Novità su Bernardino Licinio: aggiunte al catalogo e alla storia collezionistica

This essay reconstructs the history of two sacred works by Bernardino Licinio, now held in private collections. Newly discovered documents from the archives of Milan, Modena, and Rome, along with photographic collections, have allowed for tracing the movements of the Pala di San Vito (1530), originally conceived for the main altar of the Church of San Vito in Ferrara, linked to a convent of Augustinian nuns. After the suppression, the altarpiece was selected for the Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan), where it arrived in 1811 with five other artworks, also from Ferrara. For the first time, this essay documents the exhibition history of these works. In 1815, Licinio’s altarpiece was placed in the Parish Church of Agliate (Monza e Brianza), from which it mysteriously disappeared in the 19th century. The research has traced its later provenance to the renowned Prinetti collection in Milan, which housed other significant artworks in the early 20th century. Moreover, the reading of a previously overlooked inscription provides a clue to the identity of the altarpiece’s patron, likely an Augustinian nun from the Zerbinati family of Ferrara. Lastly, the work is compared with an unpublished triptych by Licinio, which belonged to the father of art connoisseur Gustavo Frizzoni, mentioned in an 1849 inventory. Only the central panel of the triptych was previously known, erroneously believed to be part of the Hermitage Museum collection.