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

VINCENZO FOPPA
OF BRESCIA, FOUNDER OF
THE LOMBARD SCHOOL
HIS LIFE AND WORK
CHAPTER I
1427 (?) TO 1462
training— Earliest known work—Signed and dated
Vincenzo Foppa's origin— His first
work at Bergamo—Connection with Jacopo Bellini— Fresco at Verona by that painter
— Foppa's marriage— Removal to Pavia— Pavia and Milan centres of artistic
activity— Painters at Pavia and Milan in 1456—The Castle at Pavia— Frescoes of
the Arengo Palace, Milan— First documentary notice of Foppa at Pavia— His
colleague and brother-in-law Paolo Caylina—Caylina's pictures—^Foppa goes to
Genoa—The Duke of Milan recommends him to the Doge of Genoa— Foppa's
work in a chapel at Genoa.
The question as to where Vincenzo Foppa was born has long been a disputed
point. Milanese, Pavians, and Brescians have all claimed him as a compatriot,
but for the reasons stated in the Appendix' we are justified in
assuming that he was of Brescian origin. He was the son of a tailor, a
certain Giovanni who came from a hamlet called Sandrina, near Bagnolo,' a
place situated on the River Mella eight miles to the south of Brescia, and
was born, most probably in that city, between 1427 and 1430, though the date
of his birth cannot be exactly determined.
We have not the slightest clue as to the circumstances of his life during
his early years, nor have we any means of ascertaining whether Vincenzo's
first artistic training was received in his home. Brescia appears to have been
singularly devoid of local talent and to have produced few painters of note in
B
'
I, Note I. ^ Appendix I, Notes 2 and 3.