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Senior representatives of the Venetian Republic inspired distinguished noblemen and rich citizens in Venice, as well as in Terraferma and Stato da Mar, to perpetuate their memory through lavish commemorative monuments that were erected in churches and convents. Their endeavour for self-promotion and their wish to monopolise glory could be detected in the choice of material for the busts that adorned almost every monument: marble. The most elaborate monument of this kind belongs to the Brutti family, erected in 1695 in Koper Cathedral. In 1688 the Town of Labin ordered a marble bust of local hero Antonio Bollani and placed it on the facade of the parish church. Fine examples of family glorification could be found in the capital of Venetian Dalmatia – Zadar. In the Church of Saint Chrysogonus, there is a monument to the provveditore Marino Zorzi, adorned with a marble portrait bust. Rather similar is the monument to condottiere Simeone Fanfogna in Zadar’s Benedictine Church of Saint Mary and the monument to the military engineer Francesco Rossini in Saint Simeon. All these monuments embellished with portrait busts have a common purpose: to ensure the everlasting memory of important individuals. This paper analyses comparative examples, models, artists, as well as the desires of clients or authorities that were able to invest money in self or family promotion, thus creating the identity of success., Postavljanje spomenika uglednim članovima zajednice, posebno državnim i vojnim dužnosnicima, učestalo je u Veneciji te na njezinim posjedima Stato da Terra i Stato da Mar. Po uzoru na javne dužnosnike, brojni su privatni naručitelji ulagali velika novčana sredstva kako bi ime i djela zaslužnih članova obitelji ostala zauvijek zapamćena. Jedan od načina bilo je podizanje komemorativnih spomenika, ne nužno i nadgrobnih, na javnim mjestima ili u crkvama. Članovi venecijanske obitelji Barbaro financirali su 1679. godine gradnju pročelja venecijanske crkve Santa Maria del Giglio ukrašeno s pet velikih kipova braće Barbaro u prirodnoj veličini. Kipove i poprsja javnih dužnosnika, napose vojnih zapovjednika, podizali su gradovi kao izraz zahvale za dobrobit koje je slavljena osoba učinila na korist komune. Takvi su spomenici postavljeni u Zadru, Šibeniku, Splitu, Korčuli i Kotoru, a veći dio njih nije se sačuvao zbog odluke venecijanske vlasti iz 1691. godine kojom se naređuje uklanjanje takvih spomenika i natpisa kako bi se suzbilo glorificiranje pojedinaca i njihovih zasluga naspram Serenissime. Kip generalnog providura Leonarda Foscola postavljen u dvorište palače Arneri u Korčuli doživio je preinake kako bi se istaknule zasluge lokalne obitelji povezane uz toga visokog mletačkog dužnosnika. Mramorne biste gradskih knezova postavljaju se na komunalne palače u Kopru, ali i na crkvena pročelja, što je na istočnoj jadranskoj obali bio rijedak slučaj. Danas još jedino bista senatora Antonija Bollanija iz 1688. godine, junaka Morejskog rata (1684.–1699.) stoji na pročelju župne crkve u Labinu. Nadgrobni komemorativni spomenici kakav je, primjerice, onaj Girolama Cecconija iz 1642. godine u franjevačkoj crkvi u Šibeniku, isticali su zasluge pojedinca uz njegov u kamenu ovjekovječeni lik nadvišen obiteljskim grbom. U drugoj polovici 17. stoljeća mijenja se oblik komemorativnih grobnica kada se za njih u Veneciji naručuju portretne biste izrađene al naturale u mramoru. Takvih je nevelik broj, a prva među njima je ona providura Marina Zorzija iz 1675. crkvi svetog Krševana, potom ona contea Simonea Fanfogne iz 1707. godine u crkvi svete Marije te konačno komemorativna bista vojnog inženjera Francesca Rossinija u crkvi svetog Šime, također u Zadru. No najsloženiji i najveličanstveniji komemorativni spomenik jednog roda je onaj obitelji Brutti iz 1695. godine u koparskoj katedrali. Na njemu su tri mramorne biste članova obitelji, a popraćene su kipovima Ljubavi i Snage. Taj je spomenik jedini primjer složenijega baroknog concetta na istočnoj jadranskoj obali koji uključuje biste pokojnika i kipove personifikacija. Može se zaključiti kako je kipove i biste živućih providura, gradskih kneževa te ratnih junaka postavljala zahvalna Komuna slaveći tako zasluge pojedinca učinjene na opću dobrobit. Drukčijeg karaktera su komemorativni, ne nužno i nadgrobni spomenici postavljeni u crkve. Njih je odreda podizala rodbina zbog vječne uspomene i zasluga svoga pokojnog člana, ali i u slavu obiteljskog imena. U slučaju obitelji Brutti u koparskoj katedrali može se govoriti o dinastičkoj glorifikaciji triju generacija iste obitelji po uzoru na venecijanske primjere. Naposljetku, teško je zamisliti da bi se itko sjećao, primjerice, providura Marina Zorzija koji je u četrdeset trećoj godini života te nakon samo tri mjeseca službe 1675. godine umro u Zadru. No njegova je rodbina ‘pobijedila’ vrijeme i zaborav postavivši mu spomenik s portretnom bistom izrađenom u skupocjenom mramoru, materijalu predviđenom za vječnost.

