Recover 16 c. The mural was found missing in the organ –

The Antegnati organ in Duomo Vecchio of Brescia is one of the greatest surviving instruments of the Italian Renaissance, and the quantity and quality of its original material are preserved. Built in 1536 by Gian Giacomo Antegnati, the organ still retains 1,300 original tin tubes, the oldest and largest group of Antegnati pipes that exist today, as well as its many original wooden boxes, carved by the sculpture Battista Piantavigna in 1537.

Duomo Vecchio (Old Cathedral), also known as Rotonda, is rare in itself: the 11th-century Romanesque circular church, one of the only people of his kind to survive in Italy. It also has the difference between standing, just in most cases it will be a replacement Duomo Nuovo. They are formal colleagues, the United Cathedral of the Winter in Santa Maria Assunta, and the new one is the United Cathedral of the Summer in Santa Maria Assunta.

When the organs were built, Duomo Vecchio was the only cathedral in Santa Maria Assunta. (The construction of Duomo nuovo began with the demolition of San Pietro de Dom in 1604.) The organs made by the Antegnati family are known for their outstanding quality, and 50 years after the completion of the organs of the cathedral, Constanzo Antegnati boasted: Now in our Domo is considered one of the best and most famous people to hear throughout Italy today. ”

Girolamo da Romano, known as Romanino, got engaged in 1539. A wide range of ingredients when closed. The interior left door features the birth of the Virgin Mary, while the visit to Elizabeth is on the right door. The big scene on the closed double doors is the marriage of a virgin.

Romanino integrates the marriage scene, thus integrating the huge facade of the organ itself into the church’s architecture, extending the visual pattern to the murals on the walls on the sides of the organ. In the 17th-century catalog of the Church of Brescia, Bernardino Faino describes the paintings of Romanino’s doors and side walls:

This door [organ] The oil was applied to the oil in the hands and outside of Girolamo Romanino of Brescia, mimicking the soft and full color of Titian. The painting inside is a woman’s visit and the birth of Jesus. Outside, the marriage of the above-mentioned blessed virgin is represented, and represented by the number of numbers, in appearance, the organ is mounted with the numbers of many people, accompanied by many characters in the above-mentioned mural.

The “many characters” on the left and right murals are musicians. They depict the depiction of Virgin marriage painted on the appearance of the organ double doors, so you can see the scene only when it is closed. (When they opened, they obviously covered the walls on both sides.) The musician matched the wedding scene, one of the live bands of the central celebration, Romanino matched the rotating columns on the side of the organ, and opened and closed the belts The doors of painted columns have very lifelike realism and perspective. Musicians played only percussion and wind instruments, including Renaissance Cornetto. Without stringed instruments, it is almost certain to associate painted musicians with the sounds produced by the organ. The scholar assumes that the two bystanders on the left wall represent Gian Giacomo Antegnati and Giovanni Piantavigna, the maker of organs and boxes, and the bystanders on the right wall are Romanino’s self-portraits, a work of art of organs, both bound to the ” Art. From it and its creators’ music.

With many modifications and repairs in the organs, this wonderful unified vision was removed and hidden for centuries. The original organ door was moved to Duomo Nuovo, which was finally completed 200 years ago and was decorated and installed on the church wall. The murals were painted as forgotten. The organ was expanded in 1826 by the Serassi Brothers of Bergamo. They have a contractual obligation to preserve all sound materials and most importantly arrange the oil pipes.

Less than two centuries after recovery, the precious pipeline was in a remote state and was attacked by “tin cancer”, a kind of corrosion that is often seen in historical organs in northern Italy. In 2014, parishes, cities and nonprofits began raising and allocating funds for emergency interventions to resolve corrosion before eating it in a pipe. The protectors found many other issues that need to be addressed, including gaps and dents at the bottom of the pipe and rotting leather washer and corrugated tubes.

Damage requires the removal of organs and recovery of the expert field. In 2017, a comprehensive restoration began. The Piantavigna case, which remains in the cathedral, has been restored in situ. It was during the case work that the restorators moved the paint from the wall to the side of the organ and revealed the long-lost Romanino mural that Faino mentioned last. Twelve numbers come from white people: eight musicians and four bystanders.

The original organ door was retrieved from Duomo Nuovo and returned to the proper position on the rotating column. The columns were repaired and a new remote control system was installed to turn them on and off. Another historic gem was found in one of the columns: the strips were folded 32 times, hidden by the artisans who made the columns. It reads: “mipasìdapasìsi fat Questi coloni de l’Orgen de l’Orgen del dom / el el di Aprilil Mili 538”, meaning April 1538. ”

Fratelli Mascioni Company completely restored the organs and reassembled them. The Great Wind Dragon has been placed in a specially prepared room behind it. The wind core of the Gemini Bass (the lowest wood pipe pipe) (receives the air propagated by the corrugated tube to the pipe), its long wood pipe has been placed in an ancient box, thus releasing the rediscovered view of Romanino’s mural. Master Windchest and auxiliary devices are connected to the keyboard and pedals. After careful repair, most of the pipes are placed in their original position.

After taking off the old tired skin, the storm was opened, cleaned and re-fixed. Restore the air duct by repairing cracks, replacing the washers and restoring the original paint. Recover and integrate the mechanics in the missing places. Reconstruct the keyboard based on the original measurements and shapes, natural note keys are covered in the keys of the changed notes in ebony and walnuts, and the ivory gilding is donated by a private individual.

The pedal was rebuilt according to the “lecturer” type and measured from the S. Oliveto church’s S. Oliveto organ. Restoring the pipeline requires a lot of effort to clear out “tin cancer” that attacks a large portion of the “Antegnati” pipeline.

On November 19, 2023, after six years of silence, the restored Antegnati organ is played again. You can hear its recovery in this Italian news report: