| FETTY HISTORY |
| FETTY, FETTY HISTORY, FETTY COAT OF ARMS, FRANCE, ITALY, ENGLAND, NORWAY, AUSTRIA, AMERICA, CANADA.. |
| Domenico Fetti |
| Fetti, Domenico born 1588/89, Rome, Papal States [now in Italy] died 1623, Venice, Republic of Venice Fetti also spelled Feti Italian Baroque painter whose best-known works are small representations of biblical parables as scenes from everyday life—e.g., “The Good Samaritan” (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City). These works, which Fetti painted between 1618 and 1622, were executed in a style that emphasized the use of rich colour and the changing effects of light and shade. They are important in the development of Baroque landscape for the way small-scale figures and landscape scenery are fused into an atmospheric whole. In Rome Fetti was a pupil of Ludovico Cigoli but was principally influenced by the followers of Caravaggio and also by Adam Elsheimer. Through Cigoli he attracted the attention of Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga. The cardinal went to Mantua to become Duke Ferdinando II, and Fetti became his court painter about the end of 1613. At Mantua he saw the works of Peter Paul Rubens as well as those of Giulio Romano, and his style was considerably modified. Later, the influence of Venetian art was even more marked; he took up residence in Vienna in 1622. Fetti, Domenico Born about 1589, Died 1623 Draftsman, Painter Italian By the early 1600s, Venetian art had declined and it took a native of Mantua, Domenico Fetti, to reinvigorate it. Fetti was greatly influenced by Peter Paul Rubens, whose transparent red and blue flesh tones he adopted, German expatriate landscapist Adam Elsheimer, and those followers of Caravaggio who explored Venice's rich color. Fetti became Mantua's court painter in 1613. There he studied Giulio Romano's work as well as Rubens's and became increasingly influenced by Venetian painters, particularly Titian and Tintoretto. Fetti painted large frescoes there, but he was best on a small scale. A fine portraitist, his palette was warm, light, and rich. He created an effect of vibrating light by using complementary colors and rapid brushstrokes heavy with paint. Fetti left Mantua hurriedly in 1622 and settled in Venice, a city he had first visited in 1621 in order to buy art for his patron and employer, the duke of Mantua. Despite the duke's efforts, he refused to return to Mantua. In Venice Fetti devoted himself to small easel pictures, many illustrating the Parables and set in homely surroundings or landscapes. They were probably popular, for he repeated them often. Fetti soon became ill and died in 1623. |
| Domenico Fetti Roman, 1589 - 1623 The Veil of Veronica, c. 1618/1622 oil on panel, .825 x .680 m (33 x 27 1/8 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1952.5. National Gallery of Art Brief Guide Domenico Fetti was in Rome in 1606 when the Veil of Veronica, one of the oldest and most venerated relics in Christendom, was installed in the crossing of St. Peter's Basilica. According to medieval legend, the veil belonged to a woman who took pity on Christ as he toiled with his burden of the cross to Golgotha. She gave Christ her kerchief to wipe his brow, and when he returned the cloth, his image miraculously had been impressed upon it. This kerchief was believed to have been preserved as the relic called the "true image" or, in Latin, vera icon . In time, these words combined to form "Veronica," the name given by legend to the compassionate woman at Golgotha. Fetti's depiction of the relic is compellingly realistic. Isolated against a dark background and draped over a bar, the fabric's texture, folds, and fringed border are rendered with painstaking care. Hovering on its surface is Christ's visage -- the flesh solidly modeled and tangible. Fetti's amazingly true image of the "true image" is, in a sense, a metaphor of the task of the painter. This is not merely a brilliant and self-conscious exhibition of the painter's skill, however, but a sensitive and deeply felt portrayal of Christ at the moment of his most intense physical and spiritual suffering. http://nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=41344+0+litLiterature Continue - Fetti History |
| History of Italy |