New scholarly insights about the sculptor and altar builder Antonio Michelazzi (Gradisca d’Isonzo, 1707 – Rijeka, 1771) have revealed him as a far more complex creative personality than it has been known so far. In this paper, the authors have attributed to him the marble statues of St John the Baptist and St Mark on the high altar of the parish church of San Biagio in Cinto Caomaggiore. Michelazzi’s authorship of the marble altar of the Holy Cross in the parish church of the Assumption of Mary in Rijeka has also been confirmed, based on a certificate from 1740 on the receipt of 150 gold coins for work on this altar. Besides Michelazzi’s statues in Cinto, there is a statue of Faith on the high altar, identified as work of the Venetian sculptor Francesco Cabianca (Venice, 1666-1737). A number of other sculptures have been attributed to him, including two marble angels in the parish church of Preganziol, which have been dated in 1697 and were originally located in the church of San Cristoforo in Udine. Cabianca is the author of four marble statues of the Evangelists (auction house), as well as of sculptural decoration on the high altar of the parish church of Sant’Andrea in Cereda. His catalogue of private commissions has been enriched with five newly attributed marble busts from the second decade of the 18th century. These include the busts of Flora and Apollo in the Winter Garden of Saint Petersburg, a bust of a girl (auction house) and two busts of girls from the convent of San Lazzaro degli Armeni in Venice. The marble relief of Ecce Homo in the church of Il Redentore in Venice and the angels on the altar of the Blessed Sacrament in the church of St Simeon in Zadar have also been attributed to Cabianca. Finally, a terracotta sculpture of St John the Evangelist (auction house) has been identified as the first model for a large marble statue of the same saint at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice.

Nikola Lazanic, born on the island of Brac, is the most important late Renaissance sculptor in Croatia. His sculptural opus includes only three signed works. The earliest is a relief stone altarpiece from 1578 with a Madonna with the Child and St Peter and Paul in the church of St Peter in Nerežisce on the island of Brac. From 1581 to 1584, the master was active in Rome, and in 1589 in Dubrovnik, where he produced his two anthological statues, St Blaise and St Jerome, for the old church of the city’s patron saint. Nikola was also a painter, so in 1591 he took an apprentice whom he pledged to teach sculpture and painting for ten years. The last mention of the master is a signed altarpiece painted in 1593 for the Chiesa dei Carmini in Bitonto. This paper focuses on a previously unknown stone bust of Christ with a crown of thorns – Ecce Homo. It is located outside of its original context, in the garden of the parish house in Noventa Padovana, in the eastern suburbs of Padua. The bust bears the master’s signature: NICvs . LASANEVS . F. It is hypothetically dated to the ninth decade of the 16th century, when the master supposedly stayed in Venice and Veneto. Also, the author suggests a possible pictorial model for Lazanic’s work, an engraving based on Titian’s Ecce Homo, printed in Venice in the third quarter of the 16th century.

