NICOLA OF GUARDIAGRELE. - Abruzzese goldsmith and sculptor, b. in the last decade of the fourteenth century, d. before 1462.

His first works, all signed and dated (ostensory of Francavilla a mare, 1413; ostensory of Atessa, 1418; processional cross of Lanciano, 1422) declare him to be part of the international Gothic currents prevailing in Abruzzese goldsmithing in the early fifteenth century, after the medieval affirmations of the schools of Sulmona and Teramo. From the same milieu of Guardiagrele he drew the first stimuli of his formation, but from 1431 onward he assimilated numerous elements of Florentine inspiration, in particular from Ghiberti. The Crosses of Guardiagrele (1431), of Aquila (1434) and of Monticchio (1436) present in various forms the elaboration of these new elements. So too the antependium of the cathedral of Teramo (1433-38), a masterpiece of Abruzzese goldsmithing, the Lateran Cross (1451), down to the last documented work of N., the bust of St. Justin in the cathedral of Chieti (1455), but entirely remade in 1721. A series of stone sculptures (lunette with the Coronation of the Virgin on the portal of S. Maria Maggiore in Guardiagrele, the reliefs with the Angel and the Annunciate of the Museo del Bargello and of the facade of the cathedral of Teramo) document him as a notable sculptor as well as goldsmith. His activity as a painter, on the other hand, is disputed.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: F. Ferrari, N. da G., Chieti 1903; S. I. A. Churchill, N. da G., in Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft, 7 (1914), pp. 81-93, later translated in Albia, 4 (1924), pp. 232-40 (with complete bibl.); V. Balzano, La Madonna con il Bambino dipinta nel 1494 da N. da G., in Albia, 4 (1924), pp. 35-42; C. G. E. Blunt, The Goldsmiths of Italy, London 1926, see index; anonymous, s. v. in Thieme-Becker, XXV, p. 434; E. Carli, N. da G. e il Ghiberti, in L'arte, 42 (1939), pp. 144-66, 222-37.

Giovanni Carandente

@incollection{ec8_nicola_da_guardiagrele, author = {Carandente, Giovanni}, title = {Nicola da Guardiagrele}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1847--1848}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/nicola-da-guardiagrele} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Nicola of Guardiagrele

About this entry