A spectacular glimpse of Liguria in Verona: the Fregoso altar by Danese Cattaneo in Sant'Anastasia

If there is one thing that is astonishing about the church of Santa Anastasia in Verona, it is the fact that works from different periods and created by artists from different parts of Italy manage to dialogue with each other without ever finding themselves at odds. And it is interesting how a Gothic background, which is precisely the temple of Santa Anastasia, frames a Classical, imposing, proud monument that happily coexists with Gothic architecture: this is theFregoso altar, a great masterpiece of the sculptor Danese Cattaneo (1512 - 1572). And, between you and me, it is always very nice, traveling around Italy and the world, to observe a work by one’s fellow citizen, since Danese Cattaneo is from Carrara, like us :-)

Danese Cattaneo, Fregoso Altar, 1562-1565, Church of Sant’Anastasia, Verona

The Fregoso altar strikes us because, if before we had been to Verona we had also visited Genoa, we realize that we are in front of a piece of Liguria that arose directly on Venetian soil. Ligure is the personage to whom the altar is dedicated, Giano Fregoso: a member of one of the leading families of the Genoese nobility, he moved to Verona to take command of the army of the Republic of Venice, a post he held until his death in 1529. Ligurian is the grandeur that the work exudes, the sense of grandeur that echoes that of the architecture of Genoese palaces, dwellings of aristocratic families who competed to see who had the richest and most sumptuous residence: it is no coincidence that Genoa is also known as la Superba. All Ligurian, finally, is the ability to amaze: just as no one would expect to find airy frescoes among the dark alleys of Genoa, similarly no one would expect to find such a spectacularly classical monument in a Gothic building.

A monument that serves, at the same time, three different functions. It is in fact an altar before which the faithful can kneel to pray, because the great protagonist of the whole composition is the risen Christ who stands out in the center, sculpted in a pose that seems to depict him in motion, as he emerges from a shrine carved in the likeness of a very classical portal of an ancient building. It is then a funerary monument, the task of which is to commemorate Giano Fregoso, by his specific will, since it was in his own will of 1514 that Fregoso had requested the building of a tomb in the church of Santa Anastasia: it would be his son Ercole who would carry out Giano’s will and have the work done by Danese Cattaneo, who worked from 1562 to 1565 to complete the undertaking. Finally, it is a celebratory monument, because it was made to glorify Giano Fregoso, especially since its shape resembles that of a triumphal arch: the leader is portrayed at the right of Christ, dressed in the armor and cloak of Roman soldiers, as he rests a hand on his sword. And to the left of Christ, emphasizing the warrior skills of Janus Fregoso, we have the allegory of military Virtue, personified as a kind of goddess Minerva leaning on a shield. On his armor, Military Virtue bears animpresa, that is, a figure accompanied by a motto. In this case, the motto is Potius mori quam foedari (“Better to die than to be dishonored”), and the figure is an ermine, a symbol of purity and thus integrity.

Another image of the Fregoso altar, in its entirety - Photo credit

Next to the three main statues, we find others, which decorate the entire structure of the monument, which follows a pattern whose merit is to blend together ancient and modern. The oldest reference is, in fact, theArch of Trajan in Ancona. There are several points in common: the four fluted Corinthian columns, the pedestals that the columns share, and the fact that the columns are free standing, that is, not leaning against the main body of the monument. Main body that here, in the Fregoso altar, is leaning against the wall and has a shape reminiscent of a serliana: an architecture, that is, formed by a central round arch (the one within which Danese Cattaneo inserted the aedicule with the Risen Christ) and two lateral elements with architrave. Unlike a “real” serliana, however, the two side elements here are not open. And the main body is decorated with reliefs, which we see between the columns: a personification of armed Venice and a personification of Victory. Angels bearing the instruments of passion, on the other hand, decorate the spandrels of the arch, that is, the elements that connect the arch with the structure of the monument.

The more modern reference, however, is the monument to Marco Mantova Benavides created by Bartolomeo Ammannati in the Church of the Eremitani in Padua between 1545 and 1546: Danese Cattaneo is said to have drawn cues for theattic, the upper part of his monument. Cattaneo simplified the scheme, however, by eliminating the spioventi, or diagonal elements that connect the central body of the attic with the trabeation (the horizontal element) supported by the columns. But not only that: Danese Cattaneo succeeds in achieving an effect of greater spectacularity and grandeur because, since he does not have to make the sepulchre as Ammannati had done in his monument, he can raise the height of the columns considerably, infusing the entire Fregoso altar with a vertical momentum that, moreover, matches well with the momentum of the high naves of the church of Santa Anastasia. And, at the same time, Danese Cattaneo increases the number of statues decorating the attic: from three to five. In the center, a small group consisting of two putti holding a shield with the Fregoso coat of arms towers above them all. In the lower register are two statues depicting military trophies (cuirasses, helmets, shields, weapons). And still further below, we have, on either side of the entablature, the statues of Fame, on the left, in the act of taking flight, andEternity on the right. In the central body of the attic, an inscription celebrates the virtues of Giano Fregoso and reminds us that the altar was erected by his son Hercules in memory of his father. At the base of the altar, under the risen Christ, an additional inscription bears the sculptor’s signature and the date the work was completed.

The statues of the Fregoso altar: Giano Fregoso, Risen Christ, Allegory of Military Virtue - Photo credit

A complex monument with a strong emotional impact: it will not be able to leave you indifferent as you find yourself wandering through the aisles of Santa Anastasia. It will welcome you in a surprising way, with its exceptional composure and noble dignity. Observe, for example, the Christ, muscular like a Michelangelo figure, and at the same time depicted in a proud pose like that of a Greek god. He points very naturally, almost nonchalantly, to the wounds on his side and turns his hand toward us, as if to invite us to pause to admire this masterpiece, and at the same time to kneel before the altar. Christ is, moreover, together with the angels in the pendentives, the only figure of religion: strange and unusual, if we also consider the fact that this monument is located inside a church! It is difficult to find, inside a sacred building, a monument with such a distinctly classical, almost pagan taste: so much so that if instead of Christ there were a statue of an Apollo, it would probably change little (also because the figure of Christ and that of Apollo, on a symbolic level, have many similarities). And it must also be said that Danese Cattaneo does not go to great lengths to bend ancient elements to Christian symbols: for what we are witnessing is a celebration of a soldier and his deeds. A soldier, certainly, consecrated to the Christian faith represented by Christ himself in the center: the great skill of Danese Cattaneo also consists in allowing each observer to attribute to his monument the value that, according to him, best suits him.

So, having crossed the threshold of the church of Sant’Anastasia in Verona, look towards the back, towards the altar, and then turn to the right: the Fregoso altar, this little-known fragment of Liguria on Venetian soil, will open up in all its grandeur before your eyes... !

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