CAPPONI, LUIGI

Image from page 431
Image from page 431

CAPRONI, Luigi. – A sculptor of the Lombard school, he flourished in the second half of the 15th century. In his works, almost all of them in Rome, he drew inspiration from ancient sculpture; two are documented and allow other works to be attributed to him: the tomb of Bishop Brusati (S. Clemente, Rome) and the altarpiece for S. Maria delle Grazie (Rome).

² The first (1485), executed with G. Della Pietra, repeats Florentine models; the second (1496) better conveys Capponi’s value: in the group, which depicts the Crucifixion between the Madonna and St. John, everything is carefully executed but lacks feeling, and the composition is disordered. Other works attributed to him include: an altarpiece in the Lateran baptistery (the St. John is a replica of the previous one); a ciborium and door of the Ospedale della Consolazione; a bas-relief for the altar of St. Gregory (S. Gregorio, Bonsi); the tomb of the Bonsi family (there); the latter, instead of recumbent statues, features the busts of the two brothers in niches, a solution of some originality.

Bibl.: D. Gnoli, L. C. da Milano, scultore, in Archivio storico dell'arte, 6 (1893), pp. 83-101; P. Giordani, Un altare distrutto in S. Giovanni in Laterano ed una statua del C., in L'ome, 11 (1908), pp. 231-34.