THE MILAN LODGE
THE MILAN LODGE
----+--------+------------------------------+------------------------------
1. | 1387 | Magister Simone da Arsenigo | First _capo maestro_ of
| | | Milan cathedral.
| | |
2. | " | *M. Guarnerio da Sirtori. | Assisted him.
| | |
3. | " | *M. Marco da Frixone di | Engaged March 5, 1387; C.M.
| | Campione | 1389; D. 1390.
| | |
4. | " | *M. Jacopo Fusina da | C.M. with Marco in 1389. Head
| | Campione | of the works at Certosa, 1397.
| | | Designed the Certosa.
| | |
5. | " | *M. Zeno da Campione (his | Brought 21 sculptors on Oct.
| | brother) | 18, 1387. By 1399 he had 250
| | | under him.
| | |
6. | " | *M. Andrea degli Argani da | From the Campione school at
| | Modena | Modena; was architect to the
| | | Duke of Milan. Called to
| | | to Milan in 1387 as counsel.
| | |
7. | " | *M. Lazaro da Campione |
| | |
8. | " | *M. Rolando or Orlando |
| | |
9. | " | *M. Zambono (Giovanni Buono | Descendant of Zambono, who
| | da Bissone) | was C.M. at Padua 1264, and
| | | at Parma 1280.
| | |
10. | " | *M. Fontana da Campione | Probably an ancestor of Giov.
| | | Fontana, the master of
| | | Palladio; and of Matteo
| | | Fontana, architect of Belluno
| | | cathedral in 1517.
| | |
11. | " | *M. Cressino da Campione |
| | |
12. | " | *M. Giovanni da Azzo |
| | |
13. | " | *M. Giovanni da Trœnzano |
| | |
14. | | *M. Martino da Arogno |
| | |
15. | | *M. Ruggero } da Marogia: |
| | } brothers. |
16. | | *M. Giorgio } |
| | |
17. | | *M. Alberto } | All Lombards who worked
| | } | under Giovanni da Bissone
18. | | *M. Airolo } | (No. 9); the latter was his
| | } | son.
19. | | *M. Giovannino da Bissone } |
| | |
20. | 1387 | †Magister } |
| | Antonio } di Guido, |
| | } brothers |
21. | | M. Giovanni } |
| | |
22. | | †M. Adamo |
| | |
23. | | †M. Giovanni di Furno |
| | |
24. | | †M. Adriolo da Campione |
| | |
25. | | †M. Guglielmo di Marco | Son of Marco da Frixone,
| | | architect at Crema; called to
| | | Milan as expert, Oct. 1387.
| | |
26. | | M. Leonardo Zepo } | Two Masters deputed to take
| | } | note of Magister Andrea's
27. | | M. Simone da Cavagnera } | suggestion, Oct. 1387.
| | |
28. | 1388 | *M. Ambrogio Pongione } | Gave his vote at a meeting
| | } | of the lodge on March 20,
| | } | 1388.
| | } |
29. | | *M. Bonino da Campione } | Voted at the same meeting.
| | } | Had been sculptor of the
| | } | Scaliger tomb at Verona in
| | } | 1375.
| | } |
30. | | *M. Gasparo da Birago } | A famous iron-worker.
| | } | Magister of the lodge.
| | |
31. | " | *Magister Ambrogio da } |
| | Melzo } |
| | } |
32. | | *M. Pietro da Desio } |
| | } | All these * voted with the
33. | | *M. Filippo Orino } | chief architect Simone at the
| | } | same meeting, March 20, 1388.
34. | | *M. Ridolfo di Cinisello } |
| | } |
35. | | *M. Antonio da Trœnzano } |
| | (son of Giovanni da } |
| | Trœnzano) } |
| | |
36. | 1390 | M. Niccola del Bonaventura | Made a design for the
| | | windows of the choir at
| | | Milan: not accepted:
| | | discharged from the lodge
| | | on July 21, 1390.
| | |
37. | 1391 | M. Giovanni da Campione | Sometimes called John from
| | | Fernach. He brought 100
| | | stone-carvers into the
| | | _laborerium_ in 1391.
| | |
38. | 1399 | M. Antonio A. Padernò | { Two rising Masters in 1399,
| | | { who fought the great
39. | " | M. Marco da Carona | { dispute with the French
| | | { architects.
| | |
40. | " | M. Lorenzo degli Spazi, di | Brought 188 stone-carvers
| | Val d'Intelvi | with him to Milan. He was in
| | | 1396 C.M. at Como, and
| | | probably went to Milan with
| | | all his workmen, when the
| | | works there were suspended
| | | on Gian Galeazzo's death.
| | |
41. | 1400 | M. Jacopo da Tradate | In 1400 he was chief
| | | sculptor.
| | |
42. | " | M. Samuele, his son | Sculptured his father's tomb
| | | in 1402.
| | |
43. | 1400 | M. Bertollo da Campione } |
| | } |
44. | | M. Giorgio de Sollario } |
| | (Solari) } |
| | } |
45. | | M. Guglielmo di Giorgio } |
| | (his son) } |
| | } |
46. | 1410 { | M. Giovanni de Solari } | _Magistri_ working under
| to { | } | Jacopo da Tradate at the
47. | 1440 { | M. Giovanni di Reghezio } | sculptures for Milan
| | } | cathedral.
48. | | M. Jacopo da Lanzo } |
| | } |
49. | | M. Michele di Benedetto da } |
| | Campione } |
| | } |
50. | | M. Francesco Solari } |
| | } |
51. | | M. Giovanni da Cairate } |
| | |
52. | { | *M. Cristoforo da Chiona | All these marked * were
| 1420 { | | master architects, each
53. | to { | *M. Arasmino Solari da | building a certain part of
| 1440 { | Arogna | the cathedral.
| { | |
54. | { | *M. Franceschino da Canobbio | Was C.M. in 1448.
| | |
55. | | *M. Leonardo da Sirtori | Son or grandson of Magister
| | | Guarnerio (No. 2).
| | |
56. | | *M. Paolino da Arsenigo | Son or grandson of Magister
| | | Simone (No. 1).
| | |
57. | | *M. Filippino degli Argani | Son of Andrea degli Argani
| | | (No. 6), whom he succeeded
| | | as architect to the Visconti.
| | | Designed the choir window at
| | | Milan. Entered the lodge as
| | | novice, 1400; graduated
| | | master, 1404; C.M. 1417.
| | |
58. | 1450 | M. Giorgio di Filippo | His son: became C.M. in his
| | | turn in 1450.
| | |
59. | 1451 | M. Giovanni Solari: son of | C.M. from 1451 to 1470. He
| | Marco da Carona. | forms a link with Venice.
| | |
60. | 1470 | M. Guiniforte or Boniforte | C.M. in 1470-1481. Built the
| | (son of Giovanni Solari) | Ospedale Maggiore and church
| | | of Le Grazie at Milan.
| | |
61. | 1481 | Magister Pietro Antonio: his | Went to Russia in 1481.
| | son |
| | |
62. | 1468 { | M. Martino da Mantegazza |
| to { | |
63. | 1492 { | M. Dolcebono Rodari | Entered the lodge in 1490;
| | | was sent to Rome for
| | | training. His relative,
| | | Tomaso Rodari, was more
| | | famous than he, and
| | | sculptured the Renaissance
| | | door at Como.
| | |
64. | | M. Gerolamo della Porta | Was employed later in Rome
| | | and Naples.
| | |
65. | | M. Salomone, son of Giovan | One of the line descending
| | de Grassi | from Magister Graci, founder
| | | of the lodge at Padua.
| | |
66. | 1471 | M. Bartolommeo de Gorgonzola | C.M. for the cupola of Milan
| | | cathedral.
| | |
67. | 1488 | M. Leonardo da Vinci | Engaged for the cupola, but
| | | resigned.
| | |
68. | | M. Antonio da Padernò | Rectified the mistakes of
| | (descendant of the older | John of Gratz.
| | Antonio, No. 88) |
| | |
69. | | M. Giovanni Antonio } | Joint architects to finish
| | } | cupola and cathedral of
70. | | M. Amedeo or Omodeo } | Milan. Amedeo worked
| | } | afterwards in Venice.
| | } |
71. | | M. Gio. Giacome di } | Dolcebono was son of
| | Dolcebono } | Dolcebono Rodari.
| | |
72. | | M. Francesco di Giorgio of } |
| | Siena } | Were called to advise on
| | } | the plans of the above
73. | | M. Luca Fancelli of } | three.
| | Florence } |
| | |
74. | 1506 | M. Andrea Fusina | Descendant of Jacopo Fuxina.
| | | Andrea was elected C.M. to
| | | replace Dolcebono in 1506.
| | |
75. | 1502 | M. Cristoforo Gobbo | Sculptured Adam and Eve on
| | | the façade of Milan
| | | cathedral, etc.
| | |
76. | { | M. Gian Giacomo Bono da } |
| { | Campione } |
| { | } | A later offshoot of the old
77. | 1618 { | M. Francesco Bono, his son } | family of Bono or Buono, who
| to { | } | have furnished _Magistri_
78. | 1647 { | M. Carlo Antonio Bono, a } | since 1152.
| { | relative } |
| { | } |
79. | { | M. Giuseppe Bono, his son } |
----+--------+------------------------------+------------------------------
All these marked * were engaged on Oct. 4, 1387, to work with Magister
Simone. The second batch given below and marked † joined the Lodge
on Oct. 9, five days after.
