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

CRUCIFIXION AT BERGAMO 17
"M" ; the day of the month is not specified, though the space left after
"DIE " might lead us to suppose that the painter had intended filling in the
Chap. I. THE
date, but eventually forgot to do so. It has been suggested that the date
may be 1455, and that the last numeral refers to the day of the month, in
which case it would run " MCCCCLV— I DIE Aprilis " ; but such a reading
is obviously unsatisfactory, and it seems clear that the master finished the
picture in April, 1456, though he failed, perhaps through forgetfulness, to
insert the day in the space left for the purpose.
The pedigree of the picture cannot be traced further than July, 1764, when
Count Giacomo Carrara, writing to Bottari from Bergamo, informs him of
his purchase of this picture, but unfortunately without giving any clue as to
its earlier history.^
The importance of these two early works cannot be overrated, representing
as they do some of the phases through which Foppa must have passed in the
course of his development. They prove conclusively that the school of
Padua could have had no part in his training, that the master who exercised
the most penetrating influence on his art was not Squarcione, but Jacopo
Bellini, in whose workshop Vincenzo was probably the fellow-pupil of
Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, and would certainly have known Mantegna
and other artists ; and that at some early period of his career he must have
been powerfully aff'ected by the art of Pisanello and his followers. The
Paradise picture belonging to Cavaliere Noseda is the only existing work
which can with any certainty be ascribed to the years before Vincenzo Foppa
became independent, and in this the inspiration and poetic charm of the composition
seem undoubtedly derived from Veronese ideals. Hence we might
infer that Foppa's connection with Verona preceded the years of his apprenticeship
under Jacopo Bellini.^ The Bergamo picture proves that the influence
of Jacopo, and in
a lesser degree of Pisanello, became the determining factors
^ Bottari, Race, di Lett., ete., IV, p. 326 ; see also V, p. 233.
^ That the Veronese influence preceded that of Jacopo Bellini in our painter's development
appears to
us probable from a study of the Noseda and Bergamo pictures,
but we have no certainty whether the first-named, the sole surviving example, as far as
we know, of Foppa's years of apprenticeship, actually belongs to the group of his
earliest works, that is, whether it was produced at Verona or in the workshop of Jacopo
Bellini. The links with the art of Gentile da Fabriano, which the picture shows, might
point equally to the influence of the Veronese follower of the master or to that of
Jacopo Bellini, who proclaimed himself a pupil of Gentile on his fresco at Verona.
Our knowledge of this period of Foppa's career is nil, and one solitary undated work
is insufficient to afford the necessary proofs. But as to the main points these two
early works leave us in no doubt, namely, that the art of Vincenzo Foppa is a product
of the schools of Verona and Venice, and was wholly unaffected
by Padua, as represented
by Squarcione.
c