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

Chap. V. BRERA ALTARPIECE :
ST.
FRANCIS 127
Thus far we have not alluded to the St.
Francis receiving the stigmata, now
forming part of the altarpiece in the Brera and placed exactly over the fine
central composition of the Madonna ; but we have done this advisedly,
because, though it is certainly an admirable work by Foppa, we think it
doubtful, as already stated, that it originally formed part of the polyptych of
S. Maria delle Grazie. Apart from the obvious differences in style, in the quality
of the background, and in the proportions of the figure between this composition
and the other panels of the altarpiece, we would point out that the
position of this St. Francis, whose feet are, so to speak, actually on the head
of the Madonna, is opposed to the liturgical rule of the Church. That a saint
should have been placed in a more exalted and honourable position than that
assigned to the Mother of God, or even on an equality with her, is an
anomaly which would scarcely have been permitted and which is at variance
with the best traditions of early Italian art. In the numerous altarpieces still
existing which have retained
their original form, not a single instance can be
cited in which, above the figure of the Madonna in the centre, a saint of the
same dimensions as the Virgin (much less of superior proportions) is introduced.
Figures of saints in painting or carving, when placed above the central
composition of the Madonna, are always of such proportions as clearly to
indicate
the secondary part assigned to them in the scheme of the whole, that
is to say, it is at once evident that they were introduced more for purely
decorative purposes than from any motive of devotion which might aim at
placing them on a level with, or even on a higher plane than, the Virgin, a
practice contrary to precedent in the Ecclesiastical Liturgy. The subjects
which it was permissible to introduce in the centre of an altarpiece above the
Madonna and of proportions equal to hers were: representations of the Eternal
Father, the Crucifixion, the Pieta, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. It may
be objected that our contention is invalidated by Pasta's description of the altarpiece
(quoted by us, p. 119), in which these words occur— "and above St.
Francis receiving the stigmata " ;
but we are bound to point out that from this
writer's description it would be impossible to draw any logical conclusion as
to the construction of the work. His account of it is extremely confused and
inaccurate, and proves that he could only have examined the picture very
superficially.
Among other mistakes he speaks of the saints flanking the St.
Francis as " SS. Augustine and Monica." In the Brera altarpiece, however,
altari magno dicte ecclesie, que constitit Veneciis, cum victura et constare comuni
estimacione potuit florenos ducentum." (A large Majestas over the High Akar of the
said church, the price of which, with expenses of transport, was settled at Venice ;
at
the ordinary valuation it might well amount to two hundred florins.) See R.
Maiocchi and N. Casacca, Codex Diplomaticus Orel. E. S. Angus titii Papice, Vol. I,
p. 161, 1905.