Il monumento di Francesco Algarotti nel Camposanto di Pisa (1764-1768). Nuovi documenti per Giovanni Antonio Cybei, Mauro Tesi, Carlo Bianconi, Tommaso Temanza, Giovanni Volpato

The paper examines the development of Francesco Algarotti’s monument in the Camposanto of Pisa, initially conceived in its preliminary designs by Mauro Tesi according to Algarotti’s directives. New sources of inspiration are proposed that may have informed Algarotti’s conceptualization of specific aspects of his project, including the so-called Sarcophagus of Agrippa, the exterior cladding of the Malatesta Temple designed by Leon Battista Alberti, the works of Sebastiano and Marco Ricci, and Isaac Newton’s tomb in Westminster, executed by John Michael Rysbrack. Through the analysis of unpublished documents, the paper elucidates the contributions of the two designers, Tesi and Carlo Bianconi (who succeeded Tesi after his death), as well as the brief involvement of Tommaso Temanza, who was consulted in Venice by Algarotti’s brother, Bonomo. It further considers what the appearance of Tesi’s final design, now lost, might have been, and examines the modifications introduced by Bianconi, who ultimately claimed substantial credit for the result, to the detriment of both his colleague and the monument’s executing artist, Giovanni Antonio Cybei. The latter, regarded by contemporary Pisan actors on a par with Filippo della Valle, is the subject of a study regarding the nature of his involvement and interventions; and new attributions are proposed in his favor. Finally, the paper traces the commissioning and execution of the engraving of the completed monument by Giovanni Volpato, which was subsequently sent to Frederick II of Prussia.