Niccolò Dell'Arca

A lungo trascurato, "Dietro la porta" è uno dei capolavori di Giorgio Bassani. Lo scrittore vi tratteggia una sorta di archeologia della coscienza discriminatoria e razzista, e mostra con impassibile e commossa imparzialità i pregiudizi che lo stesso narratore-protagonista condivide con i suoi compagni di scuola: ostile alle femmine della classe, ai ragazzi provenienti da una classe rivale, agli allievi che vengono dal contado o da un'altra città, agli sciocchi e agli stupidi, che puzzano e pensano solo al sesso. Fino al giorno in cui scopre che anche lui, in quanto ebreo e "meticcio", rischia l'esclusione e la discriminazione, o peggio ancora, rischia di rendersi in anticipo complice e esecutore della persecuzione di cui sarà vittima fra alcuni anni.

Longtemps négligé, "Dietro la porta" est l'un des chefs-d'oeuvre de Giorgio Bassani. L'écrivain y esquisse une sorte d'archéologie de la conscience discriminatoire et raciste et montre avec une impartialité émue les préjugés que le narrateur-protagoniste partage avec ses camarades de classe, étant lui aussi hostile, comme eux, à la fois au jeunes filles de la classe, aux élèves d'une classe rivale, à ceux qui viennent de la campagne ou de la montagne, aux mauvais élèves, à ceux qui ne pensent qu'au sexe. Tel il continue à être jusqu'au jour où il découvre que lui aussi, en tant que juif et métèque, risque l'exclusion et la discrimination, voire, pire, risque de se rendre complice à l'avance des persécutions dont il sera victime dans quelques années, avec la promulgation de la législation raciale en Italie.

In three of his works, D’Annunzio talks about his visit to the Compianto sul Cristo Morto by Niccolò Dell’Arca, sculpted in the second part of the 15th century and preserved in Bologna. The aim of this paper is to analyse these passages in order to show how his description of this work of art, whose subject is inspired by the Gospels, combines classical reminiscences and his modern sensibility. Religion and Aestheticism – which finds expression in literature, art and music – coexist in a mystical vision meant to describe the writer’s initiation to music.

Niccolò dell’Arca’s terracotta Lamentation group (Santa Maria della Vita, Bologna) features a remarkable signature by the fifteenth-century sculptor. More than just a statement of authorship, the OPVS NICOLAI DE APVLIA (“the work of Niccolò of Apulia”), located on a scroll on the pillow supporting Christ’s head, actually touches Christ’s body and curls up as it does so. This element of contact, along with the epigraphic “portrait” of Niccolò, render the artist and his signature-object participants in the narrative drama. Issues of touch and presence are thus critical to understanding the inscription: the tactile quality of the clay, the presence of the artist in the scene, the scroll’s status as a fictive touch relic, and associations with the most famous touch relic in Western Christianity, the Holy Face image. Furthermore, this unique expression of authorship anticipates what is arguably the most famous signature in the West, that of Michelangelo on his Pietà.

Niccolò Coccari, Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino and Niccolò dell'Arca: The Winding Road to the Identification of an Early Renaissance Artist
When Adolflo Venturi wrote on the 15th century sculpture in Dalmatia (1908), he noticed the donatellesque character of Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino’s sculptural works and attempted to identify the artist with Niccolò Coccari da Firenze, Donatello’s collaborator at his high altar in the basilica of S. Anthony in Padua. Many scholars in the years to follow accepted Venturi’s identification for granted. However, based on the documents related to the payments of the stones carved by Coccari (1443–1449), we can assume that he was an able stonemason, but there is no evidence that he was either sculptor or architect and neither is there any indication that he was actually trained in Donatello’s
workshop. Apart from this, a more recent discovery of a document that proves that his father’s name was Antonio (A. Sartori), discards this identification by itself. Nevertheless, it is possible to follow Niccolò Coccari’s career into the 1450s. A certain Niccolò di Antonio da Firenze is mentioned among the stonemasons working on the base of the monument to Borso d’Este in Ferrara. Interestingly enough, some attempts were made to identify this master with Niccolò dell’Arca (I. B. Supino), but since he worked together with his partner Meo, who is also mentioned in Padua, there is little doubt that the stonemason mentioned in the document is actually Niccolò Coccari.

Nel 1494, alla morte di Niccolò dell'Arca, il giovane Michelangelo esule a Bologna, grazie all'intercessione del suo protettore bolognese Giovan Francesco Aldrovandi, viene incaricato di completare l'arca di San Domenico con tre statuette: San Petronio, San Procolo e un angelo porta candelabro. L' incisione, realizzata da Domenico Grosso nella prima metà del XVII secolo documenta una delle tante modifiche e trasformazioni subite dall'Arca di San Domenico nel corso di vari secoli.

Niccolò dell'Arca's terracotta Lamentation group in Santa Maria della Vita, Bologna, features a remarkable signature by the 15th-century sculptor. More than just a statement of authorship, the words OPVS NICOLAI DE APVLIA—"the work of Niccolò of Apulia"—are located on a scroll on the pillow supporting Christ's head. The scroll touches Christ's body and curls up as it does so, placing the artist and his signature as participants in the Passion drama. Issues of touch and presence are to be considered: the tactile quality of the clay, the presence of the artist in the scene, the scroll's status as a fictive touch relic, and associations with the highly venerated touch-relic of Western Christianity, the Veronica image. This unusual statement of authorship anticipates what is arguably the most famous signature in the West, that of Michelangelo on his Pietà.