Fra Damiano Zambelli intarsiatore a Bergamo. "Li banchi de tarsia" per i Domenicani di Santo Stefano

The marquetries that can be seen in the 17th century choir stalls of the church of San Bartolomeo in Bergamo date back to the beginning of sixteenth century and were made by the Dominican inlayer fra Damiano Zambelli. Originally they were installed in «banchi» (benches) commissioned by the nobleman Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni to decorate his own funerary chapel in the ancient Dominican church of Santo Stefano. The reconstruction of the original aspect of the pieces of furniture is possible analysing the marquetries’ dimensions and comparing them with similar works of art made by fra Damiano during his stay in Bologna. The documents suggest to date the decoration of Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni’s benches at the beginning of 1520s, when a hard activity of Zambelli shop is attested. This commission represents the last step of a complex operation to renovate the main chapel of the Dominican church, started some years before with the publication of Lorenzo Lotto’s astonishing Pala Martinengo. As it is documented by the ancient sources, the cartoons for Zambelli’s marquetries were provided by some Milanese artists, painters and architects (Troso da Monza, Bramantino, Zenale). Their involvement can be explained considering the social and cultural relationship that existed between Milan and Bergamo at the beginning of the 16th century. Restarting from scholars’ last theories, new comparisons are presented, in order to clarify the role of Milanese artists in drawing scenes, groups and architectures for the wooden panels. Moreover the hypothesis that fra Damiano could have been influenced by contemporary prints and local works of art is discussed.