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

Chap. IV. THE ANCONA OF PAVIA 97
Vismara, and Bonifazio Bembo. These painters had not only prepared the
drawings for the decoration of the ceiling of the chapel, but had also made
special studies for the paintings of the great ancona, which they proposed
should have a background either of gold throughout, or of white with only
the decorative parts in gold ; but the paintings of the ancona could not be
begun, we learn from Gadio's letter to Simonetta of June 4, till the questions
relating to the two hundred caskets, which were to be placed in the ancona,*
were settled. Over each casket was to be placed a panel containing the
figure of a saint, whose relics were enshrined in the casket ; but as these
relics were in some cases very minute, it was necessary to put several into
each reliquary, and the question then arose as to which saint was to take
precedence and be represented in painting. This matter had to be decided
by the Duke," and caused considerable delay, for the painting of the two
hundred panels could not be proceeded with, it is clear, until the question
as to which saint was to be represented on each had been decided.
From these letters of Gadio and from certain scattered notices in an
inventory of November 29, 1487 (see p. 104), we are able to form some idea
of the general plan of the work. The main portion, it would appear, was to be
composed of various large panels, each containing a Majestas, which formed
the ancona proper ; the Majestas was in every case a painting on wood with
a representation of Christ, the Madonna, saints, etc. (see pp. 104-6), and
round these paintings, in small compartments protected by glass or crystal, were
inserted some of the relics. The number of these compartments varied, as
we gather from the inventory just alluded to ; one Majestas, for instance,
contained only eleven, another seventeen, while a third of these large panels
contained as many as thirty-one compartments. The two hundred caskets it
was perhaps intended to dispose in niches throughout the structure, since they
are spoken of in the letter of June 4, as placed in the ancona ; these niches
for the reliquaries we may conjecture were to be placed vertically on the
north and south walls of the chapel,' reaching to a height of nearly five
metres.* Over these niches would have been placed the panels with the
saints, the whole being designed to form part of the main structure and to
be surrounded by a framework of carvings and decorative ornament. The
* " Non se potria poi anche dare principio a dipingere la dicta anchona perche . . .
gli vanno dentro 200 capsette," etc. (letter, June 4).
- '•
Sara necessario sapere et intendere dal nostro 111. Sig. quelle [namely, the relics]
se doverano mettere insieme et el Sancto che se li havera a depingere sopra ;
che piu,.de
uno non gli ne potria star sopra caduna capsetta et per essere le reliquie diverse,
bisognera che Soa Signoria dica quale Sancto se li hara a fare " (letter, June 4 and
Doc. No. 21).
' See p. 94, letter of September 20, 1473.
H
* Ibid.