The Cathedral Builders Part 38

Zaccaria in 1488. Bernardino and Francesco (No. 20 and No.

21) were his son and grandson.

1484 } { _Proto_ of the lodge from 19. to } M. Antonio Riccio { 1484 to 1491. He carved the 1491 } { Adam and Eve.

20. M. Bernardino da Bissone Son of No. 18. He a.s.sisted Riccio in the sculptures of the Cortile.

21. M. Francesco, his son 22. M. Domenico Solari 23. M. Paolo Bregno } } Sculptor-architects related 24. M. Lorenzo Bregno, his } to Antonio Riccio or Rizo.

son } 25. M. Bartolommeo Gonella _Proto_ till 1505. He came from Milan.

26. 1505 M. Bartolommeo Buono Succeeded him. He built the (descendant of No. 4) upper part of the Procuratie Vecchie, and the church of San Rocco.

27. 1509 M. Manfred de Polo Grand Master.

28. 1516 M. Pietro Lombardo, son of Founder of the Venetian branch Martino Solari of the Lombardi. He designed the Scuola di San Rocco.

29. 1517 M. Giulio Lombardo } } his Worked under their father, 30. " M. Tullio Lombardo } sons and all became famous.

} 31. " M. Antonio Lombardo } 32. " M. Giovanni Fontana A descendant of M. Fontana da Campione. He was master of Palladio, and built the Palace of the Commune at Udine. His family became famous at Rome and Naples.

33. 1524 M. Sante di Giulio Built Scuola di San Rocco.

34. Mistro Matteo Fontana di Architect of Belluno Melide cathedral.

35. 1529 M. Jacopo Sansovino _Proto_ for the Procuratie Vecchie; he came from the Florentine Lodge.

36. " M. Guglielmo da Alzano Carved some fine altars, and built the Tasca and Camerlinghi palaces.

37. " M. Gregorio } Two brothers descended from } da Carona Marco da Carona of Milan.

38. " M. Giorgio } They also worked at Udine.

39. " M. Simeone di Petro di Como Was paid for sculpture done in this year.

40. 1530 M. Donato Busata } Master architects, sons of } Ser Piero da Campione.

41. M. Giovanni Busata } 42. 1527 Jacopo Sansovino Called from the Florentine to Lodge to be _Proto_ of the 1534 Venetian one.

43. 1548 Gian Antonio Solari, of Finished the church of S.

Carona Giorgio.

The connection of the Comacines of Longobardic times with Venice, through the powerful Lombard Dukes of Friuli, and the Patriarchs of Aquileja, their metropolitan bishops, has already been touched upon; and we have mentioned the Patriarch Fortunatus for whom the Masonic Guild built the churches of Grado and Torcello. The Comacines had, in the eighth century, also built the Baptistery of Calixtus at Cividale, and had sculptured the altar of Duke Pemmo in Friuli; in the twelfth century they rebuilt the Duomo of Cividale for the Patriarch Pellegrino.... This connection was still further strengthened, when in 1311 the Visconti conquered and exiled from Milan the Torriani family, their rivals in the Signory there, who retired to Friuli, where they soon acquired supreme power. Two of the family, Raimondo and Pagano della Torre, had previously been successively Patriarchs of Aquileja, and in 1317, Gastone, the exiled Archbishop of Milan, succeeded Pagano. A second Pagano and a Ludovico Torriani followed him. The Torriani were from Valsa.s.sina near Como, and would consequently have had more interest in the Comacine Guild than any other, if other there were; in fact the tombs of the Torriani at Primaluna and at Chiaravalle show unmistakable signs of Comacine work. At Sacile in the Friuli district the ancient church with three naves, built in 1400, can show doc.u.ments proving its architects to have been Beltramo and Antonio, both of Como, and who form a link with the Roman Lodge. The church of Gemona, on the mountains near Tagliamento, was built by Giovanni Bono, another familiar Comacine name. The choir is in transition style, _i.e._ semi-Gothic. The two aisles are divided from the nave by a grand colonnade. The facade is of the style of Siena and Orvieto, with cusped arches under triangular gables; it has a large finely-traceried rose window in the centre, and a profusion of statues. At Venzone, also near Tagliamento, is an ancient Lombard church with characteristic sculptures, built in 1200. Here is a holy water vase of a later period, of extremely fine and finished sculpture, signed Bernardino da Bissone, 1500. Bernardino also sculptured another holy water vase in the Duomo of Tolmezzo, and the beautiful door of the church of Tricesimo. All these works prove the close connection of our guild with the Patriarchs, who ruled over Venice as well as Friuli.

