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

Chap. I. FRESCOES OF THE ARENGO PALACE, MILAN 25
seen and described by Breventano,' must have been completed by 1461, for
the Florentine ambassadors, on their way home from France, whither they
had been sent to congratulate Louis XI on his accession, lodged in the castle
and described this hall as "most beautiful and well painted."^
The usual theory with regard to Foppa's presence in Milanese territory
at this period is, that he was summoned to Milan by Francesco Sforza in
order to paint the Medici Bank, the Hospital, and the Palazzo dell' Arengo.
The evidence, however, seems strong that he could not have undertaken either
of these two first-named works until after 1462 or 1463, and with regard to
the Arengo, if he painted there at all, which is certainly probable, his work
must have been executed between 1459 and 1461.
The Arengo Palace, called also Corte Ducale or Broletto Vecchio, was
built by Matteo Visconti and enlarged and beautified by successive rulers.
The building appears, however, to have been in a ruinous condition in the
early years of the reign of Francesco Sforza, and is said to have been then
restored by the Florentine Antonio Averulino, known as Filarete,' who had
been in the service of the Duke since 145 1.*
In January,
was already living there and personally superintending from thence the building
of the hospital ;^ but the paintings executed in the Arengo by Bembo,
1459, the restoration must have been complete, for the Duke
Cristoforo Moretto of Cremona, Costantino da Vaprio, and others were not
finished, it is said, until 1461. These works are mentioned by nearly all the
writers of Milan and Cremona, and among the latter, Zaist" affirms that
they were still in existence in his day, and he noted the signature of
Bembo and the date 1461, though the building itself, we learn from Gualdo
Priorato,^ had been completely modernized by the Governor in 1666. The
only writer who includes Foppa among the painters of these frescoes is
* Istoria delta Antichita di Pavia, ch. in, p. 7, ed. 1570.
^ Archivio Storico Italiano, I Serie III, p. 44.
*
A passage in Filarete's Trattate, ed. Oettingen (Bk. I, p. 58), would certainly seem
to refer to this building, though the most recent biographer of Filarete, Signor Munoz,
makes no mention of the Arengo in connection with the Florentine architect ; see his remarks
on a letter which, he states, has been erroneously held to refer to the works in
this palace {Filarete, etc., p. 224), but cf. also Oett., Trait., p. 690, note 9, and Life of
Filarete, p. 35.
^
Filarete's letter to Piero de' Medici, thanking him for his recommendation to
the Duke of Milan, is dated December 20, 1453
(Pini, Scrittura di artisti It., I,
No. 37).
'
R. Sanseverino, Viaggio in Terra Santa, in Scelta di Curiositd Letterarie, 1888,
p. 322.
^ Notizie de' pittori di Cremona, I, p. 52, ed. 1774.
''
Relatione delta Cittd di Milano, p. 16, ed. 1666.