Date
1826-1829
Object Type
Painting
Subject
History of Milan: The Lampugnani Conspiracy (1476)
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
About The Work
The painting depicts an episode from 15th-century Milanese history: the conspiracy plotted by Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani, Girolamo Olgiati, and Carlo Visconti (educated in libertarian and republican ideals by the humanist Cola Montano) against the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who was assassinated on 26 December 1476 in the Church of Santo Stefano. The event was chronicled by Machiavelli (Histories, 1532) and later revisited by Pietro Verri in La Congiura di Cola Montano (1779) and by Sismonde de Sismondi in his Storia delle Repubbliche italiane (1807-1818).At the time the celebrated leader of Romantic painting in Milan, Francesco Hayez chose to depict the moment immediately preceding the tragic climax of the event. Cola Montano is shown kneeling with his back to the viewer at the feet of the statue of Saint Stephen, invoking the saint’s blessing upon the three conspirators as they prepare to strike the Duke, who is visible in the background near the altar. Pervaded by the tension preceding the drama, the painting is charged with libertarian significance and a clear reference to the political climate of the period, specifically the Carbonari uprisings of 1821. This is achieved through the inclusion of portraits of contemporary figures, easily recognisable to his peers, which contributed to the creation of what Sandra Pinto described as 'the myth of the Carbonari youth'. Rich with references to the 16th-century Venetian pictorial tradition, the work stands as one of the most intense testimonies to the modernity of Hayez’s style, and was cited by Giuseppe Mazzini as one of the artist's 'principal paintings'.Executed between 1826 and 1830, the canvas was delivered to Teresa Borri Stamp, who in 1837 would become the second wife of Alessandro Manzoni, in exchange for the Ritratto della famiglia Stampa (Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera). The latter, painted in 1822, had failed to please the patron. The work subsequently passed to Teresa’s son, Stefano Stampa, who bequeathed it to the Brera Academy in 1900.
Title
La congiura dei Lampugnani o di Cola Montano
Creator
Francesco Hayez
Subject
History of Milan: The Lampugnani Conspiracy (1476)
Object Type
Painting
Original Function
Collection
Date
1826-1829
Technique / Support
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
cm 149 x 117
Acquisition
Bequest Stefano Stampa, 1900
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
Inventory number
Inv. 1980, 188
Bibliography
Marelli, Isabella. Entry no. 48. In Hayez, exhibition catalogue (Milano, Palazzo Reale Sala delle Cariatidi; Accademia Pinacoteca Biblioteca di Brera, novembre 1983 - febbraio 1984), edited by Maria Cristina Gozzoli and Fernando Mazzocca. Milano: Electa, 1983. 108 - 111, ill.
Mazzocca, Fernando. Entry no. 376. In Pinacoteca di Brera. Dipinti dell’Ottocento e del Novecento. Collezioni dell’Accademia e della Pinacoteca, vol. 1, Musei e Gallerie di Milano. Milano: Mondadori Electa, 1993. 336 - 337, ill.
Mazzocca, Fernando. Francesco Hayez. Catalogo ragionato. Milano: Federico Motta editore, 1994. 193 -194, no. 136 (con bibliografia precedente).
Villari, Anna. Entry no. III.6. In Romantici e Macchiaioli. Giuseppe Mazzini e la grande pittura europea, exhibition catalogue (Genova, Palazzo Ducale, 21 October 2005 - 12 February 2006), edited by Fernando Mazzocca. Milano: Skira, 2005. 243, ill. p. 92.
Mazzocca, Fernando. Entry no. 14. In Ottocento, Da Canova al Quarto Stato, exhibition catalogue (Roma, Scuderie del Quirinale, 29 February - 10 June 2008) edited by Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Fernando Mazzocca, Carlo Sisi. Milano: Skira 2008. 120, 121 ill.
Dalla scena al dipinto. La magia del teatro nella pittura dell’Ottocento. Da David a Delacroix, da Füssli a Degas, exhibition catalogue (Marsiglia, Musée Cantini, 6 October 2009 – 3 January 2010; Rovereto, Mart – Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, 6 February – 23 May 2010; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, 19 June – 26 Septembre 2010), edited by Guy Cogeval and Beatrice Avanzi. Milano: Skira, 2010. 172, no. 83 ill.
