Pompei Leoni was an Italian
sculptor and
medalist who was born in
Milan in the early 1530s[1] and died in
Madrid in October 1608.
Biography
Pompeo learned the art of
sculpture and
medal making in the house of his father,
Leone Leoni, in
Milan, called the Casa degli Omenoni, where he had set up a school[2].
In addition to his Milanese customers, Pompeo, like his father, worked mainly for the Spanish
monarchy. In particular, he collaborated with the
sculptors Jacopo Nizzola, Bautista Comane, and Juan Bautista Monegro on the construction of the
Escorial. Most of his sculptures are preserved in
Spain[3].
Pompeo Leoni, Medal of Ercole II d'Este, 1554.
At his father's request, he amassed an important art collection. In his Trattato dell'arte de la pittura, published in 1584,
Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo states that two mythological paintings by
Correggio, Jupiter et Io and
Danaë (now in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum in
Vienna and the
Galleria Borghese in
Rome,[4] respectively), sent by Pompey from
Lombardy,
Spain, were preserved in the
Leoni household in
Milan. It is not known whether he received the works from the sovereign himself or whether he bought them from his favorite Antonio Perez after his disgrace in 1579.
Leonardo da Vinci's manuscripts
In 1589, he came into possession of the notebooks,
manuscripts, and
drawings that
Leonardo da Vinci had bequeathed to his pupil
Francesco Melzi. When this latter died in 1570, his son Orazio Melzi distributed the
manuscripts; he sold some and gave others to friends and collectors. Pompeo Leoni received some from Melzi and bought others.
In 1630, Antonio Mazenta wrote about the distribution of
Leonardo'smanuscripts, accusing Pompeo Leoni of being one of the main culprits and of having altered their order. To distinguish between artistic and technical or scientific drawings, Leoni dismantled the original
manuscripts and created two separate collections: the first, Disegni di Machine e delle Arti Secreti et Altre Cose di Leonardo da Vinci Racolti da Pompeo Leoni, grouped scientific and technical drawings, this is the
Codex Atlanticus kept at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in
Milan. The second, Disegni di Leonardo da Vinci restaurati da Pompeo Leoni, was intended to group botanical and anatomical drawings; it has been dismantled and the sheets can be found in several European collections,[5] such as the Codex Windsor in the
Royal Collection of
Windsor Castle since the 17th century,[6] and the
Codex Madrid in the
National Library of Spain.
Monumental group for the mausoleum of
Charles V and
Philip II, in the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; partly sculpted in
Milan in collaboration with
Adrien de Vries and assembled in the basilica in 1587.[7]
Tomb of Cardinal Espinosa de los Monteros in the parish church of Martín Muñoz de las Posadas in
Segovia.
Tombstone of the Marquis of Las Navas del MarquésWhite marble statue of Joan of Austria at prayer in the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales,
Madrid.
Tombstone of Pedro Dávila y Zúñigae de María de Córdoba, in the convent of San Domenico and San Paolo in Las Navas del Marqués (preserved in Madrid's National Archaeological Museum).
^In 1530 according to Markus Schmidt (Escorial und Valle de los Caidos, Betrachtung zweier spanischer Bauwerkecode: deu promoted to code: de , Munich, 2009, p. 7); in 1533 according to the Bénézit dictionary.
^Danae was sold by Pompeo to Emperor Rudolph II; the painting, brought back from Prague to Stockholm as war booty by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, fell to his daughter Christine of Sweden, who brought it with her to Rome.
^De Silvestri, Paolo (2009). Leonardo. ATS Italia Editrice. p. 28.
ISBN9788875718732.
^Mulcahy, Rosemarie (1994). "Adriaen de Vries and Pompeo Leoni: The High Altarpiece of El Escorial". International Magazine of the Arts. 139. Apollo: 35–38.
Johnson, Cesare; Martini, Rodolfo (1995). Catalogo delle medaglie. II, Secolo XVI. Benvenuto Cellino, Pompeo Leoni : Milano, Civiche raccolte numismatiche (in Italian). Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato.
ISBN9788824038317.
Cupperi, Walter (2005).
"LEONI, Pompeo". TRECCANI (in Italian).
Schröder, Stephan F. (2012). Leone & Pompeo Leoni : actas del Congreso Internacional = proceedings of the International Symposium (in Spanish). Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado.
ISBN978-84-8480-247-1.
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