DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44629#0011
PREFACE.
The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie at Milan, is one of the noblest ecclesias-
tical edifices of the north of Italy; it was erected during the second half of the 15th
century, the period of the perfect development of Italian Art, and the greatest names
alike of architects, painters, and sculptors, are quoted as having concurred in the execu-
tion of the various details, which render it a complete school of decorative art.
The edifice itself is said to have been completed betwixt the years 1464 and
1493, under the patronage or direction of the celebrated Duke Ludovico Sforza, called
“Il Moro.”
The Sacristy of this church is one of its most remarkable features; the walls are
lined with a series of presses or cupboards (“ Scaffale ”), intended to hold the
priests’ vestments and the utensils of the altar. The exterior of these presses is
exquisitely painted, mainly in imitation of the “ tarsia ” or wood inlaying, so
favourite a process at a somewhat earlier period. This system of painted decoration
forms the subject of the present work, and as an instance of pure ornamentation by one
of the greatest artists of the epoch of the revival, it is thought that no apology need be
offered for its publication.
The invention, and most likely also in great measure the execution, of the paint-
ings, is attributed to Bernardino Luini, a celebrated Lombard scholar of Leonardo da
Vinci, whose labours were mainly comprised within the period 15001525, to which
epoch the “ Scaffale may therefore with all probability be referred.
J. C. ROBINSON.
The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie at Milan, is one of the noblest ecclesias-
tical edifices of the north of Italy; it was erected during the second half of the 15th
century, the period of the perfect development of Italian Art, and the greatest names
alike of architects, painters, and sculptors, are quoted as having concurred in the execu-
tion of the various details, which render it a complete school of decorative art.
The edifice itself is said to have been completed betwixt the years 1464 and
1493, under the patronage or direction of the celebrated Duke Ludovico Sforza, called
“Il Moro.”
The Sacristy of this church is one of its most remarkable features; the walls are
lined with a series of presses or cupboards (“ Scaffale ”), intended to hold the
priests’ vestments and the utensils of the altar. The exterior of these presses is
exquisitely painted, mainly in imitation of the “ tarsia ” or wood inlaying, so
favourite a process at a somewhat earlier period. This system of painted decoration
forms the subject of the present work, and as an instance of pure ornamentation by one
of the greatest artists of the epoch of the revival, it is thought that no apology need be
offered for its publication.
The invention, and most likely also in great measure the execution, of the paint-
ings, is attributed to Bernardino Luini, a celebrated Lombard scholar of Leonardo da
Vinci, whose labours were mainly comprised within the period 15001525, to which
epoch the “ Scaffale may therefore with all probability be referred.
J. C. ROBINSON.