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Alessio Stati(Alexius Eustathius), d. 1489
Roman humanist linked to Paolo Pompilio and other members of Pomponio's circle.
Relations with Pomponio's CircleAlessio Stati has been identified with the "Alexis" mentioned in a letter of 1472 and a dialogue of 1487, thus connecting him with Paolo Pompilio, Platina, and other members of Pomponio's circle:
1) "Alexis" in a letter of Domizio Calderini to Oliverio Palladio, Lyons, 19 and 21 June 1472 (Florence, Bibl. Riccardiana, MS 915, f. 212r) mentioning Paolo Pompilio. (Perosa 1973, 16-17 = Idem 2000, 160)
Eorum, quae hic canemus, Paulus initium et auspicium felicissimum dabit. Scribas velim interea valeatne an Alexis suspiret amores, cui carior est quam vellem. Monebis ut nostri vivat memor atque ita Alexi praeceptore utatur, ut se a nobis amari intelligat. (Ibid., 6)
(Paolo will make a most auspicious beginning to the things of which we shall sing here. In the meantime I would like you to write whether he is well or sighs for the affections of Alessio, to whom he is more dear than I would wish. Remind him to keep us in his thoughts and learn from Alessio in such a way that he understands that we love him.) 2) "Alexis Eustathius" in Paolo Pompilio's De vero et probabili amore composed in 1487 and dedicated to Pomponio Leto (BAV, Vat. lat. 2222, ff. 46r-76v). The dialogue, set in Anguillara in 1476 or 1478, was said to have been related to Alessio by Platina, who participated in the debate together with Antonio Volsco, Papinio Cavalcanti, Pietro de Rocha, and Francesco da Toledo ("Dialogus de Amore Pauli Pompilii: loquitur Alexis Eustathius ad Platynam qui introducitur omnium Relator," f. 47v). (Perosa 1973, 16-17 = Idem 2000, 170-72; Chiabò 1986, 508; Bracke 2002, 434-35)
Other possible references:
See Perosa 1973, rpt. 2000, n. 18 (pp. 171-72) for mention of an "Alexis" in an epigram of Filippo Buonaccorsi, known as "Callimaco," and of an epigram (perhaps) of Calderini. The "Alexius Romanus" cited in the dedicatory letter of Niccolò Perotti's commentary on the Silvae of Statius (1472) and another mentioned in a collection of writings for Alessandro Cinuzzi (1477) probably refer to other persons, not to Alessio Stati.
Other members of the family must also have had connections with Pomponio and his circle. An important testimony of these relations is the copy of Pomponio's edition of Sallust's opera (Rome: Eucharius Silber, 1490) now in the Royal Library of Copenhagen (Inc. 3587), which contains the Stati coat of arms (f. 2v) and an illuminated initial on the incipit page (f. 3r) depicting the helmeted head of a Roman commander, modeled on an antique coin portrait of Julius Caesar.
Similar arms, though with different tinctures, are found in the incipit initial of a copy of Cicero's De oratore [Subiaco: Conradus Sweynheym and Arnoldus Pannartz, before 30 Sept. 1465] (ISTC: ic00654000) now at the Biblioteca Angelica (Rome), Inc. 505. We thank Martin Davies for kindly bringing this to our attention.
Bibl. Miglio and Rossini 1997, 98, Fig. 63. The Stati familyThe Stati, or Stati Tomarozzi, belonged to the municipal aristocracy of Rome, and various members are listed as Conservatori di Roma, including Paolo Stati (1398), Lello di Paolo (1413), and Cristoforo di Paolo (1536 and 1548). The latter also served as Maestro delle Strade in 1545, and is mentioned among the gentilhuomini romani listed in Marcantonio Altieri's Li Nuptiali, book 3. The family owned considerable property in the rione S. Eustachio and several members of the family were buried in the Church of S. Eustachio, popularly known at the time as 'Santo Stati'.l. Camp. App. 222, ff. IIIr-Vv)
About 1520 Cristoforo Stati (c.1498-c.1550), son of Gaspare, began the building of a new family palazzo in Platea Doganae (Piazza S. Eustachio), probably thanks to the large dowry of his wife Faustina, daughter of Virgilio Cenci, whom he married in that year. The design of the palazzo is attributed to Giulio Romano and was probably built in the years 1520/21-1524, before the architect left Rome for Mantova. The Stati coat of arms is carved on the ceiling of the Sala di Eros (piano nobile). Fresco cycles, attributed to Perino del Vega and/or his collaborators, in particular Prospero Fontana and Luzio Romano, decorate this and other rooms: Il fregio degli amorosi diletti degli dèi, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses and Fasti; scenes depicting episodes in ancient history and, perhaps, in the life of Julius Caesar; and grottesche. In 1561 Cesare Stati, son of Cristoforo, sold the palazzo to Monsignor Cristoforo Cenci. According to a late seventeenth-century guidebook to the city (Roma sacra antica e moderna, Rome, 1687), Palazzo Cenci, as it was known by that time, numbered among the most celebrated palaces in the rione S. Eustachio for its statues, paintings, and antiquities. Later it passed into the hands of the Maccarani and di Brazzà families. Since 1972 it has been the property of the Italian state and currently houses offices of the Senate.
