Andrea Alexi (1425-1505) from Durrës

By: Lazar Radi (published in "Bashkimi i Kombit", no. 183, August 5, 1944)

Few people in Albania know Andrea Aleksi.

In our national press, little or nothing has been said about this great artist of the European renaissance. Only "Hylli i Drita" in its issue of December 1921, page 342, speaks briefly and lets the Albanian reader know the name and part of the work of this artist of our race. The life and works of Andrea Aleksi have been written more by foreigners, especially the Slavs, who considered him to be one of their great artists of the Renaissance.

Ing. Jovan Adami who has translated into Albanian the "History of Durrës" by Prof. K. Jerichek gave me this small note from his own manuscript: "Magister Andrea Alexi de Durachio built in 1447-1477 churches and altars in Arve, in Tran (Trogir) the church for baptism in Duomin) and in Spalato (Split) .” Kukuljevic collected information about this in "Lexikon der Südslavischen Künstler".

Very little information is known about the life of Andrea Aleksi. But it is certain that he left Albania very young and went to Italy to learn. It seems that he must have been very poor and that he was taken under his care to raise and educate him by a mentioned nobleman of that time, Duke Francesco Sforza. This generous man did not separate little Andrea from his own children, and seeing his inclinations and intelligence, he took special care and interest in guiding him in learning the sciences and the fine arts. Andrea Aleksi proved to be a very diligent student with great artistic tendencies. Alexi perfected these tendencies to such a degree that he gained a great name for his time. Both in art and in other directions, Andrea Alexi stood out in a special way for his works and his works received a special honor and award in his time. In the Milan Duomo, the visitor can see, among other things, a very beautiful letter dedicated to the Lady of the Illyrians, which the Milanese call the "Altare Albanese".

On the two sides of this altar there are two signatures from which it is known that this beautiful altar was made by a certain Alexis de la Tarchetta de Albania capitaneo de la corte de barengo. This altar, still according to the signatures, was completed on August 14, 1480.

Always carefully analyzing the signatures of the altar of the Lady of the Illyrians, we notice that this work was not done by the master Andrea Aleksi, but he made other artists work under his precise direction and according to the project worked on by him. The caption reads: "Questa opera a foto fare Alexio". Although Andrea Alexi was at that time busy with various important tasks and although he did not have time to fully devote himself to the completion of this altar, nevertheless, a legend proves that he did most of the work with his own hand, but not being able to do it alone, he took the help of another master who stood over him and directed him to work, not letting him deviate from the project drawn by him.

"Altare Albanese" is 4 meters high and 2 and a half meters wide; it is made with a type of marble called "Nero del Belgio". The altar has three domes and each of these domes has a statue: on the right is the bodyguard called John the Baptist, in the middle the bodyguard of a saint holding a feather and a pipe of papers. The altar is made of marble called "Nero del Belgio", while the three statues are made of "Carrara" marble.

The Altar of Our Lady of the Illyrians, the work of the Albanian sculptor Andrea Aleksi from Durrës, is undoubtedly one of his best works. The altar is decorated with many beautiful capitals. On both sides of this altar is this signature:

Quando piú sento in lii gran benefitii
chai a me fact o Vergene sancta et pura
in grandezza et honori et tutti offitii
tanto so piú obligato a tua figura che d'Albania
Viuto piccoletto presso quel mio
Signore de' tanta altura
Duke Francesco Sforza io poviretto mallevai
primo et do lu fui exaltato per il mio ben
Servire in ogni effecto et da li suoi children
semper honorato io stato con gran mio vantoggio
sopra li meriti mei et del stato
for liqual you want io con fedel coraggio
O Blessed Virgin
anchor te prego quando fáro desta vita passagio
a la salute mia non facci nego per laqual çosa
ornato ho questa locho de l'imagine tua
ove io with lego a ux io debitare
benché sia ​​pocho

The more I think of those great blessings
That you have made me, O holy and pure Virgin
In the majesty and honor of the whole office
I am so much obliged to your sight
That I came from Albania in a small way
I received this my most magnificent master
Duke Francesco Sforza, poor me
He brought me up first and I was glorified by him
For my outstanding service in every direction
And from there his sons always honored
I have been to my great fortune
More than my merits and powers
For which I gave with faithful courage,
O blessed Virgin, I still beseech you,
When shall I wake with the passing of this life,
My soul shall not be denied
For what purpose have I decorated this place?
With your image I remain inseparable
Alex is always in debt, if only a little

Vergene sacra fonte de pietade
devotamente tutti ve preghamo
che per la Vostra infinita bontade
for noi interecetate ad quel and Adamo
quando pecco lui sant sficce in croce
del che ciaschun semper de esser eramo
miserere cryando ad alta voce

Holy Virgin, full of mercy
devoutly we all pray
than for your infinite goodness
For us you sacrificed what Adam did
As much as He sinned, He was rewarded on the cross
That everyone will always be miserable
Unfortunately they cry out loud.

