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THE UNIFYING POWER OF MOVING PICTURES IN LATE MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE UMBRIA BY PASCALE RIHOUET B.A. UNIVERSITY OF PARIS-SORBONNE V, 1994 M.A. UNIVERSITY OF PARIS-SORBONNE IV, 1999 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE AT BROWN UNIVERSITY PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND MAY 2008 2 THANKS Throughout this study, I have received the unconditional support of several people. First of all, I wish to thank my advisor Dr. Evelyn Lincoln whom I first met in 1998 and without whom I may never have embraced a Ph.D. program so enthusiastically. Through our numerous conversations, her rebuttals, and her insightful comments on my written work, I have gained a greater appreciation for the ―unifying power‖ of multi-disciplinary theory and I have matured intellectually. Hopefully, I have by now shed my ―listing instinct.‖ Dr. Sheila Bonde is my second mentor and a fine medieval scholar who spurred my interest in many fields, from Islamic art to methodology to monasticism. Contact with my French advisor, Dr. Jean-Claude Schmitt, thanks to a dual PhD program with EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) has been quite stimulating for my thinking on several aspects for this dissertation. He graciously accepted my two invitations to Brown University. I am particularly grateful for his second trip in early April 2008 which will allow me to defend my dissertation and earn the French ―doctorat.‖ Of course, all my other readers deserve their share of thanks: Dr. Jeffrey Muller (Brown University), Dr. Joelle Rollo-Koster (University of Rhode Island), and Dr. Daniel Russo (Université de Bourgogne). I have received financial aid from Brown University since the Fall 2000 without which I would never have been able to become a Ph.D. candidate and bring my graduate studies to an end. I wish to thank the Graduate School; the Department of History of Art and Architecture; Medieval Studies; and Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. Other funding sources have also contributed to my field sojourns in Italy: I am very grateful to the Kress Foundation, the EHESS, and the Social Science Research Council. I must also express my deepest thanks to several scholars from Perugia. Professor Bartoli-Langeli for his help and patience in reviewing my transcriptions of the inventories and the format of my publication in the Bollettino della Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‟Umbria. Professor Carla Frova has provided me with constructive criticism for Chapter Five. The staff from the Archivio di stato, from the Sopr‘intendenza per I Beni Culturali, from the Archivio Braccio Fortebraccio, from the Archivio Diocesano, and from the Biblioteca Augusta have very kindly assisted me. I have benefited from conversations with professors Giovanna Casagrande, Elvio Lunghi, Rita Staccini, Paola Passalacqua, and Mirko Santanicchia. Special thanks to other Perugians: Francesco Pignani, Mario Gasperini, Erika Bellini, the Maiotti family, Isabella Farinelli, Maria-Rita Valli. Last but not least, best wishes to Ph.D. candidate Maria Sensi, my best Umbrian friend. 3 The Unifying Power of Moving Pictures in Late Medieval and Renaissance Umbria INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………….……………………...6 - Social identity......................................................................................................................7 - The lexicography of ―gonfaloni‖.......................................................................................11 - Flags in renaissance culture……………………………..……………………………….14 - Markers of identity and rituals...........................................................................................21 - Perugia and Umbrian banners as a case-study..................................................................24 - The historiography of gonfaloni and the case of Umbria.................................................29 - Outline of the dissertation................................................................................................32 CHAPTER ONE: Perugian identity and processional rhythms…………………………………36 1) The political dimension of the urban space - Heraldic and civic imagery: the griffon.................................................................................41 - The civic flag in its representations......................................................................................46 - The civic flag in its ritual use................................................................................................49 2) The ―bel ordine‖ of general processions - The necessity of general processions…………………….…………………………………53 - Order and precedence...........................................................................................................56 - Experiencing a semblance of a community...........................................................................63 3) The symbolic paraphernalia of political representation - Staging the officials‘ public appearances...............................................................................67 - City employees.......................................................................................................................71 - Conflict...................................................................................................................................74 Excursus no. 1: The Perugian griffon………………………………………………………………....79 CHAPTER TWO: The formation of group identity through the use of symbolic representations 1) Graphic and material signs of identity - Professional associations……………………………………………………………………83 - Confraternities........................................................................................................................91 - Neighborhoods.....................................................................................................................105 2) Death as a ritual stage for social cohesion..............................................................................110 - The Confraternita della Giustizia and the trappings of redemptive identity.......................111 - Advertising single-group identity in funerals......................................................................118 - Elite funerals: constructing relationships of authority and submission .............................121 3) Papal entries in Perugia: princely and civic identity..............................................................143 - Symbolic representations in Pius II‘s entry in 1459...........................................................146 - Ritual keys...........................................................................................................................149 - Flags....................................................................................................................................150 - The canopy or baldacchino.................................................................................................153 - Motion and Emotion……………………………………………………………………...157 Excursus no. 2: Neighborhood associations: urban militias and ―compagnie di porta‖…………....161 Excursus no. 3: Cloth paintings vs. banners........................................................................................167 4 CHAPTER THREE: Extraordinary banners “per placare l’ira di Dio” ………………………170 1) The plague in Umbria and the pictorial remedy…………………………………………….171 - The Umbrian context…………………………………………………………………...…172 - The ritual process of penitential processions…………………………………………..….175 - Relics vs. banners…………………………………………………………………………179 - The pictorial solution………………………………………………………………..……184 2) Banner patronage and iconography - The role of the clergy………………………………………………..................................188 - The role of confraternities………………………………………………………………...197 - The civic authorities and the responsibility of purifying the city………………….……..202 - Appeal to the civic patron saints…………………………………………….…………….204 3) The depiction of civic identity………………………………………………….……...……206 - The city as the privileged locus for salvation………………………………………….….207 - The social rhythms of immobile banners ………………………………..……….………213 - Banners as cult objects……………………………………………………………………219 4) Mary‘s supreme authority: the aura of textile……………………………….………………222 - Mary‘s extraordinary attire……………………………………………………..…………223 - Expressing Authority through clothing: color, patterns, and form....................................226 5) Ordinary banners against the plague.......................................................................................230 CHAPTER FOUR: The unifying power of Bernardinian images.................................................236 1) Ritual settings for wondrous panels: the tablets with the trigram………….…..….………….237 - Extant tavolette of San Bernardino: text or image?...........................................................238 - Empowering the tablets.....................................................................................................240 - From homelitic tool to processional object........................................................................243 - The tablets as cult objects..................................................................................................246 -The visibility of the trigram................................................................................................249 2) Images and processional paraphernalia for Bernardinian cults……………………….….…...251 - Establishing Bernardino‘s cult in Perugia: the Gonfalone of San Bernardino……….…..253 - A Franciscan appropriation and a failed civic adoption……………………………...….263 - The politics of wax distribution........................................................................................266 CHAPTER 5: Immobile and mobile images for unity and identity............................................270 1) The Gonfalone dell‘Annunziata………………………………………………................….271 - Connections to the Servites...........................................................................................273 - Social composition and elite members..........................................................................278 - Mary as a scholar...........................................................................................................284 - Canvassing unity despite heterogeneity ........................................................................287 - The Power of Place: Santa Maria dei Servi and the Nunziata chapel...........................291 2) Public life and Easter rituals...................................................................................................299 - At the heart of the ecclesiastical year.............................................................................300 - An extraordinary crucifix……………………………………………………….……301 5 - Ritual trappings………………………………………………………………………304 Easter Friday…………………………………………………………………………308 3) The Assumption festival: multiple collective identities - Adapting a Roman ritual................................................................................................314 - A civic procession..........................................................................................................317 - The leading role of the Nunziata...................................................................................319 - Monastic identity ………………………………………………………..……………321 Excursus no. 4: ―The scholarly inscription of the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata‖….……..…….……324 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….………………327 APPENDICES ………………………………………….………………………………….………332 GLOSSARY………………………………………………….………………………….….………396 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.............................................................................................................399 BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................................................407 6 INTRODUCTION Most banners, flags, and other types of portable images, once prestigious signs of identity for the groups that carried them in processions, have disappeared through wear and tear, vandalism, or disinterest in their devotional, aesthetic, or thaumaturgic qualities. Nowadays, extant ―moving pictures‖ can be found in private and public collections, museum storage, or churches, alienated from their original functions. My goal is thus to reconstruct their original settings and their past role in building social cohesion and reinforcing collective ties within a ritual framework in Central Italy (Umbria). My background is the ritual motion of public processions as they were enacted by single groups or the entire civic population, for feast days, funerals, and princely entries during the fourteen-sixteenth centuries. Although anthropologists and sociologists have investigated how ritual works to produce group identity for participants and observers, my contribution lies in stressing the visual components of such rituals and the significance of symbolic representations. I concentrate on ―gonfaloni‖ (usually translated as banners) and other portable images on textile or wood that could also have a stationary function. My analysis, rooted in social history, engages the processional images with a broader visual and material culture that includes sculptures, relics, heraldry, objects such as canopies, chests, and clothes, nonprocessional paintings, and choreographed gesture. What unites all these symbolic representations is their ceremonial functions and their role forming and nurturing collective identity. Scholarship of the past decades has shown that, in fourteenth- to sixteenth-century Italy, individuals primarily defined themselves as members of one or several groups such as guilds, confraternities, or neighbourhood. I ask in what ways rituals and symbolic representations contributed to the self-conception of groups, but also to the entire notion of civic identity, i.e., the awareness of belonging to a specific city such as Perugia. My interest 7 lies in ―moving pictures‖ that symbolically represented these groups and in the strategic motivations and historical circumstances for setting such markers of identity in motion. However, since many gonfaloni also served as altarpieces (for example, figs. 51; 53; 57a; 62a; 63a; 64a; 65a; 66), I investigate both ritual mobility and ritual immobility in order to obtain a more complete understanding of the ritual images discussed in this dissertation. The ritual transportation of images raises issues about the formation of collective consciousness and about the power of artistic or devotional artifacts to transcend human sins, to purify, and to spur the expression and experience of cleansing emotions. Without ―moving pictures‖ and their cognitive effects on all of the observers and participants, orderly public gatherings and the impression of unity would not be possible. Since conflict and exclusion are part of the liminal experience of rituals, I revisit the ideal representation of harmony that literary and pictorial representations of collective motion tend to offer. Social identity For nineteenth-century historian Jakob Burckhardt, individualism was a defining principle of the Renaissance man who was freed from medieval corporatism. A main objection to this influential interpretation is that his evidence relied mainly on humanist figures whose self-consciousness about their inner experiences was exceptional. For Norbert Elias, writing in the 1930s, early modern Europe (from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries) saw the emergence of behavior patterns and constraints, ushering in new models of comportment that he termed the ―civilizing process‖. However, Elias‘ insightful enterprise concentrated on only one specific social formation, court society, while I am looking primarily at urban social structures of Italian communes.1 In terms of this aspect of the social 1 On the definition of the Italian commune, see Giorgio Chittolini, ―Cities, ‗city-states,‘ and regional states in north-central Italy,‖ in Theory and Society 18 (1989): 689-706; Quentin Skinner, ―The Italian City-Republics,‖ in John Dunn, ed., Democracy: The Unfinished Journey. 508 BC to 1993 AD (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 57-69. 8 structure, I see no divide between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a period that spans the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Medieval and Renaissance people were always functionally attached to social groups such as family, neighborhood, guilds and devotional associations, on which they relied in order to express their own sense of who they were, and that portion of the larger social structure to which they could claim to belong. This study deals with what sociologists and psychologists define today as social identity, ―that part of the individual‘s self concept which derives from his membership of a social group together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership.‖2 The social identity approach provides explanations of group membership, behavior, and intergroup relations in the present.3 My research shows that for the fourteenthsixteenth centuries, and probably beyond that period, visual imagery was essential to formulating the dynamics of intragroup and intergroup relationships. Thus, clans, neighborhood companies, professional groupings, the clergy, and lay confraternities used visual markers of identity and artistic images to distinguish each group from the other. This study is not about what makes individuals distinctive from one another. Even proper names are irrevocably tied to collective identity. Nobles‘ patronymics equated individual identity with their belonging to a clan (Braccio ―dei Baglioni,‖ of the Baglioni family), whether this meant solidarity or rivalry within the clan. Common men had only a first name followed by a grammatical connector meaning ―son of‖ stressing patrilinear origin. For example, a painter Niccolò working in Foligno in the second half of the fifteenth century was called ―Niccolò di Liberatore‖, that is ―Niccolò, son of Liberatore.‖ But he was also known as ―Nicolaus pictor‖ and thus he was characterized, like many other men, by his profession. Notaries preceded their first names by the honorific ―Ser‖ and university 2 As defined by Henry Tajfel in 1978. Quoted in D. Abrams, Daniel Frings, Georgina Randsley de Moura, ―Group Identity and Self-Definition,‖ in Susan Wheelan, ed., The Handbook of Group Research and Practice (Thousand Oaks and London: Sage Publications, 2005), 329-350, here 332. 3 See Michael Hogg, ―The Social Identity Perspective,‖ in: ibid., 133-157. 9 professors by the title ―Doctor‖, thus advertising their professional ability and their membership in a consortium of their equals. Much like today, members of religious communities announced their status by adding ―brother‖ or ―sister‖ (―fra / ―frate‖ / ―suor‖) to their names. All these examples show that individuals defined themselves according to kinship, to their professional organizations or their religious community.4 Self-conception was primarily connected to group membership and this is still true of today according to the social psychology of group processes. In a recent book, J. J. Martin has proposed that Renaissance people understood themselves as social beings with an inward experience (defined as their own thoughts) that they may not be able to express.5 Martin analyses inquisitorial trials in sixteenth-century Venice in order to explore ―the relation of one‘s inner experience to one‘s experience in the world‖. By contrast, my own focus discloses collective voices and the strong corporate nature of Renaissance characters. Ronald Weissman, applying an Interactionist approach to Renaissance identity, sees a ―problem of social ambiguity‖ and argues that ―if anything, the Renaissance town suffered from too much community.‖ He stresses the necessity of viewing all social relations simultaneously in order to gain an awareness of the complexity of social ties.6 By examining the importance of imagery to the articulation of the identity of several groups in my study, I hope to reach this ambitious goal. Confraternal membership is an essential component of social categorization in my work. Weissman, John Henderson, and Konrad Eisenbichler for Florence, Nicholas Terpstra for Bologna, and Giovanna Casagrande for Umbria (to name but a few) have demonstrated 4 S. Blanshei analyzes this emphasis on kinship bond vs. patronymic and professional names for identification from an economical and fiscal point of view. Sarah Rubin Blanshei, "Population, Wealth, and Patronage in Medieval and Renaissance Perugia," Journal of Interdisciplinary History IX, no. 4 (1979): 597-619, in particular 605-608. 5 John Jeffries Martin, Myths of Renaissance Individualism (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). 6 R. Weissman, ―Reconstructing Renaissance Sociology: The ‗Chicago School‘ and the Study of Renaissance Society,‖ in R. Trexler, ed., Persons in Groups. Social Behavior as Identity Formation in Medieval and Renaissance Europe (Binghamton, N.Y.: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1985), 39-46. 10 how tightly-knit these devotional groups were, even though they tended to include people from different parishes, social classes, and professions.7 Although most confraternities drew their members from the laity, some also included ecclesiastics. Even women were accepted in some brotherhoods, although they played a minimal role, especially in public performances. These groups appear throughout this dissertation because most extant gonfaloni were once (and sometimes still are) placed in the custody of confratelli who guaranteed their maintenance and safekeeping. In the past two decades, art historians have shown how important confraternities were as patrons of art.8 Andreas Dehmer‘s recent study stressed the significance of confraternity banners in the development of Italian Renaissance painting. 9 The fact that gonfaloni were commonly called the ―segno‖ (sign) or ―insegna‖ (insignia) of specific groups is an indication of the strong identifying function of these paintings. In medieval Latin, ‗signum‘ referred to a signature, a seal, a flag or, in its Christian sense, signs of divinity (signum Christi), whereas ‗insignia‘ meant a distinctive, particular sign that was associated originally with military troops on the move.10 Additionally, ―segno‖ and ―insegna‖ frequently recur as synonyms for coats of arms (―arme‖) which can be defined as an association of colors (within seven hues) and figures inscribed on a shield or on a variety of shapes.11 This emblematic system provided a means for identification of an 7 For a typology and characteristics of confraternities, and recent overview of the scholarship, see Andreas Dehmer, Italienische Bruderschaftsbanner des Mittelalters und der Renaissance (Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2004), 16-34. 8 For example, Barbara Wisch has analyzed the decoration of the oratory of the Confraternity of the Gonfalone in Rome where the group‘s banner was placed above the altar in a visual relationship to the fresco cycle and the ceiling paintings. This lay-out reflected the brothers‘ devotional practices and asserted the confraternity‘s significance for the city. Diane Cole Ahl has similarly reconstructed how the San Zanobi confratelli‘s altarpiece in their Florentine premises shaped their collective expressions of piety and conveyed the ideals professed in their statutes. B. Wisch, "The Archiconfraternita del Gonfalone and Its Oratory in Rome: Art and CounterReformation Spiritual Values" (University of California, PhD, 1985); D. Cole Ahl, " 'In corpo di compania'. Art and Devotion in the Compania della Purificazione e di San Zanobi Florence," in B. Wisch and D. Cole Ahl, eds., Confraternities and the Visual Arts in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). 9 Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 34-40, including an overview of the scholarship on confraternal art patronage. 10 Insignia is "a distinguishing badge or emblem of military rank, office, or membership.‖ Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989), entry ―insignia, noun‖. 11 Michel Pastoureau, Traité d‟héraldique (Paris : Picard, 1979), 91; 100. 11 individual or a group appeared on battlefields and in tournaments. It originated in flags from which heraldry borrowed the basic colors and figures.12 Well-established in everyday life by 1300, heraldry was the most common way to mark one‘s individual or corporate identity. Anyone could legally assume arms of his own free will, and this practice secured identification of a specific individual or his family. Jurist Bartolo da Sassoferrato‘s De insignis, an influential treatise on the use of coats of arms is an essential source for understanding the perception of visual signs that dominated everyday life in Medieval and Renaissance Italy.13 Bartolo‘s attempt to legalize armorial insignia was spurred by the need to differentiate people bearing the same name and the necessity to proclaim property ownership. Coats of arms extended across the social spectrum but they quickly acquired a connotation of higher status. In France, they were abolished during the early stages of the French revolution because they were perceived as ―signs of feudality‖ or ―markers of nobility‖.14 Flags were among the most visible media for heraldry in civic, military, or religious contexts. Displaying flags outside of specific ritual times and occasions was potentially dangerous and could signal rebellion. I deal with this aspect in a section on the Perugian civic flag in my first chapter. The lexicography of ―gonfaloni‖ For Italian art historians, ―gonfaloni‖ are banners on cloth while ―stendardi‖ (standards) designate smaller processional paintings on wood. This terminology, which makes a neat discrimination between processional images based on their material supports, 12 Ibid., 28. See also by same author, Figures et couleurs. Etudes sur la symbolique et la sensibilité médiévales (Paris: Le Léopard d‘or, 1986), 51-57. 13 Although his tract dates back to 1348, it was transmitted through a hundred manuscripts and first printed in 1472. It became an authoritative source for all later works on heraldic questions. See Osvaldo Cavallar, Susanne Degenring, Julius Kirshner, A Grammar of Signs: Bartolo da Sassoferrato's Tract on Insignia and Coats of Arms, Studies in Comparative Legal History (Berkeley, CA: Robbins Collection University of California at Berkeley, 1994). 14 Pastoureau, Traité d‟héraldique, 11. 12 poses problems and contradicts archival evidence.15 The etymology of ―gonfalone‖ is the old High German ―gundfano,‖ or ―battle cloth,‖ originally probably pictureless. ―Fano‖ gave Fahne in German while again a word for fabric (―drap‖) gave ―drapeau‖ in French, meaning ―flag‖. ―Banner‖ in English (German: Banner / medieval German: Panner) comes from the French ―bannière‖ that itself derives from the Latin ―bandum‖ of Germanic origin. 16 The closely related ―pannus‖ is a Medieval Latin word for a cloth. The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese words for flag (bandiera; bandera; bandeira) have a similar etymology. ―Pennon‖ in English (as well as ―pennant‖) and French meaning a small triangular flag is probably a derivative of the Latin penna (feather); the Italian ―pennone,‖ is a typical word for trumpet flags in historical records but it also has a more generic sense for flag. 17 The Latin ―vexillum‖ did not generate a linguistic template, but in recent decades it has allowed for the term ―vexillology‖ (the scholarly study of flags) to be coined. 18 Thus, etymologically and in practice, ―flags‖ and ―banners‖ refer to objects painted on cloth, linen or silk for our period, and bunting later on. 15 In his essay on ―stendardi‖ from the Marches, Victor Schmidt admits that his adoption of this word may well lack historical correctness. Chiara Savettieri avoids the term ―stendardi‖ and designates Pisan processional panels under their local name, ―bandinelle.‖ See V. Schmidt, ―Gli stendardi processionali su tavola nelle Marche del Quattrocento,‖ in A. de Marchi, ed., I Da varano e le arti (San Benedetto del Tronbo: Maroni, 2003), 551578; C. Savettieri, "Zeugnisse der Frömmigkeit," in Mariagiulia Burresi, ed., Schätze sakraler Kunst aus dem Pisa des 14. Jahrhunderts (Pisa: Ministero per i beni culturali e le attività culturale, 1999), 21-37. 16 See the entries ―banner‖ in American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, c2000) and ―bannière‖ in Paul Robert, Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue francaise (Paris: PUF, 1953). Schramm points out that ―Banner‖ comes from the Germanic bandva (which gave in German ―binden, ‖ binding / bond) and that in the medieval Chansons de geste, ―baniere,‖ carried by knights banneret refers to a larger flag than a ―pennon‖ or ―pennoncel.‖ Percy Ernst Schramm, ed., Herrschaftszeichen und Staatssymbolik. Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte vom dritten zum sechzehnten Jahrhundert, 3 vols (Stuttgart: Anton Hiesemann, 1955), 647-648. The Oxford English Dictionary accordingly associates banners with the nobility: ―A piece of stout taffeta, or other cloth, attached by one side to the upper part of a long pole or staff, and used as the standard of an emperor, king, lord, or knight, under (or after) which he and his men marched to war, and which served as their rallying-point in battle. (…) Heraldically, a banner means a square or quadrangular flag, displaying the arms of the person in whose honour it is borne, and varying in size from that of an emperor, six feet square, to that of a knight banneret, three feet square‖. 17 The Oxford English Dictionary defines ―pennon‖ and ―pennant‖ as synonyms for a ―long narrow triangular or swallow-tailed flag.‖ ―Pennon‖ is a term that this book documents from the 14 th century. See also Helmut Nickel, ―Flags and Standards, §1 ‗True flags‘: (v) European, from the Middle Ages ‖ in Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 15/01/2008, http://www.groveart.com. 18 It was coined in 1957 by Dr. Whitney Smith, director of the Flag Research Center. See www.flagresearchcenter.com 13 In present-day usage, ―banner‖ usually indicates a religious processional painting that hangs from a cross bar so that it offers a depiction that reads vertically. Cords and straps were often used to provide tension that would secure the hanging piece of textile when in motion, as can still be seen in present-day festivals (fig. 127). Flags, strictly speaking, offer a horizontal reading when they billow in the wind or when they are moved. 19 However, ―flag‖ is also a generic and convenient term for all shapes and functions of symbolic painted cloths attached to a staff. In historical records, flags and banners have a variety of names, from ―vexillum‖ and ―insignia‖ to the Italian ―gonfalone‖, ―bandiera‖, ―stendardo‖, ―penello‖, ―segno‖, ―insegna‖, ―drappelone‖, ―pallio‖, ―benda‖, and ―pennone‖.20 The semantic differences are blurred and quite often these words seem to be interchangeable. However, criteria for distinguishing between these terms include medium (segno, insegna and penello may be on wood), size (stendardi being larger than bandiere), format (bende being small, narrow cloths), and bearer (for example, knights, the infantry, or trumpeters).21 Processional paintings on wood are called ―segni‖, ―insegne‖, ―tavole‖, ―bandinelle‖ (in the Pisan area), or gonfaloni (in Sicily).22 19 Schramm, Herrschaftszeichen, 647-648. Vexilli in ancient Rome could hang from a cross bar such as the cavalry flags described by Livy. W. J. Gordon and F. Edward Hulme, Flags of the World, Past and Present. Their Story and Associations (London, New York: F. Warne, 1915), 13. 20 Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 42. 21 Chroniclers describe flags according to the status of who carried them: ―Fuorce aquistate ii bandiere de soldate e le tronbe de meser Galiotto‖, 230]; ―aquistarce parechie bandiere de cavaliere.‖ Francesco Ugolini, "Annali e cronaca di Perugia in volgare dal 1191 al 1336," Annali della facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università degli Studi di Perugia I (1963-4): 1-336, here 230; 96; ―Quindici bandiere de fanti a piedi e trentatre d‘uomini a cavallo:‖ Ariodante Fabretti, ―Memorie 1309-1379,‖ in Cronache della città di Perugia, 5 vols. (Torino, 1887-1894), I: 179. Standards were of a major size than flags as this line from a chronicle indicates: ―furono strascinati sette stendardi grandi e trentasei bandiere,‖ ibid., II: 105, or the traditional translation for ―gonfaloniere della Chiesa / vexillifer Ecclesiae‖ as ―standard-bearer of the Church‖. ―Drappelloni‖ also mean smaller pieces of cloths such as lambrequins. ―Bende da croce‖ in inventories refer to bands of cloth attached to crosses. Confraternities and religious orders typically owned them. 22 The Sicilian gonfaloni are characterized by a gothicizing and delicately carved frame. For example, the Gonfalone from Tusa (205 x 101 cm) whose frame only is extant (Galleria Regionale di Sicilia); the Gonfalone of Forza d‘Agro, once in the church of the Triade but stolen in 1976 (140 x 90 cm). See also Geneviève BrescBautier, Artistes, patriciens et confréries. Productions et consommations de l‟œuvre d‟art à palerme et en Sicile occidentale (Rome: Ecole Française de Rome 40, 1979). For the Marches, the seminal article is Victor Schmidt‘s ―Stendardi processionali.‖ 14 For Umbria, I found out that the double-sided panel of the Duomo (fig. 124a-b) was also called a ―gonfalone‖ at least from the mid-seventeenth-century.23 I define gonfaloni as single or double-sided paintings, on wood or textile, whatever their outer shape. They are either encased in a wooden frame, supported by a shaft, or hanging freely from a cross bar. However, I call small portable panels in wood ―tavolette‖ (tablets), a term traditionally used to indicate the processional paintings of societies conforting the condemned (Chapter Two) or the square panels bearing YHS launched by Bernardino da Siena (Chapter Four). Although the oldest gonfalone in Umbria is a doublesided wooden panel from Assisi dating back to 1378 (fig. 23), most extant processional paintings of this region are banners, that is, cloth paintings with a vertical format. 24 In this sense, banners are akin to flags, a more generic term. Flags in renaissance culture Flags, whatever their shape, are quintessentially symbols. They stand either for a single, high-ranking person, a group, an institution, a city, a military ward, etc. 25 But as Raymond Firth puts it ―a symbol is essentially not an object but a relationship,‖ and in this case, flags point to a relationship of patronage, ownership, submission and domination. 26 On the streets, they hung in a stationary position in order to announce the function of a corporate 23 See Ottaviano Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, ―Assumption festival,‖ transcribed in my appendix 17. The Diario perugino of 1660 and the Diario perugino ecclesiastico e civico per l‟anno bisestile di 1772 (Perugia: Maio Reginaldi, 1771) call it the ―confalone della Vergine.‖ 24 The Museo dell‘Opera del Duomo in Florence has a heavily repainted panel with a half-figure of Saint Agatha on both its sides that goes back to the thirteenth century. Martin Wackernagel, The World of Florentine Renaissance Artist: Projects and Patrons, Workshop and Market, transl. A. Luchs (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982 [1938]) 139, note 70. 25 For example, city flags are evoked in a chronicle: ―lo stendardo de Roma, 2 stendardi del commune di Fiorenza, e poi stendardi de Bologna, e uno del commune de Siena,‖ were present at the funeral of Francesco dei Copoglie]. See "Cronaca della città di Perugia del 1309 al 1491 nota col nome di Diario del Graziani," in Archivio Storico Italiano XVI (1850): 469. This compilation of chronicles, known in the form of a sixteenthcentury adapted copy, is conventionally named after its putative owner, Graziani. I quote it as Diario del Graziani hereafter. Private flags include ―un confalone o stendardo con l‘arme del imperatore.‖ See Ariodante Fabretti, Cronache della città di Perugia, 5 vols. (Torino, 1887-1894), here I: 97. Ecclesiastical flags represented religious orders or parishes, or prelates. 26 Raymond Firth, Symbols. Public and Private (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1973), 361. 15 building (such as the premises of a confraternity, or the headquarters of a militia or of a guild), or the residence of a lord. The city standard provided a concrete means for visualizing abstract concepts such civic authority and citizenship. In churches, gonfaloni hung from the vaults in order to make known a single person‘s identity, usually the tomb of a military commander, or of the nobility (fig. 44). Flags in political events worked as symbols of authority and could serve as diplomatic gifts. In a military context, besides rallying the troops on the battlefield or signaling departure to war, they identified the vanquished when paraded as trophies in cities. Flags as war booties were proudly hung from the municipal palace and afterwards, carefully stored and shown to visitors of distinction.27 In a funeral situation, flags dragged on the ground upside down marked the loss of a military commander, in other circumstances they denoted conquered territories, while in ceremonious entries into a city, their upright position declared the power of the distinguished visitor. In short, flags and banners evoked feelings of authority, pride, and honor about one‘s collective or selfawareness. Most medieval and Renaissance European gonfaloni have disappeared through wear and tear, wars in which they were captured and physically insulted, or through simple vandalism. It is essential to understand why some were preserved to this day. While around 200 religious or confraternal gonfaloni have been preserved in Italy, most extant European flags of the Medieval and Renaissance periods are military or heraldic ones, and most of them can be found in Switzerland.28 This location can be explained by the success of the Swiss confederation that, from the early fourteenth century, sent local infantry to battlefields 27 Cola di Rienzo sent a flag with Emperor Constantine‘s arms in 1347 and the Priors stored it together with the ―memorable things of glory.‖ Diario del Graziani, 200-201; Fabretti, ―Memorie 1358-1382,‖ in Cronache, I: 87-88. 28 My estimate of 200 religious or confraternal gonfaloni is based on Dehmer catalogue of 120 banners, adding missing wood gonfaloni and other textile paintings. 16 throughout Europe.29 Victors typically brought home the flags of the enemy as war booties and kept them safely in churches, special chests, or sturdy arsenals. Many of these trophies are still in local museums today throughout the country.30 Because they were likely to disintegrate with the passage of time, copies on linen and illustrated flag books were created, sometimes only a few decades after their acquisition.31 The Swiss have also hoarded for five hundred years the sumptuous silk banners that Pope Julius II presented to 15 allied towns after the battle of Marignan in 1512, in reward for their help in his conquest of Italian territories. Made of costly Milanese damask, an embroidered square pattern on the top left distinguishes each flag as pertaining to a specific canton (fig. 128). As diplomatic gifts, these flags honoured their recipients and were reproduced in prints, and exhibited on special occasions. Vexilli as royal or princely gifts to monastic communities are documented from the eleventh century. They were placed in the church treasury, but that did not guarantee their preservation to this day. Civic flags are extremely rare. The Venetian ―gonfalone of San Marco,‖ for example, is documented from the eleventh century but only seventeenth- and eighteenth-century specimens are preserved.32 The city of Ghent in Belgium has kept a flag painted by Agnes van den Bossch around 1481. It is in such a good condition that it was probably stored and never used.33 From the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries, several European cities sent to the battlefield a chariot (currus/ carroccio) on which a huge flag attached to a pole as tall as a 29 François Lot, L'art militaire et les armées au moyen âge en Europe et dans le Proche Orient, 2 vols (Paris: Payot, 1946), II: 132-133. 30 For example, the Historisches Museum in Luzern has 20 flags dating before 1500; the altes Zeughaus (arsenal) of Solothurn has 34 flags dating before 1798; and the Historisches Museum of Bern has 155 flags for the 14-19th centuries. See the articles of J. Brülisauer, M. Leutenegger, F. Bächtiger in Fahnen, Flags, Drapeaux. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Vexillology. Zurich, 23-27 August 1993 (Swiss Society of Vexillology, 1999), 47-65. 31 The seminal study and inventory of flags kept in Switzerland is: Albert and Berty Bruckner, Schweizer Fahnenbuch (St. Gallen: Zollikofer & co., 1942). See also Florens Deuchler, Die Burgunderbeute. Inventar der Beutestücke aus den Schlachten von Grandson, Murten und Nancy, 1476-1477 (Bern: Stämpfli, 1963). 32 Giorgio Aldrighetti and Mario De Biasi, Il gonfalone di San Marco (Venice: Filippi Editore, 1998). 33 It measures 277 x 104 cm and is kept in the Musée de la Byloke. See Diane Wolfthal, The Beginnings of Netherlandish Canvas Painting: 1400-1530 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 50. 17 tree stood as a civic symbol.34 The visibility and clear heraldic colors of such flags were a means to instill courage and patriotism in urban militias. Kept for hundreds of years as civic symbols and historical artifacts that were paraded on certain feast days, only a handful have survived, such as the carrocio flag of Würzburg (1266) showing St. Kilian and that of Strasburg (1336) showing the Virgin. Italian carrocio flags, on the contrary, did not show holy figures but heraldic devices, sometimes consisting of plain colors.35 The first occurrence of a flag with a Christian connotation was the labarum of emperor Constantine, said to have been sent by God as a sign for the victory of the emperor (―in hoc signo vinces‖).36 Before troops departed for the battlefield, their flags were commonly blessed by a priest or even a bishop, and many manuscripts such as pontificals offer an illustration of the performance of this religious rite. This practice started in Byzantium and is documented from the time of Emperor Maurice (ruled 582-602).37 Blessed flags, either secular ones or vexilli in possession of ecclesiastics, were taken to battlefields and prayers were said to them.38 They were a spiritual inspiration for soldiers and a sign of divine guidance in the minds of contemporaries.39 Because relics were too precious to be 34 Erdmann, Alle origini dell'idea di Crociata, translated by Roberto Lambertini (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull' alto medio evo, 1976 [1935]), 55-58. The Italian translation provides four excursi missing in the Princeton publication; Hannelore Zug Tucci, "Il carroccio nella vita comunale," Quellen und Forschungen aus der Italienischen Archiven LXV (1985): 1-104; Ernst Voltmer, Il carroccio, transl. G. Albertoni (Torino: Einaudi, 1994). 35 The currus of Cologne was destroyed by the French in 1793. The Sienese flag from the battle of Montaperti was sold in 1775 and then disappeared. The carroccio flag of Würzburg (3 x 4.93 m) used to hang in the choir of the cathedral. It is kept at the Mainfränkishes Museum in Mainz; and that of Strasbourg (4 x 4.5 m) in the local cathedral. See Voltmer, Il carroccio, 187; 193; Zug Tucci, ―Il carrocio,‖ 20. 36 Alexander Kazhdan, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), II: 1167. 37 Lot, L‟art militaire, I: 59. For miniatures illustrating a bishop blessing a banner from Durandus of Mende‘s pontifical, see V. Leroquais, Les Pontificaux manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France (Paris, 1937), ch. 138. 38 Guy Marchal, "De la 'Passion du Christ' à la 'Croix Suisse'. Quelques réflexions sur une enseigne suisse," Itinera, series: Histoire et belles Histoires de la Suisse, fasc. 9 (1989): 107-31. The author reproduces a watercolor of the Confederates‘ departure for Nancy, from the Schweizer Chronik of Diebold Schilling made in 1513, in which soldiers kneel with opened arms and prayer their war banner adorned with a cross. Ibid., 129, fig. III.8. 39 As a thirteenth-century notary noted, the sacred force of the currus of his city regularly blocked the Saracens. Voltmer, Il carroccio, 127. 18 used in warfare with any frequency, a flag with a depiction of a saint could satisfactorily replace them. Sacred military flags were not necessarily adorned with an image of a holy figure, as were typical confraternity gonfaloni. However, war flags kept in a monastery maintained a special aura, such as the French royal oriflamme in St-Denis, and flags that were also contact relics, such as the flags that had touched relics or a saint‘s tomb, were imbued with special sacred power.40 Even political flags could be found in church treasures, such as St. George‘s banner, possibly Cola di Rienzo‘s, that was safely placed in a reliquary and kept in S. Giorgio in Velabro in Rome for hundreds of years.41 In the West, it is only around the late tenth century that the Church appropriated secular flags for devotion and to signify the Resurrection of Christ.42 In addition, the Church, in imitation of the imperial insignia, turned secular war standards into Christian models.43 But for centuries, rather than the vanity infused flags associated with chivalry, the sign of the cross or the cross itself, in its processional or fixed forms, was the preferred symbol for the triumph of Christianity.44 Guilds also adopted flags adorned with images of their patron saints, and my research documents a few such (non- extant) examples made for Perugia. These vexilli were paraded during general processions or for the saint‘s feast day. They honoured the holy figure depicted on them but they mainly served to identify and advertise the corporate body in public, and were not sacred per se. These artistic commodities could be easily replaced when worn. Among the rarest surviving Medieval and Renaissance 40 Philippe Contamine, ―L'oriflamme de Saint-Denis aux XIVe et XVe siècles : étude de symbolique religieuse et royale,‖ in Annales de l‟Est 25 (1975), 179-245; Erdmann, Crociata, 43-48. 41 It is made of silk and painted leather sewn together. It measures 420 x 280 cm. See Schramm, Herrschaftszeichen, 671-672 and W.F. Volbach, ―La bandiera di San Giorgio,‖ in Archivio della Regia Deputazione romana di Storia Patria LVIII (1935), 153-170. Today, the flag is kept in the municipal palace on the Campidoglio. 42 Erdman interprets the famous passages from Prudentius (―Dic tropaeum passionis / dic triumfalem crucem / pange vexillum, notatis / quod refulgent frontibus‖) and Fortunatus (―Vexilla regis prodeunt, / fulget curcis mysterium‖) as referring to the symbolic sign of the cross made with one‘s hand, not to flags as objects. Erdman, Crociata, 38-39. 43 Schramm, Herrschaftszeichen, 645-646. 44 Crosses surmount the shaft of flags in a fresco of San Clemente church (Rome) made in the 1080s. 19 professional flags, Bern has preserved the triangular flag of the butchers‘ guild that shows Saint Agnes and an ox, while Venice has kept the banner of the Venetian comb-makers of 1532 that replicates an iconography also found in their statutes.45 Confraternity gonfaloni belong to the category of devotional flags that must be set apart among the larger system of visual signs of identity. In this category, we also find ecclesiastical, military, civic, and guild flags that had an intercessory imagery showing the Virgin Mary, Christ, and/or a patron saint. Such flags were either blessed and, consequently, in case of wear or damage, had to be buried in consecrated ground, or they were used in sacred contexts and thus produced appropriate deference on the part of viewers and users. While very few guild flags are extant, those of the confraternities have been preserved because these groups specialized in collective demonstrations of piety in public or private in the presence of their banners, therefore imbuing them with that deference and respect that resulted in their careful preservation. In the sixteenth century, in Catholic regions, the iconography and rituals attached to them enhanced their chances of surviving the Reformation and further iconoclast events. Confraternities modeled their corporate insignia after military flags not only because of their practical qualities of lightness and clarity of design, but also because military standards were strongly associated with authority, triumph, and sacred power, all desirable features for groups that competed for visibility in the open sphere. Confraternity banners were also kept in churches or oratories and surrounded by liturgical practices. These mobile paintings dramatized rituals by lending a majestic visual presence to the chanting of prayers and the spectacular, but very common, practice of self-flagellation in public or private. 45 Giovanni Mariacher, ed., Il museo Correr di Venezia. Dipinti dal XIV al XVI secolo (Venice: Neri Pozza, 1957), 89-90. For the flag of the butchers from Bern (ca. 1520) kept in the local Kunsthistorisches Museum, see Bruckner, Schweizer Fahnenbuch, entry 174, 32. It was last shown in 1528; after this date saintly imagery was banned from flags in protestant Bern. 20 I have described the linguistic interchangeability of terms designating flags. Consequently, on a cognitive basis, processional paintings for devotion carry the same associations as flags that link them with combat, triumph and honor. To fully grasp the essence of devotional gonfaloni, iconography, technique, or medium are insufficient categories of conceptualization. A simple but useful distinction in terms operative at the time in which the paintings were used is whether they were deemed either ordinary or extraordinary artifacts. Ordinary gonfaloni (see Chapter Two) were carefully handled but they were regarded as commodities that could be repaired or replaced once they had worn out. These ‗Old banners,‘ worn and well-used, are found in confraternity inventories but they did not bestow much honor on the group members who eventually had new ones made. Although their cost was certainly not negligible, gonfaloni were much cheaper than the altarpieces that many confraternities also commissioned. On the other hand, ―extraordinary gonfaloni‖ (Chapter Three) were usually paraded in the specific cases of epidemics or natural disasters. They offered a visual dimension to the supplications of the processing group for divine guidance and for the sincere repentance of the sins that were believed to have caused the fatal event. My third chapter deals with these miracle-working paintings and proposes that, in the Umbrian context, joint patronage by the Mendicant orders and the city government promoted the emergence of this type of intercessory artifact. These cult banners did not carry the responsibility for expressing penance and piety on their own, however, and so other sacred works used in different contexts must also be discussed. Chapter Four deals with wooden panels that were potentially thaumaturgic thanks to their association with the famous Franciscan preacher, Bernardino of Siena. 21 Markers of identity and rituals Because gonfaloni belonged to the maerial culture of rituals, they cannot be fully understood in isolation, as paintings in a museum. Ritual situations were, by definition, repeated over the course of the year or occurred at predictable and regular times with similar actors and trappings, thus enforcing visual associations of identification. How can ritual theory help interpret gonfaloni? Catherine Bell‘s work on ritual surveys a variety of approaches that have inspired my study.46 I have also relied on Arnold van Gennep‘s analysis of rituals across cultures as rites of passage unfolding in a three-stage process (separation, transition [or ―liminality‖], and re-incorporation). However, this model focuses more on the change of status and the rhythm of this change rather than on the role of rituals and images regarding group identity. Victor Turner and Clifford Geertz have both focused on the interaction of social experience and cultural symbols, linking performance and practice theories.47 Performance theory as discussed by Bell emphasizes the activity of ritual, its kinesthetic, physical and sensual aspects, while practice theory looks at the ways in which human activities are creative strategies that use rituals to construct authority, ideology, and power. These approaches are useful in understanding how rituals reproduce, establish, and restore the social order in its ideal forms. I use the idea of performance theory throughout my study, as I see processions as staged performances expressing an existing cultural system and offering material for decoding.48 For example, I see the para-liturgical and identity 46 Catherine Bell, Ritual. Perspectives and Dimensions (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). V. Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1969) and Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. An anthropological perspective (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), especially ―Notes on Processual Symbolic Analysis,‖ 243-255; Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (Basic Books, New York, 2000 [1973]). For a historical survey of performance and practice theories, see Catherine Bell, Ritual: Perspective and Dimensions (New York: Oxford university Press, 1997), 72-83. 48 Geertz defined culture as an ―assemblage of texts,‖ thus cultural forms such as rituals can be decoded ―penetrated‖ and decoded like literary texts. See his conclusion of ―Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,‖ in Interpretation of Cultures, 448-453. 47 22 paraphernalia that was used during the funeral procession of a deceased guild or confraternity member as advertising that group in public to the benefit of both the social status of the deceased and the cohesion of the group. Practice theory leads me to analyze the mortuary rites of the Perugian elite as a reassertion of the political order: the participation of the whole city produced a visual rhetoric for the construction of relationships of authority and submission (Chapter Two).49 Scholars have shown that ritual exercises exert social control by creating situations that compel the acceptance of traditional forms of authority.50 Rituals also foster cohesion in a community, and in this process, the display of images is of fundamental importance.51 For example, gonfaloni, by providing participants with a spatial point of reference and a conspicuous sign for rallying their party, promote the image of an orderly social body in an otherwise chaotic public gathering. As markers of group identity, they help visualize one‘s belonging to a specific group for the members themselves and also for outsiders, for whom the entirety of a city‘s collective groups also function to express the social order to which that citizen feels that he belongs. While such ritual trappings help members to stay grouped neatly and promote an image of harmony and solidarity of their own group in city-wide processions, Benjamin McRee cautions against reading these gatherings as displays of ―social wholeness.‖ His study of English guilds shows that public ceremony could insidiously compartmentalize the population into separate groups and foster partisanship.52 My study of Peurgia shows that indeed processions were passively divisive. I bring in evidence for conflict but I have not 49 Only recently have historians used these theories and examined death rituals and their expression of social order. For the illuminating use of practice theory in the interpretation of mortuary rites of Renaissance Germany, see Craig Koslofsky, The Reformation of the Dead. Death and Ritual in Early Modern Germany, 1450-1700 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000). Practice theory also includes the study of how positions of domination were manipulated and I will show the latent conflicts that were also part of death rituals. 50 See Maurice Bloch‘s theory on ―what ritual does‖ and the ―practice approach‖ presented by Bell in her Ritual. Perspectives, 70-85. 51 See D. Kertzer, Ritual, Politics, and Power (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988), especially Chapter 5: ―The Ritual Construction of Political Reality‖, 77-101. 52 Benjamin Mc Ree, "Guild Ceremony in Urban Communities," in Barbara Hanawalt and Kathryn Reyerson, eds., City and Spectacle in Medieval Europe (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994), 189-207. 23 found that city-wide events organized by the Commune actively widened rifts between social groups (Chapter One). In penitential processions, the use of images that specifically promoted a clerical community could create opposition from other religious orders, as occurred with the processional tablets of San Bernardino (Chapter Four). Distinctions between religious and civic rituals are blurred by the fact that the government sponsored most of the city-wide events of the religious calendar, while some secular rites, such as tournaments, and jousts, happened on saints‘ feast-days.53 Lina Urban‘s study of processions in Venice proposes the following classifications for such events: annual religious festivities, annual votive commemorations of a political origin, ―lay-nationalistic‖ processions, investitures and solemn entries. From this and from Edward Muir‘s concise text, I borrow the ritual categories on which I focus: ordinary and extraordinary general processions, funeral honors, public executions, and ceremonial entries.54 Essential publications for ritual frameworks are Richard Trexler‘s and Edward Muir‘s analyses of civil and religious festivities in Florence and Venice.55 To interpret urban rituals, they convincingly use the testimony of contemporary citizens and foreigners, political ideology, and anthropology. However, they do not offer a model for understanding the power of images in the scenography of rituals and the emotional public response to them. This is Susan Webster‘s strength in her stimulating study of statues in early modern Spanish processions.56 It enables the reader to gauge the potency of these sculptures for the unlettered laity, and how the fusion between image and prototype operated. 53 See the collection of essays on this topic in André Vauchez, ed., La religion civique à l'époque médiévale et moderne (Rome: Ecole française de Rome, 1995) and Trevor Dean‘s sources on entitled « Civic Religion », in T. Dean, ed., The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages (Manchester& New York: Manchester University Press, 2003). 54 Lina Urban, Processioni e feste dogali: "Venetia est mundus" (Venice: Neri Pozza editore, 1998). Edward Muir, Ritual in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1997). 55 Richard Trexler, Public Life in Renaissance Florence (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1991); Edward Muir, Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981). 56 Susan Verdi Webster, Art and Ritual in Golden Age Spain (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993). 24 As far as death rituals are concerned, the works of Sharon Strocchia and Samuel Edgerton are insightful even though neither scholar analyzes the full spectrum of symbolic representations and their reception. For example, Edgerton incisively discusses the use of small double-sided devotional panels (tavolette) in capital punishment rituals but he is silent on the subject of confraternal banners, although they were present. 57 His work has informed my study of the Perugian confraternity in charge of the condemned while Strocchia‘s offered valuable comparanda for analyzing elite funerals (Chapter Two). In ritual gatherings of the whole population, gonfaloni visually embody corporate social status and legitimize the existing social system. They helped to enforce a hierarchy and precedence of rank defined previously by the city government. By respecting the slow pace typical of processions and by marching in pairs behind their banner, members behaved in subordination to their group and the to the whole cortège. In such settings, collectivelyowned moving pictures turned into the leading devices for consensual compliance to the group‘s rules, but also for civic obedience since the presence of any large group called for the strict enforcement of law and order to keep it from reverting into a mob. Perugia and Umbrian banners as a case-study Limiting my research to the circumstances of production and use of gonfaloni of a single region allows me to provide an in-depth analysis of the power of processional images. I have chosen Umbria because it has preserved a considerable number of gonfaloni (over sixty), opening up a fruitful discussion on the afterlife of these objects. I focus on its capital, Perugia, because it is representative of urban life in Italy in the fourteenth to the –sixteenth centuries. In this time span, it kept the ―symbolic patrimony‖ of its cultural identity as a 57 Samuel Edgerton, Pictures and Punishment: Art and Criminal Prosecution during the Florentine Renaissance (Ithaca & London: Cornell University, 1985), especially Chapter 5; Sharon Strocchia, Death and Ritual in Renaissance Florence (Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992). 25 commune with a guild-based regime that was preserved longer than many other cities, such as Florence.58 Moreover, more than half of Umbrian extant gonfaloni and tavolette were made for Perugian groups. Perugia has been largely neglected by the scholarship outside Italy, or even outside Umbria, although it forms a superb case study for the investigation of urban identity. This is due to the wealth of archival material that its institutions produced and preserved. Like many other cities of Northern and Central Italy, there survive chronicles and collections of statutes, records of executive decision making, of taxation, as well as numerous registers of guilds and confraternities, and mountains of notarial paperwork. Perugia presents the chief features of Italian communal cities that Trevor Dean has so clearly detailed in his ―Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages,‖ cited earlier. It was a middling-sized city with a stable population distributed between an urban core within the fortified walls and a dependent countryside (contado).59 Its economy and political structure was based on the local guilds from which civic councils were formed to regulate public life. Its government was responsible for the urban physical environment and welfare of its citizens, from sponsoring architectural projects, the paving of streets, and the oversight of systems of sanitation to subsidizing charitable groups and artistic commissions. Social organization in Perugia was similar to that of other cities, with the Popolani composed of artisans and shopkeepers, an upper middle-class consisting of merchants and entrepreneurs, the nobility who were attached to chivalric values, and the religious orders. 58 Anna Imelde Galletti, "Sant' Ercolano, il grifo e le lasche: note sull'immaginario collettivo nella città comunale." In Forme e tecniche del potere nella città. Secoli XIV-XVII (Perugia: Università di Perugia, 19791980), 203-16, here 205. 59 Before the Black Death, the population was ca. 28,000 inhabitants; after 1348, it dwindled to possibly half of that figure. By 1500, Perugia had recovered its early fourteenth-century number of inhabitants. By the midsixteenth century, Perugia had ca. 19, 000 inhabitants or 46, 000 with its contado. These figures are based on Alberto Grohman‘s research on taxed habitations as reported and interpreted by James Banker: J. Banker, "The Social History of Perugia in the Time of Perugino," in A. Antenucci Becherer, ed., Pietro Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance (New York, N.Y.: Rizzoli International, 1997), 39 and 50, n. 7. Blanshei‘s figures differ slightly from these estimates. She sees ca. 33,000 inhabitants in the late thirteenth century and ca. 12,000 two hundred years later, and by 1511 ca. 13,000. Blanshei, ―Medieval and Renaissance Perugia,‖ 599. 26 Dean‘s comparative study covers Italian urban history until around 1340. Until the death of Braccio Fortebraccio in 1424, Perugia‘s leadership went back and forth between a communal regime and the ―tyranny‖ of foreign lords or local aristocrats. Gradually after that date, papal authority was restored until the pope eventually recovered absolute power over his Umbrian territories in 1540 (see appendix 1). During the fifteenth century, members of the two politically dominating groups, the nobility and the popolo grasso (the merchants and entrepreneurs), unified through marriages, new titles of ennoblement for the merchants, and noblemen entering the artisan guilds.60 Perugian history thus offers a fertile terrain for the study of collective identities and their graphic and material signs, such as gonfaloni, in ritual settings. With a few exceptions, extant gonfaloni are those that were kept in the careful custody of confraternities. To my present knowledge, Umbria has the largest quantity of this type of processional image. To date, I can only partially account for this phenomenon through confraternal history and Perugia‘s devotional and civic life. Quite significantly for my study, Perugia was the birthplace of a European devotional movement of 1260 in which the laity adopted the penitential practices of scourging that had until then been reserved to the clergy.61 The processions of the Perugian flagellants in 1260 subsequently encouraged the formation of lay confraternities.62 In 1399, the pan-Italian Bianchi movement also swept 60 See James Banker‘s synthetic summary of the social and artistic situation. Banker, ibid., 37-51 and Susan Blanshei, ibid., for a more economic-driven analysis. 61 Groupings of the laity dedicated to collective practices of piety originated in various countries in the Carolingian era, although the distinction with other types of rural or urban associations (professional, political, or military) is often blurred for the early medieval period. See Gilles Gérard Meersseman, Ordo fraternitas: confraternite e pietà dei laici nel medioevo, 3 vols (Rome: Herder, 1977) and Vauchez, Les Laïcs au Moyen Age, 95-112. 62 Incidentally, 700 years later, an international convention on the theme of the ―Disciplinati‖ held in Perugia was instrumental in invigorating confraternity history. It was the forum for the publication of research such as Guêze‘s that provides the oldest document for a Perugian confraternity, the foundation of the Flagellants of Sant‘Agostino in 1317. Raoul Guêze, "Le Confraternite di S. Agostino, S. Francesco e S. Domenico di Perugia: origini, profilo storico e attrazzature teatrali," in Il Movimento dei Disciplinati nel settimo centenario dal suo inizio (Perugia 1260) (Perugia: Arti grafiche Panetti & Petrelli, 1986), 597-623; and Risultati e prospettive della ricerca sul movimento dei disciplinati, Convegno internazionale di studio (Perugia: arte grafiche Città di Castello, 1972). There were twelve penitential associations of the laity for the first half of the fourteenth century 27 Perugia, urging people to dress in white robes and follow a banner adorned with a crucifix, processing in penance for their sins. This type of devotional procession and uniform had already been appropriated by confraternities, but the Bianchi facilitated the emergence of new charitable and pious groups in the laity. By the end of the fifteenth century, there were about twenty brotherhoods in the Umbrian capital, and twenty-six by 1571. These were often patronized by the Mendicant orders from which they then derived their names and the iconography of their gonfaloni.63 According to my research, the preservation of ordinary gonfaloni can be explained by two factors. Confraternity members took great care of their processional paraphernalia because of the significance conceded to ritual motion through cities, and because of their devotional practices that continued once the banners and their users came indoors. Andreas Dehmer has perfectly reconstructed the ritual use of gonfaloni in the privacy of confraternity premises, an aspect that I do not take up in my study. He demonstrated that a banner could be essential for founding the association, for the investiture of its group leader, and for its devotional practices.64 In most cases, the banners‘s processional life eventually ceased, and these objects ended up installed above an altar while new ordinary banners were commissioned. This fixed position in a sacred place protected them from otherwise inevitable destruction through wear and tear. The other reason lies in an aestheticizing process in which these objects were recognized for their artistic value at the time of their execution or by later generations. Thus, a confraternity banner from Città di Castello survived to this day because it was painted by in Perugia, see Giovanna Casagrande, Religiosità penitenziale e città al tempo dei Comuni (Rome: Istituto Storico dei Cappuccini, 1995), 395-6. 63 Olga Marinelli has published an exhaustive repertory of Perugian confraternities, providing an abstract of each source. Olga Marinelli, Le confraternite di Perugia dalle origini al sec. XIX (Perugia: edizioni Grafica, 1965). 64 For a detailed iconographic taxonomy of banners, see Andreas Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, Chapter 5: ―Bildinhalte figürlich bemalter Bruderschaftsbanner zwischen 13. und 16. Jahrhundert,‖ 135-216. For indoor rituals using the confraternity banner, ibid., ― Interne Zeremonie und Rituale,‖ 104-118. 28 the young Raphael, whose subsequent fame saved this painting despite its extremely frayed condition.65 Many ordinary banners are today in museums because they are representative ―works of art‖ of a recognized master‘s work. Many more are still used as altarpieces in churches, without having been identified yet as former processional banners. For example, a gonfalone kept in the Servite church of Gubbio recently gained the attention of the press when a ministerial agent for the preservation of artistic patrimony deemed it painted to be by Raphael, a hotly contested attribution. This anonymous and dusty banner (before its restoration) was also preserved because its confraternity changed its function to that of an altarpiece. Thus, art appreciation and liturgical function may overlap to account for extant works. Extraordinary gonfaloni, on the other hand, were preserved thanks to their centurieslong status as cult objects. As such, when they were not carried in crisis processions, they were used as altarpieces inserted in a lavish frame and protected by a curtain. They were constantly illuminated, and called for permanent devotion. Perugia stands out with its five holy banners (―i sacri gonfaloni‖) of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, whose veneration did not falter for hundreds of years. They were painted over, retouched, and restored so that they always looked fresh. Another obvious motive for a gonfalone to survive is the limited number of its appearances and processions, such as the double-sided panel of the Perugian Duomo that emerged from its chapel only once a year, as I recount in Chapter Five. The number of extant gonfaloni in Umbria may be impressive because in-depth analyses of this painting genre are missing for other regions. 66 Umbria has been the best studied area so far. Further reasons include artistic emulation, regional styles, and visual 65 See Tom Henry, "Trinity with Saints Sebastian and Roch; Creation of Eve about 1500-1502," and A. M. Marcone et al. "Documentazione del restauro della Trinità con i Santi Sebastiano e Rocco e della Creazione di Eva," in: T. Henry and F. Mancini, Gli esordi di Raffaello (Città di Castello: Edimond, 2006), 121-23 and 14777. 66 Dehmer‘s catalogue of 120 confraternity banners offers 39 or 40 banners for Umbria including 18 of a Perugian provenance. His catalog is however a first survey and remains incomplete. 29 rivalry among local confraternities. In the Marches, for example, the preferred formula for processional paintings seems to have been smaller wooden panels and this region has probably preserved the largest number of this type of gonfaloni. The lack of significant relics in Perugia until it gained the Virgin‘s wedding ring may also account for the importance of specific banners as depositories of miraculous agency. In Europe, mostly flags that effectively advertised a corporate devotional commitment have been preserved because of their original or eventual use in sacred contexts.67 The historiography of gonfaloni and the case of Umbria The traditional school of connoisseurship in art history has always tended to consider banners as secondary works. It is true that these paintings have all been heavily retouched over the centuries and their present frayed condition is not attractive to many. Thus, for Renaissance Italy, only banners executed by important masters, such as Piero della Francesca, Perugino, Raphael, or Titian have attracted the attention of art historians.68 Otherwise, gonfaloni have interested scholars from technical points of view, especially as paintings on cloth.69 Few studies exist for the Italian mezzogiorno. Bresc-Bautier offers important documentation on the making of banners in workshops and Michael Bury makes brief mention of gonfaloni from Naples and Sicily.70 67 The city flag of Bruges seems to have been preserved because it was never used. The military naval flag of Marcantonio Colonna, given to him by Pius V, was present in the victorious Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and consequently became an altarpiece in the cathedral of Gaeta where Colonna‘s ship landed. It shows the crucifixion with Saint Peter and Saint Paul. See L. Mortari, ―Il restauro dello stendardo di Gaeta,‖ in Bolletino d‟arte XLI (IV, 1956): 343-4. 68 James Banker has highlighted the importance of flag commissions to a respected artist such as Piero della Francesca, and Scarpellini‘s list of Perugino‘s disappeared works includes several ―drapelloni‖. J. Banker, The Culture of San Sepolcro during the Youth of Piero della Francesca (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2003). Pietro Scarpellini, Perugino (Milan: Electa, 1984), 313. 69 Wolfthal, Netherlandish Canvas Painting and the more recent Caroline Villers ed., The Fabric of Images: European Paintings on Textile Supports in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (London: Archetype, 2000). 70 M. Bury, "Documentary Evidence for the Materials and Handling of Banners, Principally in Umbria, in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries," in The Fabric of Image, 19-30. 30 A recent publication may reverse this trend. Andreas Dehmer‘s magisterial research on confraternity banners of Northern and Central Italy validates the high significance of banners for their patrons and definitely elevates the status of these paintings as integral part of para-liturgical paraphernalia of an artistic nature. He considers banners as an artistic genre of painting per se, explores its technical aspects, its iconography, its origins and its development as a ―Vorform‖ (a formal precursor) of the wide-spread use of canvas for artworks.71 Unfortunately, he entirely eschewed gonfaloni on wood although, admittedly, they had the same function as textile banners. Dehmer‘s rationale is a Trecento confraternity record and a seventeenth-century ceremonial book that he interprets as indicators for distinguishing media.72 However, for a discussion of the role fo these visual signs in discussing the formation and inculcation of group identity, I do not consider the formal aspect of processional paintings or the medium on which they are made as a important taxonomies. The functions of mobility and representation, and their hagiographic or biblical iconography are identical, no matter the support.73 The only substantial work on Umbrian banners is Francesco Santi‘s Gonfaloni umbri del Rinascimento (1976) which reproduces twenty-five banners in color with their versos when they exist, and briefly comments on each of them, stressing the inclusion of topographical representations in some of them. This publication appeared almost seventy years after Walter Bombe‘s brief esay on eleven Umbrian gonfaloni which he analyzed in 71 See also his two articles: " Nuova lettura di un dipinto votivo in San Pietro in Vincoli." Bollettino d'Arte 84, no. 108 (1999): 71-76 and "Zur Compagnia di S. Maria e S. Zanobi im Trecento." Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 43 (1999): 597-605. 72 Dehmer cites a Venetian mariegola book mentioning a wooden standard (―uno stendardo de legno‖) and a cloth ‗penelo‘ (―uno penelo grando de tela‖) as an evidence for ‗stendardi‘ referring to wooden panels and ‗gonfalone‘ (although ‗penelo‘ is indicated) referring to cloth paintings. I believe that he misinterpreted his source. The fact that ‗de legno‘ is added to ‗stendardo‘ shows that it could have been made of a different material. Moreover ‗penelo‘ is the equivalent of flag, therefore unequivocally made of cloth. See Bruderschaftsbanner, 44-49. 73 These similarities are acknowledged by Wackernagel and Perugian art historian Paola Mercurelli Salari cited by as Dehmer, ibid., 44-49, n. 18 and n. 34, as well as V. Schmidt, ―Stendardi processionali,‖ 554-555. 31 terms of their connection with the plague.74 Santi‘s catalogue raisonné lists only the most visually spectacular paintings.75 Michael Bury‘s contribution on Umbrian banners yields important primary sources on specific works and offers a rare study on their ritual significance. He has underlined the process of framing certain gonfaloni with ―tabernacles‖ for their permanent display in churches and has provided a concise overview of technical aspects.76 The production of ―secondary‖ painters has recently been reevaluated, thus providing new studies on banners in art catalogues. Banners are treated in these publications from a stylistic point of view raising issues of attribution, dating, and possibly patrons. Francesco Mancini‘s monograph on Benedetto Bonfigli remains an indispensable tool for archival references.77 Catalogues on Umbrian painting include banners in their repertory but focus on the rickety issues of authorship and style and hardly say anything about function and patronage.78 74 Walter Bombe, ―Gonfaloni Umbri‖ in Augusta Perusia, II, 1-2 (1907), 1-7. I have so far retrieved another fifteen extant banners from the following secondary sources: Francesco Mancini and Pietro Scarpellini, Pittura in Umbria tra il 1480 e il 1540 (Milan: Electa, 1983), Francesco Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria: dipinti, sculture e oggetti dei secoli XV-XVI (Rome: Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1985), Filippo Todini, La pittura umbra: dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento (Milan: Longanesi, 1989). I also found catalogued and non listed ones in local museums, thus reaching the number of fifty six banners. 76 Michael Bury, "The Fifteenth- and Early Sixteenth-Century Gonfaloni of Perugia," Renaissance Studies 12, no. 1 (1998): 67-86; id., "Tabernacoli e gonfaloni," in Maria Luisa Cianini Pierotti , ed., Benedetto Bonfigli e il suo tempo (Perugia: Volumnia, 1998); id., "Documentary Evidence for the Materials and Handling of Banners, Principally in Umbria, in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries," in The Fabric of Images, 19-30. See also Ettore Ricci, Storia critica dei SS. confaloni di Perugia e dell‟archidiocesi perugina (Perugia: library of the church of San Filippo Neri, 1930s). Ricci was a priest from the Congregazione dell‘Oratorio in Perugia and the author of many articles on Umbrian art. Ricci had been in charge of gathering sacred objects from the various churches in Umbria for the Mostra d‘arte Sacra antica in 1907. His 190-page unpublished notebook has been the unquoted inspiration of several art historians‘ publications on the Umbrian gonfaloni. 77 See Francesco Mancini, Benedetto Bonfigli (Milan: Electa, 1992) and Elvio Lunghi, ed., Niccolò Alunno in Umbria, (Assisi: Editrice Minerva, 1993). Other Umbrian scholars such as Laura Teza and Elvio Lunghi have corrected and updated some of Mancini‘s views in Vittoria Garibaldi, ed., Un pittore e la sua città. Benedetto Bonfigli e Perugia (Milan: Electa, 1996). 78 Mancini, Pittura in Umbria; Todini, La pittura umbra. Too sharp a focus on attribution damages the internal coherence of art analysis. See Bury‘s archival findings that corrected the authorship of works from Fiorenzo di Lorenzo to Bartolomeo Caporali: "Bartolomeo Caporali: a new document and its implications." The Burlington Magazine 132, no. 1990 (1990): 469-75. 75 32 Outline of the dissertation Chapter One introduces the city of Perugia as a ritual space for general processions. I review first the symbolic imagery that was used to represent the city: a heraldic device, the griffon, and a hagiographic figure, Sant‘Ercolano. I examine the look and use of the civic flag as a major symbolic representation of the Perugian government in manifestations of civic identity. The temporal framework of city-sponsored processions and the neat order of participants in these events gave Perugians ritual opportunities in which they experience themselves as a united community. I stress the essential role of flags in this process. To assert their authority, city officials were careful to stage their appearances in ritual events. I consider clothing and accessories that demonstrated political leadership or worthy municipal positions. Civic harmony is developed in rituals that involve most of the population, but a review of the marginalized and of the conflicts for precedence leads me to conclude that this visual unity was for the most part a semblance rather than a reality. In Chapter Two, I contextualize the significance of identity markers within the material culture of guilds, confraternities, and neighborhood associations. Inventories can yield a fruitful study of the relationship between gonfaloni and other furnishings for outdoor and indoor rituals.79 Social performances themselves explain the cognitive processes that turn these objects into symbols determining group identity, pride, and solidarity. Clothing is probably the most straightforward way of outwardly expressing one‘s social status or one‘s membership in a group.80 When uniformly costumed, members of a specific community, such as confraternities, gave up any sense of individuality within their group. However, this 79 See, for example, Kathleen Giles Arthur, "Cult Objects and Artistic Patronage of the Fourteenth-century Flagellant Confraternity of Gesù Pellegrino," in T. Verdon and J. Henderson, eds., Christianity and the Renaisssance (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990), 337-360. 80 N. B. Harte and K. G. Ponting, eds., Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe (London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1983); Susan Crane, The Performance of Self. Ritual, Clothing, and Identity During the Hundred Years War (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002); Françoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane. Se vêtir au Moyen Age (Paris: Adam Biro, 1995). 33 anonymity had limitations since portraits of individuals in some confraternity paintings mean that a few members obviously wished to be recognized. I also contrast public death rituals of single groups or the condemned with funerals of the elite. A vast array of processional paraphernalia was used to identify the status of the deceased: his profession, his devotional membership, his criminality, or his clan. In funeral processions of the elite, I emphasize the role of flags, sumptuous palls, liveries, and chosen colors for mourning garb. In papal entries, the ceremonies included heraldic flags, ritual keys and an essential trapping of authority, the canopy. The staging of such symbolic representations blurred the boundaries between actors and viewers. It reproduced the ideal social structure while demonstrating the solidarity of the elite and establishing relationships of power and submission. The cognitive effects of rituals were at work through the sensory experiences that these striking images produced. Chapter Three is dedicated to ―extraordinary banners‖ that worked for collective salvation from natural and epidemic disasters in ―crisis processions‖.81 By exploring iconography and patronage, I ascribe the major role in the production of such paintings to religious orders rather than to confraternities. However, in most cases, gonfaloni commissioned by religious orders were eventually entrusted to confraternities. Their careful custody also entailed the maintenance of these cult objects above an altar with the appropriate illumination for permanent devotion Thus, I revisit the function of gonfaloni by studying their immense popularity in stationary positions. Such paintings not only elevated the prestige of the confraternity in charge of it but concomitantly the whole population as a heavenly protected city. Examining ritual mobility and immobility helps to understand what made these images so powerful. 81 As Trexler aptly dubbed those processions in "Florentine Religious Experience: The Sacred Image," in Studies in the Renaissance, XIX (1972): 7-41. 34 I look at a roster of gonfaloni portraying the Virgin of Mercy, a theme particularly conducive to stressing Mary‘s power of intercession.82 I explore to what extent the representation of textiles may have played a role in the empowerment of banners as miracleworking objects. Mary‘s dress of gold brocade was a luxurious cloth which inspired awe and respect. Brocaded velvet was often used as a cloth of honor, awards in tournaments (―palii‖), draping for statues, and in ceremonial offerings as a mark of political submission. Such an Umbrian experience of cloth is registered in the chronicles, city statutes, diaries and in records of public entertainment or civic feasts.83 In Chapter Four, I analyze a genre of mobile paintings inscribed with YHS (for the name of Jesus) that Franciscan preacher Bernardino da Siena created. I discuss the nature of these simple panels whose depictions oscillated between text and image. I study the ritual practices around the display of these tablets, an aspect so far ignored by art historians. Ritual settings empowered them with apotropaic qualities or turned them into objects of veneration. Flaunted in the eye of a bewildered audience in sermons and carried in processions, these tavolette also worked as visual mediators for promoting Bernardino‘s cult in the second half of the fifteenth century. I also examine the rivalry between the cathedral canons and Franciscan friars in appropriating the cult of San Bernardino in Perugia and the images that it generated. The iconography of the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13), which may not have been commissioned as a processional painting, worked as a prescriptive account for the successful unfolding of a ritual in an orderly and ideally unified society. It recalled the sponsorship of 82 Christa Belting-Ihm has convincingly argued for its Byzantine and subsequent Franciscan origins and demonstrated links to the existence of Marian clothing relics. Christa Belting-Ihm, "Sub matris tutela": Untersuchung zur Vorgeschichte der Schutzmantelmadonna, vol. 3, Abhandlungen der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse (Heidelberg, 1976). 83 For example, Gustavo Cuccini has reconstructed the feast of March 1 st and its use of drapery for the griffin and the lion statues, heraldic symbols of Perugia. Gustavo Cuccini, Il grifo e il leone : bronzei di Perugia (Perugia: Guerra, 1994). For the use of palii in tournaments or races, see also La Societa in Costume. Giostre e tornei nell‟Italia di antico regime (Foligno: edizioni dell'Arquata, 1986). 35 the government in supporting Bernardinian cults. Banners were one visual means to commemorate canonizations under the aegis of both clerics and the city officials. Chapter Five focuses on one Perugian confraternity, the Nunziata, because its images played a major role in establishing its prestige in the public sphere. First, I explore the iconography and function of a so-called Gonfalone of the Annunciate that was kept in a fixed position in the beautifully-furnished Servite church. I suggest that it was an attractive painting that provided a representative sample of the group and especially its prominent members for permanent display. It exemplifies the fact that some paintings called ―gonfalone‖ then or later may never have been processed at all. This would create a new category of paintings, named gonfaloni, but used as an altarpiece or as a propagandistic image of a confraternity in a church. The second image owned by these brothers was an articulate Crucifix that took center stage during the confraternity‘s Easter procession. The statue and its ritual motions were inseparable and formed another layer in displaying and creating confraternal identity. Lastly, the festival of the Assumption gathered the whole population led by this confraternity and its special privilege of handling an icon from the cathedral. The ritual use of this double-sided panel spotlighted the Nunziata while promoting a variety of collective identities. 36 CHAPTER ONE: Perugian identity and processional rhythms in Perugia This chapter investigates the role of images in the urban dwellers‘ perception of their own city. Civic identity is a socially constructed sense of belonging to an urban community that shares common cultural, economical, and symbolic values. 84 Monuments and graphic representations such as heraldry are part of this process but above all, ritual situations that created opportunities for the emergence or the consolidation of social consensus. Civic authorities sponsored and controled many processions that gathered the population as one body, seeking to develop a feeling of solidarity across social classes and a sense of an urban identity. As Muir argues, a unified city is a politicized city. 85 Concomittantly, city officials used civic and religious rituals to impose an image of authority for themselves by carefully staging their appearances. I therefore stress the necessicity of ritual trappings in the organization of orderly processions that were meant to produce a unified image of citizenry and civic authority. Since the ideal view of civic allegiance that I just described might mask divisive processes in the Perugian civilization, I also evoke social exclusion or marginalization, and conflict between groups in ritual situations. 1) The political dimension of the urban space One way for the local government to define and symbolize a common urban identity was by way of architecture and artistic endeavors. A city for outsiders and urban dwellers alike was characterized by its soaring religious and secular towers within encircling city walls 84 Gene Brucker, "Civic Traditions in Premodern Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 29, no. 3 (1999): 357-77; republished in Paula Findlen, ed., The Italian Renaissance: The Essential Readings (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 47-63. For civic consciousness and the uses of republican ideology, see Alison Brown, "City and Citizen: Changing Perceptions in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries," in Anthony Mohlo et al., eds., City States in Classical Antiquity and Medieval Italy: Athens and Rome, Florence and Venice (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1991), 93-111. 85 ―Government as a Ritual Process‖ in E. Muir, Ritual in Early Modern Europe, 268. 37 as the vedute of many Umbrian plague banners illustrate. In these paintings, the architectural view contrasts with a countryside bare of any construction and people, showing the subjection of the suburban area to the city (see Chapter Three and figs. 51; 53; 55-57; 65-66; 68). To this pictorial typification of the physical urban space, one must add the ―power of place,‖ the political dimension of key buildings and piazza that, as backdrops for rituals, provided the mystification necessary to create a feeling of civic identity. 