CARADOSSO - b. ~1452 Modonico, d. 1527 ? - WGA

CARADOSSO

(b. ~1452 Modonico, d. 1527 ?)

Italian goldsmith, coin- and gem-engraver, jeweller, medallist and dealer (originally Cristoforo Foppa). Son of the goldsmith Gian Maffeo Foppa, from 1480 he served at the Milanese court with his father, eventually becoming personal goldsmith and jeweller to Ludovico Sforza (il Moro), Duke of Milan. In 1487 Caradosso was in Florence, where his appraisal of an antique cornelian was highly esteemed. He worked in Hungary in the service of King Matthias Corvinus, probably in August 1489; a later visit to the court was cut short by the King’s death (1490).

Between 1492 and 1497 Caradosso travelled to various Italian towns to buy jewels and other precious objects for Ludovico il Moro. He visited Rome, Viterbo and Florence early in 1496, when the Medici family’s possessions were sold off after the expulsion of Piero de’ Medici (1471-1503) from Florence. After the fall of Ludovico il Moro in 1500, Caradosso remained for some years in Lombardy. In 1501 he was involved in negotiations to sell a number of marble busts and statues, presumably antique, to Ludovico Gonzaga, Bishop of Mantua; in 1503 he formed part of a committee to judge the plans for a door in Milan Cathedral; in 1505 he tried to persuade Isabella d’Este, Marchesa di Mantua, to buy a vase (untraced) he had made of 49 engraved crystals set in enamelled and gilt silver, but she rejected it because it was too big. He was in contact with the Mantuan court again in 1512 and in 1522-24.

Medal of Julius II

Caradosso was Bramante’s collaborator for architectural ornament for his Milanese projects. The reverse of this medal shows Bramante’s plan for St Peter’s. This and a second medal, with a slightly different portrait, were cast for the founding of St Peter’s.

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Medal of Julius II

Caradosso (Cristofore Foppa) was an Italian medallist, son of Maffeo Foppa, goldsmith, and Fiora de Carminalibus de Brambilla. According to Giorgio Vasari, a 16th-century biographer of artists, Caradosso designed the medal which was placed under one of the crossing piers of Saint Peter’s during a ceremony on 18 April 1506. The medal is one of the few sources for the design of Bramante’s St. Peter’s project.

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Medal of Julius II

Caradosso was an Italian goldsmith, coin- and gem-engraver, jeweller, medallist and dealer. Vasari reported that he made portrait medals of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, Julius II and Bramante, and this has provided the basis for all the additional attributions made by modern writers, although none of his coins or medals is documented.

Of the three medals of Julius II by Caradosso, the first one (shown here) has an obverse with the bust of the Pope to the right, wearing cope and orfrey, the reverse giving a view of Saint Peter’s, Rome, according to Bramante’s design.

The inscription on the obverse around circumference: IVLIVS LIGVR PAPA SECVNDVS MCCCCCVI. The inscription on the reverse around top circumference: TEMPLI PETRI INSTAVRACIO; around bottom circumference: VATICANVS M[ons].

A second medal with an identical reverse depicts the Pope on the obverse wearing a skull-cap and mozzetta. The same obverse of the first medal occurs on the third piece, but its reverse shows a shepherd seated under a tree.

Caradosso’s portrait of Julius II characterizes the superhuman strength and energy of that formidable Pontiff. These medals at once proved very popular and became the standard portrait of Julius II and was imitated by other medallists.

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