CAPPONI, Luigi di Pietro

(b. ~1465 Milano, d. ~1510 Roma)

Italian sculptor, active in quattrocento Rome with an oeuvre still quite unclear and undefined. He was born and, more than likely, trained in Milan (possibly in the workshop of Giovanni Antonio Amadeo) and went to Rome in the 1480s. He is first mentioned there in connection with the tomb of Francesco Brusati in the church of San Clemente in a document of July 8, 1485. Another document (March 8, 1496) links his name to the marble altar with the Crucifixion in the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione. Further documentation is unknown. However, on the basis of these two works, a substantial oeuvre has been ascribed to the Lombard sculptor.

Monument ot Antonio and Michele Bonsi (detail)

Among the works attributed to Capponi, the tomb monument to the brothers Antonio and Michele Bonsi, in the courtyard of the church of S. Gregorio Magno, holds a prominent place. The tomb, which follows the antique concept of the imago clipeata by displaying two busts of the deceased, was executed around 1500 and is among the best examples of this period. Two standing angels flank a central relief of the Madonna and Child.

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Two Angels

The origin of the two reliefs, representing youthful standing angels, is unknown. They are symmetrically conceived, flanking an unknown and possibly lost central image. They wear long, thin dresses all’antica, which are sleeveless and girded around the waist. In one hand each holds a long and elegantly shaped palm leaf, while the other hands, which are cut off at the edge of the marble block, probably pointed toward the central figure or composition. The angels stand on sketchy clouds, with small cherubim under their feet.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):

C�sar Franck: Panis angelicus

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