| Mantua , Ital. Mantova, city (1991 pop. 53,065), capital of Mantova prov., Lombardy, N Italy, bordered on three sides by lakes formed by the Mincio River. It is an agricultural, industrial, and tourist center. Manufactures include machinery, metals, furniture, and refined petroleum. Originally an Etruscan settlement, Mantua was later a Roman town and afterward a free commune (12th–13th cent.). It flourished under the Gonzaga family (1328–1708), who were magnificent patrons of the arts. Mantua passed to Austria in 1708, was taken by Napoleon I in 1797, was retaken by Austria in 1815, and was returned to Italy in 1866. The Gonzaga palace (13th–18th cent.), among the largest and finest in Europe, has frescoes by Mantegna and Giulio Romano and numerous other works of art. Other landmarks include the Palazzo del Te (1525–35); the Church of Sant' Andrea (15th–18th cent.), designed by Alberti, where Mantegna is buried; and the law courts (13th cent.). Gonzaga [gOntsä'gä]Pronunciation Key Gonzaga , Italian princely house that ruled Mantua (1328–1708), Montferrat (1536–1708), and Guastalla (1539–1746). The family name is derived from the castle of Gonzaga, a village near Mantua. Luigi Gonzaga,. 1267–1360, became captain general of Mantua in 1328. The power of his descendants grew in the 14th cent., and in 1433, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund made Gian Francesco Gonzaga,. 1395–1444, marquis of Mantua. His grandson, Francesco Gonzaga,. 1466–1519, married Isabella d'Este. At the outset of the Italian Wars, in which Spain and France vied for control of Italy, he led the allied troops that defeated (1495) King Charles VIII of France at Fornovo. In order to preserve the independence of Mantua, Francesco fought in turn for Venice, for the French, and for Pope Julius II. The court of Mantua, long a center of the arts and letters, was particularly brilliant under Francesco and Isabella. Their son and successor, Federico or Federigo Gonzaga,. 1500–1540, was made (1530) duke of Mantua by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1536 he acquired Montferrat, which continued to be claimed by Savoy. His brother Ercole Gonzaga,. 1505–63, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, was long regent of the duchy. He furthered learning and the arts and presided (1562–63) over the Council of Trent. A younger brother, Ferrante Gonzaga,. 1507–57, was generalissimo of Charles V in Italy, France, and Flanders. He acquired (1539) the county of Guastalla, which remained with his direct descendants until their extinction in 1746; in 1748 it was annexed to the duchy of Parma. In 1627 the senior male line of the older branch, ruling Mantua and Montferrat, became extinct. A cadet line, established in France, had succeeded, by marriage, to the duchies of Nevers or Nivernais and Rethel and in 1627 began to claim the succession to Mantua and Montferrat, which were strategically located on the Lombard plain near the Alpine passes. Its claim was strengthened by the marriage of Maria Gonzaga, sole heiress of the senior line, to Charles de Rethel, son of the duke of Nevers. France supported the Nevers branch, while Hapsburg Spain and Austria, anxious lest France gain a foothold in N Italy, supported the claims of the Guastalla branch. War between France and Spain broke out over the contested succession. The Nevers branch ultimately won with the signing of the Treaty of Cherasco (1631) and ruled Mantua and Montferrat until it in turn became extinct (1708) during the War of the Spanish Succession. Hapsburg Austria then annexed Mantua, and Savoy annexed Montferrat. See S. J. C. Brinton, The Gonzaga (1927). Ferrara [fAr-rä'rä]Pronunciation Key Ferrara , city (1991 pop. 138,015), capital of Ferrara prov., in Emilia-Romagna, N Italy. It is a rich industrial and agricultural center, located on a low-lying, marshy plain that has much reclaimed land. Manufactures include chemicals, machinery, food products, metals, and refined petroleum. In the early 13th cent. the Este family founded in Ferrara a powerful principality, and during the Renaissance commerce, learning, printing, and the arts flourished about the brilliant court. The 15th-century painters Cossa and Tura and the 16th-century writers Tosso and Ariosto lived in Ferrara, and the religious reformer Savonarola was born there (1452). The city was incorporated into the Papal States in 1558. Among Ferrara's many noteworthy buildings are Este castle (14th cent.), the cathedral (begun 1135), Schifanoia palace (14th–15th cent.), and the Palazzo del Diamanti (15th–16th cent.). The city has a university (founded 1391). Este [es'tA]Pronunciation Key Este , Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin, they took their name from the castle of Este, near Padua. They succeeded to the house of the Guelphs when the original Guelph line died out. Azzo d'Este II,. 