Niccolò dell'Arca: A Reexamination Author(s): James H. Beck Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Sep., 1965), pp. 335-344 Published by: College Art Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3048280 Accessed: 14-03-2017 12:12 UTC
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This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NICCOLO DELL'ARCA: A REEXAMINATION
JAMES H. BECK
E VER since its publication nearly a quarter of a century ago Gnudi's impressive monograph on Niccol6 dell'Arca has been the standard reference for this engaging sculptor.' Essential to Gnudi's analysis of the stylistic development of Niccolb is his redating of the Lamenta- tion over the Dead Christ (Fig. I), often also called the PietY, in Santa Maria della Vita, Bologna. Gnudi dates the group toward the end of the artist's activity and at least not before 1485.2 Previously the life-size terra-cotta figures that form the Lamentation were considered to have been completed by 1463 on the basis of a record of payment in the late sixteenth century Campione of the Ospedale of Santa Maria della Vita: "Dalla banda sinistra di detto altare che viene a essere verso le chiavature, vi e un sepulcro cioe un Cristo morto disteso con la Madonna et altre figure in piedi a torno a detto Cristo, in forma grande, di pietra cotta, fatto per mano di Maestro Nicol6 da Puglia, dal quale l'hospitale le ebbe nell'anno MCCCCLXIII, come appare al libro nominato Campione, signato C, a folio 259 alla partita di Maestro Antonio Zanolino lanarolo, in suo credito, sotto li VIII Aprile del medesim'anno in una partita di ? 24, 7, 6, il qual sepolcro prima fu posto a canto la porta che va ne le pescarie, e li stete sin all'anno MDLXXXVI, nel qual fu remosso et fatto nel sopradetto luoco, a canto l'altare maggiore dove e di presente."' Pope Paul II reminded the faithful in a Bull of 1464 that the Ospedale della Vita had many requirements for the maintenance of its equipment and its operation, including the commemoratio Sepulcri dominici cum signis et ymaginibus pulcherrimis. These expenses were beyond the re- sources of the hospital. The faithful, therefore, were invited to offer their help for which they, in turn, were conceded annually one hundred days of indulgence provided that they were com- municant on Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the day of St. Rainier (Document I).` Motivated by a conception of the stylistic development of Niccol6 that would not allow for such an early dating of the Lamentation, Gnudi interpreted these two notices as referring to "qualche apparato mobile per la rappresentation della Passione o per la commemorazione del Sepolcro del Signore (sepulchri Dominici).", Further, Gnudi interpreted the payment to Antonio Zanolino "lanarolo" as providing material for the (same) "apparato" or "macchina," and suggested that the compiler of the Campione had erroneously associated the payment with Niccol6's group. It had been established that Niccol6 dell'Arca had rented two shops from the Fabbrica of San Petronio in 1463. In a payment of December 31, 1463, which represented the earliest known contemporary notice of the artist in Bologna, he was referred to as "Magister Niccolo de puia intaiadore de figure."" Considering the date of the payment for the Lamentation mentioned in the Campione, that is, April 8, I463, together with the notice of the shop rentals more than eight months later, Gnudi's doubts concerning the accuracy of the reference in the Campione were not altogether unreasonable. A further examination of the account books in the Archive
i. C. Gnudi, Niccold dell'Arca, Turin, 1942. ports only a segment of the text and since it has an important 2. Ibid., pp. 1-2, 19-2o n. 1, 49-56. bearing on the discussion, I am publishing below (Document I) 3. Campione contenente la descrizione dei beni temporali thee entire Bull taken from H. Delehaye, "Une Lettre d'indul- spirituali dell'Ospedale della Vita Anno MDCI. See L. Aldro- gense pour l'h6pital della Vita de Bologna," Analecta Bolland- vandi, "II sepolcro di Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna iana,e XLIX, 3-4, 1931, PP. 405-406. Delehaye (p. 104), it Nicol6 dall'Arca," L'Arte, II, 1899, pp. i74f. The text used should be added, has no hesitation is associating the Bull with here is that reported by I. B. Supino, La scultura a Bologna nel Niccol6's Lamentation. secolo XV, Bologna, 910o, p. 107. The Campione was com- 5. Gnudi, op.cit., pp. 19-2o n. i. On the use of the term "sepulchro" the writer of the Campione explains it precisely, posed between the years 1596 and I6ol by Francesco Fabri and is located, according to Aldrovandi, in the Archive of the "cioe un Cristo morto disteso con la Madonna et altre Ospedale of Santa Maria della Vita. figure. .. ." Gnudi (p. 49) calls the date of 1463 for the 4. L. Sighinolfi, La chiesa e l'oratorio dell'ospedale di S. group "absurd." Maria della Vita, Bologna, 1927, p. 20. Since Sighinolfi re- 6. Supino, op.cit., p. 125, and Gnudi, op.cit., Doc. 1.
