Antonio Calegari

Altar of the Madonna in the Faustino e Giovita church in Brescia.

Antonio Calegari (born October 2, 1699 or 1698 (?) In Brescia , † July 15, 1777 in Brescia) was an Italian sculptor . He belonged to the generation of sculptors Filippo della Valle , Pietro Bracci and Giovanni Maria Morlaiter. He was contemporary of the painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, who shaped the epoch .

life and work

Origin and education

Antonio was the eldest son of Santo Calegari (called "il Vecchio"), who ran a sculpture workshop in Brescia. Santo is said to have learned the profession from a student of Alessandro Algardi . He is described as a particularly versatile artist who worked in all materials and was also an excellent draftsman and engraver. As is customary in family businesses, his two sons - Antonio and his younger brother Alessandro - joined his father's workshop at an early age and were trained by their father in the various techniques and materials. Although Antonio could have visited the great art centers of Venice , Milan and perhaps Rome for study purposes during his apprenticeship , he most likely did not have a regular education outside of his hometown.

Takeover of the workshop

On August 3, 1719, Santo il Vecchio in Brescia was so seriously ill that he had a notary called to draw up his will. The not exactly rich man died shortly afterwards and left his children, especially the eldest son Antonio, the responsibility for the family and a less profitable workshop. This received its commissions mainly from the long-established Brescian families, the Fathers of SS. Faustino e Giovita, of S. Agata and the Martinengo family.

Antonio married in 1720, and in November 1721, Santo was baptized as his first son, who later continued the family's sculpting tradition in the third generation with his younger brothers Luca and Giuseppe.

Stone carvings

The circumstances that often forced Calegari (like his father) to work as a stonemason, as a restorer, at best as a copyist , changed in 1727 when the vacant bishopric of the city was refilled. With Cardinal Angelo Maria Quirini (1680–1755), Brescia got a bishop who led the city and diocese to a cultural high point. When he took office, the construction work on the New Cathedral of Brescia, which had been inactive for a long time, was resumed and energetically pursued by the cardinal with great financial commitment. The foreign masters now employed acted like “cultural development aid” for the local artists, who knew how to adapt quickly to the metropolitan style - the most successful in the field of sculpture was by far Antonio Calegari.

Artistic breakthrough

Calegari had to wait until the mid-thirties of the century for his breakthrough as an artist. Only then did he have the chance to convince both local patrons and probably the most influential protector, Cardinal Querini, of his abilities. The “cathedral monument”, donated for the bishop by the city council, marks the turning point in the sculptor's career. Although the memorial is only of relative artistic importance in the context of the oeuvre and the bust of Querini was ordered from an external master, Calegari's sculptural art began to be appreciated in Brescia. Having become aware of Antonio through the monument that had been dedicated to him, the cardinal commissioned the sculptor for the two colossal choir statues of "Saints Gaudentius and Philastrius ". From now on, Calegari received more orders than he could carry out alone.

family business

In 1741 at the latest, his brother Alessandro had returned from his wanderings and returned to his father's business. Nothing is known about the organization of the family business, but there is much to suggest that the tasks were shared between the brothers. Alessandro, who had specialized in the execution of ornaments as a plasterer in Germany , also took on the jobs that had to be executed in perishable material in Brescia and the surrounding area (up to Trento). His decorations, as exceptionally made in marble in the Duomo Nuovo of Brescia, are nowhere recorded as they are handicrafts.

Accordingly, only two works have survived that Antonio is said to have worked in stucco himself. These are a now lost relief for the facade of the Biblioteca Queriniana in Brescia and the two lions with the Gaifami coat of arms in the family city palace. From 1735 he was so well supplied with orders for marble sculptures that he couldn't get around to carrying out smaller orders - like the four angel figures for the "Altare dello Spirito Santo" in the parish church of Alzano. The plaster or stucco statues, which were occasionally attributed to Antonio, were all made later, which can be inferred from the similarity with the marble sculptures.

The assumption that Antonio was a bronze sculptor, which is often claimed, is equally questionable. In some cases he designed the models for the casting; however, a bronze caster was always commissioned with the execution.

Late years

In the forties and fifties Antonio's reputation had already spread beyond the borders of the Brescian diocese. He was called to Cremona, Bergamo and the province of these dioceses. Since then Calegari has probably had several workshops - such as in Cremona - in which the marble was prepared by his employees for the final processing. Works of more artistically modest demands were made there independently based on models.

Antonio was over 78 years old and worked until his death. He died a wealthy man and was buried in his hometown in the parish church of SS. Nazaro e Celso.

student

A large number of Italian sculptors were strongly influenced by Antonio's figure inventions. It is therefore believed that some of them were trained in the Brescian workshop.

The only student known by name is Antonio Possenti (Bergamo 1738–1768 Rome). In his posthumous vita it can be read that the then fourteen-year-old, when he "heard of the fame of the Brescian sculptor ... " left his original teacher to work under Antonio. Possenti was with him for two years - between 1752 and 1754 - during which he made "... under the guidance of the great master ... unique progress ... ". Recommended by Cardinal Querini, he then completed his training in Rome with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi and later became a successful restorer and copyist.

For the younger generation of sculptors, the workshop, which is known and respected in Lombardy, was evidently of great attraction; The more talented - like Antonio Possenti - could expect instruction and support for their own careers from the training in Brescia, but it at least offered the less able a livelihood.

Many of the now unknown, former students continued to work in Antonio's tradition long after Antonio's death. The now innumerable wrong attributions are an obvious proof that his style continued to have an effect into the following century.

literature

• Bernd Noack: About the Brescian sculptor Antonio Calegari (1699–1777) . Dissertation, Free University of Berlin 1991.

Web links

• Photo of the cathedral portal with the statues of S.Agata, S.Lucia and S.Apollonia