Nella piccola cittadina di Ceregnano, non lontano da Rovigo nel XVIII secolo venne costruita la chiesa parrocchiale di San Martino.1 I testi delle visite pastorali del vescovo di Adria Giovanni Soffietti (1733 - 1747) riportano che il vecchio edificio sacro era troppo piccolo per poter accogliere il crescente numero di abitanti e per tale motivo si decise per la costruzione di una nuova chiesa che nel 1739 però non era ancora terminata.2 La relazione della visita pastorale, compiuta a fine secolo nel 1792, dal vescovo Arnaldo Speroni degli Alvarotti (1766 - 1800), riferisce che l’altare maggiore era intitolato al Santissimo Sacramento, i quattro altari laterali erano dedicati alla Santa Croce, alla Madonna del Rosario, a Sant’Antonio e alla Madonna del Carmelo. La chiesa a navata unica e con l’abside a pianta semicircolare fu radicalmente rinnovata sia nel corso del XIX che del XX secolo. Tra le decorazioni scultoree della lineare facciata ad intonaco si evidenziano due statue in pietra collocate in nicchia. A sinistra San Bellino di Padova, vescovo dell’omonima città e patrono della diocesi di Adria e Rovigo, a destra la statua di San Martino vescovo di Tours cui è intitolata la chiesa. Entrambe le opere sono senza dubbio da attribuire a Giovanni Bonazza (Venezia 1654 – 1736, Padova) e lo stile esecutivo le colloca cronologicamente attorno al 1700.3 Ciò indicherebbe che molto verosimilmente vennero prese dalla vecchia parrocchiale e collocate sulla facciata del nuovo edificio.

Stilske su mijene u opusu nekog kipara za istraživače podjednako izazov i izvor nedoumica. To se posebno može primijeniti na istraživanje i pokušaj prepoznavanja mladenačkih radova određenog majstora u trenutku kadasu još jaki utjecaji njegova učitelja. Također, nedovoljno iskustvo u svladavanju složenijih skulptorskih zadatka za majstora na početku karijere, često onemogućuje ispravnu valorizaciju njegova djela. Međutim, pojam mladenačkih ostvarenja u opusima kipara djelatnih u Veneciji Sei i Settecenta treba se uzeti s oprezom. Naime, za većinu su majstora slabo poznati njihovi učitelji, a još slabije djela iz razdoblja kada su sigurno već bili samostalni majstori,odnosno tijekom njihovih dvadesetih i tridesetih godina. Slična se situacija mogla sve do nedavno zamijetiti i u ranom opusu kipara Giovannija Bonazze (Venecija, 1654. – Padova, 1736.) budući da je arhivski najranije zabilježen1684. kada je kipar imao već trideset godina. Iscrpnim proučavanjem cjelokupnog Giovannijevog opusa, Simeone Guerriero s pravom je predložio da bi potpisani reljef s prikazom Navještenja iz župne crkve Svetog Mateja u Dobroti u Boki Kotorskoj trebalo smatrati najranijim kiparevim djelom nastalim oko 1679. godine, kada kipar kleše i dvije Sibile te putta nad ulaznim portalom venecijanske crkve Santa Maria del Giglio. U tom je najranijem razdoblju Bonazza čvrsto vezan uz likovni jezik svog učitelja - Michelea Fabrisa zvanog l’Ongaro (Bratislava, oko 1644. – Venecija, 1684.). Tipologiju likova kao i način klesanja meke i zgužvane draperije uz obilnu upotrebu svrdla Giovannije preuzeo od učitelja, ali ju je oplemenio vrlo individualnom notom zbog koje njegovi likovi zrače živošću i ljupkošću. Međutim, ovdje iz Bonazzinog opusa treba izuzeti mramorni kip Gospe od Ružarija iz vrta na otočiću San Servolo te ga pripisati njegovu učitelju L’Ongaru. Tu atribuciju nedvojbeno potvrđuje usporedba kipa sa San Servola s L’Ongarovim alegorijskim skulpturama Agrikulture ili Istine iz Cappelle Vendramin u nekadašnjoj venecijanskoj katedrali San Pietro di Castello. Stoga bi se Gospa od Ružarija mogla kronološki smjestiti u prvu polovinu osmog desetljeća 17. stoljeća kada nastaju skulpture u Cappelli Vendramin, odnosno prije nego što krajem 1680. nastaju njegova stilski drukčija i manje rafinirana djela za Cappellu del Capitolo u crkvi San Clemente in Isola. Ako se primjerice usporedi Ongarova Gospa od Ružarija sa San Servola s Bonazzinom Gospom od Pojasa iz župne crkve u mjestu Gardigiano pokraj Scorzèa, mogu se uvidjeti formalne