Francisci Zavae Cremonen. Orationes IV. Epistolarum lib. VIII. Carminum lib. III.

Autore: ZAVA, Francesco (fl. 2nd half of the 16th cent.)

Tipografo: Vincenzo Conti

Dati tipografici: Cremona, 1569


THE ANGUISSOLA SISTER PAINTERS IN CREMONA

4to (207x145 mm). [4], 14, 295, [1] leaves. Collation: *4 πA-πC4 πD2 A-EEEE4. Leaf EE4 is a blank. Final quire EEEE is present twice in this copy. Register at l. EEEE3r, errata on ll. EEEE3v and EEEE4r. Each section opens with a separate title page: Oratio prima […] pro rei literariae veteri instituto servando (Cremona, Vincenzo Conti, 1568, l. πA1r); Oratio secunda […] adversus gymnasiarchiam (Cremona, Vincenzo Conti, 1568, l. A1r); Oratio tertia […] in pub. Vergilium (Cremona, Vincenzo Conti, 1568, l. L1r); Epistolarum familiarium […] libri VIII (Cremona, Vincenzo Conti, 1569, l. FF1r); Carminum libri tres (Cremona, Vincenzo Conti, 1569, l. RRR1r). Roman and italic type. Printer's device on title pages. Woodcut initials and ornaments. 18th-century half vellum, lettering piece on spine (slighlty worn and rubbed). Ownership entry on title page “Conventus San.me Annu.te Parme / Bonav.a a Parma” (also repeated on some of the section title pages). Stamp of the same Parma monastery on general title-page verso. Some marginal staining, occasionally slightly browned, all in all a good, wide-margined copy.

First edition of Francesco Zava's collected works, which include four orations, eight books of letters (epistolae familiares), and three books of poems.

Zava was a poet, orator, and professor at the Cremona gymnasium, and in fact in the first two orations he deals with the reopening and reoganization of the public school in Cremona that had been closed for a long time because of the wars the city had suffered. Other local scholars such as Tartesio, Vettioli, and Faballi attacked him and a controversy arose over Zava's project to open more than one school as it had always been the tradition in Cremona. The dispute continued until, at the end of the century, the city council entrusted public education to the Jesuits.

Of particular interest in the fourth oration is the mention of several commissions for the Cremona painters, the Anguissola sisters (ll. 84v-85v). Amilcare Anguissola (c. 1492-1573), a merchant and politician of Genoese origin who moved to Cremona, was a great lover of art and encouraged his six daughters to develop their artistic skills, sending them to study painting with the local master Bernardino Campi. Amilcare also hosted the painter Giorgio Vasari in Cremona in 1568. Besides the famous Sofonisba (1532-1625), the other Anguissola sisters were: Elena (1536-1585), Lucia (c. 1536-1568), Minerva (1539-1566), Europa (c. 1548-1578), and Anna Maria (c. 1555-1611).

A certain competition among the sisters is evidenced by the participation of Europa, Sofonisba and Lucia in a joint pictorial venture, namely the series of portraits of illustrious personalities that decorated the bedroom of Pietro Antonio Lanzoni known as Tolentino, a descendant of a noble family and the canon of Cremona's cathedral. According to Zava, Tolentino, who was bedridden with illness, consoled himself from his enforced idleness by contemplating illustrious ancient and modern personalities (including himself) “in optimis studiis igniculos”, i.e. people who inspired a love of study. Among these portraits was one of the Cremonese architect Benedetto Ala: “Those who see this panel recognize the distinguished appearance of Benedetto when he was alive and grasp the marvellous and almost divine genius of the artist [...] few know that it is a work by Lucia Anguissola, sister of Sofonisba”. On the same page Zava also mentions a series of portraits of pontiffs painted by Europa Anguissola, but it is not clear whether they belonged to the same collection. He then praises Sofonisba, who had been in the service of the Queen of Spain, and also cites Minerva and Anna Maria as daughters of Amilcare Anguissola and Bianca Ponzoni. Finally, he mentions Brocardo Persico, an illustrious citizen of Cremona, who is known to have owned a self-portrait of Europa in his palace in Milan (cf. C. Gamberini, Sofonisba Anguissola, London, 2024, p. 47; see also M.W. Cole, Sofonisba's Lesson. A Renaissance Artist and her Work, Princeton-Oxford, 2019, p. 80; and D. Pizzagalli, La signora della pittura: vita di Sofonisba Anguissola, gentildonna e artista nel Rinascimento, Milan, 2003, p. 61).

Among the recipients of Zava's letters, which are rarely dated, are: Marco Antonio Maioragio, Francesco Rozono, Mario Nizolio, Giuseppe Oliva, Cristoforo Magno, Jacopo Merola, Pietro Pallavicino, Ludovico Molia, Giacomo Antonio Muzio, Cesare Donello, Girolamo Vida, Cesare e Sigismondo, Brumano, Girolamo Pozzo, Girolamo Grasso, Andrea Lucio, Flavio Fiocco, Francesco Belloni, Paolo Manuzio, Carlo Sigonio, Cesare e Francesco Robortello, Sigismondo Picinardi, Sebastiano Regolo, Cristoforo Torniolo, Giacomo Antonio Muzio, Scipione d'Este, Lorenzo Celio, Daniele Barbaro, Pietro Prandi, Tommaso Venosta, Tito Amalteo, Bartolomeo Pozzallo, just to mention a few. The collection also contains letters by Lorenzo Celio, Daniele Barbaro, and Pietro Prandi addressed to the author.

The poems are mostly dedicated to prominent personalities of Cremona, such as Niccolò Sfondrati, bishop of Cremona and future Pope Gregorio XIV, Girolamo Vida, Scipione d'Este, Giovanni Battista Mainoldi, Girolamo Monti, Ludovico Marchi, to whom is addressed a satirical poem on gout (Paradoxon in podagram), Pietro Prandi, Lorenzo Celio, and others. The poem on ll. 263v-264v celebrates the entry in Cremona of Rudolph and Ernest, sons of the Emperor Maximillian. The poems on ll. 267r-269 celebrates the wedding between Giuseppe Glossano e Francesca Oliva. The poem on ll. 274r-276 is dedicated to the memory of the author's parents, Bartolomeo Zava and Margherita Lancia. A short poem on l. 277r celebrates the marriage between Carlo Schinchinelli and Europa Anguissola. At the end of the section is a long Egloga. Pagallus, Thyrsis, Puer (ll. 290r-294v).

Edit 16, CNCE48360; USTC, 864263.


[13275]