CIVITALE, Matteo

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale’s earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces.

The picture shows Adam.

In the 1480s Civitali and his workshop worked on many projects, the most important of which were the altar tomb of St Regulus and the chapel of the Volto Santo. The St Regulus monument is based on the tomb of Anti-pope John XXIII (c. 1425; Baptistery, Florence) by Donatello and Michelozzo; it includes some of Civitali’s most ambitious carving, for example three life-size marble figures of saints and a delicately carved frieze that recalls the relief styles of Desiderio da Settignano and Jacopo della Quercia.

The tomb includes some of Civitali’s most ambitious carving, for example three life-size marble figures of saints and a delicately carved frieze that recalls the relief styles of Desiderio da Settignano and Jacopo della Quercia.

The detail shows the sarcophagus of the bishop and the Virgin and Child.

Civitale was a pupil of Antonio Rossellino, however, he did not follow the painterly style of his master his works are more passive and introspective, like this nice woman portrait.

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale’s earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces.

The picture shows Eve.

Civitali demonstrated his talents as an architect and engineer in the bridge across the River Serchio at Moriano (1490), his fortifications at Lucca (1491) and the Palazzo Pretorio in Lucca, begun in 1494 but completed only after 1506, presumably by his son, Nicolao Civitali (1482-1560). While the overall design of this two-storey palace is derived from prototypes by Michelozzo and others and is probably Matteo’s work, a substantial part of the ornamental details and execution should tentatively be credited to Nicolao: most notably the decoration around the upper-storey mullioned windows, and the open loggia and blind arches on the ground-floor—elements found in later buildings in Lucca attributed to Nicolao.

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale’s earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces. In particular, the figures of St Elizabeth and St Zacharias possess a quality of realism and emotion similar to contemporary Emilian sculpture.

The picture shows St Elizabeth.

The small size of the work suggests that it was made for devotion in a private house.

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale’s earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces. In particular, the figures of St Elizabeth and St Zacharias possess a quality of realism and emotion similar to contemporary Emilian sculpture.

The picture shows St Zacharias.

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale’s earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces. In particular, the figures of St Elizabeth and St Zacharias possess a quality of realism and emotion similar to contemporary Emilian sculpture.

The picture shows the statues in the Cappella di San Giovanni on the niches in the wall left of the altar: from left to right are Isaiah, St Elizabeth and Eve. In the corner at right is Andrea Sansovino’s Virgin and Child (c. 1502).

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale’s earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces. In particular, the figures of St Elizabeth and St Zacharias possess a quality of realism and emotion similar to contemporary Emilian sculpture.

The picture shows the statues in the Cappella di San Giovanni on the niches in the wall right of the altar: from right to left are Habakkuk, St Zacharias and Adam. In the corner at left is Andrea Sansovino’s St John the Baptist (c. 1502).

In the 1480s Civitali and his workshop worked on many projects, the most important of which were the altar tomb of St Regulus (1484) and the chapel of the Volto Santo.

The Holy Face of Lucca (Volto Santo di Lucca) is a venerated wooden corpus of a crucifix, located in the free-standing octagonal Carrara marble chapel (the tempietto or “little temple”), which was built in 1484 by Matteo Civitali to contain it; the image in its tempietto stands in the right-hand nave of the Cathedral of San Martino in Lucca, Italy.

The chapel of the Volto Santo is an elaborate octagonal structure that demonstrates Civitali’s indebtedness to the architecture of Michelozzo and Brunelleschi. An elegant, semi-nude life-size statue of St Sebastian, set in an external niche, is derived from Antonio Rossellino’s St Sebastian (c. 1475; Empoli, Collegiata) and also recalls Perugino’s idealized youthful saints of the 1480s and 1490s.

The chapel of the Volto Santo is an elaborate octagonal structure that demonstrates Civitali’s indebtedness to the architecture of Michelozzo and Brunelleschi. An elegant, semi-nude life-size statue of St Sebastian, set in an external niche, is derived from Antonio Rossellino’s St Sebastian (c. 1475; Empoli, Collegiata) and also recalls Perugino’s idealized youthful saints of the 1480s and 1490s.

The Bertini tomb is a simple arcosolium tomb, based on earlier Florentine models and Palaeo-Christian tombs, and includes a life-size bust of the deceased carved in a veristic style akin to that developed by Benedetto da Maiano. It is supported on two marble skulls and a marble iliac bone: references to death not commonly found in Italian Renaissance sculpture at this period. The tone of the tomb is more medieval than Renaissance, and the style appears rather austere and severe when compared to other monuments by Civitali and his contemporaries.

Domenico Bertini (1417-1506) was a patron of Matteo Civitali helping him in opening the first printing press in Lucca in 1477. As operator in the Cathedral, he assigned numerous works to Civitali, including the Tempietto del Volto Santo.

Civitali’s earliest extant sculpture, the tomb of Pietro da Noceto (d. 1467) is dependent on the humanist wall tombs, most notably Bernardo Rossellino’s tomb of Leonardo Bruni (c. 1450, Santa Croce, Florence) and Antonio Rossellino’s tomb of the Cardinal of Portugal (c. 1466, San Miniato al Monte, Florence). The eclectic nature of the tomb reflects Civitali’s ability to borrow and synthesize from a variety of sources. Innovative details include a crisply carved frieze with garlands and griffins on the base and profile busts of the deceased and his son - who commissioned the tomb - placed in the lunette flanking the tondo of the Virgin and Child.

Civitali’s earliest extant sculpture, the tomb of Pietro da Noceto (d. 1467) is dependent on the humanist wall tombs, most notably Bernardo Rossellino’s tomb of Leonardo Bruni (c. 1450, Santa Croce, Florence) and Antonio Rossellino’s tomb of the Cardinal of Portugal (c. 1466, San Miniato al Monte, Florence). The eclectic nature of the tomb reflects Civitali’s ability to borrow and synthesize from a variety of sources. Innovative details include a crisply carved frieze with garlands and griffins on the base and profile busts of the deceased and his son - who commissioned the tomb - placed in the lunette flanking the tondo of the Virgin and Child.

Innovative details include a crisply carved frieze with garlands and griffins on the base and profile busts of the deceased and his son - who commissioned the tomb - placed in the lunette flanking the tondo of the Virgin and Child.

Innovative details include a crisply carved frieze with garlands and griffins on the base and profile busts of the deceased and his son - who commissioned the tomb - placed in the lunette flanking the tondo of the Virgin and Child.

Innovative details include a crisply carved frieze with garlands and griffins on the base and profile busts of the deceased and his son - who commissioned the tomb - placed in the lunette flanking the tondo of the Virgin and Child.

Civitale’s most important patron was the Lucchese humanist and statesman Domenico Bertini (c. 1417–1506). Among the many works he commissioned is the tomb of St Romanus. Civitale was gifted with technical proficiency and unfailing taste, and as through his all life he maintained his studio in his native town, Lucca in the later fifteenth century beame the main centre of Tuscan marble sculpture outside Florence.