86 Squares surrounded by the looming buildings symbolic of secular and sacred power probably provide the most important public space for rituals. There, the gathered population could experience a symbolically charged spatial and architectonic framework as the urban identity of their city.87 Like many other Italian cities of middling size, the center of Perugia consisted of a main square delineated by the imposing palaces that accommodated the municipal political entities, such as the Palazzo del Podestà, the Palazzo dei Priori [the municipal hall], the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo. In Perugia, all these secular buildings stood on the same square as the cathedral with its canonical dwellings and episcopal palace.88 In the center of this complex, the elaborately carved Fontana Maggiore (main fountain) of 1278 funded by the Commune was both a practical and a civic-minded monument for inhabitants and visitors. The Palazzo dei Priori where legislative and executive decision-making affected the daily life of many, expresses by its sheer dimensions the political power of the Commune. It was, by the fifteenth century, the largest building in town. This central square, situated at the intersection of all five rioni (districts), functioned as a hub for human traffic and as the seat of 86 See John Agnew and James Duncan, eds., The Power of Place (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989) and the works cited in the next footnote. 87 For recent studies on the symbiotic relationships between urban spaces and ideological and symbolic power, see Roger Crum and John Paoletti, eds., Renaissance Florence: a social History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); in particular, J. Najemy, ―Florentine Politics and Urban Spaces,‖ 19-54 and Millner, ―The Florentine Piazza della Signoria as Practiced Place,‖ 83-103. 88 The residence of the Capitano del Popolo once juxtaposed to the Palazzo dei Priori was moved in 1481 to a new palace on a smaller piazza 200m further down the hill. Alberto Grohmann, Perugia (Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1985), 79. Grohmann surveys Perugia‘s architectural and urbanistic development. 38 festivals and many rituals including sermons, processions, wakes, capital executions, and many civic ceremonies (see map, fig. 70). In the chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori, the Second translation of Sant‟Ercolano (fig. 1) painted by Benedetto Bonfigli in the 1460s is a precise depiction of that central space, still legible despite the early deterioration of the fresco. The composition shows the transfer of Perugia‘s main patron saint from the periphery of the city to the cathedral, an event that, according to the Legend, occurred in the late tenth century. Bonfigli has compressed the human frieze in its vertical development in order to leave space, about ¾ of the composition, for the architectural backdrop. This sequence of buildings has been amply commented on by art historians because of its architectural accuracy (along with the neighboring wall frescoes of Ercolano‘s Martyrdom and First Translation) that acts as a testimony for the look of midfifteenth century Perugia.89 This architectonic panorama, onto which the participants in the cortège are painted, unequivocally identifies them as Perugian inhabitants. It also ties the fate of an early Christian bishop to the city itself by highlighting the Perugian ownership of the protective relics. Ercolano‘s body is carried on a bier and shown as it goes past the Priori‘s palace. It is juxtaposed in an axial relationship with the main portal that is adorned by statues of Perugia‘s major protectors including Sant‘Ercolano (fig. 1b), a further allusion to the Commune‘s appropriation of his cult.90 The annual processions in his honor took place on the eve and the day of 1st March along the same itinerary shown in the fresco. Bonfigli‘s Translation of Sant‟Ercolano is thus not a historically correct depiction of the solemn relic 89 See F. Mancini, Bonfigli, 53-80 and 95-97; E. Lunghi, "Appunti per la storia urbanistica di Perugia negli affreschi della Cappella dei Priori," in V. Garibladi, ed., Benedetto Bonfigli. Un Pittore e la sua città (Milan: Electa, 1996) republished under another title as "Luoghi e santi di Perugia negli affreschi di Benedetto Bonfigli (XV secolo) nel Palazzo dei Priori di Perugia." Annali dell'università per stranieri di Perugia, nuova serie, no. V (1997): 243-53. 90 The three statues were correctly identified as such by Mario Roncetti, "Leggere i documenti di pietra. Per una coretta identificazione dei santi patroni di Perugia," BDSPU 89 (1992): 61-71. Although the majority of saints recognized by the Roman Church between 1198-1431 were bishops, neither Ercolano nor Costanzo ever underwent a trial for canonization. However, their cults are paradigmatic of a number of figures venerated as civic patrons regardless of their official status in the Church. 39 transfer but a visual synopsis of a general procession that the painter had witnessed for Sant‘Ercolano‘s festivities. In the middle ages, cities adopted specific saints as protectors of their own urban territories. Hagiography and the mythical early history of the Umbrian capital turned bishop Ercolano into Perugia‘s main patron saint. In the mid-fourteenth century, jurist Bartolo da Sassoferrato defined a ―civitas‖ by the presence of a bishop (―illa quae habet episcopum‖). 91 As an early local martyr, Ercolano embodied the civic-minded bishopric of Perugia‘s early medieval history.92 Having defended the city against the Goth Totila, he was hailed as Perugia‘s prime protector (defensor civitatis), especially after the final transfer of his relics to the cathedral in the early eleventh century. The other defensores of Perugia were also linked to episcopal status and comprised the city‘s first bishop (San Costanzo) and the saint to which the cathedral was dedicated, San Lorenzo (fig. 1b). A short story by Francesco Sacchetti makes fun of the Perugians for ―believing more in Sant‘Ercolano than in Christ.‖93 Beyond its mocking tone, the plot demonstrates a process through which one particular saint can be visually equated with a specific city: by having him depicted in a mural on the main piazza. Representations of Sant‘Ercolano pervaded official acts from miniatures adorning official regulations to sealed documents. Among the five large silver seals treasured by the Commune for honorific usage was one with the figure of Sant‘Ercolano.94 In communal registers, the holy bishop often stands by himself, holding the civic flag with the heraldic 91 The quote for Bartolo is in A. Grohmann, ed., Le città „leggibili‟. La toponomastica urbana tra passato e presente. Atti del Convegno di Studi, Foligno 11-13 dicembre 2003 (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 2004), 12-13. 92 For the early story of the Perugian commune, see John P. Grundman, The Popolo at Perugia 1139-1309 (Perugia, Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1992) and for Sant‘Ercolano, 20-23. 93 Davide Puccini, ed., Il Trecentonovelle di Franco Sacchetti (Turin: Unione tipografico-editrice torinese, 2004), 479-481, novella CLXIX. 94 Rita Staccini, "Vivere da Priori. Inventari dell'argenteria del Commune di Perugia (secolo XV), Bollettino della Deputazione di Storia Patria per l'Umbria 101, no. 2 (2004): 281-95. For miniatures of Ercolano in communal registers, see Carte che ridono. Immagini di vita politica, sociale ed economica nei documenti miniati e decorati dell‟Archivio di Stato di Perugia; Secoli XIII-XVIII (Perugia: Editoriale Umbra), 35-39 and 67 for the period 1490-1520. 40 griffon of Perugia. He appears as a stone statue above the 1326 portal of the central building of the government (fig. 1b). Sant‘Ercolano is placed in the middle of the holy triad and univocally represents Perugia with his robe imitating a griffon-embroidered fabric. This new entrance is adorned with low-reliefs of the Vices and Virtues and the Justice of Solomon, a symbolic representation of the Good Government of the Priors.95 In terms of ritual performance, the commemoration of Sant‘Ercolano‘s Translation on the last day of February and on 1st March gave rise to many events of utmost political significance with two solemn processions, a tournament, the submission of the palii (costly pieces of fabrics) of subjected cities (see fig. 77), and the liberation of a few prisoners. This set of rituals made one evening and the next day of each year a very special time for expressing civic unity. From the thirteenth century, a three-dimensional ―imago‖ of Ercolano was processed. In the early fifteenth century, it was a magnificent statue made in silvercoated copper that underwent repair in March 1433.96 The head needed to be secured as well as the attachment of the miter and the crozier, and the Priori and Camerlenghi readily spent the substantial amount of 40 florins to ensure their protector‘s rightful appearance. In February 1456, however, a wooden statue was commissioned with the provision that it had to be painted anew every year by a certified master.97 The statue of Sant‘Ercolano was kept in the cathedral of San Lorenzo from which it was carried and returned by the Compagnia del Sasso, one of five major neighborhood associations in Perugia (see next chapter and excursus no. 1).98 As the city statutes of 1342 stipulate, the ―image‖ of the glorious martyr was 95 On the three sculptures (fig. 1b), see Lunghi‘s entry in C. Bon Valsassina and V. Garibaldi, eds., Dipinti, sculpture, ceramiche della Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria. Studi e restauri (Florence: Arnaud, 1994), 139-142. The coat of arms displayed on the archivolt, including the Perugian griffon and the Angevin lily, express the city‘s political allegiances. Alessandro Savorelli, Piero della Francesca e l‟ultima crociata: Araldica, storia e arte tra Gotico e Rinascimento (Florence: Le Lettere, 1999). 96 Riccieri, Annali ecclesiastici, 46. the cost of the repair was estimated 60 florins. 97 Ibid., 58-59: law of 17th February 1456 and deliberation of 10th March 1457 to have Francisco Tanci, chamberlain of the painters‘ guild, paint the wooden statue. 98 Primum volumen statutorum Augustae Perusiae (Perugia: Girolamo Francesco Cartulari, 1526), § 417-418 (cited hereafter as ―Statutes 1520s‖). 41 accompanied by two gigantic tapers of 50 pounds each and eight dupleria (long, doublestemmed candles) of four pounds, all held upright on shafts (hastis). The amount of wax surrounding the statue and the other lights carried by the population were meant to honor the saint and attract his favors. The statue‘s privileged position in the cortège, after the clergy and near the city officials, clearly associated the saint with the Perugian authorities.99 In addition, the ritual paraphernalia reinforced this civic appropriation: both the chariot horses and the imago wore a red cloth bearing white griffons, i.e. the Perugian heraldic colors. Heraldic and civic imagery: the griffon The other symbolic image that translated the city of Perugia into a visual concept was drawn from heraldry. It consisted of a white, erect (―rampant‖) or walking (―passant‖) griffon shown in profile with one front paw aggressively proffered (both if ―rampant‖) on a red field (see excursus no. 1). The statue of Sant‘Ercolano and the caparisoned horses I just described undoubtedly appeared civic-minded with their colourful heraldic props. From 1274 to 1281, the statue was combined with a monumental bronze griffon carried in procession together with a leonine counterpart and covered with sumptuous fabrics, in an attempt to enhance the celebrations for the patron saint.100 From 1301, these monumental bronzes were set up above the entrance to the Palazzo of the Priori, facing the central square, forming an impressive visual cue logically binding the civic emblem with the municipal building. 101 The griffon is often combined with Sant‘Ercolano as, for example, the two seals appended on an official 99 This reconstruction is based in the city statutes of 1342 (§46.1) and those of the 1520s (§93 and §385): De imagine beati Herculani relevata fienda et portandi cum luminariis; De expensa facienda in cereis magnis et hastis et aliis pro honorando imaginem beati Herculani et dominos priores in luminarie. For the annual payment of ten pounds to the chamberlain of the painters‘guild, ibid., §412. This last provision is copied verbatim in the Statutes of the Massari (§63) of the early fifteenth century, ASP, ASCPg, Massari, ―Statuto dei Massari‖. 100 See G. Cuccini, Il grifo e il leone bronzei di Perugia (Perugia, 1994) and M. R. Silvestrelli‘s entry ―Maestro del 1274‖, in Arnolfo di Cambio (Perugia, Guerra Edizioni, 2005), 222-224. 101 These bronze statues were restored between 1966 and 1973. They then joined the museum collections of the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria (abbreviated as GNU hereafter). In 1982, copies were made to adorn the historical spot that the originals occupied for centuries. 42 nomination in 1284 bearing each figure separately but in juxtaposition (fig. 2). This griffon imagery was borne not only on seals or ritual cloths, but also on coat of arms and flags in order to advertise and authenticate Perugian identity. The griffon was a common motif for funerary urns in Etruscan Perugia but it had at that time no known civic overtone. The earliest documented civic griffons appear in various media: seals, bronze sculptures (such as the pair topping the Fontana Maggiore), drawings in communal registers, and in a fresco in the thirteenth century. This was a golden age for Perugia that was actively expanding its territory (the ‗contado‘) while becoming an autonomous city-state with legislative and executive powers although officially part of the Papal States.102 The communal minutes of 1378 provide accurate prescriptions for the painted appearance of the civic griffon: it must have a silver body, gilded beak (rostro) and claws, and as be capped with a golden crown (see appendix 2a). A glittering miniature on the opening page of the statutory register (matricola) of the cotton workers (fig. 3) provides a faithful representation.103 The armorial device of the white griffon on a red field survived all the changes in the political regimes (communal, papal, feudal) of the Middle Ages and early modern times and symbolized the then most important and powerful city in Umbria. Possessing a heraldic insignia allowed the city to publicize its juridical status of autonomy and to ―materialize‖ its existence as a commune with a graphic sign. The Perugian government used this symbolic design to signal superiority in diplomatic matters or the subjection of its contado, as the following examples will illustrate. 102 The oldest representation of the griffon is a fresco in the ex-church of San Giovanni del Fosso dated 1235. Silvestrelli, ibid., 223. For examples of griffons in communal records, including the oldest surviving drawing (1235), see Tiziana Biganti, ―La città e la sua simbologia,‖ in Carte che ridono, 26-34. On the influence of Etruscan griffons on the Perugian civic emblem, see Giacomo Caputo, ―La tradizione etrusca del grifo e l‘emblema di Perugia,‖ Studi Etruschi, 29 (1961): 417-422; M. A. Johnstone, ―The Griffin, the Coat of Arms of Perugia,‖ Studi Etruschi, XXX (1962): 335-352. For the two bronze griffons (GNU) capping the Fontana Maggiore from 1278 to 1948, see Refice, ―Grifi,‖ in Bon Valsassina, ed., Dipinti, Sculture della Galleria Nazionale, 74-77. 103 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1378, 26, f. 206v. Council of 24th June 1378. 43 The territorial hegemony of Perugia was physically marked by the griffon emblem. It was painted on the city gates as the Gonfalone of San Francesco shows (fig.) and it also expressed Perugian domination on other Umbrian locations. An early example is a 1248 notarized copy of the act of submission of the castle of Montone (1216). The wax seal hanging from a red silk ribbon bears a rampant (erect) griffon accompanied by the inscription [S]IGILLU(M) C[IVITATIS].104 The 1342 city statutes abound in provisions for the mandatory use of the city insignia. For example, the weapons and armors kept in the castles of Città di Castello, Chiusi, and Castello della Pieve were to be inventoried and the crossbows ‗sealed‘, i.e. marked with el sengno del griffone.105 In Bonfigli‘s fresco (fig. 1), the Palazzo of the Priori has a shield bearing the Perugian coat of arms above its main portal. To the right, the residence of the Podestà displays unmistakable allegiance to Pope Sixtus IV with the heraldic signs on its façade, incidentally a means for dating this mural. The griffon appeared on diplomatic gifts (see below) and official artifacts that were used and financed by the government. It is worthy of note that the Perugian seal (that made documents and objects official or guaranteed their authenticity) and coat of arms have the same iconography, unlike cities such as Florence or Bologna.106 The continuity of the use of the griffon insignia regardless of the political changes, turned this hybrid animal into an ―imposed‖ symbol meaning Perugia.107 104 The seal measures 70 x 55 mm. For a transcription of this act, see A. Bartoli Langeli, Codice diplomatico de Commune di Perugia II (1237-1254) (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1985), 141 and 481. Giovanni Bascapé, who was not aware of this example, argues that the griffon appears on Perugian seals in the Trecento, following a seal bearing an image of Sant‘Ercolano. G. Bascapé, Sigillografia. Il sigillo nella diplomatica, nel diritto, nella storia, nell‟arte, 2 vols. (Milan: Giuffrè, 1956-1969), I: 234. 105 M. Salem El Sheikh, ed., Statuto del Commune e Popolo di Perugia del 1342 in volgare (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l'Umbria, 2000), I: 289, § 76.5 (abbreviated as Statuto 1342 hereafter). 106 For early communal seals, see Bascapé, Sigillografia, I: 183-244; Eugenio Duprè-Theseider, ―Sugli stemmi delle città comunali italiane,‖in La storia del diritto nel quadro delle scienze storiche (Florence: Olschki, 1966), 311-48. For a history of the communal emblem, see O. Marinelli, ―Lo stemma di Perugia,‖ Perusia (FebruaryMarch 1950): 22-27; Alberto P. Torni, Gli stemmi e gonfaloni delle Provincie e dei Comuni italiani (Florence: R. Noccioli, 1963), 13-19; 397; 407-409. 107 Pierre Nora distinguishes between ―imposed symbols‖ that are an integral part of a national memory (he deals with the French national identity) and whose history can be recounted, and the more complex ―constructed symbols‖ that call for an analysis of various layers of memory. See his revised introduction to the English 44 The Perugian armorial griffon (see excursus no. 2) was also used on many objects that were essential to economic life. For example, the wool weavers measured the width of their looms with a metal rod sealed with the griffon while the cotton manufacturers used scales and a weight similarly marked.108 Containers indicating volumes or weights had to be sealed with the city arms or with the Capitano del popolo‘s arms (or his notary‘s).109 The guilds made ample use of it on their seals, trademarks, or clothing. The wealthiest and most influential arti had modeled their emblem on the heraldic beast that was often shown as passant (walking with one front leg raised) in order to form a visually consistent shape once coupled with another symbol. Thus, the Mercanzia‘s griffon towers over a pack of cloths and the Cambio‘s straddles the entire length of a chained safe (figs. 58 and 85). The power of the Mercanzia and the Cambio was visible in their permanent representation among the Priori with two Mercanzia members and one money changer, and in the re-location of their premises adjacent to the communal Palace from respectively 1390 and 1453. In this seat, a huge gilded relief of their emblem was carved in the lunette of their hall in 1462. The second-ranking guild, the Cambio (money changers), was also connected spatially with the government as it moved to the palace of the Priors in the mid-fifteenth century. In the new seat, the wood panelling (1490s) of the main hall is adorned with a relief of the griffon, and in one of Perugino‘s frescoed lunettes (1498-1500), Mercury‘s chariot is drawn by two griffons. edition of Lieux de mémoire partially translated as Realms of Memory. The Construction of the French Past, vol. III: Symbols (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998 [1992]), ix-xii. 108 Francesco Briganti, Le corporazioni delle arti nel Commune di Perugia (sec. XIII-XIV) (Perugia: Guerriero Guerra, 1910), 187. Rita Staccini, ed., Le arti perugine de la bambagia e della seta (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto Medioevo, 1994), 152-153. The bales made from Syrian cotton must be marked with the griffon and with the emblem of the guild itself (§3 of the 1381 statutes). Ibid., 162 109 For example, the containers to measure sand. Millers were to have iron or copper measures which were affixed at the foot of their mills with a chain and bore ‗the sign of the commune that it‘s the sign of the griffon‘. The wicker basket measuring one mina had to be sealed with the arms of the captain. Wine retailers had to use pictitos marked by the seal of the captain. See Severino Caprioli, ed., Statuto del Commune di Perugia del 1279 (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1986), 417, n. 471; 161, n. 143; 329, n. 355. 45 Matteo di ser Cambio‘s miniature for the 1377 statutes of the Cambio guild (fig. 4) depicts a powerful griffon able to guard the city‘s wealth. Its size makes it seem powerful and able to guard the city‘s wealth. The animal and the object, both on parallel horizontal axes, offer a striking image of symmetry and clarity. This iconography was repeated for many centuries.110 Another professional association that added the griffon to its emblem were the notaries (fig. 5). In 1403, they recorded the money spent on a green silk cloth to protect the miniatures of the griffons in their new matricola, upon order of the Priors.111 The heraldic griffon was an image that commanded respect. Graphic symbols alone cannot construct urban identity. To be accepted as unequivocal signs of identity, symbols need to be experienced in public rituals for a cognitive effect to ―kick in.‖112 For example, when a newly nominated bishop entered Perugia, he was met at the periphery of the city by a procession of the clergy and city officials. There, he was given a horse adorned with a white silk caparison bearing the Perugian arms (―with the white griffons in escutcheons‖) and he rode thus equipped to the main piazza.113 The bishop‘s pluvial and miter proclaimed his ecclesiastical rank while the caparison symbolized Perugia, and the gift of a horse thus adorned meant that the Perugians, represented by the Priori and the coat of arms, accepted their new ecclesiastic leader. The acquiescent behavior of an awestruck crowd confirmed the pact. Thus ritual action that staged objects marked with the 110 For example, the seat of the tribunal in the new headquarters of the guild was adorned with a wooden walnut relief in c. 1620, carved by Giampietro Zuccari. Pietro Scarpellini, ed., Il Collegio del Cambio in Perugia (Milano: Electa, 1998). 111 ―Item dicta die [Oct. 31, 1403] expendidi, de mandato dictorum priorum, pro bendella siricis viridis ponendi circha circha (sic) griffones matricule nove (...).” Transcribed in Roberto Abbondanza, ed., Il notariato a Perugia (Rome: Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato, 1973), entry 68, 96-99. 112 On perception and thought processes in rituals see Kertzer, ―The Ritual Construction of Political Reality,‖ in Ritual, Politics, 77-101. 113 Here are two examples: in April 1435, the bishop of Perugia entered the city in his pluvial and the beautiful grey horse he was given was covered with white silk adorned with the white heraldic griffons of the city in their red escutcheons (―con glie scudette, con li griffoni tutti bianchi‖). Diario del Graziani, 394. Jacomo da Cortona rode into Perugia on 21st March 1456 on a ―bello cavallo copertato con sopravveste [sic] di zendado bianco coll‘arma del Comuno in essa.‖ Oscar Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita di Pietro Angelo di Giovanni in continuazione di Antonio dei Guarneglie,‖ in BDSPU 4 (1898), I: 307 (abbreviated hereafter as ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I) and the second part (1461-1494),‖ BDSPU 9 (1903): 102-245 (abbreviated as ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II). 46 symbol of the griffon turned this graphic sign into a meaningful representative of Perugian politics and inhabitants. Diplomatic gifts from the Perugian government displayed the city‘s heraldic device but it was the ceremony around them that merged the device with the Umbrian capital in people‘s minds. At the end of each governor‘s office, the Priori presented him with silver dishes adorned with the griffon inscribed in a red escutcheon. The ritual of the gift presentation itself meant again that Perugians assented to the presence of a papal representative but the conspicuous city‘s coat of arms on the present was also a way to assert the city‘s autonomy of its communal councils in the face of papal control. The chroniclers were probably aware of this symbolism since they reported the heraldic details on the gifts. 114 Ritual behavior must be repetitive and standardized for its symbols to be endowed with special meaning. The civic flag in its representations At all times, civic flags with the city armorial device were an important symbol standing for the urban community. In medieval and renaissance Italy, different types of official vexilli corresponded to this category of civic flags. According to the political situation, the flags of the People (popolo), of the nobility, of the Commune, of the parte guelfa or ghibellina, or the heraldic vexillum of the ruling lord (who could be the pope) concomittantly billowed on battlefields or on official buildings. 115 As Italian cities consolidated their communal, guild-based, regime in the thirteenth century, the popolo or the Commune flags became the ultimate choice for representing the urban community. Thus, both Siena and Lucca adopted the flag of the commune, respectively the balzana and the red field 114 For example, the donation of 6th February 1440. Diario del Graziani, 448. 115 The illustrations of the chronicle of Lucca written by novelist Giovanni Sercambi between 1368 and 1424, abounds in watercolor depictions of city flags. See Aldo Ziggioto, ―Le bandiere della Cronaca del Sercambi (seconda metà del sec. XIV)‖, Armi antiche, 1980, 61-77. 47 topped by a white one, while in Perugia, the white griffon of the popolo triumphed over the red lion of the nobility.116 This does not preclude that at the time of signorie (see chronology, appendix 1), the lord of Perugia added his own heraldic flag to the civic one. Visual sources for the appearance of the Perugian flag include the miniatures in official records showing Sant‘Ercolano holding the city flag (fig. 6a-b), his life-size depiction in one of the largest stained-glass windows of Italy (1411) in the church of S. Domenico (fig. 7), and the Gonfalone of Sant‟Ercolano (fig. 33).117 However, these images do not reflect the actual size and splendor of the city vexillum. The masters depicted a small and mundane flag following an iconographic tradition in which the combination of the saint holding a civic flag is meant to show the relationship protector-city regardless of an exact rendering of an actual city standard. A more truthful rendition is provided by Dono Doni‘s fresco (fig. 8) with the city heralds blowing their silver trumpets to which a large city flag is attached. One should keep in mind that this ceremony required the best paraphernalia, hence the long silver trumpets with their large flags. The stunning look of the Perugian standard can be deduced from records of its commission. It was an expensive object that required the skill of a number of artisans from different guilds: a silk-cloth manufacturer, a tailor, a painter, and a blacksmith for the staff.118 It was made of red silk with a griffon painted in silver while its borders were adorned with fringes of green silk. The animal‘s crown, beak, and claws were gilded, a way to stress the animal‘s fierceness. Miniatures in books of guild statutes (figs. 3; 4) render this glittering and 116 Other political flags could impose themselves besides the communal flag as was the case in Florence. The Ghibelline Florentine flags bore a white lily on a red ground. But after 1251, the color scheme was inverted to signify the domination of the Guelf Party and thus a red lily on a white field was adopted to this day. 117 In the Dominican church, a Perugian, Bartolomeo di Pietro, assisted a Florentine artist, Mariotto di Nardo in the execution of one of the largest stained glass windows of Italy with over life-size saints. See Caterina Pirina, ―La vetrata,‖in G. Rocchi Coopmans de Yoldi and G. Ser-Giacomi, eds., La Basilica di San Domenico di Perugia (Perugia: Quattroemme, 2006), 401-414. 118 See the description in bookkeeping accounts of a civic flag given to the podestà in 1425. Giacomo Bascapé and Marcello Del Piazzo, Insegne e Simboli: Araldica pubblica e privata, medievale e moderna (Rome: Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, 1983), 31, n. 11. See also the description drawn from the Riformanze and my transcription in appendix 2a. 48 imposing appearance even though the silver pigment has often oxidized. Representing the actual size of the flag would require much more space within the image and would unbalance the composition at the risk of masking part of the saint. Some exceptions to that pictorial tradition include a frescoed Sant‘Ansano (fig. 9) in the church of Santa Pudenziana near Narni (early fifteenth century) and Saint Maurice holding the flag of Solothurn (Switzerland) by Holbein in 1522 (fig. 10).119 Heraldry was a highly codified visual language that was subjected to a set of iconographic rules. An influential exponent of these prescriptions was Bartolo da Sassoferrato who described in his tract on insignia and coat of arms how, for example, animals should be depicted on flags.120 The figure of an animal should face the staff of a flag so that it appears to walk forward. But on a trumpet banner, the animal should not face the instrument; otherwise the animal would appear to be lying on its back when the trumpet is being blown. A correct example of this practice is the scene of the Perugian army‘s defeat by the papal troops (1398) in a contemporary watercolor (fig. 11a) from the Chronicles of Giovanni Sercambi, a Tuscan spice-merchant from Lucca.121 The griffon on the blown trumpets appears tilted forward with outstretched paws as if ready to attack while the griffon on the flag faces the opponent in the same direction as the horsemen. The same can be said of 119 Reproduced in Claudio Strinati, ed., Lo sguardo di Maria: un itinerario dal Trecento al Seicento nel territorio di Terni (Perugia: Electa Editori Umbri, 1991), entry no. 34, 98. 120 Cavallar et al., Grammar of Signs, 74-9. 121 Giovanni Sercambi (1348-1424) started writing the history of Lucca from age 20 to his death, but the events that he narrates start in the twelfth century. He is sometimes regarded as the author of the 600 vignettes in watercolor and ink that illustrate the text. His chronicles were published by Salvatore Bongi in the late nineteenth century accompanied by small woodcuts of the watercolors. Color photos of the integral illustrations appeared in 1978. See Salvatore Bongi, ed., Le Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi lucchese (Rome: Istituto Storico Italiano, 1892), and Ottavio Banti and M.L. Testi Cristiani., eds., Giovanni Sercambi : Le illustrazioni delle Croniche nel codice lucchese (Genova: Basile, 1978). Fig. 11a is attached to §557: ―Come le gente della Chieza sconfisse i Perugini.‖ For the corresponding text, see Bongi, ibid., II: 157. 49 a miniature illustrating the conquest of Assisi by the Perugians (1322) in the chronicle of the Florentine Giovanni Villani (fig. 11b).122 Sometimes, artists depict the wrong heraldic position of the griffon. In two miniatures with Sant‘Ercolano holding the Perugian flag, the griffon faces the wrong way (figs. 6a-b).123 The erect griffon may be passant to reinforce the triumphant mood as in the notaries‘ procession (fig. 12a) where the griffons on the trumpet pennons seem to lead the march or, in the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13) in which Bonfigli has elongated the beasts in order to have them best fit the tiny space reserved for the horns. In these last two instances, the griffons appear black because their original silver pigment oxidized. The civic flag in its ritual use In records of the fourteenth through sixteenth-centuries, ―l‘arme della città‖ (the city‘s coat of arms) metonymically stood for the city flag.124 In the presence of the city flag, events were immediately imbued with solemnity. When the government needed to announce a decision publicly, it sent its heralds dressed in the civic livery (see appendix 3) to specific locations in Perugia. At these strategic points, they blew their horns to call the attention of everybody. That sound was accompanied by the sight of the affixed flag that unfurled from their trumpets. A whole range of information was provided to the population by way of these ―bandi‖: date of general processions, duration of holidays, fines for non-compliance, etc. Thus, the city government took great care of the look of its heralds. Their civic livery was renewed annually (see appendix 3) and the flags of their trumpets (pennoni da trombe) 122 See f. 226r of the codex Chigiani reproduced in Chiara Frugoni, ed., Il Villani illustrato : Firenze e l'italia medievale nelle 253 immagini del ms. Chigiano L VIII 296 della Biblioteca Vaticana (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 2005), 248. 123 Carte che ridono, n. 17, 35 and n. 44.1, 67. A correct position is shown in fig. 20 (Notaries at work, 1525). 124 For example, in Diario del Graziani, 573 or in council minutes, see appendix 2a-b. 50 regularly repaired or replaced.125 When foreign emissaries were sent to Perugia, they also toured the city with their own city trumpets and flags in a reverential show of successful diplomacy. For example, in 1370, a chronicler pointed out that, among the ‗five trumpets‘ announcing peace between Perugia and the pope, two were adorned with the arms of Florence (a red lily over a white field) because this city had played a mediating role. 126 Masaccio‘s birth tray (desco da parto) of 1426 renders the noticeable appearance of such Florentine heralds (fig. 14a). An example of how a city flag could embody the civic identity of the whole city is when it was given to a city‘s overlord as a sign of complete submission.127 The use of city heraldry was strictly regulated, making its iconography all the more authoritative. It was forbidden for anyone not so entitled to use the communal coat of arms, be it for a funeral or in any other occasion; it was a ―devilish instigation‖ that was punishable by the death penalty. The expression ―coat of arms‖ includes the city flag since another provision specifies that anyone, except the Priori, who would go to a public place in Perugia or its surroundings with an insignia or a flag (ensegna, pennone overo bandiera) without permission of the city authorities was condemned to death and his goods became state property. Since the punishment was by decapitation (―del capo sia punito, sí ke muoia‖), this offence was considered state treason.128 It was strictly forbidden for anyone who was not entitled to do so to handle the civic flag because its display was interpreted as a demonstration of power.129 The sight of the city flag could gather crowds and thus its 125 Quod fiant pennones tubarum and Deliberatio pro refectione pennonorum, ASP, ASPCPg, Riformanze, anno 1436, 18th May, f. 65r. 126 Fabretti, ―Memorie 1351-1438,‖ in Cronache, I: 194. 127 For example, the capitouls (municipal magistrates) of Toulouse handed in the city flag (held by a nobleman) to King Louis IX on 26th May 1463. See Bernard Guenée and Françoise Lehoux, Les Entrées royales françaises de 1328 à 1515 (Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1968), 172-173. 128 Salem, Statuto 1342, III: 310, §230.19 and III: 174-175, §122.1; §122.5; §122.7. 129 A chronicler reported that in 1311 as the Perugian army was marching towards a castle, the Todi troops who occupied it gathered their forces and left the castle upon ‗seeing the signs of the commune of Perugia‘ (vedendo le sengne del comuno de Peroscia, se levaro e lassaro el castello). Francesco Ugolini, Annali e cronaca di 51 inappropriate use was deemed to disturb law and order (se turbe lo stato pacifico del comuno).130 In times of war, only the city authorities could confer the flag on entitled men. These prohibitions and restrictions stipulated in the city legislation emphasize the extreme respect and reverence due to official flags. Periodically, the highest judiciary officials (the podestà and the capitano del popolo) would receive the insignia comunis for their good administration of justice at the end of their first six-month term (appendix 2b). For example, on 11th August 1445, the Council of the Priors conferred on podestà Giovanantonio dei Lionelli from Spoleto the city insignia for his merits.131 The award of the city flag was a mark of distinction because it was not a pro forma ceremony. It was a decision of the Priors which had to be ratified by the Chamberlains [camerarii], once the nominee‘ professional deeds had been inspected. The expense for the podestà‘s flag was usually 25 florins while 20 florins were spent on the capitano del popolo‘s flag, thus marking the precedence enjoyed by the noble chief justice versus the more modest status of the capitano. The city statutes stipulate that the ceremony of presenting the flag to the gonfaloniere (the podestà) was not to be simulated in any circumstance under penalty for treason.132 The podestà was also the city gonfaloniere (standard bearer) which means that he was in charge of the ceremonial city flag. The ritual of capital punishment for political treason took place on the central square at the foot of the Podestà‘s palace rather than outside the city gates. These executions were signalled by affixing the city standard kept by that chief justice on the walls of his residence. Alternatively, it was the Capitano del Popolo who announced an imminent death penalty by displaying the civic flag on the facade of his palace. Auditory cues included a special bell Perugia in volgare dal 1191 al 1336, in ―Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia. Università degli Studi di Perugia‖, I (1963-1964), 1-336, 183. 130 Salem, Statuto 1342, III: 172, §120.1. 131 Vittorio Giorgetti, Podestà, capitani del popolo e loro ufficiali a Perugia (1195-1500) (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull‘alto medioevo, 1993), 243, n. 188. 132 Salem, Statuto 1342, III: 173, §121. 1-2. 52 tolled (―la campana della giustizia‖) and a communal herald blowing his trumpet before the condemnation was read aloud. These sensory signs for such grave spectacles were so predictable that their rare absence signified a case of expeditious justice. It could also mean the suspension of the execution as in October 1467 when the Podestà, upon order of the governor, brought the flag back indoors.133 Many contemporary scenes of execution show the chief justice on horseback next to a flag-bearer or holding himself a flag (figs. 14b-d). Thus, rituals and legal dispositions vested the Perugian heraldic griffon and its highly visible medium, the civic flag, with utmost authority. 2) The “bel ordine” of general processions General processions were the most visible expression of Perugia‘s ―civic religion‖ and highlighted local collective identities gathered as one unified body. ―Civic religion‖ can be defined by the initiatives of the city councils composed of laymen that underwrote festivals for saints including wax tributes, processions and the construction or repair of churches.134 This phenomenon was typical, in the last centuries of the Middle Ages, of Italian Communes that sought to strengthen civic identities in the face of internal strife such as factions, and external threats, such as warfare and its corollary, territorial loss.135 In André Vauchez‘s own terms, the ―urban powers appropriated the values of religious life for the purposes of legitimacy, celebration and public well-being.‖136 Thus, each city claimed its 133 For example, on 4th January 1443, when retainers of Braccio Baglione (Malatesta‘s son) robbed a Roman cardinal on a high way near Perugia, four of the criminals were immediately arrested and hanged on the site of the misdeed. A fifth offender was hanged on the main Piazza of Perugia the next day: ―la mane, sensa stendardo e sensa leggere condamnagione, fu apiccato uno giù‘l Campo,‖ Diario del Graziani, 519. Other examples of disturbed rituals of capital punishment can be found in chronicles. See Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 74-75 (24th July 1451); 303-4 (14th January 1456); ibid., II: 56 (19th October 1467) and 376 (21st August 1493). 134 André Vauchez, "Patronage des saints et religion civique dans l'italie communale de la fin du moyen âge" in Vincent Moleta, ed., Patronage and Public in the Trecento (Florence: Olschki, 1986), 59-80 reprinted in: Les laïcs au moyen âge. Pratiques et expériences religieuses (Paris: Cerf, 1987), chapter 15, 169-186. 135 136 Muir, Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice, 233. A. Vauchez, ed., La religion civique à l‟époque médiévale et moderne (Rome : Ecole française de Rome, 1995), 1. 53 own civic pantheon of saints, celebrated by a roster of festivals sponsored by the civic authorities according to the saints‘ feast days. Diana Webb has studied the formation of civic cults in a number of Italian cities and shown how these ritual practices fostered civic virtue and loyalty to the political authorities.137 The necessity of general processions Saving the city from depravity and saving oneself from a torturous afterlife was an ongoing pursuit with multiple facets. Belonging to a religious community or a confraternity was a way to seek redemption not only for oneself, but also for the whole population. However, it was the city‘s responsibility to provide law and order to attract God‘s grace. Throughout the year, securing the protection of mediating saints was necessary given the corruption that infiltrated urban life. An important part of the agenda of local communal governments consisted of charitable actions aiming at the purification of the city. To reach this goal, however utopian, official support of the religious and lay communities that were devoted to piety took the form of material donation such as grain or wax to canons, monks, friars, tertiaries, and confratelli. To facilitate the appropriate performances of piety of these beneficial praying agents, the urban regime regularly deliberated on subsidies for the construction or repair of oratories that accommodated depictions of saints to whom prayers for intercession were addressed. The making or restoration of these sacred images including statues, altarpieces, and banners were often underwritten by the Commune. Frequent general processions were another essential means of purifying the urban space. Like many other cities in Western Europe, Perugia dedicated one third of the year to the celebration of Christian cults with general processions as the major expression of these cults. General processions meant compulsory attendance and gathered almost the entire 137 Diana Webb, Patrons and Defenders: The Saints in the Italian City States (London. New York: I.B. Tauris, 1996). 54 population along prescribed routes in the city that most of the time departed from, arrived at, or walked past the cathedral and the town hall. They were public performances of piety that took place throughout the year as a regular collective enterprise intended to secure God‘s benevolence or the mediation of saints for the benefit of the entire city. Municipal deliberations could modify the city statutes regarding which days such processions would be held.138 The compulsory closing of shops freed up time to attend mass, visit churches, and participate in the ritual festivities. Since workers may have been reluctant to leave their affairs behind, authorities issued laws for mandatory participation in general processions and froze most economic activities.139 The commemoration of Sant‘Ercolano involved four holidays by law, from the last day of February to 3rd March. While provisions in the City Statutes regarding processions usually take the procession for San Costanzo (29th January) as the model of reference, the statutes of the guilds do not often mention this saint. But they systematically contain clear provisions about the compulsory attendance in the procession for Ercolano and for the Assumption (15th August), threatening the absentees with pecuniary fines.140 The Pardon of St. Stephen (3rd August) for which a plenary indulgence was granted in the wake of that of the perdono of the Porziuncola in Assisi (2nd August), Christmas, Easter, and other Marian days were also important ritual times. If temporal feasts (commemorating events from the life of Christ or the Virgin) were always included in religious and civic calendars as bank holidays, the sanctoral calendar (for saints‘ anniversaries) allowed for adjustments. The ―115 138 See Dean, The Towns of Italy, 77-78 for a translation of the provision from the city statutes with non-worked days. See Giuseppe Mira, in: Il santo patrono, 252-253. 139 However, twice a year, mid-August and end of October, the Assumption and Halloween were an opportunity for 8-day long fairs to take place. 140 For example, it was mandatory for all the leather-repair artisans to attend the vigils for Ercolano and the Assumption but for other feasts eight men were chosen by the camerarius. Rita Staccini, ed., L'arte dei ciabattini di Perugia (Perugia: Editrice umbra cooperativa, 1987), De luminariis, 88-89. 55 saints‖ venerated in Perugia between 1200 and 1500 were in fact not consistently celebrated over this period of time.141 Many of the celebrations of saints‘ feastdays showcased one of the five rioni or porte (administrative divisions of the city) by way of neighborhood associations (see Chapter Two).142 Members of these ―compagnie‖ performed on the streets of their district and on the main piazza, and hosted a banquet. For example, the Compagnia di Porta Santa Susanna danced on Ascension Day, all dressed in their blue silk doublets adorned with chains, while in the concluding days of April and on 1st May, the spotlight fell on the inhabitants of Porta Sant‘Angelo where the large Mendicant church of Sant‘Agostino stood.143 Then, three major processions took place ending in the rione‘s main church: one in honor of the apostles James and Philip, one for Saint Augustine‘s Day on 28th April in which the Compagnia di Porta Sant‘Angelo paraded, and lastly a procession showcasing a relic owned by the Augustinian friars. May trees were planted throughout the porta under the command of the local noble families. Typically, several hundred people assisted and the Compagnia danced, concluding the neighborhood party with an outdoor banquet.144 The Compagnia di Porta Sole caroused on 1st June for San Fiorenzo‘s Day and the Compagnia di Porta Eburnea danced through the city (―per tutta la cità‖) on 24th June for John the Baptist‘s Day.145 141 Gary Dickson, ―The 115 Cults of the Saints in Later Medieval and Renaissance Perugia: a Demographic Overview of a Civic Pantheon,‖ Renaissance Studies 12-1 (1992): 6-19. 142 Other names for the geographic infrastructure of Italian cities are ―terzi‖ (e.g. Siena), ―quartieri‖ (e.g. Florence), ―sestieri‖ (e.g. Venice) that may include subdivisions such as the contrade of Siena and the gonfaloni of Florence. ―Rioni‖ from the Latin ―regions‖ was also used in Rome. The five porte of Perugia are: to the East, Porta Sole; to the North-West, Porta Sant‘Angelo; to the West, Porta Santa Susanna; to the South, Porta Eburnea (Porta Borgne); to the South-East, Porta San Pietro. See map, fig. 70. 143 The Compagnia di Porta Santa Susanna‘s link to the Ascension is documented for 1430 in Diario del Graziani, 343. 144 Diario del Graziani, 549 for 1444; for the Compagnia di Porta San Angelo and the Calends of May in 1471, see ibid., 642. The first celebration of this feast-day by a compagnia in Porta Sant‘Angelo was on 4 th May 1391. Ibid., 253: ―Adí 4 de maggio quelli di Porta Sant‘Angelo comenzaro a fare una festa nuova a Santo Agostino.” For the Compagnia di Porta Sole and San Fiorenzo in 1456, see Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I, 314 and II, 74. 145 The Compagnia di Porta Sole is also called ―del Domanio‖ or ―di San Fiorenzo.” The Compagnia di Porta Eburnea recited a play on prophet Jonas ―in piei della piazza‖ in 1430, see Diario del Graziani, 343; for 1471, ibid., 643 and Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II, 75. 56 An important aspect that justified these annual commemorations was the negative image that cities offered from a moralizing point of view. Replete with crimes, entertainment possibilities, usury, and factions, cities offered fertile terrain for sinful comportment. This could elicit divine punishment such as the plague, requiring a sanitary and moral agenda for the purification of the city including penitential processions and the making of special banners (see Chapter Three). On temporal feast days, no traffic with pack animals was allowed in the city and shops were closed, thus providing a tangible sense of the city as a special celebratory stage in which inhabitants could proceed together, unmolested.146 Whatever the context, a procession could only be successful if it offered a positive image of the city population, one marked by order, obeisance, and penitence in order to achieve the proper decorum due to a saint or to God. One important element in arranging an orderly cortège was having participants respect precedence according to the succession of groups enunciated in the City Statutes. Order and precedence Expressed in terms borrowed from ritual theory, processions (and depictions of them) represent the ―need to put into a linear form social relations.‖147 Urban dwellers were ranked according to a social hierarchy and cosmic order, from the heavenly-inspired clerics to the earth-bound workers, while the political representatives marched in the middle. This set succession of groups reflects medieval and early modern social divisions and local powers. It also shows that people understood themselves as members of multiple groups that were economic or religious in nature, as well as inhabitants of a particular city, and bound by its laws and collectivities. In Perugia, the regulation of the major festivals was the responsibility 146 147 Salem, Statuto, III: 86-7, §48. Straw, grass, and bread were the only products allowed for transportation. Miri Rubin, Corpus Christi: the Eucharist in late Medieval Culture (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 265. 57 of the Priori, not the Podestà or another political entity.148 It was spelled out in the city statutes, and guild statutes repeated these norms. In the following discussion, I confront visual evidence, especially Bonfigli‘s fresco, and prescriptive sources, mainly the Perugian city statutes, in order to reconstruct general processions and their emotional stimuli for participants and viewers. Bonfigli‘s fresco (fig. 1) helps to visualize the cortège of a general procession, that of the Perugian patron saint, along the prescribed itinerary from the church of Sant‘Ercolano back to the cathedral chapel containing the saint‘s remains. By basing his compositional mode on profiles, Bonfigli faithfully renders the slow kinetics of solemn cortèges which stretched out indefinitely because of the prescribed mode of walking in pairs, or as a chronicler puts it: ―a coppie, come si va in procession.‖149 We can also envision how members of a specific party were supposed to respect the corporate grouping (―collegialiter”).150 The viewer can see a sequenced motion that forms a forward movement from left to right, the normal writing and reading mode in the West. In contrast, Gentile Bellini in his Procession in Piazza San Marco (fig. 15) chose the opposite direction and the cortège proceeds from right to left. But Bellini‘s attempt to render a faithful perspective, i.e. a space that recedes enough to suggest the depth and amplitude of the piazza, makes his painting more truthful to the actual itinerary of people who, coming from the far background, circumambulate in the square in a counter-clockwise movement. In the Second Translation of Sant‟Ercolano, we have the impression of a linear cortège walking on a flat terrain in a straight line to the cathedral whereas the topography of Perugia, a hill town, would require an 148 Another city that stipulates the order of the guilds for solemn processions in its statutes is Vicenza, see Webb, Patrons and Defenders, 120. For the variety of codes that different cities produced, see her chapter ―Saints and statutes,‖ ibid., 95-134. 149 ―Cronaca di A. dei Veghi,‖ in Fabretti, ―Diario di Antonio dei Veghi,‖ in Cronache II: 20. Tridentine resolutions insist on the proper conduct of processions and point out that these prescriptions were not always respected. 150 For example: ―collegialiter ad ecclesias prefatas accedere respective‖ in Costitutiones Excellentissimorum Doctorum U[trium].I[uris] Collegii Perusini (Perugia: Pietro Giacomo Petrucci, 1576, §11. 58 upward motion up the steeply-sloped streets from Santo Stefano, the first Dominican church on the left (above the women), and the Palazzo dei Priori. In this peaceful succession of Perugians, set off by civic and religious monuments, Bonfigli shows how the gathering of the population may minimize individuality by stressing group membership, especially by way of clothing (see next chapter). Being destined to be seen by the Priors themselves, this depiction only renders an ideal situation that highlighted civic leadership and its privileged rapport with the sacred.151 City statutes changed remarkably little between the thirteenth and the sixteenthcentury although these laws were revised on an annual basis.152 The detailed provisions on the organization of processions provide an insight into an idealized social stratification and into the kinds of collective memberships that were officially acceptable. General processions were headed by the secular and regular clergy, followed by the main magistrates (the two chiefs of justice), the Priors, and lesser city officials such as the 48 Chamberlains (camerarii). For the feast-days of San Costanzo, Sant‘Ercolano, and the Assumption, the representatives of the fifteen militias (between city and contado), called the gonfalonieri, marched behind the major officials as a united ―collegium.‖153 Then came the two rectors of the university 151 In a similar way, Gentile Bellini in his Procession in Piazza San Marco of 1496 (fig. 15) adapted the sequence of the participants in order to emphasize his confraternal patrons, clearly depicted with their baldachin in the central foreground. This implied shifting the focus away from the doge and his entourage (on the far right background), a unique move compared to other literary or graphic works. Andrea Löther, Prozessionen in spätmittelalterlichen Städten. Politische Partizipation, obrigkeitliche Inszenierung, städtische Einheit (Cologne and Weimar: Böhlau Verlag, 1999). 152 Diane Webb noted this constancy for Perugia. See Webb, Patrons and Defenders, 101-103; ―Saints and Statutes,‖ 95-134 for comparanda with other cities. The Perugian municipal statutes were revised each year but only those of 1279, 1366, 1389, 1400, 1425, and 1432 have been preserved. The Statutes were printed in 152328 by the Perugian publisher Girolamo Cartolari. My references originate mainly in the recently revised edition of the 1342 statutes (Salem, Statuto) and in the publication of the 1520s. For an overview of extant statutes, see J. Grundman, ―Guida allo studio degli statuti medioevali perugini,‖ BDSPU 95 (1992): 5-35. 153 See the Statuto dei Massari del Commune of 1389 (with additions up to 1450): §30: De faculis dandis infrascriptis offitialibus in festivitate sancti Costantii et aliis religiosis, f.13v. The gonfalonieri and their notary receive a ―facula‖ of three pounds. The same provision is in the City Statutes of 1526 in which the ―collegium‖ of the gonfalonieri is mentioned. . 59 leading the professors and the students.154 Their noteworthy position shows the prestigious social status that scholars held and reflects the city‘s pride in its university. The guilds and neighborhood associations (called ―societates‖ in the city statutes) were next but not together.155 Major feasts such as Sant‘Ercolano‘s or the Assumption called for two distinct general processions, on the eve and on the day itself. While guild members attended the luminaria (or torchlight solemn procession) of the preceding evening, ―societates,‖ i.e. neighborhood associations took the place of the guilds in the cortège of the feast-day itself. On 1st March, as already evoked, the members of the Compagnia del Sasso (Company of the Rock), also called ―compagnia di Porta San Pietro,‖ were in charge of carrying the silver-gilt copper statue of Sant‘Ercolano, topped by a sumptuous baldachin, from San Lorenzo to San Domenico and back. Their pre-eminent position in the cortège was defined in the city statutes. In their yellow doublets, up to 250 men followed the clergy and, next to the city officials, led the guilds.156 For this responsibility and performance, they were given six gold florins by the Commune every year. This duty and the high membership made them the most important company (see excursus no. 2).157 However, such striking performances were only one aspect of the companies‘ identity. The reason for separate guilds and companies by allotting different processional times is due to the blatantly boisterous nature of the compagnie, at least from the time of the 1342 statutes that established the group separation. As ―societates tripudiantium‖, as the city statutes of 1426 name them, they performed 154 Cf the critical edition of provisions regarding the Perugian university by Erika Bellini (2004, in press). The Doctors of the Studium were added in the rules of precedence in 1366. The two rectors were that of the students and that of the professors. 155 This order was clearly articulated in the city statutes of 1342 and repeated down to those printed in 15231528. See Erika Bellini‘s philological edition of the rubric on the order of the guilds. She compared the statutes of 1366, 1400, 1432, and 1523. The modifications deal mainly with spelling and include very few additions. La normativa per lo Studium a Perugia dal XIII al XVI secolo,‖ in: Gli statuti universitari: tradizione dei testi e valenze politiche. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Messina-Milazzo, 14-17 aprile 2004 (in press). 156 For the Compagnia di Porta San Pietro and Corpus Domini in chronicles, see Diario del Graziani, 549 (for 1444) and Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 314 and II: 74 (for 1456). 157 For the duties of the Compagnia del Sasso are described in the City Statutes of the 1520s, §417-8 and their payment defined in the Statuto dei massari, §68: De pecunia solvenda Sotietati Saxi in festivitate S. Herculani et Sotietate Montis Lucidi in festo Ascensionis Virginis gloriose. 60 dancing on feast-days, dressed in their ―rioni‖ colors, and participated in rambunctious games that could lead to casualties. Their disrespect of the public order has left many records in the deliberations of the Priori but also in the chronicles.158 As far as confraternities are concerned, they often followed the clergy and preceded the city officials, thus forming a visual link between religious and secular worlds. This was, however, not a definite rule. In certain crisis processions, confraternities marched first because they were in charge of extraordinary banners (see Chapter Three). Another example of confraternal groups as the lead was the ―beautiful and devout procession‖ in honor of San Bernardino‘s canonization (28th June 1450). In a series of penitential processions to stop earthquakes in May 1457, the confraternities were distanced from the leading clergy (prelates, priests, and religious orders) by the city officials (the Priors and the Chamberlains) and the university professors whom they followed.159 This order was reversed for Pius II‘s entry in February 1459 (see next chapter) with confraternities heading the cortège and followed by the monks and friars, the professors, the chamberlains, and lastly the priors.160 But in this case, the place of honor was not intended as the first rows of the cortège but according to one‘s proximity to the pope on horseback and the decorous baldachin above him. The pope was preceded by his flags and by the Priors, placed just before the flagbearers. Crispolti (1563-1608) records that confraternities had to march in a certain order but 158 For example, a prohibition of dancing or playing in the city was taken by the communal council in midFebruary 1277. Mauro Menichelli, La battaglia dei sassi di Perugia (Perugia: Volumnia, 2001), 73. An instance of casualty is reported for February 1389, when the Compagnia del Ceruglio fought against the Sasso and the Grifonceglie in Porta San Angelo wounding one young man (garzone) to death. Diario del Graziani, 233. 159 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 338: ―E prima incomenzaro tutti li prelate, prete e religiosi, e poi li Sig. Priore (...) e poi andar oltre li camerlenghe, e poi il collegio deli dottori, e poi le fraternite.‖ 160 For 1450, see Diario del Graziani, 626; for 1459, see Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 357-8. 61 does not specify what it was.161 Other examples of confraternities leading the march include the Assumption festival in which the Nunziata preceded the guilds (see Chapter Five).162 Bonfigli‘s Second Translation is a rare illustration of a general procession. Although he has omitted groups such as the guilds and confraternities, his sequence of participants corresponds to the legal measures with the clergy marching first, followed by government officials and citizens. The function of dress as sign of corporate identity comes immediately to mind in Bonfigli‘s fresco for the Priori‘s chapel, painted on the left wall of the altar, above the stalls (fig. 1). Looking up, one immediately perceives chromatic rhythms with, from right to left until the bier a pattern of black, white, and red, each standing for a specific collective identity. The Dominicans lead the cortège in their black hooded mantles and white tunics. 163 They are followed by the cathedral canons in their officiating white albs with the bishop in their midst. Although the fresco is in a much damaged condition, the bishop is recognizable through the preciousness of his cope and ritual body language. Holding up the index and middle fingers together while closing his gloved right hand, a grave gesture reserved for the ecclesiastical elite, he blesses the congregation while his cope is held by two canonical acolytes. A similar garb and gesture signals the officiating bishop in the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13). Thus, Perugian general processions were organized according to the participation of well-ordered groups. Primary sources are silent on how associations managed to group themselves neatly and respect rules of precedence. It may have been so obvious that there was no need to discuss it: flag-bearers led the way and allowed each group to be 161 C. Crispolti, Perusia Augusta (Perugia: Tomasi e Zecchini, 1648), 175. 162 In 1457, the last procession of a triduum against earthquakes was led by the clergy with the prelates first, followed by the city officials, the university professors, and then the confraternities. Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 337-338. 163 For Sant‘Ercolano‘s celebrations, the Preachers headed the procession because the second location of Ercolano‘s tomb had been the Dominican church. They also officiated in the church of Sant‘Ercolano built on the site of the martyr‘s decapitation. Another model for Dominicans leading the march along a similar itinerary was Corpus Domini. 62 differentiated from the following or the preceding one. Gonfaloni raised above the heads, made the succession of parties highly visible. The 44 guilds of Perugia formed the bulk of the cortège. Statutory prescriptions stipulated that each had to behave as a unified and collegial group (―corporaliter‖) and not mix with other professional associations.164 A neat separation was much facilitated by their large flags that the Perugian city statutes do not mention because, I suspect, their presence was taken for granted. Chroniclers reporting on processions in other cities explicitly record these flags. For example, in June 1500, a last and ninth procession ordered against the menacing Turks was held in Modena. A local historian metonymically described the succession of each professional or devotional group by citing its flag (―the flag of the bakers‖ / ―the flag of the masons‖ / ―the flag of the tailors‖ etc.). 165 Similarly, in early sixteenth-century Venice, counting and identifying banners was the way Marino Sanuto (1466-1535) managed to report on the number and names of the marching scuole (professional and devotional associations) on many occasions.166 From these examples, it is clear that flags were indispensable instruments for implementing the regulation that fixed the order of the march. Another means for calling attention to one‘s party and for keeping it separate from the preceding marchers was to have trumpeters head the group and display its emblem on a flag attached to the instrument, such as notaries did (see Chapter Two). The statutes of the Perugian university students stipulate that on Sant‘Ercolano‘s Day, the students followed the two rectors of the Perugian Studium accompanied by two trumpeters, one on horseback and 164 Statutes 1520s, §87: Quod artes debeant facere corporaliter sacramentum stendi et permanendi in unum. 165 Cronaca Modanese di Jacopino de‟ Bianchi detto de‟ Lancellotti (Parma: Monumenti di Storia Patria delle Provincie Modenesi, Pietro Fiaccadori, 1861-73), 269-270. 166 In Venice, the scuole were devotional lay associations of a primarily professional nature. Membership in a guild or a nationality-based group was associated with the cult of a saint. The Scuola of San Giovanni may well have not processed their banner at all because the sumptuous canopy showcasing their venerated relic of the Holy cross worked as a potent sign of identity. See I diarii di Marino Sanuto, 58 vols. (Bologna: Forni, 196970). A few examples of Sanuto‘s description of processions with the Scuole banners can be found in vol. 14, col. 287-8 (May 1513); vol. 17, col. 547 (8 th February 1514); vol. 21, col. 274 (1515); vol. 39, col. 242 (1525) quoted in B. Pullan, The Rich and The Poor in Renaissance Venice (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971), 34, n. 6. 63 one on foot. Trumpeters invariably proclaimed the group‘s identity by the small flag attached to their horns. The students‘ silk pennones showed a scene of a professor teaching while holding a book along with various coats of arms.167 They were also used at times of general meetings of the university, when a student graduated, or when a Perugian received the honor of a public exam. These flags were kept under the responsibility of the bursars (massari) and they were renewed by each newly-elected rector. A few historians have shown that flags and banners, as signs of identification and identity, contributed to questioning law and order in times of political or social protests. 168 But in a peaceful context, flags and other visual symbols contributed in establishing institutional stability because they allowed for parties to neatly gather, remain grouped, and thus be part of a linear celebration of societal order. Even if conflicts of precedence disturbed the ideal image of harmony, group positions were clearly marked thanks to banners. Gonfaloni that showed saints added a further dimension to civic celebrations because they also acted as a means of addressing the heavens for benevolence. However, this ideal image of order needs to be corrected the kinds of conflict that arose, such as claims for precedence. Experiencing a semblance of a community The ―bel ordine‖ of processions also implied that undesirable inhabitants were excluded or marginalized. Unlike the tradition in Venice, women were expected to join the 167 ―Statuti dei scolari di Perugia‖ transcribed by Guido Padelleti, Contributo alla storia dello studio di Perugia nei secoli XIV e XV. Documenti inediti per servire alla storia delle università italiane (Bologna, 1872), 91-92, §8: De pennonibus universatis fiendis et eorum forma. The statutes state that: the currently officiating rector must have two silk flags made within 15 days of the publication of these statutes; the coat of arms of the pope, that of the rector, of the city, plus the coat of arms of the then officiating rector must be added, and possibly the coat of the governor; the arma of the rector may not be removed or modified under any circumstances, nor may anyone else‘s coat of arms be added. 168 See R. Trexler, ―Follow the Flag: The Ciompi Revolt Seen from the Streets,‖ Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance XLVI (1984): 357-392, and Samuel Cohn, Lust for Liberty. The Politics of Social Revolt in Medieval Europe, 1200-1425 (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 2006), ch. 8: ―Flags and Words,‖ 177-204, for flags as a means to assert social identities and to overthrow a political regime. See also Peter Arnade, Realms of Ritual: Burgundian Ceremony and Civic Life in Late Medieval Ghent (Ithaca, N.Y., and London: Cornell University Press, 1996). 64 processions but they formed a distinct group at the end, as Second Translation shows.169 This was a custom prescribed in the Manuale Romanum, a guidebook for priestly duties following the usage of Rome (appendix 5). In the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13a), women form a separate group from the men and their donations consist of textile rather than wax. The same gendered aggregation was visible in funerals, as was the case with Malatesta Baglione‘s (see next chapter).170 Deducing from the legal measures that were taken, women from town and country alike were harassed verbally and sexually for trying to attend the granting an indulgence in Perugia for the Pardon of St. Stephen.171 While men in public rituals appeared mostly as members of a specific professional, devotional, or religious group, women did not appear as members of a specific community. For example, in most confraternities, women were not allowed to take part in processions together with male members. Women‘s primary collective identity was gender, regardless of their social class, professional occupation, or devotional orientation. A fundamental premise to the formation of a civic identity is the construction of social consensus, even if it is just a semblance, through ritual practices. Images of processions must be read with caution because painters were free to manipulate facts to better fulfill their commissions, and did not seek to reproduce historical events in all their components.172 They are documents in and of themselves which are based upon patrons‘ and artists‘ choices. With the depiction of the transfer of Sant‘Ercolano‘s relics on one wall of their chapel (fig. 1), the Priors had an image of a tightly-knit community, even at the cost of eliminating from the 169 Muir, Civic Ritual, 303. 170 For further examples in Florence and a discussion of the status of women, see Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 24-26; 38-39; 73-74; 169-177. 171 172 Webb, Patrons and Defenders, 202, quoting the 1342 statutes. Andrea Löther, ―Rituale im Bild. Prozessionsdarstellung bei Albrecht Dürer, Gentile Bellini und in der Konzilschronik Ulrich Richentals,‖ in A. Löther, U. Meier, N. Schnitzler, G. Schwerhoff and G. Signori, eds., Mundus in Imagine. Bildersprache und Lebenswelten im Mittelalter. Festgabe für Klaus Schreiner (Munich: Fink Verlag, 1996). Elisabeth Rodini, ―Describing Narrative in Gentile Bellini's Procession in Piazza San Marco,‖ Art History 21 (March 1998): 26-44. 65 representation highly plausible trappings such as the canopy and banners. The patrons‘ concern (and consequently, Bonfigli‘s duty) was to visualize an image of an ideal city that marched peacefully and compactly in its celebration of Sant‘Ercolano that they themselves orchestrated annually. As this fresco exemplifies, the city representatives thought that their good administration of the city held society together and sanctified its unity through rituals of civic religion.173 Similarly, chronicles relating papal entries, or other dignitaries‘, enthusiastically describe the lavishness of processional paraphernalia and the good order of the participants but they rarely account for exclusions and conflict. This urban unity rendered by texts and images is only an ideal vision since processions did not include the whole population. I have analyzed general processions as processes of purification under the aegis of the city government. The official control of a collective salvation also included attempts to cleanse the urban sphere by eliminating its impure elements. The laws promulgated to defer crime and promote peace included a prohibition against carrying weapons, confinement of prostitutes to certain urban areas, sumptuary provisions, taxation and stigmatization of the Jews, and the punishment of criminals. City-wide processions can also be seen as part of a lustration process because they excluded some inhabitants of the city. Naturally, non-Christians did not participate in them, and Jewish inhabitants of Perugia were even prohibited from being outdoors on certain feast days such as Easter Friday and Saturday. Jews, who were accused of usury, and prostitutes were considered impure, and therefore undesirable elements of a procession. As elsewhere in Italy, a distinctive sartorial fashion singled them out in the public sphere, such as the yellow circle that Perugian Jews had to wear from 1432.174 173 Other unifying elements of collective life (that I do not include in this dissertation) were the games set up by the commune as a means of controlling the hazardous energies of young men and making feasts more solemn. Franco Mezzanotte, "Lo spazio urbano destinato ai tornei in Umbria," in La civiltà del torneo (Sec. XII-XVII) (Narni: Centro storici di studi di Narni, 1988), 137-48. 174 On the life of Jews in Umbria, see Ariel Toaff, The Jews in Medieval Assisi, 1305-1487: A Social and Economic History of a Small Jewish Community in Italy (Florence: Olschki, 1979) and by the same author, The 66 Prostitutes could be easily spotted with their plunging necklines and short mantles (a legal provision). They were tolerated in urban spheres but their activities were geographically delimited in order to avoid a disturbing presence. Beggars rushed to cities in times of festivals in the hope of gathering alms but they were not part of general processions.175 Young men (―iuvenis‖) aged over 15 up to 40 were not allowed to wander in the vicinity or inside churches during the festivities held in them. This law aimed at keeping them away from preying on women or flirting with them, hence disturbing the reverential mood.176 Male Franciscan Tertiaries received candles from the government but their female equivalents did not. Depictions of rituals show these exclusions and make choices in representing only some of the groups present in a ceremony. Notably absent from the pious crowd shown in the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13) are members of other prominent religious orders in Perugia including Dominicans, Augustinians, or Benedictines, although regulations stated that ‗clerics from all orders‘ must be present. Members of confraternities and penitents, beggars or people in rags, the sick and the lame have no space in this picture. Neither did they in the Second Translation of Sant‟Ercolano (fig. 1). As Miri Rubin stated, such exclusions imply that processions did not reflect the heterogeneous nature of urban society.177 If processions were moments of social cohesion and an ideal ordering of society, they presented only a society purged of its undesirable elements. Processions were staged to represent an ideal moment of the peaceful gathering of devout, Jews in Umbria. A Documentary History of the Jews of Italy (Leiden ; New York: E.J. Brill, 1993). The 1432 decree on the sartorial and other obligations for the Jews has been published by A. Fabretti, Documenti di vita perugina (Turin: 1982), II: 122-127. For the social control of prostitutes in medieval cities, see A. Grohman, La città medievale (Roma-Bari: Editori Laterza, 2003), 154-8. 175 For a study on beggars‘ behavior in Basel and Cologne, see Katharina Simon-Muscheid, "La Fête des Mendiants: fiction et réalité au bas moyen âge (Bâle et Cologne)," in Marc Boone and Peter Stabel, eds., Shaping Urban Identity in Late Medieval Europe: L'apparition d'une identité urbaine dans l‟Europe du bas moyen âge (Leuven: Garant, 2000), 183-200. 176 See in the 1366 City Statutes De amantibus et vaghegiantibus ad indulgentias, a provision that was reiterated down to the Statutes of the 1520s. Maria Grazia Nico Ottaviani, ed., La Legislazione Suntuaria. Secoli XIII-XIV. Umbria (Rome: Ministro per i beni e le attività culturali.Dipartimento per i beni archivistici e librari, 2005), 80. 177 Rubin, Corpus Christi, 265-266. 67 honest working men and disciplined clergy. They demonstrated social hierarchy through the order of precedence and the amounts of wax that each group could afford or gain. The sense of a Perugian civic identity was largely dependent, beyond ancestry and residence (which defined one‘s citizenship), on one‘s participation as actors or onlookers in public performances where a large portion of the population assisted in a mystification of actual power relations.178 All the performances of civic religion such as the Sant‘Ercolano or Assumption festivals (see Chapter Five) can be qualified of political rituals because the local authorities staged them and subsidized them. 3) The symbolic paraphernalia of political representation ―Authority, the belief that a person has the right to exercise influence over others‘ behavior, is itself an abstraction, and people can conceive of who has authority and who does not only through symbols and rituals.‖ 179 Staging the officials‘ public appearances Major symbols of authority in medieval and renaissance Europe consist of special clothing (see the Virgin‘s attire discussed in Chapter Three) and heraldry, or a combination of both. Clothing clearly announced one‘s social or professional identity. Thus, civic officials were careful about their ceremonious garb for public displays. In Bonfigli‘s fresco (fig. 1), one Prior, recognizable thanks to his prestigious array, stands in a direct axis with the city hall. He wears the long scarlet robe and head cover made of velvet that the Priori commissioned for extraordinary occasions. Another similarly dressed Prior (or possibly the Governor) greets the cortège at the far right.180 Red velvet togas (―clamides‖) were extremely 178 Kertzer, Rituals, Politics, 153 ibid., 24, quoting Abner Cohen. 180 The Preachers‘ leading role is probably due to the fact that Ercolano‘s body had at some point been in custody in a Dominican-owned church close to Benedictine St. Peter‘s. The Preachers led the clergy because their monastery was close to the church of Sant‘Ercolano where Dominican friars officiated. Another model for Dominicans leading the march along a similar itinerary was Corpus Domini. 179 68 important because they conferred ―honor and perpetual fame to the city‖. 181 Magistrates throughout Europe were expected to wear similar robes-in-office and scarlet was a favorite color.182 For example, in fifteenth-century Paris, the Parlement claimed the exclusive right to wear red robes for the king‘s entry as it was a sign that they had acceded to the major municipal offices. In 1431, only the first President of the Parlement and another three deputies were allowed to dress up in them.183 Chroniclers readily reported the rare moments when the Perugian officials, such as the ten Priori and the forty-eight Camerlenghi, dressed in scarlet (―vestiti di scarletto‖). The Perugian councilors typically donned this array for papal entries as a token of respect for the supreme visitor but also as an assertion of dignity in the face of their overlord.184 These large garments resembled capes that with thick folds elegantly reached the ground. They could be worn in the manner of ancient togas, with one tail lying on one‘s shoulder in a studied bend, or they could wrap the body in straight folds closing in front. In any case, their cut, color, and material gave a dignified and stately look to the officials.185 The whole process of acquiring such stunning garments made in Florence has left numerous records in the Perugian municipal deliberations. The Priors commissioned this garb as soon as they heard of the pope‘s visit and a Perugian merchant would go to Florence and bring the precious order back. For example, to greet Eugenius IV in 1443, Nicholas V in 1449, or Pius II in 1459 (see below), the papal legate, the ten Priori, and the forty-eight Camerlenghi commissioned these ―mantelli di rosato‖ for various prices according to the 181 ―pro honore et pro perpetua fama ipsius civitatis‖: from the ordinance of 3rd January 1459 ordering red togas for the Perugian officials upon Pius II‘s entry one month later. See ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, anno 1459, f. 2v 182 John Munro, "The Medieval Scarlet and the Economics of Sartorial Splendour," in N. B. Harte and K. G. Ponting, eds., Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe (London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1983), 13-70. 183 Lawrence Bryant, "The Medieval Entry Ceremony in Paris," in János M. Bak, ed., Coronations: Medieval and Early Modern Monarchic Ritual (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 88-118, here, 101-104. 184 See the visit of Boniface IX on 17 th October 1392, Diario del Graziani, 254; Eugenius IV on 10 th September 1443: ―se debbiano vestire de rosato li Priori e Camorlenghi a spese del Comuno, e anche vestono Monsignore de fiorini 36 per la sua persona,‖ ibid., 537. 185 Rosita Levi Pisetzky, Storia del costume in Italia, 5 vols (Milan: Istituto editoriale italiano, 1964-69), II: 346 and 353. 69 amount of cloth required by their rank. The cost of this attire differed from 36 florins for the mantle and hood of the governor, to 25 florins for each Prior and the Priors‘ notary. Camerlenghi received a twenty-florin blue-violet (pavonazzo) robe, a less prestigious dye. The least expensive garment (12 florins) was that of the emissary. Clothing was a way to give visibility to the hierarchy established among the political leaders at an exorbitant cost nearing 1500 florins.186 Numerous deliberations between September and December 1459 discussed the cost of such ―pavonazzo‖ togas for the chamberlains, limiting expenses to eight florins per official but also stipulating that these officials wear them for formal meetings and general processions. This was an object of controversy because the bishop Della Cornea revoked it early January 1460.187 In the Perugian government, the ten Priors represented the city in its economic and political aspects. They were the guarantors of the ‗buon stato‘ of the city and also the guardians of the standards (i.e. the unique, original, models) for weights and measures.188 They clearly surpassed the other officials (the chamberlains, the treasurers, notaries, and accountants) in decorum. They resided in the city hall (Palazzo dei Priori) during their sixmonth tenure and were not supposed to leave the palace apart from ceremonials in the public sphere. Their appearance was always noted and pointed at by chroniclers because their collective exit from the communal palace and their whereabouts in the city were ritualized. For example, from 1438, the Priors were preceded by (two and later four) mace-bearers carrying each a large silver mace, a symbol of authority that is reminiscent of the baton of 186 For Eugenius IV‘ adventus, the Priori voted a total budget of 1315 florins and for Nicholas V, 1500 florins. ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze 79, f. 3v-4r and Riformanze 86, f. 97. In November 1449, Nicholas V having cancelled his visit Perugia, the Commune had to store the mantelli that they had paid for (ibid., 621).For Pius II, see Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ 353-4, and provisions decreed by the Priori between the 3 rd and 6th January 1459, including Deliberatio quod fiant mantelli pro adventu pape, ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze 95, f. 4r. 187 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1460, f. 4: Sententia episcopi Cornetarii in luminaribus ex clamidibus non faciendis. This issue needs more archival research to fully understand the significance of these garments. 188 These prescribed amounts and sizes were incised near the door of the Capitano del Popolo so that anyone could proof-measure the products found on the markets and in the shops. Francesco Briganti, Le corporazioni delle arti nel Commune di Perugia (Sec. XIII-XIV) (Perugia: Guerriero Guerra, 1910), 186. 70 public officials in other contexts.189 These precious artefacts were carefully stored in a special large closet (armarium magnum) in the communal tower, the content of which was periodically inventoried.190 They were part of the government‘s argenteria that included exquisite silverware for lavish banquets and special items for administrative acts, such as silver seals. In March 1468, for the ―magnificence and ornament of the Palace, residence of the Priori,‖ the maces were replaced at the cost of 25 florins. The mace-bearers themselves were dressed up in a civic livery renewed every year in early January so that their attire was brand new for the feast of San Costanzo (29th January) and still quite fresh for that of Sant‘Ercolano (1st March). The Commune spent an impressive sum, 10 florins, for each costume.191 These maces disappeared in 1540 as Pope Paul III regained control of Perugia, suppressing the offices of the priorate and eradicating any signs of communal regime until 1553. That year, Pope Julius III solemnly rehabilitated the communal magistracy in a ceremony that Dono Doni frescoed in a meeting room of the Palazzo dei Priori in 1572 (fig. 8).192 This depiction includes the four mace-bearers with their precious trappings as well as the magnificent communal pennons attached to the silver trumpets. This scene shows the continuity of the symbolic trappings of the Perugian magistracy. In 1483, a new law stipulated that the Priori could not exit the palace or ―esercitare‖ without wearing a golden chain around their neck in order to be recognized and respected.193 All these trappings were 189 Diario del Graziani, 425, reports that the office of two mace-bearers was instituted in March 1438 using the funds so far allocated to the lion kept by the commune because the wild animal had just died. The lex reported in the Riformanze (1438) fixed the salary of the new officers at 8 florins per year. 190 ―due maççe nove (...), due maççe veteres‖ (inventory of 1st September 1466); ―quactro mazze d‘ariento smaltate‖ (inventory of 1st March 1475); ―quattro mazze d‘ariento per li mazziere‖ (inventory of 1st March 1479). Staccini, Inventari dell' argenteria, 290; 292; 295. 191 The decision to replace the maces was taken on 5th March 1468 (―pro magnificentia et ornatu dicit Palatti residentie prefatorum M[agnificorum]. D[ominorum]. P[riorum]‖ (f. 50r-51v). The law on the dress of the ―mazziferi‖ was passed on June 22nd 1444. For the cost of the clothing, see, for example, the deliberation of 13 th January 1482, f. 71r. See ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, respective years. 192 On this fresco, see Mancini and Scarpellini, Pittura in Umbria, 99. 193 Pellini, Dell‟Historia di Perugia, II: 812. 71 important constituents for imparting authority to the civic authorities and imposing them as representatives of Perugian civic identity. City employess In Bonfigli‘s fresco (fig. 1), a drummer and a trumpeter, dressed in the heraldic city colors (in red doublets and red and white breeches) are clearly distinguishable. Although cityemployed musicians are not mentioned in the communal statutory provisions on processions, their salary and clothing are regularly discussed in municipal deliberations. This shows that civic-subsidized music was a prominent part of urban life in Perugia as well as in other European Communes.194 In Bonfigli‘s fresco, the musicians precede Ercolano‘s body, a customary position for processions with relics or a shrine. Two play trumpets and one a waist-held kettledrum, typical loud instruments used to heighten the magnificence of outdoor events. Trumpets with their sonorous blaring tones gave a triumphant aspect to processions while the percussive beats from drums supported the marching rhythm of the cortège. Trumpeters had a variety of duties and a special status in Renaissance Europe.195 They helped to rally troops on the battlefield, heralded the nobility in city entries, lent a festive air to jousts, and called the attention of the urban inhabitants for public announcements. They were also a medium for heraldry since the arms of a noble patron or the emblem of a city draped from the instrument and identified the livery worn by the player. Courts included a few trumpeters and thus this instrument became a symbol of privileged social status. In Bonfigli‘s Second Translation, the municipal musicians are dressed in the city‘s colors and their prime 194 See G. Peters, ―Civic Subsidy and musicians in southern France during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries‖ in Music and Musicians in Renaissance Cities and Towns (Cambridge University Press, 2001), 5769, and her bibliography for European cities of that time. See also Frank A. D'Accone, The Civic Muse : Music and Musicians in Siena during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1998); Lewis Lockwood, Renaissance Ferrara, 1400-1505 : the Creation of a Musical Center in the FifteenthCentury (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984). 195 See L. Perkins, Music in the Age of the Renaissance (New York and London: Norton and Company, 1999), 106-109. 72 position in the cortège attracts attention not only to the holy remains but also to the Priori, highlighting their importance as representatives of a strong civic government. The attire of the eight city trumpeters (tronbadore), described by the City Statutes, charged them with authority. They wore a red livery with the griffon and a scarlet hood (capuccio de scarlacto) with the image of a trumpet on it. Some of them rode a caparisoned horse with the same emblematic colors and devices, at a time when liveries other than professional were prohibited.196 The Priors regularly debated on the renewal of the city musicians‘ outfits such as the fifers (pifferi) and the trumpeters (see appendix 3). The envoy from Florence who arrived in Perugia on 5th February 1455 holding an olive branch as a sign of the pan-Italian conclusion of the Peace of Todi was ―ammantato,‖ or wrapped, as in a mantle, with eight braccia of costly red velvet (about 8 meters) to which three shields with the Perugian arms were attached. He toured the city on horseback escorted by two communal heralds trumpeting the good news he brought.197 This colourful and heraldic parade was a visual representation of the civic authorities of Perugia who acted in the name of the population. Other city employees were easily identified as such through the heraldic device stitched onto their clothing. For example, the 250 liquidators (bailie) employed by the commune had to wear a red beret with a white griffon while officiating, or else notaries or communal officials were not supposed to interact with them. The red beret sanctioned business as authorized affairs validated by the Commune.198 In his influential treatise, De Insignis (1358), jurist Bartolo da Sassoferrato pointed out that insignias of office, already 196 :―E i dicte tronbadore e ciascuno de loro esse pangne e capuccie continuamente portare deggano.