Page - 73 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

73Travel—Wenzel Jamnitzer such as Howard Burns and Christoph Frommel, have accepted Forster’s thesis, others have perceived less direct similarities with Giulio’s work.15 Rasp and, following him, Sarzi, propose an architect of a more conservative stamp who, to be sure, had not been able to escape the influence of Giulio’s work, but who felt little at home with its unclassical elements. Sarzi proposes Giulio’s second in command, Giovan Battista Covo, as perfectly fitting this profile, and this is no implausible suggestion.16 It is true, for instance, that the use of a truly colos- sal order is very untypical for Giulio. In addition, as Sarzi indicates, the main façade facing the courtyard of Landshut seems to be inspired by Falconetto’s Loggia Cornaro in Padua, which suggests that the architect felt more at ease with local or regional precedent, than with the most advanced solutions of Raphael’s followers. On the other hand an artist of Giulio’s sophistication may 15 I am grateful to Howard Burns for communicating his opinion on the subject to me. 16 rasp 1984; Sarzi 1984/1985. Note Erichsen’s analysis of the mannerist ‘licence’ found both in the Palazzo del Te and in Landshut, proposing that the introduction of wilful mistakes and deviations from the rule would blur or render invisible the distinction between high and low quality of architecture. But surely the difference between the refined capriccio of a brilliant and intellectual master such as Giulio and the mere ineptness of an untalented epigone would remain visible to the informed eye? Figure 2.1 Landshut, Stadtresidenz, Courtyard facade of the Italienische Bau (1537–1540).