Vincenzo Onofri: a review of the artistic Career of a Protagonist of the bolognese Renaissance

Abstract

The article aims to revisit the personality of the famous Bolognese modeller Vincenzo Onofri and his artistic conduct, in view of the latest studies, findings and allotment assumptions; the objective finds its justification in the wish to restore the master's importance and profile, considering him as a man with excellent abilities, a remarkable aesthetic and with a leading role in the Bolognese Renaissance between the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century. Critics have considered for a long time Onofri's stylistic choices as the result of a performance modesty and in doing so, they misread him; however, the comparison with a wider artistic environment provides the right interpretation because Onofri's style emphasises a seasonal change, the adjustment to a new cultural atmosphere and the transition from a fifteenth century nicolesque style to a new "sixteenth century beauty" in harmony with contemporary painting. Excluding the sculptor's whole artistic path, i would like to dwell on the works of particular importance or more certainly attributable to him, in order to catch up a different and more truthful image of the artist with his merits and specific skills.