A Painting from Michelangelo

Hello Adam… Jan. 25, 2006

Thanks for talking with me last week. I’ve been busy with my research, more on the genealogy side now than on the art side, as that part is mostly complete. I will give you the outline of my story, or should I say the history of this renaissance painting, as told for the most part, by an old Baroness that lived in Ragusa from 1865 to 1877.

Back in the renaissance, Michelangelo had a close intimate friendship with a woman named Vittoria Colonna from 1536 until the year she died in 1547. And also with the Archbishop Ludovico Beccadelli. This is well documented that the three were very close, the two gave spiritual guidance to Michelangelo, helping him understand that it was through faith and faith alone that his soul would be saved, not by the masterpieces he created. Michelangelo gave at least three finely finished drawing to her, one of them a Pieta. The painting that I have is in the same form as this Pieta. When Colonna died in 1547, Michelangelo and Beccadelli were both at her bedside. Beccadelli was unique in that unlike the others from the church that would always pester Michelangelo for a scrap of his artwork, Beccadell was just there as a friend and requested nothing. Some time after Colonna’s death, this painting was given to Beccadelli. In 1555, he was exiled as the Archbishop to Ragusa, and he brought this painting with him.

Beccadelli was in Ragusa from 1555-1560. While there, he had a villa on the island of Giuppana (modern day Sipan), where he spent time every summer. Close to his villa was another villa that belonged to the noble and distinguished family Facenda. The painting passed into the Facenda family’s hands and remained there, in unbroken succession for 300 years to the year 1863.

Freiherr von Lichtenberg was a member of the Prussian Honorary Consul in Ragusa from 1855 to 1877. He married Nicoletta Countessa di Gozze in 1847. Nicoleeta was from the Facenda family, but she was first married to a man from the Noble family Gozze (Gozze=Gucetic). Nicoletta died in 1863, Lichtenberg remarried Johanna nee Baroness von Lilien, a young German relative of nobility in 1865. Based on the Will that was left by Nicoletta, Lichtenberg was allowed the use of the estate during his life time, then it was to become the possession of the benevolent institutions of the city of Ragusa. In 1877 Freiherr von Lichtenberg died, leaving his widow and child nothing but the contents and inventory of the palace/home. The widow sold all she could except this picture and returned to Germany to stay with her mother’s childhood friend, the Baroness Villani.

The Baroness Villani did all she could to bring this painting into the public’s view. She presented it to professors Herman Grimm, Edward Steinle and other reputed art connoisseurs of Germany, but failed to secure for it a proper and permanent place in one of their art galleries. She then gave a sum of money to the widow Lichtenberg for the picture. Some time later in 1883 the Baroness Villani passed away. She Willed this painting to her families intimate, and her faithful companion of 35 years, Miss Gertrude Young, my great grandfather’s sister in-law. Miss Young sent it to America in 1883, and here it has remained.

This painting hung in my home as a child. We called it the “Mike” because of the story my mother told us about Michelangelo. Around 1975 it was knocked off the wall. The frame was damaged, so the picture was wrapped up and put away behind the sofa. For 27 years it remained there until, upon my retiring from the military in 2002, I returned home to reflect with my parents about my 28-year career. When we finished chatting, my father pulled the sofa away from the wall and pulled out an art portfolio. He said, “here…now with your new found free time, do something with this!” That was 3 years ago; I’ve come a long way in my research on the documentation that came along with this painting. It’s been hard work, but now I’m doing the genealogy research that will hopefully confirm what was once written down long ago. A scholar of Michelangelo spent a couple of days looking at this painting and though he doesn’t believe it to be a Michelangelo, he believes that the coincidences of my documentation are highly suggestive. He has encouraged me to do the archival work to confirm all of the facts. He feels if they all check out, then there must be more to this than just 19th century hearsay.

So far, what I’ve been able to do online has checked out. Perhaps with your help even more information about this Ragusa connection will come forth!

A few thing that I’ve confirmed after our conversation last month:

1. Nicoletta Facenda, in some of my letters, is referred to as Countessa di Gozze, not Facenda. I wasn’t sure what this meant. But now I see that she was first married into the noble family of Gozze. Her second marriage was to Lichtenberg.

2. Gozze is a noble family, but Facenda is not.

3. Both family’s, Gozze and Facenda lived in Dubrovnik, and they had summer villas around the area. Gozze had a large area and villa in trsteno, Facenda on the island of Sipan.

4. Lichtenberg was the owner of the San Giorgio estate on the island of Sipan.

Information I still need to find.

1. Who was this Facenda family that lived in Ragusa, were they wealthy?

2. If Nicoletta was the last member of the Facenda family there must be records of that.

3. Is there any record of Beccadelli interacting with this family Facenda or Gozze?

4. My information says that Beccadelli gave this painting to the Facenda family, but could it have been given to the Gozze family instead?

5. What is known of San Giorgio estate on the island of Sipan that Lichtenberg was the owner of, was it inherited from the Facenda family when he married Nicoletta?

6. Is there any record or inventory of inheritence taken after the deaths of:

Nicoletta’s first husband, Nobleman Gozze?

Nicolleta di Gozze?

Freirherr von Lichtenberg?

7. When Lichtenberg died, was his wife ousted from the property, is there an inventory of what was sold, or what she took with her?

8. Trying to find an inventory that mentions this painting would be very helpful in proving that it was indeed there in Ragusa.

Dr Vekaric and my contacts with the German archives have been helpful in solving a lot of the issues for me. It appears that all of the names and dates are true to my story line. Now, if I can just find an inventory from the Gozze or Facenda family’s that mentions the painting, perhaps after one of the family members died, this would not only prove that this was the painting that Beccadelli brought with him, but that Michelangelo gave it to him. Dr. Vekaric recommended that I contact Dr. Vinicije Lupis, an art historian, I’m working on that. And I have a couple of ladies looking for information for me too, but I really need someone who can look through the archives for the inventory documentation that might mention this painting. That will be difficult, but the dates are known of when an inventory would have been taken, so if there is someone willing to look, that would be very good!

OK…I think that’s enough for now Adam. If you would like more information, or need any questions answered, please feel free to contact me. If you want to talk, just send me an Email and I’ll get back to as soon as I can.

Best regards…

Martin Kober

716-695-2410

DeltaBlues97@aol.com