VUOLVINIO - Detail of the rear part of the golden altar of V. Note the two roundels with the donor Angilbert bearing a square nimbus and the artist, both crowned by St. Ambrose (for the front part of the altar v. vol. IX, pl. XLVII). Milan,
VOLVINIO (VOLVINIUS). - Goldsmith active in the first half of the 9th century, author of the golden altar, a masterpiece of Carolingian goldsmithing, offered by Archbishop Angilbert II (824-59) to St. Ambrose's in Milan.
It is the four-sided facing of the high altar with plates of gold and gilded silver worked in repoussé and chased, adorned with enamels, precious stones, pearls and filigree. On the front part Christ is depicted enthroned between the symbols of the Evangelists and the 12 Apostles and 12 scenes from his life; on the rear part: 12 scenes from the life of St. Ambrose and 4 medallions with the archangels Michael and Gabriel, St. Ambrose crowning the donor, Angilbert, and the author VVOLVINI(US) MAGIST(er) PHABER, and the dedicatory inscription, here and there reworked; on the sides, the cross adored by Angels and Saints. The panels of the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost, removed ca. 1588, were redone ca. 1598-99; there are reports of other tamperings in 1235 and 1337, despite the strict precautions taken for the safekeeping of the altar. If the attempt to date the work to the 12th century is to be rejected outright, the hypothesis that the front part may be a reworking of the Ottonian period (2nd half of the 10th century), on the basis of suggestive iconographic comparisons, deserves instead to be taken into consideration.
Bibliography9 worksVenturi, II, pp. 232-42; L. Beltrami, Ancora il ciborio e l'altare d'oro nella bas. di S. Ambrogio, in Rassegna d'Arte, 2 (1902), pp. 147-51
BIBL.: Venturi, II, pp. 232-42; L. Beltrami, Ancora il ciborio e l'altare d'oro nella bas. di S. Ambrogio, in Rassegna d'Arte, 2 (1902), pp. 147-51; A. Ratti, Per la storia del palliotto d'oro di S. Ambrogio, ibid., pp. 185-86 (reproduced in id. [Pius XI]. Scritti storici, Florence 1932, pp. 187-94); G. Biscaro, Note e documenti Santambrosiani, in Arch. st. lomb., 31 (1904), p. 348; 32 (1905), pp. 64-81, 91; P. Toesca, St. dell'arte ital., Turin 1927, pp. 425-27, 438-39; anonymous, s. v. in Thieme-Becker, XXXIV (1940), p. 588; G. Bishop Tatum, The paliotto of Sant'Ambrogio at Milan, in The Art Bulletin, 26 (1944), pp. 25-45; P. Foote Norton, Note on the Renaissance panels of the paliotte, ibid., pp. 46-47.
Frutaz, Amato Pietro. “Vuolvinio (Volvinio).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII, coll. 1638–1639. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1954. https://azioneromana.com/article/vuolvinio-volvinio.
MLA
Frutaz, Amato Pietro. “Vuolvinio (Volvinio).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1954, coll. 1638–1639. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/vuolvinio-volvinio.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec12_vuolvinio_volvinio,
author = {Frutaz, Amato Pietro},
title = {Vuolvinio (Volvinio)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {XII},
pages = {1638--1639},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1954},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/vuolvinio-volvinio}
}
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