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A modello (plural modelli), from Italian,The term modello avoids the ambiguity in English of model, which may equally refer to the finished work of art that provided detailed inspiration for a variant or later copy. is a preparatory study or model, usually at a smaller scale, for a work of art or architecture, especially one produced for the approval of the commissioning patron. Glossary, National Gallery, London; Irene Earls; Renaissance Art: A Topical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1987, . The term gained currency in art circles in Tuscany in the fourteenth century.The texts from five contracts and other documents 1376–1508 published by Michael Hirst (Hirst and Carmen Bambach Cappel, "A Note on the Word Modello', The Art Bulletin 74.1 (March 1992:172–173) are all Tuscan, as Hirst remarks, though the contemporaneous term extended as far as the Marche. Modern definitions in reference works vary somewhat. Alternative and overlapping terms are "oil sketch" ( schizzo) and "cartoon" for , tapestry, or stained glass; maquette, plastico or bozzettoA bozzetto is a roughly-modelled preliminary sketch in clay for a sculpture; those that survive have mostly been kiln-fired to preserve them. for sculpture or architecture; and architectural model.Fourteenth century uses of modello in connection with Santa Reparata, Florence, are noted in A. Grote, Studien zur Geschichte der Opera Santa Reparata zu Florenz in Vierzehnten Jahrhundert (Munich 1960:113ff).
The Tiepolo above right was catalogued as a modello by Michael Levey,Michael Levey, The 17th and 18th century Italian Schools; National Gallery Catalogues, p.223, 1971, National Gallery, London, but recent x-ray investigation of the huge finished work in Munich has revealed that in its underpainting it was closer to another, very different and less finished modello, now in the Courtauld Institute,Braham Helen, The Princes Gate Collection, p. 74, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London 1981, Courtauld Institute image – note this is reversed compared to the final painting. and it has been asserted that the National Gallery picture illustrated is a ricordo. Francisco Bayeu. Saragossa; Review of Exhibition by Xavier Bray, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 138, No. 1120 (Jul., 1996), p. 479, note 3. JSTOR – on free page The National Gallery still describe it as "probably a modello", presumably produced after work had already begun. National Gallery, London
"Cartoon", named for the sturdy cartone paper on which they were generally executed, is usually used of working drawings, often at full scale,Cartoons for tapestry were always at full scale; often cut into loom-width strips, they were set behind the warps of the loom as a direct guide for the weavers. The most famous tapestry cartoons are the "Raphael Cartoons" conserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, for the Sistine Chapel tapestries; they were re-used in the 17th century in England to produce sets of Mortlake tapestries. but the distinction is not a firm one, and the terms cartoon and working drawing are often used interchangeably. Often, for example in tapestries, the modello is a design at a considerably reduced scale by the main artist, which is then (after approval by the patron) worked up into a full scale cartoon by the artist or others – probably his assistants; the Raphael Cartoons are much the most famous of the few surviving examples. The weavers then worked from this. Modello is especially used of older Italian art and architecture from the late Middle Ages onwards; initially these were mostly drawings, perhaps with some colour from chalk or watercolour, or with colours indicated in writing. The diminutive term modeletto will always be used of small-scale versions. As an Italian word, modello may be printed in italic type, or not.Surprisingly, the word does not appear in the original OED or the First Supplement of 1933 The French version of the word, modèle, may be used of French works, and is normally italicised.
Especially in the case of oil sketches, many modelli are greatly valued in their own right, as they may show a freedom in execution and freshness of inspiration missing in the final work, and also may show changes in composition from the finished work, throwing light on the process of artistic creation. Earlier stages of the creative process may be recorded in "preparatory drawings" or "studies", either for the whole composition, or a part of it, such as a single figure.
Many modelli show versions of works which were never actually realised, or have been lost. Famous examples are the alternative designs produced for the competition in 1401 to design the North doors of the Florence Baptistry. Lorenzo Ghiberti won, beating six other artists, including Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello and Jacopo della Quercia; the modelli survive, for a single panel, of the first two named (Bargello – picture above).
There are alternative, unrealised, modelli for many famous buildings, including St Peter's, Rome and the "Great Model" of St Paul's Cathedral, London, showing a different design by Sir Christopher Wren from that actually built. Explore St Paul's – Wren's Great Model When accepted, such models were retained during the work, as concrete expressions of what was expected under the terms of the contract, and afterwards were preserved in storage through salutary neglect.
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