‖ Salem, Statuto 1342, 237, §60.9. See below for further comments on these heralds. 197 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖106. A similar scene was repeated for the envoy of pope Nicholas V on 11th March of the same year, ibid., 108. The Perugian braccio for cloth equated one meter; the Roman braccio measured 63 cm. See Martini, Metrologia, 518. 198 ―E che porteno e portare deggano ei dicte bailie en capo le berecte roscie coll‘ensegne del popolo. E che alcuno ofitiale del comuno de Peroscia (...) non possa, né degga ad alcuno bailio berrecta rpscia non avente co‘dicto è alcuna conmessione fare, licentia dare, relatione, né acte alcune scrivere (...) e che cotale scritura non valgla, né tenga per alcuna ragione.‖ Salem, Statuto 1342, I: 225, §56. 6-7 73 known in antiquity, were then part of civil law. Then and subsequently, they were perceived as signs of rank that inspired the respect due to the officeholders. 199 More than the individual identity of the wearer, it was the livery that represented the administration of the city in ceremonies and processions. Two more examples will suffice to document that cloth and clothing associated with heraldry are particularly efficient media for identifying a specific city and expressing municipal authority. To honor ecclesiastical dignitaries or their relatives, textile adorned with the heraldic griffon of Perugia was solemnly presented to them. In May 1439, when the general chapter of the Augustinians took place in Perugia, the commune presented the newly elected friar general a chasuble (pianeta) and its implements for mass (fornimenti) made of crimson velvet adorned with the communal griffon, among other gifts of cash, food, and wax.200 With a donation of vestments bearing the arms of Perugia, the city sought to be associated with the sacred rites performed in mass just as wealthy individuals managed to display their armorial devices when they offered or bequeathed vestments and liturgical paraphernalia to churches.201 The association of these graphic and colorful signs with a ritual environment operated as a diplomatic message of peaceful political relationships. When Pope Nicholas V‘s mother came to Perugia in December 1455, her pack animal was given a scarlet velvet cover with the heraldic griffon and she thus rode from the periphery of the city into the main piazza. Not only ―great honor was showered upon her,‖ but the visible acceptance of 199 See Cavallar et al., A Grammar of Signs, 42-43 and 109. Fabretti, ―Diario di Antonio dei Veghi,‖ in Cronache, II: 22; Diario del Graziani, 440. 201 For the occurrence of coat of arms in church inventories and testaments in six Tuscan and Umbrian cities, see Samuel Cohn, The Cult of Remembrance and the Black Death. Six Renaissance Cities in Central Italy (Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1992). His systematic translation of ―palio‖ with flag is erroneous. Ibid., 234-236. See also my appendix 10 for the inventory of Santa Maria dei Servi. It provides the names of some of the benefactors thanks to the presence of their coat of arms on the artefacts that they gave to the church. Sometimes only the heraldry is described because the memory of the patron has been lost. 200 74 this diplomatic gift implied the obliging disposition of the distinguished guest towards the Perugian government.202 Conflict Mandatory participation in general processions created conflictual situations in cases of multiple membership. Many events, such as the Corpus Domini festival, called for the participation of both confraternities and guilds.203 In this case, men had to decide which group to march with unless the regulations of their guilds left them no choice. Confraternities that in practice had no more than 40 male members must have seen their ranks shrink during the major general processions because of the mandatory participation for most craftsmen to follow the banner of their guild. The Assumption torchlight vigil offers an example of a dispute between guild and confraternity membership that was solved to the advantage of the latter (see last chapter). Multiple membership remained a potential issue into the seventeenth century. During the translation of relics of St. Peter, Sant‘Ercolano and San Bevignate to the church of Sant‘Ercolano in May 1609, guilds were poorly represented because many craftsmen had chosen to march with their fraternities instead ―out of devotion.‖204 According to this narrative, the religious components and clerical authorities largely dominated the overall organization leaving little space for civic elements, a typical influence of the CounterReformation on public rituals. The wished-for togetherness of the population was not necessarily a show of solidarity. For example, in July 1427, the Dominican, Augustinian, and Servite friars refused 202 She arrived on 30th December but stayed at the periphery. The next day she received the ―palio di velluto cremesi.” On 1st January 1456,she was given silverware, sweetmeats and oat by the commune. Fabretti, ―Diario di Antonio del Veghi,‖ in Cronache, II: 30. 203 For example, in 1536, a chronicler reported that all confraternities participated, all orders of friars and priests, some vested others n o, as well as the arti and the magistrates Fabretti, ―Cronachetta di Francesco di ser Nicolò di Nino,‖ Cronache, II: 182. 204 The chronicler‘s estimate of confraternal members amounts to 600 while artisans numbered 250. ―Memorie di Cesare Rossi,‖ in Fabretti, Cronache, V: 224 (17th May 1609). 75 to join a city-wide procession organized by the Franciscans after a series of sermons by a Franciscan friar. The chronicler does not give any explanation but reports that the faithful were confused and called the disruptive friars ―heretical.‖205 Another example of a missing group in a general procession occurred when, in 1459, the university students did not participate in the procession for Sant‘Ercolano. They were thus expressing their rebellion against the rectors of the Studium and against municipal authority.206 A prescribed processional order made the ritual a special moment in which society seemed perfectly arranged and consensual, but naturally, conflicts of precedence were numerous. Rituals offered a means for group rivalry to be publicly revealed, as, for example, in Corpus Christi processions.207 The major dispute traditionally involved the guilds competing to gain the foremost position in a general procession, hence their precise ranking in the municipal legislation. For general processions, city statutes give exhaustive prescriptions regarding the participation of guilds. A long clause stipulates the order in which the major guilds (numbering 17) must succeed one another, which was the most contentious matter (appendix 4a).208 The reason for clearly enunciating guild precedence is stated right away: ―so that affrays and disputes may be avoided‖ (―ad evitandas rissas et contemptiones‖).209 The longevity of this regulation from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century shows that the possibility of ―rumor vel discordia‖ was an ongoing concern of the 205 Diario del Graziani, 123. The topic of dissension may have been the polemic around the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. 206 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 368. Giuseppe Ermini, Storia dell‟università di Perugia, 2 vols (Florence: Olschki, 1971), 199. 207 Trexler in his Public Ritual has interpreted many Florentine celebrations as the confrontation of social statuses and political movements. For studies of conflict in ceremonial activities, see the essays by Gerald Nijsten, ―The Duke and His Towns,‖ and David Nicholas, ―The Burgundian Theater State,‖ in Hanawalt and Reyerson, eds., City and Spectacle, 235-270; 271-295. For disturbances in Corpus Christi processions, see in the same volume, Mc Ree, ―Guild Ceremony,‖ 203, n. 3 and Miri Rubin, Corpus Christi, 261-263. 208 Quod ordine artes et artifices accedant tempore processionum cum luminariis. For the full transcription of this provision (§92) in the printed statutes of the 1520s, see appendix 4a. 209 Statutes of 1520s. Phrased as ―a schifare le meschie e le contentione‖ in the statutes of 1342. Salem, Statuto 1342, I: 161, § 45. 76 civic authorities. Not only was this order of precedence written in the official city regulations, but it was also publicly announced by a city herald in his livery at three points of the main thoroughfare for two consecutive days before the actual procession. This strictly set and enforced precedence means that the professional associations were ranked on a social scale highlighting the significance of the first three, the Mercanzia (cloth merchants), the Cambio (bankers), and the Calzolari (shoe-makers).210 The processional order of the guilds was not a concern limited to Perugia; each city had its own regulations and the way they ranked these associations was contingent upon the local history.211 The ranking and prestige of the guilds differed little across the centuries (appendix 4a). What could be adjusted for special events was their proximity to the visual focus of the procession.212 Conflicts of precedence also arose between confraternities. For example, in 1584, the Confraternity of John the Baptist disputed the leadership position of another brotherhood, the Nunziata, in the procession on St. John‘s day. The bishop resolved the protest by giving precedence to the Annunziata.213 The prestige of a processional image could generate disputes as to who would march in its proximity. For example, the cathedral canons and the confratelli in charge of the Gonfalone of San Francesco (fig. 51) fought for precedence whenever this banner was part of a procession (appendix 4b). In 1539, the argument was settled by a decision of the ten Priors who judged this controversy ―absurd.‖ Public scandal had to be avoided for the ―honor of 210 The tailors were fourth; the wool manufacturers, fifth; the stone and wood carvers, sixth; the butchers, seventh; the blacksmiths, eighth; the inn-keepers, taverners and the bakers, ninth; the second-hand cloth dealers with the blacksmiths and the bowl-makers, tenth; the grocers, eleventh; the fishmongers, twelfth; the cloth brokers, thirteenth; the barbers, fourteenth; the roof-tile makers, fifteenth; the ox-merchants, sixteenth. Lastly, the last major guild was the spice dealers at the seventeenth position. Salem, Statuto 1342, I, §45. 3, 161-162. See also appendix 4a. 211 Antonio Pini, Città, comuni e corporazioni nel medioevo italiano (Bologna: Clueb, 1986), 272-8, for examples of guild precedence ranging from the 13th to the 16th centuries in different Italian cities. 212 For example, in the 1456 revision of the general order of groups for Corpus Christi processions in Siena, the guilds were distanced from the baldachin and the Eucharist. Webb, Patrons and Defenders, 303-5. 213 Vermiglioli, Memoria della Compagnia della SS. Annunziata estratta da libri e da altri luoghi (BAP: ms. 1536), 53. 77 God‖ and for the ―dignity‖ of the city. They decided that the banner should be preceded by the canons and the city magistracy but that, between them and the portable image, only singers and two priests from San Lorenzo were allowed. To the right and the left of the gonfalone, and behind it, the confraternity must proceed. This suggests that canons had in the recent past attempted to surround the holy flag (see Chapter Three), jostling with the confraternal members in charge of it. In the early sixteenth-century, a humanist‘s pamphlet in defense of a new Brescian statute forbidding the clergy to escort a funeral accused the Dominican friars of joining the burial procession in order to promote their group and attract donations. The following passage suggests that in funeral processions, the ecclesiastics who were solemnly marching while holding tapers were in fact pretending to act piously: A taper or burning candle obstructs your greedy minds, for you see it getting gradually smaller before your eyes as it burns, you curse the length of the route which allows time for the taper to diminish, you complain about the slow pace of the funeral procession, and there is nothing you are less suited for than prayers and petitions. (…) Also you often fake some accident and snuff out a candle, lighting it again when the funeral arranger and director looks in your direction, for fear that he will loudly reprove you and force you to make an effort and carry out the work not done, or else deprive you of a fee you have not earned.214 This vivid description of the friars‘ lack of interest in embracing the solemn mood required by the ritual circumstances might be exaggerated but it does reveal the kinds of disturbances that pervaded a cortège whatever the ritual occasion was. It is likely that participants in processions fiddled with processional trappings, such as candles, and marched with a feeling of complying with an obligation rather than out of devotion or civic commitment. The city statutes of the 1520s have a provision that prohibited anyone including the neighborhood ―compagnie‖ (see Chapter 2.1 and excursus no. 2) to throw torchlights on 214 The original text in Latin faces its translation (quoted here) in English. J. Donald Cullington and Stephen Bowd, Vainglorious Death. A Funerary Fracas in Renaissance Brescia (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2006), 20-21. 78 certain feast days.215 Thus, rituals such as solemn marches celebrating holy protectors or Christian sacraments were not exempt from conflict from missing groups to competition for better slots in the cortège, to the handling of symbolic representations. Violence also belongs to such disturbances and I will provide further examples in the next chapters. It is important to note these occurrences in order to gain a full understanding of how rituals worked and the importance given to their trappings. 215 ―Nec etiam dicte societates nec aliqui alii possint de sero ire ad lumen seu luminaria nec torcias prohiicere sub pena (…) XXV lib. den.‖ Primum volumen statutorum, ch. 92, f. 41. 79 EXCURSUS no. 1: The Perugian griffon The choice of the griffon as the emblem of Perugia remains unexplained.216 Etruscan models of griffons (reliefs on funerary urns) were -and still are- present in Perugia but so are they in many other cities of former Etruria. In fact, the heraldic griffon was conceived a male creature whereas the Etruscan griffon is female, given its utters.217 The hybrid animal was known throughout Europe thanks to the circulation of bestiaries where it was depicted as an animal of an enormous strength. These catalogues of real and fantastic animals influenced the adoption of the griffon in heraldry. As Rodney Dennys asserts, it is ―the most decorative and symbolic of heraldic creatures‖ and one of the most popular of charges in European armory.218 For example, it was also used by the Florentine Villani family.219 For the medieval imagination, it was a symbol of ferocity, guardianship, military vigilance, alertness and diligence.220 In Part Two of Bartolo da Sassoferrato‘s De insignis (1348), the correct heraldic griffon must ‗exhibit its greatest vigor‘ and is painted ‗erect with gnashing teeth and clawing feet‘.221 The symbol of the griffon was adopted by the communal regime as early as the thirteenth century, as sigillography proves. A dithyrambic poem, Eulistea, written in 1293, asserts that Perugia received its griffon emblem in the Carolingian era, a legendary fact repeated by Trecento chronicles. The griffon also found its way on religious images sponsored by the city officials. When, in 1297, the Consiglio del Popolo decided to have the dark and ominous passageway under the communal palace adorned with a painting of the Virgin, Mary‘s coat was frescoed with two rampant griffons on her right shoulder.222 Physical remains of this potent creature were even hoarded by the Perugian authorities. King Charles VII of France had given a huge claw from the griffon paw that used to hang in his royal chapel to a Franciscan friar who, in turn, handed it over to the Perugian 216 Before a document proved the bronze griffon and lion were a medieval commission, scholars (such as Filippo Magi, Mary Johnstone or Giacomo Caputo) argued for an Etruscan or Roman creation. M. Johnstone, ―The Griffin, the Coat of Arms,‖ 350, speaks of a Perugian ―local attachment‖ to the griffon. 217 F. Magi, ―Osservazioni sul grifo e il leone di Perugia,‖ in Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia, XLIV (1971-1972): 275-299, here 275, n. 2. 218 R. Dennys, Heraldry and the Heralds (London: Cape, 1982), 175-177. 219 Mario Scalini‘s entry 3.9 in: P. Ventrone, Cinisello Balsamo, eds., Le Tems Revient. „l Tempo si rinuova. Feste e spettacoli nella Firenze di Lorenzo il Magnifico, exh. Cat. (Milano, 1992), 175-6. 220 Cuccini, Il grifo e il leone, 71 221 Cavallar et al., demonstrated that it is Bartolo‘s son-in-law, Nicola Alessandri who actually composed this second part which received great attention from heraldists but little appraisal among jurists. 222 Briganti, Le Corporazioni delle Arti, 95-6. 80 commune. In 1540, Girolamo del Frolliere, a notary who officiated for the Priors inventoried ―two griffon claws of the size of a calf‘s horns bound with a silver finish (finimento)‖ in the communal treasure. Felice Ciatti, a local seventeenth-century historian, believed that in ancient times Perugia had owned the hide and claws of a griffon.223 The griffon as Perugia‘s institutional symbol even took an idolatric turn when the city commissioned a huge bronze reproduction (weighing 200 kg) accompanied by a lion in 1275 to be processed during the celebrations for Sant‘Ercolano‘s feast day (see Chapter One). When, in a war with Siena, the victorious Perugians took the chains of the Tuscan city‘s gates, they deposited their trophy to the feet of the bronze griffon. 224 Another, much smaller, combination of lion and griffon was cast in bronze again around 1277, probably as part of a fountain. They were finally mounted atop the Fontana maggiore in 1519, proof of the continued use of this heraldic symbol on a civic monument in the heart of Perugia.225 In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, even first names as evocative as Grifone or Grifonetto were adopted for the sons of important families in sign of allegiance to the Umbrian capital. But this is also indicative of the political ambitions of the wealthy nobility that sought key offices within the Perugian government.226 Today, the griffon is still used as a heraldic device by the local administration. The Provincia of Perugia (regional district) officially adopted in 1928 a passant griffon for its coat of arms while in 1941 the city of Perugia chose the medieval form, a white rampant griffon on a red field as its stemma (coat of arms).227 223 See Cuccini, Il grifo e il leone, 70-71. F. Ciatti, Delle memorie annali et istoriche delle cose di Perugia, II (Perugia: Archivio Storico di San Pietro); Staccini, "Argenteria dei Priori." 224 Olga Marinelli, ―Lo stemma di Perugia,‖ 25, without any indication of date. 225 Paola Refice, entry ―grifi,‖ in Bon Valssassina, ed., Dipinti, Sculture della Galleria Nazionale, 74-75. 226 Nessi, 1988 227 A. Torri, Gli stemmi e i gonfaloni delle provincie e dei comuni italiani (Florence: R. Noccioli, 1963), 397 & 407-409. 81 CHAPTER TWO The formation of group identity through the use of symbolic representations In Chapter One, I examined visual and textual rhetoric for expressing Perugian identity in rituals of civic religion. I now consider visual devices that consolidated single groups in Perugia. As I state in my introduction, the self-identity of late medieval and Renaissance people was shaped by social networks because men and women understood themselves as affiliated with local, professional, religious, or familial groups. Thus, Perugians, like other urban dwellers of Europe, defined who they were through their membership in one or several secular groups such as a guild, a confraternity, a neighborhood association, a family clan, or a political party.228 I take into account this variety of collective identities while incorporating a whole range of symbolic representations of a common or specific occurrence from clothing and wax to ordinary banners. Ritualized events such as funerals, weddings, and specific feast days called for processions in which a set of special conditions had to be respected, such as modes of motion, itinerary, special garb, and processional paraphernalia. Repeated at prescribed times over the year, rituals could only conjure emotional responses, a characteristic of rituals for actors as well as for onlookers. However, for group identity to crystallize, rituals must be experienced as a unified performance, a phenomenon that took place through trappings of collective assertion such as common costumes and badges or symbolic objects such as flags or crosses.229 228 229 In this chapter, I do not examine religious communities per se but only in their connection with the laity. A stimulating reading for my thoughts is Edward Muir, Ritual in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) and, especially for this chapter, Muir‘s clear introduction on: ―what is a ritual?,‖ 1-17. 82 Tangible identity markers allowed individuals to visually declare their affiliation to one specific group at a time. Funeral rites exemplify how ritual performance and signs of identity posit group cohesion and social order. Like general processions, they reveal the stratification of an urban society into such categories as political, professional, clerical, confraternal, and gender. This chapter focuses upon the ways in which the group members expressed their bond and shaped their unity for themselves and also for onlookers. I discuss rituals as an opportunity to assert one‘s social status within a group and publicly within society. Here, beyond the rules of conduct and sharing activities and beliefs, identity markers played an important part. I have found it helpful to explain the effects of group performances using the methods of cultural anthropology, especially Arnold Van Gennep‘s categories for rites of passage: separation, liminality, and aggregation, and Victor Turner‘s analytical tools for symbols.230 1) Graphic and material signs of identity Adopting common modes of proper conduct and displaying signs of a shared identity are two essential features for building feelings of group belonging. Modes of conduct such as sharing common beliefs and adhering to the rules of the community, and participating in its private and public activities assimilated the new sworn-in member into the group. Essential to guilds, confraternities, and religious orders was a code of ethical behavior in their indoor activities and outdoor performances. But collective modes of conduct were not the only manifestation of group identity. What we would call today logos, registered trademarks, or copyrighted graphic designs (what I call here ―signs of identity‖) were also part of expressing one‘s membership or belonging. Signs of identity took various forms. The illuminated page shown on figure 16 has a number of symbols of various collective identities. In this collection 230 For this pattern, see Arnold Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960 [1908]), 10-12 and Turner, The Ritual Process. 83 of the communal deliberations for the year 1568, the names of the ten Perugian Priors and of their notary appear written in Roman capital letters inscribed in a large escutcheon that frames the entire page design. Under each man‘s name appears his family coat of arms, an identifying device that marked his patrilineal family grouping. 231 The symbols of each of the five porte neatly separates each pair of Priori, adding a visual cue to their territorial identity. Next to each Prior‘s name, a small crest bears his guild‘s emblem, or professional identity. The composition framed by an escutcheon and displaying a font that recalls ancient epigraphy provides the priori and their notary with a dignified image of themselves. This illuminated page sums up the notion of multiple membership that did not fundamentally change between the late middle ages and the early modern era. Professional associations Occupational associations relied on an important, recognizable system of identifying signs to claim position within the larger framework of the city‘s professional organizations. They included guilds which were reserved for the trade, production, and manufacture of consumption goods, and other professional groups, such as university professors, students, and notaries. Within one‘s work practice, self-identity could be advertized through a special graphic sign unique to that person. For example, notaries often drew, besides their full names, their ―signum,‖ a design unique to each of them that made a writ even more official. Similarly, master craftsmen could have an individualized ―marca‖ as an indicator of their skill. It protected consumers from deception and fostered the sale of quality products.232 Workshops (fondachi) also used trademarks as can be seen on the right-hand side of a 231 According to jurist Bartolo da Sassoferrato, made an honorary citizen of Perugia in 1348 for his teaching professorship, heraldry was not reserved to noblemen and indeed his tract contributed the widespread use of arms in Italy. However, by the early fifteenth-century, displaying one‘s coat of arms was an expression of pride and wealth. See Cavallar et al., A Grammar of Signs, 56-61. 232 For Bartolo da Sassoferrato‘s discussion of trademarks and subsequent juridical approaches, see Cavallar, A Grammar of Signs, 73-74. 84 painting of the Virgin Mary (fig. 17) that a Perugian merchant commissioned to Pellegrino in 1428. In a symmetrical position on the left is family armorial device, a way to leave a memory of his patronage.233 At the same time, as registered members of an occupational association, professionals used the corporate emblem of their group as a way to signal their certification and legal right to work in their field of expertise.234 In the book of the Priori‘s Riformanze of 1568 (fig. 16), the notaries‘ professional emblem, an inkpot with two symmetrically deployed quills on which the Perugian griffon stands is depicted twice under the name of the Priors‘ notary. This device, with the griffon facing left, was also carved on the fifteenth-century façade of their premises, facing the Palazzo dei Priori (fig. 5).235 On figure 16, the inversion of the left griffon, now facing to the right, and the duplication of the emblem underlines this man‘s professional identity through its balanced layout.236 The calamus peniferum (quill) could also be part of a graduation ritual. In 1455, a university student was officially declared a notary by a palatine count who granted him the ―insignia tabellionatus,‖ a writing quill.237 He then gave him a slap in the face (―deinde alapam [dando]‖) and blessed the kneeling nominee with the sign of the cross. Thus, simple objects and gestures in a ritual context turned into symbolic representations and allow official statements to receive consensual agreement from the bystanders. 233 The coat of arm has been identified as pertaining to the family of Giovanni di Benedetto di Giovanni from the parish of S. Maria del Mercato. This is the only extant evidence for the symbol of the fondaco. See M.R. Silvestrelli‘s entry in Esercizi. Arte, musica, spettacolo (Perugia: De Luca edizioni d‘arte, Università di Storia dell‘arte, 1984), 38-41 and recently, the exhibition catalogue: L. Laureati and L. Mochi Onori, eds., Gentile da Fabriano e l'altro Rinascimento (Milan: Electa, 2006), 118-9. 234 Guild statutes document the precise regulations that a craftsmen or a merchant pledged to follow in order to ensure the quality of the product. 235 This emblem also appears in the miniatures of their registers. M. Roncetti, ed., “Per buon stato della citade.” Le Matricole delle arti di Perugia (Perugia: Volumnia, 2001), 212. .236 Other emblematic representations include a passant griffon holding a quill in its right paw and dipping it in an inkpot lying on a book or a passant griffon holding a sword. Ibid., 199 and 212. 237 Abbondanza, Il notariato, 66, entry 49. 85 Artisans and merchants had to affix their guilds‘ emblems on the merchandise that they traded or produced, thus displaying their membership and allegiance to a specific professional group.238 The emblems of the 44 Perugian major guilds are known through illuminations in manuscripts such as books of statutes and through a casket used to store election documents for the offices of the Priori (fig. 18).239 Each symbol is inscribed in a square and numbered according to the hierarchical ranking of these associations in processions. The most important guilds in Perugia, the Mercanzia (merchants of wool and linen cloth) and the Cambio (money changers), are placed in the very center of the upper row of the main side of the casket. The numbering does not follow in a consecutive linear sequence (1, 2, 3, 4 etc) but alternates on each side of the center, further marking the importance of the first two guilds. The importance of the first two guilds is thus stressed because one‘s gaze must constantly survey the center when following the numbering. This ranking also corresponds to the processional order that guild members had to respect for general processions with the Mercanzia and the Cambio leading the other corporations (see appendix 4a). For the main side of the casket, we have the following guild distribution: 7 5 3 wool sh manufacturers oe-makers blac ksmiths brokers 1 2 4 6 8 M Ca tai wo b ercanzia mbio lors 13 11 9 10 cloth groc sil tav spi k/cotton weavers utchers carvers 15 ers od/ stone erners ce merchants 12 2 nd -hand cloth 1 14 6 fish mongers b arbers dealers 238 For example, the statutes of the shoe-repair workers: De targiis imponendis per camerarium suis artificibus, (f. 12r). See Staccini, L'arte dei ciabattini, 52. 239 Francesco Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria: dipinti, sculture, e oggetti dei secoli XIV-XVI, 2 vols. (Rome: Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1985), II: 267. 86 Furthermore, the Mercanzia and the Cambio also had special, highly visible status in terms of their representation in the Council of the Priori. While all other guilds rotated in the election of the ten Priors, the Mercanzia and the Cambio were constantly represented in that council with one member each. The first Prior, leader of this institution, was always the Mercanzia member. At the Council of the forty-eight Chamberlains, four camerlenghi were from the Mercanzia and two camerlenghi were from the Cambio while all other guilds had a right to only one chamberlain.240 This preeminence is also visible on the back of another officials‘ casket where only the emblems of the Mercanzia and Cambio are represented on this object, flanking the coat of arms of a bishop.241 Corporate emblems could also be found in a number of locations and situations. Shield hung in shops announcing the guild to which the craftsman belonged. For example, each ―mercator‖ of the Mercanzia was to have in his possession a shield painted with the arms of the Perugian Mercanzia, a passant griffon on a ball of fabric (fig. 19).242 This insignia also appeared on the clothing of the guild‘s emissary who thus proclaimed his corporate membership on his own person. To mark the appointment of their herald (messo), the leather repair guild gave him a new hood (caputeum) with the "signum" of the guild. This garb was an identity marker allowing this officer to be recognized as a spokesman of this particular professional association.243 At the same time, this hat connoted authority because its color and the special insignia on it turned its owner into a representative of the ―head‖ (caput) of 240 Giovanni Cecchini, ed., L‟Archivio storico del comune di Perugia (Perugia: tipografia G. Donnini, 1956), xvi. 241 See Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 268. 242 ―Item quod quilibet mercator debeat habere et penes se tenere unum pavense in quo sint depicta arma Mercantie Perusii.‖ C. Cardinali et al., eds., Statuti e matricole del Collegio della Mercanzia (Perugia : Nobile Collegio della Mercanzia di Perugia, Deputazione di storia patria per l'Umbria, 2000, 2 vols.), Statutes of 1323, I: 94. 243 Staccini, L'arte dei ciabattini, De caputeo numptio ipsius artis dando, 57-58. 87 the association.244 A hat was also a special garment that could signal one‘s social rank. For burial proceedings, a simple head cover was allowed for men (a veil for women) but for deceased knights, university professors, judges, and doctors, a caputius worth 20 florins, a substantial sum, was acceptable.245 Other occasions for professionals to display their corporate emblem and their collective solidarity were annual processions on their patron saint‘s day, from their headquarters to their chapel or hospital, across town.246 The statutes of guilds and confraternities always mention the obligation of participating in the group‘s processions. Fines for non-compliance with such activities are detailed in these regulations. Thus, on the eve of Annunciation Day, the notaries would march across town from their seat on the Piazza to their hospital and adjacent chapel dedicated to the Santissima Annunziata. This itinerary along with the weight of wax to be carried is specified in their 1403 statutes (appendix 12). 247 A mid- fourteenth century full-page illumination, cut and pasted into these new statutes, shows this cortège (fig. 12a).248 The temporal frame for this celebratory occasion is clarified by the depiction of Mary Annunciate and Gabriel on the facing page (fig. 12b). Group solidarity is rendered by showing the notaries in rows of twos, an appropriate marching mode for processions, and the prominent lit tapers so tall that although the painter ran out of space in which to depict all the notaries, they still can be counted by the mass of brightly burning flames held high over their heads. The image omits the name tags that each notary was to attach to his taper and thus downplays any sign of individuality (appendix 12). The notaries 244 The heralds of the Priori was similarly given an encoded head cover of a scarlet color with the ―sign of the trumpet.‖ See Salem, Statuto 1342, §60.7, I: 237. 245 Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione Suntuaria, 82, entry 11, for the hat: De mortuis non ornandis. This is a provision from the 1366 city statutes that was reiterated down to the 1526 statutes. 246 Many religious communities, especially female ones, celebrated their patron saint with indoor processions (inside a church, or in a cloister). 247 248 BAP, ms. 973, §1, De processione et luminaria annuatim facienda, f. 36v-37r. See appendix 12. The reuse of this image is a further indication of the continuity of the notaries‘ processional traditions. This double-page precedes the statutory text (ibid., f. 1v and 2r). 88 are depicted as respectful of the processional decorum and aware of projecting a dignified image of themselves as a collectivity. This image also indicates the notaries‘ political bias since three city musicians march ahead displaying flags hanging from the trumpets with the heraldic emblem of Perugia.249 Trumpets with Perugia‘s heraldic white griffon on a red pennant were a familiar view because they were carried by the seven city heralds who regularly proclaimed the latest orders of the Priori.250 Hiring municipal musicians for special events was customary throughout Europe, especially for religious processions.251 In this case, however, this means that the notaries defined themselves, in their own private corporate regulations, as marching under the city colors at least once a year. By this token, the notaries were proclaiming their allegiance to the city government, for which many of them worked. However, a rubric in their 1403 revised statutes specifies that two silk trumpet pennants (pennoni da trombe) bearing the image of St. Luke, their patron saint along with the Virgin Annunciate, must be kept together with their seal.252 The painting of St. Luke in one of the notaries‘ archival documents (fig. 20) may reproduce the figure painted on these pennants. In this case, we don‘t know if their use was processional or ceremonial, or possibly both. In any case, it seems that the notaries did not use their professional symbol (ink and pot) for public rituals. Their 249 Art historian Marina Subbioni attributes these illuminations to Vanni di Baldolo on ―irrefutable‖ stylistic grounds, see her entry on this manuscript in: "Per buon stato de la citade,” 206-207. The same author has also dedicated an entire chapter to Vanni di Baldolo in: M. Subbioni, La miniatura perugina del Trecento. Contributo alla pittura in Umbria nel quattordicesimo secolo (Perugia: Guerra edizioni, 2003). 250 The city musicians are eight men on horseback according to the 1342 statutes. In the ca. 1400 statutes of the Massari (financial superintendants), they appear as seven tubatores (trumpet players) and one naccharinus (percussion player). See Salem, Statuto, I, 60.1, 236 and ASP, ASPg, Massari, ―Statuto dei Massari,‖ §84: De quantitate solvenda pro raubis 7 tubatorum et naccharini communis Perusii, f. 21r. 251 Professional musicians were hired by the city authorities on a regular basis. They could also work for other patrons. See the dissertation by Martine Clouzot, Le musicien en images: l'iconographie des musiciens et de leurs instruments dans les manuscrits du nord de la France, de la Belgique, des Pays-Bas, de l'Angleterre et de l'Allemagne, du XIIIème au XVème siècle (Thèse de Doctorat, EHESS, Paris, 1995; advisor: JC Schmitt), and her section on religious processions, 383-7. 252 BAP, ms. 973, §46: Quod fiant pennones et sigillum. I have not consulted the notaries‘ 1377 statutes (Biblioteca Braidense, Milan) which may describe these flags in the same terms in the eponymous rubric, cited in Abbondanza, Notariato, entry 60, 86-87. 89 dedication to Saint Luke can be traced back to non-extant Trecento depictions of him commissioned for their premises.253 In the 1450s, the notaries commissioned from Bonfigli for their sala dell‘Udienza a large painting appositely combining the scene of the Annunciation with St. Luke writing on a scroll with an open codex next to him, a further nod to their professional tools (fig. 21).254 It seems that the notaries preferred to show their silk pennants with their patron saint, St. Luke, rather than Mary or their professional / civic emblem, in most of their corporate appearances. Guild flags were easily recognized and identified by the population because of the familiar professional emblems that they bore.255 These representative designs must have been identical to those shown on the extant wooden casket of the Priori (fig. 18). The statutes of Perugian guilds usually describe the profession‘s seal but rarely mention their flag. However, scattered evidence from these sources also provides an insight into the importance and iconography of these flags. For example, the main guild (the Mercanzia) which included linen makers, fabric merchants and retailers had no special provision for their flag in their detailed statutes. However, a ―vexillum‖ and the ―dupleria‖ are mentioned in a paragraph on the guild‘s measure of weight (―marcus‖) of 5 pounds.256 It is clear that this flag, representative of the profession, was used for processions since it is mentioned together with wax, another typical processional item. The textual association of the flag in these statutes with the important warrant of guild quality and scales as well as the fact that it was kept with them show that their flag was an important object. It is not described but it must have born the guild‘s emblematic passant griffon on a ball of fabric (fig. 19). One of the highest officials of this arte, the prior of the hospital, had custody of these precious items. 253 See Abbondanza, Notariato, entry 68, 96-99. 254 See Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 43. 255 For examples of guild emblems in archival documents, see Carte che ridono, 101-136. C. Cardinali, Mercanzia, 45. The vexillum is mentioned in 1323 and the same rubric is repeated in the 1356 statutes. 256 90 While solidarity and union were wished for and implemented through precise rules of conduct, an internal hierarchy prevailed. Overt displays of respect for the group leaders were enforced in different ways. In processions, visible markers of one‘s social position within the group included the size and weight of candles. Officers received more wax than the rest of the members for solemn processions and for their patron saint‘s festivities. While the Mercanzia workers had to bring a three-pound or two-pound candle that they paid for, the consuls (board members), the notary, and the director of the hospital carried a four-pound candle at the expense of the consortium, and their two emissaries (nuntii) a three-pound torch.257 Members of a lesser guild such as the shoe-makers (ciabattini) were required to carry a candle made of new wax of a minimum of three ounces but the rectors and the secretary each received a half-pound candle which they had to leave in donation to the church.258 Examples from the guild statutes can be thus multiplied.259 This focus on the devotional aspect of wax donation could go to extremes as in the case of the goldsmiths‘ 257 Cardinali, Collegio della Mercanzia, 78, Provision 51.5 of the 1323 statutes, repeated in 1377 (p. 198): In the 1403 statutes, the notaries, consuls and consultores receive a four-pound facola (torch) while the hospital director and the conservatores get a three-pound torch each. Ibid., 198-9. 258 Staccini, Ciabattini, § 45, 42 (first Statutes of the early 14th century). Their emissary received a subsidy for half the weight of wax but that he had to buy the remaining half. Thus, he went to the procession of Sant‘Ercolano‘s vigil with a two-pound torch and to that of the Assumption with a half-pound candle. Ibid., §83, 63-64. 259 To take the example of the cotton weavers (bambagia): The camerarius and notary received a two-pound torch each, according to the 1350 statutes, while their emissary (―nuntius‖) was given a one-pound ‗facula‘. In 1380, the weight of the torch for these first two officials was upgraded to three pounds, a sign of an increased importance of the profession, or as the reformed provision states: ―because this guild has among its members honorable men and thus it is suitable that the guild shows itself at least equal to others.‖ In 1468, the facola of the ―nuntius‖ is recorded as weighing two pounds. See the 1350 statutes, § XL: Quod camerarius et notarius habere debeant unam faculam II librarum, in Staccini, Le arti perugine della bambagia, 142-3; 159-160; De faculis dandis camerario, notario, et baiulo. The Latin reads ―quod dicta ars et eius artifices sunt non modicum inter alias honorabiles et ydoney et proinde conveniat quod non secus sed saltem pares alliis se obstendant (…),‖ ibid., 187. 91 scuola in Venice which in the 1540s spent more on oil and wax than on alms.260 Donations of wax and oil are also documented as typical offerings made by individuals.261 Confraternities Like the occupational associations, the city‘s confraternities also used a variety of identifying signs. Confraternities were typically affiliated with a religious order that provided them with a place to meet such as a church chapel (or even an oratory of their own), and a priest to serve mass and give the sacraments. In Perugia as elsewhere, the most important religious communities had several confraternities attached to them.262 Quite often, these confraternal groups adopted saints whose cults were already represented by the various churches of religious communities dedicated to those holy figures. For religious and lay devotional groups, a set of praying times, wearing a special habit (and tonsured hair for clerics), acting charitably, and abstaining from sinful entertainment were required ethical features that validated one‘s collective identity. Confraternity statutes include precise provisions to further their image of exemplary moral purity. Only ‗honest‘ people were accepted, that is sober, and non-violent persons with no criminal record. Members were not allowed to blaspheme, gamble, mix with prostitutes, or attend taverns. They had to obey their superiors and to practice sacraments such as confession or communion 260 Christopher Black, Italian Confraternities in the Sixteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 126-7, quoting Mackenney‘s study. 261 To give a Perugian example, Nutius Cioli supplied in 1348 the oil and wax to be burnt for ten years after his death in S. Francesco al Prato both in front of a painting he had commissioned and in front of the sculptures ordered to adorn his tomb in S. Pietro. Cohn, The Cult of Remembrance, 231. 262 For example, by the fifteenth century, the Perugian companies associated with the Franciscans included, on top of the Compagnia del Confalone (see chapter one), the confraternities of San Francesco, San Bernardino (from 1537 called the ―Confraternita di San Bernardino e Sant‘Andrea‖), and of that of San Girolamo (Saint Jerome). The Dominicans chaperoned a Marian company (Confraternita di San Domenico), a Confraternita dell‘Annunziata, a Confraternita di San Pietro Martire and another one dedicated to San Vicenzo Ferrer (Saint Vincent Ferrer) while to the Servites were connected the confraternities of the Oltrapini (Ultramontanes) and the Nunziata (the Annunciation). The Confraternita di Sant‘Agostino and the Compagnia di San Sebastiano were linked with the Augustinians.262 92 regularly.263 Entering a confraternity was a rite of passage with the three phases proposed by Van Gennep. The Confraternity of Sant‘Andrea can serve as a paradigm.264 Once he had expressed his interest in joining the society, the applicant first experienced a period of separation during which he could not attend any meeting. His behavior was reviewed since his reputation had to be spotless. After that first stage, he had to listen to all provisions of the internal statutes and then, for three Sundays in a row, a vote was cast for which the candidate had to be approved by two thirds of the congregation. During this liminal stage, uncertainty prevailed regarding his status. Lastly, in order to be formally incorporated, he had to pay for a pound of wax, a customary amount for confraternity admission, and have a ―veste‖ (robe) made within a month of the positive ballot. These two items were symbolic of confraternal membership and indispensable in rituals. The indispensable ‗veste‘ of a single color included a hood and covered the entire body. Such an outfit immediately claimed for the wearer a confraternal identity. When confraternal members were depicted as a group, they almost systematically wore those robes, thus providing visual evidence of their corporate membership. The most common color was white, probably because of its association with purity, but some sodalities chose red or black robes. For example, the confratelli of the Santissima Trinità in Gualdo Tadini are shown in their red robes on their early Cinquecento gonfalone (fig. 22) while the members of the Assisi confraternity of Saint Francesco wear black robes on their late Trecento banner (fig. 23). 265 263 For a recent review of the scholarship on Italian confraternities and a concise overview of their characteristics, see Dehmer, Brudeschaftsbanner, 15-33. 264 1525 Statutes of the Confraternity, chapter 1: Del modo che hanno a tenere quelli che voranno intrare nella Fraternita. Transcribed in Antonio Cancian, "La Confraternità di S. Andrea e San Bernardino" (Tesi di laurea, Perugia: Università degli studi, 1966), 64-66, from BAP, ms. 952. 265 For Gualdo Tadino, see E. Bairati and P. Dragoni, eds., Matteo da Gualdo. Rinascimento eccentrico fra Umbria e Marche (Perugia: Electa Editori umbri, 2004), entry 19, 113-114. For Assisi, see Elvio Lunghi, Il museo della cattedrale di San Rufino ad Assisi (Assisi: Accademia Properziana del Subasio, 1987), entry 10, 150-153 and bibliography; Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 46-47. In Pistoia (Tuscany), there was a Compagnia dei Rossi (of the Reds). Green was also an option: when (between 1558 and 1645) the Nunziata (see last chapter) overtook the responsibility of preparing repentant prostitutes for a new and virtous life, the confratelli in charge of this particular charity wore green robes instead of the usual white ones. 93 These ―veste‖ or ―sacchi‖ were modeled after the monks‘ and friars‘ plain robes. The sartorial analogy with monasticism signalled their collective piety, their commitment to redemptive salvation, and their engagement in charitable deeds. Similar to a uniform, these robes demonstrated how members gave up their individual identity in favor of a group association as their primary identity when in a group situation. Robes with an opening in the back for whipping the naked flesh indicated that the confraternal members were flagellants. Scourging oneself was a shared activity in public or private rituals that distinguished the Flagellants from other pious groups of the laity, even though their corporate statutes did not specifically mention it.266 This garb and mode of conduct, in emulation of monastic practices, was traditionally associated with the promise of redemption through the imitation of Christ‘s suffering. This essential part of their identity was stressed on their banners that often included the iconography of Christ‘s Flagellation. Brothers often wore a badge stitched to their robes as a way to specify their dedication more accurately. It especially distinguished the various white-robed confraternities from each other. For example, the distinctive sartorial sign of the brothers of Santa Maria Novella was an oval badge of a half-length Virgin and child on a red background according to Perugino‘s 1496 painting for this confraternity (fig. 24).267 Such ―segni‖ were omnipresent inside the group‘s premises on objects, furnishings, and even stamped on bread.268 Two banners depict a few members wearing such robes with their distinctive badges, the Gonfalone of Sant‟Agostino (fig. 25) and the Gonfalone of San Antonio Abate (fig. 26). On Pinturricchio‘s 266 The 1374 statutes of the confraternity of Sant‘Andrea and their revised versions of 1525 and 1537 never mention flagellation as one of the devotional activities of the member. Yet, on their altarpiece (fig. 36), one confratello kneeling on Mary‘ right hand side is seen from the back and displays the typical flagellant opening of the back. 267 For the Madonna della Consolazione, see Paola Mercurelli Salari‘s entry in: Vittoria Garibaldi and Francesco Mancini, eds., Perugino. Il divin pittore (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2004), 166. 268 Ludovica Sebregondi, "Religious Furnishings and Devotional Objects in Renaissance Florentine Confraternities," in K. Eisenbichler, ed., Crossing the Boundaries (Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University, 1991), 142-60. 94 Gonfalone of Sant‟ Agostino of 1500, the confraternity‘s emblem, a crosier flanked by two scourges appears conspicuously in a large oval escutcheon at the saint‘s left foot. This insignia can also be seen on the shoulder of the flagellant kneeling to the right, closest to the viewer. It was also embroidered on vestments for the priest whom they hired.269 The scourges recur frequently in confraternal emblematic iconography because they allude to the brothers‘ practice of flagellation. Here, the crosier, an episcopal emblem, points to the company‘s allegiance to Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo, and to the Perugian Augustinians whose monastery was adjacent to the confraternity‘s premises. A confraternal emblem was kept forever; it is the same design that was used in the new ceiling decoration of the late seventeenth century. The badge on the confratelli of Sant‘Antonio Abate also consisted of two scourges but without the crozier (fig. 26). The emblem of the Confraternita di San Francesco was almost identical except that a column separated the two scourges, as can be seen on the modern door of their oratory (fig. 27) and on fifteenth century books of account in their archives. None of the habits are extant because they were ordinary items, made of coarse linen washed only occasionally and replaced when too worn. The same type of robes, made of an even coarser and undyed material, survived when they became a cult object, such as Saint Francis‘ cowl or St. Clare‘s cape in Assisi or, in Perugia, preacher Jacopo della Marca‘s brown robe and cord belt inventoried by the Confraternita di San Girolamo as a precious possession.270 269 ―un palio de velluto cremonsi figurato con l‘arma de la casa cum fregio doro racchamato » (inventories of 10th December 1515 and 12th May 1516): Archivio Fortebraccio, Confraternita di S. Agostino, 444, f. 4r +6r. For this gonfalone, see Dehmer‘s bibliography, Bruderschaftsbanner, cat. 74, 331. 270 For Assisi, Machtilde Flury-Lemberg, Textile Conservation (Bern: Schriften der Abbeg-Stiftung, 1988), 314318, entries 56-57, ―The Cowl of St. Francis of Assisi‖ and ―St. Clare‘s mantle.‖ Jacopo della Marca‘s clothing is no longer extant. For the inventories of the Compagnia di San Girolamo, see S. Nessi, ―La Confraternita di S. Girolamo in Perugia,‖ in Miscellanea Francescana 67, I-II (1967): 78-115. 95 Processional paraphernalia typically included a cross to which a small flag was appended, in imitation of the practices of religious orders.271 However, a confraternity‘s ―insegna‖ consisted of an ordinary gonfalone that often included visual cues to its ecclesiastical affiliation by showing the order‘s founder or a holy friar or monk from that community. I contend that ―ordinary‖ banners must be distinguished from the ―extraordinary‖ ones carried in procession by ―specialized‖ confraternities (see next chapter). Ordinary banners were not cult objects and, once worn out, were easily replaced by new ones with the same iconography. For example, the contract between the confraternity of the Bianchi in Gubbio and a local painter in 1461 specifies that its new banner must be ―with the figures and everything else that appears in the old banner.‖272 Ordinary banners were renewed with frequency, especially if the confraternity marched with them in procession once a week like the above-mentioned Bianchi of Gubbio who had a new banner made every five years.273 The inventories of the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata (or Nunziata) describe in the late Trecento record (appendix 6a, item no. 9) a tavola grande portareccia (a large portable picture) bearing the Annunciation on one side and the Flagellation on the other. By 1443, this ―insegna‖ was regarded as ‗old‘ (appendix 6b, item no. 53). Thus, a confraternity‘s worn-out flag was not necessarily discarded. It was often ‗repaired‘ rather than replaced, that is, abraded areas were repainted afresh. Numerous confraternities obtained subsidies from the city authorities for such conservation purposes. The next surviving record for the Nunziata banner shows that between 1556 and 1557, a new processional banner was made (lo cofalone 271 See, for example, appendix 6b, item no. 33 for the Confraternity of the Nunziata. 272 ―cum figures et omnibus aliis ut in palio veteris fraternitatis apparet.‖ See Luigi Bonfatti, ―Memorie originali per opere di pittura eseguite in S. Maria de‘ Laici e S. Croce della Foce di Gubbio,‖ in Giornale di Erudizione Artistica 3 (1874): 290-291; 293-297 for the transcription of contracts and payments of banners pertaining to the confraternity of the Bianchi (1461; 1533; 1537; 1548; 1558), here, 290-291. 273 In 1504, 1509, 1533, 1537, 1548, and 1558, granted that records are missing between 1509 and 1533. See preceding footnote and Santi, Gonfaloni, 37. 96 da gire in processione) since the old one was deemed out of use (inservibbile).274 The decision goes back to 14th May 1554 when the brothers rejected the idea of retouching the old image and embraced instead the making of a brand new one. This deliberation shows the importance that the proper look of this mobile sign of identity had for the members: The meeting started, that is, it was decided by the members of the said confraternity to have the banner of the old Annunciation [re]painted, that which is in the oratory of the Nunziata of the said fraternity; but it displeased many members of the said fraternity that this old image should be restored, that presently is ours; [it would be more adequate] to have it painted anew, just like is being done for the beautiful coffin of Jesus, and to have it painted more beautifully, as rich as it could be; and it will be an honor to spend 50 or 60 scudi for this 275 The iconography of a banner typically refers to the group‘s patron saint and is often homonymous with the confraternity‘s name. While the ubiquitous devotion to the Virgin Mary made her an appropriate intercessor for many confraternities, whatever their affiliation, some iconographic themes were connected to specific orders. For example, the processional tablets of the Name of Jesus discussed in Chapter Four were linked to the Franciscans while the narrative scene called ―Madonna del Soccorso‖ was usually bound to the Augustinians. The iconography of the Madonna del Soccorso illustrates the legend of a young mother who impetuously expresses her wish that her fussy baby be taken by the devil. 276 As the repulsive satanic creature actually hastens to snatch the terrified infant away, the Virgin intervenes at 274 The banner does not appear in the inventory drafted on 6 th September 1556. However, it is mentioned in the list of 1st January 1558. See Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560 (Perugia, Biblioteca Dominicini; hereafter abbreviated as ―BDAnn‖), f. 52rv and for the inventories, the respective dates in that book. 275 Ibid., f. 52rv: ―(...) fu dato ordine cioè cumadunato de li giurati de dicta fraternita de fare depegnere il gonfalone de la Nunciata vecchia quale sta nell‘oratorio de la Nunciata de dicta fraternita; pure a molti giurati de dicta fraternita non piace che se depengha in quella tavola vecchia, quale è al presente nostra, farla depengere in un altra tavola che como al Gesù fa cum la sua cassa a farla depegnerla più bella, più richa che si poi, ne habbiamo honore expender o cinquanta o sessanta scudi (...)‖ Note that the brothers of the Nunziata had just commissioned a new painted bier for their Dead Christ statue (discussed in the last chapter), hence the reference to Jesus. 276 See Mario Sensi, "Le Madonne del Soccorso umbro-marchigiane nell'iconografia e nella pietà," Bolletino storico della città di Foligno XVIII (1994): 7-88. Raoul Pacciaroni‘s accurate research for the city of Sanseverino demonstrates that this theme is also present in non- Augustinian contexts. He cites five frescoes (from two different churches) and a painting on linen commissioned by a local carpenter for the collegiate church (1509). R. Pacciaroni, Bernardino di Mariotto da Perugia: Il ventennio sanseverinate (1502-1521) (Milan: Motta, 2005), 50-62. 97 the behest of the imploring and repentant mother and chases away the innocent‘s evil aggressor with a cudgel (figs. 28; 29). This story, maybe developed in conjunction with a sacra rappresentazione, can be found mainly on frescoes, altarpieces, and banners of Augustinian churches and their affiliated confraternities, especially in Central Italy, but also in Sicily, between 1480-1550.277 Umbrian examples correspond to this patronage pattern. On the banner of Montefalco (fig. 28), the confraternal brothers who had their chapel in the local church of Sant‘Agostino appear in their white sacchi together with Augustinian friars in their black robes behind the beseeching mother. Lattanzio di Niccolò di Liberatore‘s gonfalone of 1509 (fig. 29) also comes from the local Augustinian church of Castel Ritaldi.278 The iconographic success of this theme has been connected to the need for protection from the evil doings of mankind, including the sin of sodomy and pederasty, which caused raging epidemics.279 The iconography and the use of confraternal banners in the public sphere expressed the strong identification of the group with the religious order to which they were associated. For example, the Gonfalone of San Domenico showed Saint Dominic and was kept, in the late fifteenth century, in the sacristy of the confraternity‘s oratory near the Preachers‘ church but it has not survived.280 Three other banners from the Dominican circles of Perugia are still extant: the Gonfalone of San Pietro Martire of the early sixteenth century for the lay company of the same name (fig. 30); the small contemporary Gonfalone of San Vincenzo 277 Other Umbrian gonfaloni with the Madonna del Soccorso and her cudgel can be found in Gubbio, Churches of Sant‘Agostino (1485) and San Felice di Giano (1494); and in Rome, Galleria Colonna, painted by Nicolo di Liberatore (1497). The association with the Augustinians is usually explained by their determination to have infants baptized in order to become full Christians and be saved from luring devils. 278 The inscription on a trompe l‘oeil cartello reads ―SANCTA MARIA SUCCURRE POPULO CASTRI RITALDORUM 1509.‖ For the banner by Lattanzio di Niccolò (son of Nicolò di Liberatore), see Giordana Benazzi and Elvio Lunghi, Nicolaus Pictor: Nicolò di Liberatore detto L'alunno. Artisti e botteghe a Foligno nel Quattrocento (Foligno: Orfini Numeister, 2004), 74-75. 279 280 This is the interpretation proposed by Mario Sensi, ―Le Madonne del Soccorso,‖ 38-39. It was painted on silk and lined with canvas. Inventory of 29th August 1497: ―uno gonfalone cum sancto Dominico pento da seta foderato de tela,‖ Perugia: Archivio Braccio Fortebraccio, San Domenico, 427, f. 57. 98 Ferrer for the eponymous confraternity (fig. 31); and the banner of 1575 for the Company of the Rosary (fig. 34). The use of such banners displayed in public the affiliation and devotional preferences of their confraternal patrons and also echoed the local cults of Dominican saints or propagated them.281 Perugians would have readily associated the banners with the Preachers because the confraternal premises from which the population saw that the banners issued and returned were in the immediate proximity of the imposing church of San Domenico.282 Another visual association that such banners elicited with the Preachers‘order was their familiar iconography, being consistent with Dominican tenets. On its banner (fig. 31), the Confraternity of San Vicenzo Ferrer depicted its patron saint in a familiar way, pointing his right index finger at Heaven while proffering with his left hand an open book with a typical scriptural passage for this saint: ―Timete Deum et date illi [h]onorem quia venit [h]ora de iudicii eius et adorate eum qui fecit caelum et terram et mare et fontes aquarum.‖ 283 His black mantle, a typical part of the Dominican habit, shelters two laurel-crowned boys kneeling in prayer and dressed in white confraternal habits. A panel by Jacopo Bedi from the Dominican church in Gubbio (fig. 32) shows a similar composition but this time Ferrer‘s cloak gathers an entire population. This image of the protective mantle is borrowed from the iconography of the Virgin of Mercy and it is a conscious choice on the Dominicans‘ part for representing their order through model figures. While Franciscans never staged one of their 281 For example, episodes from Peter Martyr‘s life were frescoed in one of the apsidal chapel to the left of the choir in the Perugian Dominican church. 282 San Domenico Nuovo, the church built next to the old San Domenico, was consecrated in 1459 aftermany decades of construction works. See Il complesso di San Domenico di Perugia. Atti del Convegno (Perugia, 1997) and C. Del Giudice and A. M. Sartore, ―La fabbrica di San Domenico di Perugia,‖ in Commentari d‟arte” IV, 9-11 (1998): 9-22. The most recent study of this convent and its church (2006) is quoted in footnote §1+26. 283 The citation corresponds to the verse of Revelation XIV, 7 from the Vulgate. For this banner, see Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 160, entry 149, fig. 149 who erroneously identifies this saint with Saint Dominic. Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 332, entry 77, rectifies this mistake in his appended catalogue. 99 saints with a sheltering open mantle, Dominicans occasionally used this figurative idea to vest their founding figures with authority and to signify their unifying role.284 The Perugian Gonfalone of Sant‟Ercolano of c. 1575-1600 (fig. 33) is a comparable iconographic example. Like the Gonfalone of San Vincenzo Ferrer (fig. 31), it shows two boys, this time dressed in confraternal robes, who huddle beneath the mantle of the standing saint. This confraternity most likely aimed at imparting proper Christian instruction for young boys.285 It may have originated in the Dominican circles of Perugia.286 The Compagnia del Rosario had been launched very successfully in 1534 to replace an extinct confraternity dedicated to the Annunciation that used to meet at the same altar. 287 To establish the new foundation, Dominican friar Domenico Baglioni rededicated the chapel of the Annunciation to the Rosary. This entailed a new set of lavish clothing for the altar statue of the Virgin, as 284 See Dominique Donadieu-Rigaud, Penser les ordres religieux en images (XII e-XVe siècle) (Paris: Editions Arguments, 2005). The author examines in her second part examples of the protective mantle worn by Saint Dominic and other holy Preachers that she sees as constituent of a memory process for the Dominican order. 285 For this banner, see Santi‘s succinct entry, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 204, entry 208. Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 214, suggests that the two boys indicate that the confraternity was an instructional institution made of fanciulli. These youth associations have above all been studied in the Florentine context. See for example Konrad Eisenbilcher‘s monograph, The Boys of the Archangel Raphael. A Youth Confraternity in Florence 1411-1785 (Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1998); Ilaria Taddei, Fanciulli e giovani. Crescere a Firenze nel Rinascimento (Firenze: Olschki, 2001); and for the relationship between art, material culture, and collective identity, Diane Cole Ahl, "In Corpo di Compania‖ and Ann Matchette, ―The Compagnia della Purificazione e di San Zanobi in Florence: A Reconstruction of Its Residence at San Marco, 1440-1506,‖ in Confraternities and the Visual Arts in Renaissance Italy, 74-93. 286 The Gonfalone of Sant‟Ercolano could have belonged to the Confraternita del Buon Gesù that was founded by a Dominican preacher at the beginning of the sixteenth century and that had its headquarters in the superior church of Sant‘Ercolano, an edifice in which Dominican friars officiated. For the Confraternity del Buon Gesù, see Marinelli, Confraternite, entry 1391 & 1392, 251-252. Alternatively, this banner could originate from the chapel of St Vincent in the Dominican church of Perugia, where the Compagnia del Nome di Gesù ―founded at an unknown date‖ met according to Crispolti, Perusia Augusta, 107. This patronage re-attribution would also imply that the concept ―Name of Jesus‖ soon lost its connection with Franciscans (see third section of this chapter). 287 In the fifteenth century, a Marian company of the Annunciation operated there. They are recorded as owning a statue of the Virgin which they clothed and for which they receive city subsidies. See Chapter Five. The friar who launched the compagnia del Rosario is padre Domenico Baglioni who narrates his successful venture (5000 registered members in 14 years) in a 1548 manuscript. See Laura Teza‘s synthetic history of this chapel in her recent contribution ―Pittura tra Rinascimento e Manierismo‖ in Rocchi Coopmans, ed., Basilica di San Domenico, 459-490, especially 468-482. 100 well as a gonfalone renewed in the 1540s that has not survived.288 Their extant silk banner of 1575 (fig. 34) shows two confratelli conspicuously holding their rosaries as they kneel in adoration of the Virgin-to-be-crowned.289 It was carried in a popular procession with the statues of the Virgin, Saint Dominic, and Saint Peter Martyr.290 Lay confraternities devoted to the Rosary were a Dominican initiative of the 1470s so that by the 1530s and later, the image, on a banner, of two members holding their beaded string irrevocably identified the associated group with the Preachers. The sponsorship of a confraternity was sometimes evidenced by the presence of a coat of arms denoting either a city, a prince, or a private patron. For example, in 1457, a confraternity from Aix-en-Provence specified in the contract for their banner that the arms of the city and those of the king of Sicily had to be painted on the banner. 291 In the Gonfalone of Sant‟Agostino (fig. 25), an escutcheon in the left foreground bears, on a blue ground, a cross with funnel-shaped arms (called pattée or formy in base, in heraldic language) of two colors: red for the vertical arms and white for the horizontal ones. Francesco Santi has suggested that this coat of arms could be the confraternity prior‘s.292 But private heraldry on confraternity banners is rare because it was felt inappropriate to single out an individual when confraternal brothers sought redemption through humility in corporate actions and imagery. This coat of 288 See Domenico Baglioni, Registro della chiesa e Sacrestia di san Domenico di Perugia iniziato a partire dal 1548 (BAP, ms. 1232, post 1548), f. 21-22. Baglioni writes of a ―nuovo confalone.‖ Given the dating of the manuscript, this banner could have been executed around the 1540s. 289 I have not been able to consult Giulia Conti‘s recent Tesi di laurea (Università degli Studi, Perugia) on early modern banners from a conservation point of view and her findings on this particularly gonfalone. 290 ―Il nuovo confalone che si porta con la Vergine e San Domenico e San Pietro martire e popolo.‖ Domenico Baglioni, Registro della chiesa, f. 22. Quoted in Teza, ―Pittura tra Rinascimento e Manierismo,‖ 48. 291 In 1515, another company, from Marseille, requested that the arms of the French king and those of the city be depicted on the ―tabernacle‖ of their banner, i.e. the frame. For a transcription of these contracts, see Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 272 and 276. 292 Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 33. The confraternity inventories which I consulted describe a ―tavola dove sono scripte le frateglie con la figura de scto Agostino.‖ Archivio Braccio Fortebraccio, Confraternita di S. Agostino, #444, f. 5r for 10th December 1515. 101 arms is undoubtedly the emblem of the Roman Confraternity of the Gonfalone. 293 The inclusion of this heraldic device opens up a larger discussion, beyond the scope of this dissertation, on the links between the Perugian Augustinian confraternity and one of the most powerful Flagellant societies in Rome.294 In any case, private identity and clothing had to be put aside so that the members acted as a group for the collective benefit. By avoiding individual signs of heraldry and by donning a simple and uniform robe, confratelli could not avoid accusations of the sin of vanity from preachers. The imagery of confraternal banners expressed the confratelli‘s belief in the intercession of their saintly patron and often their allegiance to a specific religious order, strong components of their collective identity. Following these ordinary banners in public rituals, confratelli practiced acts of devotion such as flagellating, chanting, or simply walking in procession. Marching as a unified group at a purposefully slow pace, holding tapers and dressed in robes that were reminiscent of religious habits, turned the procession into a solemnly staged performance. Such ritual events provided visibility to groups whose devotions also benefited the entire city and inspired the awe and respect of bystanders. The public nature of these pious activities attracted candidates for confraternity membership and donations of money or objects to the lay or clerical communities in charge of the cults.295 293 Bascapé and Del Piazzo, Insegne, 364. The authors describe this insignia with its ―unusual cross‖ as that of the ―arciconfraternita del Gonfalone‖ of Rome. The Confraternity of the Gonfalone was raised to the status of archconfraternity in 1578 but this emblem was in use before. See next footnote. 294 Barbara Wisch, "The ‗Archiconfraternità del Gonfalone‘ and its Oratory in Rome: Art and CounterReformation Spiritual Values." (Ph.D., University of California, 1985). The main symbol of this confraternity was the Virgin of Mercy but its stemma was included in engravings or in the fresco cycle of the Passion of Christ (1569-1576). See a reproduction of an engraving in M. Lumbroso Maroni and A. Martini, Le confraternite tomane nelle loro chiese (Rome, 1963), 187; for the fresco cycle see Barbara Wisch, The Archiconfraternita del Gonfalone and Its Oratory in Rome: Art and Counter-Reformation Spiritual Values (PhD, Berkeley: University of California, 1985) and her ―The Passion of Christ in the Art, Theater, and Penitential Rituals of the Roman Confraternity of the Gonfalone," in K. Eisenbichler, ed., Crossing the Boundaries: Christian Piety and the Arts in Italian Medieval and Renaissance Confraternities (Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University, 1991), 237. 295 Church inventories often mention the names of the donors who presented liturgical implements marked with their family coats of arms, such as the list of precious items displayed in the Servite church of Santa Maria dei Servi (see appendix 10). 102 Not all confraternities owned gonfaloni. Although conspicuous signs of identity, mobile paintings were not indispensable for confraternal members‘ sense of unity in the public sphere; nor were processions essential to their existence or to declaring their affiliation to a specific religious community. Andreas Dehmer cites one example, a Venetian confraternity that, out of humility, vowed not to own, and parade with, a banner.296 To deny the opportunity to proclaim one‘s identity in public through a pictorial device was a rare and virtuous stance. It is not the only documented case: in Perugia, at least three confraternities eschewed ownership of a processional gonfalone to represent themselves, and two of them had a mix of secular and religious members. Connected to the Dominicans although they included many Franciscan friars, the confratelli of the Company of St. Thomas Aquinas, founded in 1445, wore no special habit and did not perform any public devotion, or participate in processions. Their duties included the illumination and maintenance of an altar in San Domenico, collective prayers on Sundays and on specific feast days, as well as for their dead, communion four times a year, and a banquet on their titular saint‘ s day. 297 It was known as the ―scola‖ (school) because of the high number of well-known citizens, noblemen, and well-educated friars who made up its membership. The Fraternita di San Girolamo, San Francesco e San Bernardino, founded by the famous preacher Jacopo della Marca in 1445, met in an oratory adjacent to the main Franciscan church until its suppression in 1797. The brothers did not wear the typical ―sacco‖ adorned with symbolic signs of recognition that confraternities usually possessed, but one of their collective actions of piety was flagellation as the 39 whips inventoried in 1494 296 The all-female confraternity in question is that of Santa Maria dell‘Umiltà whose statutes stipulate in 1353: ―Et si volemo che questa scuola de sancata maria de humildade non debia levare penello algun.‖ Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 83. 297 See O. Marinelli, La Compagnia di San Tommaso d‟Aquinas (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1960). 103 indicate.298 This community was known for its seriousness and secrecy, and held a record for the high number of its members who were expelled for non-compliance with the statutes. A canvas picture of their founder, executed by the well-known master Perugino after 1512, continues to be, erroneously, regarded as a banner (fig. 35).299 It is described in the 1532 inventory as an altarpiece fully furnished with a frame (―cassa‖), a base (―predolla‖), and a curtain (―tenda‖). With its average size and vertical format, its holy figure in a frontal, fullsize, position facing the viewer, it does resemble many confraternity banners. Paintings on textile are often equated with processional banners simply because they are painted on cloth. But the medium itself cannot be taken as a certain proof, especially in the case of the Confraternity of San Girolamo, because the confraternity did not take part in processions. Linen was a cheaper medium than wood and a quicker means to execute a painted composition. Acquiring a painting on textile rather than on wood was probably regarded by the confraternity as a sign of humility. The San Girolamo brothers already owned a ―cloth picture‖ of San Bernardino given by one of their members (―uno santo Bernardino in panno che lo de‘ Giovagne de Tomassino‖), a ―painted linen cloth‖ with the Seven Joys [of Mary] hung behind their crucifix (―un panno de lino pento derieto el crocefisso con le sette alegrezze‖) as well as other panel paintings.300 Perugino was a prestigious master but this composition (fig. 35) comes from a cartoon which he applied to another two paintings showing Saint Anthony of Padua; one is an ex-voto on linen (Pinacoteca Comunale of 298 19 ―discipline‖ were inventoried in 1512 and 24 in 1532. On this confraternity and for a transcription of the inventories, see S. Nessi, ―La Confraternita di S. Girolamo,‖ 78-115. 299 The exact date is unknown. It is believed to have been painted after 1512 because it does not appear in the 1512 inventory but is mentioned in the 1532 list of their possessions. Santi calls this painting a ―stendardino processionale‖ but the 1532 inventory describes it as ―un‘altro altare col beato Iacomo de la Marcha con la cassa sua et tenda con sua predola con uno paramento de panno schachato.‖ James Banker reiterates the standard characterization as a banner although Scarpellini in his monograph cautiously refers to a ―tela.‖ This painting is not included in Dehmer‘s catalogue of Italian confraternity banners. Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 111-112; J. Banker, ―St. James of the Marches,‖ in Perugino, Master of the Renaissance, 163-165. 300 S. Nessi, ―La confraternita di S. Girolamo in Perugia,‖ 110-111 for the inventory of 1532. The San Bernardino ―in panno‖ and the ―panno depento con le septe alegreze de la Donna‖ are recorded in the inventory of 1445-9 and 1494, ibid., 104-5 and 106-107. 104 Bettona, near Perugia) and the other one, on wood, is kept in the Medici chapel of Santa Croce in Florence. This recycling method makes the Beato Iacomo a typical product from his workshop. Quite different in terms of membership, the Confraternity of St. Joseph welcomed 165 laymen and women in its first year (1487). A popular Franciscan preacher Bernardino da Feltre (who was also a member of San Girolamo) founded it because of the presence in Perugia of the holy engagement ring of Mary that was kept in the cathedral. The confraternity members were committed to daily prayers at home and weekly orations in their cathedral chapel in front of the sant‟anello. They attended mass in San Lorenzo on the first Sundays of each month and on Corpus Christi day as well as on Good Thursday. They gathered in their Duomo chapel on St. Joseph‘s day (19th March) and for the ostentations of the Holy Ring on 2nd and 3rd August.301 Their other duties were the care of their sick or dead members. Their statutes require the participation of the members in the processions of Corpus Christi and of the Nunziata Dead Christ (see last chapter). But they had no common possession except for their spiritual dedication and the use of the Duomo chapel for which they commissioned Perugino in 1489 with an altarpiece showing the holy union of Mary and Joseph.302 A number of other images and objects expressed a confraternal identity in visual forms, as the inventories of confraternal premises. Confratelli possessed all the standard liturgical implements for an appropriate celebration of the Eucharist and that most of them were costly items of precious craftsmanship. A representative example is the oratory of the Confraternity of the Nunziata (a popular name derived from ―Annunziata,‖ Annunciate). The confratelli owned a gilded-silver chalice with its paten as well as many other basic paraphernalia for the altar: white altar cloths (tovaglie), linens (sciucattoi), a pair of tapers, 301 On this confraternity, see Casagrande, Devozione e municipalità, 157-183 and O. Marinelli, Confraternite di Perugia, 472-557. 302 Perugino‘s painting was taken away from its original location by the French troops in 1797 and is kept today in the Musée national of Caen (Normandy, France). See Scarpellini, Perugino, 107-8, entry 129. 105 candlesticks in iron and wood, candlesnuffers, and an incense holder (see appendix 6a-c). Numerous silk or guarnello [fine linen and cotton weave] cloths (palii) served as colorful covers for the altar front and possibly its sides. The brothers also owned many cushions (guanciale) of red silk or of white linen. The priest‘s vestments consisted of albs and amices as well as chasubles (pianete) and a cope (piovale) made of various materials (silk or guarnello) and of various colors (red, blue, green, yellow), with or without gold embroideries (messa ad oro). Such liturgical paraphernalia builds the core of the confraternal possessions and recurs in all the extant Nunziata‘s inventories that I consulted, covering the period 13931602.303 All sixteenth-century inventories (appendix 6d), especially in the Tridentine era, show that most of their possessions revolved around the proper conduct of mass and the ornamentation of their two altars.304 This allowed for communal devotion to take place on a regular basis under the authority of a splendidly vested priest. Along with these liturgical objects, props such as angels‘ wings, flags, Death‘s costume, animals etc., are constantly recorded, a proof of the brothers‘ active staging of sacred drama (see appendix 6a-c and the special section of appendix 6d). This important aspect of confraternal ritual activity is, nevertheless, beyond the scope of this study. Neighborhoods Membership in a ―compagnia di porta‖ manifested another kind of urban sociability, one that was based on one‘s residential area (―porta‖) regardless of one‘s professional occupation or devotional duties. Documented from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, 303 The oldest roster of possessions goes back to 1388 (appendix 6a) and the next surviving one (appendix 6b) was first drafted in 1443, checked and corrected by successive camerlenghi in 1446 and 1463, and finally annotated once more in 1472. 304 The main altar is called ‗grande‘ or just ‗l‘altare‘ and the small one is mentioned as the ‗altare piccolo‘. The 1388 inventory lists only one altar, the altare grande along with a ―traveling‖ (viareccio) altar, probably destined for the viaticum (items nos. 1 and 2). The 1443 inventory mentions two altars. From at least 1553, the major altar had a velvet baldachin with eight lambrequins (« otto drapellone per il baldachino de l‘altare, de rasone » 15/1/1553). See BDAnn., Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560, ff. 61r-62v and appendix 6d. 106 these ―companies‖ of neighbors had their own signs of identity (such as colourful, silk costumes) and participated in public rituals (processions, weddings, games, and entries). Because of their ritual activities, ―compagnie‖ presented a frame for the corporate conscience of one‘s residential area.305 The Perugian chronicles indicate that these companies mainly consisted of the male juvenile nobility of Perugia, but not exclusively.306 They report the names of the company officers, almost invariably aristocrats whose election was a constituent of the foundation of a compagnia (―fare la compagnia‖) in a church. The high numbers of compagnie members indicate that they could not all belong to the nobility. For example, in May 1471, 300 people were present at the concluding banquet of Porta Sant‘Angelo.307 However, only citizens who could afford the expenses involved in a company‘s public appearance would have been accepted into the company. William Heywood has argued that a Perugian compagnia involved the participation of the whole district but he neglects evidence about the cost of the costumes that must have limited participation to only those who could afford them.308 Graziani reported that the members of the Compagnia di Porta Eburnea each paid 20 florins to defray the cost of their performances on John the Baptist‘s day in June 1430.309 This underwrote, I assume, expenses generated by one‘s costume, the props of their play, musicians, and the concluding banquet. This extremely high amount must be contrasted to the five florins (still a substantial sum) that 305 See excursus no. 1 for a discussion of the compagnie in the 13th century, urban militias, and for more information on the nature of later compagnie. 306 A. I. Galletti, who consulted the municipal deliberations, cites the Societas de la Banda that was subsidized by the government in 1314 and qualified as ―of the noble youth‖ (―nobelium iuvenum‖) in 1317; see Galletti, "Sant'Ercolano, il grifo e le lasche‖, 209, n. 13. See also Diario del Graziani, 549: ―El primo dí de maggio [1444], tutti li gioveni de quilla porta [Sant‘Angelo] feceno una compagnya.‖ 307 For annual performances during the company‘s traditional holy period, officers were chosen during the concluding banquet. For example, the men of Porta San Angelo in May 1471: ―a la detta cena foro fatti li Uffitiali novi per fare la compagnia lo anno seguente, cioè uno offitiale per quartiere [subdivision of the porta].” Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II: 74. 308 William Heywood, Palio and Ponte (New York: Hacker, 1969 [1904]), 140-145. 309 Diario del Graziani, 344. 107 each man of the Compagnia di Porta Santa Susanna gave to the officers for their participation in the wedding ceremonies for Giovan Paolo Baglione in 1490.310 In contrast to the Perugian situation, the Venetian compagnie della Calza were entirely manned by noble youth.311 The vivid colors and precious materials for the male costumes of compagnia members were strong visual statements about one‘s self-image as a proud inhabitant of a specific city area, but this sartorial display also had political implications. Most companies‘ members wore a sumptuous silk attire that reflected the staple sartorial colors symbolic of their district. Besides the general hue of the garments, these noticeable chains, garlands, stripes, or spheres of a different color were sewn or embroidered ―segni‖, that further identified each company.312 Mauro Menichelli suggests that these costumes were a mere excuse to show the economic and ideological superiority of the district and a pretext to urge fighting so that men could demonstrate their physical abilities with weapons.313 And indeed, these corporate liveries were illegal for fear that the ostentatious gathering of young people might lead to sedition or provocation.314 The government attempted many times to put an end to these 310 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II: 350. The Venetian ―compagnie della Calza‖ are documented from the 1440s to the 1560s. See E. Muir, Civic Ritual, 167-173. See also Matteo Casini, I gesti del principe. La festa politica a Firenze e Venezia in età rinascimentale (Venice: Marsilio, 1996), 298-304 and his bibliography on the topic, 337, n. 150. M. Casini is currently working on a more comprehensive study of these festive companies with a focus on the Venetian situation. See also his essay : « les brigades de jeunes en Italie et leurs signes vestimentaires (XIVème - XVIème siècles) in : Signes et couleurs de l‟identité politique du moyen age à nos jours. Poitiers 14-16 juillet 2007 (in press with the Université de Rennes). 312 The men of Porta Sole wore white doublets striped with red. Diario del Graziani, 370, specifies that in 1433, their costumes were adorned with a cock and garlands. On August 25, 1433, the Compagnia di Porta Eburnea dressed up in green doublets adorned by a blue sphere and, for most of them, made of silk. For Porta Eburnea and the feast day of John the Baptist in June 1430, see ibid., 370 and 549. The men of Porta Sant‘Angelo distinguished themselves by parading in red garments. For Corpus Christi on June 11th 1430, the chronicler counted 250 men of the Porta San Pietro who were dressed in yellow doublets. He indicates that 130 of these costumes were in silk. After their banquet, they performed a play about the death of the Minotaur. Ibid., 549. For segni on garments, see Pellini, Dell‟Historia, II: 207. The Porta Santa Susanna men were recognizable by their celestial blue (cilestro) doublets adorned with silver chains. 313 Menichelli, La battaglia dei sassi, 73. 314 Municipal deliberation of 5th September 1376: Ordinamentum de divisis et quibusdam aliis: ―(...) ad presens in civitate et comitatu Perusii (...) multe inhoneste iuvenum sotietates irritamentum seditionum et sistri status fomentum esse consueverunt.‖ In: Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione suntuaria, entry 14, 86-88. 311 108 affrays by prohibiting the color-coded ―divise‖ of each rioni.315 Sumptuary laws repeatedly forbade garments of two colors because dichromatism was the basis for heraldic devices signaling a specific family. Naturally, in times of a signoria regime, the lord of the city and his ―famiglia‖ (members of his household including his servants) were exempted from this legislation.316 However, another exemption regarded the companies‘ performances for Sant‘Ercolano as long as their members did not add any other special sign to their costume.317 Identical costumes emphasized communality especially since the company members could only wear their outfits when they gathered for the group‘s performances and banquets. Apart from clothing, the other major identity marker shared by compagnie members was their flag and the pennants attached to trumpets. Pompeo Pellini mentions that in 1372, a company carried a flag emblazoned with a falcon (symbol of the Ghibelline noble faction) holding a goose (symbol of the popular Guelf party) in its claws. 318 This shows that flags were proudly displayed in a spirit of provocation. They could be quite elaborate, as the standard of the Viper neighborhood in Florence, painted around 1500 by Bernardino di Jacopo. It was painted in gold with an embroidered outline and shading. 319 A notary‘s diary provides another rare reference to the flags of Perugian compagnie, the episode of San Bernardino da Siena‘s bonfire of the vanities in October 1425 during which companies had to burn their weapons and their trumpet flags.320 The significance of a flag as the main identifier for groups is evident in the name given to the Florentine wards, compagnie di stendardo (standard-bearing companies) or gonfaloni. In Perugia, however, it was the virtual urban 315 Pellini, Dell‟Historia, II: 161, for the year 1407. He also mentions that the government had in the past repeatedly passed such limitations. 