FOREIGN ARCHITECTS IN MILAN LODGE
----+--------+------------------------------+----------------------------
80. | 1389 | Anichino or Annex of | Was paid for the model of a
| | Freiburg | dome which was not used.
| | |
| " | Giacobino de Bruge | Fell ill, and was supported
| | | by the lodge.
| | |
81. | 1391 | Ulrico di Ensingen | Came for a few months.
| | |
| " | Heinrich di Gmunden | Entered, July 1391; left,
| | | June 1392.
| | |
82. | 1399 | Jean Mignot de Paris | Came from Paris.
| | |
83. | | Jean Campanias from Normandy | Campanias did not stay long.
| | |
84. | | Ulrich de Frissengen } | Worked at Milan for a short
| | } | time.
85. | | Aulx di Marchestein } |
| | |
86. | 1482 | Giovanni da Gratz | Engaged, 1482; discharged,
| | | 1488.
----+--------+------------------------------+----------------------------
I.--THE COMACINES UNDER THE VISCONTI
History repeats itself. We began the story of the Comacines in
Lombardy with their works under the invading Longobards, we end it
with their works under the usurping Visconti. The first era shows
their early Roman-Lombard style in its purity; the last shows the
culmination of their later Italian-Gothic style in its fulness.
Like Florence, Siena, Pisa, Pistoja, and other cities, Milan, on
freeing herself from Longobard and French tyrants, had become a
commune, but she could not escape the usual fate of a mediæval
commune, _i.e._ party faction, and the supremacy of a dominant family.
As Florence had her Guelphs and Ghibellines, Pistoja her Bianchi and
Neri, so Milan had her two warring families, the Torriani and
Visconti. The conflict was long, but in the end the Visconti
dominated. Matteo I. reigned over Cremona, Lodi, Bergamo, Pavia,
Alexandria, and Vercelli. Azzo Visconti subjugated Piacenza and Como,
etc. Luchino added Asti, Bobbio, and Parma; while his brother, the
Archbishop Giovanni, acquired Brescia, Genoa, and Bologna. His
nephews, Bernabò and Galeazzo II., divided the state, and lost part of
it. Genoa freed herself from Galeazzo, while Bernabò's vices and
cruelties caused rebellion everywhere.
Galeazzo's son, Gian Galeazzo, who was only fifteen when his father
died in 1378, married Isabella of France, he being then seventeen, and
she a child still. By this he gained, as his bride's portion, the
estate of Vertus in Champagne, and his descendants kept up the title,
which became Italianized into Conte di Virtù. His second wife was his
cousin, Caterina, daughter of Bernabò. To assure himself of her
heritage, he imprisoned his uncle in the castle of Trezza, where he
died a few months after, some say by poison. However this be, Gian
Galeazzo immediately rode into Milan, where he was proclaimed Signore
of Milan. Wenceslaus, Emperor of Germany, had already created him his
Vicar-general in Lombardy, so that his power was great. So great was
it that he was able to oust the Scaligers from Verona in 1386; the
Carraresi from Vicenza and Padua in 1387. In 1395 he induced
Wenceslaus to nominate him Duke of Milan, and to make the title
hereditary. Then, emulating his Longobardic predecessors, he began a
march of conquest southwards; took Perugia, Spoleto, and Assisi in
1400; Lucca in 1401; then he bought Pisa from the Appiani, and Siena
capitulated. Florence was next in his list, but luckily for her he
died at this juncture, and Florence escaped.[265]
These were the princes under whose auspices the cathedral of Milan
arose, a mountain of sculpture white as snow. In olden times there
were twin churches standing on the site of Milan cathedral: S. Maria
Maggiore, the winter church, and S. Thecla, the _estiva_, or summer
church. Santa Maria had two Baptisteries, one for male children, the
other for female. They both had marvellous towers: that of S. Maria
was two hundred and forty-five _braccia_ (about four hundred and
seventy feet) high, and of "admirable beauty." This tower was thrown
down and the church destroyed in the siege of Milan, 1162. After the
Peace of Costanza, Sta. Maria was restored by public offerings, and
the Milanese ladies, like the ancient Roman dames, threw their jewels
into the treasury. The façade of this restoration was of black and
white marble in squares, and the church was so large that it could
contain 7000 people.
By the fourteenth century Milan had become so wealthy and powerful
that it determined to build a church more beautiful than any before
it. To Gian Galeazzo is generally given the whole credit of this
initiative, but documents seem to prove it was a general move on the
people's part. On May 12, 1386, Monsignor Antonio dei Marchesi,
Archbishop of Milan, addressed a circular letter to his clergy, saying
that the church of the Blessed Virgin was old and dilapidated, and
"the hearts of the faithful" intended to rebuild it, which work being
very costly, the Archbishop prayed all his clergy to "institute
offerings in their churches, and to pray God to bless the work."
Again a year later he circulated another letter, to ask that all the
offerings thus gathered should be transmitted to Milan before the
_fête_ of St. Martin, as the faithful were anxious to continue the
work begun. Gian Galeazzo did his part by promulgating two edicts; one
dated October 12, 1386, instituting a _questua_ (collection) in all
the Ducal State for the benefit of the funds for the Duomo; the
second, dated February 7, 1387, decreed that all the money from the
_paratici_ of the city, which shall be paid as offerings during the
_fête_ of the Madonna in February of this and following years, shall
be dedicated to the building fund. The results of all these appeals
and decrees, and the small part the Visconti had in the giving,
appears in a letter from the deputies of the Fabbrica or Opera,
addressed to Gian Galeazzo, on August 3, 1387, saying--"Offerings have
been made with great devotion by every kind of person, rich and poor,
who have copiously and liberally aided the building. Now, O Signore,
we pray that you and your lady mother, your consort, and daughter, may
also transmit your devout oblations to subsidize the church."
This is the way the funds were found, and now who were the builders?
We have seen in a former chapter that the Visconti patronized the
Campionese school of architect-sculptors, and as the Comacines had
been associated with Milan for centuries, it was not necessary to look
far for architects. Indeed the very first batch of names which meets
our eye in the books of the _laborerium_ are all of the Lombard Guild.
Here is chief architect Simone da Arsenigo written down as _ingegnere
generale_; or _capo maestro_, Guarnerio da Sirtori; Marco, Jacopo, e
Zeno, da Campione; and Andrea from Modena; where we have seen the
Campione Masters established a school.
On October 16, 1387, a meeting was held by the commission of the Duomo
to discuss a project proposed by the administrators of the Fabbrica,
for forming a regular organization, and electing the proper officials.
It was decided--
1. To confirm the present deputies as superintendents of the work.
(Here we have the Tuscan _Operai_.)
2. To elect a treasurer-general.
3. To nominate a good and efficient accountant.
4. Also a good and efficient _spenditore_ (in Tuscany this is the
_Provveditore_).
5. To confirm the election of Magister Simone da Arsenigo as head
architect of the building, and to nominate enough capable Masters to
assist him. (In Tuscany _capo maestro_ and _Maestri_.)
6. To confirm (considering their eminence in their art) Dionisolo di
Brugora and Ambrogio da Sala (an island in Lake Como near Comacina) in
their offices, and to choose others equally good to aid in the
building.
7. To elect two or more _probi uomini_ (arbiters).
8. To elect lawyer, notary, and _sindaci_ (consuls) of the art.
9. "We also determine and ordain that Maestro Simone da Arsenigo, as
being chief architect of the said fabric, shall order and provide for
all the works done in the said church, and that he shall show
diligence, etc. etc...."
Here we have the exact organization we have seen at Siena, Parma,
Florence, etc.; and as there the Lombard Masters are the founders of
it, we find the same filing of documents, the same assigning of
different parts of the building to different Masters, and the same
calling of councils in the guild to consider and value the work. The
registers of administration are kept in precisely the same way. The
_spenditore_ keeps his books just as the Florentine _Provveditore_
does. Here are a few translations from the bad Latin of his entries--
"1387. _January 15._--For two lbs. of _morsecate_ for Maestro Andrea
degli Organi, four lire." (Andrea degli Organi of Modena was the Ducal
architect, the father of Filippo da Modena, a first-rate architect.)
