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Matteo Moronzon – an artist or a project manager of a woodcarving workshop?

The woodcarvers from the Venetian family Moronzon signed for and created a number of orders in the area of the present-day Italy and the eastern Adriatic coast from the late 14th century to the first decades of the 16th century. In numerous written sources a total of thirteen male family members are indicated as woodcarvers, and one of them, Matteo Moronzon moved to Zadar from Venice in 1418. As an „incisor lignaminum et civis Venetiarum" he signed an agreement with the representatives of the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar, archbishop Luca of Fermo and nobleman Toma Petrica on July 23rd 1418. He made a commitment of making the choir stalls for the cathedral that had to be finished within eighteen months if started October 1st 1418, and it was agreed that he and his family would live in the canonical house in Zadar. They also agreed on a price and the stalls were to be executed according to the design (“secundum exemplum”) that Matteo presented to the Archbishop. Since the projects such as choir stalls draw up long-term, it can be assumed that he started a woodcarver workshop in Zadar and ran it most probably from 1418 until about 1440 when he returned to Venice. His workshop was certainly very active, since other orders in Zadar were confirmed by documents. Some documented works of art are preserved, while most of them are not. However, there are some works of art that show similarities with the documented Matteo’s woodcarvings and one of the most prominent are the choir stalls in the ex-cathedral, nowadays the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rab (Croatia). Even though there are differences in quality between these two examples, it is obvious that the choir stalls in Rab and Zadar were created on the basis of the same concept. If we consider the range of work that a woodcarver had to do while working on the choir stalls it must be assumed that Matteo had assistants who participated in the production of the choir stalls in Zadar. Thorough insights into decorative elements, as well as several coats of arms of different Archbishops on the Zadar choir stalls confirm this assumption. On the other hand, there is no documented confirmation of the author of the choir stalls in Rab, so they used to be considered as a work of an anonymous woodcarver who was under the great influence of Matteo Moronzon. However, a detailed comparative analysis of choir stalls in Zadar and Rab leads to the conclusion that Matteo was the chief designer of both of them. In this paper it will be questioned the problem of the authorship of the choir stalls in the context of Zadar as the art centre and Rab as the periphery. Also, it will be discussed whether it is honest to consider Matteo as the author of the choir stalls in Rab since he is undoubtedly believed to be the author of the choir stalls in Zadar. Or, would it be fair to consider him a woodcarver who led a prominent workshop in Zadar for more than 20 years as a manager, a designer, a craftsman and an artist at the same time.

Matteo Moronzon, Rab, choir stalls

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