ROSETO, JACOPO da BOLOGNA called R. – Goldsmith, active in Bologna during the last decades of the 14th century, of whom detailed biographical information is lacking.
In 1380 he signed the reliquary of the head of S. Petronio, commissioned by the commune of Bologna (now in the sacristy of S. Stefano), and in 1383 that of the head of S. Domenico, displayed in the church of the same name in Bologna. These are the masterpieces of Emilian Gothic goldsmithing. The reliquary, constructed according to the scheme of a polygonal miniature temple opened by mullioned windows,
supported by a shaft set upon a high base, enabled R. to display exceptional technical skill in enamels (whose figural compositions recall the painting of local Trecento artists), cast statuettes, and ornamental motifs engraved, repoussé, and pierced in gilded silver, also enriched with corals. The assured technique and singular refinement of execution are worthy of praise; less so is the superabundance of very minute details, to the detriment of a clear geometric line. Technical analogies, employed, however, in a more elegantly Gothic and less worn style, lead to the attribution to his school of a certain Jacopo di Michele, author of the valuable reliquary of the finger of S. Tommaso d'Aquino in S. Domenico in Bologna.