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

i66
VINCENZO FOPPA
If we take this view, which seems the only plausible one, the rough places
in the life of Foppa become smooth and plain at once. It adds another proof
to his presence at Brescia at this period, for clearly he was then doing work
there for the Community, otherwise there would have been no necessity for
the Duke to apply to the Governors of Brescia to allow the painter to return
to Milan, But what was the principal reason adduced by Vincenzo for not
having fulfilled his engagement? Before, it was always "some hindrance"
which caused him to put it off, and his work at Genoa of course intervened to
prevent it; but now, he says, "he understood that he was engaged by your
Community to paint a certain hall or great room." This, according to Signor
Beltrami, must have been the library of the Augustinian Monastery of
S. Barnaba, the paintings of which are traditionally ascribed to Foppa. The
present condition of this room is neglected and squalid in the highest degree,
it being now used as a dormitory for the deaf-mute children of the Istituto
Pavoni, a charitable institution established in the buildings of the former
monastery, and the frescoes are in a terribly injured and decayed state ; but
in its original condition this room, with its beautiful ceiling and fine proportions,
its walls covered with well-chosen subjects bearing upon the history of
the order, with decorative work of remarkable beauty of design, must have
formed an appropriate setting to the treasures of the Augustinian Library,
and must undoubtedly have produced a striking and harmonious effect.
From 1456 onwards considerable sums of money had been spent on the
adornment of the church and the buildings of the monastery, and the Brescian
Government took a special interest in the progress of the works. In April,
1490, a grant of sixty ducats was made by the General Council for the further
adornment of the library,' the works there having been for some time in
abeyance owing to lack of funds ; the paintings must have been finally completed
in that year, as the date 1490 is found below the fresco of St. Augustine
over the present door.
We are unable either to confirm or deny the statement that the passage in
the ducal missive alluded to above, actually refers to this room. It would
certainly be difficult to propose a better solution ; we know no other building
at Brescia to which the words could be applied with equal probability,
for the
great hall in the Loggia, the Sala Palatij, of which we should naturally think
on reading this passage, was not built at this date ; moreover, it is extremely
probable that Foppa, when engaged in painting the new Loggetta in the
summer of 1489, may have been approached by the Augustinians with a view
to obtaining his services for the decoration of the library, and that negotia-
' See Provvisioni, February 12 and April 28 (1490), on which days the grant was
proposed and confirmed.