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Virgilio Nucci (1545-1621)


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Virgilio Nucci in:  Cascia    Gubbio  

Virgilio Nucci, who was born in Gubbio, trained under his father, .  sole heir of his father, Benedetto Nucci.  His first securely dated independent work was a signed altarpiece (1569) of the Universal Judgement for the Duomo, which is now in the deposit of the Pinacoteca Comunale (below).  His father named him as his sole heir in his will of 1596. 

The artist Felice Damiani left his working materials to  Virgilio Nucci, Pier Angelo Basili and Giovanni Maria Baldassini in his will of 1589.

Gubbio

Works in the Duomo

The following works in the Duomo are by or attributed to Virgilio Nucci.

St Bartholomew (1572)

This altarpiece (in the 3rd bay on the right), which is dated by inscription, is attributed to Pier Angelo Basili or alternatively to Virgilio Nucci.





Capture of Jesus (1575)

This altarpiece in the 3rd bay on the left is by/attributed to Virgilio Nucci.





Immaculate Conception (1584)

This altarpiece in the 2nd bay on the right is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.






Resurrection (ca. 1588)

This altarpiece in the 4th bay on the left is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.   It was moved here in the 1970s from an extra-urban church in the diocese.





Conversion of St Paul (1596)

This altarpiece in the 5th bay on the left is [signed by Virgilio Nucci and dated by inscription].






Annunciation (ca. 1600)

This altarpiece, which is signed by Virgilio Nucci, was removed from the Altare dell’ Annunziata in 1913 and only returned to the church  [where ??] after its recent restoration. 





Works in the Pinacoteca Civica

The following works in the Pinacoteca Civica are by or attributed to Virgilio Nucci.

Portrait frescoes

These frescoes by by Virgilio Nucci, which remain in situ in Palazzo dei Consoli (on the back wall of what is now Room V of the gallery) depict:

  1. Guidobaldo II della Rovere (1573); and

  2. Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1601).

A third fresco, of Francesco Maria’s son, has been lost. 

Universal Judgement (1569)

This altarpiece, which is signed by Virgilio Nucci and dated by inscription, is the earliest securely dated work by this artist.  It came from the came from the Duomo and is now in the deposit of the gallery.

Resurrection of Lazarus (ca. 1570)

This large altarpiece, which is of unknown provenance is thought to be an early work by Virgilio Nucci.

Immaculate Conception (1584)

This altarpiece from San Francesco, which is attributed to Virgilio Nucci, is in the deposit of the gallery.

Resurrection of Lazarus (1586)

This rectangular altarpiece from San Domenico by/attributed to Virgilio Nucci [is dated by inscription ?].

Pala Tondi (1610)

The inscription of this altarpiece in the deposit of the gallery  records: the artist, Virgilio Nucci; the date, 1610; and the name of the commissioner, Francesco Tondi.  The altarpiece, which probably came from the Monastero di San Benedetto, depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned with SS Sebastian, Ubaldus, Francis and Catherine of Alexandria.

St Frances of Rome ((1611)

See works in San Pietro, below.

Works in Sant’ Agostino

The following works in Sant’ Agostino are by or attributed to Virgilio Nucci.

Christ and the woman from Samaria (1580)

This altarpiece above the font (in the 1st chapel on the left) is signed by Virgilio Nucci and dated by inscription.  A second inscription records the name of the commissioner, Angelo Mattioli.

Assumption of the Virgin with saints (ca. 1591)

This altarpiece in the 6th chapel on the left depicts the Assumption of the Virgin with SS Augustine, Monica, Francis and Jerome.  It was given by Virgilio Nucci to Teodora Paulozzi (the owner of the chapel) as part of the price of some property he had acquired from her in 1591.

Martyrdom of St Sebastian (ca. 1600)

This altarpiece on the 1st chapel on the right), which is attributed to Virgilio Nucci, was painted for the church of the Monastero di Santo Spirito.  It was originally curved at the top but later transformed into its current rectangular format.  It entered the civic collection in the 1920s and was transferred to Sant’ Agostino in 1975 because it was mistaken for a documented panel of the same subject from Sant’ Agostino that is actually lost.

Deposition (early 17th century)

This altarpiece is on the 2nd chapel on the right is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.  The depicts St John the Evangelist and Joseph of Arimithea laying the body of Christ on a bier as the Virgin swoons into the arms of St Mary Magdalene.

Madonna and Child with saints (early 17th century)

This altarpiece in the 7th chapel on the right is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.  It depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned with SS Augustine and Francis.  Below is a bust of the donor , who has a  a noticeable scar on his forehead: this is probably Lorenzo Traversi, to whom the chapel belonged.

Altarpiece (1576-9)

This documented altarpiece from Sant’ Antonio da Padova by Virgilio Nucci and its frame,  which is attributed to Antonio Maffei, no longer survives.  It depicted:

  1. the Adoration of the Magi; and

  2. the Visitation and the Annunciation above.

Descent from the Cross (1581)

The Arte dei Calzolari (shoemakers’ guild) commissioned this altarpiece from Virgilio Nucci for their altar in San Francesco (in the 6th bay on the right).  It is a copy of a work by Daniele da Volterra (17th century) in the church of SS Trinità del Monte, Rome.   (The frescoes that Virgilio Nucci painted in this chapel at this time no longer survive.)

Immaculate Conception (1596)

This panel in the Monastero delle Cappuccine, [which is dated by inscription ??], is alternatively attributed to Virgilio Nucci or Federico Brunori.