996–1097, lord of Este and the founder of his family's greatness, was invested with Milan by the emperor. Azzo's son, Guelph d'Este IV. or Welf IV, d. 1101, was adopted by his maternal uncle, Guelph III, whom he succeeded as duke of Carinthia. In 1070 he was made duke of Bavaria. The grandfather of Henry the Proud of Bavaria and Saxony, Guelph IV was the founder of the German line of the Guelphs, from whom the British royal family is descended. He died on Cyprus while crusading. Azzo d'Este II had another son, who continued the Italian line of the house; among that son's successors was Obizzo d'Este I,. d. 1193. Obizzo and his grandson played an important part in the struggle of the Guelphs against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (see Guelphs and Ghibellines). He married the heiress of one of the two families contending for supremacy in Ferrara. His grandson, Azzo d'Este VI,. 1170–1212, was podesta [chief magistrate] of Mantua and Verona and fought to obtain Ferrara, but it was left for his son, Azzo d'Este VII,. 1205–64, to succeed in becoming (1240) podesta of that city at the head of the triumphant Guelph party. Obizzo d'Este II,. d. 1293, was made perpetual lord of Ferrara in 1264, lord of Modena in 1288, and lord of Reggio (now Reggio nell' Emilia) in 1289. Because Ferrara was held as a fief from the pope, the Este became papal vicars in 1332. Niccolò d'Este III,. 1384–1441, made Ferrara a center of arts and letters and increased the power of his house by playing his more powerful neighbors against each other. Under his successors the court of the Este became one of the most brilliant in Europe. Among them were his illegitimate sons Leonello d'Este,. 1407–50, an accomplished prince, and Borso d'Este,. 1413–71, who received the title duke of Modena and Reggio from Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III in 1452 and that of duke of Ferrara from Pope Paul II in 1471. Niccolò's legitimate son Ercole d'Este I,. 1431–1505, lost some territory in wars against Venice. Ercole's beautiful and brilliant daughter, Beatrice d'Este,. 1475–97, married Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, one of the most lavish of all Renaissance princes. Her sister, Isabella d'Este,. 1474–1539, married Francesco Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua. Ariosto, Boiardo, and Berni were her friends, and Leonardo da Vinci and Titian painted portraits of her. Ercole I was succeeded by his son, Alfonso d'Este I,. 1476–1534, second husband of Lucrezia Borgia. In the Italian Wars he entered the League of Cambrai against Venice and remained an ally of Louis XII of France even after Pope Julius II had made peace with Venice. The pope declared Alfonso's fiefs forfeited and excommunicated him (1510); Modena and Reggio were lost. However, in 1526–27 Alfonso participated in the expedition of Charles V, Holy Roman emperor and king of Spain, against Pope Clement VII, and in 1530 the pope again recognized him as possessor of those duchies. Ariosto lived at his court in Ferrara after a long employment by Alfonso's brother, Ippolito I, Cardinal d'Este,. 1479–1520, to whom Ariosto's Orlando Furioso is dedicated. Alfonso's son and successor, Ercole d'Este II,. 1508–59, married Renée, daughter of Louis XII of France. He joined the pope and France against Spain in 1556, but made a separate peace in 1558. He also was a patron of the arts, as was his brother, Ippolito II, Cardinal d'Este,. 1509–72, an able diplomat who led the pro-French party at the papal court. Ippolito built the celebrated Villa d'Este at Tivoli. With Ercole II's son, Alfonso d'Este II,. 1533–97, the direct male line of the house ended. He willed his titles to his cousin, Cesare d'Este,. 1533–1628, but Pope Clement VIII refused to recognize Cesare's rights, and Ferrara was incorporated into the Papal States in 1598. Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II recognized Cesare's rights to Modena and Reggio, but without Ferrara the duchy lost political importance. The last duke, Ercole d'Este III, was deposed in 1796 by the French and died in 1803. His daughter, Maria Beatrice, married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, a son of Austrian Emperor Francis I, who founded the house of Austria-Este. After the restoration (1814) of the duchy of Modena their son and grandson, Francis IV and Francis V, ruled as dukes of Modena, Massa, and Carrara. Francis V was expelled in 1859, and his territories were annexed (1860) to the kingdom of Sardinia. See W. L. Gundersheimer, Ferrara: The Style of a Renaissance Despotism (1973). Modena [mô'dAnä]Pronunciation Key Modena , city (1991 pop. 176,990), capital of Modena prov., Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, on the Panaro River. It is an agricultural, commercial, and major industrial center. Manufactures include motor vehicles, cast-iron, machine tools, and leather. An Etruscan settlement, the city was the site of a Roman colony called Mutina, founded in the early 2d cent. B.C. and located on the Aemilian Way. Modena became a free commune in the 12th cent. and in 1288 permanently passed to the Este family of Ferrara. The duchy of Modena, established in 1452, became the seat of the Este family after it lost (1598) Ferrara. From the fall of Napoleon I in 1814 until 1859 the house of Austria-Este ruled harshly. Among the city's notable structures are the cathedral (12th cent.), which has a massive white marble campanile (289 ft/88 m high) called the Ghirlandina; the Palazzo dei Musei (1753–67), which contains several art collections and the Este library; and the ducal palace (17th cent.). The nearby Nonantola abbey (founded 752) was a center of learning in the Middle Ages. Modena has a university. |
| Mantua Diocese of Mantua (Mantuana), in Lombardy. The city is situated on the Mincio River, which surrounds it entirely, and forms the swampy lowlands that help to make Mantua the strongest fortress in Italy, but infect its atmosphere. Mantua is of Etruscan origin, and preserved its Etruscan character as late as the time of Pliny; even now some ruins of that period are found. The possession of Mantua was contested for a long time by the Byzantines and the Lombards; in 601 the latter, having obtained definite success in that struggle, established the capital of one of their counties at Mantua. From the ninth century, as elsewhere in Northern Italy, the authority of the bishop eclipsed that of the count, and the emperors gave to the bishops many sovereign rights, especially that of coining money. In the eleventh century Mantua was under the Counts of Canossa, and became involved in the wars between the popes and the empire; in 1091 Henry IV took possession of the city, after a siege of seven months. At the death of Countess Matilda (1115), Mantua became a commune, "salva imperiali justitia". In the wars of the Lombard cities against Frederick Barbarossa, Mantua was at first on the side of the empire, led by Bishop Garsendonio, who in consequence was driven from the city and deposed by Alexander III, after which (1161) Mantua formed part of the Lombard League. After the peace of Venice, Garsendonio was allowed to return, and then began a period of economical progress, manifested more especially in the changing of the course of the Mincio, the building of the Palazzo della Ragione (1198), and the construction of the covered bridge (1188). Mantua took part in the second Lombard League against Frederick II, was besieged by him in 1236, and surrendered in the following year. Ezzelino da Romano also besieged the city in 1256, and the Mantuans had a considerable part in the war that overthrew that tyrant in 1259. There followed a period of internal struggle for predominance among the families of Casaloldi, Arlotti, Bonaccorsi, and Zanecalli. In 1275, two captains of the people were created for the administration of justice, but one of them, Pinamonte Bonaccolsi, put to death his colleague, Ottonello Zanecalli, and thereby remained sole master of the city, the government of which he left to his son; the latter, however, was obliged to resign in favour of his cousin Guido, thenceforth known as Signore (lord). Guido was succeeded by his brother Rinaldo, who conquered Modena, but he made himself odious, and was murdered, while the lordship passed to Lodovico Luigi Gonzaga (1328), in whose family it remained until 1708. Luigi became imperial vicar in 1329; he was a protector of