page_title: Gasparo Cairano
section_title: The private commissions of Brunelli and Caprioli
hierarchical_section_title: Gasparo Cairano / Career / The private commissions of Brunelli and Caprioli
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: monumento funebre di gaspare brunelli, san francesco, brescia, gasparo cairano
context_page_description: Gasparo Cairano, also known as Gasparo da Cairano, de Cayrano, da Milano, Coirano, and other variations, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance.
  The artist emerged in 1489 as part of the cultural world of Milan, beginning a successful career that turned him into a leading exponent of Renaissance sculpture in Brescia, distinguishing himself with works of cultural import such as his cycle of the Caesars for the Loggia palace in Brescia, as well as the Mausoleum of Martinengo. He introduced a powerful and highly expressive classical taste, as opposed to the hitherto existing refined decorativeness. During the first decade of the sixteenth century, Gasparo was able to win over public and private clients who sought to translate into stone their pride in their supposed historical descent from ancient Rome.
  After his death, Gasparo's reputation fell into oblivion caused by unfavourable secular criticism. His complex artistic personality and catalog of works were only reconstructed from the end of the twentieth century, thanks to targeted critical studies that have for the first time allowed a thorough analysis and rediscovery of his works.
context_section_description: Having gained prestige from the constructions in the Loggia, Cairano received at least two commissions from the nobility of Brescia. Involved in the leadership of the new administration, they were certainly aware of his ability. There are papers dating back to 1496 that document Cairano's commission for the Tomb of Gaspare Brunelli, which, in 1500, was placed in the Brunelli chapel within the Church of St Francis. During the same period, the Caprioli family commissioned the tomb of Luigi Caprioli to be placed within their chapel in the church of San Giorgio, probably together with other sculptures, made probably in collaboration with the Sanmicheli workshop, to which is attributed the marble jamb decorated with candelabras.
  Caprioli's memorial was broken up in the nineteenth century, so only the Caprioli Adoration remains. A masterpiece of Cairano's, this was placed in 1841 by Rodolfo Vantini on the high altar of the St Francis of Assisi church. Cairano demonstrates a high technical mastery, not only in the extremely precise orientation of the boxes, but also in the choice of the monolithic block, which, in fact, is not strictly necessary for this kind of work. From Bernardino Faino and Francesco Paglia and other seventeenth and eighteenth century scholars, we know that the relief was placed by some architectural system. It was supposed to be a figurative piece, created perhaps by the same artist, but which has not been traced.
caption: Funerary monument of Gaspare Brunelli, 1496–1500
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