He Died About 1840, Very
Old, And He Kept On Improving To The Last.
His last work - at least
I was told upon the spot that it was his last - is in a little
roadside chapel perched high upon a rock, and dedicated, if I
remember rightly, to S. Michele, on the path from Fobello in the
Val Mastallone to Taponaccio.
It is a Madonna and child in clouds,
with two full-length saints standing beneath - all the figures life-
size. I came upon this chapel quite accidentally one evening, and,
looking in, recognised the altar-piece as a Dedomenici. I inquired
at the next village who had painted it, and was told, "un certo
Dedomenici da Rossa." I was also told that he was nearly eighty
years old when he painted this picture. I went a couple of years
ago to reconsider it, and found that I remained much of my original
opinion. I do not think that any of my readers who care about the
history of Italian art will regret having paid it a visit.
Such men are more common in Italy than is believed. There is a
fresco of the Crucifixion outside the Campo Santo at Fusio, in the
Canton Ticino, done by a local artist, which, though far inferior
to the work of Dedomenici, is still remarkable. The painter
evidently knows nothing of the rules of his art, but he has made
Christ on the cross bowing His head towards the souls in purgatory,
instead of in the conventional fine frenzy to which we are
accustomed.
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