Art and Patronage in Bologna’s “Long” Quattrocento 559

Chapter 21 Art and Patronage in Bologna’s “Long” Quattrocento

David J. Drogin

For the art historian, Bologna’s “long” Quattrocento is characterized not only by its extension into the 16th century, but also by its late start. From the view- point of major artistic projects, the period opens in 1425, when Jacopo della Quercia signed a contract for sculptures at San Petronio, and ends in 1508, when Michelangelo’s monumental bronze Julius II was hoisted above those same sculptures; or, as late as 1516 with installation of Raphael’s Saint Cecilia Altarpiece in San Giovanni in Monte. These monuments embody paradigmatic shifts that coincide with the city’s emergence from foreign dominance in the early 1400s to its submission and burgeoning as the second city of the papacy in the 1500s. This period was marked by power struggles between the comune and the papacy; rivalries and influences of civic bodies and oligarchic families; and the creation or subsumption of Bolognese artistic identity in the face of foreign artists, patrons, and influences. This essay explores examples of paint- ing, sculpture, and architecture in Bologna’s “long” Quattrocento that illustrate and shaped these contextual dynamics. Bolognese art was defined by the city’s fundamental characteristics. For instance, there was little marble sculpture and architectural decoration because that material was a costly import. Bologna’s geographic position between powerful artistic and political centers – Ferrara, Florence, Mantua, Milan, and Venice – gave Bolognese artists and patrons rich models to emulate and reshape, but also put them at the risk of being overwhelmed by dominant foreign trends. The struggle between local autonomy and papal control is manifested in Jacopo della Quercia’s façade sculptures for San Petronio (Fig. 21.1). From the start of the church’s construction in 1390, it was a statement of Bologna’s inde- pendence: its dedication to the city’s patron saint, its projected size, and its location in the heart of the city – Piazza Maggiore – next to seats of Bologna’s republican offices made the “civic cathedral” a challenge to the actual cathe- dral, San Pietro, the seat of the bishop as the Church’s representative.1

1 On the early years of San Petronio’s construction, see Drogin, “Art, Patronage, and Civic Identities”; Fanti, La fabbrica di San Petronio; Supino, L’arte nelle chiese, vol. 1, pp. 318-24;

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004355644_023 560 Drogin

Figure 21.1 Jacopo della Quercia, Porta Magna, 1425-38, Bologna, basilica of San Petronio. Vanni Archive/Art Resource NY.