A life spent between public posts and collecting
Guglielmo Lochis’s life was split between private and public, between collecting and the many positions that made him a leading figure in the political and cultural world of Austrian Bergamo. The rise of Count Lochis, already a member of the Guardia Lombardo-Veneta in 1816, was marked by the many appointments he received: from his admission to the Royal Imperial Court (1838) until his nomination as Chamberlain (1854). Together with these privileges, he also held posts in the city, such as the highly prestigious position of Podestà of Bergamo (1842-48), and the no less important posts of honorary Director of the Royal Imperial Lyceum (1850), Provincial School Inspector (1852), and Chairman of the University of Science, Literature and the Arts (1852).
Lochis and the Accademia Carrara
In 1834 he was made a member of the Accademia Carrara’s Commissaria, the management board set up by the founder to administrate the Pinacoteca and School of Painting. Lochis became its chairman just a few years later, in 1838. The count played a key role in the board’s decisions, such as in 1835, when many of the paintings in the Carrara Collection were sold at auction, quite possibly together with some of those the Museum had purchased in Venice from Salvatore Orsetti in 1804. On the other hand, he himself took part in the auction, buying many works, including The Portrait of Francesco Bruntino by Fra’ Galgario, for his own collection.
It is quite probable that he also had a close eye on the affairs of the School and, with remarkable foresight, he had his portrait made by the best pupil to come out of its classrooms – which is to say by Giovanni Carnovali, called Piccio, who portrayed him with an icy look in 1835.
The Collection
Lochis started forming his collection in the 1820s, with paintings of undeniable quality right from the outset. He managed to get hold of works by Lorenzo Lotto, Giovanni Bellini, Carlo Crivelli, Carpaccio, Titian, Dürer, and Canaletto, as well as Raphael’s Saint Sebastian. This painting was the jewel in the crown of a collection whose story appears in letters, including correspondence with the Milanese restorer Alessandro Brison, and in the three catalogues that were drafted by the count himself and published in 1834, 1846, and 1858.
As the collection grew, it became clear that a new home was needed, and Lochis asked the Ticinese architect Luigi Fontana to design a villa in the neoclassical style at Crocetta di Mozzo, just outside Bergamo. It was built between 1840 and 1841, and his collection was installed in it in accordance with the latest notions of museum design.
The Bequest to the City of Bergamo
When Guglielmo Lochis died in 1859, his will obliged the city to take on the responsibility of opening this second city museum to the public.
In the end, things turned out differently, because the City of Bergamo challenged the Count’s will in order not to have to take over management of the new museum, which was considered to be too far away, insecure and expensive. In the end, after lengthy negotiations with Carlo Lochis, the municipal administration decided in 1866 to assign 240 of the roughly 550 paintings in the Lochis Collection to the Accademia Carrara, with the meticulous selection being carried out by the expert eye of Giovanni Morelli.
The heirs, who were left with the villa, more than half the collection of paintings, and many objects – including ancient weapons, furniture, porcelain, ivories, bronzes, chinoiseries, glassware, enamels, lace and objects in coral – dispersed the art collection within the space of just a few years.
Other collectors
Giacomo Carrara
Bergamo, 1714 – 1796
Due progetti strettamente correlati accompagnarono Giacomo per tutta la vita: l’istituzione di una Scuola di pittura e di una Galleria per le sue raccolte d’arte, aperta al pubblico degli intenditori.
Per realizzare questo proposito acquistò nel 1766 un vecchio stabile in via della Noca a Bergamo, trasformandolo radicalmente. È il nucleo originario dell’edificio neoclassico progettato da Simone Elia, che oggi ospita l’Accademia Carrara.
Giovanni Morelli
Verona, 1816 – Milano, 1891
Giovanni Morelli costituì la sua raccolta seguendo il proprio gusto e i suoi interessi di studioso, ma senza uno specifico programma.
La raccolta, completata intorno al 1874, arredava le stanze dell’abitazione di via Pontaccio 14 a Milano, dove rimase sino alla scomparsa di Morelli nel 1891. L’anno seguente per volontà testamentaria giunse all’Accademia Carrara, che si arricchì della collezione di uno dei più grandi storici dell’arte dell’Ottocento.
Federico Zeri
Roma, 1921 – Mentana, 1998
Il rapporto di Zeri con l’Accademia Carrara risale all’inizio degli anni Cinquanta, quando negli articoli dello studioso compaiono i primi riferimenti a opere del museo bergamasco.
L’ultimo episodio della lunga amicizia di Zeri con il museo fu la decisione, già maturata alla fine degli anni Ottanta, ma espressa ufficialmente nel testamento, di donare all’Accademia Carrara la propria raccolta di sculture, che veniva a colmare una lacuna nel patrimonio dell’istituzione bergamasca.
Mario Scaglia
Bergamo, 1934
Mario Scaglia, ingegnere, proviene da una famiglia di industriali dediti, in principio, alla produzione di bottoni e spolette, poi convertiti all’ingegneria meccanica di precisione, ed è proprio la dimensione tecnica che lo fa appassionare a medaglie e placchette, oggetti d’arte di piccolo formato, frutto di grande perizia nel campo della metallurgia, che costituiscono il cuore della sua collezione d’arte.
Altri donatori
Accanto alle cinque donazioni più consistenti (provenienti dalle collezioni di Giacomo Carrara, Guglielmo Lochis, Giovanni Morelli, Federico Zeri e Mario Scaglia), nel corso di più di due secoli oltre 240 enti e privati si sono affidati all’Accademia Carrara per custodire le proprie opere. Di seguito, secondo un ordine cronologico, riportiamo l’elenco dei numerosi donatori, dei rari acquisti ottocenteschi e dei depositi.