316 The exemption regards also professors, knights, prelates, professional entertainers, prostitutes, and foreigners, as specified in the 1376 law (see n. 286). 317 ―Item non intelligatur presens capitulum in vestimentis quie fiunt per societates en festo sancti Herculani, vel occasione dicti festi dummodo non sit intermixta alia divisa vel signum divise quam illa que sit per societatem ipsam.” Decree of 21st June 1421, Legislazione suntuaria, entry 44. 318 Pellini, Dell‟Historia, I: 1122. I would like to thank Matteo Casini for this reference. 319 Wackernagel, The World of Florentine Renaissance Artist, 140, n. 73. 320 Menichelli, La battaglia dei sassi, 149 and n. 10, 156 quoting A. Fantozzi‘s reference of a Perugian notary‘s diary in AFH, XV (1922): 6. 109 militias that received this characterizing term, the Latin ―vexilli‖ translating into the vernacular ―gonfaloni‖ (excursus no. 2). Similarly, confraternities often received the name ―of the Gonfalone‖ because their flag was their most conspicuous shared symbol. The Perugian evidence for ―compagnie‖ illustrates that group identity was asserted primarily through clothing and through the ritual activities that were performed in these clothes. Flags and sounds have surprisingly hardly been described by contemporaries. Women do not seem to have taken any part as members of companies for general processions. However, they had a limited but distinctive part to play in the male compagnie, especially for weddings and entries. On 13th November, 1397, as the bride of the new lord of Perugia, Biordo dei Michelotti solemnly rode through Perugia, selected ladies (gentildonne onorate) of each rione greeted her by dancing while those who could not dance (because of age or infirmity) followed. These women were elaborately dressed according to the district colors and emblems while the next day, many ladies dressed in Biordo‘s livery and danced in the main piazza. This time, the civic authorities underwrote the expenses of the companies, giving each 10 florins, thus securing a minimum amount of lavishness and using companies as political instruments for supporting the regime. Dressed in their best attire, noble ladies and honest but non-noble women (―donne onorate‖ / ―donne da bene‖) alike also participated in the concluding banquets of their district during which they danced and acted as beauty ornaments. What significance had geographic solidarity for civic consciousness? The compagnie performances in public highlighted each district of the city, probably eliciting feelings of pride and identification with one‘s neighborhood.321 But compagnie mainly marked social distinction through lavish clothing that only well-to-do citizens could afford. Their corporate 321 My conclusions for Perugia do not correspond to Muir and Weissman‘s views that local loyalties (neighborhood, kinship, and friendship) competed with obligations to public institutions. Edward Muir and Ronald Weissman, "Social and Symbolic Places in Renaissance Venice and Florence," in J. Agnew, ed., The Power of Place, 81-103. 110 identity implied loyalty to dominant noble families of each area, and fostered social distinction rather than social cohesion. With their potential for political provocation, Perugian compagnie had little chance to survive the absolutist papal government that was established from the 1540s. For the entry of the new bishop, Franco Bossio, in May 1574, the Priori chose ten young noblemen per porta who, dressed in their district‘s staple color and carrying maces, escorted the dignitary from the city gate to his palace. While symbolic continuity was visible through the familiar neighborhood colors, the appearance of the fifty young men was this time strongly controlled by the civic authorities that had fixed their number and their mode of parading. This episode has been interpreted as paradigmatic of the loss of power that the nobility experienced after 1540 in Perugia.322 2) Death as a ritual stage for social cohesion Another avenue that enlightens issues of group formation and identity is the study of group behavior when confronted with the death of a member. In their analysis of responses to death in the late middle ages, social historians have examined human attitudes towards the loss of life or the art of ―dying well‖ while art historians have focused on the ―representation of death‖ including tombs, frescoes, and book illuminations.323 Using the perspectives of performance and practice theories (see introduction), my own concern regards the series of public rites through which the living parted with the corpse from the moment the dead was carried in procession to post-burial ceremonies. My focus is the role of images (including banners and flags) in fostering group solidarity and an image of social cohesion during 322 323 Antonio Calderoni, Il Duomo, il vescovato e il palazzo abrugiato (Perugia: Porzi, 2002), 138-141. Michel Vovelle, La mort et l‟occident de 1300 à nos jours (Paris: Gallimard, 1983); Philippe Ariès, L‟homme devant la mort (Paris: Seuil, 1977); Paul Binski, Medieval Death. Ritual and Representation; M. Meiss, Painting in Florence and Siena (1964); Erwin Panofsky and H. Janson, Tomb Sculpture. Its Changing Aspects from Ancient Egypt to Bernini (New York: Abrams, 2002 [1964]). For a brief survey of historians‘ approaches, see Craig Koslofsky‘s introductory section on ―The History of Death and the Anthropology of Death Ritual,‖ in The Reformation of the Dead, 4-11. 111 funerary rites. I have chosen to analyze the use of symbolic representations in three types of mortuary practices in late medieval Perugia: the activities of the Confraternita della Giustizia in charge of those condemned to death; collective funerals organized by guilds and confraternities; and elite funerals as spectacular political events. The Confraternita della Giustizia and the trappings of redemptive identity Each major city had at least one confraternity that was in charge of the spiritual care and burial of those condemned to death who, whatever their social status, did not have a right to a proper funeral.324 In Perugia, the Confraternity of Sant‘Andrea, founded in 1374, took over this responsibility in 1458, consequently adding to its name ―della Giustizia‖ (of Justice).325 This new charitable duty boosted up membership that went from thirty to forty men to over one hundred.326 The civic and apostolic authorities allotted them a subsidy of wax for all major processions and for the celebrations of the feast day of their patron, Sant‘Andrea.327 This distinguished them from other devotional associations of the laity because they were the only confraternity to be given candles on a regular basis throughout the year. According to the nature of their activities, the members of Sant‘Andrea donned either a white robe or a black one. Sant‘Andrea brothers wore white for standard collective activities while black singled out their participation in execution rites, their specialty. Like most 324 The first such company was the Bolognese ―Società di Santa Maria della Morte‖ founded in 1336; other similar Italian comfort societies include the Florentine ― Compagnia di Santa Maria della Croce al Tempio (1355) and ―Compagnia della Misericordia,‖ the Roman ―Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato‖ (1488), the Neapoletan ―Compagnia dei Bianchi della Giustizia‖ (1541). See Maria Pia Bella, La pura verità. Discarichi di coscienza intesi dai “Bianchi” (Palermo 1541-1820) (Palermo: Sellerio, 1999), 10. 325 On this confraternity, see: Cancian, "La Confraternità di S. Andrea e San Bernardino;" Donatella Mingo, "La Confraternita della Giustizia in Perugia dal 1374 al 1870" (Tesi di laurea, Perugia: Università degli Studi, 1971); Clara Cutini, ―I condannati a morte e l‘attività assistenziale della Confraternita della Giustizia di Perugia,‖ BDSPU 82 (1985): 173-186; Teza, "―il Perugino e la confraternita di San Bernardino.‖ 326 A. Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche perugine tratto dalla Cancelleria Decemvirale‖ in Archivio per la storia ecclesiastica dell‟Umbria 5 (1921): 62, for the year 1458. 327 Municipal decree of 19th June 1458. See ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1458. Twenty pounds of wax were granted to the brotherhood for St. Andrew‘s feast-day. It was changed to a perpetual allowance with the law of 26th November 1459. See ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1459, f. 152v. 112 confraternities, they dressed in their white robes when they gathered every Sunday, buried their dead members, regularly recited prayers for them, confessed twice a year, celebrated the feast of their patron saint and participated in general processions.328 Their altarpiece painted by Bartolomeo Caporali in 1475 shows three brothers wearing their white robes (fig. 36). 329 Many matricole (books of registration and regulations) stipulate wearing this habit for processions and gatherings and include a provision defining the office of the ―vestuario‖ who is responsible for maintaining and handing out the robes.330 Caring for the condemned was the most visible and theatrical activity of this brotherhood. For these activities, they left behind their white robes and donned instead their special black outfits, covering their heads with a black hood. The funding of these black robes by the Commune acknowledged the essential civic service that the brothers performed on behalf of the community of Perugians.331 Like their equals in other cities, they visited the condemned in jail and preached to them, seeking a full confession. For this difficult task, they used small double-sided panels with the Crucifixion on one side and a scene of the Lamentation or the Deposition on the other (fig. 38a-b). The night preceding the execution, a few brothers drawn by lot would spend the night in the criminal‘s cell. If the prisoner accepted his fate, the brothers would then bring their hired priest in. The next day, at dawn, all members would participate in the sombre procession to the site of the execution. It was part of their devotional mandate and a compulsory activity. It was the brothers who, at the 328 See the 1525 Statutes of the Confraternity, especially chapters 5 (confession and communion); 12 & 16 (mass for the dead); 15 (funerals); 22 (feast of Sant‘Andrea) transcribed in Cancian, "La Confraternità di S. Andrea e San Bernardino," 63-103, from BAP, ms. 952. 329 One of them, kneeling on Mary‘s right is seen from the back. It looks as if he is wearing his black robe underneath his white habit, therefore indicating both aspects of the pious activities but this could be due to a repainting. On this altarpiece, see Bury, "Bartolomeo Caporali,‖ 469-75. 330 For example, § XXVIII: De l‘ufitio de li vestuarii in the 1525 statutes of the Confraternity of S. Andrea della Giustizia, transcribed in Cancian, "La Confraternità di S. Andrea e San Bernardino;" 98-99. 331 On 25th November 1459, a law was passed on the purchase of these robes by the Commune and endorsed the next day: Riformanze, f. 151v-152r and 26th November 1459, f. 152v: Bullettinum disciplinatorum Iustitie: ―quos 8 floreni debeant expendere pro uno mantello, caputeo, sacchetto et palio colens negri retinendis per ipsos ad usum illorum qui vadunt ad iustitiam.‖ 113 end of the day, recovered the corpse and took care of burying it in an adequate grave, usually close to the execution site.332 Following Van Gennep‘s tripartite analytical scheme, we may take the criminal‘s seclusion as a ritual separation from society and the nocturnal visit of the Giustizia brothers as a liminal phase. The ritualised activities of that second phase unfolded during the night and on the way to the scaffold at dawn. They were geared towards the repentance of the condemned and were filled with uncertainty as to the successful outcome of the ritual endeavours. The subsequent rite of incorporation was a peculiar one because of the dishonourable burial that all criminals were seen to deserve. The corpse was usually exposed for the whole day and then hastily buried, by dusk or night fall, in a special pit. This act of charity also included 15 Paternosters and 15 Ave Marias recited by the confratelli for the soul of the executed, a mandatory prescription specified in the group‘s statutes. Burying the bodies of the damned and praying for their souls were preventive measures that avoided the terrifying return on earth of the menacing ghosts of the executed.333 The rituals that comforting societies such as this one performed had thus a crucial mission: saving the living from haunting and maleficent souls. Consequently, rather than incorporation into Purgatory, burial rite with formal prayers were meant to eliminate the potential harm that the ghost of the condemned may inflict on the living. Capital punishment symbolized the regime‘s authority in deciding upon people‘s death and mode of interment and the ritual intervention of the Giustizia brothers reinforced the established order. It also dramatized in the open sphere the purifying process undertaken by the government for the public good. As I mentioned in Chapter One, the precise unfolding 332 For similar arrangements in Rome, see: J. Weisz, Pittura e Misericordia, The Oratory of S. Giovanni Decollato in Rome (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1982), 3-8 and S. Edgerton, Pictures and Punishment, 165-179. For a range of dishonourable burials in Reformation Germany, see Koslofsky, The Reformation of the Dead, 102-104. 333 19. J.C. Schmitt, Les revenants. Les vivants et les morts dans la société médiévale (Paris: Gallimard, 1994), 15- 114 of auditory signals and visual cues for each condemnation reiterated the Commune‘s power of decision-making. The communal bell tolled three times and a city trumpeter heralded the reading aloud of the fatal sentence. The criminal was led around the fountain and then marched onto the gallows, situated outside the city walls, unless he was executed on the main piazza as a state traitor. The Podestà‘s or Capitano‘s civic flag that had first signalled the event preceded the cortège.334 Adding to the public spectacle of civic power, the confratelli escorted criminals to the execution site with the same visual aids that had been used in the privacy of the prison. They followed their banner and crucifix while carrying small tavolette that they kept close to the face of the condemned.335 These devotional props recalled Christ‘s suffering so that the sinful, wretched creatures walking to their death would be moved to repent and save their souls from hell, even at the last minute. In the famous depiction of the execution of Savonarola (1494), confraternal members are performing this heart-to-heart sermon while holding small panels and walking to the stake where a blazing bonfire awaits the condemned (fig. 37).336 Four such double-sided tablets from the Perugian confraternity are extant and date from the sixteenth century (fig. 38a-b).337 They are simple square paintings with a handle for easy portability and were not overly costly. They are smaller in size than the Bernardinian tavolette of Chapter Four and their imagery is more detailed. 334 For a description of these ritual practices in 1457, see Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 303-4. 335 See the 1525 Statutes of the Confraternity, chapter 17: De l‘ordine del gire ale Iustizie, transcribed in Cancian, 83-84. The use of the tavolette does not appear in their statutes and is otherwise not documented. 336 The artist for this painting of ca. 1500 is unknown. It is kept in the Museo San Marco in Florence. For a description of this painting, see Edgerton, Pictures and punishment, 135-139. 337 See Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 85, entry 73 (last quarter of sixteenth century); 179-180, entries 175-177 (mid-sixteenth century or earlier). Pompeo Cocchi was paid five scudi for a tavoletta in 1551. Ibid., 179, entry 175. 115 The appearance of these Perugian flagellants in their black garb was eye-catching, especially with such props as the tavolette that were unique to this confraternity.338 Edgerton argues that these processional panels allowed the brothers to comfort the criminal both spiritually and psychologically because they hid the sight of the executioner, thereby sparing the condemned some anxiety. It also reduced the risk of a panic attack that would have endangered the hoped-for conversion or recanting. The repenting criminals may have kissed the pictures, giving an even more dramatic twist to the processional use of these images. Bystanders were able to catch a glimpse of the other side of the tavoletta and the pious depiction of Christ‘ suffering may have had the effect of victimizing the criminal, turning him into a wretched figure undergoing martyrdom. These tablets thus elicited feelings of forgiveness and devotion rather than hatred from the spectators.339 It was crucial for the brothers to obtain conversion. On an economic level, their work of persuasion generated financial benefits because criminals were encouraged to write in their will bequests to religious houses or to the confraternity itself.340 From a social point of view, conversions were a proof of the community‘s success in saving souls, therefore gaining it prestige in regards to other confraternities. The Compagnia del Crocefisso in Palermo was adamant in getting a written statement, a ―discharge of conscience,‖ from each criminal but the brothers did not deal with those who had been condemned by the Inquisition tribunal. This attitude was justified by the 338 Not all confraternities in charge of the condemned wore black and owned painted tablets. The Bianchi of Palermo wore white robes and carried a crucifix but they did not seem to have had any tavolette, as far as I gather from Bella‘s La pura verità. The Florentine Confraternity of Santa Maria della Croce and Ferrarese sodalities comforting the condemned wore black hence their nickname the ―Neri‖ but the other Florentine Confraternity of the Misericordia had red robes until 1497. See S. Edgerton, Pictures and Punishment, and for Ferrara, A. Prosperi, ―Mediatori di emozioni. La compagnia ferrarese di giustizia e l‘uso delle immagine,‖ in J. Bentini and A. Spezzaferro, eds., L'impresa di Alfonso II, Saggi e documenti sulla produzione artistica a Ferrara nel secondo Cinquecento (Bologna: Alfa, 1987), 279-292. 339 Prosperi, ibid, 287 and by the same author, ―Il sangue e l‘anima. Ricerche sulle compagnie di Giustizia in Italia‖ in Quaderni di Storia, 51 (1982): 960-999 340 See Cutini, ―La confraternita della Giustizia di Perugia,‖ 181. 116 likely impenitence of these criminals. Thus, by excluding them, the confraternity did not risk the spectacle of public failure.341 The staging of a public appearance for the executions was clearly spelled out in the confraternity‘ s statutes and it made them appear as a tightly-knit group of anonymous individuals on a noble and pious mission. This is the impression given by a miniature from De Sphaera (fig. 39), showing a fictive execution scene in the presence of a similar-looking confraternity whose white-robed members kneel compactly behind their standard while showing the condemned a tavoletta. These symbolic trappings (robes, tavoletta, standard) characterize the group and allow its members to proclaim their corporate identity in the open. The De Spherae image suggests that a banner attached to a cross, special clothing, and a tavoletta are the items without which a confraternity like Sant‘Andrea della Giustizia would not be able to enact its pious responsibilities. Paradoxically, while the Perugian banner of the Confraternity of Sant‘Andrea is documented, it has not survived. The extant tavolette of the confraternity do not appear in their statutes, however, tangible evidence for their use is provided by the four extant tavolette (fig. 38a-b) whose poor state of preservation speaks to their frequent manipulation.342 These paintings were ostensibly functional items for the condemned but because only the confratelli of Sant‘Andrea handled them, these tablets were part of the members‘ corporate identity. Painted on both sides, these mirror-like objects reflected back to the brothers who used them their own collective charitable mission, thereby reinforcing their ties to each other and to their group. A banner commissioned in 1496 by the brothers of San Bernardino to Perugino was long believed to belong to the Confraternity of Sant‘Andrea (fig. 40). 343 It shows the Virgin 341 On this confraternity founded in 1541, see Maria Pia Bella, La pura verità, 21-22. 342 The only textual evidence is a notarised payment to artist Pompeo Cocchi in 1551 for one tablet and a report by Serafino Siepi of the presence of six such tablets in the sacristy of the confraternity‘s oratory in 1822. 343 Dehmer excludes this painting from his corpus of banners on account of its wooden medium, a not unproblematic stance as he himself admits. See Bruderschaftsbanner, 46-7, and bibliographic references, 47, n. 117 Mary and the Christ Child hovering in the sky while San Bernardino and Saint Francis kneel in prayer on the ground on each side. Its modern name, the Gonfalone della Giustizia is a misnomer, if alone because Sant‘Andrea does not appear on it. It received its deluding name because the Confraternities of Sant‘Andrea and of San Bernardino merged in 1537, joining their possessions.344 This change of identity was expressed by a modified name (―Confraternita di Sant‘Andrea e San Bernardino‖), the first provision of their new statutes (1537). At that time, they commissioned a new gonfalone that had to be carried ―together with the cross‖ and show both patron saints.345 Neither the old banner of the Confraternity of Sant‘Andrea nor the new one made in 1537 are preserved. This is not surprising, because as ordinary banners they were repainted often or replaced once worn out. Ordinary banners were used for processions and sometimes inside the premises of the confraternity but they were not venerated in public churches for their miraculous properties, unlike the ―extraordinary‖ banners that I describe in Chapter Three. Extant ordinary banners (kept in museums or churches) benefited from fortunate circumstances pertaining either to art appreciation (see introduction) or to the fact that they were placed above an altar for confraternal cults, or both.346 A stationary position above a properly outfitted altar was the best way to extend the life of a fragile painting on cloth that lasted at most a few decades. If a confraternity endured severe economic conditions, using its banner above the altar was a cheap, but perfectly adequate, means to adorn its sacred space. Or, a confraternity may simply have desired to 28. See also Antenucci Becherer, "Madonna della Giustizia," in Pietro Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance, 184-7. 344 Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 46, endorses the traditional view for the patronage of this gonfalone, adding that it was not a processional banner because of its rounded top. 345 346 Statutes of 1537, transcribed in Cancian, 46. The Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria has kept a number of processional paintings executed by Perugino for local confraternities: the Gonfalone di San Francesco, the Pietà, and the panel for Santa Maria Novella that had a double function (processional and devotional). See entries in Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 102107; 101-102; 98-99. 118 conserve its old banner out of reverence and devotional attachment to it, and did so by elevating it to the status of an altarpiece. The motives may differ for each case, calling for micro-history studies of the afterlife of confraternal gonfaloni.347 The so-called Gonfalone della Giustizia was placed, most probably on account of the fame of its creator, above the main altar of the new oratory situated in the back room of the Oratory of San Bernardino. This location and the name of Perugino explain the preservation of the ordinary banner that originally belonged to the Confraternity of San Bernardino.348 To mark their new identity, the newly joined brothers called their association ‗Confraternita di Sant‘Andrea e di San Bernardino‘ and immediately secured the making of a new (non extant) banner that showed both saints. Thus, there is a close interrelation between naming and symbolically visualizing this name. The third provision of their founding statutes deals with carrying the statue of San Bernardino topped by a canopy in procession. In brief, the new identity of this group was asserted first verbally and then visually through symbolic representations (in form of writing and an object) that advertised group solidarity in the open. The union of the two confraternities was rightly described by the Priori‘s council minutes as having achieved the making of ―one body.‖349 Advertising single-group identity in funerals Funerals staged by a group for one of their members always appeared as a declaration of collective identity for the deceased and as a public manifestation of solidarity for the group itself. An important advantage of membership in a guild or a confraternity was the guarantee 347 In the case of extraordinary banners, permanent placement above an altar did not preclude their occasional processional use because ritual motion was an inherent part of their power. 348 In his 1597 guidebook, Crispolti describes this spatial arrangements as ―Nella compagnia della Giustizia, che sta congiunta a quella di San Bernardino, la tavola dell‘altar grande è di maestro Pietro Perugino.‖ See Laura Teza, Raccolta delle cose segnalate di Cesare Crispolti: la più antica guida di Perugia (1597) (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2001), 100. 349 ―hanno facto una unione e un corpo.‖ Riformanze, 13th January 1537, f. 64. Transcribed in Cancian, 49 ff. 119 of a proper Christian burial for any member, including immediate relatives, regardless of one‘s position within the association or one‘s financial situation. Members of a ―compagnia,‖ a ―fraterneta,‖ a ―corpo,‖ or a ―collegio‖ were allowed more wax for their obsequies than independent burials (say, those organized by the parish) because these candles and tapers were meant as a donation to the clergy.350 The group banner often preceded the cortège announcing corporate identity and allegiance. However, some confraternities used a black flag rather than their banner for funerals.351 All guild or confraternity statutes include several provisions on funerals that clearly illustrate the typical three stages of rites of passage.352 Van Gennep‘s opening remark in his chapter on funerals fits late medieval practices well: separation rites from one status to another were ―few in number and simple‖ while the transition rites had a considerable ―duration and complexity.‖353 Typically, all fellow-members were required to participate in the burial procession from the deceased‘s home to his chosen church cemetery or to a grave owned by the group (―separation phase‖).354 The liminal stage corresponded to the procession 350 These groups were allowed to carry two more tapers on top of the three ―doppieri‖ weighing eight pounds maximum that any individual may have for his funeral. Salem, Statuto, III: 309, §230. 15-16. For an example of the statutory provisions of a guild on funerals, see the ―matricola‖ of the goldsmiths of 1378, transcribed in F. Santi, Statuto e Matricola dell‟Arte degli orefici di Perugia, BDSPU 50 (1953), 145-177, in particular, chapters 5, 9, 39, 40. 351 For guild banners used in funerals from the late 14 th to the 16th centuries, see C. Daniell, Death and Burial in Medieval England. 1066-1550 (London and New York: Routledge, 1997), 42-46. For the documented use of confraternity banners in burials, see examples in Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 116-119. Dehmer also provides two examples of confraternities (from Venice in 1450 and from Udine in 1547) that used a special funerary flag, respectively showing the patron saint and all black (―vexillum nigrum portandum in funeralibus‖) rather than their ordinary banner. Ibid., 132 and 279. I have not found any evidence for the use of banners in guild or confraternity burials in Perugia, maybe because it was taken for granted or because it did not require a statutory provision. 352 For the decorum of funeral rites in the confraternities of Borgo San Sepolcro between Umbria and Tuscany, see James Banker, "Death and Christian Charity in the Confraternities of the Upper Tiber Valley," in T. Verdon and J. Henderson, eds., Christianity and the Renaissance (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1990), 303-27. 353 354 Van Gennep, Rites, 146. Robert Dinn analyses mortuary practices for individuals in an English city differently: he includes in the separation phase the rites that took place at the death bed (extreme unction; preparation of the corpse; bell ringing) while he splits the liminal phase into three events (procession to the church; liturgical accompaniment; procession from the church to the grave). See R. Dinn, ―Death and rebirth in medieval Bury St Edmunds,‖ in S. Bassett, ed., Death in Towns. Urban Responses to the Dying and the Dead, 100-1600 (London and New York: Leicester University Press, 1992), 151-169. 120 through town of the group members escorting the coffin on a bier to the burial site. It was the most important phase of the ritual for the living because the members demonstrated their group solidarity to themselves and to the city inhabitants. Guilds and confraternities usually provided essential artefacts such as the bier, the pall, wax, or payment to the clergy. The weight and price of tapers or candles were stipulated in testaments and confraternity statutes.355 As to the deceased, his membership to a specific group was highlighted then as his primary identity. A guild often required the shops in its own business category to close during the funeral, thus making the importance of ritual time tangible with a breach in the daily work routine. ―Incorporation‖ was effected with the actual interment and prayers said for the soul of the deceased who would be remembered at least once a year when members gathered in their premises to honor their dead with a mass, chants, orations, and lit tapers. Such guild- or confraternity-sponsored funeral processions were a familiar sight in medieval and renaissance Italy and they offered a show of collegial solidarity. Group members paid homage to their dead fellow by participating in and respecting ritual proceedings such as emphasizing the slow pace adopted by the cortège and displaying somber, decorous paraphernalia. Confraternities must have offered an even more striking performance. Holding large tapers and candles, their members sang lauds or recited salutary prayers on behalf of the deceased‘s soul. Processional rhythms furthered the expression of group cohesion: all similarly robed, they walked at the same pace and in order, appearing as a compact group behind their banner or a black flag, and a special cross adorned with a ‗benda‘ (small flag).356 They thus guaranteed a certain degree of pomp whatever the social status of their deceased members. Once outdoors, confraternal associations certainly appeared as a 355 See Cohn, The Cult of Remembrance, « Funerals », 122-133. In Florence, the flagellant societies provided sixteen hooded men to accompany the bier while singing a penitential psalm and holding a blazing taper. John Henderson, Piety and Charity in Late Medieval Florence (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1994), 160. 356 The banner of the confraternity was often attached to a cross and cloths (―bende‖) were often attached to processional crosses. 121 tightly-knit group thanks to the assertive presence of their members. However, one should not forget that ostracization was a common practice in confraternal circles and these public and private demonstrations of piety were not showered upon excluded members.357 Funerals fused tangible signs of identity with shared and consensual activities of the body (a collective forward motion, and for confraternities, chanting voices). Funerals are therefore an example of how rituals, through repetition and the display of symbols, allowed cognitive processes to take place, shaping and maintaining group identity for members and for the outsider witnesses alike. The same can be said about the funerals of high-ranking citizens because they entailed a specific protocol that included a lavish display of symbolic paraphernalia. I now move from the function of artefacts in building the solidarity of single groups to the role of ritual objects in asserting the dominant identity of a familial clan and in generating an image of a unified urban and rural population. Elite funerals: constructing relationships of authority and submission In great contrast to everyday burials, the extravagant funerals of the urban elite consisted of multiple ceremonies over the course of several days, without any sumptuary restrictions.358 Chroniclers, struck by them, recorded such events and sometimes described them in great detail. Such is the case of the 1437 funeral of a member of the prominent Baglioni family from Perugia, Malatesta di Pandolfo, with its sequence of three major events: burial procession and interment (―sepoltura‖), wake-procession (―gran corrotto‖), and 357 Having examined expulsion rates and limits to the benefits of confraternity members, Joëlle Rollo-Koster warns against the idea of confraternities as a surrogate family. J. Rollo-Koster, "Death and the Fraternity. A Short Study on the Dead in Late Medieval Confraternities," Confraternitas 9, no. 1 (1998): 3-12. 358 I do not deal with the parish funerals of patricians of middling wealth, an in-between category beyond the scope of this dissertation. For temporal contrasts between pauper burials and elite funerals in London and Paris, see V. Harding, The Dead and the Living in Paris and London, 1500-1670 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2002), 184-8. 122 obsequies (―obsequio‖).359 Behind the sixteenth-century chronicler‘s detached and factual tone relating the presence of numerous groups and trappings lies a vivid example of the role of ritual in representing and maintaining collective identities within a fixed hierarchy and clear patterns of subordination. Symbolic representations are an integral part of this process but the chronicler really describes them for the culmination of the funeral proceedings, the ―gran corrotto.‖ I have tried to illustrate the missing accounts of ritual objects by providing apposite pictures of them. However, I also regard non tangible ephemera, such as collective kinetics, body gestures, and sounds as ―symbolic representations‖. On Saturday January 26 [1437], at 4pm, the body of Malatesta arrived in Perugia and all shops and businesses were closed in the main piazza. Many lords and gentleman and ladies [gentilomini e gentildonne] as well as many women with their hair dishevelled gathered as they were crying and met the body between the two gates where there were Nello Baglioni [brother of the deceased] and Mariotto and all the rest of the Baglioni. Madonna Giapecha, the wife of the said Malatesta and her sons and retainers, people from Spello and from Canaia [Cannara] and from Bastia, men and women were there too and they lamented in great grief [facendo grandissimo corrotto]. They lay the body in state at San Domenico and left it there while the lords and gentlemen returned to Malatesta‘s home and others to their own house. The next evening, the said body was transported to the conventual church of San Francesco where it was buried in a tomb. (…).360 Burial was a priority because of sanitary requirements but also because of the belief that the body needed to be interred in consecrated ground so that the living could be able to intercede for the suffering soul. Therefore, the first imperative was to bury the corpse with the proper Christian rites as soon as possible. The sole exception is when an elite corpse lay in state, duly preserved, several days or weeks for public veneration, such as occurred at the death of Bernardino da Siena in L‘Aquila. Usually, a lavish procession was held to 359 ―Corrotto‖ literally means ―lamentation‖ or ―grief‖ but it also translates, as can be gathered from primary sources, as a lavish funerary procession with much wailing, hence my expression of ―procession-wake.‖ Charles Du Cange understands under corruptus / corructus ―loud wailing voices.‖ He also mentions the possible meaning of ―mourning clothes‖ but this does not fit my primary sources. C. Du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis (Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1954 [1678]) II, 583. 360 ―Diario del Graziani‖, 412. The translation is mine; for the original Italian, see appendix 14. For the years 1423-1491, the diary of Graziani is based on a fifteenth-century chronicle published by Fabretti as ―Diario di Antonio dei Veghi,‖in Cronache II: 1-70. Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita‖, I: 65-66, argues that A. dei Veghi is only the compiler of the chronicle that was actually written by Antonio dei Guarneglie. 123 accompany the deceased, who was dressed in his best clothes, to the burial location.361 In terms of Van Gennep‘s analytic terms for rites of passage, this phase corresponds to the separation from the cultural order.362 The dead is physically detached from the living by its interment. But in Malatesta‘s case, the pattern stands on its head. There is first a ritual gathering, a rite of inclusion with relatives and citizens greeting the dead body at the city gate and escorting it to an intermediary church (San Domenico). The late Malatesta was thus celebrated according to his princely rank and his body was treated in the same way as ritual entries. He was showered with a lavish and honorable reception similar to that of highranking visitors who once they reached the city gates were accompanied into the city by a procession (see below, ―Papal entries‖). A member of the aristocratic faction and a condottiere, Malatesta fought the ―Popolari‖ regime of his native Perugia until his chief commander, Braccio Fortebraccio, overtook power in Perugia and much of Umbria in 1411. When Braccio died in 1424, Malatesta changed allegiance and rallied to the papal side (appendix 1). His political fortune was launched when he successfully negotiated a peace treaty between Perugia and pope Martin V who rewarded him and his brother Nello with the government of Spello in 1425 and, for Malatesta, the vicariate of Cannara in 1427. In addition to the acquisition of these two fortified towns 20 km away from Perugia, the neighboring Bastia surrended in 1431. 363 This means that ―Malatesta I‖ ruled over a territory that was sandwiched between the Perugian contado and princely Foligno. The presence of Malatesta‘s subjects from Spello, Cannara, and Bastia at their lord‘s Perugian funeral entry signified their loyalty to the 361 I have not found records of open displays of the beautified corpse in sumptuous burial garb for Perugia. Perugians shared with Florentines little interest for preserving the corpse through evisceration and embalmment. For examples of this rare practice in Florence, see Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 45-48. 362 363 Van Gennep, Rites of Passage, chapter ―Funerals,‖ 146-165. Peter Partner, "Comuni e vicariato nello Stato Pontificio al tempo di Martino V," in Giorgio Chittolini, ed., La crisi degli ordinamenti comunali e le origini dello stato del Rinascimento (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1979), 22761, here 237 and Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (Rome: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, 1963), 229-230. 124 Baglioni and stressed the importance of this family in the Umbrian capital. Unlike confraternity or guild funerals, funerals of the elite attracted huge crowds (altra gente assai / molta gente) and were a grand occasion for clans to display their power. We will see how the mourning Baglioni managed to steer the audience in admiration of their clan. In his description of the solemn entry of Malatesta‘s coffin into Perugia, the chronicler focused on the ritual of lamentation (faciendo grandissimo corrotto). The most dramatic sights accompanying the shrieking displays of grief were the ladies‘ dishevelled coiffure: female mourners impetuously pulled at their hair while wailing in sign of mourning. The presence of women must be noted because women were not allowed to attend burial processions but they were accepted in pre- or post-burial ―corrotti.‖ Their public display of passionate grief was acceptable because these honest women were acting in a ritual context. Such loud and violent self-disfiguring, mentioned in the Bible and documented in antiquity, was condemned by the Church and fined by city statutes throughout Europe, but it continued until the sixteenth century.364 Perugian law explicitly forbade for both sexes scratching one‘s face and taking one‘s headdress off which shows that it was not necessarily a gendered (female) activity.365 Danièle Alexandre-Bidon remarked that while the Church characterized passionate manifestations of grief as female hysteria, many French texts attest to this practice as non-gendered. Diane Owen Hughes‘s research also documents male lamentation in Italian cities.366 Similar practices of excessive grieving including defacement and loud wailing is described in late medieval and renaissance Spain for both sexes. Thus, one should revise the 364 For biblical references on lamentation rituals and examples from hagiography and sermons, see M. Lauwers, La mémoire des ancêtres, le souci des morts. Morts, rites et société au moyen âge (Diocèse de Liège, XIe-XIIIe siècles) (Paris : Beauchesne, 1997), 446-452. For this gendered activity in Ancient Greece, see Margaret Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974). 365 Perugian Statutes of 1279, § 379, repeated in the Statutes of 1285, § 375: ―Nullus insuper (...) presumat, capillos de capite sibi extrahere, vel faciem seu vestem dilaniare, guililmentum vel infulam vel caputium de capite sibi extrahere.‖ See Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione suntuaria, 46. 366 D. Alexandre-Bidon, « Gestes et expressions du deuil » in: A reveiller les morts. La mort au quotidien dans l‟Occident médiéval (Lyon : Presses universitaires de Lyon, 1993), 121-133, here, 133. Diane Owen Hughes, "Mourning Rites, Memory, and Civilization in Premodern Italy," in Jacques Chiffoleau et al., eds., Riti e rituali nelle società medievali (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo, 1994), 23-38. 125 statement that ―codified grief is the preserve of women.‖367 Another testimony for male frantic gesticulation is Leonardo da Vinci‘s advice in his Treatise on Painting: ―He who weeps also tears his garments and hair with his hands, and scratches his face with his fingernails.‖368 These vehement gestures of frenzied mourners are well-established motifs in the visual arts since antiquity. In the Middle ages and the Renaissance, they particularly appear in scenes such as the Crucifixion, the Lamentation, or the Entombment for figures who are less sacred. Perugian artist Bernardino di Mariotto shows exactly this ritual behavior in his early sixteenth-century Deposition: the two angels scratch their faces and a woman on the left behind Mary Magdalene bends over while tearing her hair (fig. 41). Artists‘ inspiration could draw from classical motifs or for Renaissance sculptors such as Donatello and Riccio, from ―expressive tendencies that permeated the art of the period.‖369 I would add that these artistic traditions were largely based on the observation of actual mourning practices. However, gender segregation did exist in funeral proceedings. While female lamentation was tolerated in the early and later stages of the mortuary rituals, women were excluded from the burial procession in Perugia as in Northern and Central Italy, a typical feature of the marginalization of women.370 The rite of incorporation is followed by a transitional period including the overnight exposition in state of the corpse in San Domenico and the burial procession the following 367 See L. Vivanco, Death in fifteenth-century Castile: Ideologies of the Elites (Tamesis, Woodbridge, 2004), 154-160. Diane Owen Hughes, "Mourning Rites, Memory, and Civilization in Premodern Italy," in Jacques Chiffoleau et al., eds., Riti e rituali nelle società medievali (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo, 1994), 23-38. The quote is from Binski, Medieval Death, 51. 368 Quoted in Moshe Barasch, Gestures of Despair in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art (New York: New York University Press, 1976), 115. This book offers many artistic representations of vehement mourning gestures such as throwing up the arms, tearing one‘s hair, and veiling the face. 369 For Bernardino di Mariotto‘s painting made for the Observant Franciscans of Sanseverino in the Marches, see V. Sgarbi, ed., I Pittori del Rinascimento a Sanseverino. Bernardino di Mariotto, Luca Signorelli, Pinturrichio (Milan: Motta, 2006), 136-7. The quote is from Barasch, ibid., 114. 370 Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 10-12. For the exclusion of women from Perugian burials, see the Perugian city statutes of 1366, a provision repeated down to the 1526 statutes. Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione Suntuaria, 82-83. 126 day. This customary practice of the vigil in a church is not reported in detail. Typically, the coffin was covered with a sumptuous pall and tapers burnt throughout the night as illuminations for the Office of the Dead in books of hours often show (fig. 42a-b). The procession accompanying the corpse to the burial church is not described but it traversed physically three rioni (out of five) along the main routes of the city, thus demonstrating the importance of the deceased to the population. Unfortunately, no more details are given, a typical feature of Perugian diarists who often limit their comments to the fact that the deceased was buried ―with great honor.‖371 On the other hand, the ―corrotto‖ or ―processionwake‖ that took place several days later is often described accurately.372 In Florentine chronicles, on the contrary, burial processions of the elite were minutely described while ―corrotti‖ with a cenotaph seem to be an exception.373 A ritual not recounted by the chronicler of Malatesta‘s funeral proceedings is what I propose to call the ―humiliation of flags‖ (―straginare le bandiere‖).374 During burial processions or later on, the standards and flags of territories or enemies that the deceased had conquered or the civic flags that symbolized the departed‘s political offices were held upside down by flag-bearers on horseback. They were dragged on the floor throughout the city in commemoration of the glorious bellicose feats of the departed, or to show mourning for the 371 For example, the funeral of Benedetto dei Guidalotti, a Perugian noble turned bishop of Recanati (d. 8th August 1429), see Diario del Graziani, 333 or Nello di Pandolfo, Malatesta‘s brother (d. 11th January 1457), Ibid., 631. 372 For example, if I read the chronicle correctly, Rugiero d‘Antignola (d. April 8, 1433) or the noble Francesco dei Copoglie (d. July 27, 1441). Ibid., 366; 469. 373 In Florentine chronicles, an wake-procession behind a bier ten days after the burial is mentioned for the later Trecento but ceremonies around an empty coffin are mentioned only in the case of bishop Coscia‘s candlestudded catafalque in the Florentine cathedral on December 30 th, 1419 while his body lay in state in the Baptistry. See Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 10; 134-143. 374 I use ―humiliation‖ here in comparison to the humiliation of relics in the middle ages, see Patrick Geary, Furta Sacra. Thefts of Relics in the central Middle Ages (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990 [1978]) and Lester Little, ―Anger in Monastic Curses‖ in: B. Rosenwein, ed., Anger's Past: the social uses of an emotion in the Middle Ages (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1998), 9-35. For Perugian examples of vexillological humiliation, see the ceremonies for Nello de Pandolfo Baglioni on January 28 th, 1457 (Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II: 324); for Carlo de Guido Oddi on 25 th December, 1459, two days after the burial and the day before the ―corotto‖ (ibid., II, 383); Galeotto de Nello Baglioni on 9th September, 1460, apparently just the burial (ibid., II, 396). 127 absence of his high-ranking person. The diary of Giovanni Sercambi provides two rare depictions of this funeral ritual (figs. 43a-b) in Tuscany. In both watercolored vignettes of ca. 1400, the cortège is about to enter the burial church. Two knights on caparisoned horses ride right behind the bier with their heads lowered. They have capsized the deceased lord‘s heraldic flags by tipping the staff backwards and holding it on their shoulders.375 This public performance was clearly a sign of honor, as, for example, during the mourning processions of Malatesta‘s relatives. The chronicles indicate that this ritual humiliation did not necessarily take place on the day of the burial. To commemorate Nello‘s death (Malatesta‘s brother) in 1457, this rite was executed with 21 flags, including the civic standard of Spello, more than two weeks after his burial in San Francesco al Prato and two days before the main ―corotto.‖ In December 1479, 43 flags were treated as such in the honor of Braccio Baglione (Malatesta I‘s son)‘s death and brought to Santa Maria dei Servi where his entrails were buried.376 The fact that these very flags were still visible well into the seventeenth century points to the continuity of their symbolism.377 The homage given by way of flags could even occur months after the death as, for example, the funerary commemorations of Boldrino and Malatesta III Baglioni (Malatesta I‘s grand-son) that took place in October 1487, although these young men had died in war respectively in June 1486 375 In the French royal funerals at the abbey of St. Denis, a similar ritual action was performed but without any forward motion. The king‘s banners were lowered into the open tomb with the cry ―the king is dead!‖ and then raised up again to hail long live to the new king. Sergio Bertelli, The King's Body. Sacred Rituals of Power in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, transl. R. Litchfield (University Park, Penn: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000), 54. This edition, translated by R. Burr Lichtfield, is preferable to the original Corpo del re (1990) because the author revised and enlarged it. 376 ―Diario di Antonio dei Veghi, ‖in Fabretti, Cronache II: 52: ―37 bandiere furono straginate per la città e sette stendardi, e furono appesi a Santa Maria dei Servi,‖ Diario del Graziani, reproducing Veghi‘s diary, 631. Fabretti, ―Memorie di Perugia 1454-1541,‖ in Cronache II: 105, reports a slightly different, but erroneous, account: it mentions 36 flags instead of 37 and mixes up San Francesco with Santa Maria dei Servi as the burial church for Braccio. 377 Girolamo Baglioni who copied a manuscript chronicle of Perugia informs the reader in a footnote that Braccio Baglione‘s standards were still in San Francesco as of June 1637. See ―Diario di Antonio dei Veghi,‖ in Fabretti, Cronache, II: 105, n. 1. Braccio Baglione‘s flags were probably transferred to San Francesco as the Servite church was destroyed in 1542. Corroborating my hypothesis is a mid-sixteenth chronicler‘s account according to who ―there were many flags of the Baglioni‖ in this church. See ―Memorie di Perugia di Giulio di Costantino,‖ in ibid., IV: 280. 128 and August 1487. Two standards and sixteen flags were dragged upside down by knights on horseback from the church of Monteluce, the site of the mortuary vigil, to the church of San Domenico where the secondary burial took place and where the flags were set up.378 In other contexts, this public display of upside-down flags could mean open rebellion or a ritual demonstration of military victory. In this case though, the flags were destroyed, ripped to pieces, or dashed to the ground.379 For example, after Ghibelline Siena‘s defeat in May 1358, the Perugian army hauled 48 Sienese flags upside down through the town, excepting only the standard of the emperor. Although a Guelph city, Perugians paid their respects to the German ruler by parading the imperial flag (a black eagle on a yellow ground) in an upright position between the Podestà and the Capitano del popolo. 380 This practice of the victors marked flags as their war booty and vilified the person or the territory symbolized by the flag (fig. 43c).381 It stood in exact opposition to the meaning of the funeral desecration ritual. One should note that only the tip of the flags brushed the floor (figs. 43a-b). It was therefore not a ritual of violence or destruction, unlike what happened to the canopy in ceremonial entries (see ―papal entries,‖ below) or in Spain, when the heraldic shields of deceased knights and kings were broken by the hooves of a horse mounted by a knight. 382 In 378 ―furono straginate le bandiere e stanno in San Domenico per memoria,‖ 21st October 1487. Malatesta III Baglioni had died while fighting the Germans in August 1487 while Boldrino Baglioni had passed away in June 1486. See ―Memorie di Perugia 1454-1541,‖ in Fabretti, Cronache II: 108. 379 For rebellions and the desecration of flags, see Samuel Cohn, Lust for Liberty, 182-183. 380 Fabretti, Cronache, I: 63 (―traginando in vilipendio tutte quelle bandiere, eccett‘una ch‘era dell‘Imperatore‖) and 179 (―Tutte [le bandiere] una dopo l‘altra alla rovescia, con il capo di sotto‖). This last chronicle specifies that the 48 flags consisted of 15 won from foot soldiers and 33 from horsemen. 381 Two further examples are provided by Bertelli, King‟s Body, 62 and 72: in 1237, the city of Cremona celebrated its victory over Milan with a grandiose triumph into the city dragging the standard of Milan in the dust. Giovanni Villani‘s chronicle reports that, in 1326, to celebrate the lord of Lucca‘s victory over Florence, the war chariot of the vanquished was paraded through Lucca with its communal banners placed upside down. To mark Venice‘s victory over Venice in 1397, the standards of the Visconti were dragged in the Venetian canals. See fig.43c and Bongi, Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, 38-39, §CCCCXCVI. 382 This rite, called ―correr les armes‖ in contemporary texts, is depicted in a stone relief from the sepulcher of King Ferdinand of Antequera (d. 1416) made by sculptor Pere Oller (Louvre Museum). For this custom, see Vivanco, Death in Fifteenth-century Castile, 152-155. 129 Italy and other countries, the desecrated flags were kept and hung in churches (fig. 44), claiming sacred space for the celebration of personal deeds. The rite of separation included, in Christian interment practices, burial in consecrated ground (a church or a church cemetery), providing a safe location for the body because the prayers for the soul of the deceased would have been said from that same church. The fact that Malatesta was buried inside a church was by itself a privilege of the wealthy. The church of San Francesco, the main Franciscan foundation in Perugia, was a pantheon for the Perugian nobility and it also contained the tomb of Braccio Fortebraccio, the city‘s once lord and Malatesta‘s brother-in-law, who had received lavish obsequies five years earlier, in 1432. Tombs and graves in the church provided sites for ongoing commemoration. Their architectonic presence or carvings asserted the privilege and status of the deceased while political or military leaders had a variety of colourful flags hanging over their tombs signalling their family, their office, or their conquests forming a strikingly visual attraction (fig. 44). I have analysed the first two days of the funeral proceedings as a sequence of inclusion-transition-separation. This period can also be seen as a single unit corresponding to the first phase, the separation of Malatesta from the physical world of the living. The next stage (the transition rite) was the main event, called the ―representation [of Malatesta‘s death]‖ and it had been scheduled a week after the burial (3rd February). On Saturday, 2nd February, in order to perform the representation [representazione] of the death of Malatesta, the son of the lord of Foligno came to Perugia with many people from that city. He was married to the daughter of the said Malatesta. Many Spellani came among whom 30 were dressed in black and a few in blue. Many others came from Bastia and Canaia despite a quite hazardous trip due to the amount of snow. And because the next day, Sunday, the said representation was supposed to take place, the piazza was shovelled and also the street of San Francesco so that one could walk through it with the ―corrotto.‖ On 3rd February, the said representation could not be performed because in the morning it started to snow terribly with huge amounts of snow. (…) What is more for the death of the good memory of Malatesta, it was ordered that, during the procession for San Costanzo, no horns should be blown from the end of the piazza to the stairs of Sant‘Ercolano.383 383 Diario del Graziani, 412-413 and appendix 14. 130 Malatesta‘s death coincided with the two-day celebrations for one of Perugia‘s patron saints, San Costanzo, with first a torchlight general procession on 28th January and a daylight procession on 29th January. But it is not this busy calendar with the mandatory participation of the city inhabitants that explains why the wake did not take place right away. Post-burial ceremonies were set up only for high-ranking personages and much time was required for the preparation of a lavish ritual. During the festivities for San Costanzo, homage was paid to Malatesta by silencing the loud wind instruments for part of the processional route. This unusual practice unexpectedly affecting the population‘s sensory perception of the traditional march must have reminded the Perugians of the cause or prompted them to inquire. On Tuesday February 5th, after breakfast, the said ―corrotto‖ and representation of the death of Malatesta was performed. And first, an over five-foot high catafalque was erected in the church of San Sydero. The coffin was covered with a gold brocaded blue cloth adorned by flaps [bendoni, cioè drapelloni] with Malatesta‘s arms, except in the front where the Annunciation was painted with below it Saint Francis flanked by, on one side Saint Joseph, and on the other side Saint Anthony, and all the remaining flaps showed Malatesta‘s coat of arms, that is the ‗bagliona‘. Afterwards, that same morning, in the said church of San Sydero, there at the end of the piazza, a requiem mass was sung with a few extra masses for the dead and from the head to the foot of the said catafalque, four torches were lit until the end of the office.384 That day corresponds to the transitional period or liminality, a time of ambiguity in which the ritual may fail to achieve social cohesion if the social status of the deceased is challenged or not properly acknowledged.385 The temporal, visual, and spatial contexts of funeral rituals could, if used appropriately, assert and even legitimise authority. Rituals were often an opportunity for the civic authorities to control and impose the urban timeframe on the population. With shops and businesses ordered to close, as was the case here, the inhabitants could either join or watch the ceremonies. In turn, setting up a temporal change in urban rhythms distinguished the deceased. The success of the ―corrotto‖ meant that 384 Ibid., 413. 385 See Turner, The Ritual Process, 94-130 (―Liminality and Communitas‖). 131 Malatesta‘s authority would not be challenged so that his brother and his brother‘s sons could overtake the government of his inherited territories, as was laid out by the papal grant of 1425. To assert this political continuity, it was necessary to establish a ceremonial setting with spectacular props that acted as an assertive ―representation‖ of the deceased. Thus, the visual attraction of the ―corrotto‖ was the catafalque (―cassa‖) on top of which lay the empty coffin ―so that everyone could see.‖386 The dead body of Malatesta was physically absent since it has been already interred, but it was symbolically present through the indispensable furnishing of a funeral, a coffin covered by a sumptuous pall. This cover, made of blue silk woven with gold threads, was meant to impress the viewers. It indicated Malatesta‘s elevated social position and his exemption from sumptuary laws. Ordinary funerals displayed instead a simple pall made of linen or wool of a solid color (mostly black). Confraternity inventories often mention this ―coltre da morto‖ (see appendices 6a-d) that could have a variety of hues.387 In contrast, wealthy individuals or even simple priests often requested through their testament a pall made of sumptuous brocaded silk, a cloth that they would never have worn in their lifetime. These precious textiles were eventually donated to the burial church and turned into a vestment.388 Very few examples of such palls have survived. Fig. 45 is one of ten extant coffin covers for pre-reformation England. Its top is made of an Italian red brocade with the griccia pattern, a cloth worn by the Virgin Mary on some extraordinary banners (see Chapter Three and figs. 51; 53; 55; 56; 57). Like Malatesta‘s, this pall shows saints on its flaps and the deceased‘s coat of arms. The piety and the familial identity of the deceased are thus visually 386 In 1398, ―a ciò che ogni homo potesse vedere,‖ the hearse for for Biordo Michelotti (the lord of Perugia)‘s funeral, the hearse was set on a platform (―palco‖). Diario del Graziani, 268. 387 The inventories of the Nunziata confraternity mention a yellow and turchese « palio » for the bier in 1553 and 1561. See appendices 6d. 388 F. Piponnier and P. Mane, Se vêtir au Moyen Age (Paris : Adam Biro, 1995), 136-7 and F. Piponier, ―Les étoffes du deuil‖ in A reveiller les morts, 135-140, here 135. 132 stated. Malatesta‘s pall was slightly different in its structure: rather than one-piece horizontal flaps on the long sides, it had a series of lambrequins (―bendoni‖) with his armorial device ostentatiously displayed on each of them. Such visually stunning paraphernalia was exceptional and always connoted the wealth and rank of the deceased, attracting visitors to the church and eliciting their deference. In addition, the four pricked tapers on the catafalque were continuously lit, enhancing the presentation of the coffin inside the church and making the sumptuous gold and blue brocaded pall glitter. The size of the church certainly limited attendance and close viewing, so a larger space was needed for the ―representazione‖ of Malatesta to stir emotions that had a wider political and social resonance. As in other elite funerals, the highlight of the day was the afternoon procession, the ―corrotto grande,‖ which took place with an even more edifying mise-en-scène in the open air. This ritual performance, in which actors and onlookers often merged roles, flabbergasted the chroniclers, as the following sequel of Malatesta‘s funeral demonstrates: After lunch, the said catafalque was placed at the end of the piazza in front of the church of San Sydero. Behind it, came first all the retainers of the [Malatesta Baglione‘s] house on horses. That is, first a horse-rider entirely dressed in black, and his horse was covered with [a] red [caparison] with an eye on it and he was holding a standard that also had an eye on it. And this was the coat of arms of the Commune of Spello. The horse-rider after him, similarly dressed in black, held the standard of the Commune of Canaia [Cannara] with the white griffon clutching a foliaged cane in its claws on a red field. Then, the third horse-rider was a retainer of Malatesta‘s and was all armed with white weapons. And all other retainers had caparisoned horses with the Baglioni‘s coat of arms and flags, all were dressed in black and they went throughout the city and the suburbs weeping with strident cries. Then the ―corrotto‖ of the peasants took place: first those from Colle and from Ponte San Giovanni, then those from Bastia and those from Canaia, and then those from Spello who were more than thirty, dressed in black and blue. Next were the peasant women and then the city women and the male citizens, almost all of them, and then the Priori and the bishop and others prelates. And the shops were closed. And in front of the catafalque, there were 30 pairs of big torches and another 30 pairs of smaller ones held by children. And the whole catafalque was set down three times with the howls and cries of the gentlemen and the women throughout the piazza. And 130 people were clothed in the Baglioni‘s livery, and the whole Perugian clergy was present.389 389 Diario del Graziani, 413-414 and appendix 14. 133 This narrative reads like a Geertzian ―thick description‖ and also recalls Victor Turner‘s method of recording the social settings for rituals, such as the preparation of the sacred site, space, props, and songs.390 The ―procession-wake‖ entailed pomp, orderly mass movements, and colorful symbolic objects in order to pay homage to Malatesta‘s and his successor‘s political authority. Malatesta‘s corrotto was spatially limited to a piazza with the catafalque winding its way followed by the mourners and stopping three times. It may seem odd that the awe for this ―cassa‖ and the agitation and grief recounted by the chronicler took place in front of an empty coffin. But the physical absence of the dead body was largely compensated for by prominent visual declarations of Malatesta‘s noble and clan identity.391 His coat of arms was reiterated on the caparisoned horses of the flag-bearers as well as on the livery of 130 people. This group of men was an extraordinary sight because no one was allowed to wear heraldic devices in public. At the time of signoria regimes, only the lord of Perugia and his household were exempted from such restrictions.392 Otherwise, only noble officials had a right to display their armorial bearings on clothing. For example, when the new Podestà, a Venetian noble, entered Perugia on 2nd November 1448, his 25 caparisoned horses, his eight pages (donzelli) dressed in livery, and his numerous flags made a great impression.393 Thus, the display of people in livery was a visual symbol of clan identity of high-ranking. 390 C. Geertz, ―Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,‖ in The Interpretation of Cultures, 3-30. 391 Funerary tributes to important figures were held in Perugia regardless of where death had occurred. For example, Braccio Fortebraccio, mentioned earlier, received lavish obsequies when his remains reached Perugia in 1432, i. e., eights years after his death in Rome. San Bernardino buried in L‘Aquila (1444) and pope Eugene IV buried in Rome (1447) were given a lavish ―corrotto‖ on the main Perugian piazza a few weeks after their death. Diario del Graziani, 360-1; 548-9; 589. 392 Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione Suntuaria, 99-100, entries 28: (De pena deferentium divisas) for the sumptuary law allowing ―divise‖ only for Biordo Michelotti‘s entourage (1394) and 118-121, entries 44-46, for Braccio Fortebraccio (1420). 393 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖, I: 374. 134 By raising Malatesta (by way of the coffin) above the crowd, the catafalque also symbolized, in a literal sense, his social elevation. Another assertion of his high rank was given by the many knights paying homage to him in their heraldic attire. They exuded the privileges of the nobility with their caparisoned horses and large flags. Only nobles were allowed to ride a horse for fighting - one of his household members rides ―all armed‖- and jousting, times in which they would display heraldic emblems. The contrast between first the riders, and then, people on foot showed straightforwardly this difference between upper and lower conditions. The honor that sixty huge tapers and sixty candles bestowed on Malatesta was exceptional and indicated his exemption from sumptuary laws. In an ordinary funeral, only display tree tapers (dupleria) weighing a maximum of eight pounds could be displayed as well as one one-pound candle per friar if present.394 While the poor seem at first to be excluded from this type of funeral, it was probably people of little means who carried these torches.395 The precisely described sequence of groups that followed the catafalque clearly shows how authority could be legitimised and what social hierarchy prevailed: symbols of Malatesta‘s estate, his retinue, his subjects, and the city of Perugia represented by its population and by its spiritual and political leaders. The first two flag-bearers represented the towns that Malatesta ruled by displaying a flag with each town‘s coat of arms that was repeated on the caparisoned horses. Dressed in black, they heralded collective mourning on behalf of these communities. Asserting political conquest and domination through the display of flags was a common act in funerals. For example, as the lord of Perugia Biordo Michelotti 394 Sumptuary provisions in the City Statutes limit the tapers to three of a maximum weight of 8 pounds each. See Salem, Statuto 1342, III: 309, § 230.15. 395 The poor would have received garments or food in exchange for their participation and for their beneficial prayers for the departed. Since poverty was idealized in Christian scriptures, the poor added religious symbolism to the cortège; they also swelled the numbers of the mourners. The practice of employing contingents of poor mourners was not regular in Florence. Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 64; 143. For examples in Spain, see Vivanco, Death in Fifteenth-century Castile, 147; for England, Daniell, Death and Burial in Medieval England, 52-57. 135 died (10th March 1398), the Commune took nine days to prepare his lavish corrotto, eventually spending a total of 334 florins.396 The same flamboyant and symbolic representations of power and honor that are paradigmatic of elite funerals were present: the choice of the main piazza, lit tapers around the tall catafalque (―as many as when the pope died‖), many gentlemen on horseback and flags, and black mourning garb. The heraldic flags with Biordo‘s coat of arms and a city flag, all paid for by the Commune, were hung in his burial church, San Francesco. Flags were important signifiers of rank and rule when displayed at funerals. For anyone other than the highest citizens, flags were banned from funeral rites.397 These simply patterned cloths were emblazoned with family, territorial, or corporate emblems and they symbolized political leadership, military conquest, or patrilineal identity. For the wake of Francesco dei Copoglie in July 1441, a catafalque was set up ―in pie alla piazza‖ and ―great honor was paid to him with the means of flags.‖ The two senate standards marked his two terms as a Roman senator, two Florentine standards, one from Bologna, one from Siena were present as he was buried in San Francesco.398 In April of that year, as condottiere Ruggiere Ranieri Cane was buried in the cathedral, twenty-five flags were placed in the choir of San Lorenzo.399 After the funeral ceremony of a military commander or a nobleman was over, his personal flags were placed in church vaults or around the tomb, attracting much attention because of their size and their vivid colors (fig. 44) They included military, civic, and 396 Diario del Graziani, 266-269. A silver basin (―bacinella d‘argento‖) was also commissioned by the Commune. In a later account, we hear that an equestrian statue of Biordo holding a baton was placed on a platform. It was removed in 1448 and left in the church cemetery. Diario del Graziani, 609. 397 Salem, Statuto 1342, §230.19, III: 340: ―E per nulla persona morta se porteno, né portare se deggano en bandiera overo gonfalone, né en clippeo overo scudo, quando se porterà el corpo morto a la sepultura (...)‖ 398 399 Diario del Graziani, 469-470. One was white with a red cross linked to his office for Venice and others had his personal coat of arms. Ibid., 468. Pellini, Dell‟Historia, II: 175. 136 heraldic vexilli, according to the status of the departed.400 Braccio da Montone‘s lavish funeral procession in 1432 included a city flag, a white flag with a gold leopard (that of Count Oddo, Braccio‘s son), and yellow flags with a black sheep, his personal heraldry. 401 Preacher Roberto da Lecce in 1448 heaped vituperation on the intrusive presence of such secular flags in a holy sphere and he succeeded in having them taken away (―levate‖) from Perugian churches, but this situation was short-lived.402 From the chronicler‘s detailed description of this major pan-urban operation, we learn that, among the removed flags, were Biordo Michelotti‘s, Ruggiere Ranieri Cane‘s, and Francesco dei Coppoglie‘s. The only flags that were kept were those of Braccio Fortebraccio because his sister who had married Malatesta opposed their removal. These preserved flags are a token of the Baglioni‘s steady rise to power continued when Malatesta‘s sons (Braccio Fortebraccio‘s nephews) repeatedly held important offices in the Perugian government.403 The next day [6th February], the obsequies of the said Malatesta took place and many citizens dressed in black. Among them were the grandsons of Paulo and of Mateo de Pietro de Graziani, and two sons of the lord of Foligno, his relative, and a few others who were here to study at the university. On Wednesday 6th February [7th February], more obsequies took place for the soul of the said Malatesta, in which there were a lot of people and all his retainers, around 35, were dressed in black; then the Spellani, also around 35, similarly dressed in black, some in blue. Then Nello, the sons of Malatesta and of the lord of Foligno, and many more citizens and relatives, all dressed in black. And then, a lot of people from Canaia, and many from Porta San Pietro, and many more.404 400 For flags in Florentine churches, see Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 35-37. 401 Diario del Graziani, 361. ―Montone‖ means ‗sheep‘. The flag of Count Oddo is described and identified as: ―lo conte Oddo fece fare uno stendardo bianco con lo leonpardo,‖ ibid., 299. 402 Diario del Graziani, 599-600. 403 Roberto Rusconi, ― ‗Predicò in piazza‘: politica e predicazione nell‘Umbria del‘400,‖ in Signorie in Umbria tra Medioevo e Rinascimento: l‟esperienza dei Trinci (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria,1989), 114-127, here 119, commented on the chronicler‘s discretion in mentioning Braccio da Montone‘s sister, late Malatesta‘s wife rather than his nephew (Braccio Baglioni) behind the rationale for keeping the flags. This exception shows the links between preachers and politics. For the offices held by Malatesta‘s sons, see C. Black, ―The Baglioni as Tyrants of Perugia,‖ especially 260; 265; 267. 404 Diario del Graziani, 414 and appendix 14. Here, the (sixteenth-century copy of the) chronicle contains a chronological error: ―the next day‖ is in all logics Wednesday 6 th, and then ―more obsequies‖ take place on Thursday 7th, not the 6th February again. The chronicle of Antonio dei Veghi (on which this part of Graziani is based) confirms this sequence. See Fabretti, Cronache, II: 19. 137 ‗Incorporation‘ or ‗re-aggregation‘ is the last phase of the mortuary ritual pattern in many cultures. It lifts the mourning and reintegrates the living into the life of society and the dead into the world of the dead. Here, this last stage corresponds to the requiem masses said at the same church on the following two days. These rites provided closure for the living who had duly paid their homage by attending the various ceremonies. This ritual demonstration of intercession by the living for the departed announced that the spiritual benefit of the special liturgy would continue since, most likely, the deceased had bequeathed money to a religious community for that purpose. This last phase is also an assertion of continuity: the ‗good memory‘ of the deceased will be maintained and his familial clan will not waver in its political influence. In the last three days of the funeral proceedings, the chronicler repeatedly noted a recurrent marker of princely status: black mourning garb made of luxurious cloth. 405 The diarist was struck by the number of participants dressed in that color. It was indeed a rare sight, black being forbidden by Perugian legislation from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Normally, only the widow could wear black but she was not supposed to show herself in her mourning attire outside her home. Here, aristocrats and their retainers, but also peasants were dressed in black. It means that sumptuary laws had been waived for that event. The other color worn by peasants, blue, shows that black was not the only hue associated with mourning; in addition, Perugian laws also forbade green and beige. Black as a sign of exclusivity for mourning fashion must be distinguished from its religious use such as the black robes of the clergy or the confraternities whose members had chosen a color signifying 405 In Europe, black as a favorite mourning sartorial color started in the mid-fourteenth century and it was associated with courtly fashion. See Piponnier, ―Les étoffes de deuil, ‖ 136-7, and Se vêtir au Moyen Age, 137138. For the provision on black mourning clothing in the city statutes, see Salem, Statuto 1342, § 230.4 and 230.77, III: 306 (1342); ―Quod nullus possit se induere de nigro vel alio colore causa mortis alicuius, excepta uxore,‖ in Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione suntuaria, 82-3 (1366) repeated verbatim in the early 15 th century, post 1415, and 1526 statutes. and the 1526 printed statutes. The provision allowing sons and daughters to also wear black is a reform of the governor of Perugia in 1460. Ibid., 133, entry 53. 138 penitence. Colors exemplify the multi-vocality of symbols and their dependence on context.406 Special heraldic banners were made for funerals and black was then adopted for their background, as the vignettes of Sercambi‘s chronicle illustrate. In the funeral of Count Ranieri (fig. 43b), lord of Pisa and Lucca, one vexillum is Pisa‘s red flag to which the ruler had applied his coat of arm while the other one bears the same heraldic disc but applied on a solid black flag. For the exposition in state of the lord of Milan, Bernabò Visconti (fig. 46), the bier is adorned on its four corners by black flags with the Viscontean white shield adorned with a blue snake. Although not described by the Perugian chronicler, a similar setup was probably displayed for Malatesta‘s castrum doloris in san Domenico on 26th January, the day before his burial.407 From an anthropological perspective, death is an opportunity to reconstruct the social order through ritual.408 Or, in the words of Sharon Strocchia, Malatesta‘s post-mortem ceremonies were ―an orchestration of episodes that provided a sophisticated means of political communication.‖409 Malatesta‘s ―representation of death‖ on 5th February proclaimed first his Perugian identity and his nobility as a Baglioni. Secondly, it stated his lordship over his lands through the order of the procession and the visual symbols deployed. Closest to the catafalque (the position of honor), the flag-bearers of the Communes of Spello and Cannara rode their horses followed by Malatesta‘s retainers, and by the contado 406 On the prohibition of green and beige, see the statute of 1366 in Legislazione suntuaria, ibid., 82-83. For the variety of mourning colors in medieval Europe, see M. Pastoureau, ―Les couleurs de la mort,‖ in A réveiller les morts, 97-108. For the tradition of black as a penitential color in the major litany instituted by Gregory the Great, see Vauchez, Les laïcs, 145-149. 407 For mourning banners in Florence, see also Wackernagel, The World of Florentine Renaissance Artist, 141. 408 See Jonathan Parry and Maurice Bloch, Death and the Regeneration of Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), introduction, 1-44; David Kertzer, Ritual, Politics, and Power (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988); Koslofsky, The Reformation of the Dead, for Reformation Germany. 409 Strocchia, Death and Ritual, 139, in her interpretation of bishop Coscia‘s funeral in Florence in 1419. 139 inhabitants of these towns. The next part of the wake consisted of the Perugian population and officials. Their presence was a token of allegiance and acknowledgment of the Baglioni‘s political authority over neighboring territories. This arrangement also proclaimed social and political continuity as a male domain since men always lead processions and women usually close it. In this case, peasant women closed the sequence of Malatesta‘s territories and Perugian urban women were placed right after them, aggregating the city female dwellers to the contado women as one gendered group. The separation of women from men also stresses how men retained ‗exclusive claim to signs derived from corporate and political life‘.410 After the representation of Malatesta‘s authority as a ruling clan member and all necessary heraldic trappings, came his domination of the countryside symbolized by groups of peasants. Finally, after this parade of neatly grouped men and women, male Perugian city dwellers and officials closed the cortège. This physical segregation showed the divide between urban and rural modes of living; between genders; and between the secular and the sacred. All these social strata were clearly recognizable through clothing and flags that facilitated orderly groupings. Thus a pristine processional order recreated distinctions of status that were not challenged. As Sharon Strocchia has stated, the funeral was essentially a political rite that ‗revealed relationships of power between groups‘.411 The Perugian secular and spiritual authorities (the city officials, the bishop, and prelates) tailing the cortège meant that Malatesta Baglioni‘s subjects and the population were framed and physically enclosed in this spectacle by the most powerful figures from Spello and Perugia. Disruptions, violence, and conflict may easily arise during political rituals although they are meant to be paradigmatic moments of harmony. In the chronicler‘s report of Malatesta‘s funeral, no glitches, apart from inclement weather, seemed to have interfered with superbly conducted mortuary rites. But the loss of one powerful individual may disturb 410 Ibid., 74 411 Ibid., 7. 140 the established social and political order, making the wake an unsafe, liminal, moment. For example, for Biordo Michelotti‘s wake-procession (1398), chroniclers report that some men carried weapons beneath their coats on the main piazza and that many people did not accompany the (empty) coffin to its final destination because they were wary of some danger.412 Rituals could foster social divisiveness rather than solidarity, and tensions could arise between clergy and faithful or among groups of a similar social category. 413 For example, in November 1474, a family stripped their relative of his beret, cloak and doublet as the corpse entered the church of Sant‘Agostino because they feared that the friars would not give them back to the family.414 Notaries were also often sent to watch funerals and report infringements to sumptuary laws because lavish paraphernalia equalled a public demonstration of power. For example, on 2nd January 1488, the burial procession for a university student that included the clergy, the nobility, and the Priori could not take place because of a dispute between students from different departments (Studium, Sapienza Nuova, Sapienza Vecchia) who claimed the right to carry the coffin.415 For Malatesta‘s main ―corrotto,‖ one may question if things really happened as smoothly as is reported; if such unity and empathy between people undergoing these events together meant the perfect conviviality of the Baglioni‘s subjects with Perugians, a sense of communitas in Turner‘s terms. One feature that made people bond, at least for the duration of the event, is the emotional response that rituals typically elicit. Bodily expressions (loud 412 Diario del Graziani, 268.; Fabretti, Cronache, I: 59. 413 For examples of disruptions and the penalties that were necessitated, see Webb, Patrons and Defenders, 202205. 414 415 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II: 94. A few days later, at dawn, the students from the Studium and the nobles, all armed, abducted the corpse and carried it to the burial church in all secrecy, without any torches, candles, or clergy. Group rivalry within one social category may thus impede the proper ritual unfolding. The honor that a public procession and the presence of the city officials and clerics would have granted to the deceased was largely ignored. Only the sermon held in the church gave him a mark of distinction. No wonder that authorities, hoping for law and order, issued decrees against wearing weapons and made sure to have highly codified events watched by the police. Ibid., II: 290-1. 141 cries, body gesticulation, self-injury) coexisted with an incredible number of torches and tapers that produced in the daylight of that winter day an extraordinary warmth, fragrance, and a beautiful sight. The waving or the dragging of magnificent flags and the massive number of liveries and dark-clothed mourners of rank was another overwhelming source of awe. These symbols of wealth and authority were expected (rituals work by repetition) but still remarkable and stunning (emotion enforces cognitive effects). The chronicler mentions the wailing and shrill cries that could be heard on the square. It is impossible to assess how genuine those tears were but it is worthy of note that in other cultures, the use of loud noises in funerals is a widespread practice.416 As the chronicler of Biordo Michelotti (lord of Perugia)‘ s funeral in 1398 specified, once the catafalque was moved around the square in the general tumultuous wailing, even ―those who had a heart of stone would have wept.‖ 417 As each group marched in the steps of the catafalque, collective motion signified homage and submission while urging collective emotion through the heightened sensory stimulation. As anthropologists have stressed in their analysis of other cultures and times, such surges of emotion were socially-constructed.418 They emerged here as the result of a well-orchestrated sequence of mortuary rites which exceptionally allowed extreme behaviours and sensory experiences. Malatesta‘s pompous funeral rites are an example of a political ritual that asserted political continuity. Here political continuity meant the pre-eminence of the Baglioni family on two fronts: Spello and adjacent territories, and Perugia where most family members resided. The firm leadership of Spello is asserted with the conspicuous presence of 416 Peter Metcalf and Richard Huntington, Celebrations of Death. The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991 [1979]), ―Symbolic associations of death,‖ 62-75. 417 Diario del Graziani, 268: ―Et cosi fu portata quella cassa per tutta la piazza facendo grandissimo corrotto, che chi avesse auto [sic] il cuore de pietra averia pianto.‖ 418 See the standard cross-cultural study of rituals around death: Metcalf and Huntington, Celebrations of Death, ―Introduction to the second edition,‖ 1-23 responding to Bloch and Parry, Death and the Regeneration of Life. 142 Malatesta‘s brother (Nello), now the sole lord of Spello. He is mentioned for both incorporation rites: first on 26th January as Malatesta‘s corpse reached Perugia and again on 6th February, at the requiem mass concluding the whole funeral proceedings. But, if rituals help to construct political legitimacy in the collective conscience, they do not guarantee its stability. Twenty years after Malatesta‘s funeral, in 1457, his brother Nello died and his nephews (Pandolfo and Galeotto) took over the governorship of Spello respecting the terms of the papal grant, but not for long. In 1460, Malatesta‘s eldest son, Braccio I Baglione, had his cousins Pandolfo and Galeotto killed and seized Spello for himself. 419 From the 1440s, Braccio gradually imposed himself as a prominent Perugian politician, holding several important administrative posts throughout his life.420 The lavish assertion of Baglioni identity proposed by Malatesta‘s funeral heralded the political prominence of the Baglioni family without pointing at any internal dissidence to come.421 It actually prepared the way for the brilliant ascendance of his eldest son. The pre-existing social arrangements that allowed emotion to build up translated into the orderly display of group identity within a larger community. It proclaimed an ideal and peaceful social order without the deceased in order to achieve political and social continuity. Following Maurice Bloch and Jonathan Parry, we can say that mortuary practices such as Malatesta‘s corrotto not only reasserted the social order, but they produce it because these rituals were an ―occasion for creating that society as an apparently external force.‖ 422 To become ingrained, this order was visually and symbolically reconstructed while shared emotional states implemented it. By organizing social groups and simultaneously stirring 419 Black, ―The Baglioni as Tyrants of Perugia,‖ 262. 420 Malatesta‘s eldest son, Braccio I Baglione (1419-1479), also a condottiere, defended Spello against the Sforza troops in 1442. He became extremely powerful as the chief commander of the papal army (gonfaloniere della Chiesa) in 1455. See R. Abbondanza‘s entry in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, 207-12. 421 Malatesta‘s sons are mentioned in both incorporation rites, along with the attendance of the lord of Foligno with whom Malatesta had sealed a firm alliance by marrying his daughter to his princely neighbor‘s son. 422 Bloch and Parry, Death, 6-7. 143 emotions, ritual action and the presence of symbolic representations produce powerful cognitive effects that reinforce feelings of identity, hierarchy, domination and subservience.423 Beyond political continuity, Malatesta‘s funeral proceedings also validated social arrangements while enforcing the authority of the Baglioni family, at least according to the diarist‘s account. This phenomenon of social control was aided by a plethora of identity markers that determined a range of collective identities and, at the same time, were determined by these identities. 3) Papal entries in Perugia: princely and civic identity Entries exemplify another type of procession, a spectacle both for greeting the urban population and for the wealthy stranger with his retinue of possibly several hundred people and animals.424 Entries demonstrated the city‘s own subservience to its high-ranking guest and simultaneously staged the power of the visitor outside his/her usual location of residence. The ―flamboyant‖ tribute lavished upon the visitor was also meant to secure his/her good favors and protection in exchange.425 When a lord came to Perugia, his majestic status was visible from the moment he reached the city gate because all civic and spiritual authorities, and a portion of the population, were present and ready to accompany him to the city center. Additional marks of honor and distinction included special clothing, the presence of nobles on horseback, flags, and a canopy. The most spectacular of entries in Perugia were those of the pope who, beside being the Christians‘ spiritual leader, had a special meaning for Umbria, a region that was part of 423 This is the point of David Kertzer‘s incisive Ritual, Politics and Power. Kertzer has compellingly examined the power of political ritual and the symbol system that it employs for several cultures across time. 424 In France, the ceremony of the king‘s first entry into a city was invented in the 14-15th centuries. The classic study is Guenée and Lehoux, Les Entrées royales. 