Despite the growing interest of modern scholars in early-Renaissance civic architecture as the bearer of meaning, the public buildings of Dubrovnik (It.
Ragusa;
Lat.
Ragusium)
have received less ...attention than their due. This is all the more regrettable because when some of the city's monuments are seen in their appropriate historical perspective, they turn out to be more important than many scholars would have expected.
My case in point is Dubrovnik's principal government building, the so-called Rector's Palace
(Palatium regiminis, Knežev dvor
, or the
Palazzo de'Rettori)
When the fortress-like structure, which had been built in the fourteenth century, was severely damaged in 1435 by a gunpowder explosion in the armory, the authorities immediately decided to erect a new palace. Its construction was entrusted to the state engineer Onofrio di Giordano della Cava of Naples, under whose direction it was virtually completed by 1452 — only to be severely damaged by another explosion of ammunition in 1463.
In this article we investigate the artistic evolution of Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino (documented from 1467 to 1506) on the basis of his Madonna reliefs. The study begins with the examination of ...the stylistic characteristics of two of the artist's works in Dalmatia: the "Madonna and Child" (1470) from the lunette of the main portal of the Franciscan church in Hvar, Croatia; and the "Madonna and Child" (ca. 1480) from the Franciscan church in Orebic, Croatia. Through the comparison of these works, the author attributes to Niccolò di Giovanni two other works: the "Madonna and Child" from Palazzo Rosselli del Turco in Florence; and, on the basis of photographic evidence, a lost work previously assigned to Agostino di Duccio depicting that subject that sold in New York in 1931. Revised Publication Abstract
Nel presente articolo si indaga l'evoluzione artistica di Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino (documentato dal 1467 al 1506) sulla base delle sue Madonne in rilievo. Lo studio prende avvio da due opere ...che presentano le caratteristiche formali più spiccate e l'alto livello qualitativo dei suoi lavori a noi giunti in Dalmazia: la Madonna col Bambino (1470 ca) nella lunetta del portale principale della chiesa dei Francescani a Lesina (Hvar) e la Madonna conservata nella chiesa dei Francescani ad Orebić, presso Ragusa (Dubrovnik) (1480 ca). Sulla base del confronto con queste due opere l'autore attribuisce a Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino due altri lavori: la Madonna col Bambino di un tabernacolo di Palazzo Rosselli Del Turco (già Borgherini) a Firenze e — da una foto della Fototeca Berenson — una Madonna venduta nel 1931 a New York come opera di Agostino di Duccio e la cui provenienza è possibile seguire fino alla collezione Cernazai a Udine. La 'Madonna Borgherini' viene identificata con un lavoro giovanile, ancora relativamente insicuro nell'esecuzione, risalente al periodo della formazione fiorentina di Niccolò. A favore di una composizione anteriore al 1467 parla il fatto che la Madonna Borgherini deve precedere, come variante in sé formalmente compiuta e iconograficamente legata alla tradizione, tutte le repliche dello stesso tipo di Madonna provenienti dalla cerchia di Francesco di Simone Ferrucci e del Maestro delle Madonne in marmo. Unica testimonianza rimasta di Niccolò di Giovanni nella sua città natale, occupa nella sua opera una posizione non indifferente, e indica tra le altre cose come Niccolò abbia elaborato il suo stile personale stimolato sia da Donatello che da Michelozzo. La 'Madonna Cernazai' si pone invece indubbiamente come una delle opere qualitativamente più alte della maturità dell'artista; tra gli anni '80 e '90, il che indica una provenienza dalmata, forse Zara (Zadar). Inoltre sembra che dal punto di vista compositivo si riallacci già al tipo iconografico 'avanzato' della Vergine seduta la cui figura è rappresentata per tre quarti che troviamo in tante opere della successiva generazione di scultori fiorentini, come ad esempio in Antonio Rossellino. La serie Madonna Borgherini (1460 ca?), Madonna di Lesina (1470 ca), Madonna di Orebić (1480 ca) e Madonna Cernazai (1485 ca?) ci illustra con particolare evidenza l'evoluzione artistica di Niccolò nell'arco di tempo di tre decenni.
The interior decoration of the Tempio Malatestiano provides a remarkable testimony to the interplay between the artistic and the literary endeavors in the early Renaissance. Moving from the ...discussion of its chronology and style to examine the cultural values shared by the Florentine sculptor Agostino di Duccio (1418-81/84?), his princely employer Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417-68) and the humanists then attached to the court of Rimini, this dissertation explores how Agostino's figural sculptures were perceived by the discerning fifteenth-century viewer in terms of their aesthetic merits, poetic content, and spiritual import. The argumentation rests on several hitherto virtually unheeded clues found in the contemporary writings of Roberto Valturio (1405-75), Basinio da Parma (1425-57), and Porcellio Pandone (ca. 1405-85). Fully discussed are their eulogies of the Tempio itself; and special attention is given to Valturio's assertion that not only was the underlying conceptual framework of these images informed by philosophical wisdom, but also that they were meant to attract erudite attention by virtue of their exquisite workmanship and by displaying the expert "knowledge of forms," which term in turn implies that representations or historical, mythology and allegorical subjects were devised as decorous poetic inventions judiciously gleaned from classical and post-classical textual sources. This premise finds full confirmation in the analysis of the specific pictorial and literary traditions informing the sculptured cycles of the Sibyls, the Planetary Gods, the Signs of the Zodiac, Apollo and the Muses, as well as the multi-figure reliefs of the Triumph of Scipio and the "Temple of Minerva" on the Tomb of the Ancestors. Furthermore, the so-called Chapel of the Sibyls, the Chapel of the Planets, and the Chapel of the Angels, privately endowed by Isotta degli Atti (1432/33-74), are examined with respect to their imagery's religious context and their double purpose of serving for the respective patron's private contemplation and the public display of his or her's idealized identity.
