FATTI D'ARTE DEL CINQUECENTO E DEL PRIMO SEICENTO NEGLI ATTI NOTARILI ROGATI SULLA SPONDA OCCIDENTALE DEL VERBANO

The aim of this PhD dissertation is to reconstruct the artistic context of the western side of Lake Maggiore between the Sixteenth and the Early Seventeenth century. The research analyzes the spread of Renaissance language in a peripheral background (located on the border of the Duchy of Milan), occured – lagging behind the capital and the most important artistic centers – thanks to the presence in the territory of the painter Gaudenzio Ferrari (altarpieces in Arona and in Cannobio) and other artists, most of them from the Novara area, who follow his lesson; in the second halft of Sexteenth century a change in taste calls new artists, mostly active in Milan, updated on Mannerism innovations. The analysis doesn’t focus just on the surviving artistic testimonies but collects data from the most ancient literary sources and from deeds drafted by notaries active in the territory (contracts, payments, testaments) and from inventories drawn up by each parish of the Diocese of Novara between 1617 and 1618, at the behest of Bishop Ferdinando Taverna: these documents provided many important informations, especially on lost artworks (paintings, sculptures, decorations).