Original scientific paper
Contributions to the Study of Venetian Baroque Altars and Sculpture in Dalmatia and the Kvarner Gulf: Marco Torresini and Carlo Tagliapietra
Bojan Goja
; Ministry of Culture, Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Conservation Department in Zadar
Abstract
Archival documents have revealed that the Venetian architect Marco Torresini (1668 – after 1731) executed a number of altars in Dalmatia distinguished by characteristic typological features and the use of decorative elements (Kali, Ist, Kraj, Premuda, Zadar/Obrovac, Šibenik, Žman, Split, Nerežišće, Bol, Trogir, Ždrelac, Molat, Tisno, Jezera and the tabernacle in Tisno; he is also considered the author of tabernacles on altars in Kraj and Ždrelac). The author advances the attribution of two side altars in Nova crkva (New Church) in Šibenik to Marco Torresini, dedicated to the Holy Cross and St Spyridon respectively and conceived in a similar manner with the exception of the form and decoration of the central niche. Torresini is also proposed as the author of the side altar in the right aisle of the parish church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Mali Lošinj, which features a relief of the Madonna and Child on the antependium and two angel figures on the sides of the tympanum. The altar can be dated to the third or fourth decade of the 18th century. Although archival records mention Torresini as sculptor, it remains unclear whether he personally executed some of the sculptural elements applied to his altars. Besides affinities with previously analysed sculptures on some of his altars, further similarities are revealed by the comparison of the figures of the Madonna and Child on the antependium of the altar in Mali Lošinj with the figures of two kneeling angels on the tabernacle of the altar in Kraj. Furthermore, statues of angels placed on the tympanum of the altar in Mali Lošinj show similarities with angels on the tympanums of Torresini’s altars in Premuda, Molat and Žman. Previous research has revealed that statues of St Simon with Child, St Thomas the Apostle, Faith and Hope on the high altar of the parish church of St Thomas the Apostle in Tkon on the island of Pašman show affinities with the works of Alvise Tagliapietra (1670–1747). The altar’s architectural frame displays common features with the Dalmatian altars erected by brothers Vicko and Pio Dall’Acqua between 1744 and 1801. The author provides a thorough stylistic analysis of the statues of Faith and Hope from the altar in Tkon and ascribes them to Alvise’s son and collaborator Carlo Tagliapietra on the basis of marked similarities with the sculptor’s works in Lentiai (Belluno) and with angels on the high altar of the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (“Our Lady of Angels”) in Veli Lošinj. The sculptural oeuvre of Carlo Tagliapietra is characterized by homogeneity in terms of style and quality, as well as by a determined dependence on the models acquired through collaboration with his father. These models could have been further exploited after his taking over the workshop which produced one of the most important ensembles of Venetian 18th-century sculpture, which opens the possibility of future identification of other works which would enlarge his sculptural oeuvre.
Keywords
altars; sculpture; 18th century; Marco Torresini; Carlo Tagliapietra; Venice; Mali Lošinj; Šibenik; Tkon
Hrčak ID:
157222
URI
Publication date:
1.1.2016.
Visits: 2.359 *