I Could Not Find That Any One In Mesocco, Not Even My Excellent
Friend Signor A Marca, The Curato Himself, Knew Anything About
Either The Inscriptions Or The Cause Of Their Being Written.
No
one was aware even of their existence; on borrowing, however, the
history of the Valle Mesolcina by Signor Giovanni Antonio a Marca,
{31} I found what I think will throw light upon the matter.
The
family of De Sax had held the valley of Mesocco for over four
hundred years, and sold it in 1480 to John Jacob Triulci, who it
seems tried to cheat him out of a large part of the purchase money
later on; probably this John Jacob Triulci had the frescoes painted
to conciliate the clergy and inaugurate his entry into possession.
Early in 1481 he made the inhabitants of the valley do fealty to
him. I may say that as soon as he had entered upon possession, he
began to oppress the people by demanding tolls on all produce that
passed the castle. This the people resisted. They were also
harassed by Peter De Sax, who made incursions into the valley and
seized property, being unable to get his money out of John Jacob
Triulci.
Other reasons that make me think the frescoes were painted in 1480
are as follows. The spurs worn by the young men in the April and
May frescoes (pp. 211, 212) are about the date 1460. Their
facsimiles can be seen in the Tower of London with this date
assigned to them.
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