425 Jacques Chiffoleau, ―Analyse d‘un rituel flamboyant. Paris, mai-août 1412,‖ in Riti e rituali nelle società medievali, 215-245. For entries in Provence and papal Avignon, see Noël Coulet, ―Les entrées solennelles en Provence au XIVe siècle,‖ Ethnologie française, 8 (1977): 63-82. 144 the Papal States. In the thirteenth century, the curia often took residence in Perugia, traditionally a Guelph city, and five conclaves took place there.426 In 1392-1393, the papal administration even stayed in Perugia for an entire year. From 1371, Perugia hosted a pontifical legate (legato) to which the city councils were responsible. This governatore or Monsignore, as he is often called in chronicles and official documents, represented the pope in Perugia. However, tensions with the apostolic See were frequent as Perugians tried to maintain an independent communal regime. For example, in 1375, the papal legate was expelled and the papal fortress demolished. For three decades, a succession of short-lived signorie replaced papal overlordship (1393-1424) but from 1424, the city definitively returned under the direct control of the papacy, while its councils and statutes were confirmed by Martin V (see appendix 1). Christopher Black rightly describes the Perugian political situation between 1424 and 1540 as a diarchy between papal officials on one hand, and communal councillors on the other hand.427 To signify their acceptance of papal dominance, the Perugians had a gilded bronze statue of Paul II placed in front of the cathedral on the main square in a procession headed by the Priori and the university professors on 29th October 1459. Its execution had been prompted by the pope‘s amnesty of 500 political rebels and a raise in the doctors‘ salaries.428 The pope‘s leading role in Perugian politics was expressed by the omnipresence of papal heraldry. When Martin V took over Perugia after the demise and death of its last lord, Braccio da Montone, in August 1424, he had all the armorial devices symbolizing the former lord (a black sheep over a yellow field) erased. Instead, the pope had another three 426 When Benedict IX died in Perugia in 1305, the first ―Avignon‖ pope was elected in the Umbrian city. In the early Trecento, a Guelf party was formed in Perugia. Grundman, 427 For the relationships between the legate and the Perugian magistracy during the pontificate of Martin V (1424-1431), see Partner, "Comuni e vicariato al tempo di Martino V," 227-61. For an analysis of the nature of the Perugian government and its relationships with the papacy in the 15 th –16th centuries, see Christopher Black, ―La grande politica e le politiche locali: il problema di una signoria umbra‖ in Signorie in Umbria tra medioevo e rinascimento (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1989), 91-111. 428 The statue was destroyed by the French troops in 1798. See Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II: 56. 145 escutcheons painted to demonstrate his newly recovered power: the crossed keys (―l‘arme della chiesa‖), his family coat of arms (―l‘arme del papa‖), and that of his legate. Two weeks later, this heraldic apparatus appeared on the three flags that accompanied the legate into Perugia while the new trumpet pennons displayed the arms of the pope and those of the Church.429 Heraldry was a means to show allegiance and submission, hence the papal coats of arms painted on official buildings and city gates. As Biordo Michelotti died in 1398, the papal commissario visiting Trevi, tried to have the former lord‘s coats of arms removed from the locations where it was painted in order to replace it with the arms of the Church but the Treviani insisted in having both. In 1436, a new stone relief of pope Eugenius IV was inserted into the façade of the Governor‘s palace and the arms of the Duke of Milan were destroyed. In Bonfigli‘s Second Translation (fig. 1b), Sixtus IV‘s stemma is juxtaposed with the Perugian griffon on the podestà palace while the arms of the Church, a red shield with a white cross and a pair of crossed keys in each quadrant, are displayed above the portal of the municipal palace. Professional painters, sometimes famous masters, received commission for such tasks. Perugino was paid 65 florins in September and November 1503 for the depiction of Julius II and Pius III‘s ―insignae‖ on the walls of the Palace of the Priors and on the five city gates.430 Official records such as the registers of the catasto or the minutes of the Priori often juxtapose the coat of arms of the current pope, of the papal legate, and the Perugian griffon. One may find also the arms of the Church and those of the apostolic vice-legate.431 429 Diario del Graziani, 297-8: ―In quelli di [14th August 1424] fuor casse e guaste in Peroscia l‘arme del Montone, cioè l‘arme del signor Braccio, e fuorce fatte e pente quelle della chiesa, del papa e del cardinale legato (...). El ditto legato aveva uno stendardo con l‘arme sua, e una bandiera con l‘arme della Chiesa, et un‘altra bandiera con l‘arme del Papa (...). Fuor fatti li pennoni nuovi alle trombette con glie scudette del Papa e della Chiesa.” 430 For Trevi, see Diario del Graziani, 273. For a transcription of the original commission to Perugino in 1503, see Fiorenzo Canuti, Il Perugino (Siena: Editrice d'arte "La Diana", 1931), entries 281; 283; 198-199. 431 See examples in Carte che ridono, 89-100 for the period 1461-1553. 146 Symbolic representations in Pius II‘s entry in 1459 Three detailed accounts chronicle the visit of Pope Pius II on 1st February 1459 and they complement each other to reconstruct the ritualized experience of civic consciousness coupled with political allegiance.432 As was the custom, the pontiff was greeted by Perugian ambassadors miles away from the city and he was escorted by them to the city. In this case, Pius II came from Assisi and dismounted at San Pietro for lunch. This monastery located outside the city gate of the same name (see map, fig. 70) had been recently (in the 1420s) enclosed by a wall that enlarged the city‘s boundaries to the South. In that protected space on the periphery of the Umbrian capital, the ritual of encounter was enacted. A procession of confraternities and two hundred children dressed in white and shouting ―viva il papa Pio‖ came to meet him followed by the whole clergy and the bishop in their vestments. After them, the university professors walked in their red robes paid for by the commune and lastly, the camerlenghi and the priori dressed similarly. The main prior presented the pope with the keys of the city attached to a ribbon and placed in a silver circular dish (bacile). The pope took the keys, placed them back in the dish, and blessed the city representative. The progress through the city followed the traditional papal route from San Pietro to the main piazza of Perugia. The procession was headed by the confraternities, followed by the clergy chanting hymns, the university professors, and the red-robed Chamberlains and Priors.433 After them came three standard-bearers and twelve knights on caparisoned horses. In an allegorical representation of papal legitimacy rooted in Jesus‘ redemptive mission, the last rider carried a cross along with the Eucharist in a monstrance. Then, four papal grooms 432 Fabretti, Cronache, I: 217-8; ibid., II, 35-36; Diario del Graziani, 632-4; Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 357-359. 433 It is odd that ―compagnie‖ are not mentioned by the chronicles as they usually participated in such entries dressed up in their livery. See, for example, the entry of Paul III on 9 th September 1535 in Pellini, Dell‟Historia, III: 574-5. 147 wearing red hats on horseback, preceded the pope who was enthroned in a sedan chair covered by a gold and red brocade. The tiara-crowned pope, an unequivocal sign of his office, kept blessing the crowd in his pluvial of scarlet brocade. Above him, a crimson canopy was adorned with lambrequins that bore his coat of arms and that of the Church. A vast crowd was waiting for his arrival in piazza San Lorenzo. A Roman fresco depicting Sixtus IV‘s procession to the Lateran after his coronation in 1471 (fig. 47) gives a close illustration of the Perugian visual experience with the elevated and sumptuously dressed pope under a canopy; his blessing gesture; his unique tiara; important men on horseback (in this case, bishops), and three flag-bearers preceding him.434 This image confirms the repetitious use of symbolic paraphernalia that turned such an event into a flamboyant demonstration of princely identity and impressive authority. For Pius II‘s entry, it is clear that particular groups of Perugians were showcased in this procession. The first to encounter the pope were children, a rite that goes back to antiquity. Sergio Bertelli refutes the explanation accepted by Emile Mâle and Noël Coulet that the reception of honorific guests by children dressed in white was a custom deriving from passages in the Bible. For Bertelli, the tradition comes from the impurity of the triumphant commander who, in antiquity, came back from war tainted by the blood of the slain enemies. Pure beings free from sin, such as children, were the first persons to welcome him because of their transcendent and apotropaic role.435 In Bertelli‘s view, the children confirmed the sacredness of the ―king‘s body‖ in papal or royal triumphs and I believe his interpretation is valid for this case-study. In their angelic garb, the Perugian ―mammoli‖ conferred purity and innocence on the pope‘s disposition towards their city. 434 This scene is from a frescoed cycle on the life of Sixtus IV painted in the main room of the Hospital of Santo Spirito in Rome. The most recent work on this cycle is Eunice Howe, Art and Culture at the Sistine Court. Platina's Life of Sixtus IV and the Frescoes of the Hospital of Santo Spirito (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica vaticana, 2005), 87 for this scene. 435 Bertelli, The King‟s Body, 83-86. 148 While the children were anonymous and had no collective identity other than as Perugian innocents, the honor of escorting the pope was reserved for well-defined groups: clerical members, the university professors (dottori), and the civic authorities. Throughout his account, one chronicler was struck by the cohesion of each party. The doctors, for example, came dressed as one body (―tutti collegiamente‖). He reported the beautifully ordered composition of the procession (―ordinatamente,‖ ―era una gentilezza a vedere quell‟ordine‖) and the multitudes present on the main square for this event.436 Participation and spectatorship co-existed in various degrees. One chronicler noted the many women stacked behind grilles (―stavanno in su per li ferrati‖) and the well-dressed (―ben ornati‖) artisans. Only few citizens had privileged access to sumptuous garments and exclusive proximity with the pope. The city‘s best inhabitants (its religious communities, its civic body, its scholars, and its patricians) welcomed the pope in a select representation quite typical of the ritual practice for entries. For example, as emperor Sigismond entered Perugia on 25th August 1433, he was honored by a procession of all clerics (friars, priests, and monks) in their habits and vestments and with their relics; the Priors, the university professors, and the students were next, and all the other important citizens rode their horses. Five compagnie followed in their suite representing the porte of Perugia by way of its noble and patrician dwellers.437 Thus, a successful ritual implied a ―bel ordine‖ that consisted of a collective forward motion with neat visual and practical separation of groups. This unified image of the city was reinforced by means of a symbol system that included the keys, the flags, and the canopy, custom items of rulers‘ entries. I would like to explore now the handling and look of these ceremonial trappings. 436 437 Fabretti, ―Diario di A. dei Veghi,‖ in Cronache, II: 35-37. Diario del Graziani, 370. Fabretti, ―Diario di A. dei Veghi,‖ in Cronache, II: 11. 149 Ritual keys The keys that the Priori solemnly gave to the pope comprised the keys of their palace, of the jail, and of the city gates; in other words, they were presenting access to the locations of political and legislative decision-making, executive repression, and to the physical admission into the city. By accepting the keys, the pope demonstrated his overlordship and by returning them, he acknowledged his subjects‘ rights and privileges. This presentation of the keys was a common rite of submission for cities in medieval and early modern times. It was a means to legitimate the conqueror or the overlord‘s power in the eyes of the population.438 In April 1540, the Perugians manifested their disagreement with papal taxation by subverting this ritual. First, the Priors had a life-size crucifix set up above the main cathedral portal (where it still hangs to this day). Then, a triduum started with confraternities and the whole population but without any members of the clergy because the pope had placed the city under interdict. In the last procession that went from San Domenico to San Lorenzo, one of the Priors carried the city keys in a silver plate. Once the population had reached the cathedral, a speech was read by the communal chancellor recalling the election of Christ as king of Florence at the time of pope Clement VII and begging the Lord to accept the sovereignty of the city of Perugia. The request was notarised and the keys were placed at the foot of the crucifix.439 Men and then women walked in a procession up to the crucifix to pay their homage. The subversion of the ritual comes from keeping a standard ceremonial form including the traditional symbolic representations while redirecting the role of the main actor (an ―imago‖ of Jesus rather than the real pontiff). Through this modified ritual, the pope was 438 For examples of municipal magistrates (échevins) presenting the city keys to the French king, see Bryant, ―"The Medieval Entry Ceremony‖, 101, and Guénée and Lehoux, 22-23; 98; 103. The first occurrence was in Paris with Charles VII in 1431. The most famous scene representing such a ritual came from Auguste Rodin‘s imagination with his compelling bronze sculptural group of the life-size figures building the Bourgeois of Calais (1895). 439 Fabretti, ―Memorie di Giulio di Costantino,‖ in Cronache, IV: 246-247. Another Perugian diarist simply says that ―at the end of the last procession, the keys were given to the crucifix.‖ ―Memorie di Francesco Baldeschi (1540-1545),‖ ibid., III: 13. See also Pellini, Dell‘Historia, III, 629. 150 actually divested of any authority and Christ was revered in his place. This example shows that rituals can also be used in struggles for power and to incite political conflict.440 Flags The mise-en-scène around the keys for Pius II occurred in the monastery of San Pietro where mostly elite citizens were present. Consequently, this focused performance was not visible by the majority of the inhabitants. Once the cortège left San Pietro, what could not escape anyone‘s attention were the pope‘s flags, conspicuous signs of reverence. Often chroniclers recorded the names of the nobles who held a dignitary‘s standards, a worthy duty. House overhangs were even destroyed to avoid lowering the flags because it was damaging the honor of guests.441 Pius II‘ s three flags identified him as a secular and religious authority. The first one bore the ―insegna del Papa‖, i.e. his family heraldic device, a blue cross with five golden moon crescents that signified the noble Piccolomini from Siena. Personal coat of arms allowed most people to identify surely a specific individual or his family. 442 Although legist Bartolo da Sassoferrato asserts that anyone can assume arms of his own free will, a short story by Sacchetti ridicules a simple craftsman who commissioned a shield adorned with his coat of arms to a renowned painter.443 In Italy, coats of arms extended across the social spectrum. Examples of the armorial devices of Perugian artisans can be found on the 440 For further examples of this process, see David Kertzer‘s last two chapters on ―Rituals of Revolution‖ and ―the Rites of Power‖ in Ritual, Politics, 151-184. 441 Trexler, Public Life, 310. For Paul III‘s visit of 7th September 1543, a chronicler mentions that all the ―trasande e scale dove [il papa] devia pasare‖ were removed. Fabretti, ―Memorie di G. Costantino,‖ in Cronache, IV: 275. 442 Most studies on heraldry discuss and identify individuals‘ coat of arms, a distinctive sign of status and wealth for membership to an elite clan. Major works on heraldry include those, already cited, of Pastoureau and Bascapé as well as Ottfried Neubecker, Heraldry: Sources, Symbols, and Meaning (London: Tiger Books International, 1997[1976]); Donald L. Galbreath and Geoffrey Briggs, Papal Heraldry, 2nd ed. (London: Heraldry Today, 1972); In 1988, Pastoureau deplored the fact that Italian heraldry was still ‗abandoned to collectors and amateurs of nobiliary vanities‘. M. Pastoureau, ―Stratégies héraldiques et changements d‘armoiries chez les magnats florentins du XIVe siècle,‖ Annales ESC (Sept.-Oct. 1988), 1242. Studies on Italian flags periodically appear in Archives Héraldiques Suisses. 443 Cavallar et al., Grammar of Signs, 53; Novella LXIII in Puccini, ed., Il Trecentonovelle, 197-198. 151 parchments of income tax returns.444 Boccacio comments in the Decameron: ―Since they have three pennies, they want a spouse from the gentry, and they have armouries made and say ‗I am one of the So-and-sos‘.‖445 However, displaying one‘s identity through heraldry was perceived as acceptable only for wealthy merchants, magnates, and nobles, like the rich Perugian member of the Mercanzia guild who exhibited his family arms on a painting of the Virgin Mary (fig. 17). In the mid-Trecento, Bartolo‘s attempt to legalize armorial insignia was spurred by the need to differentiate people bearing the same name and the necessity to proclaim ownership. However, as Sacchetti‘s fiction of ca. 1400 demonstrates, heraldry quickly became a sign of status and distinction beyond being just a mark of identity. The second flag showed the ―insegna della Chiesa‖, i.e. the crossed keys (or, in heraldic terms: ―crossed in saltire‖) that popes had adopted since the thirteenth century as an independent badge to signify their apostolic leadership.446 The crossed keys symbolized the Perugian Parte Guelfa on a seal of ca. 1340-50 kept at the Galleria Nazionale.447 The papal keys were part of a series of symbolic objects that were given to the newly-crowned pope at the Lateran basilica after the ritual procession from the Vatican to his Lateran residence in recognition of his new spiritual and princely role.448 In a miniature showing Pope Martin V consecrating the church of San Egidio in Florence (fig. 48), six enormous banners with the a gold and a silver key and the tiara above them hang from the trumpets being blown. In Perugia, a similar standard, along with other flags bearing the arms of the pope, were kept in 444 For example, the escutcheon of a tailor (ca. 1489) and that of a smith (1529) are reproduced in Carte che ridono, respectively: entry 87, 108; entry 184, 213. 445 ―Come egli hanno tre soldi, vogliono le figliuole de‘ gentili uomini e delle buone donne per moglie, e fanno arme e dicono ‗Io son de‘ cotali‘‖, Decameron, VII, 8 quoted by Hannelore Zug Tucci, ―Un linguaggio feudale: l‘araldica,‖ in Storia d‟Italia. Dal feudalismo al capitalismo (Turin: Einaudi, 1978), 811-880, here 850. 446 Galbreath, Papal Heraldry, 6-16. 447 See Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, I: 180, entry 164. 448 Richard Ingersoll, The Ritual Use of Public Space in Renaissance Rome, (Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley), 175. 152 the palace of the Governor who took them to the battlefield when the city participated in a war.449 Lastly, Pius II‘s third flag, a white cross on a red ground, was a symbol of the Christian Church that is documented from the eleventh century. It occasionally appeared in the pageantry of the papal court as, for example, on the trumpet pennons at the coronation of Pius II or at the entry of Julius II into Bologna.450 A white cross was believed to have appeared to emperor Constantin.451 It was also not an uncommon heraldic symbol for military or civic flags. Solothurn in Switzerland (fig. 10), the rione of Porta Romana in Milan, the order of the Hospitallers (that became the order of Malta), or the Savoy dynasty in Italy had adopted it as well as the royal banner of the French king, the oriflamme.452 In Pius II‘s cortège, the combination of the three flags dispelled any confusion as to the sacred and ecclesiastical meaning of the white cross. In the mural painting of Sixtus IV‘s procession to the Lateran (fig. 47), the first standard with the S.P.Q.R. acronym [Senatus Populus Que Romanus] painted in gold over a red field symbolizes the Commune of Rome, a feature borrowed from antiquity when the city was the capital of a Republic. It signified papal lordship over the Eternal City and would not have made sense in a Perugian context. The second flag is identical to Pius II‘s entry and the third flag conflates the pope‘s personal coat of arms (an oak tree for the ―Rovere‖ family) with his role as leader of the Church (the crossed keys). I have already evoked this Sistine heraldry for Bonfigli‘s Second Translation of Sant‟Ercolano (fig. 1). 449 For example, on 18th January 1428: ―Monsignore cavalcò con lo dicto gonfalone [con l‘arme della Chiesa], e fuoro circa 2000 fante epochi cavaglie con l‘arme‖ (Diario del Graziani, 327) or, on 7th July 1442: ―e lí [battle of Costano, near Perugia] gionse Monsignore sensa ordine alcuno, con le bandiere et arme del Papa,.‖ ibid., 489. 450 Galbreath, Papal Heraldry, 1-5. 451 See, for example, the chronicler of Charles VIII‘s entry in Rouen in 1485, in Guénée and Lehoux, Entrées royales, 258. 452 See Paul Dechaix, «St George‘s cross and St John‘s cross,‖ in 15th Congress of Vexillology, 94-96. 153 Similar flags marked the climactic moment in the solemn investiture of the standardbearer of the Church (gonfaloniere della Chiesa), the general captain of the papal troops. Such a ceremonial took place in Perugia in June 1442 as the apostolic legate conferred this title to Niccolò Piccinino on the main piazza.453 The condottiere received a flag with ―the arms of the Church‖, a red flag quartered with white crossed keys, and a flag with the coat of arms of the pope. Here again, these standards announced a highly honorific function and rank. All these examples showed that flags signified stood for a city, an individual, and exceptional social status. It was an honor to hold them and their stunning appearance was an integral part of ritual staging.454 The canopy, or baldacchino The canopy was ―un élément fondamental du cérémonial d‘entrée‖ in Noël Coulet‘s words.455 It worked as a visual cue for the physical presence of the protagonist in a crowd and as a sign for the foremost status of the person that it sheltered. Unlike flags, a canopy was always visible and did not necessitate wind or forward motion. The connotation of sovereignty and decorum attached to the canopy comes from its original stationary location above princely thrones from the twelfth century and from its processional use above monstrance with the Eucharist for the feast of Corpus Christi from the early fourteenthcentury on.456 A canopy was usually placed in the center of the procession, emulating the 453 Diario del Graziani, 480-481. When pope Callixtus III entered Perugia on 28th June 1455, he had his own heraldic flag, a red grazing ox on a gold ground, and another one with the keys and arms of the church. See Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 124. 455 On the symbolism and ritual protocol attached to a canopy, see Noël Coulet, ―Les entrées solennelles‖, and Diana Norman, ―'Sotto uno baldacchino trionfale': The Ritual Significance of the Painted Canopy in Simone Martini's Maestà,‖ Renaissance Studies 20, no. 2 (2006): 147-60. Fabrizio Nevola, "'Lieto e trionfante per la città': Experiencing a Mid-Fifteenth-Century Imperial Triumph Along Siena's Strada Romana." Renaissance Studies 17, no. 4 (2003): 581-606. On the object itself, see Joseph Braun, Die liturgischen Paramente in Gegenwart und Vergangenheit. Ein Handbuch der Paramentik (Freiburg im Bresgau: Herder, 1924), ―Der Traghimmel,‖ 239-42 and B. Montevecchi, ed., Suppellettile Ecclesiastica, Dizionari Terminologici (Florence: Ministerio per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali, 1987), entry ―baldacchino processionale,‖ 323-324. 456 Guénée and Lehoux suggest that the use of the processional canopy in French royal entries was modeled on Corpus Christi processions, Entrées royales, 14-18. On the use of the canopy for Corpus Christi processions, see 454 154 processional practice for Corpus Christi. Its bright colors and lavish aspect made the middle section of the cortège not only the visual focus but also the most ornate and the most desirable for personal or corporate prestige. Like flags, it was an honor to carry this mark of decorum and only distinguished citizens such as the highest officials and university professors were allowed to handle the city‘s ceremonial baldacchino. They did so by taking turns (first the priori, then Mercanzia and Cambio leaders, then the chamberlains, and finally the dottori) and by switching only at regulated spots along the processional itinerary. A canopy was indispensable when reliquaries were processed or for the entries of secular and religious leaders. In Bellini‘s rendering of St. Mark‘s Day in Procession in Piazza San Marco (fig. 15), attention is directed towards a glamorous canopy in the center foreground that tops the gilded reliquary with a particle of the True Cross, showcasing the patrons of that painting and the owners of these processional items, the Confraternity (scuola) of San Giovanni. A canopy could cost as much as a diplomatic gift like a gold cup. 457 It was typically made of sumptuous silk or velvet dyed in exorbitantly expensive crimson and it was often lined with fringes of silver or gold threads. This color, symbolic of power, was repeated in the robes of the privileged top-ranking citizens who carried it or marched in its immediate proximity: city officials and university professors.458 Furthermore, it was also a primary visual medium to display heraldry when it had bendoni or drappelloni (lambrequins or cloth flaps) hanging from the frame of the ―sky‖, as the main cloth was called. Thus, the baldacchino for Pius II expressed his secular and spiritual identity with the Piccolimini‘ arms and those of the Church. The lambrequins also echoed the personal armorial bearings of Pius Miri Rubin, Corpus Christi. The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 252-259. 457 In 1310, the Angevine Count of Eboli was presented by the Commune of Siena a gold cup worth 10 gold florins while the palio for his entry cost 12 gold florins. D. Norman, ―Sotto un baldacchino‖, 150. 458 The canopy in French royal entries was often blue, probably because it was a heraldic color of the French kings. Guénée and Lehoux, Les entrées royales, 19-20. 155 II that hung throughout the Umbrian city, as the pope recorded in his Commentarii.459 One should note that only his persona was thus advertised as it was not uncommon for canopies to also display the coat of arms of influential citizens.460 Gentile Bellini has depicted such individual heraldry on the canopy of his Piazza San Marco (fig. 15). Chroniclers noted that the canopy had been paid for by the commune, an expense that made this object paradigmatic of the political significance of the etiquette for entries. A canopy for a living person often underwent a ritual of destruction once the procession had arrived to its goal.461 On 1st February 1459, once Pius II reached the stairs of the cathedral of San Lorenzo, the baldachin was taken away and sacked (―messo a saccomano;‖ ―tolto e straccato‖) in an instant although an official prohibition of even touching the canopy had been announced three times earlier on. But apparently, the threat of decapitation for such a misdeed had no effect. This rite of appropriation was a custom that also applied to the guest‘s horse and caparison. For example, in March 1456 as the new bishop of Perugia reached the stairs of San Lorenzo where his entry ended, his horse was snatched away by noble youths as soon as he dismounted, and the white silk caparison torn up.462 Bertelli has amply commented on the reasons for such violence and the ensuing damage that recurred in coronation processions or entries. In coronations, the horse was regarded as part of the regalia and for other types of entries it was equally special and desirable because it had been in close contact with the ―sacred‖ guest. As to the canopy or the caparison, the motivation was not to acquire precious and costly artefacts since people only received shreds of silk or splinters of wood. According to Bertelli, the ritual objects linked to 459 Libro II quoted in Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 357, n. 2. Trexler, Public Life, 93, mentions that wealthy Florentine citizens managed to attach their coat of arms to the canopy of the Corpus Christi festival. For the visit of Leo X to Florence in1515, a chronicler remarked that only the armories of the pope figured on the canopy. Ibid., 499. 461 See for Rome, Ingersoll, 172 and for Siena, Nevola, ―Lieto e triunfante‖, 600. For an interpretation of this ritual, Bertelli, The King‟s Body, 97-113 462 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 307-8. See also n. 13 of this chapter. Another ritual destruction, that of sweetmeats paraded by the Compagnie on festive occasions, is reported for an imperial visit on 28th August 1433. Ibid., 372. 460 156 the distinguished persona were regarded by the mob as relics imbued with the aura of that high-ranking visitor. Claiming the right to take away pieces of symbolic representations such as canopies, or caparisons and horses, was a ―deeply religious act‖ that was informed by the sacredness of the ―king [here: pope]‘s body.‖ Joelle Rollo-Koster who researched rituals of violence during the Empty See provides further references regarding the sacred nature of a prince‘s possessions as an explanation for the perpetrators‘ purposes.463 Consequently, vandalism was not the primary intention of the frenetic crowd but a response to a fetishizing impulse. Rituals of depredation of palaces and objects are documented in connection to Christian prelates‘ death, nomination or election from the fifth century and continued into the sixteenth century. We have seen that the arrival of a new bishop in the city also occasioned altercation about his processional paraphernalia. When the pope died, the Lateran was sacked, a ritual documented from 1227 until the Avignon papacy. But from 1378, when the Curia settled back in Rome again, scuffles and damages occurred at the end of the conclaves and during the coronation procession (―possesso‖). Pius II relates in his Commentarii that he risked being killed by people fighting with swords over his horse during his ―possesso‖ on 19th March 1458.464 In his book on the establishment of the eternal sacredness of the pope, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani has interpreted these events as rites of passage in which Romans appropriated the possessions that they regarded as theirs in the first place. 465 The protection of the palace of the pope and strict prohibitions against these customs represent, according to Paravicini Bagliani, loci of a conscious dissociation between the physical mortality of the pontiff and the perenniality of the papacy. It is important to note that by the 463 Joëlle Rollo-Koster, ―Looting the Empty See: The Great Western Schism revisited (1378),‖ in Rivista della Storia della Chiesa in Italia LIX (Feb. 2005): 429-474, here 466 and 473. Bertelli discerned a change in the perception of these objects only in the seventeenth century as the ritual appropriation became a sport or a trick. 464 Bertelli, The King‟s Body, 98. 465 A. Paravicini Bagliani, Il corpo del Papa (Turin: Einaudi, 1994), 147-154 and 224-229 for rituals of destruction. See also Rollo-Koster, Raiding St. Peter: Empty Sees, Violence, and the Initiation of the Great Western Schism (1378) (Leiden: Brill, March 2008). 157 expression ―destruction‖ or ―sack‖, one also understands thefts of precious items that servants or other ecclesiastics perpetrated. Palaces were not necessarily destroyed but sometimes only looted. These disorders often accompanied moments of interregnum. The ritual of tearing apart the canopy could be avoided. In French royal entries, the canopy was seized from the magistrates‘ hands by the king‘s officers (―sergents d‘armes‖), often by force although at times, the city magistrates (―échevins‖) managed to keep it. 466 As Emperor Frederick III‘s solemnly entered Perugia on January 14th, 1469, the precious baldachin made of 27 braccia of scarlet velvet was kept in the Palazzo of the Governor ―per buon rispetto.‖ Two weeks later, it was used as the award for the carnival joust. Another example of a recycled canopy is the red gold-brocaded baldacchino with lambrequins showing Perugia‘s coat of arms and Braccio Fortebraccio‘s heraldic sheep. It topped the latter‘s funerary urn in May 1432 but it was again used above the throne set up for emperor Sigismond on the Piazza of Colle Landone in August 1433.467 Had the canopy for Pius II not been vandalized, it would have ended in the chapel of the Priori.468 In Perugia, apart from imperial and papal entries, a lavish canopy was also used to signify the special reverence due to sacred images such as the dead Christ of the Nunziata or the panel of the Salvatore for the Assumption (see last chapter). The last section of this chapter examines the ambiguity of visual or textual evidence for public rituals and to what extent images and texts represent a population‘s identity. Motion and emotion 466 See Guénée and Lehoux, 23-24 with examples ranging from 1431 to 1494. For Frederick III, see Fabretti, Cronache, II: 43-44. For Sigismond‘s visit on 26th August 1433, ibid., 11 and Diario del Graziani, 371. For Braccio Fortebraccio‘s funeral on 3rd May 1432, see Diario del Graziani, 360361. 468 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 358. 467 158 Processions and entries were a multi-sensory experience, a characteristic of rituals that allowed for emotions to be aroused. Auditory stimulation consisted of the ringing of communal and ecclesiastical bells, chanting, and possibly, the high-pitched cheers of children.469 Olfaction is not often mentioned by the chroniclers, but obviously the smell of numerous horses in entries, and the fragrance of wax and incense must have been assertive. Taste was evoked by the customary donations of food and wine. Touch was constantly present through the minute proceedings of the ritual: the tactile sense of wearing precious clothing, holding objects of prestige such as the canopy or flags, or carrying a banner. The various phases of the ceremony were also a feast for the eyes, and because in a successfully conducted ritual seeing is believing, sight and the sights offered by the staging is what most affected actors and spectators. Machiavelli observed that ―Men in general make judgments more by appearances than by reality; for sight alone belongs to everyone, but understanding to few. (…) [the prince should] at appropriate times of the year keep the people occupied with festivals and shows.‖470 Rituals enhance the impression of consensus among the population and they establish the legitimacy of power relationships. But they cannot do this without the help of potent symbols such as, in the entry of Pius II, the keys, the flags, the canopy, and one of the most versatile emblematic vehicles of authority, sumptuous clothing. As Charles Zika argued for Corpus Christi processions in fifteenth-century Germany, it was not the host but the procession itself that showed the control of local civic authorities over a liturgical act.471 While the monstrance was carried by the highest-ranking ecclesiastic, the canopy was held by representatives of secular authority. With papal entries, the same phenomenon happened with the foremost citizens framing the highest religious figure in Christianity, thus expressing their 469 Bell-ringing is not mentioned for Pius II but it was highly likely. For example, the chronicler reports that bells rang and torches hung from the palaces in the main piazza in Diario del Graziani, 461-2. 470 Quoted in Kertzer, Rituals, Politics, 74-75. 471 Charles Zika, "Hosts, Processions and Pilgrimages: Controlling the Sacred in Fifteenth-Century Germany," Past and Present, no. 118 (1987): 25-64. 159 social predominance in the Perugian population and visually staging their authority in the presence of the city‘s overlord. The emotional responses for the codified performances that I described in this chapter were awe and respect, but the potential for conflict was tangible and ritual events were often policed. For example, during Pius II‘s entry in 1459, his personal guard, three high constables (contestavoli) with many foot-soldiers was constantly present and assisted, for the procession on Piazza San Lorenzo, by Perugian citizens who had been appointed to make way with cudgels.472 As the pope taxed the Perugians more and more heavily in the early sixteenth century, political relationships deteriorated. The arrival of the newly elected Paul III on 9 th September 1535 at San Pietro in Perugia entailed comparable paraphernalia to that of Pius II in 1459 but this time, the pontiff was ostentatiously accompanied by hundreds of armed soldiers on horseback and on foot. For his entry into the city, the next day, the pope had the cavalry head the procession, and his lanced guard (guardia de lanze) precede himself on a throne, a powerful sight for the population who saw in it a declaration of power. Paul III‘s second trip to Perugia (July 1539) attracted little notice, perhaps because of his terse fiscal politics. In 1540, Perugians confronted the pope by rejecting the increase on the salt tax, and the so-called ―War of the Salt‖ was declared. After being excommunicated for several months, the Perugians abdicated at the sight of the papal troops. Nevertheless, the pomp for Paul III‘s third visit in October 1541 left a stark impression on the population. Streets were lavishly adorned with velvet and blue lilies, and the pope rode under nine ephemeral triumph arches escorted by a hundred youth dressed in black. However, there was no liberation of prisoners or money thrown at the audience as was customary, and the pope 472 Diario del Graziani, 634. For the entry of emperor Frederick III in Siena, 1500 militia men were present. See Nevola, ―lieto e triunfante,‖ 600, n. 88. 160 ―did not leave a good memory‖ as a chronicler puts it.473 In fact, the pope ordered the demolition of many buildings, including the Servite church to make way for his fortress, a symbol of tyrannical authority that Perugians resented into the nineteenth century. In his cursory rendering of the fourth papal visit in August 1542, the chronicler mentions the usual ritual apparatus with the embellished streets and arches of triumph, and the multiple torches at night. But he does not evoke signs of rejoicing on the part of the population. For the Paul III‘s fifth (July 1543) and sixth (September 1544) entries in Perugia, no descriptions from Umbrian chroniclers exist. Thus, symbolic trappings and the expected unfolding of a ritual may be mere protocol to ensure at least a semblance of popular celebration. But ritual pomp still brings a population together, even if it is in silent disagreement with papal politics. Recourse to rituals is a constant theme of consolidating power: structured mass public gatherings accompanied by visual symbols produce efficient cognitive effects that give meaning to the social categorization for both audience and actors. The next chapter examines a totally different ritual context, that of penitential processions and popular devotion for objects of cult. Special images may elicit consensus by the motion and emotion that they spur in penitential settings. Imbued with the power to stop calamities, these extraordinary pictures were essential in the construction of collective and civic identities. 473 For Paul III‘s entries, see Pellini, Dell‟Historia, III: 574-5 (1535); 619 (1539); 656-7 (1541); 678 (1542); 707 (1543). For chronicles relating them, see Fabretti, ―Memorie di G. Costantino,‖ in Cronache, IV: 225 (Sept. 1535); 268-9 (Oct. 1541); 279 (July 1543). 161 EXCURSUS no. 2: Neighborhood associations: urban militias and “compagnie di porta” The word ―compagnie‖ is ambiguous because it can refer to confraternities, militias, guilds, or festive associations of neighbors. A few Perugian ―compagnie‖ of the thirteenth century are documented as urban military associations that provided welfare for funerals and assistance to the sick in ways similar to guilds and confraternities. 474 However, the references that I found for ―compagnie‖ from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries (in chronicles and in the city legislation, for example) refer to groups exclusively dedicated to festive activities.475 In the city statutes of the 1520s, militias are referred to as ―vexilli.‖ The five ―regiones‖ of Perugia (―porte‖ or districts) and the ten ―regiones‖ of its contado were made of men aged 15-60 under the command of a gonfaloniere (standard-bearer) in charge of the district‘s flag.476 In case of danger, all these reservists gathered at their gonfaloniere‘s home and marched behind their flag to the pre-arranged meeting point of their porta. In the late medieval and renaissance periods, these virtual militias were based on neighborhoods but do not correspond to the ―compagnie‖ of the chronicles. Arising in thirteenth century Italy, ―compagnie del popolo‖ or societates armorum meant popular armed societies that were organized by city districts (by the five ―porte‖ in Perugia) for the service of the communal regime. Run by a captain elected each year, they 474 See the statutes of the Societas dei Leoni Balzani (1251) published by Bartoli Langeli, Codice diplomatico del Commune di Perugia (1139-1254) (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1983), 528-535; statutes of the Societas di Porta Eburnea (1259) published by Grundman, The Popolo, 380-384. These documents are the only published statutes of Perugian companies and they provide a rare insight into the visual culture of the Perugian thirteenth-century militias. 475 The significance of neighborhood ties for Renaissance Perugia has not been researched. For Florence, see F. W. Kent and D. Kent, Neighbours and Neighbourhood in Renaissance Florence. The district of the Red Lion in the Fifteenth Century (New York: Augustin, 1982); N. Eckstein, The District of the Green Dragon. Neighborhood Life and Social Change in Renaissance Florence (Florence: Olschki, 1995); and Philip Jacks and William Caferro, The Spinelli of Florence: Fortunes of a Renaissance Merchant Family (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001). Such studies are indebted to David Herlihy and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber‘s Les Toscans et leurs familles: une étude du "catasto" florentin de 1427 (Paris: CNRS, 1978). 476 ―Quod civitatis Perusie burghi et suburghi ipsius distribuantur et limitentur in XV regiones vel partes et sic sint XV vexilli.” See the printed City Statutes of 1523-28, 110r-111v. 162 maintained a well-stocked armory and trained in the use of weapons after their work hours.477 The idiosyncrasies of these urban militias differed from city to city.478 In general, their original defensive function was overtaken by other responsibilities by the end of the fourteenth century. For example, in Bologna, from the 1230s to the 1340s, the società d‟armi took on a political significance because their members could gain access to the magistracy. In a similar way, the Florentine ―compagnie del popolo‖ turned into ―gonfaloni,‖ elite political institutions in charge of administering local finance and taxation. From 1306, Florence was divided in sixteen administrative wards (or ―gonfaloni‖) that consisted of male citizens aged 15 to 70 years headed by a gonfaloniere who was assisted by a small council. Nicholas Eckstein has stressed that the Florentine gonfaloni did not include the entire neighborhood. They were only opened to full members of guilds and to the great citizens who dominated them. From 1307, the main Florentine civic procession, that of Saint John the Baptist, was organized under the flags of these companies rather than according to guilds, giving them a new, ideological, status.479 One factor for such a decline in military functions was the way the art of warfare evolved in Italy, leaving little space for local militias.480 In Perugia, the guilds remained the basis for the central government from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Urban military companies ( ―vexilli‖ in the 1520s city statutes) did not assume any political role. The ―compagnie di porta‖ of the later Middle Ages may or may not have grown out of the armed groups found in thirteenth-century texts. There is a hiatus in the extant documentation to account for the discontinuity of the military 477 Menichelli, La battaglia dei sassi, 32. For Florence, see Davidsohn, Storia di Firenze (Florence: Sansoni, 1956-68 [1896-1927]), IV, 1, 298-305 and for other Tuscans cities, ibid., 300, n. 1. For Bologna, See S. Neri, Emblemi, stemmi e bandiere delle società d'armi bolognesi (secc. XIII-XIV) (Florence: La Nuova Italia Editrice, 1978). 479 The Bolognese guilds substituted the società d‟armi in accessing the magistracy from the 1350s. Neri, ibid., 16-17. for the situation in Florence, see Davidsohn, Storia di Firenze, IV, 463f.; Trexler, Public Life, 219-222; D. Webb, Patron and Defenders, 205-7. 480 Cities hired condottieri who recruited foreign mercenaries, thus forming ―compagnie di venture.” Occasionally though, local volunteers were called upon. For example, in February 1447, the city government of Perugia announced that foot soldiers were needed and that any man could enrol. Diario del Graziani, 590. 478 163 functions of Perugian ―compagnie‖ and the birth of entertainment-oriented groups also called ―compagnie.‖481 But both types are not necessarily antagonistic since in medieval Italy, military companies also participated in festivities. For example, in Bologna, each member had a heraldic shield that signified his active belonging to the group, an armor, a doublet, and a helmet while the ―milites‖ also owned a horse with a saddle adorned with the emblem of their militia.482 All members, whatever their social rank, were supposed to wear these emblems in occasions such as parades on horseback (cavalcate), communal exercises, guarding shifts, and whenever the city government summoned them for its service. For Perugia, thirteenth-century militias had similar garb, as the 1251 statutes of the Leoni Balzani indicate. For the procession of Assumption Day, each member had to be dressed up with his helmet, shield, and a half-yellow, half-red flag with the emblem of the company.483 In November 1298, the Societas de Rose, made of men from the ―borgo‖ of San Fiorenzo and other city areas, is cited in the municipal deliberations for its participation in the feast of Sant‘Ercolano.484 The boisterous nature of the compagnie explains their eventual exclusion (stated in the city statutes from 1342) from the main torchlight processions on the eve of a feast-day and their mandatory participation on the feast-day itself, in daylight. A fine was levied for ―companies‖ who did not respect this prescription and participated in the vigil instead. Whoever belonged to two compagnie had to march with the one from his own neighborhood without being fined by the other company.485 Thus, in a general procession, it was neighborhood identity that ―compagnie‖ displayed. 481 See Galletti, "Sant' Ercolano: Il grifo e le lasche‖, 209-210, n. 14-15. A thorough archival research is needed to fully assess what primary sources are available for these festive companies. 482 See Neri, Società d'armi, 24. 483 See Bartoli Langeli, Codice diplomatico, 530. 484 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, 12, anno 1298, f. 186v and 187r. The reference is given by Galletti, ―Sant‘Ercolano e le lasche,‖ 209, n. 13. Otherwise, nothing else is known about this company. 485 Salem, Statuto 1342, I: 162, §45.60,. 164 The Compagnia del Sasso (Company of the Rock) acquired its name from its ludic specialty, the organization of the notorious battle of the rocks.486 Along with that game, all ―compagnie di porta‖ were abolished in 1426 by the new City Statutes inspired by Bernardino da Siena‘s asceticism.487 Men and women of companies are blamed in that legislative document for their indecorous behavior, such as dancing inside the churches, and for ruining their members by extravagant expenses. Even after their ban, these associations never completely ceased to exist because chroniclers repeatedly mention their partying on saints‘ days, for weddings, or for special guests.488 For example, five companies greeted the emperor Sigismond in Perugia in August 1432 by dancing back and forth (―ballando all‘andare e tornare in su in Perugia‖). They danced and ―partied‖ again for him the next day on the piazza. In May and June 1444, each porta had its company parade and dance on specific saints‘ days.489 What was cancelled during that period were the more potentially dangerous, popular (non-aristocratic) games such as the bull chase and the battle of the rocks. This type of collective identity did not simply equate one‘s proud belonging to a specific city area but also included political allegiance. It is likely that faction leaders were conspicuous members of these groups. For example, at the end of May 1459, the Compagnia dei Galanti was created by nobles to counter another Perugian aristocratic association, the Barcolli.490 This declared rallying favored the expression of animosity and rivalry among factions during the festival period. Corporate conscience for company members was also tinged with allegiance to the dominant families of that area represented by the officers. 486 This dangerous game was very often prohibited by the government from the 13 th to the 15th centuries until its suppression by the Bernardinian decrees of 1425. See Menichelli, La battaglia, 74-76 and 147-151. This book partially answered, 20 years later, A. I. Galletti‘s call for an in-depth study of these sotietates. However, Menichelli‘s focus regards only one particular company, the ―Compagnia del Sasso.” 487 The official absence of the ―compagnie‖ from a legal viewpoint only lasted until 1471 when the Perugian magistracy reinstated them. Menichelli, ibid., 150. 488 See Fabretti, ―Diario di A. Dei Veghi,‖ in Cronache, II: 11-12. For weddings, see section below. 489 Description of each event in Diario del Graziani, 549. 490 Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 375. 165 Unlike penitential associations, compagnie members would not cover their faces with a hood in processions. Thus, loyalty to the well-known nobles who captained these groups was displayed during the parades. The best illustration for this type of corporate feeling is the company of Porta Sant‘Angelo in July 1490 for Giovan Paolo Baglioni‘s wedding. During their foundation meeting in the church of Sant‘Agostino ―at the request of the Baglioni‖, the men of that porta said that they ―put themselves in the hands of the Arceprete and Armani‖ (the most powerful nobility of their neighborhood), and that these two families should decide on the election of the officers, generally chosen from those two houses anyway.491 The public weddings of the nobility reveal that companies could be exploited as a strategy for self-promotion and recognition of a nobleman. On 5th December 1489, Giovan Paolo de Ridolfo dei Baglioni (Malatesta‘s grandson and Braccio‘s nephew) personally gathered all the young men of Porta Susanna who agreed to form a ―compagnia‖ for his wedding planned in August 1490. Then, his brother and his uncle successfully summoned the youth of another two porte in the major church of each of those districts. By July 1490, this powerful family had rallied all five rioni for their ―united‖ participation in a city-wide celebratory event.492 Giovan Paolo‘s maneuvering is consistent with the Baglioni‘s search for political power and for constantly enhancing their public image. For example, from 16 th May to 24th June 1471, for the union of the lord of Camerino‘s daughter with Oddo di Carlo 491 ―in effetto, per li detti omene dela porta fo reposto che essi se remetterono nele mano dela casa deli Arceprete e deli Armanni, e che loro facessero eletione deli omene, secondo che lor pare.” Ibid., II, 351. ―A di 5 de Xbre [1489], el nobile Giovan Pavolo de Ridolfo dei Baglione fece una adunanza nela chiesa di S. Berardino, dove che li se radunarono tutti li giovani di Porta Susane. E in effetto, Giovan Pavolo li pregò che facessero compagnia perché lui vole menare donna (...). A di 6 detto Simonetto de Ridolfo Baglione fece una adunanza in S. Domenico, dove cie andaro tutti li gioveni de Porta San Pietro e ditto Semonetto rechise de voler fare la compagnia per onorare Gio. Pavolo suo fratello (...). A dì 7 detto el Mag. Guido Baglione fece fare una adunanzza de tutta la porta de Borgnie in S. Maria dei Servi, e lì propose, e pregò li omeni dela Porta, che li piacesse de fare la compagnia per onorare Giovanpavolo ditto, quando menerà donna , e tutti resposeno de farlo volentiere.‖ Ibid., II: 337-8. For the creation of the Compagnia di Porta Sant‘Angelo on 18 th July 1490: ―se fece la dunanza in S. Agustino, e fo proposto per li gentilomene de la porta, come erano state rechieste dali Baglione, che le volesse fare la compagnia una con le alter porte, quando menerà moglie Giovan Paolo (…).” Ibid., II: 350-1 166 Baglioni, each company paraded and performed on a specific day ―in honor of the bride,‖ but what they really offered was a spectacle of support for the Baglioni.493 The existence of compagnie with their faction-oriented components posed a potential threat to political stability. Their ability to assert their presence in public rituals could steal the show and visually compete with the representatives of the local government. The absolutist papal domination of Umbria from the 1540s put an end to their aspirations of autonomous displays. A rare depiction of a militia flag (Bologna): First page of the Statutes of the Società delle Sbarre with depiction of their flag, 1256, Archivio di Stato di Bologna, f. 99r (416 x 281mm) (from: M. Medica, ed., Haec sunt Statuta, 111) 493 The Compagnia del Sasso partied in Porta San Pietro (16 th May), the Compagnia di Porta Borgne [Eburnea] on 25th May while the Sasso and the Domanio paraded as the lady made her entry into the city on 7 th June. The Compagnia di Porta Sole had a banquet in the main piazza in the honor of the bride on June 10 th, followed by the Compagnia del Sasso six days later while the Compagnia di Porta Eburnea took the opportunity of its traditional celebration for St. John‘s day on 24 th June to set up a banquet in piazza in honor of the bride as well. Diario del Graziani, 642-643 and Pellini, 710 quoted in Menichelli, La battaglia, 159. 167 EXCURSUS no. 3 Votive paintings on cloth versus banners Gonfaloni were owned, or were in the custody of, groups that carried them in procession at precise times of the year or for special occasions. In confraternity gonfaloni, members sometimes appear on the imagery of these paintings. The extant depictions often show flagellants (for example, figs. 23; 26; 28; 62a). These robed and hooded men are meant as a representative sample of their association but occasionally portaits of specific persons may appear. Ellen Schiferl has shown that individual portraiture in confraternal commissions points to the actual assimilation of patrons into a group.494 By contrast, two Umbrian paintings have been called ―banners‖ by art historians although they represent a single donor, not a gathering of confratelli, praying a revered saint. In my mind, this iconography disqualifies these canvases as collective gonfaloni. In the Gonfalone of Civitella d‟Arna of 1492, a man described in the inscription as «FRATER SANTES» must be the cleric behind the commission.495 In a symmetrical composition, the Enthroned Virgin with Child is flanked by John the Baptist on her right and Saint Sebastian on her left while two small angels hover above each saint. Friar Santes kneels at Mary‘s foot, near Saint Sebastian. The processional use or collective ownership of this work has not been documented. Its composition, a typical sacra conversazione, makes it a more plausible altarpiece than a confraternal banner. Perugino (Pietro Vannucci)‘s Saint Anthony of Padua of ca. 1516-7 kept in Bettona, near Perugia (see image below) shows a condottiere, identified by the inscription as Bartolomeo da Maraglia, kneeling in full military garb at the feet of the Franciscan saint.496 In the epigraphic caption on the lower rim, the misfortune of the donor who was imprisoned by the French in February 1512 is related as well as the name of the famed painter, Perugino. The inscription claims that the patron will honorably fulfill his promise of offering a painting to the saint while the portrait itself helps to visualize the donor‘s piety. Therefore, this so494 Ellen Schiferl, "Corporate Identity and Equality: Confraternity Members in Italian Paintings, 1340-1510." Source. Notes in Art History VIII, no. Fall 1988 (1988): 12-18 and "Italian Confraternity Art Contracts: Group Consciousness and Corporate Patronage, 1400-1525," in K. Eisenbichler, ed., Crossing the Boundaries (Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University, 1991). 495 Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, does not regard this painting as a confraternity banner and excluded it from his catalog. The inscription reads: ―FRATER SANTES FECIT FIERI A. D. MCCCCLXXXXII‖. See Santi, Gonfaloni umbri, 74-75; Mancini, ed., Pittura in Umbria, 100. This canvas measures 180 x 140 cm and is kept in the parocchial church of San Lorenzo in Civitella d‘Arna near Perugia. 496 See Ana Maria Rybko‘s entry in: V. Casale, ed., Pinacoteca comunale di Bettona (Perugia: Editori umbri, 1996), 92-3; Mancini, ibid., 124; and Scarpellini, Perugino, 118, entry no. 163, fig. 266. Andreas Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, has not included this work among his catalog of confraternity banners. The inscription reads: ―BOTO DA MARAGLIA DA PEROG(I)A QUANDO FU PREGIONE DE FRANCIOSE / CHE FO AD DI XI DE FEBRAIO MDXII PETRUS PINXIT DE CASTRO PLEBES‖. The painting measures 143 x 68 cm. 168 called ‗banner‘ is more likely an ex-voto meant to remain hanging on a wall of the Franciscan church of Bettona and not a collectively used painting.497 The confusion about the nature of these paintings arose from their similar medium (linen) and dimensions with ordinary confraternity banners. Maraglia‘s offering shows, like many ordinary confraternity banners, a holy figure taking up the entire length of the painting, typically in a vertical format. Perugino adopted these compositional features for three paintings that were not processional: the Saint Anthony already evoked, another Saint Anthony, on wood this time, kept in the Medici chapel of Santa Croce in Florence, and the Blessed Giacomo della Marca (fig. 35), discussed in Chapter Two. He used a carton for all three works in which stance of the saint, the pavement, and the parapet are very similar.498 The dimensions of these paintings approximate the typical size of processional gonfaloni, on average, 120-150cm in height and 70-120cm in width.499 Another so-called ―banner‖, in the Museo Comunale of Montefalco does not show any donor.500 Dated 1498, it is a square painting on linen shows the Virgin and Child enthroned and flanked by three saints on each side. I think that it was most likely meant as an altarpiece. A square format with a Sacra Conversazione was fashionable for altarpieces in the fifteenth century. In addition, a square shape does not make a painting easily transportable in processions. Linen was a cheaper medium for paintings than wood and it was also a way to expedite a commission. Patrons may have wished a work by a famous master who could only offer them a painting on cloth. Confraternal banners were associated with rituals of piety and 497 This denomination has been recently revisited. The didactic information panel in the Bettona museum label (written for the Perugino cross-Umbria exhibit of 2004) calls it an ex-voto. 498 See Scarpellini‘s entry in his monograph, Perugino, 123. 499 On the uniformity of banners‘ dimensions and the local emulation between confraternities, see Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 224-226. The Gonfalone of Saint Anthony measures 123 x 81.5 cm with its frame while the Gonfalone of Giacomo delle Marche 152 x 81.5 cm. 500 See Mancini, ed., Pittura in Umbria, 135, and Museo Comunale fi Montefalco, entry 62, 191. The work measures 200 x 198 cm and is attributed to Francesco Melanzio. 169 reverence and ordering a work that resembled them may have been desirable because of that connotation. When examining the function of paintings on cloth, it is important to differentiate between individual and corporate patronage, and to assess whether they were intended for mobility or immobility, rather than conflate them into the genre of processional banners on account of their material. Chapter Five examines another context for a painting on linen that was not a processional item but did belong to a confraternity. 170 CHAPTER THREE: Extraordinary banners “per placare l’ira di Dio”501 When confronted with a pandemic disease or with natural catastrophes (continuous rain, hail, drought, and their possible aftermath, famine), men and women of late medieval and renaissance Europe typically responded by attending penitential processions with special images, such as icons, relics, or statues. This chapter examines one type of processional artefacts, ―extraordinary‖ banners regarded to be cult objects imbued with intercessory power. In the Umbrian context, penitential processions were designed to spotlight these extraordinary paintings, a phenomenon particularly well documented for Perugia. Thus, the study of ritual behavior complements iconographic analysis and reveals issues of collective urban identity, local idiosyncracies, and pictorial emulation. Using the perspective of iconography, art historians have treated plague banners as separate from other types of banners because of the recurrence of special intercessors, namely the Virgin of Mercy, St. Sebastian, and St. Roch. My own approach includes iconography but focuses on the ritual contexts and the collective identities that plague banners, as venerated objects, created or fostered. I will briefly examine the other means used to confront crisis situations in order to assess what made these banners so special. I will show that these ―gonfaloni‖ occasioned special patronage patterns which in turn elicited specific iconography. Most of them were commissioned by religious orders or the Commune, not by confraternities. I will also analyze a roster of banners showcasing the Virgin of Mercy dressed in a lavish red and gold brocade. Her sumptuous clothing, symbolic of her supreme authority, suggests that the visual impact of the representation of ornemental textile contributed to the aura of these paintings. I 501 ―to placate God‘s wrath.‖ This expression recurs in contemporary texts; see, for example, the diary of Antonio Veghi on July 27th, 1476: ―Fra Bonaventura esortava il popolo alla confessione communione per placare l‘ira di Dio‖ and the chronicle of Cesare Rossi in May 1594: ―Queste processioni furono ordinate per placare l‘ira di Dio‖ in Fabretti, Cronache, here respectively, ―Diario di Antonio dei Veghi,‖ II: 50; ―Memorie di Cesare Rossi,‖ V: 198. 171 conclude with another type of processional paintings made against the plague, ―ordinary‖ banners, a pictorial and ritual contrast to the extraordinary banners of this chapter. 1) The plague in Umbria and the pictorial remedy When a pandemic catastrophe hit medieval and early modern Europe, it left behind a daily quota of tens or hundreds of dead. To counter a terrifying disease whose etiology was unknown, people availed themselves of several recourses that could offer sparks of hope.502 Individuals sought treatments derived from medical treatises or magical remedies, a temporary consolation mostly doomed to failure. Local governments were also influenced by contemporary medical explanations for the plague. Consequently, public health measures promoted better civic hygiene, sanitation, or provided for the release of foodstuffs. Special offices, overseen by the civic authorities, administered those services. The social impact of the plague in medieval and early modern times has been widely studied.503 Elisabeth Carpentier, for example, has analyzed the political decisions made by the Orvieto municipal government while the Venetian situation was presented in a major exhibition as a research project of eminent scholars.504 The most popular contemporary explanation for the epidemic was its divine origin, a common homelitic topos. Scholars such as Richard Palmer have provided solid evidence for 502 I use ―plague,‖ ―epidemic,‖ or ―pandemic catastrophes‖ as generic terms for any type of infectious, contagious, and fatal disease without considering their various natures or characteristics. For a bibliography on the epidemiological aspects of the plague, see A. Carmichael, Plague and the Poor in Renaissance Florence (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986) and the polemical book by Samuel Cohn, The Black Death Transformed: Disease and Culture in Early Renaissance Europe (London: Arnold, 2002), for evidence from plague tracts, chronicles, wills, and political ordinances. 503 For a substantial bibliography, see Louise Marshall, "„Waiting on the Will of the Lord‟: The Imagery of the Plague" (PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1989). For the Perugian situation, see Cesare Massari, Saggio storico-medico sulle pestilenze di Perugia (Perugia: Baduel, 1838) and Giorgio Comez, "Provvedimenti adottati in tempo di peste e loro repercussioni sulla fiera. La partecipazione degli Ebrei," in Mario Roncetti, ed., La Fiera dei morti di Perugia (Perugia: Quaderni storici del Commune di Perugia, 1980), 61-74. 504 Elisabeth Carpentier, Une ville devant la peste: Orvieto et la peste noire de 1348 (Bruxelles: De Boeck Université, 1993, 2nd ed.) ; Venezia e la peste. 1348/1797 (Venice: Marsilio, 1979). 172 the belief in punishment from God and its consequences on social behavior.505 Preachers explained that the flail provoked by God‘s wrath was a deserved divine retribution for the sins of the faithful. From the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, lawyers also attributed the cause of epidemics to divine wrath on account of human sins.506 Consequently, the clergy promoted repentance, confession, and communion for spiritual and physical healing. Prophylactic images, such as altarpieces, cult panels, and plague banners testify to the power attributed to certain images that filled the faithful with hope. Thus, a typical collective response to the plague consisted of penitential processions led by the clergy with banners, reliquaries, or other sacred objects that would assuage an angry God according to the theological view of the disease. The Umbrian context The Umbrian situation, from the first outbreak of 1348 to the sixteenth century, conformed to this pattern of political and spiritual responses. The plague always struck at unexpected intervals and locations. According to chronicles and official civic records for Perugia, the recurrence of the pestilence from its first outbreak in 1348 was frequent and the disease remained a terrible scourge for long periods of time. Especially between the 1460s and the 1520s, the plague could appear from year to year with an occasional respite of a few years only. In a span of sixty years (1475-1536), the plague recurred in Perugia 22 times.507 505 Richard Palmer, "The Church, Leprosy and Plague in Medieval and Early Modern Europe," in W. J. Sheils, ed., The Church and Healing (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1982), 79-99. Palmer has compared the bubonic plague to leprosy and stressed the responsibility of the state. In The Black Death Transformed, Samuel Cohn dismisses the most popular contemporary explanation for the epidemic, namely its divine origin, but his book had another focus, refuting the identification of the Black Death with the bubonic plague which explains why he was not interested in homelitic and visual material. 506 Mario Ascheri, I giuristi e le epidemie di peste. Secoli XIV-XVI (Siena: Università degli Studi, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Giuridiche, e Sociali, 1997), 25. 507 For the period considered here, the plague stroke Perugia in 1372-3; 1399; 1400; 1412; 1424; 1447-50; 1455; 1456; 1460; 1464; 1475-77; 1480; 1482-6; 1492-6; 1492; 1495-6; 1503; 1505-1506; 1513; and 1523-9; 1536. See the communal provisions regarding the plague recorded by Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ and C. Massari, Saggio storico-medico, 234. 173 Chronicles report the epidemic and its prophylaxis according to the usual tropes of plague literature: the virulence and spread of the disease, the lack of religious assistance, especially for decent burials; and the imposition of health measures such as herbal medicines and good nutrition. Official deliberations confirm such policies. For example, in April 1448, the government voted a total five-month budget of 5000 florins to pay for civic guards patrolling the exits of the city, physicians who would assist plague victims for free, visitors for the sick, and gravediggers.508 This budget, monitored by ten elected magistrates, was approved again in early September. It was renewed for each outbreak of the plague, along with the payment of doctors, gravediggers, and guards. By the end of the 1470s, the first lazaretto was set up in Perugia.509 Discussing the cause of the pestilence, preachers commonly warned the populace of the fatal imminence of God‘s punishment due to their vain and licentious behaviors. They advocated individual or collective responses such as prayers, fasting, and penitential processions. Numerous edicts specify that processions are meant to address God‘s clemency and his power to revoke the fatal disease. However, communal or clerical authorities may have hesitated in their orders to gather the population because of the hazard of contagion.510 Most of the time, spiritual expedients like penitential processions were sponsored by the city officials who participated in the march. The evidence for the efficacy of a supplication procession and the model to follow was Gregory the Great‘s ―litania maior‖ that stopped the plague in Rome in 590. Many literary renditions of this successful enterprise existed as early as the eighth century and visual representations were numerous in illuminated manuscripts. 508 For the transcription of the ―riformanza‖ of 20 th April 1448, see Diario del Graziani, 603, n. 2. 509 ―Electio decem civium supra expendio 5000 [V M lia] fl. occasionis pestis.‖ Riformanze, 1448, f. 88v. See also for September 1448, Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 171. The first lazaret was set up in 1478 in the Franciscan monastery of St. Angelo d‘ Arenaria, outside the city gates. Massari, Saggio storico-medico, 53 and Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 73. 510 For the vexed decision to hold processions despite the contagious risk, with examples in Florence and Perugia, see Marshall, Waiting on the Will of the Lord, chapter 1, 31-34 and 50, footnote 98. 174 Saint Gregory‟s Procession, a predella panel by Giovanni di Paolo (fig. 49) of ca. 1465-70, illustrates this event using a narrative close to Jacopo da Voragine‘s Golden Legend of ca. 1260, itself a departure from earlier accounts.511 Crowned with his tiara, Gregory is marching towards Hadrian‘s Tomb (the ―fortress of Crescentius‖) while his acolytes proffer the small portrait of the Virgin and Child from Santa Maria Maggiore. The power of the Marian icon is evidenced by the vision of the archangel Michael who, by sheathing his sword above the Roman edifice, signalled God‘s benevolence and subsequently gave the tomb its Christian name, the Castel Sant‘Angelo. The major discrepancy with the original accounts of this procession is the inclusion of Mary‘s depiction as the intercessory mediator, an invention of Voragine‘s, reiterated by later authors. Carrying an icon in procession was a practice that is documented in the Western Church from the eighth century but proffering crosses was much more common. The ―major litany,‖ as the annual commemorative procession of Gregory‘s successful initiative was called, included seven stational crosses, each departing from one of the seven parishes involved in the penitential itinerary.512 Several depictions of Gregory‘s procession, such as the Limburg brothers‘ double-page illuminations of ca. 1413 for the Très Riches Heures of the Duke of Berry (fig.50a-b), do not show any processional icon but crosses, ecclesiastical banners, and reliquaries. In two Italian predella panels of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the procession is either led by a long cross to which an ecclesiastical flag (white with black stripes) is attached, or no other props can be seen other than a large baldachin for 511 According to earlier hagiography, Gregory had not been recognized as pope yet. Only one procession took place whereas Voragine reports two of them. For a recapitulation of the various textual renderings of Gregory‘s procession, see J.C. Schmitt, ―Ecriture et image,‖ in his Le Corps des Images: essais sur la culture visuelle au Moyen Age (Paris: Gallimard, 2002), 97-133, especially 108-122. 512 Enrico Parlato, ―Le icone in processione,‖ in: M. Andarolo and S. Romano, eds., Arte e iconografia a Roma da Costantino a Cola di Rienzo (Milan: Jaca Books, 2000), 69-92. 175 the pope.513 In his study of the relationship between text and image, Jean-Claude Schmitt argues that real pictures had an impact on literary production. Voragine‘s Golden Legend is a typical example of a text that was influenced by actual Byzantine icons and the veneration for them, like the Roman Salus Populi in Santa Maria Maggiore or the Madonna in the Aracoeli church. In turn, the Golden Legend became the basis for many details in the representation of Gregory‘s plague procession, modifying the visual rendition of more authentic hagiographic narratives. Giovanni di Paolo‘s scene, with the prominent icon placed in the center of the composition, is a case in point. The artist offers a representation of Gregory as a stark proponent of images even if this pope was rather moderate in his praise of pictures as an educational means for the illiterate. Saint Gregory‟s Procession also reflects the significance of Marian paintings as intercessory objects in contemporary penitential processions, as the present study of banners will show. The ritual process of penitential processions Before focusing on the role of plague banners in Umbrian penitential processions, it is crucial to understand the ritual context and the forms these collective expressions of piety took. Unlike general processions in which the bulk of the cortège displayed well-ordered guilds, in plague processions artisans marched with their confraternities, if they belonged to one, or with the general population. Even if not all inhabitants participated, given the large amount of the sick and the fugitives, the presence of the urban ―praying agents‖ was essential for the spiritual request for holy intercession to be expressed. For example, in 1448 the Perugian authorities set up various cycles of penitential processions specifying who was obliged to join. First, from 27th March, a procession with the clergy, the officials, the papal 513 See reproductions in George Kaftal, Iconography of the Saints in Tuscan Painting (Florence: Sansoni, 1952), figs. 541, 459 and G. Kaftal, Iconography of the Saints in North East Italy (Florence: Sansoni, 1978), figs. 481, 386. 176 legate, men, women, and children took place and was renewed for the next four days. Then, on 12th July and again on the 21st, a procession with the clerics‘ relics was organized. On 15th September, the ―praying agents‖ were summoned again to proceed in orderly fashion from the cathedral through the town, and the population was invited to fast while shops had to close down. On 14th September, city heralds announced that for each of the next three days, all clerics (―ciascuno religioso e clerico‖) in their habits or vestments (―parati‖) and all members of confraternities (―tutti disciplinati e uomene de qualunque fraternita‖) had to meet in the cathedral from where each procession would depart at the chime of the bell. The clergy (i.e. friars and monks, the cathedral canons, and the bishop) often headed the cortège while confraternities followed. After them, the population proceeded with women, present in great numbers according to some chroniclers, bringing up the rear of the procession. The humble position of female participants is a prescription from sacerdotal guidebooks (see appendix 5). While monks, friars, and priests marched among the first groups because they had precedence over secular groups, confraternities usually followed the clergy, visually recalling their religious sponsors through their clothing and through the iconography of their large banners. Thus, lay and secular groups dedicated to exemplary conduct, charity, and redemption dominated ―crisis processions‖ (in the felicitous formula of Richard Trexler) and contributed to the salutary aim of such rituals. Penitential processions could also look like movements such as that of the ―Bianchi‖ who advocated that any Christian seeking salvation dress in a white robe and proceed through town and countryside together, following a banner or a crucifix, in a collective demonstration of contrition and peace.514 In July 1476, participation in the ―Sante processione‖ with white clothing was actually imposed on the surviving Perugians by the city officials for five 514 Etienne Delaruelle, "Les grandes processions de pénitents de 1349 et 1399,‖ Il Movimento dei Disciplinati nel settimo centenario dal suo inizio (Perugia 1260) (Perugia: Arti grafiche Panetti & Petrelli, 1962), 114. The seminal study for 1399 is Daniel Bornstein, The Bianchi of 1399. Popular Devotion in Late Medieval Italy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993). 177 consecutive days. In May 1486, this sartorial mode was an initiative of the women who joined the processions launched by preacher Fra Bernardino da Feltre.515 White was a color symbolic of purity and of peace. A clear demonstration of this signification was the gathering of 1500 armored knights who showed up dressed in white and holding an olive branch as the pontiff‘s brother visited Perugia in 1403. This attire meant that they respected the peace concluded between Perugia and pope Boniface IX a month earlier.516 In the bottom left of the Gonfalone of San Francesco (fig. 51), white-robed men proceed on their knees towards the Franciscan church while, in the bottom foreground, other inhabitants flee the city. Here the Perugians are presented as they react in two opposite, even Manichean, ways: repentance versus panic. As a contemporary bishop declared in response to Pope Paul II‘s inquiry, flight from places struck by the plague was itself a sin and it was not permitted: ―it [flight] is against charity and pestilence is a scourge from God which is to be avoided by a change in living and not by a change of place.‖517 The rightful attitude is shown on the banner by the procession of civic-minded good Christians for whom ―the world as lived and the world as imagined‖ fuses under the agency of their ritual public penance: their symbolic clothing and marching action mark their new disposition and it will allow the plague to cease and let the desired peace emerge. In addition, carrying in procession a supplicatory image like this banner with a depiction of the Virgin of Mercy could only attract God‘s attention and hopefully his benevolence. The idiosyncratic nature of a religious procession consisted of a collective forward motion that was slow and orderly. Ideally, participants in a crisis procession experienced 515 ―A dí 6 de luglio [1476] fo bandito, che quelle poche persone, che erano in Perogia, se mettessero in ordine per andare a le S. Processione tutte vestite de biancho; e cosi andaro 5 dì a la fila con grandissima contrition (...).‖ ―Se comenzarono a fare le processione per tutte le porte molto devote per cagione de la peste, dove cie andava tutto il popolo della città e molte donne cie andarono vestite de biancho con grandissima devotione per comandamento del ditto frate Berardino nostro predicatore.‖ See Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ II: 102; 245. 516 517 ―Memorie 1351-1438‖, in Fabretti, ―Memorie 1351-1438,‖ in Cronache, I: 208-9. See Bishop of Zamora (Rodrigo Sanchez de Arevalo)‘s tract written in 1468. Quoted in Marshall, Waiting on the Will of the Lord, 30 and 49, n. 90. 178 themselves as a unified Christian population in peaceful and neat motion through a city. The ―bel ordine‖ that so many chronicles describe (see Chapter One) and that so many statutes stipulate meant that people walked in pairs (―a due a due‖) serenely. The slow-paced march was reinforced by the melodic rhythms of collective chanting that was expected of all praying agents (clergy and confraternities) and which the population was invited to join. Controlling one‘s walking mode meant conforming to one‘s group prescriptions, thereby strengthening feelings of membership. It also meant conforming to one‘s local identity by respecting the civic regulations. This physical control of the body gave to the event special temporality and singled out a special crowd in action. It also had practical advantages that secured a faultless progress of the solemn ritual, such as not tipping one‘s candle, nor treading upon other people, and being able to stop promptly when required. With this reverent predisposition of mind and body, the beseeching population sought to imbue the urban pace with virtuous penance, at least for the duration of the rite. Or in Geertzian terms, they ―told themselves a story about themselves,‖ expressing through ritual their own self-understanding of what could remedy the epidemic.518 In this ritualized environment, the perception of images (relics, statues, painting, banners) was enhanced because a special mental state, contrition, was encouraged while processional paraphernalia was handled with care in a collective entreaty. Wandering through the city with symbolic objects had a cleansing effect since processions were meant to purify the space that they traversed. Processions also worked as instruments of auto-persuasion, enforcing good will or penance into each inhabitant, especially if they witnessed members of flagellant companies scourge themselves while marching. The flagellants sought to imitate Christ‘s redemptive pains as he was bound to a column and tortured. In the public sphere, the ritual setting made this devotional practice a spectacle with actors and viewers. In Giovanni 518 See C. Geertz, ―Religion as a Cultural System‖ in The Interpretation of Cultures, 87-125, here 112. 179 Villani‘s chronicle, the page narrating the spontaneous penitential wave that swept Italy in 1310 includes a watercolor that depicts three men scourging themselves while intently looking at a banner with Christ‘s Flagellation (fig. 52). This image, framed by a simple red line, isolates the flagellating action from any processional context but it shows that banners could also be a visual and meditative support for this corporal punishment. As religious and secular groups proceeded one after another, they provided impressive manifestations of a sensory nature, such as chanting and scourging, in the wake of the scent of blessed incense and wax fumes while banners gently billowed from tall staffs. Such a procession is shown in the left background of the Gonfalone of Civitella Benazzone (fig. 53). The population is led by a confraternity of white-robed penitents, marching from the left to the right, in a movement that visually links the procession to its subsequent and hoped-for event: an angel chases away the symbol for the fatal epidemic, Death. Two penitents are seen as they embrace in a gesture of reconciliation, pointing to the cause of God‘s ire, enmity, a common issue in cities replete with factions, vendettas, and feuds. In the cortège, a banner with the Virgin of Mercy can be discerned. This mise-en-abîme recalls the intercessory role of banners but they were not always the most important processional paraphernalia as the next section demonstrates. Relics vs. banners While plague imagery emerged after the Black Death of 1348, Umbrian processional banners specifically made to fight the plague are recorded only from the 1460s. This must be due to the loss of earlier ones but it is certainly indicative of the recourse to other intercessory media, such as reliquaries and icons. While plague banners can be qualified as instrumental in ―mobilizing the sacred in times of plague,‖ they have not always been deemed 180 indispensable.519 Umbrian chronicles and official records prior to 1464 do not mention the use of banners in times of epidemics. Special representations of the Virgin attracted the faithful to sanctuaries ―contra pestem‖ and stone altars were erected on the piazze of Mendicant churches, but no mobile plague images seem to have been processed in Umbria until the Gonfalone of San Francesco.520 One may wonder then how crisis processions took place before special banners were used. What was the visual focus for the intercession? What devotional objects did the populace parade in order to honor and address the celestial spheres appropriately? One traditional solution to fight the plague was the ―inventio‖ of significant relics, as happened in the case of San Fiorenzo. The devotional praxis in the Middle Ages gave first rank to sacred relics in penitential processions. Imploring a holy figure did not necessarily require a painted or sculpted representation when the city owned a part of or the entire remains of a saint. During the devastating Black Death (1348) in Perugia, the desperate need for intercession probably spurred the finding of the body of San Fiorenzo under the high altar of the namesake church, only one month after the beginning of the plague. Two days later, according to a sixteenth-century chronicle, his body was transported by the clergy and the confraternities in a city-wide procession. Pompeo Pellini (writing in 1608) adds that the holy body was then given a more honourable installation under the high altar. The relics of San 519 The quote comes from Louise Marshall‘s chapter title: ―Confraternity and Community: Mobilizing the Sacred in Times of Plague‖ in B. Wisch and D. Cole Ahl, eds., Confraternities and the Visual Arts in the Italian Renaissance. Ritual, Spectacle, Image (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 20-45. For the Trecento imagery (with erroneous dating), see Millard Meiss, Painting in Florence and Siena After the Black Death (New York: Harper and Row, 1964). The most thorough exploration of plague imagery for the 14-15th centuries is Marshall‘s PhD dissertation of 1989, summarized in ―Manipulating the Sacred: Image and Plague in Renaissance Italy,‖ in Renaissance Quarterly 47 (1994): 485-532. For examples of Italian processional plague banners on textile, see Dehmer, ―Interzessions- und Pestbanner‖ in Bruderschaftsbanner, 193-200, and his appended catalogue. 520 For sanctuaries erected in time of the epidemic, see Mario Sensi, "Santuari ‗contra pestem‘: gli esempi di Terni e Norcia," in Dall' Albornoz all' età dei Borgia. Questioni di cultura figurativa nell' Umbria meridionale (Todi: Ediart, 1990), 347-62. In Foligno, in 1628, the local historian Ludovico Jacobilli reports that the first response to the 1448 plague was the erection of stone altars in the piazze of the Franciscan and Dominican churches and the construction of many hospices. Quoted by Elvio Lunghi in Nicolaus Pictor, 178. 181 Fiorenzo together with the body of his companion Ciriaco were again processed in such circumstances in 1400 and 1412. 521 Important relics such as entire bodies or body parts were the proud possession of religious communities that paraded them. The laity, through membership in a confraternity, could process only fragments of bodies, pieces of clothing, or holy particles such as the splinter from the Holy Cross owned by the Scuola of San Giovanni in Venice. A 1491 handcolored woodcut from Germany (fig. 54) portrays the significance of a religious procession (here, Corpus Domini) in showcasing ecclesiastical hierarchy through relic possession. Coming out of the side portal of an imposing church, a tiara-crowned pope is proffering a round host enshrined in a delicate ostensorium. While he closes the cortège in this picture, he is preceded by two cardinals, two bishops, prelates and canons who solemnly carry reliquaries of different shapes (heads, arms, a church) and monstrances. The rest of the walking congregation consists of the population loosely arranged in pairs that interact with one another in a benevolent way. As the gaze wanders through the picture, one finally notices, in the left foreground, that the participants are led by a bare-foot Christ who greets a pilgrim, another exponent of pious peregrination. Thus, this image is not about a specific procession but it is an allegorical representation of ecclesiastical sovereignty. The cortège consists mainly of the highest representatives of the Church on earth whose forward motion leads to Christ. The pilgrim symbolizes an active quest for redemption in due respect of Christian tenets while ecclesiastical hierarchy is well expressed by the neat order of the prelates preceding the pope and by their capacity to hold the precious items from the church treasury. This woodcut propagates the idea that relics and their more visible form, glittering 521 For the inventio of San Fiorenzo and the subsequent processions, see Mara Nerbano, ―‗Funus in Perusio‘. Arte, drammaturgia e devozioni in tempo di peste,‖ Teatro e Storia, Annali 7, XV (2000), 163-212, who quotes Perugian historian of the early 17th century Pompeo Pellini. See also Diario del Graziani, 150, and ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, anno 1400, June 11th, f. 94v. and the Riformanze of 1412, f. 80 mentioned in Riccieri, “Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 39. 182 reliquaries, are in the hands of ecclesiastical officials who control the dialogue with Heaven. The situation in Perugia illustrates this phenomenon, particularly before the holy banners described in this chapter were made, i. e. prior to the 1460s. Twice in July 1448, during a particularly inauspicious plague year, the municipal authorities ordered a procession of all clerics and confratelli with reliquaries, first on the 12th and then on the 21st when they deliberated on a subsidy for both the Augustinians and the Franciscans so that they could parade the ―body of Christ‖ and their ―relics and their holy bodies‖ in order for the plague to cease.522 The Augustinians must have processed the Eucharist in the silver monstrance that they used for leading the Corpus Domini feast as well as the silver tabernacle that contained a codex page stained by a bleeding host.523 The Friars Minor probably paraded their revered Holy Thorn donated to them in 1408, among other precious sacred possessions.524 The Dominicans, like the Servites (see appendix 10, ―ornamente de rame,‖ item no. 5), treasured physical remains from the Innocents. They also owned a Holy Thorn enshrined in a crystal and copper tabernacle, and three fingers of Saint Anne encased in a fine gilt-copper reliquary.525 522 For 12th July 1448, see Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 53 and ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, f. 68v; for 21st July 1448 see ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, anno 1448, f. 72v: Bulletinum x torchiectis fratribus Sancti Francisci pro honorando corpora sanctorum pro processione fienda timore pestis and ibid. f. 71v for the Augustinian procession on the same day. 523 This parchment relic had been given to the Perugian Augustinians in 1330. It was lost in 1797 when the friars had to deliver their silver reliquaries to the French troops occupying the city. See Mauro Papalini, ―La reliquia perduta,‖ Archivio Perugino-Pievese 2 (1999): 61-73. 