Ars Adriatica, No. 6, 2016.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Unknown Angels by Giuseppe Groppelli in Zadar and the Former Altar of St Anastasia in the Cathedral
Damir Tulić
; Odsjek za povijest umjetnosti, Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Sažetak
As the former capital of Dalmatia, Zadar abounded in monuments produced during the 17th and 18th century, especially altars, statues, and paintings. Most of this cultural heritage had been lost by the late 18th and the first decades of the 19th century, when the former Venetian Dalmatia was taken over by Austrian administration, followed by the French and then again by the Austrian one. Many churches were closed down, their furnishings were sold away or lost, and the buildings were either repurposed or demolished. One of them had been home to two hitherto unpublished angels-putti located on the top of the inner side of the arch in the sanctuary of Zadar’s church of Our Lady of Health (Kaštel) at the end of Kalelarga (Fig. 1). Both marble statues were obviously adjusted and then placed next to the marble cartouche with a subsequently added inscription from 1938, which tells of a reconstruction of the church during the time it was administered by the Capuchins. e drapery of the right angel-putto bears the initials I. G., which should be interpreted as the signature of the Venetian sculptor Giuseppe Groppelli (Venice, 1675-1735). This master signed his full name as IOSEPH GROPPELLI on the base of a statue of St Chrysogonus, now preserved in the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art in Zadar (Fig. 2). Same as the signed statue of St Anastasia by master Antonio Corradini (Fig. 3), it used to form part of the main altar in Zadar’s monumental church of St Donatus, desacralized in 1798. Recently, two more angels have been discovered, inserted in the tympanum of the main altar in the church of Madonna of Loreto in Zadar’s district of Arbanasi, the one to the right likewise bearing the initials I. G. (Fig. 4). Undoubtedly, these two artworks were once part of a single composition: the abovementioned former altar in the church of St Donatus, transferred to the cathedral in 1822 and reconstructed to become the new altar in the chapel of St Anastasia. Giuseppe and his younger brother, Paolo Groppelli, led the family workshop from 1708, producing and signing sculptures together. Therefore, the newly discovered statues produced by Giuseppe are a significant contribution to his personal oeuvre. It is difficult to distinguish between his statues and those by his brother, but it is generally believed that Paolo was a better artist. It is therefore important to compare the two sculptures, as they are believed to have been made independently. Paolo’s statue of Our Lady of the Rosary (1708) was originally located in the former Benedictine church of Santa Croce at Giudecca in Venice, and acquired early in the 19th century for the parish church of Veli Lošinj. If one compares the phisiognomy of the Christ Child by Paolo to that of Giuseppe’s signed sculpture of angel-putto in Zadar, one can observe considerable similarities (Figs. 5 and 6). However, Paolo’s sculptures are somewhat subtler and softer than Gi- useppe’s. The workshop of Giuseppe and Paolo Gropelli has also been credited with two large marble angels on the main altar of the parish church in Concadirame near Treviso, as they show great similarity in style to the angels in Ljubljana’s cathedral, made around 1710 (Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10). The oeuvre of Giuseppe and Paolo Gropelli can also be extended to two kneeling marble angels at the altar of the Holy Sacrament in the Venetian church of Santa Maria Formosa, with their marble surface somewhat damaged (Figs. 11 and 12).
Coming back to the former main altar in Zadar’s church of St Donatus, it should be emphasized that it was erected following the last will of Archbishop Vettore Priuli (1688-1712), that contains a clearly expressed desire that the altar should be decorated as lavishly as possible. As the construction contract has been lost and the appearance of the altar remains unknown, it can only be supposed what it may have looked like (Fig. 13). It is known that the altar included an older, 13th-century icon of Madonna with the Child, which was later transferred to the Cathedral and is today preserved in the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art. Scholars have presumed that the altar may had the form of a triumphal arch, with pillars enclosing the pala portante with an older icon and statues placed lateraly. However, it can also be presumed that the executors of the archbishop’s last will, canons Giovanni Grisogono and Giovanni Battista Nicoli, found a model for the lavish altar in Venice, in the former altar of the demolished oratory of Madonna della Pace. That altar had been erected in 1685 and included an older Byzantine icon of Madonna with the Child. It was later relocated to Trieste and its original appearance remains unknown, but can be reconstructed on the basis of its depiction on the medal of Doge Alvise IV Mocenigo (1764), preserved in the parish church of Plomin (Fig. 14). This popular solu- tion undoubtedly served as a model for the main altar in the church of Madonna delle Grazie at Este (Fig. 15), constructed between 1692 and 1697.
Today’s appearance of the chapel of St Anastasia does not reveal much about its previous altars (Fig. 16). A recently discovered document at the State Archive of Zadar sheds a new light on the hypothesis that the old main altar was transferred from St Donatus in 1822 and became, with minor revisions, the new altar of St Anastasia, demolished in 1905. According to a contract from 1821, the saint’s altar was designed by Zadar’s engineer and architect Petar Pekota, and built by parish priest Giovanni Degano by using segments from older altars, including that of St Donatus. The painting ordered for the new altar, Martyrdom of St Anastasia by Giuseppe Rambelli from Forli (Fig. 17), is the only surviving part of the 19th-century altar. The overall reconstruction of the chapel of St Anastasia took place between 1903 and 1906, according to a project of architect Ćiril Metod Iveković, which intended to have the chapel covered in mosaics ordered from Venice. However, during the reconstruction works, remnants of 13th-century frescos were discovered in the apse and the project had to be altered. The altar from 1822 was nevertheless demolished and a new marble mensa was built, with a new urn for the saint’s relics, made in the Viennese workshop of Nicholas Mund, as attested by receipts from 1906 (Fig. 18). A hundred years after the intervention, another one took place, in which the marble altar was disassembled and replaced by a new one, made of glass and steel, yet bearing the old marble urn of Bishop Donatus.
Ključne riječi
Zadar; 18th-century Venetian sculpture; Giuseppe Groppelli; Paolo Groppelli; church of St Donatus; chapel of St Anastasia; Petar Pekota; Giovanni Degan; Giuseppe Rambelli
Hrčak ID:
170760
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2016.
Posjeta: 2.739 *