Lissoni, Elena. Entry no. 37. In Francesco Hayez, exhibition catalogue (Milano, Gallerie d’Italia, Piazza Scala, 7 novembre 2015–21 febbraio 2016), edited by Fernando Mazzocca. Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana Editoriale, 2015. 156 -157.
Cucciniello, Omar. Entry no. II.3. In Giuseppe Bezzuoli (1784–1855). Un grande protagonista della pittura romantica, exhibition catalogue (Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Museo della Moda e del Costume, 29 March–5 June 2022), edited by Vanessa Gavioli, Elena Marconi, and Ettore Spalletti. Firenze: Giunti – Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, 2022. 112–113.
Hayez. L’officina del pittore romantico, exhibition catalogue (Torino, GAM - Galleria d’arte moderna e contemporanea, 17 October 2023 - 1 April 2024), edited by Fernando Mazzocca and Elena Lissoni. Milano: 24 Ore Cultura, 2023. No. 2.6, 72, ill.
Mazzocca, Fernando. Entry no. 376. In Pinacoteca di Brera. Dipinti dell’Ottocento e del Novecento. Collezioni dell’Accademia e della Pinacoteca, vol. 1, Musei e Gallerie di Milano. Milano: Mondadori Electa, 1993. 336 - 337, ill.
Mazzocca, Fernando. Francesco Hayez. Catalogo ragionato. Milano: Federico Motta editore, 1994. 193 -194, no. 136 (con bibliografia precedente).
Villari, Anna. Entry no. III.6. In Romantici e Macchiaioli. Giuseppe Mazzini e la grande pittura europea, exhibition catalogue (Genova, Palazzo Ducale, 21 October 2005 - 12 February 2006), edited by Fernando Mazzocca. Milano: Skira, 2005. 243, ill. p. 92.
Mazzocca, Fernando. Entry no. 14. In Ottocento, Da Canova al Quarto Stato, exhibition catalogue (Roma, Scuderie del Quirinale, 29 February - 10 June 2008) edited by Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Fernando Mazzocca, Carlo Sisi. Milano: Skira 2008. 120, 121 ill.
Dalla scena al dipinto. La magia del teatro nella pittura dell’Ottocento. Da David a Delacroix, da Füssli a Degas, exhibition catalogue (Marsiglia, Musée Cantini, 6 October 2009 – 3 January 2010; Rovereto, Mart – Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, 6 February – 23 May 2010; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, 19 June – 26 Septembre 2010), edited by Guy Cogeval and Beatrice Avanzi. Milano: Skira, 2010. 172, no. 83 ill.
Lissoni, Elena. Entry no. 37. In Francesco Hayez, exhibition catalogue (Milano, Gallerie d’Italia, Piazza Scala, 7 novembre 2015–21 febbraio 2016), edited by Fernando Mazzocca. Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana Editoriale, 2015. 156 -157.
Cucciniello, Omar. Entry no. II.3. In Giuseppe Bezzuoli (1784–1855). Un grande protagonista della pittura romantica, exhibition catalogue (Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Museo della Moda e del Costume, 29 March–5 June 2022), edited by Vanessa Gavioli, Elena Marconi, and Ettore Spalletti. Firenze: Giunti – Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, 2022. 112–113.
Hayez. L’officina del pittore romantico, exhibition catalogue (Torino, GAM - Galleria d’arte moderna e contemporanea, 17 October 2023 - 1 April 2024), edited by Fernando Mazzocca and Elena Lissoni. Milano: 24 Ore Cultura, 2023. No. 2.6, 72, ill.
Conservation status
Good
Restoration history
Conservation work carried out in 2006 by Ferriani, Studio di Restauro Milano
Type of interventions: smontaggio tela dal telaio; pulitura retro tela; trattamento deformazioni tela; risarcimento delle lacerazioni della tela; consolidamento del telaio, pulitura della pellicola pittorica; stuccatura delle lacune; reintegrazione pittorica;verniciatura finale
Supervisory Authority: Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Milan
Internal scientific director: Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Chiara Nenci
Technical director / Qualified restorer: Carlotta Beccaria
Type of interventions: smontaggio tela dal telaio; pulitura retro tela; trattamento deformazioni tela; risarcimento delle lacerazioni della tela; consolidamento del telaio, pulitura della pellicola pittorica; stuccatura delle lacune; reintegrazione pittorica;verniciatura finale
Supervisory Authority: Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Milan
Internal scientific director: Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Chiara Nenci
Technical director / Qualified restorer: Carlotta Beccaria
Unique identifier
0300663461