"_January 19._--For a Master and forty-seven workmen to place the
foundations of the pilasters."
"_March 19._--To Simone da Arsenigo, chief architect, for eighteen
days in which he was engaged in work himself." (This entry would seem
to prove that when a Master did manual work with his men, he was paid
as they were in addition to his salary as architect.)
"_April 2._--To Maestro Marco da Frisone" (Magistro Marcho de
Frixono), "who was in the service of the Fabbrica, and began to work
on March 5, and finished on April 2, for his pay 12 lire 13 denari."
"_April 13._--To Maestro Andrea da Modena, architect to the Duke, for
his pay for the days he gave to the church in Milan, with the
permission of the Vicario Sig. Giovanni de Capelli, and the _XII di
provisione_" (one of the city councils, which acted as the president
of the lodge, as the Arte della Lana did in Florence), "and also of
the deputies of the Fabbrica, L. 19. 4."
"_May 2._--Lent to Maestro Marco da Frisono, 22 lire."
"_August 12._--For 84 workmen, 13 lire 13. 6. To 4 master builders,
_i.e._ Giovanni da Arsenigo, 5 lire 10; to Giovannino da Arsenigo, his
son, 5. 10; to Giovanni da Azzo, 5. 9; and Giovanni da Trœnzano, 5.
9;--18 lire in all."
In August we get entries of expenses for rope to draw water from the
well, and rope for raising scaffolding, for nails, baskets,
plumb-lines, water-levels, red paint to mark the planks, and other
things. On October 9, 1387, we find the _spenditore_ paying a
messenger to go to Crema with letters from the lodge to Maestro
Guglielmo di Marco, to call him to Milan to give advice on business
connected with the buildings.
On October 15 Guglielmo di Marco is paid 16 lire for his journey and
eight days' employment in examining and judging the work of the
church.
On October 18, 1387, we have payment to Maestro Simone da Arsenigo and
ten companions (eleven in all), master builders. To Maestro Zeno da
Campione and twenty-one companions (twenty-two including himself),
master sculptors of "living stone" (_pietra viva_). The word which I
translate companions is _sotiis_ (_Mag. Symoni de Ursanigo et sotiis,
etc._), which would imply that they were all members (_soci_) of one
society, and is thus valuable as a confirmation of the brotherhood in
this guild.
In October 1387, Andrea da Modena, the Duke's architect, is again
engaged, but only as adviser; for which he receives _in dono fiorini
venti_; and Leonardo Zepo and Simone da Cavagnera are deputed to take
note of his suggestions.
"1387. _November 19._--For the payment of two large sheets of
parchment consigned to Simone da Arsenigo." (These must have been to
draw the plans.)
"1388. _April 19._--Paid Maestro Marco da Frixone and _soci_ for
plaster to make models of the four _piloni_."
In another entry, noting the payment of 81 lire as salary, Marco da
Frixone is named as Marco da Campione _detto_ di Frisone.
Merzario is of opinion that such names as Marc the Frisian, who was
one of the Campione school; Jacopo Tedesco, whom all old writers agree
was Italian; Guglielmo d'Innspruck, also a Campionese, have been the
cause of much misunderstanding, and have sent authors off on false
scents. It was the custom, in the books of the Comacines, to name
people from their _provenienza_, i.e. the last place they came from.
Thus at Siena you will find Niccolò da Pisa, while at Pisa he is
Niccolò di Apulia. Lorenzo Maitani was Lorenzo da Siena to the Orvieto
people, and Lorenzo d'Orvieto to the Florentines. Marco il Frisone,
born at Campione, is therefore a link between the German guilds and
the Italian; he must have worked at Friesland, and probably brought
back ideas of a more pointed Gothic from there.
These registers are ample proof that the builders just called in for
the building of Milan cathedral were of the Lombard Guild, and chiefly
of the Campione branch. It is not till 1389 that we find a single
German name, and then a certain "Anichino (Annex) di Germania" is paid
16 soldi for having made a model of a _tiburio_ (cupola) in lead, and
Giacobino da Bruge, who falls ill while working at the church, has a
slight subsidy given by the guild _per amor di Dio_. They are not
mentioned again, and neither of them seem to be Masters.
That Simone da Arsenigo was chief architect at this time, not a doubt
can exist. It is especially emphasized in a deed executed in December
1387. In it the Administration, "in consideration of their long and
continued experience of the pure and admirable goodwill, and the
_opera multifaria_ which the worthy man, Magister Simone da Arsenigo,
most worthy chief architect and master, has achieved in this church,
by constant diligence, and wishing to remunerate him better (pro
aliquali remuneratione bene meritorem), decide that whereas his salary
hitherto has been ten imperial soldi a day, it shall now be raised to
ten gold florins a month."
It is plain, however, that he worked in concert with the guild. Just
as at Florence and Siena, great councils of the Masters, both
architects and sculptors, were held to consider whether the
foundations were strong before continuing the building, so in Milan a
great meeting was called on Friday, March 20, 1388, in which all the
_Magistri_ were cited before their patrons, the Imperial
Vicar-General, and the Council of XII. (In Florence the Arte della
Lana took the post of President of the Works.) All the _Magistri_ were
charged to give their opinion on the building in its present state,
and to suggest any improvements they could.
First uprose Master Marco da Campione (Surrexit primus Magister
Marchus de Campilione, Inzignerius), and said there was an error in
the wall on the side of Via Compedo, the wall being, in one part,
"half a quarter" wider than the measure given. He suggested undoing
that part to the foundation.
Then the chief architect, Simone da Arsenigo, rose, and proposed to
cut the stones down to the ground, but not to remove them.
Maestri Giacomo and Zeno agreed with Maestro Marco, as did Maestro
Guarnerio da Sirtori and Ambrogio Pongione.
Then uprose Maestro Bonino da Campione (whom we saw last at work on
the Scaligers' tombs at Verona), and said that he not only agreed with
the others, but found an error in the _piloni_ in the body of the
church, towards the door of the façade.
Gasparolo da Birago, worker in iron, Magistri Ambrogio da Melzo,
Pietro da Desio, Filippo Orino, Ridolfo di Cinisello, and Antonio da
Trœnzano, all voted with him.
The words "according to the measure given" (_justa mensuram super hoc
datam_), prove that however many architects superintended special
parts, there was one supreme Master who made the design.
This was first, as we have said, Simone da Arsenigo, and after him
Marco the Frisian of Campione, whose salary is paid on March 31, 1389,
naming him as "Mag. Marcho de Campilione dicto de Frixono inzegnerio
fabricæ." His name often appears as chief architect till July 10,
1390, when "he died at the Ave Maria in the morning, and was buried
with honours the same evening in the church of S. Thecla."[266]
One of Marco's contemporaries in the _laborerium_ was Jacopo da
Campione, whose name appears with that of Nicola del Bonaventura, and
Matteo da Campione, and others, at a general meeting held on January
6, 1390. Historical authorities say Jacopo da Campione was of the
Buono family, and some assign as his father Giovanni Buono. He, too,
had a cognomen of Fuxina or Fusina, but whether a family name or a
place name I cannot tell. His name first appears in the books of the
guild with Zambono, or Giovanni Buono, supposed to be his father, with
Magistri Zeno, Andriolo, Lazaro, Rolando, Fontana, Cressino (all from
Campione), and with Alberto, Airolo, and Giovanni da Bissone, and
Anselmo da Como. These must have been the Masters who responded to the
invitation for architects sent out by the Milanese.
On April 15, 1389, Jacopo da Campione was elected chief architect in
connection with his friend Marco da Campione.
A competition for designs for the great window of the choir was
announced in 1390, and Jacopo da Campione and Niccola del Bonaventura
each sent a design, from which the archbishop was to choose. He
preferred that of Bonaventura, but the Master fell into disgrace, and
his window was never executed. We find that the Administration, on
July 31, 1390, "deliberated" to discharge Master Bonaventura, give
him the salary due to him, and remove him entirely from the lodge.
Jacopo da Campione remained in office till the end of 1395, when he
and Marco da Carona retired for rest and change to Lake Lugano. They
were not allowed to be away long, for they were recalled on January 9,
1396.
During that year new honours were preparing for Jacopo. Gian Galeazzo
Visconti was intending to rebuild the Certosa at Pavia, and set his
eyes on Jacopo da Campione as the best architect he could find for it.
The Masters of the Milan Lodge dared not dispute the will of the
all-powerful Duke, and held a meeting on March 4, 1397, at which it
was decided "that Jacopo di Campione, chief architect of the building,
_qui acceptatus est super laboreria Cartuxiæ_, should still retain his
position in the works of the Duomo, because the entire absence of the
Master who began the building (_qui principiavit ipsam fabricam_)
would cause grave peril and injury to the work. They proposed,
however, that Maestro Jacopo might, in cases of necessity, assist in
the building of the Certosa, as he had done before."
