Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.31664/ripu.2019.43.15
Provveditore generale Leonardo Foscolo and Art in Dalmatia
Radoslav Tomić
; Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Zagreb
Sažetak
Leonardo Foscolo (Venice, 1588–1660) was the provveditore generale of Venetian Dalmatia and Albania from 1645 to 1650. The seat of the provvedditore and the state administration that governed the province was the Provveditore’s Palace in Zadar.
The first part of the paper analyses those portraits of provveditore Leonardo Foscolo that were made in oil on canvas or as graphic prints and are directly related to his governance and activities in Dalmatia. The only oil on canvas is kept in the monastery of St Laurence in Šibenik. The inscription on it indicates that it was under Foscolo’s patronage that the Franciscan monks from Visovac fled to Šibenik before the Turks, where they obtained permanent residence and a newly constructed church with a monastery. A larger group of portraits are graphic prints, which apart from Foscolo’s effigy or bust with the symbols of government and war emblems, show specific cities, towns, and fortifications in Dalmatia, where he engaged in liberation struggle.
The second part of the paper explores Foscolo’s role as a donor and art patron, particularly in the construction of St Simeon’s altar in Zadar’s church of the same name, which was commissioned by him and designed by sculptor Francesco Cavrioli. Two monumental angels carrying the chest with the saint’s relics were made of melted Turkish cannons seized in battles, and placed on the marble stipes of the high altar in St Simeon’s church. The church is located next to the Provveditore’s Palace and, because of the significance of the saints’ relics, became the focus of “state” ceremonies asserting the Venetian rule over Dalmatia. Foscolo also left his mark in Šibenik. According to an unconfirmed tradition, he commissioned a clock mechanism for the belfry of St John’s church, which he had transferred from the conquered Drniš as a spoil of war, as evidenced by an inscription in his loggia, which also contains Foscolo’s coat of arms with the provveditore’s hat. The same coat of arms is to be seen on the front façade of St Nicholas’ church in Šibenik, which may indicate his merits in the construction or equipment of the church, next to which, according to the older sources, a monastery was originally planned to house the friars fleeing from Visovac.
For his merits in the wars against the Ottoman Turks throughout Dalmatia, Foscolo gained an undisputed reputation, resulting in the fact that numerous communes erected public monuments to him as a sign of honour and gratitude. It is this group of public monuments picturing Foscolo that are discussed in the third part of the paper, whereby those in Šibenik, Split, Hvar, Korčula, Pag and Islam Grčki are analysed on the basis of preserved artworks, documents, and scholarly literature. Besides this group of public monuments, the paper discusses a portrait bust in the courtyard of the Arneri Palace in Korčula, which, according to the preserved inscription, was commissioned by Jakov Arneri, while the original placement and commissioner of a portrait in the Janković tower (Desnica), possibly Foscolo’s, could not be established.
Ključne riječi
provveditore; Leonardo Foscolo; Dalmatia; Zadar; Šibenik; Split; Hvar; Korčula; Venice; portraits; art
Hrčak ID:
233947
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.12.2019.
Posjeta: 3.606 *