CAMPIONESE, MASTERS. - Sculptors, architects, stonecutters, natives of the lake of Lugano, active in northern Italy, already known in the 12th century as a guild, begin in the 13th century to sign their works, distinguishing individual personalities.
Descended from the Romanesque tradition, in its late period, with a less tormented and more rounded modeling, they develop an original plastic art for its decorative balance, colorful anecdotalism, restraint and essentiality of expression. As centers of production at the beginning of the 13th century they orient themselves toward Modena and Verona, Bergamo and Milan.
The attributions of certain works that remain anonymous are debated, such as the Arca di s. Agostino in Pavia and the Altare dei Re Magi in S. Eustorgio in Milan: the orientations are various, among which the most notable are the Veronese ones; recent criticism denies much value to the Tuscan contribution that came from Giovanni di Balduccio da Pisa, active in Milan in the 14th century.
In alphabetical order, the best-known personalities of the Campionese school are:
ANSELMO (documents of 1244). He worked in the cathedral of Modena.
BONINO (1397). Perhaps the most important master of this school. One of his earliest works is the Sarcofago di Lambertino Balduino in the old cathedral of Brescia: there follow the Arca di Folchino degli Schizzi in the cathedral of Cremona (1357); the Monumento di Stefano e Valentino Visconti in S. Eustorgio in Milan; the Arca di Bernabò Visconti at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan (between 1363-85); the Arca di Cansignorio della Scala in Verona (1370-75), a more complex and singular work for its movement of shadow and light and for certain pictorial accentuations that do not dissipate its plastic robustness.
ENRICO. He carved the pulpit of the cathedral of Modena (1322) and worked on the bell tower.
GIACOMO (d. 1398). He worked for the cathedral of Milan from 1387 onward. Notable is the sculptural work of the door of the northern sacristy of the cathedral of Milan, in which Gothic characteristics are evident, not without ultramontane influences.
GIOVANNI. The formative nucleus of his art is the Romanesque-Veronese experience: among his most notable works are the Statua equestre di s. Alessandro in S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, of a brusque summariness; the Storie del Nuovo Testamento in the baptistery of Bergamo (1340); the north door of S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo with the porch (1351-53), which can usefully be compared with that of the cathedral of Verona.
MATTEO (d. 1396). He worked on the pulpit and the facade of the cathedral of Monza.
UGO. An uncertain personality to whom works of contrasting style are traditionally attributed, such as the Arca Maggi in the old cathedral of Brescia; the Sarcofago di Alberico Suardi at Lurano; the Monumento al card. Longhi in S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, which seem to be works of an artist earlier than Giovanni, but not of Ugo.
Bibliography8 works
Maggi nel duomo vecchio di Brescia, in Dedalo, 5 (1924-25), pp. 147-55; C. Baroni, Scultura gotica lombarda, Milan 1944, pp. 31-61 and 95-121.
Gilda Rosa