ANTELAMI, BENEDETTO. — Architect and sculptor. The surname is an appellation given, from the 12th century onward, to master masons and builders originating from the Val d’Intelvi, who formed a powerful guild in Genoa. Two works bear his signature and date: the high relief of the Deposition in the Parma Cathedral (1178) and the architrave of the northern door of the Parma Baptistery (1196). The Deposition was part of the pulpit of the Parma Cathedral, along with other fragments: four stylophoric lions, now placed in the Bernini Chapel of the Cathedral, three historiated capitals in the museum (the fourth is missing), and another carved relief depicting Christ in Glory flanked by the four symbols of the Evangelists, the four Doctors of the Church, and three angels, also in the museum (a third relief, which with the Deposition and Christ in Glory was walled into the parapet of the pulpit, has been lost). Between the pulpit and the baptistery, chronologically, falls the episcopal throne in the choir of the Parma Cathedral. In addition to the rich sculptural decoration of the
above-mentioned works, Antelami is also credited with the design of the Parma Baptistery, a masterpiece of the transitional period from Romanesque to Gothic art. — See Pl. CXIX.