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

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154 VINCENZO FOPPA
was to be held responsible and was to return the money to the said Marco
Grimaldi or his representative, an arrangement very similar to that referred to
in the little Pavian memorandum of 1485 (Doc. No. 37).
The short space of time allowed for the production of these four figures
from the middle of September to the end of October — proves that they could
only have been small carvings destined for the decorative part of an ancona.
The money for them was to be paid to Vincenzo, not because he was himself
a sculptor or carver in wood, but because the whole altarpiece had probably
been designed by him, and he would therefore have made himself responsible
not only for the painting and gilding, but also for the carving. On the other
hand, we know from a document published by Alizeri' that Bertolino della
Canonica was a carver as well as a painter, and there can be no doubt that
this altarpiece was produced in his workshop, which, as we saw, was shared
by Vincenzo during his sojourn in Genoa. But Foppa was evidently not at
Genoa when this deed was drawn up, and we may assume that he was executing
work for one of his other patrons in Genoese territory, for between 1488
and 1490 we have reference to no fewer than three large altarpieces executed
by him in Liguria.
The earliest of these was the ancona for the Carthusian Monastery of
Rivarolo in the valley of the Polcevera, five miles from Genoa. It was commissioned
for the chapel of the Doria family, which was founded in 1470
by Lazzaro Doria di Opicino and dedicated to SS. Stephen and Anne.
Lazzaro had been accredited as Ambassador to the Court of Francesco Sforza
in 1465 ;
in 147 1 and 1475 he was again the Genoese representative at the
Court of Galeazzo Maria," and when at Milan in these later years, he may
have had occasion to discuss with Foppa the question of the decoration of
his newly erected chapel. It was situated on the south side of the church
opening on to the cloisters ; three sides of the cloister are still in existence
but the place has been wholly secularized, and the site once occupied by the
chapels is now covered by squalid houses and no trace even of a stone or
inscription recording the Dorias has been preserved. As at S. Domenico at
Genoa, the frenzy of destruction appears to have seized upon those connected
with the chapel, and the frescoes, which still existed there some twenty years
ago, were ruthlessly torn down and destroyed with incredible barbarity.
Giscardi' has preserved the text of the long inscription, commemorating
Lazzaro 's bequests to the chapel, which was over the door on the inner side,
and of the shorter one on the outside—recording the dates of its foundation
1 II, p. 31.
2 Federici, loc. cit., II, 691 ; Buonaroti, Albert genealogici, etc., f. 328; Giustiniani,
op. cit., II, p. 472.
2 Origine delle Chiese della citta e Riviere di Genova, f. 76 and foil.