in
favor of the high altar. The nobleman was actually a patron of Abbiati
and another painter named “Merate”, a pupil of Tempesta. It was then
possible to make inquiries about this artist, who could probably be
identified with Giuseppe Merati, mentor of Tavella, the author of an
interesting – yet virtually unknown – cycle of frescoes in the castle of
Roncadelle (Brescia).