Ricerche su Antonio Campi

My dissertation is an investigation on Antonio Campi, a Cremonese painter, sculptor, architect, cosmographer and historian, with a special focus on the artist’s youth. Antonio’s earlier years are the hardest to account for, since, at least until 1560, the artist works in the family workshop, led by his brother Giulio. The first chapter sketches an overview of the reception of Campi’s work among critics and collectors, from Vasari’s reference to Antonio, to the 20th century debates. The second chapter proposes a historical and stylistic reconstruction of the artist’s youth: after outlining the main features of the contextual background of Cremona at that time, I focus on the artist’s works in the 40s and 50s, often realized with his brother. The analysis of Antonio’s language, especially in its evolution, aims at formulating a convincing account of the timeline of Campi’s works, as well as getting a better understanding of the artist’s cultural environment, heavily influenced by Giulio Romano and Parmigianino. This thesis devotes a great deal of attention to the use of prints, which for Antonio represented not only work tools, but also a refresher device to keep up with the latest inventions and innovations. The last section of this chapter addresses Campi’s production in the late 40s, ranging from Torre Pallavicina, Meda, Cadignano, San Sigismondo. Antonio broadens his stylistic references, by looking at Fontainbleau and Rome and I particularly address the question as to whether Campi did or did not visit Rome. The last part of this dissertation is a comprehensive chronological list of more than 300 document summaries which contains all the reliable data we have on the artist: documents, literary references, signed works. Finally, the Appendix consists in the transcription of the early 18th century unpublished biography of Antonio Campi by Desiderio Arisi: an important source for a reconstruction of the artist’s life and work.