524 On San Egidio, see Bernardo Commodi, L‟oratorio di San Bernardino presso la chiesa di San Francesco al Prato in Perugia (Perugia: F.E. Ventura, 1996), 13-17. The ―arca‖ or sarcophagus that once contained the body of Egidio is kept today in the Oratorio of San Bernardino in Perugia. Donal Cooper argues that the sarcophagus was actually under the high altar, not in the crypt. D. Cooper, "Qui Perusii in archa saxea tumulatus: The Shrine of Beato Egidio in San Francesco al Prato, Perugia," Papers of the British School in Rome 39 (2001): 233-344. 525 The inventories of the sacristy of San Domenico have been published by Tommaso Kaeppeli and by Mirko Santanicchia for the years 1417-1458 but not in extenso. See T. Kaeppeli, "Inventario della sagrestia di San Domenico di Perugia nel sec. XV," Giornale di Erudizione Artistica I (1872): 73-82 and M. Santanicchia, ―In armario ubi sunt reliquie‖ in La Basilica di San Domenico, 397-400 for the appendices. The reliquary of St. Anne is kept at the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria in Perugia. See Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, I: 173-4, fig. 147. 183 Michael Bury has suggested that the procession of relics in critical times was eclipsed in Umbria by that of the gonfaloni. 526 At least in the Perugian context, it seems that the Gonfalone of San Francesco (fig. 51) established, from 1464 on, a local preference for using cult banners as the visual focus of crisis processions. But rating the success of the extraordinary banners of Perugia as exclusive must be taken with a grain of salt because certain relics were regularly processed, regardless of the health situation. For example, the Franciscans (from 1394) and Augustinians (from 1467) paraded their Holy Thorn, respectively for the Sunday preceding Ascension Day and for Corpus Domini. The fact that the friars of Sant‘Agostino never hosted a cult banner might be explained by the acquisition, in 1467, of their Holy Thorn that was enshrined in a silver-gilt reliquary in 1474.527 The relics owned by the Mendicant orders allowed them to assert their visibility and their significance, thus attracting donations. But a significantly valuable relic was not present in Perugia until 1473 when the city of Perugia acquired the unique and extraordinary wedding ring of the Virgin, first guarded in the palace of the Priors until 1487, and then set up in the cathedral. However, it was not carried in procession and was never exposed for supplicatory purposes. Its formal ostentations gathered an awe-stricken population, at times fixed by the city officials until the feast of Saint Joseph was celebrated in Perugia from 1487 on 19th March.528 The Perugian extraordinary banners discussed in this chapter had no supernatural properties to start with, unlike relics for which an intercessory tradition was well established by the fifteenth century. Made of linen painted with tempera and gold, these banners were 526 Michael Bury, ―Tabernacoli,‖ 54. 527 On the Holy Thorn of San Francesco, see the abstracts of the Riformanze of 1394 (f. 66); 1415 (f. 51v-52v); 1430 (f. 79r); in Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 27; 40; 45. For the acquisition of a similar by the friars of Sant‘Agostino in 1467, ibid., 67. In November 1467, the city authorities granted 200 florins for the execution of a reliquary. See Provisio 200 fl. pro tabernaculo faciendo spine Salvatoris donande ecclesie Sancti Agostini, ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, anno 1467, f. 130 and f. 143. See also the provision of January 1468, f. 33. 528 The most complete study on the cult of the Holy Ring in Perugia is unfortunately a non-distributed coauthored book, available only through the Commune of Perugia: Raffaele Caracciolo, ed., Il Santo Anello: Leggenda, storia, arte, devozione (Perugia: Commune di Perugia, 2005). 184 cheaper than altarpieces and reliquaries although they were often commissioned to reputed masters. My premise for their efficacy is that it was primarily processions and their permanent illumination that charged them with a protective aura, ―consecrating‖ them as imbued with special power. In other words, as David Freedberg would put it, images were activated by ritual activity.529 Entrusting banners to the laity via confraternities (see below) may have been a political strategy. Since these banners demonstrated their power in a processional context, their existence gave city officials the opportunity to gain more authority by staging public demonstrations of piety in a crisis context. The ecclesiastical elite was indeed deprived of any control over the holy gonfaloni. As I will show, mendicant orders in general commissioned them, but very quickly, the laity appropriated them with the foundation of apposite confraternities subsidized by the communal officials. The pictorial solution The first Umbrian plague banner is the Perugian Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato (fig. 51), executed by Benedetto Bonfigli in 1464, a year in which many deliberations of the Priori dealt with the appointment and payment of grave-diggers.530 Four other Umbrian banners derive directly from this painting: the Gonfaloni of Corciano (fig. 55) dated 1472, of Civitella Benazzone (fig. 53), of Paciano (fig. 56), and of Montone (fig. 57a) dated 1482. All these banners are attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli or to his school, except the Gonfalone of Montone that is usually given to Bartolomeo Caporali. 529 David Freedberg, The Power of Images. Studies in the History and Theory of Response (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1989), especially chapter 5 ―Consecration: Making Images Work,‖ 82-98. 530 For bibliographic references for the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato, see Dehmer‘s catalogue, 334, entry 82. For the city-employed grave-diggers (beccamorti) in 1464, see ASP, ASPg, Riformanze 100, ff. 70; 74-76; 80; 90; 91; 101-2; 111; 123. For a diverging opinion about the authorship of the gonfalone, see Bury, ―Tabernacoli,‖ 55, who rejects Bonfigli as the painter, on stylistic grounds. 185 The motif of the plague Virgin of Mercy is not originally Umbrian. An altarpiece made for a Genoese confraternity around 1372 is often cited as the first extant representation of a plague Virgin of Mercy. However, an Umbrian panel made by a painter active in Spoleto may well be the earliest known depiction of that theme (fig. 58), if one accepts the usual dating to the mid-fourteenth century. In fact, the fabric of the dress of the Virgin does not correspond to Trecento models but resembles that used by Gentile da Fabriano for one of the attendants in his 1425 Adoration of the Magi.531 In this painting, a half-bust length figure of Christ appears above Mary in equal terms since both figures share the same scale and face the viewer. With outspread arms, Christ holds downward-pointed arrows, a gesture paralleled by the attitude of the Virgin who unfolds her mantle over a praying populace with men on Mary‘s right side and women opposite. They represent the inhabitants of the fortified city depicted at the bottom right of the image. A tonsured Dominican friar reaches out to present a written prayer to the Virgin that can be easily deciphered. It assures the Virgin of the submission of the faithful to her (―sub tuum presidum confugimus‖) while ―libera‖ is written in capital letters, a beseeching request for their liberation from the scourge of God. The same iconographic formula (but without any inscription) can be found in another Umbrian representation, a small panel from the mid-fifteenth century kept in a church near Narni (fig. 59).532. Another iconographic model for Bonfigli was a large panel of the 1450s from the church of Sant‘Agostino in Perugia. It shows on one half an apocalyptic theme and on the other half the Virgin of Mercy sheltering women on her left and, on her right, a tonsured cleric accompanied by a layman from God‘s darts.533 531 For the Genoese panel, see: Cassiano Da Langasco and Pasquale Rotondi, La Consortia deli forestèri' a Genova: Una Madonna di Barnaba da Modena e uno statuto del Trecento (Genoa: Edizioni Siglaeffe, 1957). The Spoleto panel, today in a Florentine private collection, is attributed to the maestro di Eggi and dated around 1350 by Todini, La pittura umbra, II, 305, entry 605. 532 533 See Strinati, Lo sguardo di Maria, 100-101. This panel (144 x 184 cm), today kept at the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria, is reproduced and commented in Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 20, entry 7, fig. 7. See also Ettore Ricci, Il confalone degli eremitani di S. Agostino in Perugia (Perugia: Guerra, 1936). 186 Unlike what is generally believed, Umbria may not be the region where this iconography was first applied to processional paintings. A double-sided panel from Tuscania near Viterbo (Latium) also shows a Virgin of Mercy whose mantle stops God‘s fatal arrows from reaching the population. It has been tentatively dated just after 1446, in commemoration of Nicholas of Tolentino‘s canonization, because the haloed saint is shown on the reverse. The dating is uncertain: the painter, Valentino Pica, was active between 1439 and 1486 and this stendardo could have been made for a local confraternity a few decades after Nicholas was declared a saint. Finally, Bonfigli may have also been inspired by a banner dated 1463 for the parishioners of Tedico (near Camerino) in the neighboring region of the Marches (fig. 60).534 A mid-fifteenth century fresco (fig. 61) from Santa Croce in Perugia, maybe by Bonfigli, explicates the faithful‘s plea in times of a plague. Here, the population, saints, and the Virgin of Mercy engage in a dialogue which is attested to by the scrolls imaged in the work. A tiny figure of God equipped with darts, the source of the threat, is placed above Mary. The people seeking shelter under Mary‘s mantle hold up a text in front of her with their entreaty for divine intercession. They humbly beg Mary, the ―salvation of the sinners,‖ to pray to her Son so that the ―furore‖ may be removed, while an arrow-riddled Sebastian, ―on account of his wounds,‖ supports their request by pleading with the Virgin to persuasively further their plea to God. The Virgin hears ―the blessed martyr with a humble heart‖ and tells archangel Michael to sheathe the cruel sword on which ―fiat‖ (let it be) is 534 For the Viterbo panel, see A.M. Pedrocchi, ―La decorazione della chiesa di S. Agostino a Tuscania,‖ in: Il Quattrocento a Viterbo (Rome: De Luca, 1983), 151-152 and L. Marshall, ―La costruzione di un santo contro la peste: il caso di Nicola da Tolentino‖ in San Niccolò da Tolentino nell'arte. Corpus iconografico (Milan: Motta, 2005), 284-5. The Camerino gonfalone is dated 1463 and signed ―Ieronimus Ioannis‖ (Girolamo di Giovanni). It measures 206 x 125 cm and is kept in the Pinacoteca Civica of Camerino. See Dehmer‘s catalogue, Bruderschaftsbanner, entry 17, 297. 187 inscribed.535 In a procession, the solemn forward motion and its interruptions by choreographed pauses at important stations animated the depiction of Mary on the banners, giving the impression that the Virgin moved of her own volition. The faithful looked up to Mary with entreaties that parallel those written on the Gonfalone of Corciano (fig. 55) in which the urban population begs Mary to ―pour out prayers to [her] Son‖ for the ―salvation of the faithful‖ and beseech her to ―succor the wretched ones,‖ ―help the fearful,‖ and ―revive the distressed.‖ In the fresco of Santa Croce, the supernatural powers attributed to holy figures and the absolute potency of the Virgin at the top of the holy hierarchy are clearly spelled out. This combination of text and image crystallizes the type of relationships that the faithful entertained with saints in their prayers. Collective entreaties were believed to be efficacious indeed, especially when coupled with demonstrations of piety, hence the necessity of collective prayers in the public sphere such as penitential processions. Other iconographic formulas were equally successful, especially in Perugia where another five plague banners (those of Santa Maria Nuova of 1471 (fig. 62a), of San Fiorenzo dated 1476 (fig. 63a), of San Simone (fig. 64), of San Domenico of 1494 (fig. 65), and of the 535 Walter Bombe is the first historian to have pointed to this composition as a model for the Umbrian banners discussed here; see ―Gonfaloni Umbri,‖ 5-6. See also Mancini‘s entry in Benedetto Bonfigli (Milan: Electa, 1992), 50-51. The scrolls read (as reported by Bombe): Con umele chore et ardente fervore Regina Celi dei pechatore salute Noi pregiam te che prege che ci aiute El tuo figliolo e lavace el furore [sign held up by the people] Per quiste piaghe che or ci rude alquanto Per lo tuo amore e per lo figliuol tuo Ti priego Madre che lo prieghe tanto Che esshaudischa quisto popul suo. [Sebastian to Mary] Martir beato con humilie chore Se‘ essaudito e pero Agnolo cruo Remette l‘arme e la crua spada [Mary to Sebastian and Raphael] Fiat [on Michael‘ sword] 188 Duomo of 1526 (fig. 66) were called ―saintly‖ all the way up to the nineteenth century.536 The creation of dated plague banners usually corresponded to the outbreaks of the epidemic, but undated banners are often estimated by art historians according to a combination of stylistic grounds and plague periods. Thus for the banners of Paciano, Civitella Benazzone, and San Simone, scholars have proposed a dating either close to 1464, in the wake of the Gonfalone of San Francesco (1464), or to the 1470s, a decade replete with infectious occurrences. 2) Banner Patronage and Iconography The role of the clergy Although Louise Marshall and Andreas Dehmer treat plague banners of the Italian Renaissance as confraternal commissions, I believe that the execution of a banner to ward off the plague only rarely originates in confraternities, but instead stems from a variety of patrons.537 In a section of her dissertation, Marshall notes that for sixteen plague images with known patronage, eight of them were related to religious orders, five to confraternities, one to the Commune and its bishop, and two to private individuals.538 Once they had been commissioned and executed, banners were indeed often entrusted to confraternities for maintenance and processions, as this chapter will exemplify. At this stage of the patronage pattern, Marshall‘s argument is validated: these extraordinary paintings served as a means of promotion for confraternities in the public realm, especially if their painting was visibly located in a public church rather than locked away in their oratory. In this section, I would like to stress the initiatives of religious orders in the making of a plague gonfalone. 536 The original success of the banner of San Simone is not known but Cesare Crispolti (1563-1608) mentions its processional use in a plague context. C. Crispolti, Perusia Augusta, 123-124. 537 Marshall, ―Confraternity and Community,‖ briefly evokes this point, 20-21. See also the many caveats in Dehmer‘s footnotes regarding the origins of the patronage of many gonfaloni. 538 Marshall, Waiting on the Will of the Lord, 239, n.8. 189 The depiction of the Virgin of Mercy, i.e., Mary with her mantle extended over a group of faithful, is a favorite subject for banners. Louise Marshall has shown how the iconography of the Virgin of Mercy could be transformed into a plague image by juxtaposing the vision of Christ, poised to castigate sinners with his deadly arrows, above the central image of Mary.539 In the Gonfalone of San Francesco (fig. 51) and its four derivatives (figs. 53; 55; 56; 57), the Virgin of Mercy prays as she hovers over a fortified town and extends her mantle to shield the imploring faithful, with men huddled on her right and women on her left. Local patron saints, as well as holy religious leaders in prayer, flank Mary, while a vengeful Christ, above her (sometimes accompanied by armed angels) hurls the fatal arrows of pestilence. In the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato (fig. 51), Franciscan holy figures are in evidence, with Francis kneeling in prayer at the Virgin‘s right hand, while under him San Bernardino caresses a Franciscan friar‘s head in a comforting gesture. This visual stress on the Friars Minor is explained by the fact that this banner had been first commissioned by the Perugian Franciscan Conventuals at a time when no confraternity was in charge of it, as Michael Bury has shown.540 The Gonfalone of Civitella Benazzone (fig. 53) and the Gonfalone of Montone (fig. 57a) are also linked to a Franciscan milieu. In the first one, not only are Francis and Bernardino located in the heavenly section, but Sebastian is presenting a Poor Clare to the Virgin. The presence of Saint Andrew to the Virgin‘s right reveals the destination of this painting, the local parish church dedicated to him. Here again, the original patronage must go back to the Minorites in Civitella who probably entrusted the banner to confratelli, such as the virtual ones shown in the terrestrial portion of the composition near the local Franciscan church. In the Gonfalone of Montone, the Franciscan origin of the commission is asserted by the presence of Francis at the Virgin‘s favored right hand (in the 539 In Dehmer‘s catalogue, 26 out of 106 banners depict the Virgin of Mercy. Marshall, ibid., 217-9, summarized the scriptural sources explaining the symbolism of the arrows and of the common depiction of a trio of them. 540 Bury, "The Fifteenth- and Early Sixteenth-Century Gonfaloni of Perugia," and idem "Tabernacoli.‖ In these seminal articles, Bury reconstructed the various steps of the cult attached to this painting for the 1460s. 190 same location as in the 1464 banner) facing Anthony of Padua and San Bernardino. What the iconography indicates is confirmed by the cartello under Mary‘s feet identifying the banner with ―the work of this convent‖ (―OP[US] H[UIUS] CONVENTUS‖). The execution of this painting finalized a campaign of renovation of the Franciscan church launched by the friars (see below).541 The Gonfalone of Corciano (fig. 55), dated 1472, is documented in a petition addressed to the civic authorities by the local Augustinians who probably displayed the painting in their church from the start. The haloed bishop on the worthy right of Mary must then be Saint Augustine. He is introducing a friar dressed in black, probably the prior of the convent.542 A similar religious figure is featured in the Gonfalone of Paciano (fig. 56) at the same place. In this painting, an Augustinian commission is evidenced by the presence of St. Nicholas of Tolentino who had been recently canonized in 1446 and Saint Monica, mother of Augustine.543 A comparable clerical commission can be deduced from the iconography of another Umbrian banner of the second half of the Quattrocento, the Gonfalone of Terni (fig. 67) kept in the local municipal museum.544 Its original provenance is unknown but it is likely to come from the town of Terni like the other religious works found in that museum. At the feet of the Virgin of Mercy, the two male patrons of this work who kneel outside her mantle area in the left and right corners of the composition are probably Augustinian clerics because 541 For bibliographic references for the Gonfalone of Civitella Benazzone, see Dehmer‘s catalogue, 302, entry 22. For the Gonfalone of Montone, see: Giovanna Sapori, ed, Museo Comunale di San Francesco a Montone (Perugia: Electa, 1997), 109-111 and Dehmer‘s catalogue, 323, entry 60. 542 For bibliographic references for the Gonfalone of Corciano, see Dehmer‘s catalogue, 304, entry 24 and Marshall, ―La costruzione di un santo contro la peste,‖ 308-309, entry no. 152. For the text of the petition, see Bombe, Gonfaloni umbri, 8. 543 For bibliographic references for the Gonfalone of Paciano, see Dehmer‘s catalogue, Bruderschaftsbanner, entry 65, 326. Elvio Lunghi has recently attributed this banner to Pierantonio di Niccolò da Pozzuolo who died in 1478. See E. Lunghi, Il martirio di san Sebastiano di Pietro Perugino a Panicale (Panicale: EFFE, 2005), 142-143. L. Marshall, ―La costruzione di un santo contro la peste,‖ has argued that, as there was no Augustinian monastery in Paciano, this banner must have been transferred at some point to this city and the veduta was then repainted. 544 This banner is kept at the Pinacoteca comunale of Terni hence the name that I gave to it. The other banner from Terni is Niccolò da Liberatore‘s Crucifixion with Saint Bernardino and Saint Francis, also kept in that museum. 191 of their black habit and because of the painted verso.545 The reverse shows three haloed bishops once erroneously identified as Terni‘s three patron saints, Valentino, Anastasio, and Procolo. All three are undoubtedly bishops because of their typical episcopal attire: crosier, miter, and gloved hands. In the catalogue entry for this banner, Mirko Santanicchia names Augustine as the central saint because he wears, under his brocaded cope, a conspicuous black cowl, the typical robe of the Augustinian order. The other two figures must be Terni‘s protectors that I identify as San Valentino, Terni‘s first bishop martyred by the Romans in the third century, and San Procolo, Terni‘s fifth bishop who died probably in the sixth century. The fact that Anastasio was not a bishop but the governor of Narni and Terni in the sixth or seventh century supports the idea that he cannot be part of the three figures. What reinforces the argument for a Terni provenance is the strong presence of the Augustinians in this town since the thirteenth century.546 Their main convent and church, called San Pietro del Tirio or San Pietro dei Fabbri was enlarged and restored throughout the fifteenth century. The patrons for this banner must have been connected with the Augustinians and possibly with this church but further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis. Mary is isolated from the local holy protectors who appear on the other side of the image, but in a procession, the mobility of the image offered both sides to viewers, connecting the Madonna with Terni‘s main patrons as well as with the Augustinian order. 545 Cf entry by Miko Santanicchia in Corrado Fratini, ed., Pinacoteca comunale di Terni (Terni: Artium Bonelli, 2000), 38-39, who does not give any further reason for this identification. As the author points out the Terni Confraternita della Misericordia cannot have commissioned this banner since it was founded in the 16 th century. The present restoration of this painting may yield more iconographic information. The Virgin shields an assembly of veiled women, probably either nuns or tertiaries but the various restorations of this banner could affect this identification. The original painting may have shown men on the left and women on the right according to the usual division by sex. 546 Valentino is venerated both in Rome and Terni. For the existence of two different Saint Valentines, one from Terni and the other one from Rome, and the belief that they were one and the same, see Elia Rossi-Passavanti, Storia di Terni dalle origini al medio-evo. I (Rome: Camera dei Deputati, 1932), 267-271. For Procolo, see the sequel of this book by the same author, Interamna dei Naarti. II (Orvieto: Marsili, 1933), 513-514 and 519, n. 1. Valentino became Terni‘s sole patron in the 17th century. For Anastasio, see Rossi-Passavanti, II, ibid, 514. For a history of the Augustinian settlements in Terni and a summary of the foundation of the order, see Guerriero Bolli, La chiesa di S. Pietro dei Fabbri in Terni (Terni: Thyrus, 1998), 77-83. 192 Two Perugian plague banners were made shortly after the Franciscan gonfalone of 1464: the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova of 1471 (fig. 62a) and the Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo of 1476 (fig. 63a). They do not follow its iconographic formula but their religious patrons strived to achieve a similar success and promoted their cult, as Michael Bury aptly suggested.547 The Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova bears the name of the church where it was kept, a building that belonged to the Sylvestrines from 1404 until 1542.548 When the whole Perugian monastery was handed to the conventual Servites in 1542, this banner remained in the church and never changed names. The plague context is evident from a gigantic figure of Christ facing and threatening the viewers, about to launch an arrow from the sheaf held in his left hand, seemingly pausing in the act due to the intercessory gesture of the Virgin who kneels to his right. Across from her and even smaller, the Perugian beato, Paolo Bigazzini, who was a close follower of the founder of the Sylvestrines, points to the original patrons of these monks. Bigazzini directs both hands towards the congregation below while, in the lower third of the composition, Saint Benedict on the left and his sister, Santa Scholastica, facing him, protect with one raised hand miniature men and women praying in two separate groups who direct their gazes upwards. The Sylvestrines followed the rule of Saint Benedict and his presence furthers the allusion to their patronage. The Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo (fig.63a) dated 1476, is another example of a plague banner documented through a bequest as a commission of a mendicant order, the Observant 547 For an accurate description and the historiography on both these banners, see F. Mancini (1992), 130-132, entry no.39 and further bibliographic references in Dehmer‘s catalogue, 335, entries 83-84. Thanks to a recorded bequest, Bury, ―Gonfaloni of Perugia," 72, n. 13, proved the existence of the banner of Santa Maria Nuova from at least July 1471 whereas scholars had always dated it 1472. For the religious patrons of these banners, see Bury, Tabernacoli, 54. 548 The Sylvestrines were founded by Silvestro Gozzolini (d. 1267) in 1231 on Monte Fano. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the order spread mainly in Tuscany and Umbria. The Congregation follows the rule of Saint Benedict. See The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912), entry ―Sylvestrines.‖ 193 Servites.549. Its iconography shows another formula, reminiscent of contemporary altarpieces. In the upper half, a praying Virgin is kneeling on a bank of clouds while on each side two pairs of smaller angels hold up a wicker basket filled with roses on which a baby Christ stands. Below Mary an angel holds up a long scroll inscribed with a verses discoursing on the plague, behind and around which a crowd kneels in prayer gazing upwards. The population is flanked by San Fiorenzo, the titular saint of the monastery, and beato Filippo Benizi (d. 1285), an early leader of the Servites. These two holy figures on the coveted right side of the Virgin indicate the patronage of this banner and the church where it was kept. On the left side of the Virgin, Saint Sebastian riddled with arrows signifies that this banner was made for the plague while next to him, stands the blessed Pellegrino Laziosi (d. 1345) of the same mendicant order. The lower section of the composition resembles a predella; it consists of four small scenes narrating miracles from the legends of Benizi and Laziosi. The poem indicates that the banner was started in 1476 in response to God‘s punishment of the injuries done to him.550 In 1480, a lavish frame for the banner was commissioned by the friars, at the same time as a huge double-sided altarpiece by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo for the high altar showing Sylvestrine saints flanking the Virgin Mary. The Gonfalone of San Simone (fig. 64a), still in situ, was made for the Carmelite church of Perugia sometime between 1440 to 1480. The inscription on the lower rim, possibly a later addition, specifically mentions the ―candid [white] order of the Carmelites‖ 549 On 12th February 1442, a bull of pope Eugene IV expelled the monks of the Congregation of the Body of Christ who had been living there from 1394. Prior to them, the monastery had been a Cistercian community from 1234. Originally, however, this convent had depended on a Camaldolese abbey from the mid eleventh century. See Anna Maria Jemma, "Le confraternite disciplinate di S. Fiorenzo e di S. Simone in Perugia (Secoli XIV-XVII)" (M.A., Perugia: Università degli Studi, 1968-69) who bases her reconstruction on a 18 th century manuscript by Belforti and Mariotti. For the bequest, see Bury, ―Tabernacoli,‖ 53 and n. 23 for his partial transcription. 550 ―A grandi esempli presenti e passati / De le miserie extreme e de‘ gran‘ mali / Ch‘el Ciel vi manda pe‘ vostri peccati [v. 10-12] (...) Ma lui sempre punisce omnia sua ingiuria [v. 16] (...) / Con piante fatta fu gridando O mei / Nel mille settanta quattro cento sei. [v. 33-34]‖ 194 and its foundation date by Pope Innocent III, 1209.551 The Virgin of Humility, with hands joined in prayer as she lowers her head, gazes towards her son in her lap. Mary occupies the whole central space of the painting, flanked by two praying angels floating above the flowerstrewn grass. Among the tiny kneeling figures in the lower right corner, the foremost kneeling figures may stand for cardinal Saint Albert, the founder of the Carmelites, Pope Innocent III who favored Albert‘s career as the patriarch of Jerusalem, and King Henry VI who entrusted Albert with a delicate mission to mediate with the papacy. 552 This interpretation may wishfully assume iconographical explanations for a banner that is hardly documented at all. Behind this roster of three important characters, the faithful seem to be friars dressed in the Carmelite white habit. Mary‘s white cloak may be a more secure allusion to the Carmelite origin of the commission, showing her as honoring them by assuming the friars‘ distinctive color of clothing. The ashlar wall behind Mary may refer to the city wall that the monastery reached, as well as the usual enclosed garden (‗hortus conclusus‘), symbolic of Mary‘s virginity. It is likely that the picture was commissioned by the friars who were established in Perugia from 1296 and in that church from 1335. It would partially explain its location on the main altar, documented from the eighteenth century.553 As to the Perugian Dominicans, they became associated quite late with a miracleworking plague banner when a visionary Dominican nun, Beata Colomba, petitioned the municipal authorities to fund a gonfalone during the epidemic of 1494. In this Gonfalone of San Domenico (fig. 65a), Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena are represented 551 For the Gonfalone of San Simone, see bibliographic references in Dehmer‘s catalogue, 336, entry 85. Present scholarship follows Mancini, Bonfigli, 139, who dates this fresco around 1480. Ettore Ricci, Storia critica dei SS. confaloni, 189, dates the gonfalone to ca. 1440. The inscription reads: DUM FLUIT UNDA MARIS CURRET QUE PER AETHERA PHEBUS VIVET CARMELI CANDIDUS ORDO MIHI MCIX (―As long as the waves of the see flow and the sun runs its course through the sky, the candid order of the Carmelites will keep honoring me‖). Ricci convincingly argues that a C is missing and that the date must read MCCIX. 552 553 Mancini, Bonfigli, 140. On the dating and the origin of the commission, see Jemma, ―Le confraternite di S. Fiorenzo e di S. Simone,‖ 44-47. By 1609, it is placed on the altar of the Madonna of the Carmel. See Cripolti, Perusia Augusta, 124. Annibale Mariotti saw it above the high altar in 1788. Quoted in Mancini, Bonfigli, 139-140. 195 kneeling on the ground while each extending an edge of their black robes to embrace a miniature rendition of the Perugian population. Beata Colomba is represented in the forefront and gave her name to this banner, also called the Gonfalone of Beata Colomba.554 Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine are of the same size as Christ and the six holy figures flanking him in the top half of the composition. Their visual and physical prominence clearly identifies this banner with the Dominican order. The last Perugian extraordinary banner is the Gonfalone of the Duomo (fig. 66) of 1526. It had been commissioned in July 1524 by a certain ―Sotietas rogationis‖ that met every Sunday in the cathedral, but that is otherwise not documented. I presume that a banner for Perugia‘s main church and under the aegis of the chapter canons was a prestigious commission. The city government voted then the substantial sum of 15 florins to spend on this banner ―in the honor of the Virgin Mary;‖ but it was executed only two years later, in July 1526, at the cost of 25 florins.555 At that time, the virulence of the epidemic had not yet diminished and the delay in executing the banner may be due to the critical situation. The painter attempted to portray the emotional distress of the Perugians by modelling them after Raphael‘s witnesses of Christ‘s Transfiguration as Daniel Arasse aptly commented.556 The 554 For the Gonfalone of San Domenico, see: Dehmer‘s catalogue, Bruderschaftsbanner, entry 81, 334 and recently, L. Teza, ―Pittura tra Rinascimento e Manierismo,‖ in La Basilica di San Domenico, 464-466, who attributes this painting to Ludovico d‘Angelo Mattioli, following and quoting Ricci (1930s)‘s suggestion (see footnote 50). 555 For the Gonfalone of the Duomo, see Dehmer, ibid., entry 80, 333. The ―Sotietas rogationum‖ is mentioned by Bury, ―Gonfaloni of Perugia," n. 46. I report here a longer transcription from ASP, ASPg, Riformanze 143, f. 138r for the deliberations of July 17 th July 1524: ―elimosina de XV fl.: ―Item pro parte superstanti sotietatis rogationum que dicuntur omni die dominico in ecclesia Sancti Laurentii maiori ecclesie perusine fuerit petita certa quantitas florenorum pro faciendo confalonem ad honorem Virginis Marie nostre sic preposta pro dictos Magnificos Dominos Priores coram dictis camerariis (…) concesserunt dictis sumptibus florenos quindecim (…) expendendos pro dicto confalone.‖ See also ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1526, for the deliberations of 3 rd July (f. 270r) and of 19 th July (f. 271r). The 41 present chamberlains granted 25 florins for the ―gonfalone recently made in the church of San Lorenzo.‖ 556 Daniel Arasse, ―Entre dévotion et culture : Fonctions de l‘image religieuse,‖ in Faire croire. Modalit‟es de la diffusion et de la réception des messages religieux du XIIe au XVe siècle (Rome : Ecole française de Rome, 1981), 145-6. 196 unfurled scroll above them, ―SALUS NOSTRA IN MANU TUA EST ET NOS ET TERRA NOSTRA TUI SUMUS,‖ is a quote from, respectively, Genesis, 47:25 and 47:19. In the Biblical passage, the starving Egyptians offer themselves in slavery and present their land to Pharaoh because they believe in his power to save them from famine thanks to Joseph‘s strategies. Here, the Perugians acknowledge the Virgin‘s intercessory authority and dedicate their city, depicted between them and the heavenly spheres, to her. The use of this banner is otherwise not documented until April 1593 when a three-day long earthquake occasioned no damage to the city, a miracle attributed to the procession of the banner.557 Thus, in association with the perfectly legible scroll (―terra‖ means both earth and land), the banner also became famous for protecting the city from earthquakes. The varied poses of the agitated figures contrast with a resolutely orderly rendition of the upright towers of the city. On the banner, Saint Joseph is prominently placed next to the Virgin, a sign of the invigoration of his cult from the time that the ring with which he wed the Virgin was acquired by the city of Perugia in 1473, and Sixtus IV‘s institution of the cult in 1479. From an iconographic point of view, the patronage of a religious community is also visible on the banners through a precise depiction of their headquarters such as the local church dedicated to Saint Francis for the Franciscan banners of San Francesco al Prato, Civitella, Montone, and Assisi (figs. 51; 53; 57; 68). The Dominican church of Perugia appears under Saint Dominic in the Gonfalone of the Beata Colomba (fig. 65a) while the cathedral is located below the Virgin in the Gonfalone of the Duomo (fig. 66). If the church where the banner was kept does not appear in the view, it is implied, as, for example, in the 557 G. M. Lesmi, Notizie istoriche dei S‟. Confaloni di Perugia con alcune preci diverso castighi, e flagelli opportune da farsi nelle chiese, e nelle case (Perugia: Baduel, 1807), 37. Unfortunately, the archive of the cathedral has been closed for many years impeding research on objects such as this gonfalone. 197 veduta of the banner of Corciano (fig. 55) depicted as if from the Augustinian convent which had commissioned it and had it in its custody until 1879.558 The role of confraternities Typically, representatives of one local religious order petitioned the political authorities in order to obtain funds for the making of a gonfalone with an intercessory imagery. The clerics then entrusted this painting to a confraternity whether it already existed or whether it was created ex nihilo for that purpose.559 The Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato is a documented example of a special painting, for the care of which a new confraternity was founded.560 Upon the request of the friars, the Commune sent ambassadors to the newly elected Pope Paul II in October 1464, in order to obtain an indulgence attached to the procession of this miracle-working banner, thus launching a first step in the longlasting cult of this image. The next step was the creation of a special company of the Madonna called the ―Confraternity of the Gonfalone‖ a few months later. Surprisingly, the already existing confraternity of San Francesco located in proximity to the church (via degli Sciri) was not considered for this job although the miniature white-robed penitents depicted on the banner may represent this company. The ―Confraternita del Confalone‖ became responsible for any measure enhancing the presentation of the painting. The intention of the friars (documented in October 1464) to have a special chapel built to accommodate the extraordinary banner was realized by the confraternal members to whom a municipal deliberation granted stones and wood for it in February of 1465; by October of the same year, 558 Francesco Santi, I gonfaloni umbri del Rinascimento (Perugia: Volumnia, 1976), 39; Mancini, Bonfigli, 134. 559 A similar process of housing a miracle-working image and then entrusting it to a confraternity took place in Spello in 1524. See the chronicle of Giovanni and Guido Olorini (1477-1594) transcribed by M. Faloci Pulignani in ―Le cronache di Spello degli Olorini,‖ BDSPU XXIII (1918), 289. 560 See Michael Bury‘s research, amply quoted so far, and the important article by Valentina Borgnini, based on her B.A. thesis (tesi di laurea), reconstructing the architectural history of the church of San Francesco al Prato: V. Borgnini, "Vicende costruttive e conservative della chiesa di San Francesco al Prato di Perugia," Miscellanea Francescana 104, III-IV (2004): 671-722. 198 the chapel, affixed to the façade of San Francesco, was completed. 561 The confraternity secured an endowment of ten florins, a substantial sum, for the purchase of wax to illuminate the image on the feast of the Annunciation. It also negotiated 100 florins from the Commune to fund an ornate frame and a grille to protect the banner in June of 1466.562 The Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova (fig. 62a) is a puzzling case. According to Michael Bury, the Sylvestrine friars took the initiative of commissioning the banner in 1471 but by November 1472, a ―Societas confalonis‖ was created for the custody of this gonfalone. By September 1477, the Confraternita di San Benedetto took over the responsibility for the painting, as Bury suggested. However, on the banner, Saint Benedict and Santa Scholastica each present black-robed members of a confraternity to the looming Christ in majesty. These two men are identifiable as flagellants because of the opening of their habit in the back for self-scourging. It would be logical to interpret these tiny figures as the confratelli dedicated to Saint Benedict, especially since their premises faced the church of the Sylvestrines. 563 But the intention of the Sylvestrines who commissioned the banner is not clear. Are these figures the members of the ―Societas confalonis‖ or of the ―Confraternita di San Benedetto‖? Possibly, the former was in charge of another, non-extant, banner that was also kept in Santa Maria Nuova and the friars conceived this painting with the latter in mind. In any case, this 561 ―societas Madonne vocata el gonfalone‖ in a deliberation of February 17, 1465. ASP, ASPg, Riformanze 101, f. 25v-26r. In June 1466, it is also called ―sotietatis sancta Marie pacis‖ (Society of Saint Mary of the Peace). The banner was otherwise also known as ―Santa Maria delle Grazie.‖ The confraternity name became ―Confraternita della Concezione di Maria SS. del Gonfalone di San Francesco‖ and remained in existence into the 20th century. See O. Marinelli, Le confraternite di Perugia. Borgnini, "Vicende costruttive e conservative,‖ 710, assertively identifies the tiny figures as the flagellants of the Confraternita of San Francesco. I suggested earlier that they could represent a spontaneous movement of the laity, similar to the Bianchi of 1399. The chapel of the Gonfalone was demolished in 1923 in order to restore the façade to its original 14th century appearance. See Borgnini for a recent reconstruction of the architectural history of the church. 562 See transcription of the petition of June 24, 1466 in Bury, ―Tabernacoli,‖ 56, n. 15. 25 florins were granted for the frame, see Bury, ―Gonfaloni of Perugia," 72, n. 11. 563 In his testament of 17th July 1471, a ―merciario‖ made a bequest of ten florins for the ―ornament of the gonfalone recently made‖ in the church of Santa Maria Nuova. Quoted in Bury, ―Gonfaloni of Perugia," 72-3, n. 13. Bury, ―Tabernacoli,‖ 53, found a record of a payment due by the Compagnia di San Benedetto to the ―Societas confalonis.‖ 199 shows that the patronage of a banner could involve first a religious order and later a confraternity. In other cases, the origin of the commission and the transfer of responsibility for maintaining the banner are also unclear. For example, the Gonfalone of San Simone seems not to have been in the custody of the Confraternity of ―the order of Saint Mary of the Mount Carmel,‖ founded in the 1330s because no document mentions it. Its premises, rented from the cathedral chapter, were adjacent to the friars‘ monastery and consisted of a house with a ―hospital,‖ that was a shelter for the poor and pilgrims, and a garden. From their fiscal records of the mid-fifteenth century, it is obvious that this association suffered economic difficulties and could not have been able to afford a gonfalone of that quality. Its lack of means is evident in the 1507 subsidy that the confraternity requested from the city priors because their oratory was threatening collapse. It is no wonder that the next known record for this poverty-stricken group mentions that it had merged with the nearby confraternity of San Fiorenzo - probably in the 1560s - and that they only own a ―small house.‖564 Apparently the Gonfalone of San Simone remained throughout its existence an exclusive property of the Carmelites. When they redecorated the apse of the church in 1840, they declared in an inscription under the banner, that they, the friars, were responsible for the new decorous setting of the banner. As to the Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo, it is documented as carried in procession by the unified confraternities of San Simone and San Fiorenzo only from the late sixteenth century. Although the confraternity of San Simone and that of San Fiorenzo were affiliated with two different mendicant orders (respectively the Carmelites and the reformed Servites), they were neighboring associations, located on the same processional route. Their statutes of 1594 564 On the history of this confraternity, see Jemma, "Le confraternite di S. Fiorenzo e di S. Simone,‖ 133-137. The union took place before 1571 as, in December of that year, bishop Mario della Rovere visited their premises. See her appendices, 53-54, for a transcription of the bishop‘s visitation to the Oratory of the Confraternity of S. Simone and S. Fiorenzo on 8 th December 1571. 200 document assertively that they are in charge of the Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo (fig. 63a) and that it is kept in that church. When the banner first became their responsibility is unfortunately not clear. The provision listing the officers indicates that the custody of the sacred painting generated a new office ―a few years‖ earlier (―da pochi anni in addietro‖), that of the deputy to the banner (―deputato al “santo Confalone‖).565 The Gonfalone of the Duomo (fig. 66) does not seem to have had any relation with a confraternity. Despite Saint Joseph‘s prominent position, the Confraternity dedicated to him and founded in 1487 would not have been adequate as a custodian of this banner because it functioned quite differently from other sodalities. The several hundred members of the Confraternita di San Giuseppe who had signed their names in the corporate register only pledged to observe the tenets of a pious Christian life but they had no premises, no possessions in common, and no collective rituals beyond their gathering for Saint Joseph‘s day in the cathedral and their participation in processions.566 This banner was placed by the end of the sixteenth century and until 1620 above the altar of the Ghiberti chapel but the patronage of the Gonfalone of the Duomo is unclear until the early eighteenth century. 567 In 1703, the bishop and the cathedral chaplain promoted the devotion towards this painting by giving it a public location above an altar in the left nave and having the altar newly adorned. In addition, 8th November was established as an annual feast day for the gonfalone. In 1708, 565 These excerpts from provisions b) and c) of the statutes are transcribed in Jemma, "Le confraternite di S. Fiorenzo e di S. Simone,‖ appendices, 57-59: b) ―si farà qualche funzione al nostro gonfalone di San Fiorenzo secondo che dal Deputato gli sarà notificato per schedola del mandatario.‖ c) ―Siccome resta annessa alla fraternita la custodia del confalone in S. Fiorenzo, per ciò da pochi anni in addietro, è stato ammesso tra il numero degli offiziali anche il deputato al s. Confalone. Si è detto da pochi anni perchè nè dalle costituzioni nè dai partiti antichi si ha che questo fosse offizio separato.‖ 566 See Giovanna Casagrande, "Devozione e municipalità. La Compagnia del S. Anello" in Le Mouvement confraternel au Moyen Age (Rome: Ecole Française de Rome, 1985), 187-183. For primary sources and bibliographic references: Marinelli, Confraternite, 472-557. 567 See Cesare Crispolti in his guidebook to Perugian churches (1597) in Teza, Raccolta delle cose segnalate, 83 and Teza‘s footnote 14, 151. 201 the painting was restored and the bishop with the approval of the chapter and the city officials entrusted the painting to the guild of the barbers, a very peculiar case for a miracle-working banner. Like many other guilds in the middle ages, the barbers used to hold their meetings in the cathedral. I presume that they traditionally met in front of the altar of the gonfalone that must have existed since 1593 when the banner was acknowledged as having protective properties, hence their custody of this painting into the nineteenth century. 568 The plague banners that I described were cult objects because of their miraculous properties. Confraternities in charge of them were responsible for their maintenance and safekeeping. These companies played a very special role when a crisis procession was deemed necessary. In 1477, the confraternal brothers of San Benedetto asked the friars to let them carry out the Gonfalone of Santa Maria on the day of Mary‘s Nativity and also requested from the Priori a £12 wax donation for the procession of the gonfalone in order to relieve the city from the plague. Therefore, confraternities were placed in the spotlight because their banner invested them with the mission to free the inhabitants of plague, dearth, and enmity. For example, in 1563 and 1581, the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova and that of San Fiorenzo were processed because of drought while in 1587, the confraternities of San Francesco, San Benedetto, and San Simone e San Fiorenzo were told to process their extraordinary gonfaloni because of a raging rain.569 The sustained belief in the power of these banners across the centuries and the intensive care granted by confraternities explains the survival of these extraordinary banners to this day. 568 On the 18th century vicissitudes of this gonfalone, see Ricci, Storia critica, 176 and Lesmi, Notizie istoriche dei S‟. Confaloni,‖ 35-38. The matricola (collection of statutes) of the barbers covers the period 1331-1717 is kept today in the British Museum in London. It would probably yield more information on this guild‘s involvement with the altar and the gonfalone. For a brief description of the matricola, see A. Mariotti, Spoglio delle matricole de‟ collegi delle arti di Perugia, BAP, ms. 1230, 124-130. The date of the restoration is documented on the verso of the banner. See M. G. Bistoni‘s entry in Arte sacra in Umbria. Mostra di dipinti restauri 1976-1981 (Ministero per i Beni Culturali, 1982), 64-67. 569 96. ―Memorie du Romolo Allegrini,‖ in Fabretti, ―Memorie di Romolo Allegrini (1580-1630),‖in Cronache, V: 202 The civic authorities and the responsibility of purifying the city Epidemics were regarded as contracted through a venomous vapor present in the air.570 This corruption of the air is one more aspect of the pollution that mortals had created and that needed purging. Individual measures consisted in a better hygiene and in wearing odoriferous herbs or spreading perfumed incense at home. But collective manifestations of piety, such as processions, were public demonstrations to the higher spheres of the consensual will to erase sinful behavior. Although the dangers of contagion were wellknown, governments often followed religious advice regarding the need for large gatherings in the form of penitential processions. As we have seen, in Perugia as in other Italian citystates, civic authorities were responsible for setting up city-wide events such as general processions for the celebration of the feast days of patron saints. It was thus natural that they also oversaw the organization of special processions destined to assuage God. These crisis processions took place in a time of disruption of the normal pace of life for the inhabitants. Christians were supposed to fast and avoid any mortal sins, according to the recommendations of preachers. The government ordered shops to close down and it was forbidden to conduct any business. In times of catastrophe, charity was not only an individual and praiseworthy initiative but also a civic measure that took the form of alms to the poor (in money or in kind), free medical assistance to the plague-stricken, bee wax and olive oil for the illumination of sacred paintings or the extraordinary banners placed over altars, and the candles and tapers necessary for solemnly processing through the city. 571 In other words, penitential processions were part of a larger radical process, that of purifying the city through regulatory or pious enterprises launched both by the ecclesiastical and the civic authorities. 570 Marsilio Ficino dedicated his first chapter of on the air. cf Comez, "Provvedimenti adottati in tempo di peste,‖ 61. 571 On charity as a response advocated by the clergy to solve a crisis, see R. Trexler, Public Life, 350-1. 203 The special decrees issued in times of epidemics pitted the contado against the urban space. Afraid of losing too much of the urban population, the laws implyied that the city was the only safe place. For example, in June 1424, the chief justices ordered all Perugian citizens who had gone to the contado, whatever the reason, to come back immediately, with the premise that the disease was located outside the city. But cities were actually the most vulnerable places in cases of contagious disease because of their dense concentration of humans and animals. The inhabitants knew this and many chronicles report that the population fled to the countryside and that the university students had returned home. 572 The execution of the Gonfalone of San Francesco, the first extant Perugian plague banner, may have been motivated by the exodus of the population in 1464, depicted in the foreground of the painting. To avoid this massive depletion of human forces, the Commune had this banner executed as a clear message of civic responsibility publicized by the parading of the image and by its location in an important and lavishly adorned church of Perugia. The subsequent success of the processions with that particular image partially explains its pictorial imitations although the scene of the inhabitants in flight remains unique. The plague-stricken were a terrifying urban sight. In June 1485, the sick and those in contact with them had to wear a distinctive sign, a white piece of cloth worn on the back. In addition, declaring the number of the sick and the deceased of the plague was a duty of all religious orders and parish priests, who had to affix their calculation onto the door of the episcopal palace.573 Cities, however, offered the logistics for sanitization and obtaining divine grace and pardon. Cisterns, wells, and streets were restored and churches subsidized.574 The numerous lay and secular ―praying agents‖ accumulated a great variety of devotional practices that 572 For example, Diario del Graziani, 288 for June 1424; 334 for September 1429 (students too); 595 for October 1447 (mentioning the university students as well); 607 for July 1448; 639 for July 1464. Even the officials left (in 1429, for example). 573 The law on the distinctive sign and the mandatory notification of the number of the plague-stricken were publicly announced in a ―bando‖ dated June 5, 1485. See C. Massari, Saggio storico-medico, 55-57. 574 Ibid., 49 for 1476. 204 unfolded in front of innumerable altars throughout the urban space. They thus offered a pious response to the sinful city inhabitants. The political authorities for the entire territory were based in the midst of the city. They closely surveyed law and order by continuously adapting legislation and producing new decrees that responded both to daily matters and special circumstances. Plagues and natural disasters were a disruption of that order. They were believed to originate in the mortals‘ unruly behavior, an issue that civic legislation sought to rectify. Thus, the yearly revision of the city statutes and their frequent emendations (the ―riformanze‖) by the elected priors from the guilds were supposed to act as salutary measures for maintaining law and order. Appeal to the civic patron saints A Perugian fifteenth-century lauda, or a chanted devotional play, could be described as a textual version of images begging for holy intercession in a pandemic situation. Mara Nerbano has stressed the textual correspondences with the iconography of the Umbrian plague banners showing the Madonna della Misericordia. 575 In this text, Christ advocates the necessity of statutes and laws as he reprimands the sinful population of Perugia. As the Perugians then invoke the Virgin and beg her not to abandon their city, Mary addresses her son by specifying how much they honor her with processions and chants and that, at least on behalf of the flagellants, he should pardon them because they live an honest and pure life that will purge the sinners. The patron saints of Perugia, first Sant‘Ercolano and San Lorenzo, and then San Costanzo intervene in the dialogue in favor of the inhabitants. Finally, a placated Christ reiterates the need for the Perugians to reform their ―iniquitous laws‖ in order to put an end to the sins that generate evil (―Peroscine, or correggete / le ennique legge ched avete 575 On the Umbrian laude, see several entries in Movimento dei Disciplinati and Mara Nerbano, ―Arte, drammaturgia e devozioni.‖ 205 [sic]‖).576 Mara Nerbano persuasively argued that this text was composed, not in the Trecento as was previously thought, but in the wake of the statutes of 1425 that reformed the morals and customs of the Perugians following the influential sermons of San Bernardino of Siena in the city. Thus, civic legislation was regarded as a rightful process that aimed at keeping its subjects virtuous. It was part of an on going attempt at purifying the city, a daunting task of the clergy and the government. Coupled with an address to holy intercessors, it was a solution for a return to a plague-free life. Civic patron saints are included in most Umbrian plague banners. In the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato (fig. 51), the four patron saints are placed according to their chronological hierarchy and their significance for the city. The Perugian holy patrons stand at the highest position, closest to heaven, near the Virgin‘s shoulders. San Lorenzo and Sant‘Ercolano are located to Mary‘s worthy right. They face San Constanzo and Saint Louis of Toulouse, the latest adopted saint.577 In the Gonfalone of Montone (fig. 57a), John the Baptist, the oldest civic protector, faces Saint Gregory to whom the church of San Giovanni Battista was rededicated.578 In other plague banners, the hagiographic distribution may follow other patterns. In the Gonfalone of San Domenico (fig. 65), Ercolano and Lorenzo kneel on Christ‘s left because Christ‘s right hand side is occupied by Mary, Joseph, and Saint Sebastian. The presence of Joseph testifies to the successful development of his cult in Perugia that the city attempted to foster from the time of the acquisition of the Virgin‘s wedding ring in 1473. The Gonfalone of the Duomo (fig. 66) also includes San Ercolano and 576 Verses 67-72: ―Io so‘ da loro tanto honorata / en processione e canto / e anco en quista radunata / che te fa quisto popol sancto / ch‘almen per quiste descepline / voglo ch‘a perdonar t‘enchiene.‖ Quoted in Nerbano, ibid., 170. For the three patron saints, see verses 79-102 and for Christ, v. 107-108, ibid., 170-171. 577 In 1310, the communal councils launched the cult of San Costanzo by establishing an annual procession in his honor while Saint Louis of Toulouse was added to the Perugian civic pantheon in 1319. The city-wide torchlit procession for San Lorenzo started from 1394 on an annual basis. Rita Chiachella, "L'evoluzione del culto del santo patrono in età moderna: il caso di Perugia," Richerche di storia sociale e religiosa 34 (1988): 101-15, here 105-106. 578 Saint Blasius (Biagio) on the right of Mary corresponds to Saint Nicholas of Bari. I cannot account for the presence of these two saints. Maria Rita Silvestrelli, in Museo comunale di San Francesco a Montone, 110-11. 206 San Lorenzo on both sides of a threatening Christ while Mary kneels to her son‘s right serving as an intercessor between the highest spheres and the Perugian folk down below. The Gonfalone of Assisi (fig. 68) depicts its patron saints Vittorino and Rufino, two local bishops of the early local history but it also prominently displays Saint Francis, who died and was buried in this town in 1226, as an additional prime protector of the city. In this case, the scale on which the saints are depicted outdoes that of the Virgin who is here a simple mediatrix addressing her son. She does not play as active a role as the six saints below her who are connected either directly to the plague (through the figures of saints Sebastian and Roch) or directly linked to the city of Assisi itself. It is indeed quite logical to find the civic pantheon so conveniently located on these processional paintings. Similarly to the figures in the sacre rappresentazioni of altarpieces, the depicted saints on banners commemorate civic and religious patrons. 3) The Depiction of Civic Identity In most plague banners and in some ordinary ones, this idea of the whole urban community unified in its search for protection is also expressed by a precise urban view that unfolds at the feet of the Virgin or in the background. In general, the basic urban fabric is conventionally represented with foreshortened blocks and tiny wedges for the roofs. But recognizable campanili, churches, and political buildings allow for the urban veduta to establish the identity of a unique urban community. While religious patronage can be visualized by means of the representation of the monuments associated with the clerical patrons of the banner, the civic sponsorship of both banners and processions is highlighted by a depiction of political spaces. The city walls and the Palace of the Priors with its bell tower are well delineated on the Perugian banners of San Francesco, San Domenico, and the Duomo (figs. 51; 65; 66). The fortified castles on the Civitella, Corciano, and Montone 207 banners (figs. 53; 55; 57) come to the fore, well erected on the central axes of the compositions. The city councils‘ deliberations regularly revolved around issues of maintaining the urban infrastructure in good standing, be it the thoroughfares and streets, the fortified walls and gates, bridges, or churches. The city may also be identifiable through a variety of signifiers, thereby giving a strong civic overtone to the composition. For example, in the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato (fig. 51), the Perugian emblem, the griffin, is clearly painted on the city gates, or in the Gubbio banner (fig. 69a-b), the coat of arms of the city is represented on the painted frame just below the patron saint on one side, and below the Virgin on the reverse. 579 By way of proof of the enduring pride that a mirroring view of urban identity could elicit, the veduta was updated according to the accrued architectural modifications. For example, the view of Paciano in the eponymous gonfalone has been repainted in the seventeenth or eighteenth century and does not correspond to the Quattrocento topography any longer. In the same vein, the cityscape in the plague Gonfalone of Assisi (ca. 1470) shows the cathedral with Galeazzo Alessi‘s cupola and lantern of 1571-85.580 It seems that updating the cityscape maintained the efficacy of the image for contemporary viewers. The city as the privileged locus for salvation The cityscapes that unfold under Mary and her holy cohorts celebrate the good work of the political authorities. Civic authorities commissioned and funded banners because these evocative images benefited the entire city once they were ―ritually activated in a process of negotiation with God‖ (Marshall). We have seen two banners (the Gonfalone of San 579 For another example of the presence of civic heraldry, see the 1515 contract for a banner and its frame (‗tabernacle‘) requested by a confraternity from Marseilles, France. The painter must paint the royal arms on one side of the frame and the city coat of arms on the opposite side. For the text of the contract, see Dehmer, Bruderschafstbanner, 275-6. 580 For Paciano, see footnote 488; for Assisi, see Umberto Gnoli, "Il ‗Gonfalone della peste‘ di Niccolò Alunno e la più antica veduta di Assisi," Bolletino d'arte V (1911): 63-70. 208 Francesco and the Gonfalone of Civitella, figs. 1, 3) include in the lower parts of their composition a procession of white-robed men. However, I have not stressed so far that they march together inside the circumscribed urban space. While penitential processions also took place in fortified villages and rural communities, and also included flagellants, these two paintings, as well as other plague images, only depict processions as an urban phenomenon.581 Cities are thus shown as the privileged locus for pious collective responses. In these images and during the rituals that they depict, the remedies to the scourge are implemented within the city walls thus imparting a strong sense of civic identity in times of crisis. When all clerics and confraternities from the suburban areas were summoned to gather for intra-muros processions in Perugia, as was the case in March, July, and September of 1448, the city authorities reinforced the idea of the city as the rightful location for petitioning the cosmos. In all these cityscapes, the urban space appears bounded by walls and separate from the countryside which, when included, consists of a green and empty peripheral space, devoid of inhabitants and houses. The constant economic and social interactions between the city and its contado are absent in these images. This contrast constructs the city as a unitary space just as later axonometric maps of Umbrian cities suggest.582 In the San Francesco banner (fig. 51), an inscription on the fortifications specifies the date (―1464‖) and the location (― IN PERUSIO‖) where the scourge of the plague (―FU‖ for ―FUNUS‖) is operating. In this composition, as well as in the Gonfalone of Montone, Death in the guise of a gigantic winged skeleton armed with arrows is situated in the foreground outside the clearly defined urban space. In the first 581 ―[anno 1348] Stavano tutte le gente de la cità e de castelle e de ville in processione et in discipline e letanie,‖ Diario del Graziani, 148. For other depictions of urban processions, see, for example, a wall of the Roman church of San Pietro in Vincoli frescoed in ca. 1476 showing the population led by the pope marching through Rome. See: Andreas Dehmer, "un dipinto votivo in San Pietro in Vincoli," 71-76. 582 For a similar graphic depiction of Northern European cities, see Martha Howell, "The Spaces of Late Medieval Urbanity," in Marc Boone and Peter Stabel, eds., Shaping Urban Identity in Late Medieval Europe/ L'apparition d'une identité urbaine dans L'Europe du bas Moyen Âge (Leuven: Garant, 2000), 3-23. 209 banner, Death is chased by an angel as a result of Mary‘s protection while in the Montone flag (fig. 57a), a bust of San Bernardino radiating as in a majestic vision intervenes to annul the fatal effects of the scythe-equipped Death figure. Although the city is thus tagged, a figure of Death is seen mowing down the citizens outside the walls. Thus, the narrative unfolding outside the city presents the urban community as the only legitimate location for survival. Typically, the Perugian government appointed a total of 200 to 250 men to guard the gates and prevent anyone who came from the contado or from an unhealthy location to enter the city, suggesting that the contagious hazards lay outside the city. 583 In 1485, the bishop of Perugia had public announcements heralded throughout the city that anyone fleeing the city would be excommunicated. The same message, however, also summoned suspicious people to leave the city. All foreign beggars were commanded to go away within two days; the same applied to prostitutes and their pimps who, in addition, could be freely insulted or robbed. These orders were taken for fear that the raging plague in Northern Italy would reach Perugia –which it did. Once the plague broke out in 1486, criminals and gypsies and their families, normally welcomed to participate in the October fair, were not allowed to stay.584 The city retired within itself or within its non-controversial Christian subjects by eliminating its polluted elements. Against this pattern of exclusion and retention penitential processions could continue the purification process 583 On the fear of contagion, see the announcement of 1394 in Massari, Saggio storico-medico, 184-5. In 14291430, 200 youth were paid to guard the gates and public squares, day and night (ibid., 40); in June 1448, 250 guards were appointed (Diario del Graziani, 604, with transcription of the public announcement issued on April 22, 1448). For June 1465, see transcription by Massari‘s transcription of the ―bando,‖ 180-181. 584 For the ostracization of Jews and prostitutes, see C. Massari, 55-6 (―bando‖ of June 5, 1485) and that of gypsies, see Comez, "Provvedimenti adottati in tempo di peste,‖ 64-65. 210 The depiction of ritual space I believe that vedute in plague banners reflect processional itineraries. This can be demonstrated with some Perugian examples as well as the Gonfalone of Assisi (fig. 68, see below) but it is probably true of other cities as well. Perugia developed according to a stellar plan, following the natural topography with its ridges and slopes that turned into five districts or ―porte‖ (see map, fig. 70).585 Each of these areas comprised the major churches of the religious orders. On a North-West – South-West axis, the Franciscans in Porta Santa Susanna were at opposite ends from the Dominicans and the Benedictines in Porta San Pietro. The Augustinian church lay towards the North gate of the city (Porta San Angelo) while the conventual Servites were close to the Southern gates (Porta Eburnea). Finally, the Carmelites, the Observant Servites, and the Sylvestrines were in the same neighborhood, the Porta Sole, to the East. The itinerary is not systematically specified in archival records but usually the meeting place was at the cathedral of San Lorenzo situated on the main square of the city where the main architectural symbol of political power, the Palazzo dei Priori, also loomed. It was, and still is, the core of the city and its social and geographical nexus where all the district boundaries met. Unlike the general processions that commemorated specific saints‘ days, crisis processions were repeated over the course of three (triduum) or five days, or even 15 consecutive days as happened at the end July 1476, possibly because the triduum of early July had had little success. The three-day procession was modeled on Pope Gregory‘s litany of 490. Processing for five consecutive days, however, had a considerable advantage in 585 The origin of the five districts goes back to the five gates (hence, by metonymy, the word ―porte‖) of the Etruscan settlement. The city expanded from and beyond each of these gates in the Middle Ages. See Grohmann, La città medievale, 51, and on the symbolism of the names attached to the Perugian topography, especially in ancient times, see Mauro Menichelli, Il simbolismo delle porte e dei rioni di Perugia (Perugia: Futura, 2006). 211 Perugia. It allowed for the whole city to be sanctified by the passage of the holy banners in all its five districts. The five-day procession unfolded according to the topographical distribution of the major Perugian churches: San Lorenzo (the cathedral), San Francesco, San Domenico and Sant‘Agostino. It also included female convents such as the Cistercians of Santa Giuliana and the Clares of Monteluce, or parish churches such as San Savino or Sant‘Angelo.586 A procession heading from San Lorenzo to Sant‘Agostino could easily avoid the most direct route and would detour to walk past the monasteries of the Observant Servites (San Fiorenzo), the Carmelites (San Simone) and the Sylvestrines (Santa Maria Nuova). This is probably what the biographer of the Beata Colomba meant when he stated that in 1521, the three-day procession ―circumambulated all the temples of the city.‖587 A three-day procession usually meant that the departure (and the arrival) took place at the cathedral and the cortège headed towards the houses of the main mendicant orders of Perugia: the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Augustinians, while passing in front of the church of the Servites on its way to San Domenico.588 Typically, the itinerary covered the Franciscan monastery on the first day, the Dominican one on the second day, and finally the Augustinian (see map, fig. 70). The panoramas of the banners of San Francesco, of San Domenico, and of the Duomo (figs. 51; 65; 66) exactly correspond to the traditional processional route. The Gonfalone of San Francesco (fig. 51) shows in an elliptical representation only the major constructions: the 586 For example, in March 1448, the penitential processions passed by all the main churches from the Benedictines and Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Cistercians and the Sylvestrines, the Servites and the Cistercian nuns, the Augustinians. They went to San Pietro (first day); to San Francesco and Sant‘Andrea (day 2); to San Fiorenzo and Santa Maria Nuova (day 3); to the Servi, San Savino, and Santa Giuliana (day 4); to Sant‘Agostino and Sant‘Angelo (day 5). See Diario del Graziani, 600. 587 Alberti, Vita della Beata Colomba da Rieto (Bologna, 1521), quoted in Nerbano, ―Arte, drammaturgia e devozioni,‖ 208. 588 There were two ways of arriving at San Domenico from the main piazza, either indirectly by walking down the high way past the Servire church or more directly by reaching the Piazza del Supramuro one block down from the communal palace and then down the street that led past the church of Sant‘Ercolano. The other Mendicant order, the Carmelites, were not a significant community in Perugia, although they owned a miracleworking banner. 212 apse and the bell-tower of the Franciscan church next to the large and crenellated Palazzo of the Priori and to the cathedral with its polygonal campanile. This is the privileged route San Lorenzo-San Francesco (and back), usually the first of a multi-day procession. The Gonfalone of San Domenico (fig. 65a) shows a similar topography seen from the East and spanning a South-East / North spatial arc that encompasses the church of the Dominicans on the left, the government seat and the cathedral in the middle, then the Sylvestrine monastery, concluding with the Augustinian church. This view corresponds to the other two major routes: San Lorenzo-San Domenico (and back) and San Lorenzo-San Agostino. The veduta of the Gonfalone of the Duomo (fig. 66) conflates and expands these itineraries. It spans the city on a North-South axis, from left to right, from the circular vault of the church of Sant‘Angelo (situated north of Sant‘Agostino), the towers of San Francesco al Prato and those of the dwellings of Porta Eburnea to the campanile of San Domenico and San Pietro. The Gonfalone of Assisi (fig. 68) offers the most detailed axonometric view or, to use Louis Marin‘s term, a ―synoptic overview‖ because it is well enclosed by its walls and supervised by its depicted holy patrons or by its actual beholders. 589 Its accuracy and breadth substitutes the depiction of a praying population in awe of the Heavens above them. The absence of the Virgin‘s protégés and the size of the six saints above the cityscape allows for it to spread across the entire width of the lower bottom of the composition. Viewers face a portrait of the city so faithful that it entices them to read it, to spot the dominant political and religious monuments of Assisi, such as (from left to right) the church of San Francesco, the communal palace, and the cathedral. The banner invites the inhabitants of Assisi to project themselves onto that representation and complement its depiction by mentally including themselves. It mirrored the kinetic experience of procession members by depicting the spatial markers of their itinerary. In other words, the view spans the processional route of city-wide 589 Louis Marin, "The City in Its Map and Portrait," in On Representation (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001), 202-18. 213 events and signals the monuments as pauses or stopping points in the forward motion of the cortège, or as places of gathering and arrival. The social rhythms of immobile banners An important - but overlooked - element in the definition of ―plague banners‖ is that they were not just processional objects but also paintings that were encased in an altar against a wall almost permanently. Their stationary position started once they were adorned with an elaborate ―tabernacolo‖ as occurred with the Gonfalone of San Francesco (fig. 51) and that of San Fiorenzo (fig. 63), respectively two and four years (1466 and 1480) after their execution. Most of these framing devices have been replaced in the modern era and are no longer extant.590 The richly carved and gilded frame made for the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (fig. 71b) gives an idea of the splendor and impressive size that these ‗tabernacoli‘ could reach, even if in this case it was not designed for a plague banner (see last chapter). Such a ―tabernacolo‖ cost approximately 25 florins, more than the average cost of a banner. Most of these banners received a new housing when their churches were remodeled according to Baroque taste. The ongoing cult of these banners and the care given to their presentation explain how come they came down to us, either in their modern arrangement or in their contemporary exhibition as works of art in museums or private collections, estranged from their original contexts. The earliest documented case of a banner located on an altar is the Gonfalone of San Francesco of 1464. It was placed there soon after its execution in a special chapel and remained on the high altar set in a fine frame paid for by the Commune in 1466. The decoration of this chapel was repeatedly enhanced throughout its existence with a painting placed to the left of the altar in 1549. In 1646, this altar was redesigned and its Baroque look 590 M. Bury has attempted to reconstruct their appearance and offers a few comparanda. See Bury, Tabernacoli, 52-55. 214 is known through photographs made before the demolition of the chapel in 1923.591 Intarsia panels with blue and gold work were paid for by the alms of the faithful. The confraternity‘s oratorio was in an adjacent room. These conditions show how well guarded the banner was. Whenever the banner was needed, it was carefully removed from its frame. This is the case for all cult banners discussed in this chapter, therefore framing a banner and placing it above an altar did not preclude its processional use. The Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo (fig. 63a) was located above an altar as soon as it was executed since the friars celebrated a ―mass of the gonfalone‖ (see appendix 11) during certain festivities as early as 1477 at least. By the mid sixteenth century, the banner and its altar were in a chapel near the sacristy. In July 1480, the convent successfully petitioned the Commune for the adornment of the banner in the form of an elaborate frame (―tabernacolo‖) for which they received thirty florins. Unfortunately this frame is no longer extant. In 1770, the banner was moved to the second altar on the right from the entrance because the church was entirely renovated. In the late eighteenth century, it was inserted in a marble architectural ensemble, a lavishly ornate altar especially designed for it (fig. 63b) by the Confraternity of San Simone and Fiorenzo.592 The gonfalone had won a place of honor and visibility in the right transept next to the sacristy. Today, the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova (fig. 62a-b) is visible is a similar setting. It was placed above an altar in a special chapel as soon as it was made. A few months later, its popularity constrained the confraternity of San Benedetto to ask for funds to protect it with an iron grille that was finally set up by June 1475 at triple the cost of the banner. The original direct access to the chapel containing the banner had enticed robbers to steal precious objects 591 592 See Borgnini, "Vicende costruttive e conservative,‖ 715. For a reconstruction of the locations of the gonfalone in the church, see Mancini, Bonfigli, 136-8. The city subsidy of 1480 is in ASP, ASPg, Riformanze 116, f. 30r. For the altarpiece, see Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 71-72, fig. 54. 215 from the altar. In 1646, the gonfalone was encased in a new Baroque altar made of red gilded wood imitating marble (fig. 62b) where it is still.593 Another contemporary example of a devotional painting that received the protection of an iron grille is the Gonfalone of the Annunciation (fig. 71a) in the conventual church of the Servites (see last chapter) for which 25 florins were spent. With the change of residents of the monastery in 1543, that is, as the Observant Servites moved in, the interior of the church was renovated and it lost its Gothic appearance. The making of a metal enclosure for a chapel emphasizes the importance of what is being protected. Iron grilles were typically set up for spaces that contained reliquaries and attracted donations in kind. For example, in 1439, the sarcophagus containing the body of the blessed Egidio, the third companion of Saint Francis, was removed from the crypt and placed in the Crispolti chapel in the church of San Francesco. At that time, the Priors voted a subsidy in order to have an iron ―grata‖ made for this ―arca.‖594 The Gonfalone of San Simone (fig. 64a) can still be found in its original location, inside the Carmelite church, although it has occupied various locations within that space. Ricci suggests that this processional painting was trimmed on its left side, eliminating a group of kneeling faithful in the lower left corner, in order to make it look like an altarpiece.595 It is documented indeed as placed above the altar of the Madonna del Carmelo by the early seventeenth century. It was probably still there when it was miraculously preserved from a fire that broke out in the choir in 1746.596 Two years later, the banner 593 The Priori subsidized the cost of the banner with 10 florins in 1472 while the grille cost 30 florins in 1475. See Ricci, Storia critica, 80-81. The date of the altar appears in Lancellotti‘s Scorta Sagra quoted in Mancini, Bonfigli, 131. 594 See Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 48 and Borgnini, "Vicende costruttive e conservative,‖ 685-6. 595 Ricci, Storia critica, 179. Also on this church: Raffaelle Marchesi, I lavori di pittura della chiesa del Carmine (Perugia, 1856). I have not been able to consult this book. 596 The information given by an inscription in Latin dated 1840 and frescoed in capital letters below the painting: D.O.M 216 received a more decorous placement above the major altar, where Annibale Mariotti saw it in 1788. Serafino Siepi mentions in 1822 that the banner had been relocated onto the wall of the choir (fig. 64b). The relocation may have happened shortly after the demise of Napoleon, a few years before Siepi‘s publication. A wall inscription dated 1840 below the banner states, in the form of a faux plaque, that the friars of this monastery funded the new ornamentation for, and around, this banner. This remodeling is extant and consists of the neo-classical frescoes executed in the choir in order to spotlight the banner. The apsidal wall is painted with faux marble paneling and coffers in the vault. High up in the center of the apse, an illusionistic aedicule (fig. 64c) serves as a framing device for the Marian depiction placed on an axis with the main altar. This frescoed tabernacle is complete with its two elegant Corinthian columns carved on their shafts with arabesques and its entablature topped by a triangular pediment seen da sotto in su. Thus, with restricted financial means, the friars of San Simone managed to custom-shape the banner‘s visual environment. Although out of reach, the Gonfalone of San Simone is very visible, enhanced by a trompe l‘oeil classical stone frame that is embraced by illusionistic and resplendent marble panels. This artistic enterprise consequently erased previous wall paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that had not been done for the banner. In 1840, I believe that this painting was at the height of its veneration. A couple of decades later, with the unification of Italy and the swift appropriation of religious buildings by the new QUOD CARMELI PERUSINI VETUSTISSIMAM DEIPARAE IMAGINEM CUJUS OPE[RIS] AUGUSTA CIVITAS OLIM A PESTE SERVATA MAXIMIS IN DIES CUMULATUR BENEFICIIS IN HANC ARAM PRINCIPEM UBI FLAMMAE EX INCENDIO IN CHORUM EXCITADO ANNO MDCCXLVI MIRABILITER RESTITERE TRANSLATAM ET DECENTIUS COLLOCATAM ANNO MDCCXLVIII FRATRES KARMELITAE SUMPTIBUS CONVENTUS ORNARI CURARUNT ANNO MDCCCLV Serafino Siepi, Descrizione topologico-istorica della città di Perugia (Perugia, 1822), I: 359 (Mario Roncetti, ed., Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1994) reports a slightly different inscription: he adds LUDOVICUS DE UBALDIS PIETATE ET NOBILITATE CLAVISSIMUS ORNARI after COLLOCATAM and CURAVIT instead of CURARUNT. 217 State, the convent of San Simone was turned into an institution for the care of infants and toddlers.597 The banner then lost its attractive powers but remained, alone and neglected, on its apsidal wall. The Gonfalone of Beata Colomba of 1494 (fig. 65a) possibly served as an altarpiece as soon as it was executed. It is documented in the old Dominican church in the mid-sixteenth century above the altar of the Rosary in the chapel ―under the bell tower.‖ It remained there at least until 1630 where the acts of the trial for canonization of Beata Colomba still described it.598 By the early eighteenth century, it had entered the new Dominican church and was placed in the chapel of San Lorenzo. It was transferred to its own chapel and inserted into a marble Baroque frame in, or soon after, 1711. This is still its present location (fig. 65b). The Gonfalone of Montone (fig. 57a), from another Umbrian hilltop city, exemplifies yet another endeavor. Commissioned by the Franciscans for their small single-nave church, it received a privileged location above the first altar on the right facing that of the Montone‘s leading family, the Fortebracci. The banner was executed in 1482 as part of the final phase of a ten-year long embellishment and renovation of the church that was initiated by the friars with financial aid from the local wealthy or noble families.599 This enterprise had been spurred by the donation of a Holy Thorn to the Commune in 1473. The banner may have been originally connected to the celebrations for the Holy Thorn but they are documented only from 1597.600 Apparently, the banner was not made originally in the midst of an 597 M. Montella, ed., Perugia (Perugia: Electa Editori Umbri, 1993), 128. 598 San Domenico was rebuilt in the fifteenth century next to its first location called San Domenico Vecchio. The new church received the popular name of san Domenico Nuovo. See A. Sartore, ―La fabbrica di San Domenico da Benedetto XI a Pio II,‖ in La Basilica di San Domenico, 73-77 and in the same volume, L. Teza: ―Le opere d‘arte,‖ 488, n. 32, for the locations of the gonfalone. Crispolti (1597) in Teza, Raccolta delle cose segnalate, 123-4, confirms the location of the gonfalone ―nella cappella sotto il campanile.‖ 599 600 See Mercurelli Salari‘s entry 15 in Museo Comunale di San Francesco a Montone, 50-54. Exploring the Archivio storico of Montone (such as the deliberations of the city officials) may yield further information but the ―annali‖ do not document the donation of the holy ―Spina.‖ The earliest primary sources go back to the late sixteenth century. See Angelo Ascani, Montone. La patria di Braccio Fortebracci (Città di Castello, 1965), 261-271. 218 outbreak of pestilence (1475-9) but as an afterthought and as a way to enhance the prestige of the Montone friars. Right after its execution in 1482, the banner was encased in a brand-new monumental framework carved all‟antica and reminiscent of a triumphal arch topped by a pediment with a bust of God the Father in a blessing gesture. Once placed within this over seven-meter high ―mostra d‟altare‖ (fig. 57b), the banner concealed earlier frescoes and proclaimed the positive effects of Franciscan intercession. It received an ornately convoluted Baroque frame of gilded wood that was adapted in size –but not in style- to fit the Renaissance tabernacle.601 This painting has been researched only in terms of its attribution and of its iconography but not from the point of view of its ritual use. I propose to see here the last painting of five in the series launched by the gonfalone of San Francesco in 1464. It purposefully emulated the successful formula of a few of the most prestigious plague banners. It may not have been made for processions in the first place but rather conceived as an altarpiece that highly enhanced the redesign of a church. Because it was painted on fabric, it could be easily removed from its altar and be transported if necessary -a weapon against the ravages of the plague kept in reserve. Thus, in Umbria – but this is probably true of all Italian regions - most plague banners were preserved to this day because of their prolonged immobility and constant care. In reality, these paintings became altarpieces that were always visible and available for public indoor devotion.602 This arrangement avoided the kinds of manipulation common to processed paintings that entailed repeatedly rolling them up to store them away in a chest or a cupboard. It allowed the banners to benefit from a well-aired environment inside a church. Only sporadically were they taken out of their elaborate frames or tabernacles and processed. 601 For the stone frame, see Mercurelli‘s entry ―Mostra d‘altare,‖ in Museo Comunale di San Francesco a Montone, 48-54 with photo of the Gonfalone inserted in the rococo frame (p. 53) that she does not comment on. For the rococo frame (350 x 160 cm), see Carla Mancini‘s entry 90 in the same volume, p. 143, with no mention of the gonfalone. 602 For an overview of the stationary placement of banners in Northern and Central Italy, see Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, ―Formen stationäre Kollokation,‖ 124-133. 219 Banners as cult objects In 1807, five banners (the Gonfaloni of San Francesco, Santa Maria Nuova, San Fiorenzo, San Domenico, and of the Duomo) were the object of a publication with prayers attached to them.603 It confirms the long-lasting belief in their effectiveness and their status as cult images. Not all these banners combated the plague, but they were also promptly used to also stop heavy rains or drought, or to restore clement weather, health, or peace. The Duomo gonfalone (fig. 66) gained its fame much later than the other four banners as can be deduced from records of the early modern era. Crispolti (1597) mentions four ―confaloni‖ that are processed to stop the rain or recover clement weather while in Cesare Rossi‘s chronicle (1575-1630), the ―usual‖ banners (i confaloni soliti) were those of San Francesco, San Fiorenzo, and Santa Maria Nuova. Ottaviano Lancellotti in the mid-seventeenth century writes about four gonfaloni that are taken out and carried in procession to obtain divine grace in times of natural disasters.604 The Gonfalone of San Francesco of 1464 (fig. 51) was by far the most popular of all and it is also the best documented. Michael Bury brought to light the logistics of the swift implementation of its cult.605 First, ritual practices and reward were established soon after it was executed, in the form of an indulgence (requested in October 1464) for the faithful who attended plague processions. Then, came its adornment and maintenance with an appropriate 603 Lesmi, Notizie istoriche dei SS. Confaloni. 604 Crispolti in Teza, Raccolta delle cose segnalate, 99: ― Si suole portare in processione [the Gonfalone of San Francesco] per la città, per impetrare la pioggia, o la serenità, com‘anche altri tre confaloni, de‘ quali di sotto si farà mentione;‖ Fabretti, ―Memorie di Cesare Rossi,‖ in Cronache V: 198: ―ordinò [the bishop of Perugia] ancora che il dì 29 aprile, e primo e 3 di maggio andassero le processioni per la città, e si portassero li Confaloni soliti, cioè il confalone di S. Francesco, di S. Fiorenzo e di S. Maria Nuova;‖ Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, 172 (entry on 21st March): ―quattro gonfaloni che nei maggiori bisogni della città sogliono cavarsi e portarsi in processione per ottenere come quasi sempre s‘ottiene dalla divina pietà la grazia della serenità o della pioggia, o della sanità, o della pace. (...) Sono i detti Confaloni quadri grnadi di molta divozione fatti da questo publico per voto in tempi di gran miserie, e calamità.