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

2i6
VINCENZO FOPPA
banner referred to at the meeting of the Council on May i6, 1514 ;' but the
notice is inexact, for in the Provvisioni of Orzinuovi preserved in the Archivio
di Stato at Brescia no such entry is to be found. Meetings of the Council
took place on May 12 and May 21,^ but there was no meeting on May 16,
is this painting referred to at either of these meetings, and we have searched in
vain for any allusion to it in the Provvisioni of the early sixteenth century ;
on
the other hand, some interesting notices which might indirectly bear upon the
subject are met with in these volumes. Thus, on December 13, 151 1, it was
resolved at a meeting of the Council to repair to the Church of S. Bernardino
in solemn procession, and also to dedicate a small ancona above the altar of
St. Roch in the parish church, in which the last-named saint and S.
Bernardino were to be represented.' In February of the following year,
according to Perini^ and Codagli,'^ it was resolved to observe with solemn processions
all the feasts of the Madonna as well as those of SS. Roch, John Baptist,
Catherine, and George, to observe the vigils of all these days with fasting, and
on the Feast of S. Bernardino to make a special procession to the church dedicated
to this saint ; to add to the imposing nature of these processions,
banners painted by the best masters of the day were undoubtedly commissioned.'^
In 1 5 13, the plague being then very severe, it was resolved on
nor
* " La sola memoria esistente e il pallio deliberato dal Consiglio 16 Maggio 1514,
che rappresenta le immagini della Beata Vergine Maria, S. Rocco, S. Sebastiano etc.
ed e quel quadro che, nella capella di S. Antonio di Padova sta di contro alia Madonna
Addolorata del Bagnadore ;
pero le ricordate pitture sono dalla parte che guarda il
mure, essendo la tela dipinta in ambo i lati " (Perini, Delle Chiese di Orzinuovi, f.
116).
" The only existing example is the painting, discussed at the Council meeting of
May 16, 1514, which represents the B. Virgin Mary, St. Roch, St. Sebastian, etc., a
picture which now hangs in the Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua, opposite to the Mater
Dolorosa by Bagnadore. The paintings referred to, however, hang with their face to
the wall, the canvas being painted on both sides"; but this again is inexact, for the
Madonna is not on the same side of the canvas as the SS. Sebastian and Roch.
Perini's MS. is
to consult it.
in the possession of the Archpriest of Orzinuovi, who kindly allowed us
^ Prov. di Orzinuovi, Vol. XI, ff. 28, 29, Arch, di Stato, Brescia.
^ Prov., Vol. X, f. 432.
*
Loc. cit., f. 115, 116.
^ Op. cit., pp. 130, 131 ; in the margin of p. 130 we read: " Voto degH Orciani per
liberarsi dalla Peste."
* In the Provvisioni (Vol. X), it must be admitted, we have found no entry to
correspond with the statements of Perini and Codagli ;
the only meeting in February,
151 2, was on the 14th, f. 444, and no mention of such processions occurs on this
page ;
nevertheless there is every reason to suppose from the entry of December,
151 1, which we quote in the text, that such processions were constantly organized in
times of plague and trouble.