Even in 1468, when the Duomo of Cividale was restored by Pietro Lombardo, several of his brethren worked with him.

In 1420, the Venetians, led by Roberto Morosini, took Friuli and annexed it to Venice. By the treaty of Lodi in 1454 they added Bergamo, Brescia, and Crema. Many Lombards flocked to Venice at that time, and the Masonic Guild had its schools and _laborerium_ there.

From that date the Masters of the guild were known in Venice as "Mistri (Masters) Lombardi." Merzario dates from this epoch the renewed connection of the Comacine Guild with Venice, but it must have begun much earlier than that, if it had not continued unbroken from Lombard times. A lodge must certainly have existed in Venice from the time when the first Maestro Buono (Vasari's Buono) went there in 1150.

It is unlucky for history that the original Freemasons, being a secret society, kept no archives. It is only after the twelfth century, when other art guilds were formed on the same system, but without the secrecy, that we get an insight into what had been, all the ages through, the management of the guild. At Siena, as we have seen, the painters seceded in the thirteenth century from the universal brotherhood, and founded their academy of painters, the sculptors following their lead. They, not being bound to secrecy, let the world know their statutes and their customs.

The same thing took place in Venice. On September 15, 1307, the sculptors appealed to the Signory of Venice for permission to form statutes and hold chapters under the denomination of the _Arte de taj.a.piere_ (stone-cutters). They were not at liberty to form a Masonic or building guild, because the original one had then the monopoly.

Sig. Agostino Sagredo,[278] in his valuable work on the building guilds in Venice, says--"While we are speaking of the Masonic Companies and their jealous secrecy, we must not forget the most grand and potent guild of the Middle Ages--that of the Freemasons.

Originating most probably from the builders of Como (_Magistri Comacini_) it spread beyond the Alps; Popes gave them their benediction, monarchs protected them, and the most powerful thought it an honour to be inscribed in their ranks. They, with the utmost jealousy, practised all the arts connected with building, and by severe laws and penalties (perhaps also with bloodshed) prohibited others from the practice of building important edifices. Long and hard were the initiations to aspirants, mysterious were the meetings and the teaching, and to enn.o.ble themselves they dated their origin from Solomon's Temple." This monopoly would account for none of the Communes having a civic guild of architecture; and their secrecy explains the want of doc.u.mentary evidence in the earlier centuries, while the monopoly was undisputed.

The new local branches of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were evidently absolved from secrecy; they started fresh as independent companies, and thus freed, art was able to expand more largely. With this light on its formation, it is interesting to find in the Venetian Guild of sculptors, organized in 1307, the self-same rules and government as in Siena, and all the other cities. We find the school and _laborerium_ and the usual Administrative Council of four _Soprastanti_ elected on the first Sunday of every month, the outgoing officials having to instruct the new ones. In Venice the Grand Master of the Lodge was called, as in the ancient Lombard Lodges, _Gastaldo_; the chief architect of a work was designated in more cla.s.sic language, _Proto_.

On the third Sunday of the month every Master of the _arte_ was obliged to pay a gold _soldo_ to the company, which money was only to be spent for the use of the school.

Again a marked similarity. At the beginning of November the feast of the _Quattro Coronati_ was kept,[279] and no one was to work on that day under pain of a fine of 100 soldi. There is the usual rule about every Master bringing a wax candle when he attends a meeting, and on the day of the Patron Saints the candle must weigh four ounces. The fines for those who absent themselves from the _fete_ of the Patron Saints are the same as at Siena, and so also are the rules about matriculation of members, the making of contracts, the introduction of foreign Masters, etc.

The first name of a _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master in the Venetian Lodge is a Mistro Lorenzo de Vielino in 1407, who makes a law that no Master shall have more than three _fanti scritti_ (apprentices?) besides his own sons or brothers. Sagredo says that the Masters in all these _arti_ were a privileged aristocracy, whose sons were allowed to enter the guild without the usual novitiate.

In 1509 Mistro Manfred de Polo was Grand Master, and decreed a kind of census. Every Master was obliged within eight days to hand in a list of his relatives in the guild and the apprentices in his studio.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CA' D'ORO, VENICE. DESIGNED BY MAGISTER GIOVANNI BUONI (ZAMBONO) 1430 A.D.