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 336 THE ART BULLETIN of San Petronio has revealed that, in fact, Niccol6 had already rented a shop from the Fabbrica of San Petronio during the previous year. The relevant notices read:'
Die XXIII Septemb. 1462 Supradicti D [omini] Officiales dederunt et locaverunt M. Nicholao q [uodam] Antonii de Apulia m [agistro] figurarum de terra habitator presentialiter Bononiae unam apotecham de apotecis dicte fabrice quam conducebat M [agister] Bartholomeus de Ferraria miniator. Que promisit solvere libras novem qt. in terminus consuetis pro uno anno inchoando in festo Sancti Michaelis presentis mensis [i.e., September 291 et finiendo ut sequetur. Qui promisit etc. pro quo et eius partibus Leonardus q [uondam] M. johannis de calcina strasarolus promisit pro pensione. (Bologna, Archive of San Petronio, Libro VI degli Atti, 1461-1462, fol. I52V)
Mo Nichollo d'antonio de puia de dare adi 23 Sett. ? nove per pixon de la botegha sotto le volte per un anno cominzando a s. michele prossimo e per luj promisse lunardo de mO Bartolomeo de la calzina a resto [? ] dela pixon c[arta] 209. ?viiij (Bologna, Archive of San Petronio, Libro Mastro XI della Fabbrica, 1461z-465, fol. 214)
These two notices make it all the more credible that Niccol6 dell'Arca was actually making the group in Santa Maria della Vita in the year specified in the Campione; at least it would have been chronologically possible. It should be especially noted that in 1462 he was referred to as Magister figurarum de terra which would have effectively described his activities, had he been engaged on the Lamentation group at that time. But the documents offer further evidence. Still earlier, under the date April 5, 1462, are the following two items:
MO Nichollo Chontrascritto de avere a di v d'aprile [1462] ? dedese ? xvj s. xiiij sol. quatordexe fa bon per lui [sic] lo spedale de la vitta per debitto a carta 194 (Bologna, Archive of San Petronio, Libro Mastro XI della Fabbrica, 1461-1465, carta 215 [215b]) L'opedale de la vitta de dare et adi v d'aprile [1462] ? sedese sol. quatordese che promisse matio d'Aghostino da faenza [? ] masaro in nome del dita spedale per Nicolo de pulia nostro pixonente a . . . de [? ] di 15 a credito a luij carta 215 ?xvj s. xiiij (Bologna, Archive of San Petronio, Libro Mastro XI della Fabbrica, z46z-z465, fol. 193v) "Lo spedale de la vitta" had paid the sum indicated above (lire 16, soldi 14) to Niccolb's creditor-in this case the Fabbrica of San Petronio-instead of paying the artist directly. The sum is not a trivial amount, since it covered the rental of the shop for a period of twenty-two months (at 15 soldi per month)." This indirect disbursement in the name of Niccolb throws light on the payment very precisely mentioned in the Campione to the "lanarolo" Maestro Antonio Zanolino. Niccol6 must have been in the wool merchant's debt to the amount indicated (for warm clothes?) and the Ospedale paid the obligation directly out of Niccolb's earnings from the work on the Lamentation. Judging from the statements of several contemporary sources Niccolb was by no means an entirely reliable person. The chronicle of Girolamo Borselli (1432- 1497) mentions that the sculptor had no pupils nor did he wish any, that he was fantasticus and barbarus, and to make matters worse he was very stubborn (caput durum habens).9 His habit of carving "mosche che pareano vive" reveals him as a not altogether usual personality.10 He be- came indebted to a moneylender at least on one occasion, and the historian Ghirardacci mentions that he was an impatient man in all things save sculpting?. Considering these facts, it is not at
7. I am grateful to Dr. Oscar Mischiati for calling probable to my date for the initiation of the work on the group. attention the notice in the Libro degli Atti. My thanks also9. Cited go in Gnudi, op.cit., p. 67. to my friend Mario Fanti, Archivist of San Petronio, io. whoFrom the chronicle of Filieno della Tuate cited in ibid., offered many valuable suggestions concerning archival p.matters. 68. 8. This payment of lire i6, soldi 14 may be interpreted I I. Ibid.,in p. 7x. For Niccol6's debt to a moneylender see A. the following way: the rental of one bottega was 9 lire Sorbelli, a year, "Un autografia di Niccol6 dell'Arca," Miscellanea or 15 soldi a month. The payment, then, was probably di for storia the dellarte in onore di I. B. Supino, Florence, 1933, year beginning September 29, 1462, and for the period pp. begin- 457-460. ning ca. ten months earlier, that is, December, 146---the
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NICCOLO DELL'ARCA: A REEXAMINATION 337 all surprising that the Ospedale della Vita, in their own impatience to have the Lamentation com- pleted without complications, paid certain obligations for Niccol6 out of his salary rather than paying him directly." The shop first rented by Niccol6 and subsequently a second one "l'una presso l'altra," were under the "volte," that is on the Pavaglione flank of the church of San Petronio, very convenient to the hospital." There should now remain no doubt that the reference to the Lamentation in the Papal Bull should be taken at face value; and it serves as a terminus ante quem for the completion of the Lamentation, which must have been executed during 1462 and I463. Gnudi's dating of the group should now be abandoned in favor of the traditional date and a reexamination of Niccolb's stylistic development should be sought. The previous efforts of Gnudi, Pope-Hennessy, and more recently Bottari to associate the embryonic phase of Niccolb's style with the sculpture on the Arch of Alfonso of Aragon in Naples become irrelevant when confronted with the group in Santa Maria della Vita."' The stylistic com- ponents of the sculpture on the Neapolitan monument offer little to illuminate Niccol6's style as exhibited in the Lamentation, and, over and above similarity within the costumes and certain facial types, they are equally removed from the sculpture on the Arca of San Domenico executed by Niccol6 between 1469 and 1473. Although it is by no means impossible that Niccol6, who most likely was born in Bari in Apulia as reported in 1473 (Document 2), and perhaps of Slavic origin, had served an apprenticeship in Naples, the principal artistic center nearby, this theory adds little to an understanding of his style as manifested in his known works.'" The proposals of an artistic formation in the early sixties, under the guidance of Ferrarese painters, such as Tura, Cossa, and Roberti, must also be discounted for chronological reasons. The possibility that Niccol6's art, on the other hand, had an impact upon these same painters should not be rejected." To be sure, the many formal and stylistic relationships that exist between the