‖ 605 See also Ettore Ricci‘s unpublished manuscript, Storia critica, that records the various stages of the Commune‘s involvement. 220 illumination and a lavish framing (―tabernacolo‖) in a chapel that was especially constructed for the banner and completed by June 1466. The essential dynamics of patronage also worked in order for the painting to take on a distinctive status: a powerful mendicant order took charge of the banner while the civic authorities consistently sponsored its costs, and finally, a special confraternity was created (by February 1465) for its custody. At least from the late sixteenth century, it was thought to have been made miraculously. A popular belief held that no one would die of the plague on the streets through which the gonfalone was taken and that the plague ceased on the day of its procession.606 This banner was systematically present in any crisis procession unlike the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova (fig. 62a) that did not leave its chapel from its execution in 1471 to 1477, as the text of the petition of the confraternity of San Benedetto to the Priori informs us. However, by the late sixteenth century, the latter received precedence in processions, maybe because it was thought then and for a long time to be the oldest.607 The Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato (fig. 51) is frequently mentioned in official records because its procession and its maintenance over its altar implied alms from the Commune, usually in the form of wax. If one considers the period that runs from 1464 to the end of the 1520s, this extraordinary painting was paraded on the streets relatively often, from an annual pace to eight-year intervals. The processional frequency of the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato is better documented for the post-tridentine period. For example, from 1567 to 1659, it is mentioned 16 times in the municipal deliberations.608 In that period, each 606 ―quando si portava processionalmente per la città, per quelle strade, che passava quel giorno, non solo non moriva alcuna persona, ma etiam cessava la peste:‖ C. Crispolti in Teza, Raccolta delle cose segnalate, 98. Annibale Mariotti, Lettere pittoriche perugine (Perugia: Balduel, 1788), 79, also recounts the belief in the celestial creation of the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato. 607 ―Memorie du Romolo Allegrini,‖ in Fabretti, Cronache V: 96. Crispolti, Perusia Augusta, believed it to date back to 1430. Massari, Saggio storico-medico, 45, reports the year 1464. 608 The reason for the processions with this banner is not consistently documented in the municipal deliberations. It was taken out in 1567 (because of the continuous rain); in 1568; in 1587; for 3 days in June and in November 1589 to obtain clement weather; for the same reason in 1595 and in 1601 (together with the banners from Santa Maria Nuova and San Fiorenzo); in 1617 for the visit of the seven station churches; in 1621 221 Perugian would have seen the Gonfalone of San Francesco paraded on average only five times in a single lifetime. Other miraculous banners were even more rarely exhibited outdoors. According to a chronicler, the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova was not taken out for 24 years (between 1563 and 1587) and the Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo for six years (between 1581 and 1587).609 Whether seeing these banners was an annual event (in the late 1460s or in the 1520s) or the highlight of a decade, their appearance was an extraordinary sight that was never scheduled in advance. In the context of penitential processions, reverence for them reinforced solidarity and contributed to social consensus. Through repetition, ritual features created the feeling of belonging to a specific urban community: sensory paraphernalia such as wax, incense costumes, chants and chiming bells punctuated the solemn forward and solemn motion of ordered groups advancing down familiar routes of the city. In penitential processions, extraordinary banners were presented as the prime means for communication between the profane world and God, and the ritual context effectively sacralised them. The process was similar to Marcel Mauss‘ research on the nature of sacrifice in which a propitiatory victim was destroyed in order for celestial powers to intervene favourably. Processions were likewise a process of purification and they also included donations (of wax, for example) to the Church, similarly to immolations in other cultures. Processions were a means of collective expiation of sin and in that context, banners became a concrete means to attract divine attention and grace.610 However, I believe that iconography may also account for the power of such paintings. The Virgin was definitely the most potent intercessory figure for good health and for clement weather; and in 1627. It was also processed in 1629 (the year of dedication of the city to Virgin); in 1630 (plague); in 1639; 1646; 1649 (heavy rain); 1657 (plague); 1659. See Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 104, 113-4, 118, 123, 127-133. A chronicle kept in the archives of San Pietro in Perugia, adds even more years for the plague. See Archivio Storico di San Pietro, Perugia, ms. CM 326. 609 610 Fabretti, ―Memorie di R. Allegrini,‖ in Cronache V: 96. H. Henri and M. Mauss, “Essai sur la fonction et la nature du sacrifice,” in: Année Sociologique II (1899) : 29-138. Translated as Sacrifice: its Nature and Function (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1964). 222 in the imagery of Umbrian extraordinary banners. In the following section, I seek other reasons, beyond mere artistic emulation, for the success of the short-lived formula based on Bonfigli‘s Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato of 1464 (fig. 51). 4) Mary’s supreme authority: the aura of textile In the Umbrian type for the plague Virgin of Mercy (figs. 51; 53; 55; 56; 57), Mary has complete sovereign autonomy in averting the plague (symbolized by the arrows) by countering her son‘s destructive plans (the arrows smash on her dress). This formula was short-lived and restricted to seven Italian banners, essentially Umbrian.611 To achieve a convincing representation of her absolute power, the artists have placed Mary full-face on the central axis where she dominates in size all other figures and monopolizes the space of the composition. The saints, symmetrically distributed around her, acknowledge her gleaming presence by leaning towards her with imploring hand gestures. As Queen of Heaven, the Virgin wears a crown and a halo while the gilded background sets the top half of the scene in heaven. More significantly, this iconography suggests that Mary can defeat a divine plan being carried out, an ability made visible by the arrows that break on her invincible cloak. Once carried out on the streets, the almost life-size Virgin on the banner must have seemed to be marching along with the faithful, including them under her widely spread protective wings. In this roster of banners, Mary‘s conspicuous dress deserves a deeper analysis because it was essential in the perception of her power. It is painted in gold leaf to emulate luxurious silk worked as red and gold brocade, the most sumptuous textile of the day, sported only by the highest-ranking secular or ecclesiastical figures. 611 The seven banners are: the Gonfaloni of San Francesco (fig. 51), of Corciano (fig. 55), of Civitella Benazzone (fig. 53), of Paciano (fig. 56), and of Montone (fig. 57) to which the Gonfalone of Terni (fig. 67) must be added and another banner, kept today in Englewood but probably originating from Foligno (Dehmer, cat. 28). The already mentioned processional panel from Tuscania is an example from Latium. Another banner outside Umbria (Imola) has a comparable but not similar iconography with a kneeling Virgin of Mercy in a three-quarter view (Dehmer, cat. 46). 223 Mary‘s extraordinary attire Mary‘s cloak, adorned with gold braiding, shows a typical Florentine design which scholars call ―ferrronerie‖ because it looked like ironwork. In the mid-1420s, Masolino staged an elegant Florentine citizen wearing a similar coat in his frescoed scene of the Resurrection of Tabitha (Church of the Carmine, Florence). It can be reconstructed as a thin stem circling around corollas enclosing four pomegranates. The gold-brocaded velvet of Mary‘s dress was an Italian specialty and the most expensive woven cloth in late medieval and Renaissance times. This textile is recurrent in Italian or Northern Renaissance art in depictions of Mary, Christ, saints, or aristocrats.612 It always signals divine kinship, might, or supreme authority in art as well as in life. In Giovanni Boccati‘s Madonna dell‟orchestra (fig. 72), the Virgin‘s blue mantle and her red dress, both made of lavishly brocaded velvet, dominate the composition. Bonfigli used such velvet for St. Nicholas‘ cope and on of the Magi‘s cloak in his Adoration panel while in his Annunciation panel for the Perugian notaries, he painted this fabric as a cloth of honor, using the stem as a supplementary halo for Mary (fig. 21). A brocaded velvet drape of honor forms a luxurious backdrop for the Virgin in Niccolò da Foligno‘s Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (fig. 71, discussed in the last chapter) and in the Gonfalone of St Fiorenzo (fig. 63a). This textile is not limited to Mary or to her dress. In the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova (fig. 62a), that of San Bernardino (fig. 13), or of the Beata Colomba (fig. 65a), it is Christ who is seen wearing a brocaded cloak. In the Gonfalone of Sant‟Anna from Bettona (fig. 73), it is Saint Anne who wears one as a protection against the fatal arrows. In all these works, the awe-inspiring clothes are an essential element for producing an image of 612 On brocaded velvet, see Jacqueline Herald, Renaissance Dress in Italy. 1400-1500 (London: Bell and Hyman, 1981). For the Trecento, see Brigitte Klesse, Seidenstoffe in der italienischen Malerei des 14. Jahrhunderts (Bern: Stämpfli, 1967). 224 unquestionable authority in the eyes of the faithful. In the Gonfalone of San Simone (fig. 64a), the Virgin sports another fashionable textile called ‗porpora‘, made of heavy silk, here white and gold, that connotes leadership. In his fresco of Sigismondo Malatesta praying in front of his patron saint (1451), Piero della Francesca has portrayed both the ruler of Rimini and St. Sigismund wearing a gold-brocaded white silk textile that was synonymous with imperial and regal luxury (fig. 74).613 By disregarding how folds should affect the shape of the decorative designs on Mary‘s dress, Bonfigli and his followers highlighted the regularly of that pattern but they also made Mary look more two-dimensional. This pictorial manipulation has two consequences: the figurative weave that stresses its symbolism is easily recognizable while the clarity and frontality of the pattern add another degree to the iconic appearance of the Virgin. The floral weave can be readily identifiable as the ―motif of the pomegranate‖ that is present on the majority of Italian luxurious textiles of the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. This generic term was coined in the nineteenth century and includes lotus, pineapple, pinecone, carnation, or thistle. More specifically, the banners of San Francesco al Prato, Corciano, Civitella, and Montone display the griccia design. It consists of a curving stem blooming into a seven-lobed corolla which encloses a pomegranate amid a profusion of surrounding vegetal elements.614 The Perugian Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato and that of Civitella show exactly the same fabric. Civitella (fig. 53) shows a full repeat, that is, the complete module of a woven pattern to be repeated while the Perugian banner (fig. 51) features at the bottom of the dress the beginning of the next repeat, the seven-lobed corolla. In the Gonfalone of Montone (fig. 57a) and that of Corciano (fig. 55), Mary wears an identical dress with a serpentine trunk that 613 For a definition of ―porpora‖ and the linguistic use of the color ―purple,‖ see John Gage, Color and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1999). Jane Bridgeman, "Dress in the Works of Piero Della Francesca," Apollo 136 (Oct. 1992): 218-25. 614 On the 15th century evolution of the pomegranate motifs, see Fanny Podreider, Storia dei tessuti d‟arte in Italia. Secoli XII-XVIII (Bergamo: Istituto italiano d‘arte grafiche, 1928), 107-114. 225 divides into two separate branches running vertically and parallel to each other. Each of the first symmetrical arches sprout into a lobed leaf with a pomegranate inscribed inside while the second arches merge to bloom into a single inflorescence, the seven-lobed corolla motif. In the Gonfalone of Paciano, we can see two full repeats of another module while that of Terni shows four. The pomegranate motif pleased both the secular and the ecclesiastical clientele because of its ancient and Christian symbolism of fertility and immortality. Associated with the Virgin Mary, it alludes to Christ‘s resurrection or to her chastity. 615 This symbolism is highlighted in these plague banners by the non-distortion of the motif despite the heavy folds of the dress of Mary. The conspicuous corolla, strategically placed at the very center of the image, acts as a focus on the most significant part of Mary‘s body, her womb, the receptacle of the Incarnation. Bonfigli has thus turned a recognizable type of textile into a symbol of the righteousness of the Virgin‘s protective power. Additionally, this stem recalls images of the Tree of Jesse in which the Virgin is the terminus of a genealogical vegetal shaft emerging from the body of David‘s ancestor. The special attention that was given to the tubular, regularly spaced, and parallel folds of Mary‘s dress and cloak, also highlighted the weight of the fabric. The numerous cloth makers and merchants of Umbria would certainly have gauged in these banners the vast amounts of textile and costly dyes necessary for the making of Mary‘s raiment. They would also have been able to evaluate its astronomic price.616 What is striking in Mary‘s dress is the representation of an abundance of gold threads which dominate the weft and illuminate the whole weave and that gave the name of ―cloth of gold‖ to such fabrics. The highly praised velluti operati, that is figured velvets, were made of a combination of cut and uncut areas 615 James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (Boulder: Westview Press, rev. ed. 1979[1974]), 249; 330; Guy de Tervarent, Attributs et symboles dans l‟art profane (Geneva: Droz, 1997[1958]), 244. 616 Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in fifteenth century Italy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972). 226 (called ‗pile on pile‘); the more sumptuous ones comprised gold threads and gold loops. Technically, the scarlet velvet pile stands out in relief between the metallic areas. Expressing authority through clothing: color, patterns, and form The red dye for the shades of the depicted scarlet velvet on Mary‘s dress must be the insect extract called kermes, of the best quality and highest cost as an import from Constantinople. Florence and Venice strictly regulated and controlled the quality of its silkwoven fabrics, which were internationally famous. The red color has been highly symbolic of authority since antiquity because of the cost involved for the best dyeing quality and because of the restrictions as to who was allowed to wear it.617 Dressing up with red mantles to attend special occasions was a deep concern of the Perugian officials since it is the topic of many of their deliberations reported by chroniclers. These ―mantelli de rosato‖ were ordered from Florence for the papal entry in September 1443 and November 1449. In July 1450, a Florentine envoy was presented with a red habit by the civic authorities so that he could walk solemnly through the main piazza and the city, preceded by trumpeters, and announce the peace concluded between the King of Aragon and Florence.618 Extant gold and silver brocaded velvets have been found in graves of political leaders buried in their best attire, or in sacristies. For example, the lord of Rimini, Sigismondo Malatesta, was buried in 1468 with his brocaded cape, doublet and silk belt.619 In Mantegna‘s fresco showing the Gonzaga family in their ducal palace at Mantua, this resplendent textile appears everywhere from the curtains to the clothing (fig. 75). Reproduced in these banners is either a Venetian or Florentine cloth, close to the extant robes Pope Nicholas V ordered in 617 See Gage, Color and Culture, especially his first chapter: ―The Classical Inheritance,‖ 11-27. 618 Diario del Graziani, respectively, 537 (for 1443); 621 (for 1449); and 627 (for 1450). 619 See Flury-Lemberg, Textile Conservation, entries 22-24, 440-455. 227 both cities for the celebrations marking San Bernardino‘s canonization in 1450. These examples show the connotations of power and wealth that this brocade implied. A look at Italian sumptuary laws confirms that Perugian legislation was no different from other cities in Italy and that only rulers and high-ranking clerics could be clothed in this luxurious textile.620 From 1366, the Perugian Statutes forbade women to wear any garment made of silk (―drappo,‖ ―setanino,‖ camuccà‖) or velvet (―velluto‖) with or without a gold weave, including coats (―mantellum‖). Even linings made of these precious fabrics were outlawed. Some types of silk fabrics (―sindone,‖ ―taffito,‖ ―ciambellocto‖) were allowed as long as their price did not exceed 25 florins. The papal legate‘s constitution of 1445 comprised very precise provisions: owning and wearing pile on pile silk or gold or silver brocade was strictly illegal, even at home. Female but also male trespassers as well as complacent tailors were liable to a fine, and possibly excommunication. A brief legal interlude in 1506-8 allowed professors‘ and knights‘ wives to wear one large jacket (―camorra‖) made of gold or silver brocade while one pair of detachable sleeves of that precious material was permissible to anyone. But from April 1508, this sumptuary tolerance was revoked and whatever their ―status, rank, or condition,‖ ladies were not granted any item of clothing ―generated‖ in gold, silver, or embroidery. This disposition is documented until the end of the sixteenth century.621 The other limitations include sartorial ornaments and jewels, the width of sleeves and the length of female garments. 620 On Sumptuary laws in Italy, see M. Kosevi Killerby, Sumptuary Laws in Italy 1200-1500 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002); Diane Owen Hughes, ―Sumptuary Law and Social Relations in Renaissance Italy‖ in Disputes and Settlements: Law and Human Relations in the West, John Bossy, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 69-99. M. Newett, ―The Sumptuary Laws of Venice‖ in T. F. Tout and James Tait, eds., Historical essays by members of the Owens college, Manchester (London and New York: Longmans, Green, and co., 1902). 621 Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione Suntuaria, 72-73: De velluto et drappis non portandis, a provision repeated at the beginning of the 15th century, ibid. 101 and 111; deliberation of 22nd June 1402, 106-107; papal legate‘s constitution of 18th March 1445, 124-7. For 1506, ibid., 150-153, see entries 67-68 For the prohibition of gold and silver brocade thereafter, see entries 71 (1508); 78 (1529) and subsequent entries for the years 1529; 1536; 1548; 1562; post-1564; 1571. 228 On these plague banners, Mary‘s mantle was noticeable because female garments were not supposed to trail on the floor beyond one Perugian foot (36 cm) as per the papal legate‘s decree of 1460.622 Her attire on these paintings was perceived as exceptional, especially since these laws mainly, if not exclusively, targeted women. The gold brocade of her dress must have glittered in the day light when banners were carried outdoors but the Virgin must have appeared even more stunning when one came close to the candle- and oillamp lit altars where, in the darkness of a church, these gonfaloni were triumphantly erected. The emphasis on the sheen of Mary‘s dress turned the banners into impressive depictions, surely capable of exerting supernatural deeds in the eyes of contemporaries. Velvet, even if in a plain and non-brocaded version was itself a desirable fabric and it was offered as a trophy in tournaments. For example, in 1467, the Commune of Perugia announced a ―giostra‖ reserved to noble men and the award was a nine-meter long ―pallio,‖ or cloth, of blue velvet. The illustrated chronicle of Villani offers examples of the parade of such palii (fig. 76). Tributes from subjected territories also took the form of cloth like the submission of the palii on Sant‘Ercolano‘s day in Perugia (1st March). It was the occasion for a parade of horsemen holding the cloth like a flag; this textile donation demonstrated the political dominance of a city like Perugia or Florence. A fifteenth-century Florentine wedding chest (cassone) shows this scene (fig. 77). These cloths were later recycled as altar adornment, vestment, flag, or as canopy maintaining the textile‘s connotations with submission, sacredness, and magnitude. Figured and brocaded velvets were also encoded with the Church‘s magnificence and authority. Sumptuous clothes were frequently bequeathed to a church and turned into vestments and altar adornments. For example, there is an extant chasuble from the late 622 The length was extended to two feet from 1485. Ibid., entries 53 (1460), 61 (1475), 62 (1485), 71 (1508), 129-130; 142-143; 143-144, 157. Angelo Martini, Manuale di metrologia ossia misure, pesi e monete in uso attualmente e anticamente (rome: Editrice E.R.A., 1976), 518-519 for measures in Perugia. 229 fifteenth century in Orvieto that bishop Sebastiano Vanzi wore in 1563 for the Countil of Trent (fig. 78). In an antependium for the Siena cathedral, the length of the cloth is used horizontally so that the griccia pattern reads as an undulating line to which embroidery was added (fig. 79). Mary‘s cloak actually replicates, not a secular garment, but a semi-circular cope held together with a morse (or clasp) of precious craftsmanship. Copes were worn by clerical dignitaries during religious ceremonies and pageants. By opening up her protective mantle, Mary actively discloses her ecclesiastically sanctioned authority and shows a dress that has a liturgical resonance since this textile was used in the making of church paraphernalia and vestments. This red and gold velvet, being used on altars, associates Mary with the decorum linked to the sacrament of the Eucharist. Mary‘s cloak and dress, reminiscent of vestments, also stress her role as the embodiment of the Church. The pomegranate with its numerous seeds further alludes to the spread of Christian faith. Thus, Mary pictorially confirms her role as ―Ecclesia‖ (the congregation) and rallies the faithful and sustains their hope for salvation. She is accessible to ordinary people as well as to holy figures. Her symbolic status is reiterated as she typically is figured standing above a church, usually the one where the banner was kept. Therefore, for a fifteenth-century viewer, Mary‘s clothes in these banners were associated both with the secular and with the ecclesiastical elite. In the engraved copies of banners in the modern era (fig. 80), Mary‘s dress shows no brocaded motif, an indication that this renaissance sartorial fashion bore no special meanings to a seventeenth- and eighteenth-century audience. Mary‘s supreme authority as the ―Madonna della Misericordia‖ derives from longheld beliefs about her royal and maternal status which allows her to placate her son. These beliefs were exemplified in widely read literary accounts of her miracles and in prayers. In the Umbrian series of five banners ranging from 1464 to 1482 (figs. 51; 53; 55; 56; 57), the 230 Virgin of Mercy looms as a powerful agent in her own right and does not even acknowledge the presence of a wrathful God. This must have been a disturbing implication of female autonomy from a theological and a social perspective. This is why, in my opinion, the representation of Mary‘s independent sovereignty was not widely adopted. In contemporary and later Marian plague banners from Umbria, the Virgin still hols an intercessory role but she does not dominate the composition anylonger. In the Gonfalone of Assisi (fig. 68), she is placed in the top left corner from which she gestures towards a distant Christ; Assisi‘s patron saints appear much larger than the Heavenly court. In the Gonfalone of San Domenico (fig. 65), Mary, off center, still occupies a privileged position close to Christ up in Heavens but she is one of many saints who, in a humble and obedient way, pray for his benevolence.In the Gonfalone of the Duomo (fig. 66), Mary forcibly appeals for her son‘s clemency by restraining his threatening arm but she is marginalized by the emphasis on the population and a precise veduta of Perugia that take up two-thirds of the canvas. The more radical plague imagery that was developed in Umbria, depicting a monumental, all-powerful Madonna outdoing God‘s actions in his presence, did not survive the Reformation. The Council of Trent banned this iconography as heterodox.623 5) Ordinary banners against the plague I have discussed in this chapter plague banners of a special kind only: those that, by working miracles, became objects of a cult, hence their deserved epithet of ―extraordinary.‖ They were typically placed above an altarpiece for public devotion and entrusted to a confraternity for their maintenance and processional display. Many confraternities that had emerged out of an epidemic context did not own extraordinary banners but they did have 623 Marina Warner, Alone of Her Sex. The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary (New York: Vintage Books, 1983 [1976]), 327-8. 231 ordinary ones. In general, these ―segni‖ did not show Mary but instead a confraternity‘s patron saint believed to act efficaciously against epidemic outbreaks. Marshall has shown that many plague images may displace the Virgin from center stage and portray instead other saints connected to pandemic prophylaxis, such as Sebastian, the oldest plague saint in the Christian world.624 We have seen that in the processions of March, June, and September of 1448, the public demonstration of piety was supposed to show proof of penance and reliquaries were added to address a variety of saints. But, when it became clear that these solemn events had brought little respite from the raging epidemic, the council of the Priori and Camerarii turned to Saint Sebastian. On 5th December 1448, they called for a mandatory city-wide celebration of Saint Sebastian‘s day with large quantities of wax (540 pounds) subsidized by them as in the other major feasts. 625 In January 1456, this feast day (20th January) was promoted to an annual celebration that departed from the cathedral and reached Sant‘Agostino. It was the church with which the cult of Saint Sebastian was associated in Perugia because it had a chapel dedicated to that saint, possibly as early as the mid-fourteenth century. The connection is also explained by the involvement of the Confraternita di Sant‘Agostino that received a subsidy of six pounds of wax from the government for the annual procession. Its premises were adjacent to the church. The Perugian cult of Sebastian was given a new importance with a confraternity founded in 1483 and fully dedicated to the otherwise abhorred and terrifying care of the plague-stricken.626 As early as 624 For a list of Renaissance cycles of Sebastian in Italy, see Marshall, Waiting on the Will of the Lord, 264-266, appendix 1. 625 ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, December 5, 1448: ―Lex quod festum Sancti Sebastiani custodiatur pro parte pestem,‖ f. 112r and ibidem December 22, 1448: ―Lex quod custodiatur dies Sancti Sebastiani,‖ f. 116v: (...) ad hoc ut omnipotens Deus sua pietate et misericordia et meritis beati martiris Sancti Sebastiani cuis merita patriam Lombardie a peste et epidemie liberaverunt et omnes etiam et personas civitatis et comitatus Perusii ad dictam horrenda peste et epidemie liberare dignetur; quod dies in qua est festum dicti martiris celebratur, custodiatur et ab operibus desistatur ut aliis diebus in statuto comunis Perusii descriptis (...).‖ 626 ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, 12th January 1456; f; 4: ―lex luminarie Sancti Sebastiani perpetuo faciendi.‖ Although the Confraternity of Saint Sebastian was also based in Sant‘Agostino, their participation in the 232 1464, Saint Sebastian is systematically present in the roster of saints depicted in Umbrian processional paintings (figs. 51; 53; 55; 56; 57; 63; 65; 68). On ordinary banners, he appears by himself: ―Those who are dedicated to God and Saint Sebastian will never die of the disease‖ says the inscription on a banner from Foligno (fig. 81) painted by Pierantonio Mezzastris around 1477.627 Saint Roch is the other typical saint invoked against the plague, often in conjunction with Sebastian. In Foligno, in June 1481, the Commune decreed the annual celebration of Saint Roch‘s feast day (16th August) with a procession that ended in the local Servite church where an altar was dedicated to that saint. The city government of Foligno also endowed this altar with a taper of five pounds to be sent every year on that occasion. A banner (fig. 82) representing Saint Roch with a tiny praying population at his feet, present in that church, was chosen for that annual procession. The inscription above Rocco‘s halo confirms the saint‘s intercessory ability (― Oh Lord, through prayers and rewards, save us from the scourges of your ire that our sins deserve‖) while the sentence on the lower painted frame reflects the imploring mood of the repenting sinners (―Oh Lord, reach out your arm. Do not let us perish‖).628 In Perugia, a chapel was erected in the honor of Saint Roch in Santa Maria degli Angeli in 1487. In 1523, the parishioners of Ponte Felcino, outside Perugia, commissioned under the aegis of their priest to Bernardino di Mariotto (fig. 83) a banner that shows the Virgin of Mercy flanked by San Felicissimo, to whom the church was dedicated, and Saint Roch. That same year, the confraternity of Saint Sebastian will include Saint Roch in its procession of their patron saint is not recorded as being funded by the civic authorities. However, they regularly received alms from the government for their care of the plague-stricken. 627 The inscription in the banner from Foligno reads ―Chi a Dio et San Sebastiano se raccomanda mai da morbo non morirà.‖ See Elvio Lunghi‘s entry in Nicolaus Pictor, 177-8. 628 See E. Cecconelli‘s entry for that banner, in Nicolaus Pictor, 175-6. The latin inscriptions in a Gothic font read ―Parce nobis D(omi)ne flagella ire tue que / pecca(ta) n(ost)ra meretur p(re)cibus et meritis‖ and ―Exte(n)de D(omi)ne bracchium tuum nos ne perramus.‖ 233 dedication and, from then on, add the celebration of the feast-day of the latter. For their processions, the confratelli carried a statue of Saint Roch together with their statue of Saint Sebastian, a ritual practice that is documented until at least 1771, as the Diario perugino ecclesiastico e civile of that year attests.629 In a banner painted by Lo Spagna in the early sixteenth century (fig. 84), these two saints dominate the composition as the major figures able to protect the small community of Bazzano, near Spoleto, depicted between them. They address a smaller figure of God placed in the upper center. This plague banner in which the Virgin is absent shows that Mary can be deprived of any intercessory role. Another popular plague saint is Bernardino of Siena whose propagandistic imagery will be discussed in the next chapter. Marshall has also stressed the importance of other plague saints, such as Nicholas of Tolentino whose canonization in 1446 reinforced his cult as a thaumaturge in an epidemic context. His presence in the Gonfalone of Paciano (fig. 56) testifies to his role in intervening in times of a plague threat. The Perugian Augustinians who did not possess any extraordinary banner successfully petitioned the civic authorities in 1495 in order to turn Nicholas‘s feast day on September 10 into a new major celebration (―una festa di precetto‖) for ever (―in perpetuo‖). From that year, the friars received alms from the government for this procession, but this is not documented on a yearly basis and only, it seems, until 1537.630 In the light of the Umbrian examples, one must agree with Marshall that plague imagery was a creative response to the threat of the plague and played a reassuring role for worshippers. Among the various types of gonfaloni, Michael Bury has rightly treated those of the plague as a special category. Not only did they, in many cases, become cult objects with a 629 For the Confraternity of Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch, see Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 77-79, 83, 9192 for the years 1483; Marinelli, Confraternite, 966, entry 5307. For the banner of Ponte Felcino, see Loretta Rossi‘s entry in V. Sgarbi, ed., Pittori del Rinascimento a Sanseverino: Signorelli, Pinturrichio, Bernardo di Mariotto (Milan: Motta, 2006), 202-203. 630 1537 is the last mention of it in Riccieri‘s “Annali ecclesiastiche.‖ However, his interesting research has many important lacunae. 234 power surpassing that of relics, but they were kept and maintained to this day. Their longlasting life is proof of the reassuring role of plague banners in times of desperation and highlights the social networks that these mobile images fostered. The first known plague image of the Madonna of Mercy (ca. 1372) was conceived exclusively for the protection of its confraternal patrons in Genoa. Unlike this example, the Umbrian banners show Mary sheltering a mixed crowd, an image of an ideal population. Plague banners embody a visual way by which religious orders and confraternities indicated their pious intent of requesting protection on behalf of the welfare of an entire community. Processions with such images were an act of contrition and piety addressed to the divine spheres. The venerated Perugian banners, especially that of San Francesco and another four called the ―santi gonfaloni,‖ became a systematic recourse in times of crisis and their display in penitential processions was subject to rules of precedence. The significance of these extraordinary banners changed over time. While the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato was highly revered and given an entire chapel from its inception in the 1460s, crisis processions included several extraordinary banners by the mid-seventeenth century. One piece of textual evidence is Lancellotti‘s Scorta Sagra, a guidebook to all annual Perugian commemorations of liturgical and civic-religious feasts: ―In the major needs of the city, four banners are customarily taken out and carried in processions in order to obtain, out of divine pity, the grace of clement weather or the grace of rain, that of health, or of peace. They have first rank in processions and precede all others. There are large devotional paintings that were made out of public vows in times of great miseries and calamity.‖631 From the seventeenth century on, the Perugian santi gonfaloni were reproduced as prints, another indication of their popularity and dissemination (fig. 80). Down to the nineteenth century, these banners elicited collective ritual behavior. In 1797, prayers were 631 Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, entry on 21st March. The missing banner of the five must be that of the Duomo because of its later recognition as a miraculous banner. 235 addressed to them so that the drought would cease; a procession took place on one day and they were processed for the next two days. The rain came two days later, confirming once again their miraculous powers.632 I already mentioned the 1807 booklet dedicated to five of these holy banners, to which the Gonfalone of San Simone should be added. The reception elsewhere of the Umbrian Virgin of Mercy banners as established in Bonfigli‘s 1464 Gonfalone of San Francesco is visible in a fresco painted by Caporali around 1480 in the Church of Sant‘Antonio in Deruta (fig. 85). The success of this iconography is certainly due to the straightforward representation of a symbolic act of sacred protection and its immediate recipients. The next chapter further explores the processes through which images were empowered with apotropaic qualities, looking this time at wooden panels linked to a popular preacher who was pronounced a saint very quickly, Bernardino of Siena. Conversely, I also stress how images themselves could nurture the cult of that saint. 632 E. Ricci, ed., ―Cronaca di Giambologna Marini,‖ in BDSPU XXXIX (1942): 226-227. 236 CHAPTER FOUR: The unifying power of Bernardinian images in Umbria This chapter examines the formation of Bernardinian cults in Perugia through two categories of artistic and propagandistic projects. First, I analyze wooden tablets (―tavolette‖), embellished only with the trigram ―YHS‖ (the first three letters of the name ―Jesus‖) and made pictorial through unobtrusive, but important, figurative additions. Launched by Bernardino in his lifetime, these panels had, like the ―extraordinary banners‖ of the previous chapter, both a processional and a stationary use, and many of them acquired a cult status. The tavolette have received little scholarly attention from an art historical point of view. Theologians have elaborated on the origin of the inscription and discussed it in terms of hagiographic issues relative to San Bernardino, and the use of the tablets has been discussed in relation to his preaching agenda.633 I examine these tablets as artistic, apotropaic, and ritual objects linked with Franciscan identity. Secondly, I deal with symbolic representations that promoted San Bernardino‘s shortlived pre-eminence in Perugia. Communal and Franciscan propaganda comes to the fore in the so-called Gonfalone of San Bernardino of 1465 (fig. 13).634 This large work, probably not a processional banner, adds another dimension to the nature of the use of canvas paintings and extends the discussion started in Chapters Two and Three about the immobility of processional banners. Its iconography allows us to understand what political, confraternal, and religious groups had at stake in the process of cult formation. In this picture, an oversized San Bernardino is identified through his most common iconographic attribute, the trigram. Below him, in the lower third of the composition, the conclusion of the annual procession in his honor unfolds in front of the Oratory of San Bernardino, a building funded by the 633 For an illustrated description of most extant tablets, see Vincenzo Pacelli, ―Il monogramma del Nome di Gesù,‖ in Enciclopedia Bernardiniana. Iconografia. Volume II, M. A. Pavone and V. Pacelli, eds. (L'Aquila: Centro promotore generale delle celebrazioni del VI Centenario della Nascita di San Bernardino da Siena, 1981). 634 The Gonfalone of San Bernardino (a contemporary name for it) measures 349 cm by 221cm. It is kept today in the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria in Perugia (inv. n. 164). 237 Commune upon a Franciscan initiative. Together with the public ritual, this ornate sacred edifice, for which the Gonfalone was probably painted, best expressed the local reverence for this saint, even if San Bernardino failed to be included in the civic pantheon. 1) Ritual settings for wondrous panels: the tablets with the trigram The ―Bernardinan tablets‖ are mobile blue panels with gilded letters that originated as props for the sermons of the Observant Franciscan Bernardino da Siena who, from 1417, used to display such a tablet as a concrete medium for visualizing his concepts about the Name of Jesus.635 Although his ideas on that theme originate in the writings of St. Bernard and of Ubertino da Casale, the active display of these square wooden panels must be credited to the Sienese friar. Only a handful of the fifteenth-century versions survive. They were used in the numerous sermons and processions initiated by Franciscan circles. Umbria seems to be the richest region for extant tablets, with at least seven known examples, all rectangular, possibly a regional preference.636 The Umbrian tablets cannot be dated very precisely. Some of them, such as the ones from Assisi and Spoleto, are thought to be authentic donations of Bernardino to the cities he had visited and would therefore range from 1427 (when the cult was approved) to 1444 (Bernardino‘s death). Others must have been executed in the wake of the visits of Bernardino or his immediate followers such as Giacomo della Marca, Giovanni da Capistrano, Alberto da Sarteano, and Fra Ercolano in the second half of the fifteenth century. 635 Gaudenzio Melani, O.F.M., ―San Bernardino e il nome di Gesù,‖ in S. Bernardino da Siena, saggi e ricerche pubblicati nel quinto centenario della morte (1444-1944) (Milano: Società editrice "Vita e pensiero,‖ 1945), 278, quoting Pacetti in AFH, 1940. For an overview of Bernardino‘s sermons on the theme of the Name of Jesus, see 252-57. 636 The Umbrian panels that I have located are in Perugia, Assisi, Montefalco, Deruta (two panels), Spoleto, and one side of a stendardo from Trevi. As far as Umbria is concerned, Vincenzo Pacelli, Iconografia, only describes the Perugian (194, fig. 716), Spoletan (192, fig. 705), and Assisi (193, fig. 711-714) tablets. However, the Perugian tablet reproduced in that book is not recorded as part of the collections of the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria (oral communication of the curatorial staff and Professor Paola Passalacqua, conservator at this museum). 238 The Perugian (fig. 86a) and Montefalco (fig. 86b) examples can serve as a precise illustration of Bernardino‘s own iconographic intentions.637 The background must be blue because this color is symbolic of the ―glory of Heaven.‖ The three letters YHS are written in what was then a quite common Gothic script, and must be gilded because, as Bernardino explains, gold surpasses all other metals and is thus appropriate for writing the name of Jesus. A sunburst made of twelve major rays with numerous shorter ones interspersed between them, surrounds the letters providing a mnemonic device for the preacher‘s conceptual explanations to the faithful. An inscription in Gothic minuscule from Paul‘s Epistle to the Philippians runs around the edges of the panel and translates as ―at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.‖638 Extant tavolette of San Bernardino: text or image? One important detail does not appear in Bernardino‘s prescriptions, namely the short horizontal stroke on the upper portion of the ‗h‘. The abbreviation of ‗Jesus‘ to ‗yhs‘, not Bernardino‘s invention, presents a philological anomaly which presents a considerable iconographic advantage for the reception of the tablet.639 While the upsilon was commonly used for the Latin ―i,‖ the ―h‖ is a deformation of the Greek letter eta (the Latin ‗e‘), another Greek letter which normally is written like an ―n‖ with a descender for the first stroke. This incorrect graphic form that was retained by Bernardino allowed the letter to read as a cross once the ascender of the ―h‖ was barred. The controversy about Bernardino‘s use of the 637 Bernardino‘s description is recounted by Melani, ―il nome di Gesù,‖ 275-6. A more detailed version from a manuscript kept in Hungary is quoted in Giovanna Baldissini Molli, ―Problemi iconografici del San Bernardino di Andrea Mantegna‖ in G. Colalucci et al., eds., La lunetta di Andrea Mantegna al Santo: arte e cultura (Padova: Centro studi antoniani, 1998), 313-330, here 315. 638 The inscription invariably reads: ―IN NOMINE IESU / OMNE GENU / FLECTATUR CELESTIUM / TERRESTRIUM ET (Paul, Philippians, 2, 10). See Bruce Metzger and Roland Murphy, eds., The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 281. INFERNORUM 639 See Pacelli, Iconografia, 185-7 who offers an example in Coptic Egypt and cites 13 th- and 14th-century examples of such inscriptions. 239 tablets explains this necessary addition to his original design. In the late 1420s, as Giovanni Capistrano was preaching in L‘Aquila, the bishop and the cathedral canons refused to let him show a tablet that bore no image of the crucifix. To the preacher‘s displeasure, a tiny crucified Jesus was added to the letter ―h.‖ A comparable figure hanging from the first ascender of the ―h‖ is visible in the Assisi, Foligno, and Matelica panels (figs. 88; 90; 94). The absence of a cross, along with that of a crown to signify Jesus‘ regal status, was precisely the subject of some of the accusations levelled at Bernardino during his first trial (May-June 1427) in Rome. Bernardino believed that that the letters sufficed and were self-explanatory but he accepted the addition of these iconographic elements.640 The monogram may have been intended as an abbreviation, but the yearning for clear and pictorial tangible symbols also made it understood as a cross. None of the extant tablets and none of their depictions in any media show the ‗h‘ without this design.641 All extant Umbrian copies, like most extant panels or representations of them, show further developments of Bernardino‘s directions for the trigram, such as the presence of three nails on the ―h,‖ two in the horizontal arm and one pitched in the left part of the foot of the letter.642 Additional images on some of these panels, such as the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove in a lunette for Deruta (fig. 87a) or the Stigmatization of St. Francis and the Annunciation (fig. 88a-b) on a trapezoidal base for Assisi stress the evident need to supplement the trigram with figurative motifs. Daniel Arasse has cogently commented on the 640 Pietro Scarpellini, ―Stendardo processionale a due facce con il trigramma di San Bernardino,‖entry no. 9 in: M. Ciardi Dupré dal Pogetto, ed., Il tesoro della basilica di San Francesco ad Assisi (Assisi and Florence: Casa editrice Francescana, 1994), 51-55. Scarpellini sums up the controversies about the design of the ―h‖ on page 54, quoting the antagonistic reactions of an Augustinian friar, Andera da Cascia. For Scarpellini, the extant panels of Assisi and Foligno should not be dated before June 1427 because of the crossed ―h.‖ However, a large rectangular Sienese tablet of possibly 1425 (fig. 89) already shows these modifications. 641 Furthermore, in a Florentine manuscript containing reportationes, Bernardino‘s sermon of Lent 1424 is noted with a drawing of the tablet that shows the ―h‖ with a short bar crossing the ascender. It reads to me as a cross but Pacetti, Iconografia, 189, interprets it as a diacritic mark signaling the abbreviation and fig. 690. It could have meant both. Pacetti offers a catalogue raisonné and numerous examples of tablets with the monogram. 642 Pope Eugene IV is said to have suggested this insertion. See Alberta de Nicolò Salmazo, ―L‘affresco di Mantegna al Santo,‖ in La lunetta di Andrea Mantegna, 306. 240 humanist polemic of text-versus-image that the original tablets launched by examining Andrea Biglia‘s pamphlets against the preaching of San Bernardino. Biglia, a Milanese Dominican theologian, violently accused Bernardino of inciting crowds to idolize the gilded tablet on the grounds that a mostly illiterate audience was likely to misinterpret the monogram. Humanists saw the public display of a text (the three letters), painted on a tablet in the form of an artistic picture, as a hazardous experience because images generate an emotive power superior to writings. While a scholar would have the ability to read an image made of words as a mystical metaphor, the populus was prone to be confused by the apparent splendour of the painting with its scintillating gold rays and arcane letters, and not grasp its subtle theological substance.643 The accusatory articles against the Sienese friar describe the scandalous usage of the tablets as idolatrous substitutions for the cross, the essential symbol for adoring Christ.644 The arguments of Bernardino‘s opponents help us to understand the necessary inclusion of a carved cross topping the panel (fig. 88) or of pictorial elements such as the narratives on the Assisi ―predella‖ (fig. 88a-b). The image of a cross was thus obtained by adding a stroke to the vertical bar of the h (figs. 86a-b; 87; 88a; 89), and a crucified Christ could even be applied to the cross design (figs. 90; 94). Empowering the tablets Bernardino used the tablet as a practical device not only for didactic purposes, but also to create a more successful and exciting homelitic performance. Contemporary reportationes (accounts and transcriptions of sermons) recount how Bernardino would 643 See Daniel Arasse, ―Andrea Biglia contre saint Bernardin de Sienne,‖ in Acta Conventus neo-latini Turonensis. 3ème congrès international des études néo-latines (Paris: J. Vrin, 1980), 424. 644 Published by Ephrem Longpré, ―Bernardin de Sienne et le Nom de Jésus (3)," in Archivum Francescanum Historicum XXX (1937), 177-185. 241 suddenly produce the tablet as an element of surprise in the unfolding of his sermon. 645 He would make sure that everybody could see it by raising it high in the air, sometimes only at the apex or conclusion of his speech. By displaying the tablet, San Bernardino addressed the audience‘s gaze, appealing to seeing as opposed to listening, even if, as can be gathered from his detractors, the audience primarily saw a glittering object rather than an illustration of theological concepts. This misinterpretation could easily occur through the preacher‘s special gestures with the tablet, such as orienting it towards the sunlight to enhance the reflection of the gilded letters.646 Since Bernardino was known for his skills as an orator, his dramatic handling of such tablets suggests a clever strategy on his part, one of many devices to sustain his audience‘s attention. As he exhibited and held the panel like a theatrical prop, his audience broke into loud cries and tears at the view of the ‗sweetness of Jesus‘, attesting to the power of pictorial representations in a ritual spectacle. One should keep in mind that Bernardino created a solemn atmosphere to further capture the crowd‘s attention. He stood, elevated from the masses, on a podium decorated with precious fabrics, as Sano di Pietro‘s panel (fig. 91) or the Liverpool predella (fig. 92) clearly document in accordance with written sources. Such images also document that, ideally at least, men and women were physically separated, just as they would have been in a church service, with male auditors on the right and women on the left when facing the pulpit. In addition, eye contact between the sexes was fully avoided this time by the imposition of a high curtain (fig. 91). Along with this physical control of his listeners, Bernardino would also prepare them emotionally before showing the tablet. He had vividly described typical sins, thus urging poignant feelings of guilt and a sincere yearning for repentance. Displayed at just 645 For example, reports for his sermons in Florence (1424) and in Siena (1425) (―cavò fuori‖ / ―mostrò in su‖). Quoted in Lina Bolzoni, La rete delle immagine. Predicazione in volgare dalle origini a Bernardino da Siena (Torino: Einaudi, 2002), 210. 646 The third articulum against Bernardino describes him gesturing in this manner. See Longpré, ―Bernardin de Sienne et le Nom de Jésus (3), ‖ 179. 242 the right time, a scintillating three-dimensional object presented as the salutary embodiment of Christ‘s compassion for sinners could only excite cathartic and loud collective manifestations of redemptive piety. It was thus natural that the ostentation of the tablet would give the signal for the penitential processions that spontaneously followed many dramatic sermons of San Bernardino or of his followers.647 Divine protection was expected from such collective kinetic actions, and such tablets slipped easily into the category of cult objects, prone to act as efficacious intercessors. The enthusiastic response of the populus to the fiery display of the tablets explains why Bernardino was accused of encouraging his audience to adore the symbolic object rather than the name itself. 648. San Bernardino himself had described the extraordinary power of the Name of Jesus which, once invoked, would chase demons, heal, and exorcise. His praise of the conceptual potency of the trigram through a tangible image that glittered when exposed to light still presented dangers of superstitious interpretation to a popular audience. Additional figurative elements made the literal combination more acceptable by giving it elements of an imago, and thus quelled the opposition to the adoration of letters. But these were details that were not observable from a distance. In the mind of contemporary folks, the power of the Name of Jesus could easily be transferred to the tablet itself, giving it a magical function. For example, in 1424, a woman possessed by the devil for the past fourteen years was freed from it as Bernardino showed the tablet.649 A scene in a polyptych from L‘Aquila (fig. 93) illustrates the direct link between the ostentation of the tablet and exorcism. In this scene, the Franciscan preacher Giovanni da Capistrano exorcises a woman from his podium while 647 Bolzoni, La rete, 210 for 1425. 648 Daniel Arasse, ―Iconographie et évolution spirituelle: la tablette de saint Bernardin de Sienne,‖ Revue d'histoire de la spiritualité 50 (1974): 433-456 and his ―Andrea Biglia.‖ 649 From a Sienese reportatio of 1425, quoted by Bolzoni, La rete, 210. 243 conspicuously displaying the tablet to the audience.650 A fresco in the church of San Francesco in Montefalco shows a similar scene, with Bernardino using the tablet this time. Actually, any object bearing the letters YHS was potentially susceptible to exerting this protective power. The magical efficacy of words was already exemplified by the widespread use of textual amulets made of scraps of paper with prayers written on them, carefully folded up, and carried in one‘s clothing in order to ward off evil.651 The monogram was a very common component of these brevi. Bernardino had vehemently fought this kind of magic implement, and would have them burnt in the bonfires of the vanities that he caused to take place. He proposed the monogram by itself as a means to counter these superstitious beliefs, ascribing no power to the tangible depiction of the letters.652 But it is doubtful that mentalities changed in that regard, and people must have credited the tablets with the same apotropaic powers as they would have ascribed to textual amulets.653 From homelitic tool to processional object The tablets were used for sermons but processions with them often followed or were staged independently from a preacher‘s activity. The processional use of the trigram is documented for the first time in November 1425 when Bernardino told the Perugians to organize an annual procession with a ―tabula cum nomine Iesu.‖654 In Siena, such tablets 650 George Kaftal, Iconography of the Saints in Central and South Italian Schools of Painting (Florence: Sansoni, 1965), entry 205, cols. 641-2, fig. 747. 651 Don C. Skemer, Binding Words: Textual Amulets in the Middle Ages, Magic in History (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006) and Edina Bozoky, Prières.et charmes apotropaïques (Turnhout: Brepols, 2003). 652 Bolzoni, La rete, 214. 653 Arasse in ―Iconographie et evolution spirituelle,‖ 445, shows how the rendering of the original tablet distanced itself with Roman letters, a tilde (an undulated accent) instead of a cross, an oval shape instead of a square one in order to rationalize a type of object that could easily be regarded as magical. 654 Scarpellini, Tesoro, 53-4. Otherwise, the processional use of the trigram tablets is documented through the opposition that it elicited. In April 1426, the Dominicans had refused to take part in Bernardino‘s procession in Viterbo because the tablet with the trigram was the leading device. When Bernardino‘s fellow preacher, Alberto da Sarteano, organized a solemn procession in April 1427 in Perugia, the Augustinian Paolo da Venezia fiercely protested while both Dominicans and Servites abstained from participation. Even in Siena, as late as 1432, the 244 were most probably paraded for the celebration of the two annual feast-days in which the Name of Jesus was honored, the Circumcision and Pentecost, that Bernardino had instituted.655 The elaborate panel from Deruta (fig. 87a) must have originally been a homelitic tablet to which further parts were added for easier processional use.656 The Assisi panel (fig. 88a-b) is believed to have been handed over by Bernardino himself in 1425 after his sermon and the procession with his tavoletta.657 Since Bernardino preached in Assisi on many occasions (again in 1427, 1438, and 1441), the traditional status of this panel as donated by the friar himself may be true.658 The stocky base of the Assisi tablet is a later addition that stabilized the processional stendardo even further. It conceals a hole at the summit of the figurative inverted trapeze in which a pole was inserted for convenient mobility, a common feature of processional panels, or stendardi.659 The pedestal of most extant tablets could serve to stabilize them on an altar where they might replace the usual cross. This did not prevent the painting from also being carried in procession, once secured on a platform and lifted up by two or four men, sometimes with the help of horizontal staves. For centuries, the Franciscan friars of Assisi took their tablet from the lower to the upper basilica on January 1st bishop prohibited the procession across the city and it had to take place in the vicinity of the Franciscan monastery. For Perugia, see Melani, ―il nome di Gesù,‖ 295; for Viterbo: Longpré in AFH XXVIII (1935), 459 and Longpré, ―Bernardin de Sienne et le Nom de Jésus (3), ‖ 182-3; for Siena, ibid., 183. 655 For processions in Siena and the use of the trigram tablets, see Martino Bertagna, ―L'Osservanza di Siena. Studi storici,‖ Studi Francescani 60 (1963):1-143, here 38-41. 656 Close examination reveals that the lunette with the painting of the Holy Spirit is a later addition, dating possibly from the seventeenth century. The tablet was then reinforced by a panel affixed to its back. The combined pieces were then painted on their verso with a fictitious blue and red curtain. Two notches on the base of the reinforcement give evidence for the insertion of staves, and indicate either a processional use, an elevated stationary position, or both. The false curtain also shows that the tavoletta formed the recto of double-sided panels. 657 Its iconography seems too elaborate for such an early date. Scarpellini, Tesoro, proposes 1427 as terminus post-quem because of the presence of the crucifix on the ―h‖ letter. The Assisi panel is attributed to Pellegrino di Giovanni d‘Antonio, a painter who died in 1437, a terminus ante-quem for the tablet. See also Pacetti, Iconografia, 193. 658 Similarly, a well-preserved panel in Siena (fig. 89) is traditionally regarded as the one Bernardino used during a sermon that reportedly attracted an audience of 30,000 on May 28 th 1425. The preacher subsequently presented it to his own Sienese convent, the Osservanza, where it is still kept. If the date is authentic, then the iconographic transformation of the crossed ascender of the ―h‖ appeared already before Bernardino‘s trial for heresy in 1427. 659 Maria Rosaria Valazzi, ―Maestro di Staffolo. Signum bernardiniano‖ in Gentile da Fabriano, 186-7. 245 and, on this occasion, the population of Assisi and its countryside was blessed.660 Additions such as a gable (the Montefalco tablet, fig. 86b, for example), a small cross at the apex, a trapezoidal base, or flame-like carvings around the frame (figs. 86b; 88; 87a) are also common features of stendardi and made the tablet taller and more conspicuous once hoisted on a staff. The tablet as part of a double-sided wooden stendardo was also visible when carried in procession by lay confraternities. Since San Bernardino had revived, created, or preached to many lay confraternities, it was natural to find the trigram tablet associated with these groups.661 Because the tablet with the monogram became a major iconographic attribute for Bernardino early on, its concrete existence also worked to promote his own cult. 662 The Confraternita di San Girolamo, founded by Giacomo della Marca in Perugia in 1445, adapted a wooden panel with the Bernardinian trigram as their altar frontal. 663 Confraternities adopted the tablet design, using it as one side of their double-sided wooden processional panels and adding a pointed top. A stendardo from the Marches (fig. 94), once in a Franciscan church, was unequivocally in the possession of a confraternal group linked with the local Minorites. On one side, Saint Francis is shown flanked by two flagellants, while on the reverse the 660 This ritual lasted until the 1970s but it is unclear when it actually started. The procession is documented in 1915 and is evoked as ―a very ancient custom‖ by Faloci Pulignani in Miscellanea Francescana, XVI (1915): 31-32. I consulted with no success the Memorie del sacro convento di San Francesco d‟Assisi dell‟anno 1714 al 1750, Fondo moderno, ms. 245. These sources are also silent on the possible use of the tablet in Assisi for the friars‘ celebrations on San Bernardino‘s day (20th May). 661 Bernardino revived the Sienese confraternity of S. Giovanni Decollato dedicated to burying the condemned to death. He is shown preaching to them in a panel attributed to Vecchietta (Pinacoteca Nazionale of Siena, inv. no. 205). Bernardino founded a ―societas‖ of the Name of Jesus in Siena whose members had one of his tablets in custody in their premises, the oratory bearing the name of the saint in Piazza San Francesco where it can still be seen. These confratelli were also in charge of organizing processions. See Bertagna, ―L'Osservanza di Siena,‖ 39-41. Recent research attributes a triptych dated 1445 with large-scale depictions of San Bernardino to a Sienese confraternity. M. Mallory, G. Freuler, ―Sano di Pietro's Bernardino altar-piece for the Compagnia della Vergina in Siena,‖ Burlington Magazine 133 (March 1991):186-192. 662 663 Melani, ―il nome di Gesù,‖ 251. Their 1520 inventory records ―l‘altare cum lo palio de lengniame però messo a oro cum el nome de yhu in mezo‖, or ―the altar with its wooden image set in gold with the name yhu in the middle.‖ ―Palio‖ usually designates a cloth but in this context, it is meant as the altar front since the altarpiece is described in the preceding entry. See Nessi, ―La confraternita di S. Girolamo,‖ 110. 246 Bernardinian trigram is depicted in its common form. This visual association shows the strong reverence of groups associated with the Franciscans for the trigram. To my knowledge, confraternal groups linked with other religious orders did not associate their patron saint with the trigram in their processional ―segni.‖664 In other words, the combination of the tablet with a depiction of Franciscan holy figures was a straightforward message of allegiance to the Minor order in the fifteenth century. The tablets as cult objects Bernardino was revered as a thaumaturgic saint. A tabernacolo showing a series of his miracles on eight panels was made for a (non extant) statue of San Bernardino. It comprised a ―ceiling‖ with an elaborate design of YHS, thus placing the trigram in immediate visual association with supernatural deeds the frame formed by eight panels (fig. 99). 665 In addition, San Bernardino had a special reputation for pious achievements in regards to the plague, facts known to the faithful because they were spread through the sermons of other Franciscan preachers. In his youth, as a lay brother of the Confraternity of Santa Maria della Scala, Bernardino had exemplarily nursed plague victims in the wards of the overcrowded hospital of the same name during the outbreak of the epidemic in Siena in 1400. He had attended the sick and the dead without respite for four months and recovered from the disease himself thereafter. He was often present in plague images, including the Umbrian extraordinary banners of the previous chapter (figs. 51; 53; 57a). In turn, his thaumaturgic powers naturally associated the monogram with plague imagery. 664 However, a ―Confraternita del Nome di Gesù‖ met in the chapel of St. Vincent in the Dominican church of Perugia. 665 Laura Teza, "Una nuova storia per le tavolette di San Bernardino," in L. Teza and M. Santanicchia, eds., Pietro Vannucci Il Perugino. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studio, 25-28 Ottobre 2000 (Perugia: Volumnia, 2004), 247-305. This long book chapter is based on Professor Teza‘s meticulously researched Ph.D. dissertation. 247 A panel attributed to Pietro Mazzaforte (fig. 90), a painter who worked in Foligno, used the Bernardinian tablet on one side, but the verso shows the Virgin of Mercy protecting unidentified men and women divided by sex. This stendardo does not have a precise provenance, but Mary wears a knotted hemp belt, an element of the Franciscans‘ habit, and therefore points to an association with that milieu. As I discussed in Chapter Three, the Virgin of Mercy was a familiar iconographic formula for plague imagery. The combination of this Marian motif with the trigram on the other side lent this painting apotropaic qualities. Bernardino himself exhorted his listeners to place the Name of Jesus on their house doors to ward off lethal diseases, a practice that stopped the plague in Ferrara in 1438, as the Sienese preacher reported in his writings.666 Thus, Bernardinian post-mortem cults developed the preacher‘s ability to ward off epidemics, hence his presence in many plague images with the major prophylactic saint for the fifteenth century, Sebastian. In 1459, the citizens of Fabriano invoked his name to quell an outbreak of the plague and around that time, the local Franciscans had a plague image painted on silk by the Maestro di Staffolo. God the Father in the pointed top of the composition is ready to hurl arrows down below while the Virgin and Bernardino kneel in intercession in the foreground. Bernardino holds a round monogram with his right hand while his left fingers are locked with those of Christ child floating above him in a straw crib. With his other palm, baby Jesus support a small depiction of the city of Fabriano. Thus the tablet is visually equated with the body of Christ and its mediating power is rendered visible in a concatenation of motifs that lead to the irate God.667 666 Vittorino Facchinetti, S. Bernardino da Siena. Mistico sole del secolo XV (Milan: S. Lega Eucharistica, 1933), 377. 667 This work was processed for the first time in 1496 to fight abundant rain like several extraordinary banners of Perugia (Chapter Three). Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 48, mentions this plague image because it falls out of his taxonomy for plague banners: although on textile, its outer shape (a pointed rectangle) shows that it was not intended to hang from a crossbar as banner do. However, its iconography, lightness, and the established devotional practices in front of this image turned it into an appropriate painting for penitential processions, which occurred three decades after its creation. 248 As cult objects require public access and permanent display, I believe that most tablets, once stabilized with a base, were kept for public veneration in a church chapel, especially in the fifteenth century when Bernardino‘s cult was active. Some may have been safely placed in the church treasury among the reliquaries. The Spoleto tavoletta, for example, can be found today in the Capella delle reliquie. This is seemingly also the case of the Assisi tablet from the seventeenth-century, as an engraving of the Treasury indicates (fig. 88c).668 The excellent preservation of the Assisi tablet points to its early significance as a revered object in a stationary position, first in a chapel and then in the Treasury. It is one of the most sophisticated versions, with its double-sided figurative pedestal similar to a predella. Bernardinian trigram panels, thus installed on altars, received many visitors who, before meditating in front of the image, would take off their hats, kneel and cross themselves. This setting and behavior are known through several Articuli contra fratrem Bernardinum that, in denouncing them as idolatrous, concomitantly documented the ritual practices around the tablets.669 It is easy to realize that for contemporaries, the sunburst, the crown, and the letters on the panels of the Name of Jesus became animate, glowing in the warm and flickering illumination of numerous oil lamps and candles. There, on the tablet, the devoted faithful could make out the image of the cross, or the crucified Christ, and the three nails. Whether fifteenth-century viewers were aware of, or remembered, the interpretive narratives that the three letters were meant to trigger is questionable. Literate people, on the other hand, were certainly able to read these panels in tune with Bernardino‘s weaving of Jesus‘ name into a mnemonic web. They would recall, for example, his associations of the three letters with the 668 Scarpellini, Tesoro, 52, indicates (without references) that the tablet appears in many inventories of the sacristy but the tablet does not show up in these records from the 1590s to the early 18 th century. I consulted the following archival documents of the Fondo antico (with dates in parentheses): ―Inventario della sacrestia‖: ms. 38, inv. 38 (1592 & 1597); ms. 41, inv. C (1600); ms. 42, inv. D (1613); ms. 24, inv. Misc. X (17th c.); ms. 47, inv. F (before 1739). The caption of the seventeenth -century engraving (on another sheet) reads for the tablet: ―a large painting on which the holy Name of Jesus is depicted, given to this Basilica by the very hand of San Bernardino.‖ 669 See Longpré, ―Bernardin de Sienne et le Nom de Jésus (3), ‖ 179-184. 249 Scriptures and the Trinity, or use the twelve sunrays to evoke mental images such as the twelve apostles.670 For Bernardino, these hermeneutic correspondences justified the existence and use of the ―yhs‖ tablets. The visibility of the trigram It was the tablet that attracted much of the opposition to the cult of the Name of Jesus because it was the most tangible medium for latent superstitious behaviours. Papal endorsement of the practices around the tablets confirmed anew the legitimacy of the trigram and of its ostentation in tablet form by any preacher.671 From the 1420s on, the trigram in a sunburst appeared not only on a whole range of ecclesiastical furnishings but also on civic buildings, such as the façade of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, or on city gates.672 It is found on functional and decorative objects, such as the marble water reservoir from a church in Bettona or on special medals.673 The ubiquity of the trigram in all sorts of media signalled a conspicuous success that finally silenced Bernardino‘s opponents, especially after 1432 when pope Eugenius IV issued his bull. In 1530, Pope Clement VII approved the liturgical office of the Name of Jesus for the Franciscans and the Clares, fixing its feast day on January 14 th. The celebration of the ―Triumphant Name of Jesus‖ soon spread to other orders, and eventually to the whole Church in 1721.674 The trigram was eventually adopted as a sign of Christian belief 670 Bolzoni, La rete, 211-213. 671 First with Martin V‘s recognition of the cult of the Name of Jesus and then with Eugene IV‘s bull of 1432. 672 In 1425, the council of the popolo in Siena had decided to replace the coat of arms of the Visconti with a monumental trigram adorned with rays of gilded bronze that can be seen on Sano di Pietro‘s San Bernardino preaching (fig. 91). For the trigram on city gates in Orvieto and Viterbo, see AFH, 1935, 458-62. 673 For the water reservoir of the first half of the Quattrocento, see Flavia de Rubeis, entry 103 in: V. Casale, ed., Pinacoteca di Bettona (Perugia: Electa Editori Umbri, 1996), 163. The rectangular container of Bettona has no provenance but a similar one is in the church of San Lorenzo in Spello. The city government of Padua, for example, commissioned medals with the trigram to distribute in honor of Bernardino. See Molli, Lunetta di Andrea Mantegna, 321. 674 Johannes Hofer, Johannes Kapistran. Ein Leben im Kampf um die Reform der Kirche, Ottokar Bonmann ed., rev. ed. (Rome and Heidelberg: Kerle, 1964-1965), 402 and Melani, Il Nome di Jesu, 296-7. 250 but it long kept a connotation of Franciscan loyalty.675 In Perugia, a particularly high number of monograms can be found in the neighbourhood of Porta San Angelo through which one had to go to reach the Franciscan Observants‘ monastery, just outside the city walls. A census of extant outdoor trigrams in this city shows the popular nature of the devotion to the Name of Jesus as it spread primarily in the urban areas inhabited by the lower classes.676 The oldest extant trigram, dated 1452, was carved on a well in the vicinity of the Dominican church (fig. 95). This location indicates that the Perugian Dominicans had adopted the monogram regardless of its Franciscan allegiance at a time when civic authorities were advocating Bernardino as an additional patron saint for the city. Bernardino‘s popularity spread widely in his lifetime and even more so after his death in 1444 and canonization in 1450. All the extant tablets testify to the fascination with an object symbolic of a famed preacher whose reputation and cult were alive for most of the fifteenth century throughout Italy. However, the fact that the letters became interpreted as an acronym for ―Yhesus Hominum Salvator‖ or ―In Hoc Signo‖ points to the multivocality of this symbol and its unstable reception. The unease provoked by the tablet in scholarly circles continued until the late Quattrocento, as can be assessed by the absence of the tablet in Pinturricchio‘s frescoed scenes of Bernardino‘s life in the Roman Church of the Aracoeli, designed for a humanist patron.677 The extant tablets probably do not date any later than the 675 In the late 1530s, Ignatius de Loyala adopted the three letters as the emblem of the Society of Jesus. It appeared in the first edition of the Spiritual Exercises of 1548 and it was chosen for the Jesuits‘ official seal ca. 1550 at the latest. The Jesuits gave an international diffusion to the monogram. See H. Pfeiffer, ―The Iconography of the Society of Jesus,‖ in J. O‘Malley and G. A. Bailey, The Jesuits and the Arts. 1540-1773 (Philadelphia: Saint Joseph‘s University Press), 199-228, here 199-200. 676 Fifty-seven trigrams have recently been counted in the streets of Perugia, ranging from the mid-fifteenth century to the early nineteenth. See Andrea Majarelli and Riccardo Norgini, ―Il monogramma di San Bernardino a Perugia: una originale mappa di religiosità popolare,‖ Archivio Perugino-pievese. "Perugia Giubilare" III (2000):41-47. 677 Pinturrichio frescoed the three walls of the Bufalini chapel in the Observant Franciscan church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in 1485. See Arasse‘s analysis in ―Iconographie et évolution spirituelle,‖ 444-456. Arasse also suggests that tablets with Gothic letters were outmoded by the 1480s and modern taste required a different epigraphy. However, the Gothic letters were still widely used for carved trigrams on buildings and remained popular because of their connotation with Bernardino‘s time. 251 1490s. Their potential for spurring idolatry, still felt at that time, also explains their disappearance, along with a general decrease in Bernardinian cults. As Daniel Arasse has shown, the representations of San Bernardino on panels, canvases, or frescoes were extremely numerous before his canonization and thereafter until the 1490s when Bernardinian iconography abruptly diminished, limiting its occurrences to a Franciscan context.678 The veneration for the Sienese friar in Perugia followed the pattern described by Arasse. The next section examines how rituals and images, including the trigram on flags, contributed to the cult of Bernardino in the Umbrian capital. 2) Images and processional paraphernalia for Bernardinian cults In his lifetime, the Sienese preacher sojourned five times in Perugia with the support of the local government, which gave him an allowance.679 He was even invited to board in the communal palace in 1444, only a few weeks before he died in L‘Aquila, in the Abruzzo region.680 Bernardino‘s death occasioned many solemn celebrations organized by the city authorities that had welcomed him.681 The Perugian government who called him ―amator et intercessor populi perusini‖ in the deliberation on the obsequies decided on a sum of 120 florins to be spent for an outdoor mass and cenotaph in front of the cathedral, on the main piazza, and for a city-wide procession with over 500 pounds of candles funded by the city. A sermon followed, a clear sign of honor reserved for the funerals of exceptional personages.682 The death of the Sienese preacher occurred at a crucial moment in Perugia‘s official political 678 Ibid., 434. 679 In September 1425; 1427; 1438; 1441; and 1444. 680 See AFH, XV (1922), ―Documenta Perusina de San Bernardino,‖ 103-138 for primary sources on the government‘s involvement with San Bernardino during his lifetime and 138-154 and 406-475 for further transcriptions of documents relating to the formation of Bernardinian cults in Perugia. 681 For the festivities in Rome see Arasse, ―Iconographie et évolution spirituelle,‖ 440-443; for Siena, same author, "Fervebat pietate populus. Art, dévotion et société autour de la glorification de Saint Bernardin de Sienne," Mélanges de l'Ecole Française de Rome 89 (1977): 189-261, here 190-202. 682 This was but a pale reflection of the extraordinary ceremonial setting at L‘Aquila where the city spent 5000 florins for the same purpose while Bernardino‘s body lay in state for 40 days in the cathedral. 252 use of holy figures. Two years earlier, in 1442, the Perugian Franciscans had failed to acquire the body of Saint Francis from Assisi, a relic that would have imparted much prestige to a city that conspicuously lacked any important relic until its acquisition of the Virgin‘s ring in 1473.683 A deceased saint‘s body formed the basis for highly orchestrated devotional practices, attracting pilgrims and enhancing business. Establishing the cult of Bernardino was an issue for Perugia‘s ―civic religion,‖ essentially in the first three decades after his canonization. A brief look at the civic pantheon of Perugia shows that saints were constantly added but not always for long.684 Saint Louis of Toulouse was declared protector of the Palazzo dei Priori and of the city in 1319. His cult has left few visible traces apart from the Angevine arms in that portal and a cycle on his life in the chapel of the Priori residence. He never became a charismatic figure in Perugia although a procession with his statue was instituted in 1444.685 Although the majority of saints recognized by the Roman Church between 11981431 were bishops, neither Ercolano nor Costanzo ever underwent a trial for canonization. Their cults are paradigmatic of a number of figures venerated as civic patrons regardless of their official status for the Church.686 As soon as San Bernardino was pronounced a saint, the city officials attempted to include him in their civic pantheon calling him ―intercessor, 683 R. Trexler, ―The Stigmatized Body of Francis of Assisi,‖ in Religion in Social Context in Europe and America. 1200-1700 (Tempe : Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2002), 183-226, here 222, n. 114. 684 Dickson has counted 56 saints in civic association with Perugia. Dickson, The 115 cults, 11. 685 Louis of Toulouse was canonized in 1317 in Orvieto by Boniface VIII but it was believed that the ceremony had taken place in Perugia. The pope had conferred him the bishopric of Toulouse in the chapel of the Priori. The earliest documented reference to a chapel dedicated to him in the palace is 1325 while the new chapel with Bonfigli‘s frescoes dates back to 1442-50. See Roncetti, Leggere i documenti, 68 and footnote 34. 686 On canonized bishops, see La sainteté en Occident aux derniers siècles du Moyen Age d‟après les procès de canonization et les documents hagiographiques (Rome: Ecole française de Rome, 1998), 329-358 and for the cult of non-canonized bishops, 220-223. 253 protector et defensor totius populi civitatis Perusii,‖ and establishing an annual procession in his honor.687 Establishing San Bernardino‘s cult in Perugia: the Gonfalone of San Bernardino Bernardino‘s canonization in 1450 came at a propitious moment, when a strong yearning for exceptional relics crystallized in the possibility of attaining a venerable holy body associated with the Franciscans. No other celebration was organized after Bernardino‘s death until he was pronounced a saint six years later, on 20th May 1450. Perugia, like Siena and Rome, claimed the saint‘s body in vain from the civic authorities of L‘Aquila and rivalled each other in visual means to signify the appropriation of the sanctified preacher.688 In Perugia, on 23rd June, a municipal deliberation decided on a general procession in honor of Bernardino to be held that year on 14th July. The deliberation of 3rd May 1452 established this celebration as perpetual and fixed the date of 20th May for it as well as the amount of allotted funds. The regulations, elaborated by the Commune, were approved by the archbishop and the pope.689 It is in this context that one should analyze the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13a), attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli, and dated 1465. It is a representative image mirroring the communal sponsorship of Bernardino‘s cult at a point in time.690 The whole composition of the Gonfalone is dominated by a towering figure of the seated Christ who, surrounded by an angelic court, holds a prominent, silvery (now 687 The quote is from the deliberation on the procession commemorating the canonization on 23 rd June 1450, transcribed in AFH XI (1918), 177. The law establishing a perpetual annual procession on Bernardino‘s feastday was passed on 3rd May 1452. See for the transciption AFH XV (1922): 406-412. 688 Even the pope who wished to have Bernardino‘s body transferred to Rome as soon as 1444 was unsuccessful in his query. Only three days after the announcement of Bernardino‘s official holiness, Siena had proclaimed him as its fifth advocate and protector and set up a magnificent spectacle including a simulation of his Ascension to Heaven. See Arasse, ―Fervebat,‖ 192-203. 689 For a recapitulation of these legal steps and references to the archival documents, see Mancini, Bonfigli, 199201 and Commodi, Oratorio di San Bernardino, 36-40. The official documents of the deliberations have been transcribed in AFH, XI (1918): 176-181; 406-407; AFH, XV (1922): 137-154. 690 This painting is not documented at all until Vasari‘s attribution to Benedetto Bonfigli in 1568. See F. Mancini, Bonfigli, entry 109, 109-113. 254 blackened), flag of the Resurrection that is usually represented as a red cross on a white ground (here silver). Christ is looking down below, blessing the Perugians, while on his right a haloed figure of Bernardino, of a lesser scale but still over life size, addresses him in an intercessory gesture. The bottom scene portrays the ritual donation of wax and cloths (tovaglie) at the conclusion of the yearly procession. This part of the painting anchors the event in the Franciscan-dominated area of Perugia. The architectural backdrop consists of one single location, the public ―field‖ (―prato‖) of San Francesco al Prato, shown on the right, where the annual procession in honor of San Bernardino concluded. In the center of the urban backdrop, the Oratory of San Bernardino of Siena appears as it was newly completed in 1461 with its ornate façade sculpted in relief by Agostino di Duccio (fig. 13b).691 The architectonic history of this building shows that it was first a Franciscan initiative that competed with the cathedral canons‘ enterprise to have a chapel dedicated to the same saint in the Duomo. The cathedral chapter had obtained financial aid (300 florins) from the government as early as 19th March 1451. This prompted the Franciscans to embark on a sustained campaign for communal funds, especially since donations occasioned by Bernardino‘s sanctification did not suffice. Thus, as early as 3rd May 1451, the Franciscans obtained 150 florins for the construction of the oratory shown on the Gonfalone. Bonfigli depicts the Oratory of Bernardino (fig. 13b) so clearly in the very center of the urban backdrop that it points to the location meant for this work.692 However, the function of this painting remains unclear. Art historian Francesco Mancini opposes its processional use on account of its monumental size but such dimensions were not unusual for banners. 691 The oratorio‘s construction, started in 1451, was protracted by financial problems, repeatedly resolved through communal intervention. From 1457 to 1462, the building was completed with Agostino di Duccio‘s reliefs for the façade. See the transcription of the archival sources in: AFH, XV, 147-152. The painting is dated on the trabeation of the oratory in the lower middle background. 692 Laura Teza has suggested this. See "Frammenti della Perugia quattrocentesca: il Perugino e la Confraternita di San Bernardino," in Commentari d'arte. Rivista di critica e storia dell'arte II, no. 5 (1996): 43-54. The topography is exact but the frieze of the oratory has the date of the painting (1465) instead of its actual inscribed completion date of the building (1461). 255 Dehmer‘s catalogue of Central and Northern Italian banners has a number of documented processional paintings of a similar size. Civic authorities may have intended to assert their patronage through such an impressive height as happened with St. Ambrosius‘ banner in Milan. For the conservators who restored this work, its lacerations and cuts indicate numerous displacements. However, seventeenth-century records mention it as a ―tela‖ (canvas) or even ―tavola;‖ it was called a ―gonfalone‖ for the first time in 1866.693 Primary sources from the modern era describe it on a wall or as an altarpiece. 694 In addition, the Confraternity of San Bernardino, that logically would have processed such a banner, was located at the other end of the city (until 1537) in the church of San Mustiola. There is no record of their association with Bonfigli‘s painting. This monumental painting may have been painted on cloth out of time pressure. This technique does require less preparation but nevertheless achieves splendid effects. 695 In the last chapter, I deal with the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (fig. 71) that similarly was, in my opinion, a celebratory image kept in a fixed position inside a church. As Vasari pointed out in 1568 in his chapter on Del dipignere a olio su le tele: ―And because this fashion [modo] seemed pleasant and convenient, not only were small paintings made for easy transportation, but also altarpieces and other works with grand narratives.‖696 I thus suggest that there might be many more works called ―gonfaloni‖ in their own time or later that were painted on textile 693 F. Mancini, entry ―‗Gonfalone‘ di San Bernardino da Siena,‖ in Bon Valsassina, ed., Dipinti, sculpture della Galleria Nazionale, 199-202, and conservators Sergio Fusetti and Paolo Virilli, ibid., 202-203: ―A convalidare l‘uso processionale dell‘opera del Bonfigli sembra concorrere il genere di deformazioni presenti lungo le lacerazioni ed i tagli della tela. Esse infatti sembrano provocate da sollecitazioni dinamiche dovute a frequenti spostamenti.‖ This work was first called a ‗banner‘ in 1866 by art historians Crowe and Cavalcaselle. See Mancini, ibid., 200. 694 This painting is documented on the right wall of this chapel in 1683 and from 1787 on the altar until it was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria in 1863. See Mancini, ibid., 200 and same author, Bonfigli, 110. 695 See Cennino Cennini‘s chapter on ―Del lavorare in zendado palii, gonfaloni, stendardi,‖ in F. Brunello, ed., Il libro dell‟arte (Vicenza, 1982 [1390]), 170-175. For Cennini and more sources on the technique for painting banners, see Dehmer, Bruderschaftsbanner, 239-244. 696 Vasari, Le Vite de‟ più eccelenti pittori, scultori e architettori, introduction to chapter 23: ―E perché questo modo è paruto agevole e commodo, si sono fatti , non solamente quadri piccoli per portare attorno, ma ancora tavole da altari et altre opere di storie grandissime.‖ Quoted in Dehmer, ibid., 245. 256 for non-processional purposes. Only the meticulous study of particular, ambivalent cases may determine more precisely the actual function of such paintings and create a new genre (see excursus no. 3). The scholarly examination of the Gonfalone of San Bernardino has unfortunately not yielded much documentation for the time of its inception. Daniel Arasse was the first to analyse its iconography in depth. He demonstrated that this painting celebrates political continuity and the success of the Commune‘s financial efforts in building the Oratorio di San Bernardino.697 Roberto Rusconi has further suggested that the political nature of Bernardino‘s preaching activity is reflected both in the reliefs of the Oratorio di San Bernardino and in the Gonfalone.698 Bernardino had a reputation for calming hostilities between rival factions, and he was welcome in Perugia where family clans fought each other vehemently. For the Commune, there were political advantages in inviting a popular preacher who helped establish a stable government.699 Therefore, in Bonfigli‘s painting of 1465 that I interpret as a civic commission, the city officials are easily recognizable in their prestigious red cloaks, and are naturally placed just beneath Bernardino. For general processions like this one, the city officials wore a shorter red mantle (the lucco) and a red and lightly conic beretto alla capitanesca, similar to the Duke of Urbino‘s in Piero della Francesca‘s contemporary diptych kept in the Uffizi museum. In the left foreground, seen in full profile, the man with a distinctly long cloak of a pink color and his neatly packed and massive red cappuccio must indicate the Podestà, the chief Justice.700 697 Arasse, Fervebat, 203-7. 698 Rusconi, ―Predicò in piazza,‖ 114-127. 699 Bernardino‘s visit in 1425 had been arranged through the initiative of the pontifical legate who sought to impose papal authority in Perugia after Braccio da Montone‘s lordship. Bernardino‘s preaching was temporarily efficient in ending enmity between family clans and the so-called stern ―City Statutes of San Bernardino‖ were adopted. Rusconi, ‗Predicò in piazza‘, 114-116. 700 A cappuccio is a male headgear made of a mazzocchio (a circle stuffed with borra), a foggia (a piece of cloth that hangs in the back), and a becchetto (a cloth trail). For male and female clothing of the Renaissance, see Levi Pizetscky, Storia del costume, II: 355. Mancini, Bonfigli, 110, gives a vague identification of the figures. 