_See page 389._]

The head-quarters of the lodge were in the little street known as the Piscina di S. Samuele. The _Opera_ was a large building, not much decorated, but there was a fine relief by one of the Lombard Masters over the door. This was removed, and preserved by the Government when the building, no longer needful for its former use, was sold. The altar of the _Quattro Coronati_, sacred to the guild, was in the church of S. Samuele close by. Here too were the tombs of the brethren of the lodge. Unfortunately none of the funereal inscriptions remain.

Cicognara has, however, preserved two inscriptions on the building of the lodge, which are valuable as additional proof of the guild. One beneath the relief on the facade runs--

MCCCLx.x.xII ADI XXV MARZO.

IN TEPO D(i)MA' ANTONIO DA MODON (Modena) E SO COMPAGNI MA' ANTONIO NEGRO E MA BONAZZA E MA' ANDRA (Andrea) D'ACRE.

E SCRIVAN MA' DOLZE (Dolce).

Here we get the names of the four members of the ruling council in 1482, all _Magistri_, and that of the notary of the guild, Maestro Dolce.[280] Another inscription on the staircase, which was rebuilt in 1686, announces that the stairs were built by the gifts of the brethren under the Gastaldo Maestro Domenico Mazzoni, and then follow the names of his three companions in office, one of whom is Vincenzo Minella, and that of the notary.

If we now trace some works in Venice we shall see how intimately connected this lodge was with that of Milan and other branches of the guild. In 1430 we find Zambono engaged to decorate the Ca d'Oro or Palazzo Contarini on the Grand Ca.n.a.l. In his aim at magnificence good Giovanni Bono of Como not only made the work a masterpiece of Gothic ornamentation, but he gilded his sculpture till it was refulgent. It appears that this Zambono, who could not spell his own name, was not such a master of the pen as he was of the chisel, for his son Bartolommeo signed the contract for him on April 20, 1430. The gilding was done by Giovanni da Francia, whose son Francesco signed for him.

Bartolommeo Bono worked much with his father, and later his younger brother Pantaleone joined them, and became more famous than either of them. To these three we owe in a great measure the reconstruction and decoration of the Ducal Palace, which in the first place had been built by Justinian and Na.r.s.es. At the end of the tenth century, the Doge Pietro Orseolo restored Justinian's building. To this restoration belong probably some of the fine mediaeval capitals of the columns of the Loggia, of which we have given an ill.u.s.tration on page 253. It has been said that Marino Faliero, when Doge, engaged his friend and fellow-conspirator Filippo Calendario to make a plan for a new palace, but no proofs of this, nor any designs are to be found.

Authentic doc.u.ments, however, prove that a meeting of the Grand Consiglio was held on September 27, 1422, in which it was proposed to "rebuild the palace in a decorous and convenient form." On April 20, 1424, the decree went forth that the old walls were to be thrown down, and the facade rebuilt. The first Masters mentioned in the books are the three Buoni. A minute, dated September 6, 1463, registers that the Salt Office should pay "Maistro Pantalon," sculptor, for the work done for the Ducal Palace--that this work included many other works besides the figures; and that it should not remain incomplete, the Doge wished it to extend across the piazza and up to the last built Sala[281]--_i.e._ the Sala del Squittinio. This would include all the facade and its colonnades, with the internal Sala del Squittinio and Scala Foscara leading to it, on which is placed the statue of Francesco della Rovere.[282] The part of Bartolommeo, brother of Pantaleone, was the Porta della Carta, of which we speak in the chapter on decoration. Their father Giovanni (Zambono) must have died about the time the palace was finished, which was May 13, 1442, for on November 25, 1443, Bartolommeo writes himself in a notarial act as "Ego Bartolommeus lapiscida q. ser Johannis Boni."

[Ill.u.s.tration: DUCAL PALACE AT VENICE. THE SIDE BUILT BY THE BUONI FAMILY.

_See page 390._]

Part of the palace was burned not many l.u.s.tres after, and in 1484, Antonio Rizo or Riccio was nominated _Proto_ for its rebuilding. He came to Venice with good recommendations. He was the son of a deceased Magister Giovanni Rizo, as we see in a deed of June 25, 1484, where he is nominated as "Ser Antonius Rizo lapiscida q. ser Joannis de contrata sancti Joannis Novi," and had been in the East, where he built the fortifications of Scutari, for Antonio Loredan. His fortifications resisted the attack of the Turks so well that they had to raise the siege, and Antonio, who was wounded, was rewarded by a pension for himself and children, and by the appointment of chief architect for the Ducal Palace, when it was restored after the fire.