This document sets the question beyond a doubt that the architect who
had most to do with the building of Milan cathedral was this Jacopo of
Campione, who had worked with the first architect, Simone, and shared,
on his death, the post of chief, with Marco, his fellow-countryman. He
died on October 30, 1398.
During the time he was head of the _laborerium_ several Germans worked
under him; Milan being so near the German frontier was always a
favourite object of German travel. Moreover, I fancy there must during
these centuries have been a fraternal intercourse between the Italian
Masonic Guilds and those of Germany. We have so many Italians who
worked in Germany, and coming back were dubbed with the name of the
last place they came from, that it is equally likely that some
Germans crossed the border with those fellow-guildsmen on their
return, and worked at Milan. This intercourse between the two nations
would account for the more German style of Milan cathedral as compared
with other Italian churches.
[Illustration: SMALL CLOISTER OF THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA.
_See page 358._]
I have before remarked that the lines of architecture gradually take a
more upward tendency the further north we go. The slight point of the
arch, as seen in Siena and Orvieto and Florence, is much sharpened in
Milan; the rows of little round archlets which covered a Romanesque
building with rich horizontal lines, have here become elongated and
pointed, all the lines tending upwards, till they become almost
monotonous; yet Milan is but the natural northern development of the
southern Italian Gothic. It was always the tendency of the guild to
seek greater richness of ornamentation in multiplying forms already
customary to them. As the Romanesque façade was merely a
multiplication of the Lombard single gallery, so the Gothic of Milan
is but a multiplication and elongation of the turrets and pinnacles of
Siena and Orvieto, and of the pointed gables over elongated arches,
with almost an abuse of the perpendicular shaft. Of course I do not
speak of the façade in these remarks, that being a discord by the
later Renaissance architects. The changes may well have been induced
by the strong German influence in the guild.
There were also French artists, such as Jean Mignot de Paris, and Jean
de Campanias of Normandy.[267] We hear of a Niccolò Bonaventura from
Paris, but his name is too Italian for his nationality to be mistaken.
He probably had been employed in France, and brought back the French
sculptor-architects with him. All these names, with the Germans
mentioned below, are to be found in the report of a meeting of
_Magistri_ in 1391. They are qualified as _Magistri di pietra viva_
(sculptors). The German names are, Ulrich de Frissengen di Nein, Aulx
di Marchestein, and Johannes Annex di "Friurgo" (Freiburg?). This last
has been confused by writers with Giovanni de Fernach, who was a
Campionese. Giovanni da Campione worked for many years in Germany, and
when he returned was as usual dubbed a German, being called John from
Fernach. He brought a hundred stone-cutters to the service of the
Duomo of Milan in February 1391. The Administrators approved of him,
and considering that he knew Germany and its language, and was a judge
of good work, they sent him to Cologne to try and procure some good
architects. He went, but finding no one of great talent, he returned
unsuccessful, and was obliged to refund to the guild half the cost of
his journey. As a compensation, the Administration commissioned him to
prepare a design for the southern sacristy. He appears to have shut
himself up to prepare this great plan in secret, for on November 1,
1391, the Deputies of the Administration order the _Provveditore_ to
send "Giovannolo and Beltramolo" to get the Archbishop's order to
command Giovanni de Fernach to explain his intention about the work on
which he was engaged; because, "if his plan was not approved, they
would not wish it proceeded with."
Then Fernach began to say that Johannes di Firimburg was right, and
that the proportions of the church, with which his sacristy had to
harmonize, were wrong. On this the President, the Archbishop, and the
Deputies sent to Piacenza for an expert, named Gabriele Stornaloco, a
great geometrician, to settle the vexed question. He came, made his
calculations, and decided that the German critics were in the wrong.
Not satisfied with this, they next prayed the Duke to send his
sculptor, Bernardo da Venezia, to give his opinion. He came to Milan
in November 1391, made his computations, and also decided that the
Germans had made a mistake. Then Fernach's plan for the sacristy was
handed over to the chief architect, Jacopo da Campione, to modify its
proportions; and Fernach's name appears no more in the books of the
_spenditore_.
Another German in the _laborerium_ was an architect, Magister Enrico
or Ulrico di Ensingen, near Ulm. He came in July 1391, but only
remained a few months, and then disappeared. Another Enrico or Ulrico
(the _spenditore's_ orthography is diverse and mixed) da Gamodia or
Gmunden, then appears. This is the Heinrich of Gmunden, whom the
guide-books generally name as the architect of the Duomo. We will now
see precisely how much was due to him. His name appears at a meeting
on May 1, 1392, in which Jacopo da Campione, as usual, holds the first
place. Enrico da Gamodia, as he is written in the books, was but
lately _returned_ (_ritornato_) from Germany, and had offered himself
to design and work in the building of the Duomo. He allowed himself to
raise doubts and express censure of the solidity and strength of the
work already done. Public discussions were raised as to the validity
of his objections. A great meeting was called, in which his name
appears at the bottom of a long list of Masters, all Italian. To the
questions as to the solidity and beauty of the building, and whether
it should be continued on the same plan or not, all the other Masters
agreed that the design could not be improved. Heinrich of Gmunden
alone answered stubbornly, _non assensit_.
The guild soon after decided on cutting off useless expenses, and
among others the salary of Magister Heinrich, who was "dismissed," and
"sent about his business" (licentietur ad eundum pro factis suis). The
German appealed to the Duke of Milan, who begged the Deputati to
reconsider their decision. They, however, held firm, and calling
Heinrich before them on the 7th of the following July, told him that
he had not served the cause well (in designamentis et aliis
necessariis pro Fabrica male serviverit). They gave him six florins
for his journey and dismissed him. "Yet," as Merzario says,[268] "to
this man who came to Milan at the end of 1391, and left in the middle
of 1392, is given by many people the credit of having designed the
Duomo of Milan, which was begun in 1386, and also of the Certosa of
Pavia begun in 1396."
Nor did Ulrich da Ulm, whom we have mentioned, achieve much more than
his compatriot. He came in 1391, and only stayed a few months. In
1394, however, he again offered his services, and was reinstalled on a
profitable contract. But he too had the national spirit of criticism,
and vaunted his own plans of improving the church, while he detailed
his opinion of the flaws in the existing plans, and doubts on the
stability of the building. Of course a meeting of the lodge was
called, and as before the majority went against Ulrich's new
improvements. However, they sent to Pavia to ask the Duke to let his
architect, Nicola de Lelli, come to Milan and arbitrate. He replied
that they had better send a deputation with all the plans to Pavia, as
he could not spare the architect. So the _capo maestro_, Jacopo da
Campione, and Giovannino de' Grassi accompanied Ulrich to Pavia, to
confer with the Duke and his architects, with the result that the
present work was pronounced good, and Ulrich's designs and innovations
rejected. The _spenditore_ records that Ulrich's salary was paid: he
too was sent off (ad eundum pro factis suis).
During the three following years no German names are met with in the
books. Then came the death of Jacopo da Campione in 1398, and the
_laborerium_ seems to have had no capable Master to replace him. And
now we shall see how this Masonic Guild was ramified throughout
Europe.
The Deputies sent to Giovanni Alcherio, a Milanese living in Paris, to
see if some architect could be spared from the works at Notre Dame. He
proposed Jean Campanias from Normandy and Jean Mignot of Paris,
mentioned above, who were accepted, and came to Milan in 1399, with a
painter named Jacopo Cova. Mignot was made architect of the two
sacristies. He coveted the supreme post of chief architect of the
whole building, but he met with serious rivals in Marco da Carona and
Antonio da Padernò, two young _Magistri_ who were fast rising in the
guild to fill the place of Jacopo and Marco da Campione and Simone da
Arsenigo.
There was schism in the guild. Mignot found fault with everything in
the Duomo, the size, the proportions, the _piloni_, the capitals, the
windows, the tracery, and all the ornamentation. Marco and Antonio
declared that Mignot's sacristy was of a false rule of measurement,
and the arch of his window wrong in its lines. There were meetings in
the lodge, and endless disputes, till Mignot also disappeared from the
scene.
The Campione school of Masters still held its own: we now find that
Matteo da Campione was sent for from Monza. Zeno da Campione, brother
of the late Jacopo, also came with two hundred and fifty stone-cutters
under him to carve the capitals, pinnacles, etc. etc. There was
Lorenzo degli Spazi di Laino in Val d'Intelvi, also of the same
school, who brought one hundred and eighty-eight stone-carvers to the
_laborerium_, and who won fame for the fine sculpture they produced.
