Il cantiere del palazzo di Ambrogio Grifi a Varese: novità sulla committenza del protonotaio apostolico

The essay analyzes the influence on the arts of the ducal physician Ambrogio Grifi, a refined patron in Milan in the age of the Sforzas. Particular focus is dedicated to the history of the palace built by the Protonotary apostolic in the hometown of his lineage, Varese. Several documents follow the building process step by step, as the residence was completed between 1487 and 1489 in a strategic po- sition outside the village. Two of such documents are par- ticularly relevant, as they describe the terracotta deco- ration of the house, which probably resembled that of the Banco Mediceo in Milan. The description of these art- works, included in the contract, can be compared to that of the Banco Mediceo in Filarete’s treatise, and to the fictile fragments from the deposits of the City Museums of Varese and Lodi, where Ambrogio had another house. The document also includes the name of the author of such enterprise: Maffeo de Rodiis da Prata, a previously un-known artist