LOCATION: Morbegno (Sondrio), Santuario della B.V. Assunta e - S. Lorenzo – Sacristy

DIMENSIONS: 96,5x78,5 cms

PROVENANCE: original location

CHRONOLOGY: first quarter of the XVI century

AUTHOR: Domenico da Blevio (attribution)

SUBJECT(S): The Crucified Christ Adored by the "Confraternita della Compagnia dei Battuti"

CRITICAL NOTES: Preserved ab origine in Morbegno Sanctuary together with other four stained-glass w. (q.v. Morbegno Santuario della Beata Vergine Assunta and S. Lorenzo 1,2,3,4). St. Peter, St. Martin shares his cape with a poor man, Nativity (aisle window), rose w. with Heads of cherubs (counterfaςade).
Nava (1980) recognizes northern influences in the sumptuous draperies. He dates the panels to the first quarter of the XVI century and attributes them to Domenico da Blevio. The attribution is confirmed by the recorded payments found by Leoni (1981) which assign this and other windows to the "Magister Dominichus de le Invedriate de Como" (Domenichus Master of the stained-glass w. in Como) (q.v. Morbegno Santuario della Beata Vergine Assunta and S. Lorenzo 1). It’s about the master glassmaker Domenico Cazzanore from Blevio, that since 1490 had directed the yard at the Duomo of Como taking the place of Guglielmo della Porta. After realizing the windows in the church of Morbegno (1503-1505) in 1534, about 30 years later, Domenico received money from the same Confraternita dei Battuti that ruled the Santuario, for the works at a small window in the Sacresty with the Crucifix adored by two Battuti. To this last commision refer both the pre-payment of 2 liras "pro parte invidriate fiende in sacrisita" and the settlement of 9 liras for the window and the net "pro sacristia" (Archive of the Sanctuary, Liber credentiae, f. 98r; Leoni, 1981). The insistence on graffito designs for the drapery and the suffered characterization of the head of Christ, of northern influence, links the work to the windows of Morbegno, dating to the first decade. Yet, the semplification of the scene and the cursive character of the outline reveal the maturity of both the period and the artist. Similar features have been noticed in the two panels of the Chiesa di S. Giorgio a Grosio (Geddo, 1998), included in the catalogue together with other two windows by the same master from Como that later joined to the group of Morbegno. (q.v. index by the name of the artist under the entry Domenico Cazzanore). It was presented at the exhibition "Dal fulgore delle pagine miniate al colore-luce delle vetrate" (from the splendour of the miniated pages to the colour-light of the stained-glass windows). Trivulziana, Ven. Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano. C.V.M.A. Italia, Milano, 1988.

CONDITIONS: in good conditions, except for some fractures and a glass fragment missing. The uncoloured bosses of the surround are original. A great part of the figurative elements are painted with silver stain.
Preservative restoration: Milano, 1988, Ven. Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano – directed by the architect E. Brivio.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Atti della Visita…. V. II, 1895-1898, p. 209; Zecchinelli, 1951, p. 109; Zecchinelli, 1966, p. 69; Nava, 1980, pp. N. n. (ripr.); Rossi-Rovetta, 1988, p. 239, n° 55; Geddo, pp. 165, 174-175 and note 65

PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS: Archivio CVMA – Italia ( Foto Studio Forini)

EDITOR: Cristina Geddo (February 2000)