Chapter IV: The Milan Lodge (2)

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]

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.

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.

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.