It would seem that the facade built by the Buono trio had not been injured, as Rizo turned his attention to the inner court, which he built in a beautiful style, together with the great staircase, now known as the "Scala dei Giganti," from Sansovino's two giants, which were added--not much to the grace of the stairway--in 1566.

Bernardino da Bissone, and Domenico Solari of Val d'Intelvi, both Como Masters, a.s.sisted in the sculpture of the beautiful bal.u.s.trade. Riccio has the characteristic Comacine mixture of round arches in the foundation, and pointed ones above. He added a third colonnade, in which the round arches again appear. It is all enriched by exquisite sculptural decoration; the frieze of Nereids and sea-horses on the third order is very fine.

Selvatico attributes also to Riccio much of the side of the palace towards the prisons. The two statues of Adam and Eve facing the Giant's Stairs are signed in the plinths, one "Antonio," the other "Rizo." They are fine works of sculpture, which have been wrongly attributed, in spite of the signature, to various persons, such as Antonio Bregno, and Andrea Riccio of Padua. A proof of Rizo's lengthened tenure of the office of _Proto_ is given in a doc.u.ment in the Venetian archives quoted by Cadorin. The doc.u.ment, dated October 10, 1491, is an order from the Magistrates of the Salt Office, who were at the head of the Administration of the works of the Ducal Palace, "to increase the salary of Rizo Antonio, _Proto_ of the building works, from one hundred and fifty ducats to two hundred, as the former salary was not enough to support his family in his old age, and also having regard to his long and valuable services and fatigues, and the necessity of retaining him, for the prosperity and the beauty of the said building."[283]

Another doc.u.ment, quoted by Merzario from the Diary of Marin Sanuto, seems to throw a cloud over the close of Antonio's head membership. It seems that 10,000 ducats were missing from the accounts of the works, and that Antonio, being unable to explain it, sold all his possessions, and shouldering his belongings went towards Ancona and Foligno. This entry is dated April 5, 1498.[284]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COURT OF THE DUCAL PALACE AT VENICE. DESIGNED BY MAGISTER ANTONIO RIZO OR RICCIO _See pages 391, 392._]

It is difficult to say who is the Antonio Bregno that is accredited with Rizo's works. There was a Lorenzo Bregno, a sculptor to whom Sansovino attributes the statue of the General Dionisio Naldo of Brisigh.e.l.la (died 1510), which is placed above the door of San Giovanni e Paolo. There was also Paolo Bregno, father of Lorenzo, but the name of Antonio never appears in the books of the Administration, nor in any archives as far as Sig. Merzario can judge after a diligent search. As the Bregni were related to Rizo, it seems probable that this is another misleading case of nicknames, and that the chief architect's family name was Bregno; so that Antonio Rizo was only Antonio Bregno, the "curly-headed"--from _riccio_, a curl.[285]

After Riccio, a Magister Bartolommeo Gonella, who died in 1505, succeeded as _Proto_, and then Magister Buono succeeded him. Buono was probably a grandson of the last Bartolommeo, son of "Zambono." This man, who signs himself "Bartolomeus de c.u.mis lapizida," had been a sea-captain, and sailed in the fleet of Melchiorre Trevisan. On his return in 1498 he resumed his hereditary profession, and in 1505 was nominated head of the building works of St. Mark's, which were now occupying the guild. The upper order of the "Vecchie Procuratie" was built under his supervision. The church of San Rocco, built in 1495, was, however, his first great work in Venice, and the next was the restoration and heightening of the tower which another of the Buono family had built in 1150, more than three centuries earlier.

When in 1516 the erection of the "Scuola di San Rocco" was proposed, Bartolommeo Buono, the head architect of the "Vecchie Procuratie," was unanimously elected. However, when he had drawn his design, and the edifice began to rise, a certain knowing brother of the confraternity (_un tal saccente confratello d'essa_) censured the plan of the stairs, and the work was suspended. Maestro Buono would not relinquish his design, and retired; on which Pietro Lombardo was elected in his place to continue the building. Here we have again a distinct proof of the Masonic organization, and see that in Venice they held their meetings to consider the work of their brethren, just as they had done in Milan, Siena, Florence, etc.

In 1529 Maestro Buono died, and Jacopo Sansovino was nominated _Proto_ of the Procuratie in his stead. One of Buono's princ.i.p.al a.s.sistants was Guglielmo da Alzano, near Bergamo.[286] He sculptured a beautiful altar in the Servite church on the commission of Madonna Verde della Scala. It is now removed to the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. The great altar in the church of S. Salvadore is also attributed to him.

