medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Saturday, June 4, 2005, at 10:29 am, chris crockett wrote:
> From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
> > The only small consolation in all this is that these capitals
> were not
> the originals but instead were baroque "copies" installed in 1637.
>
> well, that's pretty amazing, if it is a question of baroque
> "copies" of
> medieval capitals.
>
> never heard tell of suchlike a thing.
>
Benedetto Ronchi, _La cattedrale di Trani_ (Fasano di Brindisi: Schena,
1985), p. 57, cites under the year 1637 a contract between the
representatives of the Corporation [in south Italian parlance, the
Universita'] of Trani and a maestro Giovanni Angelo Santo of Bitonto to
effect a series of interventions to some of the capitals and column
bases in the upper church of the cathedral. Ronchi then continues:
"Tuttavia, a causa delle condizioni di deterioramento della fabbrica, i
lavori eseguiti in quegli anni, andarano ben al di la' di quelli
indicati nel contratto, investendo la sostituzione di quasi tutti i
capitelli delle colonne binate, con copie secentesche degli originali
'reinterpretate in chiave barocca' (D'Elia)."
i.e.,
"However, thanks to the building's deteriorated state, the work carried
out in those years [1637+ --JD] went far beyond what was indicated in
the contract, encompassing the replacement of virtually all the capitals
of the paired columns with seventeenth-century copies of the originals
'reinterpreted in baroque mode' (D'Elia)."
"D'Elia" here refers to M. D’Elia, "A proposito della cattedrale di
Trani", in _Scritti di storia e arte pugliese in onore dell’Arcivescovo
Mons. Giuseppe Carata_, a cura di B. Ronchi (Fasano, 1976), pp. 121-148.
Unless this subject has been addressed more recently, one would have to
look here to find out in what "reinterpreted in baroque mode" really means.
Can anyone cite other instances of the early modern replacement of
medieval capitals with "copies", no matter how these may have been
conceived and executed?
It would also appear from that "quasi tutti" ("virtually all") that at
least one of medieval capitals survived this restoration effort -- only
to be scraped down in 1837!
Best again,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|