Cristoforo (known as Caradosso) Foppa (1445 – c. 1527) was an Italian

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

, sculptor, and die sinker.

Biography

According to some sources he was born at

Olgiate Molgora Olgiate Molgora (Brianzöö: ) is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Lombardy region of Italy, located 35 km northeast of Milan at 287 meters elevation. As of 2025, it had 6,324 inhabitants across its 7.2 km² territory. The municipality ...

(in the ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of Mondonico) in the

Province of Lecco The province of Lecco (; Lecchese: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into 85 ''comuni'' (: ''com ...

, and according to others in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

. It is possible that this artist is not correctly known as Ambrogio, but that his Christian name was Cristoforo. He was in the service of

Lodovico Il Moro Ludovico Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; 'the Moor'), and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini,

, Duke of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, for some years, and executed for him a medal and several pieces of goldsmith's work. He worked in Hungary in the service of King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

, probably in August 1489; a later visit to the court was cut short by the King's death in 1490. Later on he is heard of in Rome, working for Popes

Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

and

Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Me ...

. His will was executed in 1526 and he is believed to have died in the following year.

Works

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

refers at some length to a medal struck by him in Rome, having upon it a representation of

Bramante Donato Bramante (1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rom ...

and his design for

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

, and he speaks of him as "the most excellent goldsmith of that time, who has no equal in the execution of dies". He is said by some to have been responsible for the

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

reliefs in the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

of San Satiro in Milan. In addition to the Bramante and Moro medals, three others are attributed to him, one representing Julius II, another the fourth Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, and the third

Gian Giacomo Trivulzio Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (1440 or 1441 – 5 December 1518) was an Italian aristocrat and ''condottiero'' who held several military commands during the Italian Wars. Biography Trivulzio was born in Milan, where he studied, among others, wi ...

. A large number of examples of goldsmith's work in the sacristies of the various churches of Italy are attributed to Foppa with more or less uncertainty. They especially include

reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physic ...

, morses, and

crosier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catho ...

s. He was responsible for a papal

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

made for

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

, a drawing of which is held at the Department of Prints and Drawings at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and was executed at the request of an English collector named

John Talman John Talman (July 1677, King's Street, Westminster – 3 November 1726, London) was a British antiquary and art collector. He was the eldest son of William Talman (architect), William Talman and his wife Hannah. From 1709 to 1717 he toured in ...

. An inaccurate engraving of it by

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields ...

is also in existence, and this was reproduced by

Muntz Muntz or Müntz is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Muntz * George Frederic Muntz (1794–1857), industrialist and MP from Birmingham, England ** Muntz metal, an alloy which he invented ** Philip Henry Muntz, his brother, als ...

in his article on the papal tiara. He declared that the pope told his master of ceremonies that it cost two hundred thousand

ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

s. It survived the sack of Rome through the accident of its being in a

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. A pawnbrokering business is called a pawnshop, and while many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, ...

at the time, but was deliberately broken up and refashioned by Pope

Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

.See Thurston in the " Burlington Magazine" for October, 1895. Foppa is believed to have designed several pendant jewels, but there is uncertainty respecting his goldsmith's work, and little can be attributed to him with authority.

Biography

Works

Notes

References

Further reading