Jana Zapletalová

'Jacobus Tencalla figlius Joannis de Bissone': The Origin and the Life of the Painter Giacomo Tencalla

In connection with new discoveries by Martin Mádl about the activity of the heretofore entirely unknown painter Giacomo Tencalla within the territory of the present-day Czech Republic, this article presents the results of archival research concerning the artist, his family and his work in the Lake District of Northern Italy and in Prague. The chief benefit of the work was the discovery of the identity of this formerly mysterious artist, the determination of the basic facts of his life and the clarification of his family relationship to Carpoforo Tencalla and to other members of the clan. The study of birth and death records, correspondence and legal disputes from Swiss archives has brought forth a great deal of new information about the life of Giacomo Tencalla and his countrymen. That information has in turn contributed towards the dating of some of Giacomo's transalpine work, such as the ceiling paintings in Šternberk Castle in the Prague neighborhood Trója. Last but not least, it was shown that the stuccoer Giovanni Maria Antonio Tencalla, who married the granddaughter of the famed painter Carpoforo and worked in Vienna and other Central European locations, was the son of the painter Giacomo. In spite of the rich archival documentation, however, no painting south of the Alps has yet been connected with Giacomo Tencalla.

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