letters, especially of Petrarch; like his successors, Luigi II (1360-82), and Gianfrancesco I (1382-1407), he had to contend with the Visconti of Milan. Gianfrancesco II (1407-44), on the other hand, after having commanded the Venetian troops against the Visconti, entered the service of the latter, thereby becoming arbiter of the situation, and assuring great tranquillity to his state, which consequently began to flourish. He was also a friend of letters. In 1423 Vittorino da Feltre established at Mantua the famous school known as "Casa Giocosa". In 1432, Gianfrancesco received the title of marquess from Emperor Sigismund. His son Ludovico III, "il Turco", who reigned from 1444 to 1478, divided the marquessate between his two sons, leaving Mantua to Federigo I (1478-84), and creating the marquessate of Sabbioneta, which became a duchy, and the Principality of Borzolo for Gianfrancesco, whose line became extinct in 1591. The third son Rodolfo was made Prince of Castiglione. Under Ludovico III, in 1459, was held the famous "congress of princes", to consider a common action against the Turks, proposed by Pius II. Francesco Gonzaga (1484-1519) was a captain of the league against Charles VIII (1495), and commanded at the battle of Fornovo. Federigo II (1519-1540) was made Duke of Mantua by Charles V, and received the Marquessate of Casale Monferrato. He was succeeded by his two sons Francesco III (1540-50), and Guglielmo (1550-87); the second sheltered Torquato Tasso. Vincenzo I (1587-1612), in his turn also left the duchy divided between two sons, Francesco III (1612) and Ferdinando (1612-1626), the latter of whom resigned the cardinalate, and was succeeded by his brother Vincenzo II (1626-27), who also was a cardinal, and by whose death the direct line of the Gonzaga of Mantua became extinct; its rights were inherited by Carlo Gonzaga (1627-1637), who was a son of Luigi the brother of Francesco III, and who, having married the heiress of the Duchy of Nevers, was acceptable to the French; but Carlo Emanuele of Savoy was a pretendant to the Marquessate of Casale, while Cesare Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla, wished to possess the entire duchy; and this situation gave rise to the war of the succession of Monferrato, in which Savoy received the support of Spain and of Austria, and Carlo Gonzaga that of France. The Austrians sacked Mantua in 1629, but the treaty of Cherasco (1630) put an end to the war, and secured the possession of Mantua and of Casale to Carlo of Nevers. The latter was succeeded by his nephew Carlo III (1637-65), who was a son of Carlo II, deceased in 1631; Carlo III sold the Duchy of Nevers to Cardinal Mazarin. Carlo IV (1665-1708) was a libertine; he united the Lordship of Guastalla to Mantua, but sold the marquessate of Casale to France (1681); on account of this transaction, and because Carlo had given assistance to France in the War of the Spanish Succession, Joseph I in 1708 took the Duchy of Mantua and annexed it, together with Milan, to the Austrian states, while Monferrato was given to Piedmont. In 1735, Carlo Emanuele of Savoy besieged Mantua unsuccessfully. Empress Maria Theresa did much for its prosperity. Napoleon took the city on 2 February, 1796, after a siege of eight months, but it was retaken by Kray for Austria in 1799; at the Peace of Lunéville, however, it was annexed to the Italian Republic (1801). From 1814 to 1866, it belonged to Austria, and was besieged in 1848 by the Piedmontese. The cathedral of Mantua is the ancient church of SS. Peter and Paul transformed, and was begun by Pietro Romano in 1544 by order of Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, it remained unfinished, but its stucco work by Primaticcio is famous, as are also a statue of Moses and one of Aaron by Bernero and several beautiful pictures, among them a Madonna by Mantegna, whose art is abundantly represented in the other churches and in the palaces of the city. The chapel of the Incoronata is by Leon Battista Alberti; its belfry is Romanesque. The church of Sant' Andrea is by the same architect; it has a single nave over 300 feet in length, while its cupola, by Juvara, is about 250 feet high. The tomb of Mantegna is in this church. Outside the city is the sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, founded by Francesco Gonzaga in 1399. Other fine churches are that of Ognissanti, that of