Crucifixion (1599)

The  recent restoration of this altarpiece in the church of Santa Maria del Suffragio (on the 3rd altar on the  right) revealed the signature of Virgilio Nucci and the date.  Since it pre-dates the construction of the church, it must have been moved here from another location.  It depicts the moment when the dying Christ confers responsibility for His mother on St John the Evangelist and includes St Mary Magdalene kneeling at the foot of the cross.  The dying Christ is surrounded by angels, and God the Father looks down from a small panel above. 

Scenes from the life of St John the Baptist (1604)

Virgilio Nucci was paid in 1604 for the first of this series of 20 panels along the walls of the nave of San Giovanni Decollato.  The panels were restored in 1984.  Following the restoration:

  1. five are attributed to Virgilio Nucci:

  2. the Annunciation to Zacharius;

  3. the Birth of St John the Baptist;

  4. the Naming of St John the Baptist;

  5. the Massacre of the Innocents; and

  6. St John the Baptist in the Desert;

  7. eight are attributed to Avanzino Nucci;

  8. the Circumcisione of St John the Baptist;

  9. St John the Baptist preaching;

  10. St John the Baptist introduces Jesus to the crowd;

  11. Salome at the banquet of King Herod;

  12. the dance of Salome;

  13. St John the Baptist in prison;

  14. the beheading of St John the Baptist; and

  15. the burial of St John the Baptist;

  16. three are attributed to Felice Damiani; St John the Baptist in prison;

  17. Agnus Dei;

  18. St Elizabeth flees with the young St John the Baptist from the Massacre of the Innocents; and

  19. the death of St Elizabeth; and

  20. four are by one or more inferior artists

  21. the Visitation;

  22. St John baptising people in the River Jordan;

  23. the Baptism of Christ; and

  24. St John the Baptist before Herod.

Works in Santa Maria del Ponte (ca. 1605) 

The second altars on the left and on the right of Santa Maria del Ponte are similar in form and each contains an altarpiece that is attributed to attributed to Virgilio Nucci:

Annunciation

This altarpiece on the 2nd altar on the left is in two parts:

  1. The upper part depicts the descending Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, surrounded by angels. 

  2. In the lower part, the Annunciation takes place against the backdrop of Piazza Grande, Gubbio.

Christ and the Virgin with Angels

This altarpiece on the 2nd altar on the right is also in two parts:

  1. The upper part depicts the Virgin enthroned with Jesus the Redeemer and the Archangel Gabriel.  The latter holds crown over the Virgin’s head. 

  2. In the lower part, the Archangel Michael stands on the defeated the devil, flanked by SS Ubaldus and Joseph on the left  and SS Catherine of Alexandria and Mary Magdalene on the right.

St Sebastian (16th century)

This altarpiece, which is by/attributed to Virgilio Nucci, is on an altar in San Pietro (in the 2nd bay on the left). 

Crucifixion with St Mary Magdalene (1610)

This altarpiece [by/attributed to Virgilio Nucci and dated by inscription] is in the sacristy of the Monastero di Sant’ Antonio da Padova.

Work in San Pietro (1611-3)

Virgilio Nucci signed two late works in the Cappella di Santa Francesca Romana (later the Cappella del Rosario) in San Pietro, both of which are dated by inscription:

  1. the altarpiece (1611) depicting St Frances of Rome, who had been canonised in 1608; and

  2. the panel (1613) in the lunette above, which depicts the Annunciation.

The altarpiece was removed in ca. 1930 and  is now in the deposit of the Pinacoteca Comunale, but the panel in the lunette is still in situ.

St Catherine of Alexandria (ca. 1610)

This panel in the Monastero delle Cappuccine is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.

Frescoes (ca. 161o)

These frescoes in San Domenico (in the 6th chapel on the left), which are attributed to Virgilio Nucci, depict:

  1. St Mary Magdalene and the Risen Christ (Noli me tangere);

  2. the stigmatisation of St Francis; and

  3. the penitent St Jerome.

Madonna and Child with saints (ca. 1610)

This altarpiece from San Marziale, which depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned with six saints, is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.  The saints can be identified as: SS Francis; Antony of Padua; Euphemia, Mary Magdalene; Elizabeth of Hungary; and Apollonia.  The presence of the Franciscan saints suggests that it almost certainly came from the adjacent Monastero di Santa Chiara in 1787.  [It was in the ex-nunnery of San Marziale until relatively recently - where is it now??]

St Joseph in his Workshop (ca. 1610)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Virgilio Nucci, is [where ?] in San Giuseppe dei Falegnami, which belonged to the carpenters’ guild.  It depicts St Joseph in his workshop, as the Virgin plays with the young Jesus and his cousin, St John the Baptist.  SS Zachariah and Elisabeth, the parents of St John the Baptist, are about to enter presumably to collect their son.

Works in Santa Maria dei Servi

Three altarpieces in Santa Maria dei Servi are attributed to Virgilio Nucci:

  1. the Deposition (ca. 1610), [where ??] ;

  2. the Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1610), on the 1st altar on the left; and 

  3. the Annunciation (ca. 1615), on the 1st altar on the right.

Miracle of the True Cross (early 17th century)

This altarpiece, which is by/attributed to Virgilio Nucci, is in Santa Croce della Foce (on the 2nd altar on the left).

Painted Crucifix (early 17th century)

This panel of Christ on the cross in the choir of SS Trinità is attributed to Virgilio Nucci.

Cascia

Vision of St Francis at the Portiuncula

In San Francesco

Crucifixion with saints 

In the Basilica di Santa Rita

In Sant Agostino

Madonna and Child with St Augustine and Blessed Rita (1590)

Madonna del Soccorso (1609)

Madonna della Cintura (1609)



Read more:

E. Storelli, “Benedetto e Virgilio Nucci”, (1992) Todi


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