Altarpiece
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Authors
Pietro Bussolo (sculptures), Bartolomeo da Isola Dovarese (frame), and Vicenzo Foppa, attr. (painting)
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Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Madonna and Child , St. John the Evangelist , St. Peter , St. John the Baptist , St. Mary Magdalene , St. Lucy
Alternative Title
Abstract
This magnificent painted and sculpted altarpiece (almost 6 meters tall) is located on the high altar of the Cathedral of Salò (on Lake Garda). The ornate Gothic frame was completed by Bartolomeo da Isola Dovarese in 1475. The sculptor Pietro Bussolo, who signed the base the of the sculpture of the Madonna and Child, created the 10 wood sculptures between 1499 and 1501. The sculptures were subsequently painted and gilded by a certain "Vicenzo da Brescia," perhaps the well-known painter Vicenzo Foppa. In contrast to the floridly Gothic frame, with its pointed arches, delicate tracery, and pinnacles, the figures are resolutely classical, with heavy, blocky forms, classicizing drapery that reveals the shifting weight of the body underneath, and waves of hair that would not be out of place on a statue of a Greek Goddess. The Resurrected Christ on the second level in the centre is a classically-inspired nude in contrapposto, draped only on his lower half. The saints that flank him are: St. Nicholas, St. Benedict, St. Lucy, and St. Mary Magdalene. Below, flanking the Madonna and Child are St. Bartholomew, St. John the Baptist, St. Peter, and St. John the Evangelist. Each turns and shifts his or her weight, some looking upward at heavenly inspiration, others looking down towards devotees below. The sculptures are generally in good condition (restored in 1991), even though the altarpiece was dissassembled and moved in 1618 on the counter-façade of the church, before being restored to its current position at the high altar in 1905. The documents emphasize how polychrome sculptures are collaborative works, involving multiple workshops over years. In this case, Pietro Bussolo unusually covered his sculptures with a greenish ground (a preparatory layer for paint and gilding) before consigning them to the Cathedral for painting. (Usually, the white gesso ground was added by the painter, not the sculptor.) Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Cathedral, Salò
Citation
Raffaele Casciaro, La scultura lignea lombarda del Rinascimento (Milan: Skira, 2000), 43, cat. 26, pp. 263-4.