razlike između učitelja i učenika, odnosno Bonazzino eksperimentiranje sa znanjem usvojenim od L’Ongara. Uz dosad najranije Bonazzino djelo iz Dobrote ovdje treba uvrstiti i dosad nepoznato djelo koje se vrlo precizno može smjestiti u 1679. godinu. Riječ je o mramornoj bisti Giovannija Arsenija Priulija podestata Kopra, danas izloženoj u gradskom muzeju, a izvorno smještenoj u niši iznad natpisa u njegovu čast na pročelju Pretorske palače nekadašnjeg glavnog grada Istre. Mramorno se Priulijevo poprsje bez ikakve ograde izvrsno uklapa među najranija djela Giovannija Bonazze, točnije uz palu Navještenja u Dobroti. U licu ovog izuzetnog koparskog djela nastalog pod dlijetom dvadesetpetogodišnjeg majstora, mogu se prepoznati odjeci umjetnosti Giusta Le Courta i L’Ongara, iako to na prvi pogled možda i nije toliko vidljivo. No, za razliku od pristupa portretnim bistama ove dvojice starijih kipara, Bonazza je providurov izraz lica omekšao i „zasladio”, davši mu ujedno prigušenu karikaturalnu notu, tako tipičnu za njegov cjelokupni kasniji opus. Godina 1679. koja povezuje Dobrotsko Navještenje, kiparski ukras portala venecijanske Santa Maria del Giglio te koparsku bistu Arsenija Priulija,može poslužiti kao ishodišna točka u ranom majstorovu opusu. U to vrijeme, ili nešto malo kasnije treba ubrojiti dosad nepoznati mramorni reljef s likom Bogorodičine glave iz župnog stana u sklopu kompleksa hospicija SantaMaria dei Derelitti u Veneciji. Ovaj se izvrsni reljef može povezati s dva druga istovjetne tematike te smatrati jednim od ishodišnih primjera Bonazzine omiljene teme, vrlo popularne za privatnu pobožnost i kolekcionare.U opusu Giovannija Bonazze čest je lik Bogorodice, bilo da je riječ o skulpturi, poprsju ili reljefu s prikazom njezine glave. Njegovu Marijanskom katalogu ovdje treba pribrojiti i jednu vrlo lijepu mramornu skulpturu Bogorodices Djetetom, smještenu na ogradni zid vrta na kraju calle Trevisan, tik nad istoimenim mostom (Ponte Trevisan) u venecijanskom sestieru Dorsoduro. Ovu bi Bogorodicu valjalo datirati oko 1700 te je stilski smjestiti kao prijelaznu točku između istovjetnog kipa iz Komiže na Visu nastalog početkom 1680. te Bogorodice s Djetetom iz Ville Pisani u mjestu Strà iz prvog desetljeća 18. stoljeća. Stilski se razvoj ovog motiva u Bonazzinom opusu vidi i u Bogorodici s Djetetom iz 1711. što se nalazi u mjestu Cona u Venetu, a koja mu se ovdje također pripisuje. Ovaj se niz može zaključiti kasnom djelu; Bogorodici s Djetetom iz katedrale u Montagnani izrezbarenoj 1733. godine. Giovanni Bonazza bio je, poput mnogih venecijanskih kipara Sei i Settecenta podjednako operativan u mramoru i drvu. Njegov skroman sačuvani opus u drvu broji svega nekoliko skulptura, od kojih čak tri raspela: ono iz padovanske Scolette del Santo nastalo 1715., potom jedno iz privatne zbirke izrezbareno 1718. te ono učinjeno 1733. za crkvu Santa Lucia u Padovi. Spomenutim raspelima ovdje treba priključiti i ono koje im stilski i kronološki prethodi, a to je drveno procesijsko raspelo iz crkve Sant’ Andrea u Padovi u kojem treba prepoznati majstorovo drvorezbarsko remek-djelo. Virtuoznom obradom drva, koje je pod kiparevim dlijetom jednako podatno i meko kao njegova ostvarenja u mramoru, Giovanni Bonazza iznova pokazuje kako za njega ne postoje ograničenja vezana uz materijal ili tehniku kojom se izražava. Izmučeno Kristovo lice porijeklo vuče iz Bonazzinog mladenačkog rada, reljefa s prikazom Krista okrunjenog trnovom krunom, danas u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu. S obzirom na stilske podudarnosti s drugim majstorovim djelima, raspelo iz crkve Sant’Andrea trebalo bi datirati u početak, odnosno prvo desetljeće 18. stoljeća. Ovaj prilog opusu u drvu kipara Giovannija Bonazze nadopunjuje njegova dosad poznata tri raspela. Time on postaje najvažniji kipar, uz Andreu Brustolona, koji jeostavio traga u ovoj, do danas, još uvijek slabo proučenojgrani mletačkog kiparstva iz vremena baroka. Još bi se jedan lijepi rad u drvu mogao pripisati Bonazzi, a to je velika