© Lakeside - Frescoes by Carloni in SS . Nazaro e Celso in Scaria (Valle Intelvi)

“.. a piece of land around a lake has generated workers that have actually transformed the whole Europe.”

— Marco Lazzati, historian

If you are interested in understanding more about the history of art of Lake Como, you must know them: that group of bricklayers, stonemasons, architects, plasterers, engineers, painters, known under the mysterious name of Maestri Comacini.

As historian Marco Lazzati (2011) writes, these artists - who’ve been active since the most remote Middle Ages - have often been mythologized by local history enthusiasts, but also widely underestimated by art historians, who have relegated them to the role of simple craftsmen. Their entrepreneurship and their historical/environmental significance have been IMMENSE: in the end, they determined the current building structure of entire cities and regions!

The Maestri Comacini are documented as early as 643 (Edict of Rotari), that is, only when the phenomenon was already flourishing: for this reason we must necessarily think that their origin is sooo much more remote.

The Basilica of Sant’Abbondio in Como, the choir of the Basilica of San Fedele with all those mysterious figures of monsters and griffins, the impressive stuccos in the Cathedral of Passau in Bavaria, the cloister of Piona Abbey, the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, the Ludwigsburg Castle ("the Versailles of Germany") ... do you know all this architectural and decorative richness? Behind them are the Maestri Comacini.

With this article we want to provide you with a practical list of fun facts you should absolutely know about these artists before visiting any of their works during your trip on Lake Como and surroundings.

Ready? Let’s start!

#1 Why that name

The etymological origin of their name “Comacini” remains pretty much mysterious: it could derive from Comum (Como) but there are also those who proposed an etymology linked to the work tools - winches and scaffolding above all - which these masters used. The Maestri Comacini would be the masters who worked with machines, cum macinis (machinis); "Magistri cum machinis" or "magistri cum macinis", then.

According to historian Lazzati, however, it would be more correct to talk about "workers of the Lombard lakes", given that these artists also came from the Milanese areas.

#2 Why such a concentration of artists in our area

It’s not by chance that there has been such a concentration of artists in the areas around Lake Como. First of all, the region supplies a lot of different stones:

the limestone of Moltrasio (a tenacious but well workable rock)
the dolomite of Val Solda and Val Menaggio (perfect for producing magnesium lime)
the Musso / Olgiasca marble (also used in Milan in Roman times)
the black limestone of Varenna (useful for creating interesting chromatic effects)
the Saltrio and Arzo stone
the porphyry of Ceresio
the crystalline rocks like granites and gneis, widely used especially for jambs, architraves , steps, shelves and moldings.

All of this may have created a certain "specialization" of local populations in the art of extracting, producing and manipulating building materials.

#3 Itinerant soul

The Maestri Comacini had a restless and wandering soul: they assimilated techniques and ideas and then spread them elsewhere.

To put it less poetically, they were a huge corporation made of itinerant construction companies: from Lombardy they emigrated, alone or in groups, to Burgundy, Switzerland and the Rhine Valley. Working first in Upper Lombardy and in those countries beyond the Alps, they then spread their art EVERYWHERE, even throughout Italy: Rome, Venice, Genoa, Trento, Bergamo, Modena, Ferrara, Ancona, Pistoia, Arezzo, Verona, Siena, Orvieto, Assisi Bari...

According to historian Battisti, the mass migration of these artists was the greatest one that history has ever seen. That's why it makes sense to say that the Masters contributed so effectively to the spread of Romanesque architecture.

Whole cities (Genoa, Salzburg, Graz, Passau, Ludwigsburg, St. Petersburg) took on the appearance and identity they have today thanks to the Masters. Not bad, huh?

#4 (Extreme) brotherhood

The Masters immediately showed a great sense of brotherhood and solidarity that would make them call them “brothers”.

These artists were all anonymous masters: no single name of them has gone down in history. This is a proof of the importance they gave to the strength of the group itself, animated not by individual ambition rather by choral work.

#5 Quick, smart and efficient

The Comacini worked in linguistically homogeneous groups (common dialect and professional jargon, crucial for a coordinated and efficient management of construction sites) and included architects, sculptors, stonemasons, bricklayers, plasterers, and painters.

They were able to quickly provide clients with “turnkey solutions” at competitive prices; an emblematic example is the “Palazzina del Mese", which seems to have been erected in just 30 (t-h-i-r-t-y) days by the architect Santino Solari (from Valle Intelvi) for the bishop of Salzburg in the 17th century.

#6 Commercial spirit

In addition to the great practical sense and technical expertise, these artists also had a strong entrepreneurial vocation.

Often the builders were also marble merchants; basically, the entrepreneurial aspect of these societies was based on kinship ties and the ability to move en masse to a city and assuming a building monopoly. In Venice as in Bohemia, local builders often complained of the overwhelming power of the Comacini from Lombardia, who were buying up contracts.

#7 Born PR

The Masters were able to weave strategic relationships with various powers like the church, the court and other artists. An emblematic example: the great musician Johan Sebastian Bach dedicated a sonata to painter Carlo Innocenzo Carloni from Scaria, Valle Intelvi.

#8 Homeland love... but not only

Another typical feature of the Masters was their link with the native land: they often sent money there for public utility. Also, they used to return home seasonally, and on such occasions they exchanged important technical information or contract marriages to establish powerful alliances with other manufacturers. In other words, the initial legal bond was increasingly oriented towards the family type.

It would be impossible to remember all the "families" (you can find some of them here); we can only name the Bregno, the Solari, the Carloni, the De Allio, the Frisoni, the Fusina, the Maderno, the Fontana, the Caratti, the Gagini.

#9 Forefathers of Freemasonry? Maybe

As art historian Anna Rita Delucca writes,

“The fact that Brothers were appealed for solidarity and union in their work commitment, the fact that they were called Blacksmiths or Framassoni, the fact that they met in humble shacks close to the construction site called “loggias” to receive the directives of the Master or to swear - by the new worker apprentice - to respect the rules or secrets of the trade or again, to learn the conventional words and signs of recognition, from one lodge to another, during their journeys as migrant workers and ultimately, the fact that they had statutes divided into Articles (intended for teachers) and Points (intended for students), led to suppose that Maestri Comacini were faced with the ancestors of the Freemasons of the Masonic Lodge, even though there was not sufficient documentary material so far to prove this theory.”

#10 Symbology

Flora, fauna, spirals, twisted columns, geometric patterns and paganism symbolisms (first of all the ancestral cult of the snake, deriving from Lombardic culture): these are just some of the mysterious symbols that you’ll find among the traditions of the Masters. Some will appear bizarre and often inexplicable to you (just think of the frog on the side facade of the Cathedral of Como!): and that's where lies much of the charm of this ancient art.

Article by Laura Zanotta

Sources:

Marco Lazzati, “I Maestri Comacini tra mito e storia”, 2011

Ana Rita Delucca, “I Maestri Comacini e l’arte dello scalpellino”

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10 Cool Facts You Should Know About Maestri Comacini Before Visiting Their Glorious Artworks