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

'
See
Chap. IV. THE CHURCH OF S. GIACOMO, PAVIA 107
Item 3 of the inventory of 1487 ; ' but a fourth Majestas of the later inventory,
which was apparently very small, we have not been able to identify with any
item in the inventory of 1487."
It seems certain, therefore, that a part of the unfinished ancona of the
Chapel of the Relics was deposited in the cathedral, but beyond this it has
been impossible to trace it, and we are unable to state whether it was still in
existence at the time of the frightful sack of Pavia by Lautrec in 1527 and if it
was then totally destroyed, or whether any fragments may have survived to
the present day^ and still
await identification.
Gualla,^ Breventano,^ De Gasparis,'' and other Pavian writers of the second
half of the sixteenth century all refer to the fact of the relics having been
removed to the cathedral ; but although they devote pages to enumerating
them, not a single word is said of the ancona or its paintings, and we must
assume that by that time all record of the work was lost.
During the period when Vincenzo Foppa and his associates Bonifazio
Bembo, Zanetto Bugati, Costantino da Vaprio, and Giacomo Vismara, were
engaged upon the ancona for the Chapel of the Relics, a wealthy Pavian lady
of noble birth entered into negotiations with them concerning a great scries of
frescoes which she desired to have executed in the Church of S. Giacomo at
Pavia.
This little church," situated outside the Gate of S. Maria in Pertica, was a
very ancient foundation, but had already been restored by Gian Galeazzo
Visconti in the fourteenth century. In 1421 Pietro Grassi, Bishop of Pavia,
had granted it to S. Bernardino of Siena, who, being desirous of establishing
'
" Item quedam Maiestas lignea cum certis vitris depictis cum infrascriptis reliquiis
videlicet . . . de ossibus S. Thome martiris . . . de sanguine sancti Thome apostoli
..." etc.
^
"Item quedam Maiestas parvula et coperta carta ubi continentur infrascripte
reliquie, primo de ossibus S. Catheline in minima quantitate ; item de ossibus S. Marte
. . . S. Margarite ..." etc.
^ According to a deliberation of the Council of Pavia of May 7, 1530, it was on
that day decided that a fresh inventory should be made of what little remained of the
relics, and the question as to their guardianship in the future was discussed. It
was also stated that the relics, formerly deposited in the sacristy of the cathedral, were
nearly all removed at the time of the siege and only a few had been recovered :
" Quia
reliquie Comunitatis alias existentes et reposite in Sacristia ecclesie maioris Papias,
tempore sacomani, pro maiori parte fuerunt exportate et alique pauce reperte sunt."
This proves that many of the relics perished at that time, but no light is thrown upon
the paintings of the ancona.
* Sanctnariiwi Papiie, ed. 1587.
^ Istoria . . di Pavia, 1570.
" Diario . . delle cose della Citta di Pavia (Q\h\. Univ. Pavia).
Maiocchi, Le C/iiese di Pavia, II, p. 140.