12. Gnudi discovered that Niccol6 article P.had Belli d'Elia,been "Niccol6 negligent dell'Arca: aggiuntewith e pre- the rental for the shops from cisazioni," the Fabbrica Commentari, annoof xv,San n.s., Petroniofasc. I-II, 1964, pp. 52- for the period 1472-1473, at which 59, still time retains he the lateapparently date for the Lamentation restored group. She a crucifix in partial payment of sees hisNiccol6 back as a member rent of (Gnudi,the workshop op.cit.,of Pagno di Lapo pp. 62-63, Doc. 13). while the latter was executing the now-destroyed Palazzo x3. In the Libri Mastri that cover Bentivoglio. the It seems, years rather, thatbetween instead of having 1462 participated and x473 there is a complete accounting in these modest occupations,of the rentalNiccol6 came of from the "abroad" shops by Niccol6, only partially shortly indicated before he undertook in the to make past. the group For in theSanta Maria published notices see Gnudi, dellaop.cit., Vita. Docs. x, 2 and o. Nic- col6 continued to retain one shop x5. R.for Petrovitch, himself "Questi whileSchiavoni, heI, Nicolo sublet dell'Arca," the second one to a certain Agamennone Gazette des Beaux-Arts, dai Libri. ser. 6, xxx,The 1946, relevant pp. 217-232. payments may be found in the Petrovitch Libro supports Mastro the late date forXI the della Lamentation. Fab- He sees brica, 1461-1466, fol. 2.x5 Libro in Niccol6's Mastro late style (i.e. theXII, Lamentation) 1466-1471, a possible influence fols. iov, II, 275, Libro Mastro from SavonarolaXIII, who 1471-1476, resided in the convent fols.of San Domenico I45, CXLV. There is little of interest contained for a period of sixwithin years at a timethese when payments Niccol6 was also in except, perhaps, the reference residence to there. "Magister Nicolo d'puglia intagliatore d'prede [stone]" under 16. Gnudi, the op.cit., date passim, ofand esp.February p. 50o ("... si avvicin- x, 1473, referring to his activity iano on al mondothe poeticoArca e formaleof San dei Ferraresi").Domenico. M. Salmi 14. Gnudi, op.cit., p. 13. "Crediamo (Cosma Tura, Milan, perci6," 1957, pp. 26-27) concluded considers Tura's figure the author, "e non e supposizione of the running forzata, princess in theche painting a ofNapoli, St. George, Museoe nella Francia meridionale si compisse, del Duomo, Ferrara all'incirca (1469) to be the nel prototype dicennio of similar fra il '50o e il '6o, la formazione figures di Niccold,by Cossa and Roberti nato which probabilmente are, in turn, the prototypes intorno al 1435 e poco dopo." for Niccol6's S. Bottaridramatic Marys. (L'Arca For the same point,di seeS. E. Domenico in Bologna, Bologna, Ruhmer, 1964, Tura, Paintings pp. 66-67)and Drawiqngs, is London, in com-x958, p. 12 plete accord with regard, at least, and n.to 4'. Thea Neapolitanfigure of the princess, formation as well as the Mary of of Niccol?' and associates Niccol6 Niccold,with belongs, the inworks fact, to a well-established of Guillermo type that may Segrera on the arch in Naples. be Certainly found in Roman sarcophagi a south representing French the death (orof Mel- south German?) experience is aeager. distinct The motif waspossibility used by Nicola Pisanowhen on the one Siena is confronted with the evangelists cathedral on pulpit,the andArca also byof Giotto San (see Domenico A. Bush-Brown, (but see below). Since the Arca "Giotto: was Twobegun Problems only in the Originin 1469, of His Style," such ART an experience in the art of Niccold, BULLETIN, XXXIV, if figs.it I,indeed 2, and 3). Donatello occurred, used the same must have intervened sometime after the Lamentation and type in the Crucifixion on the San Lorenzo pulpits (Fig. 4), before the Arca of San Domenico. Pope-Hennessy (Italian a panel executed together with Bertoldo. Niccol6's Mary (Fig. Renaissance Sculpture, London, I958, pp. go90 and 344) is 6)not may be traced back to the Pisani, if not to Roman sources, altogether enthusiastic about Gnudi's stylistic and chronological where it occurs on the lower right side of the relief, The analysis of Niccol6's oeuvre and postulates the alternative Elect, of in the Pisa Pulpit of Giovanni Pisano. a Ferrarese education under Domenico di Paris. In a recent
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 338 THE ART BULLETIN
sculptor and the brilliant artistic achievements of the Ferrarese can be explained in part by their common source-the overpowering inventions of Donatello." Schubring pointed out some time ago a correspondence between the group in Santa Maria della Vita and a bronze relief by Donatello, also a Lamentation, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Fig. 2)."8 Janson with good reason associates the relief with Donatello's ill-fated commission for the bronze doors of the Cathedral of Siena (1457-1459, or 1461).19 Analogies may also be found in the contemporary reliefs by Donatello for the pulpits in San Lorenzo where a similar spiritual intensity together with a haunting realism offer striking parallels to Niccol6's group (Figs. 3 and 4) .20 Notwith- standing the enormous differences in scale, technique, and material there remains a strong affinity of interpretation and approach between the late works of Donatello and the Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Niccol6. It is not entirely irrelevant to recall that Vasari in the Vite considered Niccol6 a worthy pupil of Jacopo della Quercia.21 Chronologically it is an impossibility, for Niccol6 was born in ap- proximately the same year that Jacopo died (1438). Nonetheless, the implication of a Sienese ed- ucation for Niccolb---an education that would have been dominated by the Donatellian spirit of the late fifties--is by no means an impossibility. The ample drapery style exhibited in the figures of Niccol6's Lamentation group, if not Quercesque, have a common lineage with the excellent works in terra cotta and wood executed by Sienese masters during the first half of the Quattrocento, while the intensity of expression of some of Niccol6's figures vaguely recalls similar figures by Domenico di Niccol6 dei Cori (Fig. 5) executed many years earlier, and they, in turn, revert back to the Pisani. The question of Niccol6's origin still remains to be resolved but the seeds of his development are best sought in Tuscany and most particularly in Siena. His art must have undergone, perforce, considerable changes once he had contact with north Italian and perhaps transalpine forms, but the early stage of his career represented by the Lamentation makes the possibility of Sienese formation under the spell of Donatello the best explanation of the stylistic character of the Lamentation.22 The innovation of the Lamentation must be considered Niccol6's own. The two Marys on the right (Fig. I) incorporate a degree of bodily movement in, or better, through space that has no direct counterpart in earlier Quattrocento sculpture.2' Near crazed like a drunken maenad, the
