Fables, Ruins, and the "bell'imperfetto" in the Art of Dosso Dossi

Abstract

In 1528 Bernardo Cles, the Prince Bishop and future Cardinal of Trent, began construction on the Magno Palazzo, a lavish extension of the medieval Castello del Buonconsiglio. The development of the Magno Palazzo transformed the seat of the bishop of Trent into a modern Renaissance palace. 1 The new building boasted such elaborate spaces as a grand reception hall, an impressive library, and a classically inspired courtyard complete with an open loggia. The palace rests on a small hill with a view of the city and Trentine mountains. Beginning in 1531 Cles employed a number of the north Italian artists, including Girolamo Romanino, Marcello Fogolino, and Dosso Dossi, to decorate nearly all the rooms in the new palace with expansive fresco cycles of secular and religious subjects. Although Cles was away in central Europe on diplomatic missions during most of the painting campaign, he kept in close contact with the project supervisors (soprastanti) and frequently wrote letters directly to the artists. As patron, he demanded regular progress reports on the development of his palace, scrutinizing and commenting upon [End Page S271] preliminary designs supplied by the artists. The wealth of written correspondence between Cles and his supervisors reveals that the decoration of the palace evolved through a dialogue between patron and artist. 2 There is no evidence that the artist's followed a preconceived or fixed program. Instead, the cardinal relied heavily on the painters he employed to devise their own pictorial inventions, and he frequently staged competitions among the artists for the most prestigious and lucrative commissions.