Questa epoca a fato far Alexio de la Tarchetta
de Albania captaineo del la Corte de Barengo
nel anodes MCCCCLXXX di XIII del mese de agosto.

Alex of Tarketa caused this work to rise
of Albania Captain of the court of Arengo
in the year 1480 on the 14th day of the month of August.

Andrea Aleksi, Albanian by origin, has published his works on the other side of the Adriatic Sea.

The works of this great artist have been seen in various places in Dalmatia, namely in Venice, the island of Rab, Zander, Llubonik, Trogina, Split, Jacina and Trenite. You can also discover other places where Andrea Aleksi has poured his works, by the talented artist.

He worked a lot starting at the beginning of the 1503th century when he died in Split. In the Church of the Holy Spirit of this city, the tombstone, which he prepared and placed for himself as early as XNUMX, is preserved even today.

The student Izedin Dizdari, who has the opportunity to visit these places and see for himself the magnificent works of the Albanian sculptor Andrea Aleksi, gave me some notes, which I am publishing in the hope of supplementing them with documents. others.

Alex's most valuable works are preserved in the Renaissance city of Trogir (Tran), a small but very beautiful town on the Dalmatian coast. This city is a real museum of artists. Here, Andrea Alexi, melted all the power of his skill. His Trogir works would be enough to raise him to the rank of an artist of great value.

The date of his arrival in Trogir is not known precisely, but he is believed to have arrived there around 1466. In this period, without the help of the church, he worked on the beautiful and magnificent Baptistery and Baptistry in Trogir Cathedral. On the last day of that year, Alexi received a considerable sum for his work done during 1467, for in this year his name was engraved on the top of the door of the Baptistry on the inside. The acts of the Trogir Archive also mention him on January 20, February 14, June 1 and October 28 of that year. Towards the end of that year, Andrea Aleksi met a first-rate master sculptor. This was Nikollë Fjorentini, architect of the Sibenik Cathedral, whose real surname has not yet been determined by art history. If the style experts are not lying to us, master Nikola was a student of Donatello, even a very diligent student of his. He came to Trogir and on December 19, 1467, was assigned to build the Chapel of St. John near the city's Cathedral. For the agreements, he had asked to be replaced by the generous Trogir Korjolan Qipiko. It is said that this very Qipiko had a high culture and was endowed with the spirit of the Renaissance; besides, he had gained fame in the service of Venice, as long as he had commanded a boat in the war against the Turks. The people of Trogir, amazed by the sculptures of Andrea Alexi in the baptiste, also wanted an old bishop John Orsini, who had joined the ranks of the devils, to build a special chapel near the cathedral. For this work, Alex joined Florentin and signed on January 4, 1468, in which Florentin replaced Qipiko, promising the leaders of the Church that they would carry out the work in the best way. In fact, this chapel is even today one of the most precious art jewels of the city of Trogir, at the same time it is also one of the most beautiful works in all of Dalmatia.

Every detail of the work is foreseen in the signed contract, but since the money was missing, the artists were forced to make some small changes in the sculpture part. The works began in 1468 and one of the masters received the sum of 70 ducats as an advance. Due to the lack of money, they were forced to look for private works. For this reason, they also worked in the Dominican Church of Trogir, a memorial to Ivan Sabotic. In Trogir, a series of all the artistic works known to have been created by the firm of Aleksi-Fjorentini is preserved. The bishop's palace of Jak Torlan belongs to this period. At this time, the rich palace of Korjolan Qipikos was also worked, the motif of Basha and Merkaoland was worked by Alex according to the drawing of Gjergj Orsini. Christ with two angels was carved by Alexi, but this work was not put into the church and to this day it stands in the open field to fight against time.

Compressed by poverty, our craftsmen were forced to go and look for work in other countries. It seems that they first went to Zadër (Zara) where you can still see some very beautiful gates and windows that prove that these artists have been in this city for some time. From Zadar they went to Split, where they worked on the bell tower of the city's cathedral. They have also done other works. In 1473, they also worked in the Italian Tremitet and precisely they performed the facaca of the church of St. Mary. They returned to Trogir only for a short time. How long Aleksi stayed in Trogir together with his friend Fiorentin, is recorded in 18 different documents, which were discovered and summarized by Dr. Pjetër Kolendiqi and published them in a separate work.

If other researches are done, we can learn more about the life and works of this prominent Albanian artist. It is our duty, if nothing else, to photograph the valuable works of this artist, and to make known to the Albanian people the artistic genius of our race. /Radiandradi/