San Barnaba, which contains the tomb of Giulio Romano, the church of San Maurizio, where there are paintings by Ludovico and Annibale Caracci; lastly, the church of San Sebastian. The secular buildings are the Palazzo della Ragione, which houses the communal government (1198 and 1250); the Ducal Palace, begun in 1302 by the Bonaccolsi, and enlarged at different times by the Gonzaga (ducal apartments, the tapestries of Paradise, of Troy; paintings by Mantegna, Giulio Romano, and others); the Castello, built for the defence of the Ducal Palace, containing archives that date from 1014; the Accademia delle Scienze ed Arti, founded by Maria Theresa; the Palazzo degli Studi, formerly a Jesuit college; the "T" palace, a villeggiatura of the dukes, the work of Giulio Romano; the episcopal palace, and several private ones; the ancient synagogue in the ghetto, etc. Among the famous men of Mantua are: the poets Virgil, Sordello (thirteenth century), G. Pietro Arrivabene, author of the "Gonzagis", Vittorio Vettori (d. 1763), and Folengo, the first of the so-called macaronic writers; the jurist Piacentino (twelfth century), Baldassare Castiglione (il Cortigiano); the philosopher Pomponazzi, the Jesuits Antonio Possevino and Ognibene, the physician Matteo Selvatico (thirteenth century), etc. Among women of letters are Camilla Valenti, Ippolita, Giulia, and Lucrezia Gonzaga. The Gospel is said to have been brought to Mantua by St. Longinus, the soldier who pierced the side of Our Lord; tradition also says that he brought with him the relic of the Precious Blood, preserved in a beautiful reliquary in the crypt of the church of Sant' Andrea. Originally Mantua formed part of the Diocese of Milan; later it belonged to that of Ravenna (about 585), and in 729 it was attached to the Diocese of Aquileia. In 804 Leo III made Mantua a diocese, of which a certain Gregory was the first known bishop. The relic of the Precious Blood, which had been lost, was found in 1048, and was recognized as authentic by Leo IX in 1053. The Bishops Garsendonio (1165) and Enrico (1193-1225) had the title of imperial vicar in Italy; Guidotto da Corregio (1231) was assassinated by the Avvocati faction in 1235; other bishops of this diocese were Cardinal Martino de Puzolerio (1252); the Blessed Jacopo de' Benfatti, O.P. (1304); Guido d'Arezzo (1366), who died of the plague, which he contracted through his care of the sick. From 1466 to 1584, the See of Mantua was occupied by bishops of the House of Gonzaga: Cardinals Francesco, Ludovico, Sigismondo, Ercole, Federigo, Francesco II, Marco Fedele; only in 1566 was this series interrupted, by the Dominican Gregorio Boldrino. After Alessandro Andreasi (1584-87), who founded a house for Jewish converts and a hospital for sick pilgrims, the diocese was once more governed by a Gonzaga, Cardinal Franceso III (1587-1620), a Franciscan whose secular name was Annibale. Mention should be made also of Mgr Pietro Rota (1871-79), who was the object of much persecution at the hands of the government, and of Guiseppe Sarto (1884-95), now Pius X. A synod was held at Mantua in 827, to settle a controversy between the metropolitan bishops of Aquileia and of Grado, one in 1053 for disciplinary reform, another in 1064, in relation to the controversy between Alexander II and the antipope Honorius II. At first (1537) it was proposed to hold the Council of Trent at Mantua. The diocese was once suffragan of Aquileia, but in 1452 it became immediately dependent on the Holy See; in 1803, however, it was made a suffragan of Ferrara, and in 1819 of Milan. It has 153 parishes, and 257,500 inhabitants; there are 3 religious houses of men, and 21 of women; 4 educational establishments for boys, and 10 for girls, and one Catholic daily paper. Donesmondi, Della istoria eccles. di Mantova (Mantua, 1612-15); Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia, vol. XII; D'Arco, Delle arti e degli artifici di Mantova (Mantua, 1867); Studi intorno al municipio di Mantova (Mantua, 1871-74); Volta, Compendio della storia di Mantova (Mantua, 1807-38), 5 vols.; Davari, Notizie topografiche della città di Mantova nei secoli 13-15 (Mantua, 1903). U. BENIGNI Transcribed by Mary Thomas The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York |
| The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX |
| http://www.friesian.com/flanders.htm#milan |
| All Rights Reserved |