gloriola od oblaka i kerubina postavljena nad oltar u Cappelli Giustachini u padovanskoj crkvi Santa Maria delCarmine, a može se datirati u prvo desetljeće 18. stoljeća Kronološki slijed ovdje novo pridodanih djela katalogu Giovannija Bonazze trebalo bi zaključiti mramornim bistama svetog Ivana Evanđelista i Marije što su izložene u knjižnici venecijanskog samostana San Lazzaro degli Armeni. Ove biste zapravo predstavljaju setečentističke varijante poprsja Krista i Marije kipara Giusta Le Courta na glavnom oltaru u crkvi San Domenico u Chioggi ili one u chiesetti di Ca’ Nave u Cittadelli. Biste sa San Lazzara upućuju i na poprsje Krista u zbirci dvorca obitelji Thun u gradu Ton u regiji Trentino-Alto Adige. Kristovo poprsje određeno je kao djelo nepoznatog venecijanskog kipara te datirano okvirno između 1690. i 1720. godine. No, imajući u vidu čitav niz sličnosti, od inklinacije glave, načina klesanja kose, mekog i ljupkog Kristova lica koje je pak pandan Marijinom sa San Lazzara, čini se da ništa ne priječi da se i bista iz Castel Thuna uvrsti u Bonazzin kasni opus. Katalog djela najstarijeg Giovannijeva sina Francesca Bonazze (Venecija oko 1695. – 1770.) recentno je obogaćen s nekoliko važnih skulptura u Veneciji. Ovim dosad poznatim djelima, ovdje treba priključiti i jedan zabat s kamenim kipovima dva ležeća anđela i puttom na vrhu, koji se nalaze na glavnom oltaru u crkvi Santa Caterina na otočiću Mazzorbo u Laguni. Najpoznatiji te po kvaliteti i stvaralačkoj originalnosti najosebujniji Giovannijev sin, Antonio Bonazza (Padova, 1698. – 1763.) odavno je prepoznat i ubrojen među najznačajnije venecijanske kipare Settecenta. On je, poput svog oca, podjednako stvarao u mramoru i u drvu. Nedavno je prepoznato njegovo izuzetno lijepo i kvalitetno drveno procesijsko raspelo iz crkve Svetog Mihovila u Korčuli, a koje je 1745. naručila bratovština Gospe od Pojasa-Utjehe. Međutim, korčulansko raspelo nije jedini Antonijev rad koji se čuva u Dalmaciji, već njegovom opusu ovdje treba pribrojiti i jednu umjetninu iz zadarske regije. To je mramorni tabernakul ukrašen puttima, kerubinima te Djetetom Isusom na vrhu, a što se nalazi na glavnom oltaru župne crkve svetog Lovre u mjestu Kali na otoku Ugljanu. Njegov se kiparski ukras može povezati s Antonijevim anđeoskim likovima na mramornoj skulpturi Marijinog uznesenja iz katedrale u Padovi. Treba naglasiti da je tabernakul s Ugljana u biti skromnija verzija onog što ga je potpisao Antonio 1738. za glavni oltar župne crkve u mjestu Carrara San Giorgio. Tabernakul Antonija Bonazze u Kalima predstavlja dragulj među kiparski ukrašenim svetohraništima 18. stoljeća na istočnom Jadranu. Tu na prvom mjestu treba istaknuti čudesno lijepo svetohranište Alvisea Tagliapietre iz katedrale u Osoru, potom ono na glavnom oltaru u zadarskoj crkvi Gospe od Zdravlja kao i svetohranište Giuseppea Torrettija na glavnom oltaru župne crkve u Fažani. Sve ove tabernakule povezuje činjenica da nisu zamišljeni i izvedeni kao arhitektura u malom, već kao djela gdje je u potpunosti prevladala kiparska dekoracija. Od navedenih je svetohraništa Antonijevo u Kalima vremenski najkasnije pa je i oblik njegove dekoracije odmjeren, lagan te živahan. Stoga se ono može okarakterizirati ne kao dostojanstveni i strogi seičentistički tempietto, već kao gracilna rokoko kutijica, nalik ljupkoj dječjoj igrački. Ovdje pridodana djela Giovanniju, Francescu i Antoniju Bonazzi, kao i Giovanijevu učitelju L’Ongaru, pokazuju da su opusi venecijanskih kipara iz razdoblja 17. i 18. stoljeća kudikamo od zaključivanja i konačnog broja dosad objavljenih djela. Ne čudi stoga da je opus Giovannija Bonazze, jednog od najproduktivnijih i najosebujnijih kipara barokne Venecije uopće, i dalje u fokusu istraživanja. Tim više treba naglasiti da se o njegovoj produkciji u drvu relativno malo zna s obzirom na skroman broj sačuvanih umjetnina. Stoga je svako novo obogaćenje njegova opusa u tom mediju važno za upotpunjenje složene i stilski varirajuće slike o ovom velikanu venecijanskog kiparstva.