Can one wonder at the wealth of sculpture in and on the cathedral,
when only two _Magistri_ can furnish more than four hundred workmen
between them? When one looks at the lavish marble work on the roof,
the plurality of artists is well accounted for.
Giovannino dei Grassi, or Gracii, seems to have succeeded Jacopo as
_capo maestro_, and his designs and Jacopo's were kept with reverence
in the rooms of the Administration.
In 1400 Jacopo da Tradate is the "supreme sculptor" to the fabric. He
did the statue of Martin V. in commemoration of that Pope's visit to
Milan in 1418, after the Council of Constance, when he consecrated the
principal altar. Jacobino da Tradate also sculptured the mausoleum of
Pietro, son of Guido Torello, Marquis of Guastalla, in S. Eustorgio at
Milan. His son, Samuele, was a friend of Andrea Mantegna's, and once
visited him on the Lago di Garda. He too was a sculptor, and made his
father's tomb in the cloister of S. Agnese, which he inscribed--"Jacobino
de Tradate patri suaviss:--Qui tamquam Praxiteles vivos in marmore
fingebat vultus--Samuel observantis. V. F."
In 1402 Duke Gian Galeazzo died, and during the minority of his son,
art, architecture, and sculpture languished. Few famous names are
preserved, and all of those were from the neighbourhood of Como. Those
mentioned in the books as continuing the work between 1402 and 1440,
are Jacopo da Tradate, Bertollo da Campione, Giorgio de Sollario,
sculptors, and Paolino da Montorfano, a painter. At a later period
other Masters appeared, and we find Giovanni de Solari from Val
d'Intelvi, Guglielmo di Giorgio and Giovanni di Reghezio, Jacopo da
Lanzo, Michele di Benedetto da Campione, Francesco Solari, and
Giovanni da Cairate, all sculptors, with Cristoforo da Chiona,
Arasmino Solari da Arogna, Franceschino da Canobbio, Leonardo da
Sirtori, Paolino da Arsenigo, and Giovanni Solari, all Lombard
engineers and architects.
Of all this crowd, two men rose to especial eminence: Magister
Filippino degli Argani da Modena, and Giovanni Solari da Campione, who
had a special connection with the domestic Gothic architecture of
Venice. Filippino was son of Andrea degli Argani, architect to the
Visconti. He showed so much talent for his father's profession that
Duke Gian Galeazzo himself nominated him as a novice in the lodge of
the guild. A letter, dated January 8, 1400, was addressed by the Duke
to the Administrative Council of the lodge, saying--"Considering
the fine genius shown even in boyhood by Filippo, son of our
architect, the late Maestro of Modena, we advise that his talents
shall be cultivated, and that he shall be practised in the technical
arts, especially by the assistance and instruction of good masters....
Therefore we decree that the said Filippino shall enter the said
_laborerium_ (of the Duomo at Milan), and we recommend him for
instruction therein."[269]
[Illustration: MARBLE WORK ON THE ROOF OF MILAN CATHEDRAL.
_See page 363._]
Filippino so far justified this recommendation, that when, on March 6,
1412, a competition was offered for designs for the window behind the
choir, he won the commission. Many authors, not heeding the authentic
documents, have given the credit of that window to Buonaventura from
Paris. In 1404 Filippino was made _Magister_ of the guild, and given
office under Marco da Carona. In 1406 he sculptured a beautiful
sepulchre to Marco Corello, a Milanese who had left all his patrimony
to the works of the Duomo. On Marco da Carona's death he became chief
architect of the cathedral, with the three _Magistri_, Magatto,
Leonardo da Sirtori, and Cristoforo da Chiona under him. An act passed
by the guild on May 19, 1417, confirms him as "Superior et prior
aliorum inzigneriorum de fabbrica," on a term of twelve years, at a
salary of twenty florins a month. At the expiration of the twelve
years he was not removed from office, but was given two colleagues
with equal power to his own. These were Franceschino da Canobbio and
Antonio da Gorgonzola.
In April 1448, much to his disgust, Filippo was entirely suspended.
Francesco Sforza interceded on his behalf with the Administration, but
they replied that Franceschino suited them better. Again in 1450, when
the Duchess Bianca Visconti recommended Filippo's son Giorgio as a
worthy successor to his father, the Council again asserted that they
had no wish to discharge Franceschino da Canobbio. Then the Duke,
irritated by this repulse, wrote the following strong letter to the
Council--"Our beloved (_Dilecti nostri_). As the illustrious Madonna
Bianca our Consort has advised you, and considering the respect and
devotion which the late Magister Filippino bore to the memory of our
Consort's late celebrated father, also considering his valuable and
praiseworthy works, in the building of the cathedral, and other
edifices and fortresses, I beg that you will be pleased to elect as
architect to the Duomo, Magister Giorgio, son of the said late
Magister Filippino, with the usual salary, and nothing less. If you
wish, you are at liberty to elect four experts, who shall inform
themselves of the capabilities of the said 'Magister Zorgo,' and
whether he be sufficient for the post. We shall be obliged if you will
nominate him to the said office on the usual terms, by which you will
also oblige our Consort. Given from Milan, November 7, 1450."
The Council had to bow to this command, but the nomination of Giorgio
"degli Argani" was not decided on till the meeting of July 6, 1451,
and then only a moderate salary was given him, "want of funds being
assigned by them as a reason." Giorgio's death, occurring soon after,
ended the difficulty, and Giovanni Solari became his successor. A
convention, dated September 24, 1450, between some masters and the
Council, concludes--"It is to be observed that Giovanni di Solari is
the head architect deputed to this work, which must be done according
to his designs and conditions."
Giovanni was the son of Marco da Carona, formerly chief architect. In
the deed of his nomination is the sentence--"son of the late Marco,
who through all his life exercised the office of architect in such a
mode that few or none could even equal him."[270]
[Illustration: CAPITAL IN MILAN CATHEDRAL. SCULPTURED BY MAGISTER
BARTOLOMMEO DA CAMPIONE.
_See page 368._]
Two months after this election, Duke Francesco Sforza wrote a very
commanding letter from the camp at Trignano, saying, he recommended
the nomination of Antonio da Firenze (Filarete) and Giovanni da
Solari, in place of Filippino degli Argani. The latter was already at
his post, but the Council again defied the Duke by saying they had no
need of Filarete; on which the Duke retired from his self-imposed
office of adviser, and left the lodge to manage its own business,
which it always intended to do. Giovanni da Solari being left in
peace, carried on the works, and so beautiful were they, that even to
the _Magistri_ themselves the building seemed "more divine than
human."
He was succeeded by his son, Magister Guiniforte, whose name is
sometimes misspelt Boniforte. He was "a man of clear mind, exquisite
sense and strong will; educated amidst grand ideas and grand things by
a wise and talented father; he became _Magister_ at twenty-two years
of age, and worked under his father." When he was thirty-seven, he
took Filarete's place, as chief architect of the Ospedale Maggiore at
Milan, a work almost perfect in its harmonious beauty, and yet showing
in every line its derivation from the civil edifices of the older
Lombards. He was also architect at the Certosa, and built, or rather
designed, the churches of S. Satiro and the Madonna delle Grazie and
the castle of Alliate. Calvi says that Guiniforte, "though following
the older school, knew how to lighten the serious northern style, by
giving it the smile of Italian skies."
When Guiniforte died in 1481, his son, Pietro Antonio, armed with a
letter of recommendation from the Princess Bona, presented himself at
the lodge, as a candidate for his father's position. The Freemason
Council, however, seemed determined not to bow to royal commands, and
again asserted its independence. Pietro was put off, and in 1489 he
departed to Russia.[271]
During the years from 1468 to 1492, the books of the lodge, preserved
in the archives, abound in names of _Magistri_ from the neighbourhood
of Como, both architects and sculptors.[272]
Among them are some famous names, such as Martino da Mantegazza,
Dolcebono Rodari (sculptor of the beautiful north door at Como), and
Gerolamo della Porta, who entered the lodge in May 1490, with a letter
of recommendation from the Duke, advising his being specially trained
in the art of sculpture. His talents warranting this, he was sent to
Rome with four other stone-sculptors, to remain ten years, and perfect
themselves in sculpture, to study the antique, and to return to the
_laborerium_ as fully qualified masters. There was also Bartolommeo da
Campione, who carved some of the richly ornate capitals of the
columns. I suspect he was the man who became famous in Venice.
The cathedral of Milan was now reaching completion. There only
remained the crucial question of the dome, and with this the Masters
now occupied themselves. Jacopo da Campione had made a model which the
Council of Administration preserved in their rooms, together with a
beautifully made wooden model begun by Giovannino de' Grassi, and
finished on his death by his son, Salomone. These were not adopted,
for on Giovanni Solari's death in 1471, we find the name of
_Bartolomeus de Gorgonzola, magister super Tiburium_. This was on
September 26, 1472. The same phrase is repeated in another entry on
November 25, 1471, where a payment is registered, made to Branda da
Castiglione, on account of the work he has to do at Gandolia, in
making certain columns to place above the _Tiburio_.
