The restoration of the Last Judgement by Bastianino in the apsidal semi-dome of the Cathedral represented a chance for the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara to preserve one of the most significant works in the city's cultural heritage. The age of Alfonso II has also been called the age of Tasso: and rightly so if we consider the extraordinary influence that this great poet's…

Bastianino as he emerges from Francesco Arcangeli's seminal work. Following the publication of his book on Bastianino, published by the Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara at the end of 1962, Francesco Arcangeli complained that not so much as one reviewer had made any effort to discuss his work. The complexity of the material, the difficulty involved in collocating the painter in the second half of…

Este culture in Bastianino's time, between classicism and new ferments. The year 1573 was an annus mirabilis for the court of Ferrara. The gradual disappearance of the earth tremors that had been tormenting the city for two years, the fervid reconstruction of the buildings damaged by the earthquake, and the hope of a solution to the political problem through alliances with Spain and the Empire…

A profile of Duke Alfonso II d'Este, during whose reign Bastianino lived and worked. Bastianino was born around 1532 and died in 1602; he was about twenty-seven when Alfonso II d'Este became duke of Ferrara, and was to outlive his lord, who died in 1597, by around five years. And so he spent virtually all of his working life under Alfonso's rule.

The modern reassessment of the painter began with the works in the Carmelite church. The damage caused in Ferrara by the earthquake of 16 November 1570 is mentioned in a treatise by Pirro Ligorio, the "antiquarian" in the service of Duke Alfonso II d'Este since 1568. After discussing the damage to the castle, Ligorio moves on to deal with the churches, pointing out that the…

Bastianino, the great decorator of the Castle in Ferrara. Today's restoration of the apsidal semi-dome in the Cathedral of Ferrara is currently revealing the most salient aspects of the artist who frescoed it in 1578, Sebastiano Filippi, known as Bastianino. The fresco in the Cathedral has its counterpoint in the decoration of the rooms (now reduced to three) in the Este Castle that Bastianino worked…

A brief history of the work, following its restoration under the supervision of the Musei Civici di Arte Antica. This St Jerome in the desert in the Church of the Madonnina is without doubt one of Bastianino's least well known works. The hermit saint is portrayed in contemplation of the Cross. This is the work of a Bastianino who had already seen the Sistine Chapel…

The destiny of this painting seems bound up with two situations in particular, the first of which was connected solely with its precarious state of conservation, a fact that made any analysis of the problems a rather tricky matter. The second situation ran parallel to great events inasmuch as, following the important exhibition of 1985, it was only thanks to a renewal of general interest…

Observation of the reverse of the painting, executed on five poplar panels two centimetres thick, revealed a very poor state of conservation and evident signs of a massive attack by xylophagous insects. The supporting structure, two trapezoidal cross members in deal, is original. Clearly the most worrying symptom of deterioration was the warping of the panels: a consequence of microclimatic variations that caused the wood…

The progressive dissolution of forms in Bastianino's painting. Visiting the rooms of the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Ferrara and lingering only over the paintings of Bastianino is rather like going back over the various stages of a pictorial and spiritual itinerary that is one of the most important in the history of art in Ferrara.The altar pieces (because here we are dealing, mostly, with large paintings)…

Bastianino's status in Papal Ferrara. The century that has just ended has witnessed the quasi-total rediscovery of Sebastiano Filippi. Ignored by Nino Barbantini in his 1933 catalogue of Ferrarese painting, the importance of Bastianino was pointed out the following year by Roberto Longhi, who expressed the hope that the forgotten painter might become the favourite of some young critic.

Bastianino's "LAST Judgement" in Ferrara Cathedral. After more than four centuries, the Last Judgement, the fresco by Bastianino in the apsidal semi-dome of Ferrara Cathedral, has been restored. The operation, sponsored by the Fondazione della Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara has successfully restored the painting to its original beauty. Bastianino was commissioned to decorate the cathedral's semi-dome in 1577, a task that took him three…

The restoration of the paintings in the apsidal semi-dome of Ferrara Cathedral. The complex task of restoring the paintings in the apsidal semi-dome began with an analysis of the materials. The results of the lab analyses were assessed in concomitance with information culled from historical documents. It was not clear how Bastianino had worked using the a secco method described in the contract; in fact,…

Notes on Rossetti's apse and its restoration. The year 2000 witnessed the completion of two major restorations in Ferrara Cathedral: that of Bastianino's painting in the apsidal semi-dome and the concomitant restoration of its architectonic setting, Biagio Rossetti's apse, exposed to the gaze of the citizens when the air raids of 1943 caused the collapse of the "coretto d'inverno" (the winter choir) that enclosed it…

Nel bilancio semestrale della Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara SpA, la caratteristica più eloquente è la qualità del dato. I numeri parlano da sé. La Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara Spa continua a crescere, in quantità, ma soprattutto in qualità. Per verificarlo basta scorrere rapidamente i dati del bilancio del primo semestre 2000, contrassegnati da vistosi segni "più", mentre gli unici due "meno" interessano il…

In occasione dell'apertura della filiale romana della Cassa, l'Osservatore Romano ha pubblicato questo interessante articolo di Franco Patruno. Non appaia strano un rapporto tra la salvaguardia del patrimonio artistico ed un istituto bancario. In una recente rassegna, recensita su queste pagine, su La leggenda del collezionismo (che aveva sede di esposizione alla Pinacoteca di Palazzo dei Diamanti di Ferrara), oltre a capolavori della Collezione Vittorio…

Tu che le vere cose altrui colorie le famose per antiche carte,pittor, fingesti mai con sì bell'arte sì belli ignudi i pargoletti Amori,o sì bel tra le lagrime e gli odoridi dura scorza in solitaria partenascer chi fé geloso il fiero Marte e la terra adornò di novi fiori,com'ora questo è bel ch'al nobil fiancodi costei, che celeste in terra sembrafu dianzi dolce peso e…

Ferrara. Voci di una cittàRivista semestrale di cultura, informazione e attualitàAnno 6, numero 13 - Dicembre 2000Registrata presso il Tribunale di Ferrara il 9 novembre 1994 con il numero 13/94. ISSN 1128-3572Spedizione in abbonamento postale c. 20/c, art. 2, l. 662/96Edizione fuori commercio, riservata ai soci e agli amici della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di FerraraComitato EditorialeFrancesca Bargellesi, Luciano Chiappini, Vittorio Emiliani, Giorgio Franceschini, Roberto…