17. Indisputably the demonstrable presence common sources. Anof intensity Donatello of expression and in north Italy and especially his altar a search in for realism,Padua even brutal were realism, are ofcharacteristic prime importance for the development of ofthe all the artists Squarcioneschi in question. For example, Vecchietta's (includingRisen Mantegna) as well as the Ferrarese school. For an influence from Dona- Christ in Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, signed and dated tello and his school on Marco Zoppo see L. Armstrong, "Two 1476, has much the same ferocity of expression as has the Mary Notes on Drawings by Marco Zoppo," Pantheon, xxI, 1963, at the extreme right of Niccol6's Lamentation. For Sienese pp. 298-310. "Marcho de Rugiero zoppo depintore" painted sculpture a see P. Schubring, Die Plastik Sienas im Quattrocento, "spaliera e banchale" for the Fabbrica of San Petronio andBerlin, 1907, and E. Carli, Scultura lignea senese, Milan- received payments on November 17, 1461, and on January Florence, 22 195x. For Vecchietta see G. Vigni, Lorenzo di Pietro and February x7, 1462, totaling together 30 lire (Archive detto of il Vecchietta, Florence, 1937, esp. pp. 46-54 and Pope- San Petronio, Giornale della Fabbrica, 1461-1465, fols. 38r,Hennessy, Italian Renaissance Sculpture, pp. 321-323. For 53v, 56v). Neroccio, see G. Coor, Neroccio de' Landi, I447-x500, Prince- x 8. P. Schubring, "Niccol6 da Bari," Zeitschrift fitr Bildende ton, x961, esp. pp. 15-48 ("Early Period"), and for a sculp- Kunst, n.f., xv, 904, p. 2 2. tural collaboration between the two, see E. Carli, "Vecchietta x9. H. W. Janson, The Sculpture of Donatello, II, Princeton, e Neroccio," Critica d'Arte, 1954, PP. 336-354. 1957, pp. 2o6-20o8, but see J. Pope-Hennessy, Catalogue of23. The Lamentation was moved several times, underwent Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, repainting more than once, and was carefully restored only in x964, I, pp. 75-76, who dates it before the Paduan altar. the twentieth century. There remains some question about the 20o. Generally dated ca. 146o-1466. See, however, I. Lavin, original placement of the figures (see Gnudi, op.cit., p. 59) "The Sources of Donatello's Pulpits in San Lorenzo," ART and whether there was originally a figure of Joseph of BULLETIN, XLI, 1959, p. x9 n. 4, who argues that the pulpits Arimathea which subsequently was lost (Pope-Hennessy, Italian may have been conceived as early as 1453-1457. Renaissance Sculpture, p. 344). In a similar group closely 21. G. Milanesi, ed., II, x878, pp. I20-121. modeled after Niccolb's Lamentation by Vincenzo Onofri in 22. Donatello's impact was strongly felt by such sculptors San as Petronio there are also only six figures around the dead Vecchietta (1412-148o), Neroccio (1447-x500), and Francesco Christ and no Joseph figure, a fact which leads me to con- di Giorgio (1439-xS01/2), all more or less direct con- clude that there was no such figure in Niccolb's group (cf. I. temporaries of Niccol6 dell'Arca. The works of these artists B. Supino, L'arte nelle chiese di Bologna, secoli XV-XVI, and that of Niccol6's early period, it seems to me, have certain Bologna, 1938, figure on p. 207).
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NICCOLO DELL'ARCA: A REEXAMINATION 339 onrushing Mary at the extreme right has, as it were, come upon the scene at great speed. Her voluminous drapery flies behind her as a result of her own vigorous movement. The resulting windblown effect is not altogether unlike certain Hellenistic sculptures--especially the Winged Victory in the Louvre-as the material is forced to cling tightly to the flesh, thereby defining the structure beneath. The figure next to her has also rushed onto the scene but she is shown in a state of action slightly posterior to her neighbor's (Fig. 6). The sight of the dead Christ on the bier has acted like an invisible stone wall; she has crashed to a stop and swerves backwards in her horror. The degree of anguish which the onlookers undergo is of such intensity that their despair becomes manifested in an expression of pain that is nearly physical. Janson noted certain connections between these figures and those by Antonio Pollaiuolo.24 In the case of the Florentine painter-sculptor pain is purely physical and the facial expressions that result, as in the bronze statuette of Hercules and Antaeus in the Bargello, are due to extreme bodily exertion and actual injury. No less pained are the expressions of Niccolo's figures. The absolute misery of St. John (Fig. 6) as he supports his quivering head with his right hand, or the suffering of the stricken figure on his right as she leans over the corpse close to her feet, are emotionally incurred and the bodies teeter from grief. Only the Nicodemus to the left of Christ is immune to the shock wave (Fig. 8). Never before and never again has spiritual suffering taken such stirring physical reality. THE ARCA OF SAN DOMENICO
Nearly all of the dramatic impact and the emotional interpretation is set aside in Niccolb's next documented work-the coperchio of the Arca of San Domenico commissioned in 1469 and added in 1473 to the parts already made by Nicola Pisano and his assistants (Document 2).25 Mainstream Florentine elements have crept into the sculptor's vocabulary, especially in the crown- ing architectural features of the Arca where stocky putti hold elaborate and impeccably carved garlands (Fig. 7). Only the figure of the standing angel to the left of the Man of Sorrows shows the rush of air, the free windswept hair that relates it to the two Marys on the right side of the Lamentation in Santa Maria della Vita. Nothing is known of Niccol6's activity during the inter- vening years between 1463 and I469, i.e., between the completion of the Lamentation and the inception of the works on the Arca except that he retained the two shops rented from the Fabbrica of San Petronio. There is a strong temptation to suggest a Florentine sojourn. He displays in the sculpture for the Arca an awareness of Desiderio's art; and the angel carrying the candlestick, to be matched by Michelangelo's some two decades later, reveals a first-hand acquaintance with Verrocchio's innovations. One may also wish to postulate a trip abroad during the interim in order to explain certain figures on the Arca, especially those of the four evangelists. There is little in Italian Quattrocento art to compare, for example, with the hunched-over St. Mark whose fantastical and weighty turban seems to suggest a transalpine experience. The impact of Sluter has been suggested for this and the other evangelists but a confrontation with, say, the pleurants from the monument of Phillippe le Hardi does not support the notion.26 The elaborate head- dresses worn by the evangelists (Fig. 9) are to be found in France but they also appear in Germany, and by the I470's are abundant in Italy as well.27
24. H. W. Janson, History of Art, Englewood Cliffs contain and several figures that may be associated with the Marys New York, 1962. Although Janson accepts the late date of for Niccol6's Lamentation. (Ibid., fig. 65 and p. 201. See also the Lamentation, the connections between Pollaiuolo's early E. Tietze-Conrat, "Mantegna or Pollaiuolo," Burlington work, which shows Donatello's impact and the Lamentation Magazine, LxvII, 1935, p. 217.) are far from fruitless. An Angel from the silver crucifix for 25. The shift in interpretation must in part be ascribed to the Florentine Baptistery and now in the Museo dell'Opera thehas different iconographic requirements of the two projects. something of the forceful movement to be found in Niccol6's For documentation on the Arca see Gnudi, op.cit., Does. 3-9, early work (S. Ortolano, II Pollaiuolo, Milan, 1948, fig. I1, 5). and Bottari, op.cit., Doc. I (the contract). The copies of a drawing attributed to Pollaiuolo (or Man- 26. Gnudi, op.cit. tegna) presumably dealing with the death of Gattamelata 27. For German types see, for example, 0. Wertheimer,