He was a famous builder as well as sculptor, and was architect of the Camerlinghi Palace, at the foot of the Rialto in Venice. The beautiful Tasca palace at Portogruaro, of which the richly-sculptured doorway was brought to Venice, was his design, as well as the fine gate at Padua called the "Portello," and the "Porta di S. Tomaso" in Treviso.

Several other more familiar Comacine names are found in Venice, such as Gregorio and Giorgio of Carona, whom we have seen sculpturing at Udine;[287] Bernardino di Martino of Bissone, and Andrea from Milan.

Francesco, son of Bernardo of Como, Simeone of Pietro, sculptor from Como, with Donato and Giovanni Busata, sons of Ser Piero da Campione, are all mentioned in the Transactions of the Guild in Venice about this time. A contract is reported in the _Archivio Veneto_ (vol. x.x.xi.

anno 1886, fasc. lxii. p. 169), signed on July 26, 1476, "between the Fraternity of S. Maria in S. Daniele and Maestro Giorgio, sculptor of Como, who, having made several statues for S. Giacomo in Udine, is herewith commissioned to make three figures in stone for the door of S. Maria in S. Daniele, _i.e._ a Madonna and Child and two angels, the statues to be figures, that may by any good _Magister_ be judged worthy and beautiful."

Then comes a name which has become synonymous with the beauty of Venice--the Lombardi family--to whom are attributed all the princ.i.p.al late Gothic and Renaissance buildings that enrich the city. As usual, the name by which the family has come down to posterity in the histories of art is nothing but a misleading nickname. The Venetians called them the Lombards. Just as Vannucchi is called Perugino, and Allegri is called Correggio, so the Solari family were known as Lombardi. They were among the aristocrats of the guild, however, whose ancestors had been eminent men for more than a century. We have seen Marco Solari, and his son Antonio, and also his grandsons Cristoforo and Guiniforte, at work at Milan, where Marco, Guiniforte, and Pietro Antonio were successively chief architects. The Lombardi-Solari of Venice appear to have been another branch of the family, equally descended from Giovanni da Carona, through his son Martino, the father of Pietro Lombardi (Peter of the Lombards).[288]

Martino was the architect of the Scuola di San Marco, near SS.

Giovanni e Paolo. His name appears before that time as "Mistro Martino taj.a.piera," when he was, in 1476, sent to Istria to _sbozzare_ the marbles for the sculptures on S. Zaccaria, of which he was architect, though his ancestor Antonio di Marco had begun it in 1458. At the Scuola di San Marco, his son Moro, brother of Pietro, a.s.sisted him, and on Martino's death Moro became _Proto_ of the works at San Zaccaria, his son Bernardino and grandson Francesco a.s.sisting him. The books of the Administration of that building have notes of payment, in 1488, one "to Bernardo, sculptor, son of Moro our _Proto_," and another executed on July 20, 1488, where it is written, "And I Francesco di Bernardo, sculptor from Como." Other papers prove the sons of Pietro Lombardo as being Giulio, Antonio, and Tullio. In Tullio's sons two old family names are revived--Marco Antonio and Sante.

To this family may be attributed a large part of the finest fifteenth or sixteenth century buildings of Venice. Pietro's elder brother Moro built the church of S. Michele at Murano between 1478 and 1481; and at the same time designed and directed the building of the Vendramin or Loredan and the Corner Palaces. Moro had been before employed by the Loredan family to build a part of the church of S. Maria in Isola at their expense. No doubt he was a.s.sisted by his numerous relations in the guild.

To Pietro Lombardo belongs the design for the fine exterior of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista. In 1475 he sculptured the beautiful monument to the Doge Pietro Mocenigo, a grand design with seventeen life-sized figures carved in Istrian marble. His sons Tullio and Antonio a.s.sisted in this. In 1481 he restored the Scuola della Misericordia, and finished the ornamental gate of the Scuola dei Battuti. In the same year he won in a compet.i.tion for designs for the church of S. Maria de' Miracoli, and became head architect of that masterpiece of Renaissance architecture. Here he has curiously revived some features of the old Lombard architecture of his ancestors in art.

He has made a raised tribune with a dome, but it is square instead of semi-circular, and he has placed two ambones or pulpits, as in the early churches. Pietro could build in Gothic style as well as Renaissance, as is shown in the cusped and pinnacled facade of S.