Francesco Sansovino as a detractor of Michelangelo? – An unnoticed biographical profile of Michelangelo between praise and blame. Auszüge aus: Francesco Sansovino, Della Cronica Universale del Mondo (Venedig 1574) (FONTES 43)

Abstract

Francesco Sansovino's Italian re-edition of Giacomo Filippo Foresti's "Supplementum chronicarum" contains in its third part (“parte terza”; Venezia 1574), which consists of additions for the years 1490-1574, an unnoticed biographical profile of Michelangelo Buonarroti written by Francesco Sansovino himself. This brief report about Michelangelo belongs to a series of brief discussions and mentions of Michelangelo found over the course of three decades in Sansovino’s printed works. The text testifies to the enormous importance of Michelangelo’s achievements, but is also contains numerous criticisms of Michelangelo and his works. In part, these criticisms are similar to those found in Venetian art theoretical and critical texts, and, in part, they are a function of the artistic ambitions of Francesco's father, the sculptor and architect, Jacopo Sansovino. The text is analysed in terms of its structure and content. The novel elements are identified. A brief biography of Francesco Sansovino is followed by a selected bibliography of literature concerning him. Appendix I contains neglected texts about the painters Pordenone and Titian. Appendix II treats two mentions of Michelangelo in a related work by Francesco Sansovino, his "Cronologia del mondo" (Venezia 1582). FONTES 43 is No. 7 in a series of early "Sources and Documents for Michelangelo Buonarroti"; see: FONTES 12 (Paolo Giovio), FONTES 20 (Giorgio Vasari), FONTES 23 (Benedetto Varchi), FONTES 34 (Ascanio Condivi), and FONTES 35 (Anonymous, in: Giacomo Filippo Forresti), and FONTES 42 (Nicolò Franco)