New Insights into the Roman activity of the Schiavone Ivan Gapić from Cres

Abstract

This paper presents fresh insights into the Roman activity of the stucco artist and painter Ivan Gapić during the latter half of the 16th century, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the life of a Schiavone who has only recently been reintroduced to art-historical readership. In Italian historiography, Gapić has been acknowledged only on the margins, with an obscure opus overshadowed by research on the works of prominent figures like Federico Zuccari or Girolamo Muziano. Newly collected data shed light on the mature phase of the Schiavone from Cres, revealing his role in the decoration of the Gregoriana chapel in St Peter’s Basilica and the Altemps chapel in Sta Maria in Trastevere. Additionally, the paper provides new information about Gapić’s involvement in the Confraternity of St Joseph da Terrasanta, his role in the administration of St Luke’s Academy in its early years, and his family connections with the archbishop of Bar (Antivari), known in Croatian scholarly literature as Ambroz Kapić. Besides, the paper brings new data on the membership of other two Schiavoni in this confraternity, the engraver Natale Bonifacio and sculptor Nikola Lazanić. These new insights into Gapić’s participation in significant papal and cardinals’ art commissions, as well as his membership in professional associations, enriches our understanding of his networking activities in the dynamic circumstances before and just after the Council of Trent.