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

;
Chap. V. BRERA ALTARPIECE: PREDELLA 121
reconstructing the altarpiece as far as possible according to its original
scheme, and, guided by the words of Pasta quoted above, he included in this
scheme the St. Francis, placing it above the central composition of the
Madonna.' Professor Ricci's methods of grouping and classification are
as a rule beyond all praise, but in the case of the position of the St. Francis
we venture to question his arrangement for reasons which will be stated
later.
In
Foppa's altarpiece we have a work composed on the old plan then still
in vogue, consisting of eight saints in separate compartments, with coffered
ceiling and golden hangings in the upper tier, calculated for decorative effect
as seen from below, while nearer the eye in the lower course the painter,
though still retaining the coffered ceiling, abandons the conventional gold
ground and gives us a charming landscape with trees and water, for which he
always shows a special predilection. A few years ago a fortunate chance led to
the discovery of the predella belonging to the altarpiece, which never left Bergamo,
but appears to have been detached from the remainder of the picture
and subsequently to 181 1 to have passed into the collection of a Count Albani
in that city. In the spring of 1901 the present representative of the family
sold it to a dealer at Milan, where it was recognized as a Foppa, and bought
by the late Signor G. B. Vittadini for his choice collection at Arcore near
Monza. That it is the long-lost predella of the Brera altarpiece there cannot
be the slightest doubt. The subjects arc identical with those recorded by
Pasta, with the exception of the Ecce Homo, which is missing ;"
every detail,
*
See also Arte, 1899, p. 320.
^
Some critics, it may be noted, have sought to identify this missing part with a
small panel belonging to Prince Trivulzio at Milan, and representing a half-length
figure of the Dead Christ standing in the tomb. Taking into consideration the width
of the altarpiece and the sizes of the various panels of the predella, we assume that the
lost picture must have been of small dimensions, and might have corresponded in size
with Prince Trivulzio's picture, which measures twenty-six by twenty-eight centimetres
Pasta may have inaccurately described the subject as an Ecce Homo, though it
is quite
certain, having regard to the compositions on either side (adoring angels with instruments
of the Passion), that the central panel actually did represent the Dead Christ in
the tomb or " Eucharistic Ecce Homo" (see note to chapter in, p. 90, 3). The picture
in question, however, appears to us to be poor in quality, and we are loth to believe
that it could have had any connection with Foppa or with the polyptych of S. Maria
delle Grazie. It is not ascribed to Foppa by the owner himself, who has been good
enough to inform us that in his opinion it has nothing whatever to do with the Brera
altarpiece. It is therefore to be regretted that in the new catalogue of the Brera
(p. 183) the identity of this picture with the missing panel of the predella should again
have been put forward, and we trust that the suggestion will not be included in future
editions of the catalogue.