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The conception of the four evangelists differs considerably from certain of the other statuettes on the Arca and as such provides a thorny stylistic problem. There appear to be in effect two styles that were either operative simultaneously or represent phases in the artist's development. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the evangelists function in an entirely different way from the figures on the register below, for they exist as essentially free-standing sculptures with- out the benefit of a specific backdrop while the statuettes below stand in front of the matrix of the Arca. The evangelists, conceptually and functionally, are free-standing figures in the most restricted sense. They are corner figures who allow, indeed encourage, the spectator to make the transition from one face of the Arca to the next. Once these facts are taken into account, the figures are better understood and certain stylistic peculiarities are explained. The way in which the figures turn within a central axis so that they almost become entangled within their own bodies and limbs, the strong lateral movements created by the draperies often extremely voluminous and rich, the directional shifts of the heads, torsos and limbs, all provoke the spectator to move around nearly three-quarters of the circumference of the figures. The evangelists may be seen well from several points of sight without a diminished impact (Fig. 9) unlike the statuettes of S. Domenico or S. Francesco which are best and almost exclusively seen frontally (Figs. 12, 13). The figure most effectively conceived of in the round is the God the Father (Fig. Io) who stands on a globe at the apex of the monument. By the devices already singled out in the evangelists -the turning on axis, the shift of directions, and the expansive and laterally moving draperies-- this figure "works" from almost any point on the ground around the monument. The function and role of Jacopo della Quercia's St. John the Baptist on the apex of the Baptismal Font in San Giovanni in Siena (Fig. i i) has certain common characteristics with Niccolb's God the Father and the parallel serves to underscore the proposition made above of a Sienese training for Niccolb. The figures of Ss. Floriano, Vitale and Agricola in the lower zone have many features in common with the evangelists and God the Father. The heavy cape of S. Vitale (Fig. 14) is thrown loosely over his left shoulder and moves completely around his body to be clutched in his right hand; his boots have swelling cuffs; and the entire figure shows a strong contrapposto and turn on axis. These features all provide for a multiview reading of the statuette. Much the same may be said for the Ss. Floriano (Figs. 15 and 16) and Agricola. In the latter the multiview reading is particularly structured by means of the pose and the sharp turn of the head. It is no surprise that these three figures are located on the corners of the register they occupy on the Arca and they function in much the same manner as the evangelists except that they have some connection to a "wall," that is, the matrix of the Arca. The fourth corner is presently occupied by the statuette of S. Francesco; clearly it was not intended for a corner. Michelangelo undertook to complete the S. Petronio statuette already begun by Niccol6 but despite the enlivened drapery style of the front of the figure it remains a certainty that the S. Petronio was never intended for a corner.28 Michelangelo does not appear to have taken into account the special characteristics of Niccol6's corner figures in the case of the S. Procolo and the figure does not function as such. In fact, no fourth corner piece that operates with Niccol6's intent was ever made. The statuettes of S. Domenico and S. Francesco, with their placid poses, planar treatment, and strong verticality, were clearly destined for the central sections of the long sides of the Arca.
Nicolaus Gerhaert seine on the Kunst evangelists and seine are frequentlyWirkung, foundBerlin, in earlier Quattrocento 1929, pls. 32 and 33. art,The sandstonein Masolino, portrait Andrea bust del (ibid.,Castagno pls. and Piero della Fran- 17-19) has a turning oncesca, axis intersimilar alios, to thatand probablyfound in areNiccol6's Oriental rather than north evangelists. See also a Europeanwooden St. in John origin. in Frankfort,Also worth Sculpture mention in this context and, Gallery, ca. 1475 (W. Pinder,indeed, Die for deutsche a possible Plastik insight des fiinfzehn- into Niccol6 ambient are the ten Jahrhunderts, Munich,terra-cotta I924, relief pl. 53). sculptures Despite, however,of the small cloister of the certain overt similarities, Certosa Niccol6's of Pavia, Italian datable insistence in the upon 146o's. the definition of the structure 28. Conceptually, of the figures hasthe no S. counterpart Petronio belongs in with the Ss. Domenico and Francesco. i5th century transalpine sculpture. The turban-like headdresses
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The same must have been the case for the S. Petronio. The assumption of a shift in style over a time span beyond the years 1469 and 1473 no longer appears necessary, and it is more than likely that all of the statuary on the Arca completed by Niccolb was finished and installed by 1473 (see Document 2). Niccol6 must have rough-cut the S. Petronio; its reverse side unequivocally reflects the same sculptural style as do the other statuettes.29 It may be, then, that after all of the completed statuary was delivered in 1473 he had still several pieces to begin and to finish, including the uncompleted S. Petronio and two other statuettes (S. Procolo and S. Giovanni Baptista, the latter executed by Alfonso Lombardi in the sixteenth century). The (less than com- plete) evidence leads to the conclusion that after 1473 he never again returned to work on the statues for the monument and even left the S. Petronio only partially carved for a period of over twenty years. None of the published documents after 1473 mention the delivery of further works for the Arca although Niccol6 did execute two terra-cotta statues for the church of San Domenico, the first one in 1474 (see below) and the second, now lost, in I494. No mention is to be found of the marble socle for the monument that was to contain historical reliefs similar to those by Giovanni di Balduccio on the (then) main altar of the church. Niccol6 must have abandoned the idea of fulfilling the contractual obligations for the Arca soon after I473. Per- haps he was absolved from them by an agreement, written or oral, whose traces are no longer visible.