[Illustration: NORTH DOOR OF COMO CATHEDRAL. SCULPTURED BY TOMMASO
RODARI.
_See page 368._]
The difficult work was suspended on the assassination of Duke Galeazzo
Maria, by reason of want of funds. On the restoration of Gian Galeazzo
in 1482, the subject was again under consideration, and in the
absence of any very eminent Masters at the moment--Guiniforte having
died in 1481--the Duke wrote to Strasburg to beg that some architects
might be spared from the works there. This action is very suggestive
of an affinity between the German and Italian Masonic Lodges. No one
could be spared from Strasburg, but a certain Giovanni da Gratz came
over with a little squadron of Germans, and signed a contract to
superintend the "reparation and completion" of the _Tiburio_ of the
Duomo. The conditions of the contract further stated that when the
cupola should be so far finished as to allow of inspection, a
committee of qualified Masters should be elected to inspect it, and
pronounce if the work were good.[273]
The words "reparation and completion" would imply that Guiniforte and
Bartolommeo had already begun the dome. The contract with John of
Gratz is signed May 1482, and it would appear not to have been of long
duration, no payments being made to him after February 1486, and on
January 26, 1488, the annals of the Duomo show the following
entry--"To Maestro Antonio da Padernò in recompense for his labours
during the past year in verifying the errors committed by Maestro
Giovanni da Gratz, etc...." Like his forerunner Heinrich da Gmunden,
John of Gratz had to retire from the Milanese Lodge; his name is no
more found in the books, and the Council began to search for a _capo
maestro_ nearer home. Magister Luca Paperio Fancelli was called from
Florence to examine some designs which had been sent in. The one
chosen was by Leonardo of Florence (Da Vinci), who was paid in
anticipation L.56, and a _Maestro in legname_ was assigned as his
assistant, named Bernardino da Abbiate. He probably was to superintend
the scaffolding, and Da Vinci the building. However, the engagement
fell through, and the Duke of Milan wrote to the Pope, the King of
Sicily, and the rulers of Venice and Florence to find an architect for
that puzzling cupola. Two Germans, one named Lorenzo, and one a monk,
John Mayer, were successively refused. At length, in 1490, the Council
finally commissioned Maestro Giovan Antonio Amadeo and Maestro Gio.
Giacomo Dolcebuono as joint architects "to finish the cupola and the
church." They were to choose the model which pleased them best of
those preserved in the Administration, and the one they selected was
to be examined for approval by Maestro Francesco di Giorgio, then
living at Siena, and by Maestro Luca of Florence (Fancelli), then
residing at Mantua, two experts who were by the Council elected as
judges and examiners of the perfection of the model.
A great meeting of the _Magistri_ of the lodge, and the patron of the
city, presided over by the Duke himself, met on June 27, to examine
the several models, but none were chosen; and Amadeo and Dolcebuono
were ordered to make a revised model, with the concurrence of
Francesco Giorgio. The two former were then confirmed as joint
architects, "to compose and ordinate"--as the Verbale quaintly puts
it--"all the parts needful to constitute the said _Tiburio_, which
must be beautiful, worthy, and eternal," if indeed earthly things can
be eternal.
Francesco di Giorgio departed laden with presents and payments, and
with the honorary title of architect of the Duomo of Milan; and on
September 9, the two others began their work, which they brought to a
happy conclusion on September 24, 1500.
The façade was, however, not completed. Indeed, the registers show
that the insignia of the Comacine Masters, the marble lions which were
destined for the great door, were in 1489 still in deposit in the
_laborerium_.
Dolcebuono died in 1506; and Andrea Fusina was elected in his place.
The famous sculptor, Cristoforo Gobbo, entered the works in 1502, on
the compact that he was not to be under the orders of other
architects, but to make his own contracts. He executed much of the
sculptural ornamentation of the cupola; such as the Doctors of the
Church in medallions; while a master Andrea da Corcano, with other
"brethren," did the pictures. Cristoforo also carved the famous
statues of Adam and Eve on the façade, besides several other statues.
He and Fusina being compatriots, fraternized, and opposed Amadeo, who
had made a too daring design for the lantern on the cupola. Meetings
after meetings were held, and at length Gobbo retired temporarily to
pursue his sculpture in Rome and Venice, where he is entered as
Cristoforo _da Milano_. His nephew, Michele da Merate, and Michele's
son Paolo, both sculptors, worked with him at Milan, where he
continued till his death, in 1527.
Another long list of names from the books, given between 1500 and 1550
by Merzario, proves that the Comacines still reigned supreme in the
_laborerium_, the Solari family preponderating.
As if to connect the last link in the chain with the first, we find
the old family of Bono da Campione still prominent. For nearly thirty
years, _i.e._ between 1618 and 1647, Magister Gian Giacomo Bono da
Campione sculptured in the _laborerium_ of the Duomo, and there his
son Francesco was trained, besides two kinsmen--Carlo Antonio Bono,
painter and sculptor, and his son, Giuseppe. All this family worked
together in the seventeenth century at the façade of the cathedral,
designed by Pellegrini. The fine central door was the work of Gian
Giacomo Bono and Andrea Castelli, both Comacines by birth.
As for the names of other Comacines who worked at the façade and on
the wondrous roof, one finds them by hundreds in the annals of the
Duomo, as collected by Giulini in his _Memorie della Città e Campagna
di Milano_. Here you see names repeated which have been familiar in
the guild for centuries; such as the Bono and Solari families, and
Luca Beltrami, who worked at the façade in the seventeenth century,
and whose ancestors were architects at Modena and Parma two hundred
years earlier.
II.--THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA
MAGISTRI AT THE CERTOSA OF PAVIA
----+------+------------------------------+--------------------------------
1. | 1396 | Magister Bernardo da Venezia | { C.M. for the actual building.
| | | {
2. | " | M. Jacopo da Campione | { C.M. at Milan to visit and
| | | { superintend.
----+------+------------------------------+--------------------------------
These two were the first architects.
----+------+------------------------------+--------------------------------
3. | " | M. Giovanni da Grassi | { Two of the Duke's architects
| | (Graci) | { from Milan, who were also
| | | { called into council on the
4. | " | M. Marco da Carona | { first plans.
| | |
5. | " | M. Cristoforo da Lonigo | Drew a design for the church
| | | of the convent.
| | |
6. | " | M. Domenico Bossi da | Assisted in laying the
| | Campione | foundations.
| | |
7. | " | M. Giovanni da Campione | Sculptured slabs for three
| | (called Bosio) | reliquaries.
| | |
8. | 1397 | M. Antonio di Marco | Son of Marco Carona da
| | | Campione: C.M. of Milan;
| | | called from Crema to be
| | | C.M. instead of M. Bernardo.
| | |
| | | { Two brothers left in charge
| | M. Giovanni } | { when Antonio returned to
9. | | Solari } | { Crema. Giovanni was C.M.
| | } of Campione | { till 1400. Giovanni was the
10. | | M. Francesco } | { father of the celebrated
| | Solari } | { Guiniforte, C.M. of Milan.
| | | { The Lombardi of Venice were
| | | { descendants ofthis family.
| | |
11. | 1428 | M. Rodari da Castello } | Ancestor of Tommaso di
| | } | Rodari, who sculptured the
| | } | Renaissance door at Como.
12. | " | M. Giovanni da Garvagnate } |
| | } | All three were paid for
13. | " | M. Giovanni da Como } | sculptures in 1428 and 1429.
| | |
14. | 1429 | M. Antonio } } |
| | } di Val di } | Employed as builders.
15. | | M. Giovanni } Lugano } |
| | |
16. | | M. Jacopo Fusina | Frequently mentioned in the
| | | books of the Fabbrica.
| | |
17. | 1460 | M. Guiniforte Solari | C.M. in place of his father
| | | Giovanni; designed the façade.
| | |
18. | | M. Gio. Antonio Amadeo | Pupil of Guiniforte; carved the
| | | door between the church and
| | | cloister. He became famous
| | | afterwards in Venice, and
| | | sculptured the Colleone
| | | monument at Bergamo.
| | |
| | | { Came to the Certosa from
19. | | M. Cristoforo Mantegazza | { their apprenticeship to
| | | { Jacopo da Tradate at Milan.
20. | | M. Antonio Mantegazza | { Sculptured in the façade of
| | | { the Certosa on Guiniforte's
| | | { plans.
| | |
21. | 1478 | M. Giovanni, junior, da } |
| | Campione } | Assisted in the sculptures.
| | } |
22. | | M. Luchino di Cernuscolo } |
| | |
23. | 1495 | M. Cristoforo Solario | C.M. at the Certosa. C.M. at
| | (Gobbo) | Milan in 1506.