The oeuvre of the sculptor Paolo Callalo (Venice 1655-1725) is a paradigmatic example of how the oeuvres of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Venetian sculptors have been expanded, supplemented and revised during the last twenty years. Until Simone Guerriero’s ground-breaking article of 1997, Paolo Callalo was almost completely unknown. In his search for Callalo’s earliest preserved work, Simone Guerriero suggested that Callalo was responsible for the stipes of the altar of St Joseph, featuring the relief of the Flight into Egypt flanked by two putti which are almost free standing, which was made between 1679 and 1685 for San Giovanni Crisostomo at Venice. However, another significant sculpture can now be added to the catalogue of Callalo’s early works: a memorial monument to the Bishop of Nin Francesco Grassi (Chioggia, 3 October 1667 – Zadar, 29 January 1677) which is located on the left presbytery wall in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta at Chioggia. As we learn from its commemorative inscription, the monument was commissioned by Paolo Grassi, the nephew of the deceased who was a prominent member of this aristocratic family from Chioggia. The Grassi (de Grassi) family produced as many as three bishops of Chioggia: Pasquale (1618-1639), Francesco (1639 -1669) and Antonio (1696-1715) who was a brother of Francesco, the Bishop of Nin, and a great-nephew of the first two. The monumental memorial to the Bishop of Nin Francesco Grassi in the presbytery of Chioggia Cathedral consists of a rectangular marble plaque topped with a semi-circular pediment with two reclining putti. Immediately below, two more putti are depicted flying and drawing a curtain in front of an oval niche containing the bishop’s bust, the commemorative inscription and the bishop’s coat of arms set in a wreath. All the elements of this excellent work point to Paolo Callalo’s hand. The bishop’s bust was most probably created posthumously by relying on one of the portraits of the bishop as a source model. It depicts him as having a somewhat square face with a lively mouth opened in a melodramatic way and as having probing eyes with emphasized pupils, all of which characterize Callalo’s sculpting technique. A direct parallel for such a physiognomy can be found in the 1686 sculpture of St Michael in San Michele in Isola at Venice. Two remarkably beautiful and skilfully modelled putti which are drawing the curtain can be connected to the putti on the stipes of the altar of St Joseph in San Giovanni Crisostomo at Venice, but also with a putto on the keystone of a niche on the 1684 altar of St Teresa in the Church of the Scalzi. The richly draped marble curtain being drawn by the two flying putti is an example of Callalo’s thorough knowledge of contemporary sculptural innovations and trends in Venice. He could have seen a similar curtain on the 1677 monument to Giorgio Morosini in San Clemente in Isola at Venice, which belongs to the oeuvre of Giusto Le Court, the most important Venetian sculptor of the second half of the seventeenth century. That Callalo was no stranger to this type of decoration is also demonstrated by one of his later works, now sadly lost, the contract for which set out the terms for the sculptural decoration of the high altar in the old Venetian church of La Pieta. In 1692 Callalo agreed to make for this high altar ‘a curtain out of yellow marble of Verona being held by putti’. The stylistic analysis of the memorial to the Bishop of Nin Francesco Grassi indicates that it was erected in a relatively short period of time after the bishop’s death in 1677. It seems highly likely that it was made in the early 1680s or around 1686 at the latest because in that year Callalo made the statue of St Michael in San Michele in Isola. The memorial to the Bishop of Nin Francesco Grassi in Chioggia Cathedral is the first monument on the left-hand side of presbytery wall which would in time become a ‘mausoleum’ of the Grassi family. Around the same time or perhaps somewhat later, the Bishop of Chioggia by the name Francesco Grassi was honoured posthumously with a memorial containing a bust portrait that can be attributed to Giuseppe Torretti (Pagnano, 1664 – Venice, 1743). This group of episcopal memorials in the presbytery of Chioggia Cathedral ends with 1715 when Alvise Tagliapietra (Venice, 1680 – 1747) made the tomb for Bishop Antonio Grassi while he was still alive. Callalo’s Dalmatian oeuvre is relatively modest and consists of the following works so far identified as his: two marble angels set next to the high altar in the Parish Church at Vodice