MANFREDI TOMB
On the pavement in the ambulatory of the church of the Servi in Bologna on the left side by the altar there rests a sepulchral monument with an effigy carved in black and white marble (Figs. 17 and 18). This figure, executed in rather low relief, has been placed within the stylistic ambient of the Dalle Masegne (Krautheimer)3" and has been associated with the formative style of Jacopo della Quercia (Pope-Hennessy)." The tomb is that of Andrea Manfredi (died 1396); Padre Generale of the order and founder of the new Servite church in Bologna and perhaps its architect."2 Padre Manfredi was a personage of major importance in Bologna and appears to have been involved with the supervision over the construction of the Basilica of San Petronio." Despite the date of his death the effigy figure appears to have been executed nearly eighty years later. Masini in his guide of Bologna recounts "... mori P. Andrea Manfredi da Faenza Loro Generale Citadino di Bologna del 1396, e nella sepoltura fatta fare da lui nel choro, f posto il suo corpo, che poi del 1474 fi ornate di marmo con la sua effigie di basso rilievo, grande al naturale, la quale del 1663 fil levato, a posto dietro il Choro in alto nella muraglia, che riguarda la porta piccola, con lettere in una lapida delle sue qualith. .. ."" More authoritative and perhaps the source for Masini's citation is the Campione universale del Conuento dei Servi of I660." The
29. Bottari, op.cit., fig. 55. It appears either that Michel- Manfredi da Faenza XIII generale dell'ordine de'servi, angelo borrowed the motif of the left leg of S. Petronio from Bologna, I840) dates it "intorno dell'anno I414." the figure of God the Father, which is based, in reverse fashion, 32. See G. Albarelli, "P. Andrea Manfredi generale dei on Quercia's S. Petronio in the lunette of the portal of San Servi fu architetto? ", Bollettino della Diocesi di Bologna, xlI, Petronio, or that Niccol6 had already rough-cut the figure with 1921, pp. 231-236, and F. Filippini, "L'architetto di S.M. dei the motif before Michelangelo took over the completion Serviof in Bologna," L'A4rchiginnasio, xvI, I92i, pp. 50-60. it. De Tolnay (The Youth of Michelangelo, Princeton, 1943, See also I. B. Supino, L'arte nelle chiese di Bologna, I, Bologna, p. 141) considers the whole statuette to be by Michelangelo. 1932, p. 303, and P. Ferronato and G. Rocca, Santa Maria dei In addition to the reverse side of the statue, which is certainly Servi in Bologna, Bologna, 1958, passim. by Niccol6, the head must also be removed from Michel- 33. A. Gatti, La fabbrica di S. Petronio, indagini storiche, angelo's authorship. Neither does it pertain to Niccol6, how- Bologna, 1889, Doc. 3. ever, and is of such low quality that it may be a restoration 34. A. Masini, Bologna perlustrata, 3rd ed., I, 1766, pp. (see J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Renaissance and Baroque 168-I69. Sculpture, London, III, 1963, P. 3). 35. Campione universale del Conuento dei Servi di Bologna 30. R. Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Princeton, 1956, gi% principato dal M.R.P. Maestro 4rcangiolo Balottini et with collaboration of T. Krautheimer-Hess, p. 57. hora proseguito da me F. Maestro A ngiol Maria Freddi, 166o. 31. J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Gothic Sculpture, London, Archivio del Stato di Bologna, Archivio Demaniale, Santa 1955, pp. 2x0-2x1. Amico Ricci (Monumento di Andrea Maria dei Servi, No. 189, 6777.
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relevant passage reads: ". .. col dolore universale di tutta la Religione Andrea Manfredi fu sepolto nella sepoltura da lui fatta fabricare mentre remena [? ] sotto nel mezo del chiesa nostra, la quale poi dell'anno 1474 fu fatta di bellissimo marmo con la sua effigie di pietra parangone come s'vede anco di presenti, se leggono con molta difficulta l'infrascritte versi intagliati nella detta pietra:
Dum Generalis erat toto notissime Pater Orbi replens vacuas divino dogmate gentes Andrea exemplar venturis gentibus alumum Ordo bis undi nox coepit miranda per annos Crementa Ecclesiae. Mille quadringentis detractis quattuos annis."