----+------+------------------------------+--------------------------------
Whatever were the faults of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the world has one
great and beautiful legacy to thank him for--the Certosa of Pavia.
It is said that Stefano Maconi, prior of the Certosa at Garignano,
suggested to the Duke the building of the finest monastery in Italy;
but the funds were certainly provided by Gian Galeazzo, who took a
personal and untiring interest in the work.
The first documental proof of this is a deed of gift, dated April 15,
1396, whereby Gian Galeazzo gives to the monastery of the Certosa,
landed property to the annual value of 2500 gold florins. On October 6
of the same year, he makes another endowment of property, yielding
5500 gold florins a year, besides an annual subsidy of 10,000 florins
from his own private purse.
The history of this beautiful building is much connected with that of
Milan cathedral; the same architects--or rather brethren of the same
Masonic Lodge--worked at both; and at one time Jacopo da Campione was
_capo maestro_ of both works at once, spending a certain proportion of
his time at both.
Heinrich of Gmunden has had a good deal of credit for this building;
so much so that a certain bust, said to be his likeness, was kept in
the sacristy of the Certosa; and on the strength of that bust, the
Germans erected a statue to him in Gmunden. But as he left Italy in
July 1392, dismissed from Milan after a few months there, it is not
probable that he could have designed the Certosa in 1396. Count
Giulini was the first to draw attention to this error; and a learned
archivist, Girolamo L. Calvi, had the good luck to discover in the
archives of S. Fedele, the ancient register of the Administration of
the building of the Certosa for the year 1396, which settles the
matter completely. The master builder was Bernardo da Venezia, and
Jacopo da Campione worked with him as designing architect and
superintendent. On the official verification of this precious MS. on
April 16, 1862, the bust of Heinrich da Gmunden disappeared from the
sacristy of the Certosa.
As a proof that the _Magistri_ mentioned were both employed, we will
translate a few of the entries of the _Provveditore_ of the Certosa.
"1396. _July 26._--In the presence of Pietro Barboti, official of the
Administration, Berto Cordono, cordmaker, was paid for 138 lbs. of
strong cord, for use in the designing and building of the church and
cloister. The cord was consigned in June, at the order of Maestro
Bernardo da Venezia, architect of the said _laborerium_" (Inzignerium
dicti laborerii).
"1396. _August 14._"--(This should, I think, be September 14). After
registering several payments of wages to workmen who excavated the
foundations, it is written--"Also the above-named Jacopo da Campione,
for his superintendence of the works (tantum qui perseveravit
superdictis laboreriis), together with the Duke's architects during
fourteen days (_i.e._ the last days of August and the first two of the
present September), at the rate of eight imperial soldi a day, as he
had to find his own food."
"1396.--The Magistri Jacopo da Campione, Giovannino de Grassi, and
Marco da Carona, architects, came from Milan to inspect, order, and
build in the aforenamed works" (causa videndi ordinandi et
hedificandi). The two latter must have been the Duke's architects
spoken of before. All through August and September Jacopo da Campione
was backwards and forwards between Milan and Pavia, and Maestro
Bernardo also received his salary monthly as chief architect.
Again, on November 22, 1396, we read--"To Master Jacopo da Campione,
architect of Milan cathedral (inzignerio ecclesiæ majoris Mediolani),
for fourteen days during October and November, in which he remained
working and superintending in the said _laborerium_ (Certosa) at his
own expense, and in payment for some designs made by him at Milan, and
submitted to the Duke's approval here."
On December 4, 1396, the _Provveditore_ notes the purchase of twenty
sheets of parchment, most of which were consigned to the Magistri
Jacopo da Campione and Cristoforo da Lonigo for the designs of the
church. From these entries, it would seem that Jacopo was the
architect who drew the designs, and Bernardo da Venezia the master
builder who executed them. As a farther proof, there is the
deliberation of the Administration of Milan, on March 4, 1397, to
which we have already referred, in which it says that Jacopo was in
command of the works at Certosa (qui acceptatus est super laboreria
Carthusiæ).
Other Campionese names also appear in the registers; such as Domenico
Bossi da Campione, who was paid "for four marble slabs, with certain
inscriptions, which were placed under the foundations when the
Visconti laid the first stone on August 27, 1396;" and "Giovanni da
Campione, called Bosio, for three sculptured marble slabs for three
reliquaries."
In 1397, Gian Galeazzo, being taken up with affairs of state, ceded
the presidency of the Administration of the Certosa Lodge to the Prior
of the Carthusians, adding more donations and an endowment. The
Prior's first actions were to dismiss Bernardo da Venezia as master
builder, and to call Antonio di Marco from Crema. He was son of Marco
da Campione, one of the chief architects of Milan cathedral, and
brother of Guglielmo di Marco, whom we have also found at Milan in
1387, where he was called as an expert to give judgment on some moot
point.
When Antonio entered office, the monastery had twenty-four cells
already inhabited by as many monks, under their Abbot, Father
Bartolommeo of Ravenna. As soon as the contract was signed, it appears
that Antonio returned to Crema, leaving Giovanni Solari da Campione,
father of Guiniforte, and Francesco Solari, in charge. In the payments
made to Giovanni as chief architect, we find his name written in
different ways. In one, "_Magister Johanni de Campilioni Ingenerio
fabrice Monasterii LXVI_." In another, "_Magister Johanni di Solerio
Inzignero super laboreriis fabrice Monasterii die XIV Maij, pro suo
salario LXVI_;" sometimes he is merely written as "_Johanni
Inzegnero_."
These payments go on for at least four years, during which time
Antonio di Marco seems to have had little to do with the building.
Sometimes Giovanni Solari even does the commercial business. In 1429,
the register notes 4 lire, 5 soldi paid to him for his expenses in
going to Milan and Pavia, on business connected with the building,
and in the same year he pays six Masters who come from Milan to
Certosa, when there was a competition for some sculptures in marble
for the monastery.[274] The sculptors working under him were mostly
his compatriots. Here are _Maestri_ Rodari da Castello, Giovanni da
Garvagnate, and Giovanni da Como paid for sculptural works in 1428 and
1429; also _Maestro_ Antonio and _Maestro_ Giovanni di Val di Lugano,
employed as builders (rattione edificiorum novorum).
There are also frequent mentions of Jacopo Fusina, and the two Solari,
who form such a link between Milan and Venice. The Solari were the
stock from which came the famous line of Lombardi, who may be almost
called the makers of Venice.
To this little group of architects we owe the exquisite cloister of
the Certosa, with its labyrinth of fairy white marble columns, and the
ruddy beauty of ornamentation on terra-cotta arches. Our illustration
shows the beauty of Campionese work at this era.
Giovanni Solari of Campione, who is said in this work to have
inaugurated the beautiful terra-cotta architecture of Lombardy,
appears to have held office as chief architect up to nearly 1460, when
his son Guiniforte succeeded him. Under Guiniforte, Gio. Antonio
Amadeo, or Omodeo, entered his novitiate. When, in 1466, he reached
the age of nineteen, he was already engaged at the Certosa as a
sculptor. A deed drawn up by the notary Gabbi, on October 10, 1469,
shows that the Administration lent him certain blocks of marble, for
which he was to pay their equivalent in work; the payment he made was
the beautiful door leading from the church into the cloister, still
known as "the door of Amadeo." It is exquisitely decorated in
Bramantesque style; reliefs of angels and foliage surround the door;
and in the tympanum is a fine relief of the Virgin and Child. He, too,
became famous in Venice, as did the two brothers Cristoforo and
Antonio Mantegazza, who had just been trained under Jacopo da Tradate
at Milan. Indeed, the network of this marvellous company of
sculptor-builders is at this epoch interwoven in a most complicated
manner between Milan, Certosa, Como, Monza, and Venice.
The façade of the Certosa forms precisely the same discord with the
body of the building that the façade of Milan does, but here the
Renaissance face is so rich and gorgeous that one almost forgives the
discord. It has been attributed to Bramante of Urbino, whose name
never appears in the books; to Bernardo of Venice, who died long
before it was begun; and to Borgognone the painter, who was only
invited to the Certosa by the Prior in 1490, when the façade was well
begun.
Sig. Merzario, with his documental evidence,[275] proves that
Guiniforte di Solario certainly designed it, and for the most part
superintended its execution. On January 14, 1473, the notary Gabbi
registered a contract between the Prior of the Certosa and the
Administration of the Milan Lodge, for the furnishing of 200 cwts. of
white marble of Gandoglia, annually, for ten years, to serve for the
façade of the Certosa church. On October 7, 1473, the same notary
makes the contract, by which the brothers Cristoforo and Antonio
Mantegazza are commissioned to erect all the façade, according to the
plans given them by the monastery.[276]
[Illustration: RENAISSANCE FRONT OF THE CHURCH OF THE CERTOSA AT
PAVIA.