and four music-making putti at the sides of the high altar as well as those on a side altar in the Parish Church at Sutivan on the island of Brac. However, Callalo’s hand can also be recognized in a statue from a large-scale sculptural group which adorned the altar of the Blessed Sacrament in Zadar Cathedral. The altar structure was built by Antonio Viviani in 1719 while Francesco Cabianca (Venice, 1666-1737) carved the majority of the altar’s rich sculptural decoration. At the centre of the altar is a niche with a relatively small marble statue of Our Lady of Sorrows with the dead Christ in her lap. It is difficult to find a place for this marble Pieta from Zadar in Francesco Cabianca’s catalogue especially with regard to his Pieta above a door in the cloister of the Frari Church at Venice in 1714. Compared to the Zadar Pieta, Cabianca’s Venetian Pieta displays a number of differences: a crisper chiselling technique, a certain roughness of workmanship, robust bodies as well as a different treatment of the figures’ physiognomies and drapery. However, the Pieta from Zadar can be added to the catalogue of Paolo Callalo’s works. The carefully modelled figure of Our Lady of Sorrows and the soft drapery which spreads outwards in a radial fashion around her feet can be compared to the statues of Faith and Hope on the altar of the Blessed Sacrament in Udine Cathedral, which was made after 1720. The statue of the Risen Christ on the tabernacle of the aforementioned altar from Udine provides a parallel for the modelling of Christ’s body and, in particular, his face with a restrained expression. The same can be said for the Risen Christ on the tabernacle of the Parish Church at Clauzetto, which I also attribute to Callalo, as well as for earlier, more monumental, examples such as the Christ from the 1708 altar of the Transfiguration in the Parish Church at Labin. Callalo’s memorial to the Bishop of Nin Francesco Grassi in Chioggia is an important indicator of his personal stylistic development. He transformed his stylistic expression from the robust energy of this ‘youthful work’ at Chioggia to the lyrical poetics characterized by softness which can be seen in his late work, the Pieta on the altar of the Blessed Sacrament in the Cathedral of St Anastasia at Zadar. It is likely that future research in Venice, Dalmatia and the rest of the Adriatic coast will expand Paolo Callalo’s already rich oeuvre and confirm the important place he holds in Venetian sculpture as one of its protagonists during the late Seicento and early Settecento.

As the former capital of Dalmatia, Zadar abounded in monuments produced during the 17th and 18th century, especially altars, statues, and paintings. Most of this cultural heritage had been lost by the late 18th and the first decades of the 19th century, when the former Venetian Dalmatia was taken over by Austrian administration, followed by the French and then again by the Austrian one. Many churches were closed down, their furnishings were sold away or lost, and the buildings were either repurposed or demolished. One of them had been home to two hitherto unpublished angels-putti located on the top of the inner side of the arch in the sanctuary of Zadar’s church of Our Lady of Health (Kastel) at the end of Kalelarga (Fig. 1). Both marble statues were obviously adjusted and then placed next to the marble cartouche with a subsequently added inscription from 1938, which tells of a reconstruction of the church during the time it was administered by the Capuchins. The drapery of the right angel-putto bears the initials I. G., which should be interpreted as the signature of the Venetian sculptor Giuseppe Groppelli (Venice, 1675-1735). This master signed his full name as IOSEPH GROPPELLI on the base of a statue of St Chrysogonus, now preserved in the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art in Zadar (Fig. 2). Same as the signed statue of St Anastasia by master Antonio Corradini (Fig. 3), it used to form part of the main altar in Zadar’s monumental church of St Donatus, desacralized in 1798. Recently, two more angels have been discovered, inserted in the tympanum of the main altar in the church of Madonna of Loreto in Zadar’s district of Arbanasi, the one to the right likewise bearing the initials I. G. (Fig. 4). Undoubtedly, these two artworks were once part of a single composition: the abovementioned former altar in the church of St Donatus, transferred to the cathedral in 1822 and reconstructed to become the new altar in the chapel of St Anastasia. Giuseppe and his younger brother, Paolo Groppelli, led the family workshop from 