Giacomo “Jacov” Bertapelle Bruttapelle

On 17 December 1791, Giacomo (Jacov) Bruttapelle was born in the town of Vrboska, on the island of Hvar, in what is now Croatia.* Jacov was baptized there on 21 December at St. Lawrence's parish (Sv. Lovre) by his parents, Magistri Antonio Bruttapelle and Anastasia Coschich (daughter of Dominico Coschich Brescovich and Tomasina Angelini). Jacov had two sisters, Maddalena and Tomasina (who died as an infant in 1795). The honorific Magistri indicates Antonio was a Master craftsman. Jacov married Maria Ghizdavcich (daughter of Jacobi Ghizdavcich and Maria Bercovich) on 14 February 1820 at St. Stephen's church (Sv. Stjepan) in nearby Stari Grad. Family history states that Giacomo was a "marble cutter," likely a stonemason like his father, but Stari Grad church documents list him as a farmer. Parish baptismal records show that he and Maria raised one son and eight daughters: Maria Anastasia (Novak, 1821), Margherita (~1823-1829), Maddalena (1826-1845), Lucia (Dulcich, 1829), Margherita (1833-1836), Vincenza Tommassina (David, 1835-1923), Antonia (1837-1850), Antonio (1842-1932), and Veronica (1845-1934). Giacomo's children Vincenza (Vica David, ID: 91839198), Antonio (Anton Berry, ID: 95628196), and Veronica (Vera Berry, ID: 95627802) all immigrated to Tacoma, Washington, in the United States. According to his parish death record from Zagreb's Archives, Jacov died in 1870, almost two years before his wife Maria. Jacov's father's family were Master stonemasons who built altars for Catholic churches throughout Dalmatia. They designed and sculpted altars of marble and inlaid stone. Jacov's father, Antonio, was likely a younger brother of the sculptor Magistri Andrea Bruttapelle, whose father's name was also Giacomo. Originally from Bassano Del Grappa, Italy, there was much written about Magistri Andrea Bruttapelle (1728-1782). He was baptized at Santa Maria in Colle by his parents Giacomo and Maddalena Bruttapelle. He was the head of the Bruttapelle workshop in Vrboska. He had lived in Makarska in the early 1760s, where he was contracted to work on the Cathedral. He had two children there, Anna (1763) and Jacob Joseph (1765). It is unclear where Andrea married his wife Maddalena Peribonio (daughter of Paolo); however, the baptism record for Jacob Joseph states she was from Stari Grad (Citta Vecchia). As of 1768, Andrea was contracted to work on an altar at Our Lady of the Rosary in Stari Grad, Hvar, but he may have built an altar in the town some time before that. After 1768, Andrea began works in Stari Grad and then throughout Hvar. He set up his workshop in Vrboska, from which the family worked for generations. His family is noted in Vrboska parish books starting around 1771. He would go on to design and build altars throughout the region until his death in Nereżišća, Brač. Andrea's son Paolo lead the family business after Andrea's death. He became an even more notable altarist than Andrea. Paolo's sons, grandsons, and great grandsons were all altarists born in Vrboska. Paolo worked on at least two altar projects with Jacov's father, Antonio. They worked together in Tugare, beginning in 1781, and Blato, Korčula, starting in 1799, according to Croatian art history articles. In Hvar, the Bruttapelle name was eventually "softened" to Bertapelle, according to art historians. In America, Jacov's son Anton and daughter Veronica went by the name "Berry." * During this time, Hvar was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was called by its Italian name, Lesina. Stari Grad was known as Citta Vecchia. Baptism, marriage and death documents are available at the Archives in Zagreb, Croatia. Historical information on the Bruttapelle family came from a collection of art history articles including https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/172252