Djelomično oštećeni reljef Snage koji se čuvau Gradskom muzeju Rupe u Dubrovniku izvorno je ukrašavao pročelje gradske vijećnice koja je srušena 1863. godine. Na temelju proučavanja arhivske građe o ...povijesti vijećnice, kip se treba datirati između1489. i 1491. godine. U skladu s tim vjerojatno ga treba pripisati kiparu Leonardu Petroviću. Uz to se prototip lika Snage dovodi u blisku vezu sa grafikom B:36 (nazvanoj Snaga) iz E - serije takozvanih"Tarocchi di Mantegna" koji se datiraju oko 1465. godine. To navodi na zaključak da je neki dubrovački humanista nabavio seriju čuvenih "Taroccha" u Italijii donio je u Dubrovnik krajem 15. stoljeća
Following the devastating gunpowder explosion in 1463 the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik was considerably rebuilt during the 1seventh decade of the 15th century . Among several other pieces of ...decorative sculpture dating from this period the most interesting are the two imposts inserted into the frame of the original Gothic portal. Their external 1surfaces are richly decorated with four figural reliefs: on the right we can see a quartet of naked putti playing organ and trumpets and a scene with three running nude warriors, while on the opposite side there are three boys dancing to the music of a small trumpeter and a group of Mars embracing Venus in the presence of a little Cupid »all 'antica«. Because of their stylistic and iconographic character the four reliefs have up till now been usually ascribed to an artist, who had been trained or a t least strongly influenced by Donatello. Several names have been suggested by students of Dalmatian sculpture: the medallist Paolo da Ragusa (Adolfo Venturi, 1908). Niccolo di Giovanni Fiorentino (Dagobert Frey, 1913, with reservations) , Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (Hans Folnesics, 1914), and Salvi di Michele da Frienze (Jorjo Tactic, 1934). The results of the latest research, w hich are presented in this article, confirm the presumed Donatellesque origin of some of the figures. The group of four infantile musicians matches line by linethecorresponding section on the left corner of the running frieze with putti dancing and playing various instruments from the well-known terracotta altar in the Capella Ovetari (Church of the »Eremitani«, Padua) , which is a documented work by Niccolo Pizzolo and Giovanni da Pisa (1448-1453) who both assisted Donatello in Padua. From the same source derives the posture of the putto in the centre of the relief on the left, while his companion and the trumpeter appear to reflect other familiar, as yet unidentified, Donatellesque motifs. The rather awkward nude with a beard on the extreme left repeats the posture of the executioner, which is known from the bronze plaquette of Flagellation (examples in Berlin and Paris) that is usually regarded a1s a product of a Donatello's follower from about 1450 .. The pictorial sources for the remaining two reliefs have not yet been disclosed, but it seems plausible to assume them having been copied from model drawings as well. Taking into account the rather low quality of chiselwork, the Dubrovnik imposts are by no means to be regarded as works by proficient sculptor. The recent revision of documents related to the construction of the Rector's Palace (Hofler) indicates that the two pieces were most likely incorporated into the portal in the spring of 1464, when Giorgio da Sebenico was engaged as the stateengineer of the Raguisan republic. He was once believed to be responsible for some pieces of sculpture in the Rector's Palace, but -- due to his allegedly Gothic »temperament« - no one has ever assumed that he could be the author of the reliefs on the two imposts. However, Giorgio's interest in Renaissance figural phraseology is perceptable as early as 1440-1450 and the gradual penetration of classicizing decorative repertoir after 1460 appears now ever more manifest. The closest parallels to the reliefs in Dubrovnik have come to light on the northern external wall of the Šibenik cathedral in the section which dates from about 1465-1466/68, Among the putti holding garlands in the frieze beneath the lunette with the circular relief of St. Jerome, we trace two figures completely identical with types familiar to us from Dubrovnik as well as from the Capella Ovetari in Padua: the boy sounding the trombone and the agitated dancer with one hand raised above his head and the other lowered behind the back. Besides the use of the same motifs the rather close stylistic resemblance to the putti in the Rector's Palace might even indicate the same hand at work in Šibenik and in Dubrovnik. The sources report the name of the stonecarver Ratko Brajković - Giorgio da Sebenico's collaborator, who was very likely employed during the construction of the said parts of the Šibenik cathedral and is also mentioned in connection with the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik (July 1464). Brajković's appearance in both places at just the opposite time can hardly be considered to be a sheer coincidence. Notwithstanding the question of attribution we can nevertheless conclude that the reliefs covering the two imposts in Dubrovnik most probably belong to the sculptural output of Giorgio da Sebenico's circle. Since the accurate model drawings were apparently provided for by the master in charge of the workshop, the four little scenes in Dubrovnik may prove to be a, vantage point for further research into Giorgio's acquaintance with Renaissance figural vocabulary in the last decade of his life.
