«De Zavatarijs hanc ornavere capellam»

Abstract

The fresco cycle narrating Stories from the Life of Queen Theodelinda, dated and signed with the elegant epigraph in Latin hexameters in the chapel of the same name in the cathedral at Monza – the ancient chapel of San Vincenzo – has, together with the painted vaulted ceiling of the chapel, undergone a major restoration, begun in May 2009 and terminated in December 2014. In the light of the information and details that emerged as the work proceeded, it is possible today to take up once more, with the data in hand, the vexata quaestio of the chronology of the 45 scenes composing the cycle and following one another along the five painted registers of the chapel, clarifying the role of the inscription made by the Zavattari on the fourth and last but one pictorial register in relation to the only commissioning document discovered so far, dated 10 March 1445.

Keywords

• Cathedral at Monza. Inscription. Signature. Stories of Theodelinda. Zavattari