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

Chap. VI. THE SPINOLA ALTARPIECE, GENOA 135
son of Giorgio, Count of Lerma, a most distinguished member of a great
family, was buried in August, 1470.'
If therefore Alizeri was correct in saying it was painted for Battista
Spinola, we should have to assume that Foppa produced it
during his probable
stay at Genoa between 1469 and 147 1 ; but it was certainly not placed in the
chapel during the lifetime of Battista, for we know from Augustini's MS.
chronicle of the Monastery of S. Domenico that up to 1477 the altarpiece of
the Spinola Chapel was a Greek (Byzantine) Madonna known as " La Mora."
It seems therefore very unlikely that Battista Spinola should, before his death
in 1470, have ordered a picture for his chapel, which was already provided with
an altarpiece. On the other hand, it is out of the question that it should have
been commissioned in 1485 by the other Battista, the son of Simone of the
Lucoli line, for his Chapel of St. Catherine of Siena was a much later foundation,
and his agreement with the Prior relating to it bears date October 9,
1501, a contract executed in accordance with the will of Battista di Simone's
wife, Margherita Centurione.^
In 1477, according to De Augustini, the Dominicans having granted to
Galeazzo da Levanto the rights over one of the chapels in their church, gave
him permission also to remove from the Spinola Chapel the picture known as
*' La Mora" and to place it in his own chapel, which from that day forward was
known as the Chapel of the Beata Madonna della Misericordia.' The fact
that the Dominicans should have thus disposed of a picture apparently belonging
to the Spinola family, leads us to infer either that it was actually the property of
the monks, or that in this year (1477) it was presented to them by the Spinola.
Battista Spinola di S. Luca had several sons,* of whom Luca the fourth
was a great patron of art ; it seems probable that after the removal of the
Greek Madonna to the Chapel of Galeazzo da Levanto they should have considered
the desirability of providing their chapel with a more worthy altarpiece,
and should have taken steps to secure the services of Foppa for the
purpose. By June, 1485, the picture must have been for some time in its
place over the altar,' for it was then proposed as a model for the painter
'
Deza, Storia della Famiglia Spinola, p. 272, and Auberto Mireo, Storiadegli Uomini
Illustri della Fam. Spinola, f. 91, who both give the epitaph on Battista's tomb in his
chapel at S. Domenico. The tablet to his memory in the Boschetto (Pasqua, 125), was
of 1476 and was therefore placed there six years after his death.
"
De Augustini, loc. cit., 91, 252; Pasqua, 52; Semeria, Secoli Cristiani della
Liguria, etc. ^ De Augustini, loc. cit., 103, 109, no, 161, 196, 234, etc.
* Battilana, op. cit., Genealogy of Battista quondam Giorgio.
^ Nothing is known of the ultimate fate of this altarpiece. The Church of
S. Domenico, which contained so many priceless treasures of art, was ruthlessly
destroyed in the early years of the nineteenth century to make way for the present
Teatro Carlo Felice (see Miscellanea di Scritture Ecclesiastiche relative a Genova).