Seite - 104 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Band 1

Chapter 2104 a designer well schooled in classical architecture: again something in which Strada could tutor his one-time neighbour. 79 Somewhat closer to Giulio’s or more in general to Italian designs, is another work signed by Jamnitzer, which is now preserved in the Museo Diocesano of Milan. It consists of a ewer and a basin that are dated to ca 1565 on stylistic grounds. Executed for an unidentified patron, the set can be traced back in the sources to the middle of the seventeenth century, when it was in the treasury of the church of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan. At that time the origi- nal round salver was converted into an oval basin to serve as an aquamanile for liturgical use. 80 [ Fig. 2.27–2.28 ] In view of the triangle Jamnitzer–Strada–Marignano, it is tempting to iden- tify the object with the commission the Marchese had given to Strada in 1548, and to suppose that it was intended as a gift to his brother, Cardinal de’ Medici. Alternatively, if the set really dates only to the 1560s, one might suppose that the latter, as Pope Pius iv , continued his family’s patronage of the Nuremberg goldsmith: in these years he was reconstructing his family’s palace at Milan. And even when the set had ab origine been destined for Rome, rather than for Milan, it always could have been presented to Santa Maria presso San Celso by the 79 Is it a coincidence that these ‘architectural’ objects were all commissioned by or for Stra- da’s own patrons? 80 Schürer 2002, pp. 175 –197, in particular pp. 188 –191. Figures 2.27–2.28 Wenzel Jamnitzer, Ewer and basin, dated on stylistic grounds ca 1565, but possibly earlier? The round salvevr was converted into an oval basin only in the middle of the seventeenth century; Milan, Museo Diocesano.