Under this
arrangement it was of course the interest of the convent that the work
should be completed as quickly as possible. And we find, accordingly,
the abbot commissioning Antonio of Florence to carve six of the backs
of the stalls; Battista of Bologna and Ambrose, a Frenchman, to carve
the reading-desk; and Fra Damiano of Bergamo, who was then at Bologna,
to execute the four sculptures in bas-relief which adorn the door. This
Fra Damiano, who signs himself on his work "Fr. Damianus de Bergamo,
Ordinis Predicatorum," seems to have been a brother of the principal
artist, Maestro Stefano. But a curious peep at the manners of that time
is afforded by the fact of a professed monk working for hire as a
wood-carver. The main portion of the work, however, and the general
design, were due to Maestro Stefano da Zambelli of Bergamo, and just two
years and half from the signing of the contract the work was completed
and signed in intarsia, as we see it to this day, "Hoc opus fecit M^{r.}
Stephanus di Bergamo."
For a long time it was supposed that the very beautiful designs for the
entirety and for each detail of this noble work was due to Raphael. The
guide-books all copied the statement one after the other; and they were
indeed excusable in doing so, for the large and magnificent folio which
was published at Rome by the abbot and monks in 1845, containing
engravings of every detail of the celebrated carvings, declares on the
title-page that the work was executed "by Stefano da Bergamo after the
designs of Raffaelle Santi di Urbino.
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