_See pages 378, 379._]
This contract very much offended Gio. Antonio Amadeo, who had gone to
Bergamo to make a monument for the Colleoni family, and he appealed to
the Colleoni, and also to the Duke of Milan, to enforce his claims on
the work, which were so far recognized that he was engaged to do half
the work, at a price to be estimated, receiving a _podere_ (vineyard)
in part payment.
Another act of notary, dated October 12, 1478, records the ceremony of
valuing several works of sculpture, by Amadeo and the brothers
Mantegazza, by two Masters of the guild, Giovanni, junior, da
Campione, and Luchino of Cernuscolo, which took place in the presence
of the Prior and the chief architect, Guiniforte Solari;--a proof that
Solari was still the _capo maestro_. He died early in January 1481,
and on the 13th of the same month, Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza wrote to
the "Dominis Priori et monacis Carthusie Papiensis," to recommend his
son, "Pietro Antonio (suo figliuolo peritissimo de la medesima arte et
de divino ingenio"), as a worthy successor to his father as chief
architect. Antonio Mantegazza succeeded him, but he, too, died in
1495, and Cristoforo Solario, named Gobbo, who had worked with him,
became architect in his turn. His election was on October 11, 1495, by
the recommendation of Ludovico il Moro. Gobbo, however, did not long
remain in office, for in 1497 we find him employed at the Duomo of
Milan, and the sepulchre of Beatrice d'Este, at the church of the
Grazie there. In 1506 he became head architect at Milan.
In 1499, a letter from B. Calco, dated May 1, declares that the works
at the Certosa are nearly finished (sarà presto presso el fine).[277]
The church had already been opened for service since May 1497, when
the Cardinal di S. Croce came in state to consecrate it, and a grand
refection was offered him. The documents cited by Sig. Merzario are
certainly conclusive as to the epoch and authorship of both the
convent and the church.
We must not leave the Lombard Lodge without a mention of one of its
principal Masters, Matteo da Campione, who was architect for the
fourteenth-century restoration of the cathedral at Monza, which his
forerunners of the guild had built for Queen Theodolinda. He is spoken
of in the registers at Milan, when he attended a general meeting of
the guild there on January 6, 1390, as Matteo da Campione "inzignero
in Monza," and again on July 10, 1390, when, on the death of Marco da
Campione, it was deliberated in council to send for Maestro Matteo
from Monza, and see whether he would take Marco's place in the works.
He was, like almost all the Comacines, a sculptor as well as
architect. The baptismal font at Monza, which was once noted for its
beauty, is now ruined and mutilated. The pulpit and the sculptures on
the façade of Monza cathedral are attributed to Matteo's own hand. The
pulpit is a fine piece of sculpture in white marble. It was originally
square, but has been altered in form during the last century. Fourteen
figures, the twelve apostles with St. Paul and Barnabas, are
sculptured around it, and there are many small reliefs. It has a
prominent part in the front, called by the Italians the _pulpitino_,
or little pulpit. On this are sculptured the Redeemer with a book, and
a thunderbolt in His hands, and the four Evangelists. The façade is a
curious instance of the transition of Comacine art, between the
Romanesque and the Gothic. The door is very much like those of Verona
and other Comacine churches of the same era. Matteo has put his lions
in front of the pillars of the porch, instead of beneath them. The
mixture of style shows more in the windows. The four lower windows are
distinctly Gothic, with pointed arches, three lights, and Gothic
tracery; the upper ones are round-arched Lombard two-light windows,
the archlets of which are a little cusped. The lines of the façade are
quite Lombard, the internal divisions being marked on the front by
pilasters running the whole height. The Lombard gallery is indicated
like a memory of past time by a row of archlets beneath the eaves, but
they rest on nothing, and are of no practical use as their prototypes
were. Probably, as the interior was not rebuilt, Matteo da Campione so
far respected the work of his older brethren, as to adapt his façade
to the rest of the building. Over the portico is a fine rose window,
and above that a row of saints in niches; the space between them is
filled with geometrical sculpture. He has used the ancient sculpture
of "Agilulf and Theodolinda" in the lunette of the doorway. Its style
is much earlier than the figures above. Matteo was buried in the
church, and on his tomb is the inscription--"Hic jacet magnus ille
ædificator devotus magister Mattheus de Campiliono, qui hujus
sacrosanctæ Ecclesiæ fatiem ædificavit evangelistarium ac battisterium
qui obiit anno Domini MCCCLXXXXVI die XXIV mensio maii." It is said
that he has sculptured his own likeness in the rigid and thoughtful
figure of the saint near the turret, over the rose window.
[Illustration: FAÇADE OF MONZA CATHEDRAL. RESTORED 14TH CENTURY.
_See page 380 et seq._]
Another work which we have seen commenced by earlier Comacines was the
cathedral of Como. That too was restored and redecorated by Comacines
about this time. The old church had been ruined in the wars between
Como and Milan, and in 1335, Azzo Visconti, building his fortresses at
Como, ran his walls close round the church, cutting it off from the
town. In 1386, however, the Bishop of Como persuaded Gian Galeazzo to
transpose his fort and open the church again to the people. In
gratitude for this, the people proposed to restore their church, and
Gian Galeazzo promised his aid. The work was begun in 1396 and went on
till 1513. Authors disagree as to whether the church were renovated,
_i.e._ restored, or rebuilt. Whichever it was, there is no doubt that
the whole façade was executed in the fifteenth century. The north door
is of rich ornate Renaissance style, and much later than that on the
façade, although the lions are still under the columns. The façade
follows in its lines the old Lombard form, but the dividing pilasters
here are lavishly enriched. They are in fact but a perpendicular line
of niches with a statue in each. The three doorways are round-arched,
the windows above them slightly pointed. Over the central door is a
Gothic vestibule with saints in its canopied arches.
The first architect of the restoration is indicated in the register of
the Milan Lodge, where on April 30, 1396, Magister Lorenzo degli Spazi
de Laino in Val d'Intelvi is allowed to leave the works at Milan to be
chief architect at Como, "deliberarunt quod licentietur Magister
Laurentius de Spatiis ad eundum Cumas pro laborerio Ecclesie majoris
civitatis Cumarum ad requisitionem comunis et hominum dicte civitatis
Cumarum." He had not long entered on office when Gian Galeazzo died,
and Como was again involved in a fight for freedom with Malatesta and
the Visconti. In 1416 the Como people had to swear allegiance to
Milan, and then Duke Filippo Maria Visconti allowed the works to go
on. On February 19, 1439, Pietro da Bregia near Como was elected
master architect, and he continued Lorenzo de Spazi's work. He changed
the plan so as to bring the façade in a line with the Broletta and
tower of the fortress, which altogether made an imposing mass of
buildings; very interesting as displaying at once the Comacine work in
civil, military, and ecclesiastical architecture. The Broletta is a
particularly good specimen of their civil architecture, of about A.D.
1000, though it loses in proportion owing to the filling up of the
lower level on which it was built, so that the bases of the columns
are completely buried.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AND BROLETTA AT COMO.
_See page 382._]
FOOTNOTES:
[265] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, chap. xii. I have taken the
facts for this chapter from Merzario's collection of documents, not
being able to get at the archives of Milan.
[266] Magister Marcus de Frixono Inzignerius Fabricæ, decessit die
supra scripto (10 Julii 1390) circa horam Ave Marie in mane et Corpus
ejus sepultum fuit honorifice in Ecc. S. Teglæ ipsi die post prandium.
[267] Is this by chance a French rendering of Giovanni da Campione?
[268] _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xii. p. 342.
[269] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xviii. p. 512.
[270] Giulini, _Memorie della città e Campagna di Milano_, lib. lxxxv.
(anno 1452), p. 497.
[271] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. I. chap. xviii. p. 521.
[272] See Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. I. chap. xviii. pp. 522, 523.
[273] Merzario, Vol. I. chap. xviii. p. 526.
[274] _Pro solvendis magistris sex qui venerunt a Mediolano ad
Monasterium occasione incantandi opus marmoris pro fabrica._
[275] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xvii. pp. 494-499.
[276] Promiserunt et dederunt ad faciendum fabricandum et laborandum
... totam fazatam dicte Ecclesie ac portam, cum fenestris et aliis
laboreriis necessariis pro ipsa fazata ... juxta modum et
designationem ipsis fratribus dandum et dandem per dictum
Monasterium.--Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. xvii. p.
508, note 51.
[277] Archivio di Stato in Milano.--_Reg. Miss._ N. 210, vol. clviii.