The high quality and sensitivity of execution of the effigy figure indicates the hand of an out- standing master and a comparison with works by Niccol6 dell'Arca of the same years leads to the inevitable conclusion that he was, in fact, its author. In 1473 the "chapello" of the Arca of San Domenico was installed (Document 2) and, as has been assumed, the decorative sculpture and the statuettes and the reliefs were placed onto the work. The Arca had earned for Niccol6 not only his nickname but certainly a considerable reputation. The Servite brothers must have seized the opportunity to hire Niccol6 to embellish the tomb of their revered Padre Generale immediately after the installation of the Arca. The statuettes of Ss. Domenico and Francesco (Figs. 12 and 13), that is those figures who belong to the "planar" style, offer remarkable parallels to the Manfredi effigy, the former for its general composition and restrained disposition, the latter for the physiognomic structure of the face and the arrangement and handling of the drapery. There are, needless to say, significant differences between these two statuettes on the Arca and the Manfredi figure, but they may be explained in the following three ways: first, the divergent scale between the nearly life-size effigy figure and the statuettes about one-fifth its size; second, the resultant differences that arise between the rather shallow relief of the recumbent figure and the statuettes carved in the round; and third, the sepulchral function of the Manfredi figure. The iconographic type of effigy figure had a long, though still living tradition that reverted back to mediaeval prototypes and the rigidity, almost stiffness, of the pose may be explained in this light; it is well to bear in mind that the pose of the dead Christ in the Lamentation group (Fig. I) executed more than ten years earlier, belongs to the same generic type." A stylistic parallel also exists with the recently published terra-cotta figure of Sta. Monica in the Galleria Estense, Modena, which has been dated between 1478 and I48o."' More likely this bust predates the extraordinary bust of S. Domenico in the convent of San Domenico in Bologna, documented as 1474-1475," as it does the figure of Padre Manfredi, and may be best understood in its affinity to the earliest group of figures for the Arca of San Domenico and there- fore datable to ca. 1469-1473- In his last important commission, the high relief Madonna di Piazza, which was severely damaged during the Second World War, and subsequently carefully restored, Niccol6 appears to reaffirm his earliest training and, more successfully than heretofore, marries to it inventions of Verrocchio. Signed and dated in large letters NICOLAUS F. MCCCCLXXVIII the terra-cotta Madonna and Child on the Palazzo del Comune looks out over the Piazza Maggiore and turns, as it were, toward her counterpart in the lunette over the portal of San Petronio where Quercia's monumental Virgin reigns triumphantly, though aloofly, over the city. The powerful mass of
36. E. Panofsky, Tomb Sculpture, New York, 1964, H. W. 37. A. G. Quintavalle, "Una terracotta de Niccol6 dell' Janson, ed., passim. Niccol6's hand appears especially evident Arca," Arte Antica e Moderna, 4, 1958, P. 374, and figs. 141- in the head of the effigy figure while the rest of the figure and 143. particularly the hands lack conviction. Several of the last joints 38. Padre V. Alce, "Documenti per la data del busto di of the fingers have been broken off, thereby making the hands San Domenico di Niccol6 dell'Arca," Arte Antica e Moderna, appear extremely squarish and without articulation. It is quite 4, 1958, PP. 406-407. The work was finished and in place by likely that the slab itself and the inscription on it were part March 30, 1476. of the original tomb and were retained in Niccol6's project.
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms I. Niccol6 dell'Arca, Lamentation over the Dead Christ Bologna, Santa Maria della Vita (photo: Villani)
2: Donatello, Lamentation. London, Victoria and Albert Museum
3. Donatello and Assistants, Descent from the Cross. Detail of Pulpit, 4. Donatello and Assistants, Crucifixion. Detail of Pulpit, Florence, Florence, San Lorenzo (photo: Brogi-Alinari) San Lorenzo (photo: Brogi-Alinari)
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 5. Domenico di Niccol6 dei Cori, St. John the Evangelist. Siena, San Pietro a Ovile (photo: Prof. C. Seymour)
7. Arca of San Domenico. Bologna, San Domenico (photo: Villani)
6. Niccol6 dell'Arca, St. John the Evangelist and a Mary (detail of Fig. i) (photo: Villani)
8. Niccol6 dell'Arca, Nicodemus (detail of Fig. ). (photo: Villani)
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 9. Niccol6 dell'Arca, S. Matteo So. Niccol6 dell'Arca, God the Father 1. Jacopo della Quercia, St. John the (detail of Fig. 7). (photo: Villani) (detail of Fig. 7). (photo: Villani) Baptist. Detail of Font, Baptistery, Siena (photo: Alinari)
13. Niccolk dell'Arca, S. Francesco (detail of Fig. 7) (photo: Villani)
12. Niccolk dell'Arca, S. Domenico (detail of Fig. 7). (photo: Villani)
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms S4. Niccolo dell'Arca, S. Vitale i5. Niccolo dell'Arca, S. Floriano (detail of Fig. 7). (photo: Villani) (detail of Fig. 7). (photo: Villani)
16. Niccolo dell'Arca, S. Floriano (detail of Fig. 7). (photo: Villani)
17. Tomb of Andrea Manfredi, here attributed to Niccol dell'Arca Bologna, Santa Maria dei Servi (photo: Fotofast)
i8. Detail of Fig. I7 (photo: Fotofast)
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NICCOLO) DELL'ARCA: A REEXAMINATION 343 material on the lower part of Niccol6's Madonna is a paraphrase of the same element in the Quercia figure, as are her powerful and highly expressive hands that securely yet gently protect the Child. It would be unthinkable were it otherwise, for as the spirit of Quercia's portal dominates the sculpture on the side portals of San Petronio, executed in the sixteenth century, so also did it inspire Niccol6 dell'Arca in his Madonna on the same piazza. Despite its Florentine elements the Madonna di Piazza is essentially a work that looks backward toward the first half of the Quattrocento, unlike some of the figures on the Arca of San Domenico, which predict Michel- angelo. Niccol6's greatest creative innovations are to be found in the Lamentation and on the Arca." These require that he be placed in the front rank of European sculptors.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
APPENDIX
