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 IMOLA

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IMOLA

1248). Several times, powerful lords attempted to obtain the mastery of the city (Alidosi, 1292; Maghi- nardo Pagano, 1295). Benedict XII turned the city and its territory over to Lippo Aliilosi with the title of pontifical vicar, the power remaining in the same family (Alidosi) until 1424, when Angelo della Per- gola, "capitano" for Filippo Maria Visconti, gained the supremacy. But in 1426 the city was restored to the Holy See, and the legate (later Cardinal) Capranica inaugurated a new regime in public affairs.

In 14.34, 14.38, and 1470 Imola was conferred on the Sforza, who had become lords of Milan. It was again brought under papal authority when it was bestowed as dowry on Catherine Sforza, the bride of Girolamo Riario, nephew of Si.xtus IV. Riario was invested with the Principality of Forli and Imola. This proved advantageous to Imola, which was embellished with beautiful palaces and works of art (e. g. in the cathe- dral, the tomb of Girolamo, murdered in 1488 by conspirators of Forli). Tlie rule of the Riarii, how- ever, was brief, as Alexander VI deprived Ottaviano, son of Girolamo, of power, and on 25 November, 1499, the city surrendered to Caesar Borgia. On his death, two factions, that of Galeazzo Riario and that of the Church, contested the rule of the city. The eccle- siastical party was victorious, and in 1504 Imola sub- mitted to Julius II. The last trace of these contests was a bitter enmity between the Vaini and Dassatelli families. In 1797 the French established a provi- sional government at Imola; in 1799 it was occupied by the Austrians; in 1800 it was united to the Cis- alpine Republic. After that it shared the fortunes of the Romagna.

Noteworthy among the secular edifices of Imola are the Farsetti and the municipal palaces. In the latter is a fresco representing Clement VII and Charles V (1535) passing through the city. The public li- brary was established in 1747 by the Conventual Padre Setti. In the sixteenth century the Accademia degli Industriosi flourished. Among the celebrated men of Imola were: Pope Honorius II; Benvenuto da Imola (Rambaldi), a lecturer on Dante at the University of Bologna in the fourteenth century; Taddeo della Volpe, a captain in the service of the popes and Venice (in 1510 Venice presented him with a staff bearing the image of a fox and his device : Sl.MUL ASTU ET DENTIBU8 UT.\R) ; Giovanni Sassitelli, surnaraed il Cagnaccin, who was also a captain; Ot- taviano Vestri and his son Marcello, famous jurists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; Inno- cenzo da Imola (Francucci), a pupil of Francia and Gaspare Sacchi, distinguished painters; Andrea and Giuseppe Bagnari, noted for their skill in inlaid work; Cosimo Morelli, the famous architect who designed the sacristy of St. Peter's, Rome.

The Christian origins of Imola are obscure. The episcopal see certainly antedates St. Ambrose, who sede vacante ordered the Bishop of Vigorenza to visit the church of Imola and provide for the election of a pastor. The martyrdom of Saint Cassian is likewise certain, being described by Prudentius (Peristeph., IX) from pictures seen by him in the cathedral of Imola. Saint Cassian was a schoolmaster, put to death for his faith by his pupils, under Diocletian. Some have identified him with Saint Cassian, Bishop of Sabiona (Saben in the Tyrol), said to have been transferred to Imola, but this would place the martyrdom in the time of Julian. In 435 Valentinian III built the church of S. Maria in Arenula. The bishop then was St. Cornelius, whose deacon was made Bishop of Ravenna by Sixtus III and is known as St. Peter Chrysologus. His successor was Projectus, at whose ordination Chrysologus pronounced a magnificent eulogy of St. Cornelius. Chrysologus himself was buried at Imola. His tombstone, discovered in 1698, was a rude block on which was written Petrus. Of the gifts of St. Peter Chrysologus to the church of

Imola there is still preserved a paten, with the figure of a lamb on an altar, surrounded by the metrical legend

Quem plebs tunc cara crucis agnum fixit in ara.

Hostia fit gentis primi pro labe parentis. These leonine verses, however, indicate a much more recent date. At the same period flourished the deacon St. Donatus. Other bishops worthy of men- tion are: John (946), who restored the cathedral and embellished the tomb of St. Peter Chrysologus ; Blessed Basil (1063); Ridolfo (1146), and Enrico (1174), who suffered for their adherence to Alexander III, Enrico laid the foundations of the present cathedral, fin- ished in 1271 under Bishop Sinibaldo; Pietro Ondedei (1416), a distinguished canonist and theologian; the Dominican Gaspare Sighigelli (1450), learned and saintly; Girolamo Dandini (1546), formerly nuncio at Paris, founder of an orphan asylum; Francesco Gua- rini (1566), the founder of the seminary; Cardinal Fabio Chigi (1652), afterwards Pope Alexander VII; Cardinal Filippo Gualtieri (1702), founder of a mone fnimentario to supply the poor peasants with seed; Cardinal Giancarlo Bandi (1752), who rebuilt the cathedral and the basilica of Valentinian; Cardinal Barnaba Chiaramonti (1785), afterwards Pope Pius VII; Cardinal Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti (1832), afterwards Pius IX.

Imola has 121 pari.shes with 120,000 souls; 7 re- ligious houses of men and 12 of women; 4 educational institutions for boys, and 12 for girls.

Alberghetti, Compendia delta atoria civile. . . D^Imola (Imola, 1810); Angeli, Memorie biografiche di uomini illustri Imolesi (Imola, 1828); Cappelletti, Le Chiese d Italia (Venice, 1857), II.

U. Benigni.

Imola, Innocenzo di Pietro Francucci da, Ital- ian painter; b. at Imola, c. 1494; d. at Bologna, c. 1550. When but twelve years of age he arrived at the latter city to study painting as a bursar of his native town, which, by an ordinance dated 17 March, 1506, had voted him an annual subsidy of ten baskets of grain. He entered Francia's atelier, as is proved by this extract from the master's register, given by Mal- vasia: " 1508. On the 7 May I took into my school Nocentio Francuccioof Imola, on the recommendation of Felesini and Gombruti. " It is probable that Inno- cenzo went to Florence and that he studied for some time under the direction of Mariotto Albertinelli. Soon he was invited by Count Giovanni Battista Bentivoglio to take up his residence at Bologna. Here Innocenzo passed the remainder of his life, and here are still to be found the greater number of his works.

But a sovereign influence, that of Raphael, had already taken possession of the artist and effaced in him all the influences which had preceded it; or rather, he found in the work of Raphael the finished expression of that quality which had charmed him in Francia and Mariotto, as in Andrea del Sarto and Fra Bartolommeo. It is doubtful, however, whether he ever knew Raphael, who had left Florence in 1508 and returned only for a few months in 1517, when Inno- cenzo was busy at Bologna in the famous convent of S. Michele in Bosco. It is almost certain that he never was at Rome, and, consequently that he was not acquainted — unless by engravings — with the great decorations of the Stanze and the Farnesina; for him Raphael is still the painter of the Madonnas. On the other hand, we know that Francia had friendly rela- tions with the Urbinese master. We know, too, that one of the first pieces of work executed by Innocenzo for Bentivoglio was a copy of the " Virgin with the Fish", now at Madrid, a picture then already famous and in the possession of a nobleman. Such copies, no doubt, were scattered throughout Italy, popularizing the genius of Rafael. Thus did the master's influence radiate quite beyond the limits of his school, and artists like Garofalo and Bagnacavallo were to be seen