1708, producing and signing sculptures together. Therefore, the newly discovered statues produced by Giuseppe are a significant contribution to his personal 174 Damir Tulic: Nepoznati anđeli Giuseppea Groppellija u Zadru... Ars Adriatica 6/2016. (155-174) oeuvre. It is difficult to distinguish between his statues and those by his brother, but it is generally believed that Paolo was a better artist. It is therefore important to compare the two sculptures, as they are believed to have been made independently. Paolo’s statue of Our Lady of the Rosary (1708) was originally located in the former Benedictine church of Santa Croce at Giudecca in Venice, and acquired early in the 19th century for the parish church of Veli Losinj. If one compares the phisiognomy of the Christ Child by Paolo to that of Giuseppe’s signed sculpture of angel-putto in Zadar, one can observe considerable similarities (Figs. 5 and 6). However, Paolo’s sculptures are somewhat subtler and softer than Giuseppe’s. The workshop of Giuseppe and Paolo Gropelli has also been credited with two large marble angels on the main altar of the parish church in Concadirame near Treviso, as they show great similarity in style to the angels in Ljubljana’s cathedral, made around 1710 (Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10). The oeuvre of Giuseppe and Paolo Gropelli can also be extended to two kneeling marble angels at the altar of the Holy Sacrament in the Venetian church of Santa Maria Formosa, with their marble surface somewhat damaged (Figs. 11 and 12). Coming back to the former main altar in Zadar’s church of St Donatus, it should be emphasized that it was erected following the last will of Archbishop Vettore Priuli (1688-1712), that contains a clearly expressed desire that the altar should be decorated as lavishly as possible. As the construction contract has been lost and the appearance of the altar remains unknown, it can only be supposed what it may have looked like (Fig. 13). It is known that the altar included an older, 13th-century icon of Madonna with the Child, which was later transferred to the Cathedral and is today preserved in the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art. Scholars have presumed that the altar may had the form of a triumphal arch, with pillars enclosing the pala portante with an older icon and statues placed lateraly. However, it can also be presumed that the executors of the archbishop’s last will, canons Giovanni Grisogono and Giovanni Battista Nicoli, found a model for the lavish altar in Venice, in the former altar of the demolished oratory of Madonna della Pace. That altar had been erected in 1685 and included an older Byzantine icon of Madonna with the Child. It was later relocated to Trieste and its original appearance remains unknown, but can be reconstructed on the basis of its depiction on the medal of Doge Alvise IV Mocenigo (1764), preserved in the parish church of Plomin (Fig. 14). This popular solution undoubtedly served as a model for the main altar in the church of Madonna delle Grazie at Este (Fig. 15), constructed between 1692 and 1697. Today’s appearance of the chapel of St Anastasia does not reveal much about its previous altars (Fig. 16). A recently discovered document at the State Archive of Zadar sheds a new light on the hypothesis that the old main altar was transferred from St Donatus in 1822 and became, with minor revisions, the new altar of St Anastasia, demolished in 1905. According to a contract from 1821, the saint’s altar was designed by Zadar’s engineer and architect Petar Pekota, and built by parish priest Giovanni Degano by using segments from older altars, including that of St Donatus. The painting ordered for the new altar, Martyrdom of St Anastasia by Giuseppe Rambelli from Forli (Fig. 17), is the only surviving part of the 19thcentury altar. The overall reconstruction of the chapel of St Anastasia took place between 1903 and 1906, according to a project of architect Ciril Metod Ivekovic, which intended to have the chapel covered in mosaics ordered from Venice. However, during the reconstruction works, remnants of 13th-century frescos were discovered in the apse and the project had to be altered. The altar from 1822 was nevertheless demolished and a new marble mensa was built, with a new urn for the saint’s relics, made in the Viennese workshop of Nicholas Mund, as attested by receipts from 1906 (Fig. 18). A hundred years after the intervention, another one took place, in which the marble altar was disassembled and replaced by a new one, made of glass and steel, yet bearing the old marble urn of Bishop Donatus.