A subsequent intense artistic scrutiny of the fresco led to the discovery of what appeared to be an artist’s name disguised on the edge of the dress of the Infant, which seemed to be A. VIVA…. – FECIT, written upside down.
By proposing the letters that were unable to be read, this was interpreted to be A. VIVARINI – FECIT, which is Latin for A. Vivarini made this.
Anthony Vivarini (born 1410-1415, died c.1476) was a Venetian painter. He was a master of the Veronese school of art in the first half of the fifteenth century. Nothing is known about Vivarini before he became famous in 1440, hence his painting the Genazzano fresco before 1440 is feasible.
Art experts agree that the style of the fresco is that of Italian art of that post-Gothic but pre-Renaissance period and, furthermore, could be an early work of Vivarini.
Two of his earliest-known works are from the year 1441, and are at the Galleria dell’Academia in Venice. One of them is called Virgin and Child, and is reproduced (at top right). It bears some resemblance to the Genazzano fresco.
Another of Vivarini's works of 1414 is The Marriage of St Monica.
Photos (at right)
Picture 1: Virgin and Child, a known work of Anthony Vivarini (see text above). It bears some resemblance to the Genazzano fresco.
Pictures 2 & 3: Pope John XXIII visited Genazzano to pray at the Good Counsel Shrine.
Links
Ferdinand Gregorovius' Walks. Genazzano is just a few miles after Palestrina and Gregorovius on seeing it from Via Labicana has the impression to watch a procession as if the houses were moving towards the castle of the Colonna on the top of the hill. Genazzano has only one gate: it has some resemblance with those of Palestrina…… This attractive web site is a tourist guide that covers Genazzano photographically, including the Augustinian Shrine to the Mother of Good Counsel.
The Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel. During a restoration of the church begun in 1957, however, scientific tests gave evidence of the true origins of the small fresco. It was probably painted sometime between 1417 and 1431 by the Italian artist Gentile de Fabriano. It appears to have been part of a larger fresco that covered most of the church wall. From the web site of the Midwest Augustinians in the United States of America.
NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL BUEN CONSEJO. Mucho antes de la venida de Cristo, el pequeño pueblo de Genazzano, a treinta millas de Roma, construyó un templo a Venus, la diosa pagana del amor, a la que le tenían particular adhesión. Allí se le ofrecía culto y celebraban grandes fiestas en su honor, especialmente el 25 de abril.
ID2422