Bibliographya) Alessio Stati:
unpublished sources:
Archivio di Stato di Roma, Collegio dei Notai Capitolini, B. 29, c. 178v (2nd pt.) (Giorg. Albini & al., 26 luglio 1492-19 febbraio 1504, a. Febr. 1498).
Archivio di Stato di Roma, Ospedale SS.mo Salvatore (Ecclesiae almae urbis in quibus anniversaria celebrantur), B. 393, cc. 272v - 273v (Alexo Tomarozzo; Alesio de Cristoforo Paulo Stati). [Cf. Alessio di Cristoforo Stati de Thomarotiis, cited in D. Iacovacci, Repertorii di Famiglie, BAV, Ottob. lat. 2553, pt. III, s.v. "Stati," 892, with reference to the Catasto S.mi Salvatoris (a. 1489).]
published sources / studies on Roman humanists and humanism:
Perosa 1973, 6, 16-17; Chiabò 1986, 508; Bianca 1999, 12, 137; Bracke 2002, 434-35; Bauer 2008.
For other members of the family, including Gaspare and Cristoforo, see:
Iacovacci (cit. above), s.v. "Stati," 877-903.
C. L. Frommel, Der römische Palastbau der Hochrenaissance. Römische Forshungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana 21 (Tübingen 1973), Bd. 1, Text, 111-12; Bd. 2, Katalog, 322-26; Bd. 3, Tafeln, 139-44.
F. Borsi, F. Quinterio, and G. Magnanimi, Palazzo Cenci (Roma 1999), including "Ragguaglio documentario."
Zabughin 1909, 23-24 and n. 64 mentions a Lorenzo (or Renzo) Stazio, notary, and his son, Fulgenzio, who composed an epitaph for Pietro Odi da Montopoli (c. 1466).
See also www.romanelrinascimento.it, s.v. "Onomasticon"; "Indice Bio-Bibliografico di Roma nel Rinascimento"; "Indice del Corpus Borgiano."
b) On the Copenhagen copy of the 1490 Sallust (Kongelige Bibliothek, Inc. 3587):
Osmond 2010b; Osmond 2011b.
c) On Palazzo Stati-Cenci-Maccarani (art and architecture):
C. L. Frommel, op. cit.; F. Borsi, F. Quinterio, and G. Magnanimi, op. cit.; C. Pericoli Ridolfini (a c. di), Rione VIII S. Eustachio, Parte III. Guide rionali di Roma (Roma 1984), 94-99.
Websites: it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo Maccarani Stati; www.iconos.it/index, with further bibliography. d) On the Stati coat of arms (Stati de Tomarotti):
"D'oro, a due leoni controrampanti di rosso, tenenti con la branca anteriore, rispettivamente destra e sinistra, una coronoa d'alloro di verde." (Stemmi gentilizi delle più illustri famiglie romane. Ed. in facsimile dall'originale conservato nella Biblioteca Casanatense di Roma. Commentario a c. di L. Giallombardo [Roma 2007], n. 670.)
See also T. Amayden, La storia delle famiglie romane, con note ed aggiunte del Comm. Carlo Augusto Bertini (Roma [c.1920]), 2: 198.
I thank Rasmus Gottshalk for calling attention to the Copenhagen copy of Sallust and Laura Giallombardo, Biblioteca Casanatense, for her help in indentifying the arms.
Patricia Osmond
7 September 2011 This entry can be cited as follows:
Patricia Osmond, "Alessio Stati," Repertorium Pomponianum (URL: www.repertoriumpomponianum.it/pomponiani/stati_alessio.htm,
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