Vita e Pensiero

Fascicolo doppio del 2022

After an introduction to the story of the equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, the discussion turns to the two drawings by Antonio Pollaiolo owned by Vasari which he thought represented Francesco Sforza. One of these drawings was surely that now in Munich, with Francesco trampling a soldier. The other drawing, now in New York, showing a rider leaping at a great naked female figure, is also almost invariably understood to be Vasari’s other drawing of Francesco Sforza...

The article aims to complete the analysis of the artistic career of the modenese painter Camillo Gavasetti (Modena 1595 - Reggio Emilia 1630) through the study of his works, the analysis of already known documents and the retrieval of new attestations, starting from 1624 when Gavasetti managed to obtain the decoration of the presbytery of the Piacentine church of Sant’Antonino. Following this assignment, the painter moved permanently to the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza where he enjoyed some success: this is evidenced by both the inventories of the most important private collections of Piacenza and by the Farnese family collection itself...

The study investigates the link between the world of the of late seventeenth-century theatricality and the pictorial cycle realized between 1683 and 1699 in the church of Sant’Alessandro in Zebedia in Milan. A key figure in the understanding of the relationship between these two areas is the creator of the iconography of the paintings, the Barnabite father Demetrio Suppensi...

The article is the first complete biography of Giulio Carotti, one of the protagonists in the fervid cultural season that developed in Milan between the 19th and the 20th centuries. The research, based on mostly unpublished archival sources, highlights Carotti’s activity for Brera Academy and the Pinacoteca di Brera, as well as looks into his roles as an officer for Milanese institutions (Ufficio Esportazioni, Museo Patrio d’Archeologia, Commissione conservatrice), and explores his teaching experiences and his literary production (a list of Carotti’s publications is presented in the appendix)...

New documents enhance the knowledge of a little-studied art contest promoted in 1936 by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano for the decoration of four monumental stained-glass windows. It is a collection of approximately 60 letters, part of the book collection entitled to Lodovico Pogliaghi (1857-1950) in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The letters were sent to the artist by the Cremonese painter Antonio Rizzi (1869-1940), his brother in law, between 1936 and 1940; they contain a detailed, first-hand account of the contest, as Rizzi participated in it and was given the assignment of decorating one of the four windows in collaboration with the painter Innocente Cantinotti; due to some unfortunate events, however, their task was never completed ...

The notary deed of confessio, preserved in the State Archives of Milan, between Caradosso’s brother Nicola Foppa and Antonio and Vittore Martinengo, dated 28 of November 1509, relating to a debt of 500 ducats, calls for a series of issues only partially identified. The absence of other documents leads us to formulate three possible hypotheses regarding the object of this large payment: the first one is to recognize in the notarial deed the payment for some parts (perhaps those in bronze) of the Martinengo monument for the church of San Cristo, now in Santa Giulia in Brescia, which had not yet been completed in 1509...

In the inventory of the assets of the suppressed convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Mantua, drawn up on 1 June 1782, the structure of the monastery and the adjoining church, recently rebuilt and dedicated to Santa Teresa, is precisely described...