The Arch of Sant’Agostino is to be found in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, Pavia. It’s one of the most disputable monuments of fourteenth century Italy. There is debate over both its date and who created it. There are a series of...
moreThe Arch of Sant’Agostino is to be found in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, Pavia. It’s one of the most disputable monuments of fourteenth century Italy. There is debate over both its date and who created it. There are a series of argumentations that tie it to the later period of Giovanni di Balduccio. Works by this Pisan sculptor date to between 1318 and 1349, and are to be found in Pisa, Florence, Bologna and Milan. The problem of who produced the Pavian Arch is complicated by the difficulty in giving a convincing date to the tomb. It has been variously placed between about 1350 and 1380, and occasionally even as late as the fifteenth century. Following a new photographic project and a complete overhaul of the fonts, bibliography and other on hand data, this paper re evaluates the monument. Its intention is to demonstrate that Giovanni di Balduccio provided the design as well as onsite direction for the project. To do this, a “broader” vision has been taken, from an entrepreneurial point of view, in which the authorship of the work is shared with, if not delegated to, the site supervisor and administrator of the artistic studio, the concept of a brain behind a project.