The complete texts of two documents thatqui parce regard seminat parce et metet et qui seminat in Niccol6 dell'Arca appear below. The first benedictionibus is a Papal de benedictionibus et metet vitam Bull or Letter of Indulgence dated 1464 eternam.but without a fixed day or month. It is located in the State Cum Archive itaque, sicut accepimus, hospitale beate Marie in Bologna, Archivio dell'Ospedale di Santade Vita Maria Bononiense nuncupatum, in quo Christi della Vita, No. +4. The transcription usedpauperes here et is alie miserabiles persone inibi confluentes that of Delehaye.40 The second document, whichbenigne deals recipiuntur et recreantur, in suisque structuris with the completion of the Arca of San Domenico et edifficiis, and ac lectis, linteaminibus, lodicibus et aliis particularly with the placing on the monument necessariis of the officinis reparatione et manutentione non crowning elements created by Niccol6, is located modicis with- indigeat necnon quod ibidem constructa est in the Arca itself. This document, which commemoratio bears the Sepulchri dominici cum signis et ymag- date July 16, 1473, is in Italian. It was translatedinibus pulcherrimis ad cuius eciam manutentionem into Latin in the sixteenth century, and ipsius was hospitalispub- non suppetunt facultates, sed Christi lished in a retranslation by G. B. Melloni.4' fidelium A direct suffragia quamplurimum sint opportuna; nos transcription from the original was made igitur in 1945 cupientes by ut dictum hospitale congruis frequent- Padre D'Amato, Prior of the Convent of eturSan Domen-honoribus ac ipsum in dictis structuris et edifficiis ico and it is that version which is reprinted reparetur, here.42 manuteneatur ac conservetur et ut fideles ipsi eo libencius devocionis causa ad ipsum hospitale et Document I ad reparationem et conservationem huiusmodi manus Guillermus episcopus Ostiensis, Alanus tituli sancte promptius porrigant adiutrices quo ex hoc ibidem dono Praxedis, Philippus tituli sancti Laurentii in Lucina, celestis gracie uberius conspexerint se refectos, de Angelus tituli sancte Crucis in Iherusalem, Berardus omnipotentis Dei misericordia ac beatorum Petri et tituli sancte Sabine, Iacobus tituli sancti Crisogoni, Pauli apostolorum eius auctoritate confisi, omnibus et Ludovicus tituli sanctorum Petri et Marcellini singulispres- utriusque sexus Christi fidelibus vere penitenti- biteri, Rodericus sancti Nicolai in Carcere Tulliano, bus et confessis qui in Nativitatis et Resurrectionis Franciscus sancti Eustaccii, Franciscus sancte dominiMarie nostri Iesu Christi diebus ac Penthecostes et Nove diaconi miseratione divina sacrosancte Romane beati Raynerii festivitatibus a primis vesperis usque ad ecclesie cardinales. Universis et singulis Christi fideli- secundas vesperas inclusive ecclesiam ipsam devote visit- bus presentes litteras inspecturis salutem in Domino averint annuatim et ad reparationem, conservationem, sempiternam. augmentationem aliaque premissa
39. A. S. Giovanni Battista of marble seven palms high is 4x. Atti e memorie degli illustri in santit4 nati, e morti mentioned in the early literature as having been sold in Spain in Bologna, Bologna, 1788, cl. I, vol. 11, pp. 241-242. This after Niccol6's death in 1494. It now appears to have been retranslation from the Latin was recently republished by identified and is to be published shortly by X. de Salas in Bottari, a op.cit., pp. 103-104. See also Gnudi, op.cit., p. 62. forthcoming article entitled "The Saint Joan of Niccol6 dell' 42. A. D'Amate, "Le sepolture e le varie traslazione Arca." For background on the figure see Gnudi, op.cit., p. 77.del corpo de S. Domenico," in Le reliquie di S. Domenico, 40. See above, note 4. Bologna, 1946, pp. 94-96.
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:12:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 344 THE ART BULLETIN sigillorum iussimus sugillatte, et fecimusla qualli per li detti padriappensione venerabilli foro communiri. Datum Rome in domibus nostrarum solitaram apperte e lette e ritrovate tute de uno tenore e affatto residentiarum sub anno a nativitate Domini millesimo medexime avegnadio che per diverse parole, zoe una quadringentesimo sexagesimo quarto indictione duo- in charta peghorina, descritta per mano del famox- decima die vero... mensis... pontificatus sanctissimi isimo e doctiximo dectore messer Barttollomio da in Christo patris et domini nostri domini Pauli divina Salizetto, l'altra in charta bombaxina descritta per providentia pape secundi anno primo. mano de uno frate del detto ordine, e l'altra pure in charta bombaxina descritta per mano de ser Jachomo Document II de li Bianchitti, in quel tempo chorrettore de nodari: Al nome di Dio amen tutte atestante chome a di XIIII de febraro del 1383 fo apertto la detta chassa ne la qualle foro ritrovate A zaschuna persona alla qualle per alchuni tempi tutte le reliquie e sante ossa del beatissimo e santissimo achadera legere o vedere la presente scritta notto Patriarcha e e chonffessore misser sam Dominicho e maniffesto li sia chome io Zoanni de Francesco di chome de quelle ne fo tratto el chapo per chollocharlo Bollognini zitadino bollognexe e chome uno de nelgli tabernachullo, nel qualle al di presente se retrova. operarri deputatti sopra la fabricha del chapelo novoDe la qualle oppera e inovazione sempre laudato e de questo santto sepolchro de vollontti e chonsintimento ringraziato ne sia l'omnipotente nostro Segnore Dio del magnifico e generoxo messer Zoanni de Fillipo e lode prelibatto santissimo e beatissimo Patriarcha e Guidotti, dignissimo chonffalloniero de iustizia, chonffessoree de messer sam Domenicho, prottettore e spetabilli e generoxi messer Ludovicho gia di Batista deffensore di questa magnifica cittade, alle orazioni e da Sampiero e di Baptista di Ludovicho dei Magioli, meriti del qualle sempre rachommandati sieno tuti li tutti opperarii sopra la detta fabricha, chome questto habitanti de quella et paritter tutti li sopranominati e di XVI di luglio del ano I473, vegnerdi zircha l'ora a perpetua memoria e fede e chiareza de quantto qui de terza, presente e chonsinziente lo venerabille padre de sopra se chontiene io Zoanni de Francesco de frate Zorgio da Verzelli, priore de questto chonventto Bollognini soprascritto ho fatto e descritto la presentte et eziandio pihi altri padri venerabilli del detto ordine scritta de mia propria mano e del mio proprio sugillo e generalmente tutti li altri fratti dimoranti al presente seratta e sugellatta lo sopradetto di XVI de luglio nel detto chonvento, fezi livare il choperchio vechio I473- del detto sepolchro e dare prinzipo a fare pore in opera E chossi sempre rachomando mi e tutti li miei alle il detto novo chapello, fatto e chostruito per le mane orazioni di e meriti del prelibato santissimo patriarcha e maestro Nichollb de Bari de la Puglia schultore chonffessore de ad honore e reverenzia del qualle tutto marmori; nel qualle sepolchro se retrovb e chosi ho iiopperato e fatto. rimaxe una chassa de ligne darixe serata a chiave, Laus Deo. sopra la quale erano e sono tre lettere serate e Io Zoanni soprascritto scrissi
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