Around 1917, the Butterworths built the library onto their house to accommodate the canvas ceiling painting which came from Hotel Danieli, formerly a palazzo of the Dandolo family in Venice, Italy. The painting was never signed and it was not known if one or more artists completed the work. Janet Seiz, art historian instructor at Black Hawk College and Dr. Knox ignited a series of new findings that reveal the identity of the artist, and place the Moline ceiling within the league of great Venetian decorative works of the 18th century.
World renowned Venetian art expert George Knox, PhD. walked 150 visitors through the research that brought him to significant conclusions about the Butterworth Center ceiling painting during "Venice on the Mississippi," a presentation held at Butterworth Center on January 30, 2004.
Dr. Knox showed several slides of various Venetian ceiling paintings, and revealed clues that he used to deduce the identity of the Butterworth Center ceiling artist. He studied the style of various artists, and stated that the Butterworth ceiling was painted so that the placement of the figures in the painting did not relate to one another in the scene, but were “calmly arranged, with no crowding or confusion of elements.” Dr. Knox noted that full canvas Venetian ceilings were rare in the 18th century, and that the Butterworth ceiling “is quite exceptional in the way it combines elaborate painted quadratura and figure painting on an extensive scale.” Quadratura is a method of painting ceilings and walls to give the illusion of architectural elements, such as joining imaginary architecture to the real architecture of the room.
These key observations led him to the conclusion that the quadratura of the ceiling was probably the work of the brothers, Giuseppe and Domenico Valeriani. The historical record on the lives of the Valeriani brothers is rather obscure, yet in their time they were sought after for their decorative paintings through prestigious commissions.
“You won’t find any biographies on the Valeriani brothers —nor will you find information to write a biography,” said Dr. Knox. Although, the brothers’ repertoire of works placed them on the forefront of Italian decorative paintings of the 18th century.
It is suggested that Gaspare Diziani perhaps was the artist responsible for the figures in the painting. Diziani's other works on record depict similar use of "luministic painting against a dark background," detail in the draperies, the stemma, and figures comparable to the Bernardo ceiling at Butterworth Center.
Janet Seiz and George Knox, in their study that was published in the scholarly journal, Arte Veneta* state:
"The Butterworth ceiling may now be placed within the context of the remarkable series of purchases by wealthy Americans, between 1890 and 1920, of great Venetian decorative works of the 18th century."
*J. Seiz and G. Knox, "A ceiling attributed to Gaspare Diziani and the Valeriani: from Ca'Dandolo to the Butterworth Center, Moline, Illinois." Arte Veneta 61, 2006, pp. 228-232.
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