Vincenzo Foppa of Brescia, founder of the Lombard school, his life ...

78 VINCENZO FOPPA
direct proof of his presence in Genoa in 147 1, it is probable that he returned
there in the autumn of 1470 or in the spring" of the following year, with the
idea perhaps,
of again obtaining employment in the chapel which he had left
unfinished in 1461.
The Priors of the Confraternity of St. John Baptist had, as we saw,
employed Giovanni Mazone to paint the altarpiece (chap, i, p. 31), but
apparently they always looked for the return of Foppa to complete the
decoration of the chapel, for it will be remembered that he only painted the
ceiling in 1461, and that it was to be decorated both "in facie"
and "in cello." The preliminaries respecting this work may have taken
some time, and probably he had other patrons there anxious to employ
him ; in any case, the earliest document relating to the fact that
the Brescian painter had resumed work at Genoa, is of July 12,
1471. In this (Doc. No. 19) "Vincenzo de Fopa de Brisia " promises
to paint the Chapel of St. John Baptist with the compositions agreed
upon in the contract drawn up on that day by the notary Filippo Bonaver ;
Foppa received forty ducats as earnest money, which he agreed to restore if
he did not fulfil his contract. Unfortunately all the deeds of this notary were
destroyed by fire in the bombardment of 1684, and we cannot tell w'hat
negotiations may have preceded this agreement. A further entry of November
6, presumably of the same year, tells us that Vincenzo received from
Pietro Frevante the sum of ten ducats. As Frevante was one of the Priors
of the Confraternity, there is no doubt that this was a further instalment of
payment for work done in the chapel ; Frevante was besides a Director of the
Bank of St. George at Genoa, and it is probable that these entries were
simply his own memoranda, copies of payments and receipts hastily jotted
down, which would account for the irregular way in which they are entered.
On the last page of the book in which they are contained (the Decret. Officii
S*' Georgii) is the notice of July 12 ; while a few pages earlier we have the
obviously later entry of November 6. The book contains records— entered
in no chronological sequence—of the years 1471-74, which perhaps led Crowe
and Cavalcaselle to infer that this last entry was of 1474, an obvious mistake,
for we know Foppa to have been at Pavia at this date. There is reason to
think that even during this second visit
to Genoa, Vincenzo did not complete
his work in the chapel, for a document of March 10, 1478,' proves that the
decoration was far advanced at that date, but that money was lacking to complete
it. The Priors therefore petitioned the Signoria for help, urging as one
reason, their dread of the adverse criticism of the people if the work was left
unfinished. The result of this was that they obtained a government grant of
^ Atti della Societa Ligure di Storia Patria, IV, 24, note.