257 The dress codes of Bonfigli‘s figures signify social consensus around the celebration of San Bernardino that the Perugian civic authorities orchestrated and the importance of the humble Franciscan order in that matter. Christ wears a bishop‘s tunicella (or tunicle) signalled as such by its blue hyacinth color, adorned with a visible orphrey on the chest. His cope, a cloak reaching to the ground which prelates or pope would usually clasp with a morse (absent here), is visually repeated in the earthly scene, down below in the bishop‘s garb. In both cases, we can see extremely elaborate pieces of textile made in velvet and threads of gold and, for Christ, lined with fur.701 This magnificent liturgical attire suggests Christ‘s supreme power and insinuates the respect due to ecclesiastical leadership and its hierarchy on earth (the bishop and the apostolic governor in the Perugian situation). By contrast, San Bernardino, in his simple coarse and undyed brown habit tied with a rope in lieu of a belt announces his order‘s voluntary poverty. Similarly dressed, Franciscan friars wear the traditional tonsure and humbly stand in the background, behind the ecclesiastical premier of Perugia.702 The black robes worn by three women in the foreground identifies two of them as nuns and one as a widow. The nuns wear a white thin wimple that tightly wraps their neck and a simple folded cloth of fine white linen above their black cowl. The widow on the other hand typically wears a long black cloak worn over her head with a white veil loosely tucked loosely underneath the hood.703 The two women wearing grey in the 701 On the tunicella, see Joseph Braun, Die Liturgische Gewandung im Occident und Orient (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964), 291-3. For a history of the cope, see his chapter 3 of part II: ―Das Pluviale,‖ 306-358. The orphrey, a piece of embroidery or cloth is applied to chasubles, copes, and dalmatics as a band in a vertical way (a pillar orphrey) or as a rectangle, horizontally. Fra Angelico‘s portrays of the deacon Lawrence and his subdeacons often include this rectangular ornament, also worn in the back. See, among other works, his fresco cycle in the chapel of the pope Nicholas V in the Vatican, or sacre conversazioni such as the Annalena and the San Marco altarpieces. 702 Brownish cloth was cheaper to produce than fabrics dyed in black. 703 On Italian costumes of the Renaissance, see Levi Pisetzky, Storia del costume, II: 461-7 for widows. 258 right background are certainly Franciscan Tertiaries, possibly those of the monastery of Sant‘Antonio, which many noble ladies had joined renouncing wealth.704 Facing the podestà and unobstructed by the other female figures, a woman (the podestà‘s wife?) stands out in her luxurious attire.705 Her mantellina (short cloak), dotted with gold eyelets, and her fashionable coiffure agree with her noble birth making her exempt of the sumptuary laws. She is also the only woman who makes an offering of wax, here gendered as a male donation, beside her tovaglia. Another lady, facing the viewer, proffers a similar hairstyle with a wide and plucked forehead. The mass of her hair is modestly held back under a transparent veil that still shows trendy hot-ironed wavy streaks of hair falling to her temples. The flower garland in her coif is a token of her respect of sumptuary laws that prohibited jewels or gemmed diadems. Bonfigli proposes an image of a population that conforms to sumptuary laws and he has adequately shown no extravaganza in the figures‘ clothing.706 This was probably not close to reality but it is what needed to be mirrored in a devotional painting that could serve as a model of conduct. The civic authorities appear in the act of making a pious gesture of wax donation funded by tax revenues. For such annual rituals, the city government subsidized the tapers and candles of many praying agents. Public gatherings were thus opportunities for the city officials to appear legitimate and righteous. Subsequently, they could project the image of being the leading force behind the harmony binding the Perugian population. The painting also records the Franciscan success in establishing a devotional focus on their territory. The Franciscans are not placed in the foreground, but they do stand in the central axis of the 704 On regulations for Tertiaries‘clothing, see Lino Temperini, Testi e documenti sul Terzo Ordine francescano. Secoli XIII-XV (Rome: Edizione Franciscanum, 1992), 91-93, 223, 255-257. 705 Mancini, Bonfigli, 112, ventures the name of Anastasia Sforza, second wife of Braccio Baglioni (Malatesta‘s son). 706 In 1460, a council was called to remedy the abusive expenses for women‘s ornaments which impeded marriages. Again in 1472, a friar persuaded the magistrates to pass a law limiting sumptuous female clothing. Quoted in S. Majarelli and U. Nicolini, Il Monte dei poveri di Perugia. 1462-1474. Il periodo delle origini (Assisi, 1962), 96. 259 composition. These depicted characters get even more visibility if one agrees that this section of the Gonfalone would have been at eye level once the painting was hung on a wall or above an altar. Processional paraphernalia on 20th May In 1450, to mark the first procession in honor of San Bernardino, the Priors had commissioned a flag in red silk showing the newly canonized preacher as an intercessor in the presence of Christ. This ―vexillum‖ has not survived but it was definitely regarded as a civic flag.707 As the Commune declared Bernardino an ―intercessor, protector and defender‖ of the city, this flag, probably kept in the communal palace, was a means to visualize him as a new city patron and to recall the government‘s sponsorship. Apart from this civic-minded vexillum, the focus of the procession may well have been a non-extant statue of Bernardino, similar to that from the church of San Francesco in Corciano (fig. 98) attributed to Agostino di Duccio. For a time, scholars believed that the Gonfalone of San Bernardino was encased in a ―tabernacolo‖ painted with eight perspectival scenes of San Bernardino‘s miracles, dated 1473 (fig. 99). According to Laura Teza, this ornate niche once enshrined the lost statue of Bernardino rather than this ―gonfalone.‖708 Teza persuasively suggests that the statue and its ‗tabernacle‘ were once placed on the marble altar of San Bernardino completed in 1475 in the Perugian cathedral. Every year on 20th May, the statue was taken out of its elaborately painted frame and processed from the cathedral to the church of San Francesco al Prato beneath a baldacchino.709 We can imagine this magnificent combination of a painted and carved niche sheltering a statue through the reconstruction proposed by Laura Teza of a small 707 Arasse sees the upper half of Bonfigli‘s Gonfalone di San Bernardino as a reflection of that flag. For the commission of that flag, see document no. 45 in AFH, XI, (1918), 176-179 and document no. 22 in AFH, XV, 146. 708 Teza, "Una nuova storia per le tavolette di San Bernardino," 247-305. 709 Teza, ―il Perugino e la confraternita di San Bernardino,‖, 46. 260 wooden figure of Saint Francis kept in the main Franciscan convent and a ―tabernacolo‖ dated 1487 and signed by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo for an altar in the church of the convent, San Francesco al Prato (fig. 100).710 Presumably, other confraternities sponsored by the Franciscans also paraded images of the canonized preacher. For example, the Confraternity of San Bernardino was founded between 1456 and 1460 with its headquarters in another district than that of the conventual Franciscans.711 They received six pounds of wax for the celebration of the feast-day of their patron saint, 20th May. The exact role they assumed on that day is not clear, but they had to walk across town to reach the cathedral and join the general cortège that marched to the Franciscan convent and the Oratory of San Bernardino. They owned their own ordinary banner that they kept in their oratory, documented in 1463 as being in frayed condition. At that time, the confraternity managed to have the government subsidize its repair. Their banner was eventually replaced in 1496 by a canvas painted by Perugino and erroneously called Madonna della Giustizia (fig. 40) that received a tabernacle in 1501.712 They may have been given the responsibility of carrying the civic flag of 1450, or a new version of it. Flags with the trigram may also have been used on 20th May processions in Perugia and elsewhere. They would have pleased Bernardino, who called the Name of Jesus the ―flag of the fighters‖ (―vessilo dei combattenti‖). During Bernardino‘s trial in Rome in 1427, Giovanni da Capistrano led a procession to support his colleague‘s cause, holding a flag with the trigram. In 1456, Capistrano carried a similar flag when he helped the Christians‘ fight against the Turks in Belgrade, an event sometimes chosen for the depiction of scenes from his 710 L. Teza, Per Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, pittore e scultore. Una proposta di ricomposizione della nicchia di San Francesco al Prato a Perugia (Perugia: Quattroemme, 2003). 711 In 1537, it moved to the Oratory of San Bernardino as it merged with the important Confraternita della Giustizia founded in 1374. See Commodi, L‟oratorio di San Bernardino, 67-68 and my Chapter Three. 712 Laura Teza, ―il Perugino e la confraternita di San Bernardino,‖ 46, has shown that this 1496 banner belonged in the first place to the Confraternita di San Bernardino and not, as had been so far thought, to the Confraternita della Giustizia. 261 life (fig. 101).713 Similarly, Joan of Arc had added the trigram to one of her flags. 714 A relief on the façade of the Oratory of San Bernardino in Perugia shows a flock of sheep kneeling in front of the flag with Christ‘s monogram (fig. 97). A contemporary friar mentioned that Bernardino used to carry such a ―triumphant flag‖ (with the trigram) because it prompted elevated spiritual works that ended enmity and inspired penance. Furthermore, there is some written and visual evidence for flags as a homelitic prop used by Franciscan preachers. Friar Bernardino da Feltre, during a sermon in Todi in 1487, suddenly extracted a large painted flag showing Christ extending his arms above a view of the city, striking his listeners with awe.715 He was exhorting them to accept the authority of the pope and give up clan rivalries. In a life-size portrayal of Giovanni da Capistrano by Bartolomeo Vivarini (fig. 102), the Franciscan friar holds the Resurrection banner adorned with an image of the model preacher, San Bernardino. In L‘Aquila, a comparable picture of that preacher shows the white-ground flag flag of the Resurrection with the trigram at the intersection of the red cross.716 Not all flags were acceptable in the preacher‘s eyes. Heraldic flags that hung in churches were judged the epitome of vanity because they made a single person‘s secular identity known in a sacred space (see Chapter Two). As far as civic heraldry on flags is concerned, Bernardino or his followers probably deemed a collective symbol useful to represent the entire local population. The Perugian coat-of-arms, a white griffon on a red field, appears in the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13a) on the pennons attached to the 713 For the 1427 procession, see Bolzoni, La rete, 208. For the 1456 battle, see Rusconi, ‗Predicò in piazza‘, 123. For a depiction of Capistrano on the battlefield with a flag adorned with the trigram, see George Kaftal, Central Italy, entry 205, col. 639, fig. 746. 714 Joan of Arc had the trigram embroidered on one of her battle flags. See Adrien Harmand, Jeanne d‟Arc, son costume, ses armures. Essai de reconstitution (Paris: Librairie E. Leroux, 1929) for a reconstruction of her flag and Hilaire de Barenton, «Jeanne d‘Arc, son tertiairat, son étendard et l‘ouvrage de M. Adrien Harmand,» in Etudes franciscaines, XLIII (1931), 546-556 ; 561-683, here 675-81, for a constructive criticism of this study, and 677, for a depiction of Jeanne‘standard. 715 In his ―Life‖ of Bernardino, Friar Sante Boncor evokes the preacher‘s ―triumphal stendardo‖ while other hagiographers only mention his tablet with the trigram. Quoted in Rusconi, ‗Predicò in piazza‘, 122 and n. 38, and 136. 716 Kaftal, Central Italy, entry 205, col. 638, fig. 74. 262 trumpets of the two city heralds, just below Christ‘s feet. The two trumpeters, shown in full action, signal by their music the Commune‘s voice and power. A few days before each citywide procession such heralds on horseback, dressed in the city livery, trumpeted their horns to proclaim the closing of shops for the next day(s), reminding the population of their mandatory participation in the procession, each equipped with a candle. In the image studied here, these messengers are conveniently placed to Christ‘s right, a position that visually connotes honor and protection avowed by God‘s son to the city and local government. Their diagonal position reads as a link between San Bernardino and divinity. Christ‘s prominence is shown not only through hierarchic perspective but also through his deployed enormous flag, which certainly struck the viewers with its stunning glittering effects of the then intact silver background. Red and silver recall the Perugian heraldic colors (figs. 3; 4), possibly emphasizing the city‘s pious role in representing the population in the intercessory request (figs. 3; 4). Christ holds the Resurrection banner, the highest ranking of all secular or religious flags in the collective imagination of Christians. His hand gestures are also symbolic: holding the banner in his left hand so that he may bless the Perugians with his right, the honorable side, thus the only appropriate hand to do so.717 This imposing vexillum draws attention to the triumph of Christ and to Bernardino‘s righteousness in evoking the name of Jesus.718 The size of the canonized Sienese preacher and the presence of the city authorities below him stress the newly acquired importance in community matters 717 Gertrud Schiller, Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1971), III, 75, notes that this blessing gesture coupled with holding the banner imposes itself gradually in the course of the 13 th century. 718 For the symbolism of the Resurrection banner as victory over death, see Hall, Dicionary of Symbols, entry ―Flag‖, 122-123. For occurrences of Christ holding the Resurrection banner, a motif that dates back to the 12 th century, see the iconography of the following topics: Christus Victor, the Resurrection from the tomb, Descent into Limbo, Apparition of Christ to His followers in: Schiller, ibid., III: 68-91; 179-181; 374-5; 383 and the relevant illustrations, particularly figs. 167-170; 232-236 for Italian Renaissance art. In her discussion of the variants in images of the Resurrection, Schiller does not comment on the flag which Christ usually carries in his left hand. 263 of Bernardino‘s cult, of which the annual procession and the oratory were important civic expressions. A Franciscan appropriation and a failed civic adoption The popularity of the Oratory of San Bernardino is evident in the fact that the pavement was already damaged in the early sixteenth century and had to be replaced with majolica tiles from Deruta.719 The success of the annual procession on 20th May in Perugia is partially explained by the papal indulgence that the faithful earned if they visited the oratory on that day.720 This award legitimised not only the rituals for the feast day and the importance of this new Franciscan building, it also gave more visibility to the ‗gonfalone‘ of San Bernardino, if one agrees that it was hung on the wall. Although the cult of the Franciscan preacher was well established in Perugia in the first three decades after his canonization, the devotional fervor eventually diminished. For example, the members of the Confraternity of San Bernardino declared themselves extremely poor in 1482, so that the Commune had to subsidize them. By the 1530s, the sodality had very few members left; it was revived through its fusion with the Confraternita di Sant‘Andrea in 1537 which took the name of ―Confraternita di Sant‘Andrea e San Bernardino‖ (see Chapter Two).721 This lack of interest may indicate that Bernardino‘s impact on the production of depictions like the trigram was limited in time. His influence largely depended on his charisma and reputation in his lifetime as well as after his death, because his homelitic material and preaching methods were assumed by his best followers. However, even if his memory was kept alive, his prescriptions were not. Bernardino da Feltre 719 Tiziana Biganti, ―Attività ceramiche a Perugia nel XV secolo,‖ in Rosaria Mencarelli, ed., I Lunedi della Galleria. Atti delle conferenze (Perugia: Quatroemme, 1997), 89-110, here 94-95. 720 On 16th December 1452, Eugenius IV granted an indulgence for those praying at the oratory on 20 th May, upon bequest of the Commune. 721 In Teza, ―il Perugino e la confraternita di San Bernardino,‖ 46 264 had another bonfire of the vanities lit in 1486, evidence that that the humility and simplicity that the Sienese saint advocated had not been adopted by the Perugians.722 The delay in visually including Bernardino inside the cathedral is paradigmatic of this diminishing of the original sense of popularity in the cult. The cathedral chapter first had an image of the saint painted on a pillar in the first bay of the left side aisle as early as 1451. It marked the area for the chapel dedicated to San Bernardino, but the Franciscans managed to divert communal funds for this to the building their own Oratory of San Bernardino. On the Gonfalone of San Bernardino, the bishop is but a tiny figure, necessary to the subject matter because of his ritual blessing of the donations. But it was a time (the mid 1460s) when the completion of San Bernardino‘s altar in the cathedral dragged on without completion.723 While the Oratory of San Bernardino was completed in 1461, the chapel of the Sienese saint in the cathedral was not completed until 1483, and was eventually rededicated to the relic of the Virgin‘s Holy Ring in 1486. This forced San Bernardino‘s altar to be dismantled and reconstructed in his new titular chapel on the opposite side of the nave. While the Oratory of San Bernardino accommodated the Confraternita della Giustizia (another name for the Confraternita di Sant‘Andrea e San Bernardino) from 1537, the chapel dedicated to the Sienese saint in the cathedral did not receive as much attention, with only one mass celebrated there once a year on 20th May.724 The Renaissance stone altar was eventually renovated with Mannerist stucco statues, but by the time Federico Barocci completed his monumental altarpiece of the Deposition of Christ in 1569, any visual relation with San Bernardino had been lost. A few months later, the major guild of the Mercanzia gave the processional statue of the Sienese saint (no longer extant) to the Confraternita della Giustizia. 722 Serafino Siepi, Annotazioni storiche I, in Descrizione topologica, M. Roncetti, ed., 1994 [1820s], 314. 723 For a detailed study of the chapel of San Bernardino in the Perugian cathedral and an attempt to reconstruct its Renaissance altar, see Teza, Tavolette di San Bernardino, 251-259. 724 In 1559, the jus patronatus of San Bernardino‘s chapel was transferred from the Commune to the Mercanzia guild. 265 The history of the two visual landmarks for the Perugian cult of San Bernardino, the Oratory and the Cathedral, shows that although the Commune supported both institutions financially from the mid-fifteenth century, the Minor friars were clearly favored with the swift construction of the oratory next to their convent. The devotion for San Bernardino became essentially a Franciscan affair, with rituals associated with visiting the lavishly decorated oratory and with the activities of the Confraternita della Giustizia (see Chapter Two). The chapel in the cathedral could not compete with the Commune‘s new acquisition of the Virgin‘s ring in 1473. Once the civic and religious authorities of Perugia introduced the appropriate rituals around this precious and unique relic, such as its periodical ostentations, and once the Confraternity of San Giuseppe had been founded in 1487, the Chapel of the Santo Anello, opposite San Bernardino‘s, became a very popular devotional attraction and the focus of much lavish decoration, as I evoked it in Chapter Two. Next to it, a mid-fifteenthcentury frescoed pillar with a full-length Bernardino still stands in complete isolation from the chapel dedicated to the Sienese friar. The Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13a) expresses major corporate enterprises while signalling the essential part assumed by the city government at the time in the commemoration of San Bernardino. The images of the procession and the magnificent oratory are linked visually to representatives of the Commune, while the Perugian Franciscans are recorded in the looming presence of the buildings in which they officiated, and through the depiction of a large number of friars. By painting San Bernardino larger than life, and placing him markedly as a visual link between the earthly and celestial realms, Bonfigli‘s image legitimises him as a protector of Perugia while skilfully highlighting that this process happens under the auspices of the local government. This attempt to adopt yet a new patron saint for Perugia is paradigmatic of the multiplication of holy protectors in the urban sphere in late medieval and renaissance Italy. André Vauchez has suggestively 266 interpreted this phenomenon in terms of a declining political regime that sought legitimisation through the necessary rituals of civic religion.725 I The politics of wax distribution The Gonfalone di San Bernardino (fig. 13a) shows a rare iconography, that of a public wax donation, and the even rarer depiction of a textile donation, here ―tovaglie,‖ locally woven napkins and tablecloths made of linen and cotton. 726 This painting illustrates the phenomenon of wax as a marker of social status. Franciscan friars visible before the doorway of the church carry a thin candle that the government provided. Such a candle was the equivalent of a sixth of a taper in weight, as official provisions point out. Magistrates in the foreground instead bring tapers of a much bigger size. Members of the Perugian population are depositing the extinguished tapers or the candles that each was carrying lit in the procession into wicker baskets. Once gathered, the candles and tapers were auctioned and the proceeds assigned to the construction of the oratory. In 1465, at the time this ―gonfalone‖ was painted, the funding of this edifice was already completed and the money raised probably served for its maintenance, a typical way of endowing churches. Offering candles or tapers to the main altar of the church at the end of processions was a normal procedure. According to this painting, the donation occurred in the open air.727 Indeed, no procession could take place without a large number of tapers and candles carried by groups and individuals. It was scandalous not to carry at least a tiny candle, especially for members of a group. For example, notaries who were unable to attend their group‘s commemoration of the Annunciation would pay a fine 725 A similar enterprise took place in Orvieto with the cult of Mary Magdalene. See Dugald McLellan, ―Communal cults and civic liturgies in late Renaissance Orvieto,‖ BDSPU CI, I (2004), 239-280. 726 ―Tovaglie‖ donations are recorded for bequests but not at all for this procession. Therefore, this image provides visual evidence for this practice. 727 In the mid-seventeenth century, Lancellotti has left a description of the procession to the eponymous oratory which entails many elements shown by this image. See transcription in appendix 17. 267 and had to send an intact taper in their place. Members of the consortium who could not afford to bring a taper of at least one pound of wax were excused from participation in the procession.728 In short, wax candles were a fundamental component of collective processions and could not be spared without harming their decorum. In medieval and early modern Christianity, pure bee‘s wax was essential for devotional and liturgical practices because it marked due respect to the worship of God. 729 Lights, in the form of oil lamps, candles, or tapers, recalled the theophanic dimension of light. The high cost of wax also made it a luxury product used by aristocrats and rulers in lay contexts. The abundance of wax in a procession was thus an extraordinary sight. It was also stunning to contemplate the lights in front of a sacred image. In Italy, just as city governments were responsible for the proper illumination of certain shrines and sacred images, the provision of wax for processions was stipulated by city statutes and debated in municipal deliberations.730 The quantity, weight, and cost of wax were a recurrent theme in the city council minutes because the Commune was responsible for supplying it at its own expense to a variety of groups, mainly government officials and the clergy. Guilds and confraternities also had many provisions in their statutes regarding wax for processions. Wax as an expression of civic piety meant that large sums drawn from taxes were allotted for the purchase of oil, double-stemmed tapers (dupleria), torches (torchie), tapers (facule), and candles (candele). The government subsidized most clerics and all the city 728 Up to ten indigent notaries who could not afford this amount of wax were excused from participation. See appendix 12. 729 The importance of wax has been researched by Catherine Vincent in a variety of contexts for medieval and renaissance France. There, as in Perugia, city or associative authorities were adamant about the quantities to buy and the modalities for distributing them. See C. Vincent, Fiat lux. Lumière et luminaires dans la vie religieuse du XIIIe au XVIe siècle (Paris: Cerf, 2004). 730 For example, the Perugian government funded the oil and wax for the Maestà delle Volte, a permanently lit Marian image painted on the wall of a dark street that ran under the palazzo of the podestà, off the main piazza. Individual Perugians also left oil to illuminate this miracle-working Madonna. See Cohn, The Cult of Remembrance, 231 and 360, n. 99. 268 officials with processed wax (cera laborata) for processions.731 Guilds, single participants, and confraternities did not benefit from such communal alms and had to bring lights at their own expense. However, some confraternal groups did receive a wax subsidy when they had a major role in the cults sponsored by the Commune such as the processions for the Assumption eve (Confraternita della Nunziata), Sant‘Ercolano (Compagnia del Sasso), and San Bernardino from 1451 (Confraternita di San Bernardino). From 1458, the Confraternita di Sant‘Andrea received a four-pound wax subsidy in perpetuity for all processions and for their patron‘s day. A special law was issued given the charitable deeds of this sodality and their benefits for the entire community (assisting and burying the executed criminals) and because they possessed a miraculous image of the Virgin, thus attracting the intercession of the highest holy mediator, the Virgin Mary, to Perugia.732 Wax was also a strong sign for collective assertion on the social scale because the size of the portable lights reflected economic or political authority. The weight of wax to be carried by each participant was strictly regulated either by the city for the recipients of wax in city-wide processions, or by each group for their own single cortège on their patron saint‘s day. In city-sponsored processions, government officials and the highest ecclesiastical authority, the bishop, received tapers of 4 pounds per person. Lesser officials got three-pound faculae. Abbots and mendicant leaders received tapers of one pound while monks and friars were given candles.733 On the eve of Sant‘Ercolano‘s feast day, the major guilds further distinguished themselves from the minor guilds by bringing a three-pound ―facula,‖ but they 731 According to the extant city statutes and council deliberations, the quantities of distributed wax remained remarkably constant from the 14th into the sixteenth centuries. For most processions, the distribution and quantity of wax was modelled after the celebrations for San Costanzo, a saint who is steadily invoked but rarely depicted. 732 Riccieri, ―Annali ecclesiastiche,‖ 61, 19th June 1458. 733 A taper of one pound equated 6 candles. 269 brought a two-pound candle for the eve of Assumption and other feasts.734 The paper-makers could each afford two-pound candles, but minor guild workers such as the leather-repair artisans were each allowed to provide one-pound candles.735 Thus, the size and weight of processional wax was not only a way of rendering hierarchy visible between groups, it also operated a discrimation within groups. Consequently, guild and confraternity statutory provisions for processions are mainly concerned with the mandatory equipment with tapers or candles of a precise weight according to members‘ status within the community.The next chapter examines in what ways one specific group (the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata) was showcased thanks to its symbolic apparatus, including gonfaloni, in a few ritual events of the Perugian calendar. 734 See, for example, the statutes of the Mercanzia in 1358: Cardinali et al., eds., Collegio della Mercanzia di Perugia, §51, 77. 735 For the paper-makers, see Olga Marinelli, Statuti dell'arte dei cartolari di Perugia. 1338-1554 (Perugia: Università degli Studi, 1987), 35. 270 CHAPTER FIVE : Immobile and mobile images for unity and identity In 1466, the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata in Perugia had an imposing painting (341 x 172 cm) of the Annunciation made with a representative sample of its members in the foreground.736 This Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (fig. 71a) is a major exponent of the corporate consciousness of the confratelli. The study of this lay association affiliated with the Servites brings together themes tackled in the previous four chapters: confraternal identity, prestigious or ordinary images for collective representation, propaganda for Mendicant orders, and civic and religious rituals. This chapter aims at exploring unity and collective identity through the essential roles played by the artistic artifacts owned by the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata (or the Nunziata, as they called themselves) or handled by them in Perugian public rituals. The first half of the chapter consists of a detailed analysis of the splendid Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (fig. 71a) that, despite its name, I will argue, was not one of the confraternity‘s ordinary banners.737 Sources never mention it as a processional item and its excellent preservation points to a representative function in an important Mendicant church.738 Its iconography reveals a multi-faceted social network but also tensions within the group while its stationary placement in a major church illustrates its representative function and the need for publicity. Because this work spotlights Doctors of Law, I explore the professional world of legists, including the lower-ranking notaries, and their importance in Perugian public life. The second section of this chapter examines the Easter and Assumption festivals during which the procession of specific images showcased the Nunziata. These 736 The main bibliographic references for this work are: Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 36-37; V. Garibaldi, in: Dipinti, sculture e ceramiche, 228-229; E. Lunghi, Un pittore e la sua città, 168; Todini, Niccolò Alunno, 49 and 543-546; Paola Mercurelli Salari, Nicolaus Pictor, 222-223. 737 A version of this chapter including appendices 6-10; 13; and 16, but not the sections on Easter and the Assumption has been published in the BDSPU CIII (2006), I: 303-375 under the title ―‗Societas Anuntiate fecit fieri hoc opus‘: the gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (1466) in Perugia and its patrons.‖ 738 For the inventories, see Chapter Two, section ―confraternities‖ and this chapter, section ―the power of place‖. The mention of (non extant) processional gonfaloni in the confraternity archives indicates that there was no need for an extra banner. 271 images range from the confraternity‘s life-sized articulated Christ, to canopies, to the Cathedral‘s icon of the Salvatore. The ritual situations in which the Nunziata displayed its corporately-owned paraphernalia exemplify how moving pictures may build and reinforce corporate awareness.739 The Gonfalone dell‘Annunziata In the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata of 1466, the general scheme for the setting and the major holy figures corresponds to a widely diffused iconography since the Middle Ages for the scene of the Annunciation. At the bottom edge of a paved and walled garden, closest to the viewer, a tight cluster of tiny faithful men and women kneel between the protective arms of two oversize holy Servites, Blessed Filippo Benizi and Blessed Giovanna of Florence (fig. 103). They can be identified as the members of the Nunziata thanks to the inscription below them. They look up as their guardians present them to the Virgin and the archangel Gabriel who are engaged, with arms crossed over their chests, in the recognizable moment of humbly accepting the Holy Annunciate. The Virgin kneels at a scholar‘s desk while Gabriel brings her a lily, a flower associated with Mary‘s purity, and the emblem of the Servite order. Two angels confer in the left background of the hortus conclusus (enclosed garden), a metaphor for Mary‘s virginity. The tops of cypresses, a tree symbolic of both death and eternity, protrude from behind the wall. This device, together with the classical-looking wall with its potted plants, is a motif borrowed from Fra Angelico‘s work.740 Just above the trees, on the 739 The only publication about the archives of the ―Nunziata‖ is Canzio Pizzoni, ―La confraternità dell‘Annunziata di Perugia,‖ in Il movimento dei disciplinati nel settimo centenario dal suo inizi: Perugia 1260 (Perugia: Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria, 1962), 146-55. Otherwise, Giambattista Vermiglioli reported, c. 1810-1850, on some of these documents in a personal notebook entitled Memoria della Compagnia della SS. Annunziata estratta da libri e da altri luoghi and kept at the Biblioteca Augusta in Perugia (ms. 1536). In 2004, the archives of the confraternity of the Annunciation (abbreviated in the footnotes as ―BDAnn‖) were temporarily transferred from the Biblioteca Dominicini to the Archivio Diocesano in order to allow a more flexible consultation. 740 See, for example, Fra Angelico‘s St. Lawrence before Emperor Decius (c. 1447-8) in Nicolas V‘s chapel in the Vatican or his Annunciation (c. 1451-55) at the Museo di San Marco, Florence. 272 top tier of the composition, singing and music-making angels attend God the Father who sends the dove of the Holy Spirit to the Virgin below on a ray of golden light. Although this commission is not documented, the inscription in Roman capital letters: SOCIETAS ANUNTIATE FECIT FIERI HOC OPUS A.D. MCCCCLXVI (―the Society of the Annunciate had this work made in AD 1466‖) in its lower border accounts for the dating and identification of the patrons. This work is not signed but is thought to have been executed by the Umbrian painter Niccolò di Liberatore (c. 1435-1502).741 His date of birth is unknown but he was active from the mid-1450s in Foligno where he is documented as the head of a prosperous workshop that received many commissions for altarpieces and confraternity gonfaloni. Niccolò must have been in his early thirties in 1466.742 Working in an identifiable Florentine style, with a rigorous use of linear perspective, the artist exposes his familiarity with the popular altarpieces of Fra Angelico, Domenico Veneziano, and Benozzo Gozzoli as well as with paintings from his hometown.743 Fra Angelico and Domenico Veneziano had both worked in Perugia in the 1430s and 1440s and had left there influential paintings.744 Niccolò was known to work for Umbrian and Marchigian religious groups, friars, monks or 741 This attribution was first suggested by Karl Friedrich Rumohr in the second volume of his Italienische Forschungen (Berlin: Nicolai, 1827-1831) and has been unanimously followed to this day by all historians. For a detailed recapitulation of this critical appraisal of the authorship but containing a mistake on Rumohr‘s publication, see Garibaldi, in Dipinti, sculture e ceramiche, 228-229. 742 On Niccolò‘s career, see Todini, Niccolò Alunno, especially 40-43 for his reputation in the 1460s; Nicolaus Pictor, 191-203; E. Lunghi, ed., Niccolò Alunno in Umbria (Assisi: Editrice Minerva, 1993); Filippo Todini, La pittura umbra: dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento (Milan: Longanesi, 1989). Niccolò‘s date of birth was recently revised as being around 1434-1435 on the basis of the evidence for his actual date of marriage. See Stefano Felicetti, ―I pittori di Foligno nei documenti d‘archivio. Verifiche e nuove ricerche,‖ in S. Felicetti, B. Toscano, eds., Pittura a Foligno 1439-1502: Fonti e studi, un bilancio (Foligno: Orfini-Numeister, 2001). See also Giordana Benazzi, ―Niccolò, Caterina e le case dei Mazzaforti. Qualche aggiornamento sull‘Alunno a Foligno‖, in A. de Marchi, P. L. Falaschi Camerino, eds., I Da Varano e le arti (Ripa Transone: Maroni, 2001), 711-734 and Todini, Niccolò Alunno, 15. 743 For Gozzoli‘s 1456 pala of the Sapienza Nuova (a residence for students) in Perugia, see Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, 10-11 and Vittoria Garibaldi, ed., Beato Angelico e Benozzo Gozzoli, Artisti del Rinascimento a Perugia (Milan: Silvana editoriale, 1999). Gozzoli also left important frescoes in the church of San Francesco in nearby Montefalco. See Diane Cole Ahl, Benozzo Gozzoli (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1996), 41-79. 744 Fra Angelico‘s Guidalotti altarpiece of 1437 (Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria) was once in San Domenico. See Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 7-10. For Veneziano‘s (non extant) work in Perugia, see Helmut Wohl, The Paintings of Domenico Veneziano, ca. 1410-1461: a Study in Florentine Art of the Early Renaissance (New York: New York University Press, 1980), 16-17 and 69-70. 273 confraternities linked to them. If the attribution is right, this work would be his only known commission destined for Perugia. Connections to the Servites A primary component of the confraternal identity of the Nunziata brothers was their affiliation with the Servite order. Although the exact date of the confraternity‘s foundation is unknown, it is first mentioned in the 1330s with names such as the fraternita dei disciplinati dei Servi di S. Maria, fraternitas disciplinatorum Servorum Sancte Marie de Perusio, or fraternita dei Servi di S. Maria.745 Its premises were located in Porta Eburnea close to the Servite church of Santa Maria dei Servi.746 The Servites or ―servants‖ of the Virgin were dedicated to Mary and her desolation during her Son‘s Passion. Most Servite churches celebrated the Annunciation (as in Perugia) or the Nativity of the Virgin as their titular feast, or both (as in Florence).747 Their monasteries can be found especially in the first two provinces of the order, Tuscany and Umbria. The Servites were present in Perugia from about 1255 and were placed under direct papal protection in 1297. In the fourteenth century, the Perugian friars finally overcame rivalries and disputes with the local clergy regarding the apportioning of intra-muros space which they occupied. Santa Maria dei Servi rapidly became a well-attended church that saw a major enlargement from the 1430s into the late fifteenth century.748 The Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata is part of this embellishment process, as I 745 See Pizzoni, ―La confraternità dell‘Annunziata‖; Vermiglioli, Memoria, 23. The present-day location is occupied by the Conservatorio di Musica. The adjacent Oratorio dell‘Annunziata became the confraternity‘s quarters in the 17th century when they had to switch spatial arrangements with the neighboring Servite tertiaries called the ―Povere di Mona Simone‖. See Serafino Siepi, Annotazioni Storiche III, in Roncetti, ed.,Descrizione topologica: ―Monastero delle Povere.‖ 747 For a summary of the order‘s foundation (in 1240 in Florence) and subsequent crises until papal approval and the official recognition of their mendicant title, see The New Catholic Encyclopedia (New York & London: Mc Graw-Hill, 1967), XIII: 131-135. For the dedication of churches, see Franco Andrea Dal Pino, Spazi e figure lungo la storia dei Servi di Santa Maria, secoli XIII-XX (Rome: Herder, 1997), 46. 748 The Perugian Servites moved their monastery from the nearby extra muros S. Giacomo inside the city walls in 1313 on the Colle Landone. The protests against this settlement were settled with the intervention of the bishop of Foligno in 1328. For disputes between this order and their religious neighbors in Italy, see Dal Pino, Spazi e figure, 44-45 and 295-6. For a summarized history of the Perugian Servites, see Maria Grazia Bistoni 746 274 shall explain. Evidence of the ties between the Nunziata and these friars is the precious letter of indulgence which the confraternity had obtained through them (lettera de endulgentia che ci acatarono ei frate de Santa Maria de Servorum). They mention it in their late Trecento inventory (appendix 6a, item no. 109) and carefully stored it in their sacristy. The significance of the Servites for the confraternity is visible in the 1466 Gonfalone. In the bottom foreground, two Servite beati tower on each side of the faithful in an intercessory posture while a clearly delineated Servite nun appears on the right. Filippo Benizi (1229-1285) is shown as the left beato with rays radiating from his head. He wears the black habit of the Servites, following earlier depictions. The order became more important once it was confirmed as a mendicant one (1304) by papal approval.749 As a Prior General of the Servites, he was instrumental in consolidating the order in regard to other mendicant communities, thereby saving it from suppression. The order became more important once it was confirmed as a mendicant one (1304) by papal approval. 750 In the second half of the fifteenth century, the Servites were preoccupied with accomplishing Benizi‘s canonization, which finally took place in 1671.751 Many copies of his legend circulated, making him the most popular and important of the early Servites even if he was not one of the seven original founders. In 1442, probably in Perugia, a friar was copying a Legenda beati Philippi, a Grilli, Biblioteche monastiche e conventuali perugine, codici di Santa Maria dei Servi (Perugia: Università degli Studi, 1986/7), 5-10. For a meticulously documented and referenced essay on the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Perugia, see Marina Regni, ―Apporti documentari per la ricostruzione delle vicende di Santa Maria dei Servi,‖ in V. Garibaldi, F. Mancini, eds., Perugino. Il divin pittore (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2004), 547-55. 749 See Davide Montagna, ―Iconografia beniziana antica,‖ in Studi Storici dell‟Ordine dei Servi di Maria, 29, 2 (1979): 423-27. The 1346 fresco in the former Servite convent of Todi is discussed in F. Floccia et al., eds., Todi e S. Filippo Benizi. Itinerario storico-artistico (Todi: Ediart, 1985). 750 Dal Pino, Spazi e figure, 52-61. 751 The Servites‘ sponsoring of Benizi‘s holiness inscribes itself in the Mendicant orders‘ rivalry in spreading the cults of men (and women) who had led a conventual life, a phenomenon that André Vauchez has characterized as the «cléricalisation de la société masculine» in La sainteté en Occident, 249-254. In 1456, pope Calixtus III was petitioned to canonize Benizi. It had been decided that in each general chapter of the order, a provision (discorso) on Filippo‘s canonization would be held. For bibliographical references on Benizi‘s canonization trial, see Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquitatae et mediae aetatis, vol. XXXV (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1949), 6821. 275 volume no longer extant.752 I have found no reference to a special celebration of Fra Filippo within the confraternity, but his presence in this painting is not surprising given the multiple connections between the Servites and this lay group. The female beata who faces Benizi framing the faithful on the viewer‘s right has been traditionally -but wrongly - identified as Giuliana dei Falconieri (d. 1341) whose uncle, was one of the seven founders of the order and Benizi‘s first biographer. 753 According to Dal Pino, a confusion arose in hagiographic renditions between Giuliana dei Falconieri and another beata called Giovanna da Firenze. The name Giuliana was substituted for that of Giovanna in late fifteenth century legends (that is, after this Gonfalone was painted). While Giuliana was eventually credited with founding the tertiary order of the Servites known as the ―Mantellate‖ and even canonized in 1737, Giovanna remained in oblivion. It is therefore no surprise that nineteenth- and twentieth- century art historians often mistakenly identify the saint in the painting as Giuliana although Quattrocento literary and visual evidence point out that Giovanna was then considered the main beatified female Florentine of the order.754 As an Observant Servite tradition has it, as well as Quattrocento versions of Benizi‘s legend, 752 Mentioned by Davide Montagna, ―Nuove schede per il santuario antico dei Servi. Secoli XIII-XV,‖ in Studi Storici dell‟Ordine dei Servi di Maria, 34 (1984): 136-45, 144. Another, extant, example is a contemporary (circa 1460-70) manuscript of sermons, written by a Servite friar in Central Italy which contains a copy of the Trecento legend of Benizi. See G. Besutti, ―La ‗legenda‘ perugina di S. Filippo da Firenze,‖ in Studi storici dell‟Ordine dei Servi di Maria, 17 (1967): 90-115. 753 Giuliana is first mentioned by art historians in 1864. See J. A. Crowe, G. B. Cavalcaselle, History of Painting in Italy (London: John Murray, 1864-1866), III: 128-129; Elvio Lunghi in Lunghi, ed., Niccolò Alunno in Umbria, 79, first evoked Santa Monica without any rationale but joined the Giuliana identification in Un pittore e la sua città, 26. He must have mistakenly written ―Santa Monica‖ instead of Santi‘s ―Santa Monaca‖ [a saintly nun], Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 36. Todini, Niccolò Alunno, endorses these identifications without any comments. A possible confusion may have arisen with a certain ―Guiduccia de Falconeriis‖ who died in 1341 and is documented as having been buried in the SS. Annunziata of Florence. A work on the origin of the order, written c. 1465, mentions for the first time a St. Giuliana without any last name. She becomes a Falconieri in a later work (1494) by the same author. See Alessio Rossi, O.S.M., Santa Giuliana dei Falconieri (Rome, 1954) and Franco Andrea Dal Pino, ―La B. Giovanna e S. Giuliano da Firenze nella documentazione dei secoli XIV-XV,‖ Studi Storici dell‟Ordine dei Servi di Maria, 16 (1966): 104-10, reprinted in Dal Pino, Spazi e figure, 539-549. 754 Ibid. A 1445 miniature shows a ―Bta Joanna‖ addressing the Madonna with Benizi in intercession for the portrayed the marquis and marquess of Mantova and their children while a 1487 niello from a book binding is labeled with ―B. Gianna da Firenze‖. – The first iconographic example for Giuliana dates back to 1543. See E. Casalini et al., Da “una casupola” nella Firenze del sec. XIII. Celebrazioni giubilari dell‟ordine dei Servi di Maria. Cronaca, liturgia, arte (Florence: Biblioteca della provincia toscana dei Servi di Maria, 1990), 124-33. 276 Giovanna may even have been Benizi‘s own sister.755 This would appropriately reinforce ties between the lay people of both genders tied to the Servites shown in the gonfalone. Closest to Giovanna‘s outstretched hands, a woman, dressed in a black mantle, is shown in full profile. Her clothes securely identify her as a Servite female tertiary from Perugia whose black habit had been confirmed by Pope Martin V in a letter addressed to them in 1424.756 Here, she stands in for her whole monastery, by now Servite, which bordered the confraternity. Although not confraternal members, these nuns are connected to the fratelli in many legal documents disputing issues of space and boundaries. The Nunziata occasionally supported them out of charity.757 Their house and cloister had been bequeathed in 1387 to the brothers‘ s hospital by a certain Donna Vanna under the condition that they would accommodate poor virgins and nuns (suore) there upon her death.758 While the wish to establish a domus pauperum mulierum in a testatrix‘s house to be managed by a confraternity was a frequent phenomenon, it is unclear what prompted Donna Vanna, a Franciscan tertiary herself, to make this donation to a Servite-oriented confraternity. It is possible that her spouse, a Baglioni, or even herself, was a member of the confraternity. 759 Another explanation is offered by Giovanna Casagrande who argued that this nascent community of Franciscan tertiaries switched to a Gesuate affiliation in the early fifteenth-century before 755 Montagna, Iconografia beniziana, 141-2. Martin V was settling a dispute between the Perugian Franciscan and Servite tertiaries about their too similar habits. Servite tertiaries must wear a black mantle and a robe in coarse linen with a leather girdle and be covered from their chin to their bare feet, while Franciscan tertiary nuns would wear a light grey mantle and tunic held by a rope in lieu of a belt. See G. Bortone, OSM, ―Il monastero di Santa Maria delle Povere, Spogli documentari per gli anni 1393-1607,‖ in Studi Storici dell‟Ordine dei Servi di Maria, 40 (1990): 173-78. 757 Relationships between the confraternity and their female neighbors are better documented for the 16 th century. For example, in the 1540s, the sixty nuns would borrow the key to the Nunziata church for their vestition and veiling ritual. See Vermiglioli, Memoria, 40-44. For an example of alms from the Confraternity to the tertiaries in 1477, see BDAnn, Entrate e uscite dell‟ospedale e della confraternita: 1477-1498, f. 4r. 758 The minimum number was stipulated (three or four) with a provision to elect nuns from the S. Stefano convent in Assisi. See Dal Pino, Spazi e figure, 141-143 for an excerpt of the official donation act and BDAnn, Memoriale dei contratti: 1333-1594, ff. 67-70, for a 15th-century copy of this document. 759 On female donations of real estate, see Anna Esposito, ―Men and Women in Roman Confraternities in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Roles, Functions, Expectations,‖ in N. Terpstra, ed., The Politics of Ritual Kinship. Confraternities and Social Order in Early Modern Italy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 82-97, here 96. 756 277 finally adopting a Servite identity from the 1440s on.760 The image of Servite nuns in this painting offers visual evidence that the female community adjacent to the confraternity was indeed made over to that group and credits their settlement to the Nunziata.761 Anna Esposito and Giovanna Casagrande have surveyed the ways in which tertiary status was an attractive option for women, offering them the fullest possibility of female religious action. Tertiaries might live alone or in a non-cloistered community of a monastic type. The povere di Santa Maria were the only female community with a Servite affiliation out of eighteen contemporary female monasteries in Perugia. Thus, the pictorial inclusion of a Servite nun standing in for her community, had the effect of enlarging the image of the Nunziata and make the brothers seem more powerful by increasing the number of pious people associated with them. In the Gonfalone, Filippo Benizi touches a flagellant‘s bare back with his right hand, in a typical gesture of introduction and protection that is adapted for the depiction of holy mediators. For example, Saint Benedict in the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova (fig. 62a) acts in the same way. In Chapter Two, I already described these male robes that were pierced in the back to allow for flagellation of the naked flesh. This emphasis on the brothers‘ penitential activities resonates with Fra Filippo‘s own ascetic life marked by frequent scourging. The confraternity‘s printed statutes make numerous references to the veste, the white and black robes that each male member had to own and use for collective gatherings in private or public and for all rituals. They were an essential sign of confraternal membership from the beginning to the final moments of a Nunziata brother. The robes were carefully 760 According to Casagrande, the Gesuate affiliation was initiated by « Mona Simona », a Gesuate tertiary from Siena, who gave her name to the community which was also known, throughout the fifteenth century, as the « povere di Mona Simona ». See G. Casagrande, Religiosità penitenziale, 269-289. For differing opinions on the Servite origin, see Bonfiglio Mura, Cenni storichi sul venerabile monastero di Santa Maria delle povere in Perugia (Perugia: 1857) who does not offer much reliable evidence and Bortone, Il monastero. 761 According to the 17th century annalist of the Servite order, Arcangelo Giani (d. 1623), their community is described as the ―monastero dell‘Annunziata‖. See Vermiglioli, Memoria, 84-85. For Casagrande, Religiosità penitenziale, 288, they are not documented as Servite Tertiaries until 1498 (burial of a sister in Santa Maria dei Servi). 278 inventoried among the confraternity possessions, giving an idea of the number of male members of the Nunziata, always around forty.762 Interestingly, on the Gonfalone, not all members are clad in their flagellant‘s habit. Some wear their professional outfits so that they can be identified with certainty but for others, only archival research allows to understand their social standing as individuals. Social composition and elite members Although the matricola (register of members) is no longer extant, the Nunziata archives that I consulted provide scattered references about the members‘ positions in Perugian society for the fourteen-sixteenth centuries. This confraternity admitted men and women from many different social and professional backgrounds from nobles to craftsmen, until the seventeenth century gentrification. They range from artisans such as painters, a tailor, a furrier, a linen weaver, a barber, or a spice and wax merchant, to notaries and aristocrats (see appendix 15). Singled out are the notaries and doctors of law. The man holding his red beret could be a notary if one takes as iconographic references depictions from contemporary Bolognese matricole (fig. 104a-b) or a Perugian illumination of 1525 showing five notaries at work (fig. 20). These legal experts were always employed by confraternities and guilds to write up contracts and turn corporate deliberations into official documents. A few notaries belonged to the Nunziata in addition to performing charitable work through their own professional association (‗Consorzio‖) dedicated to the Annunciation and the Evangelist Luke, as artistic works that they commissioned testify. For example, Benedetto Bonfigli‘s large and richly-gilded painting showing the Annunciation in 762 This is what I retrieved from a few inventories scattered among the confraternity records. BDAnn, Libro del camerlengo: 1385-1392, f. 34v, lists 44 « veste » in 1394. BDAnn, Libro del camerlengo dal 1434-1456 (f. 7r) mentions 40 white robes. Memoriale dei contratti, 89-92, lists thirty-seven white veste in 1443. This figure was crossed out and 42 was annotated; a 1463 addition to this passage translates ―28 are left‖ while another emendation, dated 1472, accounts for 45 robes. See appendices 6a and 6b for a full transcription of these inventories. 279 the presence of St. Luke was hung in the Consorzio‘s main room (fig. 21) from the 1450s. Several elements in this painting, such as the garden wall, God the father, and Mary‘s cloth of honor can be also found in Niccolò di Liberatore‘s Gonfalone for the Nunziata. Throughout the centuries, the notaries commissioned many depictions of the Annunciation to adorn their manuscript records and to furnish their hospital and its chapel (Santa Maria dell‘Annunziata) with paintings.763 But beyond a common dedication, an important link between the notaries and the Nunziata existed in the fact that the Consorzio premises (called the Udienza and situated on the main piazza) were in part owned by this confraternity from 1381. For centuries, the notaries paid an annual rent to the confraternity as account books of both the confraternity and the Consorzio record.764 Among the confraternal members kneeling on the foreground, five doctors of law (legum doctores) can be surely identified by their professional attire. 765 They particularly stand out in their lavish red or blue robes, fur-lined hoods, and shoulder-length ermine collars. These sartorial features were indisputably clear signs of particular office that their professional regulations specified. Doctors of law were entitled to teach either in civil law (doctor iuris civilis), in canon law (doctor iuris canonici), or in both (doctor utriusque iuris). Since they belonged to the same department (facultas iurisconsultorum), they wore the same 763 For documents and illustrations of such artistic commissions, see R. Abbondanza, Notariato. See Vermiglioli, Memoria, 90, 98-103, for a transcription of the original documents stipulating the lease. Annual entries can be found in the already quoted 15th and 16th century account books (Entrate e uscite) of the confraternity. For a cash payment of three florins made in June 1530 by the prior of the ‗Collegio dei Notari‘ to the Nunziata represented by its prior, see ASP, ASCPg, Notarile, Bastardelli, 1103, ff. 276-78. Another example, the 1589 bookkeeping accounts of the ―Collegio dei Notai,‖ mentions the obligation to pay rent to the confraternity. See ASP, ASCPg, Consorzio dei Notai, ―Collegio dei Notai: Entrate e uscite,‖ anno 1589, 75. 765 In the 13th century, the doctorate became the top university degree. «Legum doctores» taught as university professors and were entitled to organize doctoral exams, much like today‘s Ph.D. graduates in a teaching position. See R. Feenstra, « ‗Legum doctor‘, ‗legum professor‘ et ‗magister‘ comme termes pour désigner des juristes au moyen âge, » in Olga Weijers (ed.), Terminologie de la vie intellectuelle au moyen âge. Actes du colloque (Leyde / La Haye, 20-21 septembre 1985) (Turnhout: Brepols, 1988), 72-77. The only scholar who researched the presence of these jurists in the foreground of Niccolò‘s painting is Mirko Santanicchia in Carla Frova et al. (eds.), Doctores excellentissimi. Giuristi, medici, filosofi e teologi dell‟Università di Perugia (secc. XIV-XIX) (Città di Castello: Edimond, 2003), 49, 207-8. His attempt to identify these five men precisely was unfortunately unsuccessful. 764 280 costume.766 The 1407 statutes of this collegium (i.e. academic professional organization) specifically state that this costume must not to be lent at the risk of discrediting their profession while the 1576 Costitutiones [sic] remind their members that this uniform was mandatory for public occasions such as processions held during religious feasts or the entry of a special visitor.767 When Pope Pius II visited Perugia in 1459, a local chronicler recorded that the lawyers were «all dressed in red with the fur collar». 768 The fact that one doctor is dressed in a blue robe in the painting is probably due to Niccolò‘s concern for variety and clarity in outlining each of these scholars. The prestigious and ceremonial nature of this costume is also illustrated by Perugian sumptuary laws that explicitly authorize the doctores to be buried in their coat, hat, and ermine fur.769 In their lifetime, the legum doctores would dress this way for teaching, supervising exams, conferring a doctor‘s degree to a student.770 This lavish clothing was common to other law universities in Italy in imitation of the ancient Roman courts that Juvenal described.771 The ermine collar was an extremely costly and rarely seen item, and thus expressed power and professional status.772 In Venice, a fur collar was also the exclusive privilege of the doge who wore it on ceremonial occasions such as can be seen in Gentile Bellini‘s 766 On the successive manuscript and printed versions of the lawyers‘ statutes, see ibid., 88-90, as well as Oscar Scalvanti, ―Alcune ‗Riformanze‘ inedite della facoltà giuridica nell‘Ateneo perugino,‖ in Annali della facoltà di giurisprudenza dell‟Università degli Studi di Perugia, nos. I, II, III, IV (1903-1906). The clothing was correctly identified as that of the Perugian doctores legum by Raffaele Belforti, ―Il sigillo dell‘Università degli scolari,‖ in Perusia 5 (1933). See also Ermini, Storia dell‟università, I: 220. For the semantic evolution of the word doctor in Bologna and elsewhere, see the entry ―doctor‖ in Teeuwen, Vocabulary of Intellectual Life, 76-78. 767 For a transcription of the 1407 statutes, see Vincenzo Bini, Memorie istoriche della Perugina Università degli Studi e dei suoi professori (Bologna: Athenaeum, 1977 [1816]), 624-633. For the 1576 provisions, see Santanicchia, in Doctores excellentissimi, 90-94 and Costitutiones Excellentissimorum Doctorum, chapter 15. 768 Quoted in Ermini, Storia dell‟università, 302. 769 See Nico Ottaviani, Legislazione suntuaria, xxiv-xxv and the 1366 statutes, 82 for the chapter on burials. 770 See the 1407 statutes, chapter 14 transcribed in Bini, Memorie istoriche, 631 and the 1691 statutes, chapter 13. Also quoted in Ermini, Storia dell‟università, 301. 771 This is specified in the 1576 statutes of the Perugian ‗legum doctores‘, see Costitutiones Doctorum 1576, chapter 15. Bini, ibid., 412, stresses the long tradition for this costume which goes back to ancient Rome according to a description given by Juvenal: iuxta morem Doctorum in Romana Curia degentium. 772 Susan L‘Engle, ―Addressing the Law, Costume as Signifier in Medieval Legal Miniatures,‖ in D. Koslin and J. Snyder, eds., Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress, Objects, Texts, Images, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 137-53. 281 Procession in Piazza San Marco of 1496 (fig. 15) or in Matteo Pagan‘s woodcuts of 1550s reproducing a century-old tradition.773 While elsewhere the ermine collar was worn by any doctoral graduate, it was, in Perugia, a distinctive sign for doctors of law only. It can be seen on the portraits of famous jurists painted on the main hall vault of Law professor Guglielmo Pontani‘s family palace in 1530s (fig. 105). In 1714, the doctors of law agreed that the Doctors of the liberal arts might also adopt the fur collar, but even at that late date the legal experts were anxious to preserve their status, stipulating that under no circumstances were the ‗artists‘(professors teaching the liberal arts) to precede the lawyers in processions.774 Within the small Perugian community of doctores, the cream of the intellectual elite, the lawyers formed the oldest of the Perugian schools and the most famous faculty, the Collegium doctorum iuris, compared to that of the Collegia of medicine or the liberal arts. The lawyers‘ professional organization (―Collegio‖) was the first one to exist in Perugia and its earliest reference can be found in the city statutes of 1366. The city statutes of 1306 planned for the Studium to have six doctoral jurists and three doctoral ―artists‖. By 1366, there were eight law professors and eleven medical doctors. Doctors of law who taught at the Perugian Studium generale numbered only nineteen in 1429 while in the mid-century, they grew to 24 (out of a total of 40 professors) which made their public appearances even more noticeable. In the sixteenth century, there were twenty-six professors.775 When the whole university paraded, the fur-collared doctors of law had precedence of rank. This double 773 Venice did not have a university until the late 19th century. For an entire reproduction of these woodcuts and an analysis of the order of the procession, see Muir, Civic Ritual, 189-211, who does not mention the ermine collar. 774 On the ermine collar, see Ermini, Storia dell‟università, I: 426 and I: 223. For Pontani‘s frescoes, see Santi 1985, II, 126-128 (inv. nos. 459, 461, 463, 465, 467, 469). 775 Ermini, Storia dell‟università, I: 222-3; Frova, Doctores excellentissimi, 76-77. For the origin of the Perugian University in the 13th century, the official birth of Studium, its recognition by the pope in 1308, and the number of professors, see Ermini, ibid., I: 15-20, 46-50, 225-229 and Frova, ibid., 71-5. For the 15th century, see Ugolino Nicolini, ―Dottori, scolari, programmi e salari alla Università di Perugia verso la metà del sec. XV,‖ in BDSPU LVIII (1961): 139-159. 282 privilege, marching in the front and wearing a distinctive item of clothing, is documented until the eighteenth century. With their scarlet capes overlapping the lower painted frame that bears the inscription, the doctores legum strongly assert their connection with the confraternity and its Servite affiliation. They must have welcomed the pictorial inclusion of Blessed Benizi who, before converting, had obtained a doctorate (in medicine) and had therefore been of a similar social status. A further connection existed between this religious community and the doctores since a few Servite friars attended the Perugian University.776 In addition, the Servites had a Studium of their own where grammar, the (liberal) arts, and theology were taught. 777 Santa Maria dei Servi was also a gathering place for all lawyers since it accommodated the tomb of a famous Perugian law professor and writer, Baldo Bartolini (d. 1390) as well as the altar of St. Jerome, the patron saint of the Sapienza Nuova, a residence for students which was located just outside the Servite quarters. This relationship, more than the Nunziata Gonfalone itself, explains why the doctors‘ procession on the Annunciation feast day had the Servite church as a goal.778 Before Santa Maria dei Servi was demolished (9th November 1543), the doctors of law could have visited the high altarpiece, dedicated to the Annunciation, as well as the chapel of the Nunziata. The doctors of law depicted here may well be actual portraits of Nunziata fratelli, even though sources on their membership are mostly silent. 779 Why did the doctores legum 776 Dal Pino, Spazi e figure, 559. In the 15th century, exchanges existed between such monastic studia and those in the city. Servite friars could also matriculate at a city Studium generale; a few Servites are documented as professors of theology or philosophy in the Perugian Studium. See Giuseppe Bortone, "Lo Studio generale dei Servi e l'Università di Perugia nel Quattrocento," Studi Storici dell'Ordine dei Servi di Maria XLIV (1994): 123-28. 778 The 1576 printed statutes of the doctors of law do not specify the destination of this compulsory procession but Lancellotti recorded that, on that day, the collegium went to the Servite church, a feature also noted by Mariotti in 1788. See Garibaldi in Dipinti, sculture e ceramiche, 228-229 and Lunghi in Un pittore e la sua città, 168. 779 Ettore Palomba cites, in his appendices, a document of March 1443 in which a doctor of medicine «magister Francischus Bartolomey de Nursia» is prior of the confraternity in 1443. I have been unable to trace back this legal act. E. Palomba, La confraternita dell‟Annunziata a Perugia (Perugia: Università degli Studi, Facoltà di lettere e filosofia, Dipartimento di Storia, tesi di laurea, 1966). A «dottor dominus Mariottus» from Porta San 777 283 receive such visual prominence over other confraternal members? These pious associations professed an ideal of equal treatment and solidarity. Wearing a flagellant‘s uniform was a way to promote this ideology both in the privacy of the confraternity premises and in the public sphere of processions. Occasions for doctors to practice devotional and charitable activities were scarce, apart from specific provisions for funerals of colleagues or relatives. The doctors did not run a hospital (a shelter for the poor and pilgrims) unlike other professional associations, such as the Mercanzia and the notaries‘ Consortium. This probably explains their 1406 resolution (appendix 13) to march with the notaries on certain occasions, an agreement that I comment on below. The statutory reform of 1451 stipulates the participation of all legum doctores ‗collegialiter‘ in the Corpus Domini procession with lit tapers but they may choose to march either with their own Collegium or with other clerics (cum aliis clericis).780 Gradually, the Doctors of Law built the devotional aspects of their own collective identity through mandatory participation in specific religious processions, ceremonially dressed in their staple costume, as their printed statutes of 1576 record. 781 In their fifteenthand sixteenth-century corporate regulations, there is no mention of conflicting participation in religious rituals with membership in a confraternity. Nevertheless, by giving doctors of law so much visibility in this representation on the Gonfalone, the confraternity made the overt statement that the Nunziata had the honor of welcoming these high-ranking citizens among their own members. Consequently, the prestige of the confraternity could only be enhanced, as this image testifies. The legum doctores‘ influence on the composition of the Gonfalone Pietro is mentioned in 1503 and 1516 (Memoriale dei contratti, f. 35r, f. 53r) and may be identified with lawyer Mariotto di Ser Giovanni who died in 1519, as the matricola of the law Collegio lists him, cf. Bini, Memorie storiche, 417. 780 Document edited by Scalvanti 1905, Riformanze inedite, 127-129. 781 Costitutiones Doctorum 1576, Chapters 4 and 15. 284 can be felt in the inscription in Latin on the lower border (fig. 103) and the unusual depiction of Mary herself as a scholar. For the caption on the lower painted frame (see excursus no. 4), the painter has avoided the Gothic majuscules favored in fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century art. Niccolò has chosen instead Roman capitals and numerals and used shading effects in order to render the illusion of ancient Roman lapidary epigraphy characterized by its V-cut depth. Possibly, this epigraphic type was a request of the doctors or of erudite Servites, given that their clothing interacts physically with the illusionistic three-dimensional letters. The patrons‘ appropriation of humanist knowledge is reinforced by the choice of Latin and of Roman numerals, the language of legal matters and teaching, and canonical church practice. For the manuscript book of hours on the Virgin‘s lectern, Niccolò used instead the ornate shapes of the Gothic script, faithfully rendering the traditional appearance of such prayer manuals or of many hand-written legal tracts (such as the agreement excerpted from the notaries‘ matricola and transcribed in appendix 13). Here, this lettering fits the devotional ambience of the scene offering a wordy illustration for it with excerpts from Saint Jerome‘s Vulgate. Niccolò is thus demonstrating his ability and propensity to paint a modern and beautiful inscription.782 Mary as a scholar The erudition and elevated social rank of the lawyers is further emphasized by the unusual depiction of Mary herself as a scholar. Upon hearing Gabriel‘s message, the Virgin has interrupted her reading to kneel and bow with lowered eyes and arms crossed on her chest, assuming the attitude typical of humiliatio. This follows the iconography of many Quattrocento Madonnas shown in the moment of their submission to the Word of God, such 782 The lettering is similar to his 1465 polyptych for the Franciscans of Cagli (Brera, Milan). 285 as most of Fra Angelico‘s Annunciate Virgins.783 However, the painter has placed Mary in an extraordinary set of furnishings for such a scene. The Virgin is not shown next to a prie-dieu but within a contemporary fitted desk unit of the type that carpenters made to measure for those who studied at home. It usually comprised a bench and shelves on wood panelled walls decorated with inlays. It could also include, as here, a platform base linking the seat to the reading desk, a useful device to protect from cold draughts. 784 Owners of such studiolo furnishings were not necessarily princes or patricians. Notaries, doctors, clerics, merchants, bankers, scholars, and even craftsmen are documented as having a study space at home. The presence of several books and the elaborate apparatus recall contemporary depictions of the Evangelists or Fathers of the church. The iconographic tradition in Umbria originates in thirteenth-century Assisi in the frescoed vault of the ―Doctors of the Church‖ in the Upper Basilica of San Francesco. In late medieval and renaissance depictions, scholars at work (fig. 107a-c) are usually shown with a slanted desk propping up the book to be read, written, or glossed while a lectern, or a similar device, allows for another book to be consulted simultaneously, calling for comparisons and alluding to the commentary tradition of university learning. For example, Pietro Roccabonella, a doctor of medicine and lecturer at the University of Padua, turned to this visual tradition for his sculpted tomb monument (1491) in the local church of San Francesco (fig. 108). A built-in shelf inside the desk may offer storage space, reminiscent of cupboards in medieval altar tables used for liturgical books, but also the cupboards of scholars‘ desks as, for example, in Benozzo Gozzoli‘s fresco of St. Augustine‟s Vision of St. Jerome in San Gimignano of 1465 (fig. 109).785 The door is 783 On the concept of humiliatio as the Virgin‘s submission and the corresponding gesture, see Baxandall, Painting and Experience, 51-55 and illustrations 17 (Domenico Veneziano) and 24d (Fra Angelico). 784 Dora Thornton, The Scholar in his Study, Ownership and Experience in Renaissance Italy (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1997), especially 56-57 for this set-up. 785 On this work, see Cole Ahl, Gozzoli, 121-155. 286 traditionally shown opened facing the viewers, but in Niccolò‘s gonfalone it also faces the doctors, another reference to their own learnedness and piety. Mary kneels before an intricate and fantastic combination of cathedra and throne consisting of an inlaid canopy over a tall back lined with luxurious brocaded velvet that forms a cloth of honor. Similar regal seats are a common component of Marian iconography because they equate the Virgin with the Queen of Heaven and the symbol of the Church. On the other hand, cathedras were the privileged seats of bishops but also of university professors as images of teaching sessions clearly demonstrates. For example, in a woodcut illustration of an incunabulum, Esopus is giving a lecture from a cathedra, dressed as a university professor with a characteristic headdress and an ermine collar.786 Before Gabriel appeared, Mary had been reading from her slanted desk while another opened book was lying on a tiny lectern slotted into the desk top. Situated exactly in the center of the composition, the two pages of this tiny book display key passages from the New Testament (Luke 1, 38 and 1, 46) that illustrate Mary‘s submission as God‘s servant and vessel of His son.787 The short and carefully articulated metal rod on top of the lectern would normally serve to support an oil lamp to direct light over a book as required, a feature well visible in Niccolò Pizzico‘s 1448 fresco of St. Gregory the Great (fig. 110) in the Eremitani Church of Padua. In this picture, destroyed in World War II, Gregory‘s desk has two revolving lecterns, one of which is fitted with a long metal rod holding two oil-lamps.788 But in this gonfalone, Niccolò di Liberatore has omitted a lamp or candle-holder, implying a 786 For representations in form of woodcuts from printed incunabula, see Ugo Rozzo, Lo studiolo nella silografia italiana. 1479-1558 (Udine: Forum, 1998), 29 for Esopus. For sculptures of Law professors ‗in cattedra‘ on Bolognese tombs, see Renzo Grandi, I monumenti dei Dottori e la sculptura a Bologna (1267-1348) (Bologna: Istituto per la Storia di Bologna, 1982). 787 On the left-hand side «Ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbuum tuum» (Luke 1, 38) are coupled with, on the right-hand side «Magnificat anima mea Dominum [et] exultavit spiritus» (Luke 1, 46) ―Ecce ancilla‖ corresponds to Mary‘s response to Gabriel‘s message and her submission is further asserted by the folded arms on her chest. The ―Magnificat‖ excerpt follows closely the former statement in Jerome‘s translation. During Mary‘s visitation to her cousin Elisabeth who is expected John the Baptist, the ―infants‖ born by these women leap with joy in utero, as a confirmation of the Incarnation. 788 See Thornton, Scholar in his Study, 54. 287 theological statement. For Christians, God himself is the source of light. He is just at this moment impregnating Mary with His son by sending the Holy Spirit, embodied by golden rays, as a symbol of her incipient pregnancy, a phenomenon readily understood as the Incarnation.789 The metal rod serves as a pointer to this divine operation and functions as the manicula commonly used in the margins of books to indicate important passages.790 Niccolò‘s choices for this scene were novel. The throne demonstrates his debt to Gentile da Fabriano‘s frescoes for the Palazzo Trinci in his home town Foligno. He followed the general iconography of the cathedra-thrones for the personification of the Liberal Arts (fig. 111).791 A monumental Virgin Annunciate sitting at a studiolo is shown in Carlo da Camerino‘s altarpiece of ca. 1400 for his hometown in the Marche. However, in both cases, Mary is not enthroned.792 Thus, Niccolò di Liberatore‘s combination of an imposing throne with a scholarly Virgin is quite novel at this point in time in Central Italian art. The effect is to identify the Virgin‘s piety and dignity closely with the learnedness of the doctores legum while showing the latter‘s attraction for the humanist culture. Canvassing unity despite heterogeneity The members of this Societas Anuntiate were careful to identify themselves through a corporate name (in the inscription) and to give a vivid image of an apparently unified group despite the differences in clothing and their social heterogeneity. This neatly-gathered group may be read as an image of an ideal unity, emphasizing the interaction of several social classes. But to what extent was this realistic in the 1460s? To answer this question, I 789 For the iconography of the Annunciation with an imposing throne and the presence of the Holy Spirit, see Schiller, Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst, I: 44-63. 790 On the manicule (from manicula, ―little hand‖ in Latin), also called ―fist‖ or ―digit‖, see William H. Shearman‘s work-in-progress presented at the Folger Shakespeare Library seminar ―Technologies of Writing‖ on 4th March 2005 in Washington, DC. 791 Cristina Galassi, ―Niccolò di Liberatore, il crocifisso ligneo del museo di S. Francesco a Montefalco e altre opere giovanili. Considerazioni sulla formazione,‖ Storia dell‟arte 81 (1994): 194-206. 792 For Carlo da Camerino, see Alessandro Marchi‘s entry no. 30 in Paolo dal Poggetto, ed., Fioritura gotica nelle Marche (Milan: Electa, 1998), 122-123. 288 scrutinize the assertive presence of the doctors of Law and I posit the discrepancy between the depiction of women and the actuality of their poor integration in the Nunziata. I believe that at the time this gonfalone was painted tensions existed between two categories of highly-educated members of the Nunziata, the notaries and the doctors of law.793 Notaries, whose indispensable work tied them to many aspects of Perugia‘s political, social, and religious life, probably envied the ways in which the legum doctores managed to display their authority in public ceremonies. Tensions between the two types of legal scholars are well-documented for other Italian cities where notaries tried to maintain the prestige of their corporation in competition with the powerful doctors of law. 794 The fact that from the 1460s, the Perugian notaries started to refer to their Consorzio as a Collegio, a more scholarly-sounding term, shows that they aspired to a higher social status.795 In 1406, notaries had managed to reach an agreement according to which doctors and judges from the Collegio iudicum had to join them for processions such as the one for the Feast of the Annunciation (appendix 13). These lawyers had to walk flanked by two notaries, while the chairmen of both associations, in the front row, led the group. They marched from the city center to the notaries‘ hospital (situated in Porta Sant‘Angelo) to which the members of the Collegio iudicum had to donate their tapers. Other provisions stipulated a mutual attendance for funerals of deceased members of each organization. This apparently cordial relationship must 793 In certain cities, notaries and lawyers belonged to the same professional organization. For the Florentine situation, cf. Santi Calleri, L‟arte dei giuristi e notai di Firenze nell‟età comunale e nel suo Statuto del 1344 (Milano: 1966). For the differences of office between notaries, judges and law professors in Bologna, see Gina Fasoli, ―Giuristi, giudici, e notai‖, in Guido Rossi, ed., Atti del convegno internazionale di studi accursiani. Bologna, 21-26 ottobre 1963 (Bologna, 1968), 26-39. 794 Giorgio Costamagna, Il notaio a Genova tra prestigio e potere (Rome: Consiglio nazionale del notariato, 1970); Lauro Martines, Lawyers and Statecraft in Renaissance Florence (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), 31-38; R. Ferrara, ―‗Licentia exercendi‘ e esame di notariato medievale a Bologna nel secolo XII,‖ in Notariato Bolognese (Rome: Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato, 1977). For Bologna, Modena, Padova, Piacenza, Treviso, Verona and Vicenza, see Ulrich Meyer-Holz, Collegia iudicum, über die Form sozialer Gruppenbildung durch die gelehreten Berufsjuristen im Oberitalien des späten Mittelalters, mit einem Vergleich zu Collegia doctorum iuris (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1989). For social hierarchy among legal experts, see Antonio Padoa Schioppa, ―Sul ruolo dei giuristi nell‘età del diritto commune,‖ in Danilo Segoloni, ed., Il diritto comune e la tradizione giuridica (Perugia: Libreria Universitaria Editrice, 1980), 159. 795 For example, in May 1463, the city officials cite the ―Collegio delli notarii,‖ transcription of the document in Abbondanza, Notariato, 148. 289 not have lasted very long because the doctors‘ statutes (including their revisions) did not include these provisions. By 1587 at the latest, the doctors of law marched together for the Feast of the Annunciation. The Nunziata printed statutes of that year specify that members inscribed in a ―collegio‖ (like the doctors or the notaries) were not obligated to follow the Confraternity.796 In the Nunziata painting of 1466, I see the visual prominence of the Perugian legum doctores as an expression of hierarchy in which a few of them successfully asserted their superiority in regards to the «less glamourous figure» of the notarial members.797 Apart from Servite tertiary on the right-hand side of the circle of faithful, the other women, both young and veiled ones, who appear in the painting (nine heads can be distinguished), may well represent the female members of the confraternity. To register with the Nunziata, women made a textile donation such as a silk veil, a sheet, or a linen cloth, a practice recorded for 1511 with, for example, a baker‘s and a cook‘s wives admitted into the Confraternity. Women also participated in some processions such as Candlemas.798 Female auxiliary or full-fledged membership was common in European confraternities but studies are essentially monographic or topographic. Women in confraternities had little range of action aside from devotional activities such as praying or observing the Christian sacraments and making charitable donations.799 Since women are not mentioned at all in the printed statutes 796 Costitutiones Doctorum 1576, chapters 4 and 15 and Constitutioni et capitoli della venerabile Confraternita dell'annuntiata di Perugia de P[orta] B[orgne]. Riformati dell'anno 1587 (Perugia: Andrea Bresciano, 1587). chapter 4: De le processioni ordinarie. 797 The expression is drawn from Lauro Martines, Lawyers and Statecraft, 34. 798 For the textile donation, BDAnn., Libro dei Partiti 1505, f. 11rv (1511): «le venerande donne [che] ano fatta la oferta per essere rechonosciute de la compania». On 20/1/1555, men voted for candles to be given to women for the procession of Santa Maria della Candelora: BDAnn, Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560, ff. 61bisrv-62r. 799 For an overview of the scholarship on women in Italian confraternities, see M. Teresa Brolis, Giovanni Brembilla, ―Mille e più donne in confraternita. Il consorcium Misericordiae di Bergamo nel Ducento,‖ in Il buon fedele. Le confraternite tra medioevo e prima Terpstra età moderna (Verona: Cierre edizioni, 1998), 107-34. For topographic studies, see Esposito, Roman Confraternities; Nicholas Terpstra, ―Women in the Brotherhood, Gender, Class and Politics in Renaissance Bolognese Confraternities,‖ in Renaissance and Reformation 26 (31990): 193-212; G. De Sandre Gasparini, Statuti di confraternite religiose di Padova (Padua: Istituto per la storia ecclesiastica di Padova, 1974). For the female condition in Florentine confraternities, see Ronald Weissman, Ritual Brotherhood in Renaissance Florence (New York, Academic Press, 1982), 112-113. 290 of the Societas Anuntiate (1587), it is likely that they were not allowed to participate in any meetings or to receive any office. Other sodalities, though, had a ‗prioressa,‘ such as the Roman Confraternita del Gonfalone. Its 1490 statutes describe the election of a prioress and the exact devotional activities that were expected from women, including participation to processions and mass. In addition, some all-female companies also existed.800 Giovanna Casagrande has noted that the Annunziata was the only flagellant confraternity in Perugia that included women. She explains that the admission of female members was due to the need to recruit honest women to care for the ―convertite‖ (former prostitutes), an activity which took place beginning in 1558. But female members are documented as early as 1511 and they were probably accepted much before that time. As Cyrilla Barr points out, there was often no clear-cut distinction between associations of purely disciplinati and laudesi (devout groups dedicated to chanting Marian lauds) members.801 In the wake of the Counter-Reformation, the presence of women was encouraged and is well documented from the mid-sixteenth century on.802 This representation of a coherent group thus conceals the fact that, at the time the painting was made, women were poorly assimilated in confraternal practices, especially in the Nunziata. 800 See Anna Esposito, ―Le confraternite del Gonfalone. Secoli XIV-XV,‖ in Ricerche sulla storia religiosa di Roma (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1984), 91-136. – For the Umbrian situation, see Giovanna Casagrande, ―Confraternities and Lay Female Religiosity in Late Medieval and Renaissance Umbria,‖ in N. Terpstra, ed., Ritual Kinship (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 48-66. For all-female confraternities in Florence, see J. Henderson, Piety and Charity (Chicago & London: The University of Chicago University Press, 1994), 110-111 and in Bergamo, see M. T. Brolis, G. Brembilla, Micaela Corato, La matricola femminile della Misericordia di Bergamo, 1265-1339 (Rome: Ecole Française de Rome, 2001). 801 Casagrande, ―Lay Female Religiosity,‖ 63. Cyrillla Barr, The Monophonic Lauda and the Lay Religious Confraternities of Tuscany and Umbria in the Late Middle Ages (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 1988). For a contrasting opinion, based on Florentine examples, see Weissman, Ritual Brotherhood, 67-78. 802 Christopher Black, Italian Confraternities in Sixteenth-Century Italy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 37-38 and for Umbria, Casagrande, Lay female religiosity. 291 The power of place: Santa Maria dei Servi and the Nunziata chapel On 29th April 1466, during a formal meeting in the Servite monastery of the two parties, the confratelli received the chapel as a perpetual concession, with all due rights, provided that they would use it, maintain it and develop it (appendix 7). The friars had met three times beforehand to discuss the confraternity‘s claim for this space. This was a current practice in Mendicant churches, and other brotherhoods, such as the Lombard, the Ultramontane (the German and French residents) since 1441, and that of San Giuliano met in this church, having obtained a whole chapel or an altar.803 The members of these associations were instrumental in the construction works that enlarged Santa Maria dei Servi over the course of the fifteenth century. Tentatively reconstructed, Santa Maria dei Servi was a single-nave church with four side chapels on its Western side and at least two East. 804 The tomb of jurist Baldo Bartolini was situated close to the first altar on the left, that of St. Jerome, to whom the students of the Sapienza Nuova were dedicated. In 1466, the Nunziata chapel was situated to the left of the high altar behind which the new monumental wood choir stalls (1456) stood. But in the late 1470s, the altar of the Annunciation was moved to make place for the chapel and sacristy of the Lombard. The Church was the goal of the general procession for John the Baptist (24th June) and for the Conception of Mary (8th December), allowing for hundreds of Perugians to enter the lavishly furnished church and pay their respects to the Virgin Annunciate in the Nunziata chapel. 803 Regni, ―Apporti documentari,‖ in Garibaldi, ed., Divin Pittore, 546. For the relationships that Servites kept with confraternities in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, see Dal Pino, Spazi e figure, 126-144, including his appended bibliography on this theme. For the confraternity of the Lombard, see Francesco Santi, ―I privilegi e la cappella dei maestri lombardi in Perugia in un codice quattrocentesco,‖ in Edoardo Arslan (ed.), Arte e artisti dei laghi lombardi. I: Architetti e scultori del quattrocento (Como: Tipografia editrice A. Noseda, 1959), 290307. 804 This reconstruction is based mainly on Regni, ibid. See also in the same volume, Fabio Palombaro, ―Per una recostituzione di Santa Maria dei Servi,‖ 541-46. 292 A 1470 inventory of the Nunziata chapel (appendix 9) and the inventory of the entire church drafted in 1492 (appendix 10) confirm that Santa Maria dei Servi benefited from the patronage of the whole neighborhood. This thriving area included many university students, lawyers, and craftsmen such as shoemakers, comb makers, cord makers, tailors, blacksmiths, and painters.805 Quite significantly, Santa Maria dei Servi faced the dwellings of the Baglioni whose burial church it was.806 By the early 1540s, the vaults of the Servite church were filled with Baglioni flags. At the time this Virgin Annunciate was commissioned, the chairman of the Confraternity was Francesco Baglioni, as the document on the concession of the Nunziata Chapel records (appendix 7). He was a nephew to the head of the clan, Braccio who was a patron of the arts and commander of the papal troops. As I mentioned in relation to Malatesta‘s funeral, Braccio‘s viscera were placed in this church in 1479 and by the end of the century, Santa Maria dei Servi had become the sepulture of the whole upper nobility. Not only aristocratic families, but also a wide range of donors (friars, craftsmen, merchants) furnished this church with luxurious liturgical implements such as heavy silver or gilded chalices, velvet or silk vestments, and enamel and jewelled crosses.807 The agreement of April 1466 (appendix 7) documents not only the names of over two thirds of the Perugian friars (plus quam duas partes) in the Servite convent but also records that this chapel, dedicated to the Annunciation, had recently been rebuilt and ‗perfected‘ at the expense of the confraternity hospital (sumptibus et expensis hospitalis dicte fraternitate edificata et de novo constructa et perfecta). The chapel was endowed with a piece of land, the proceeds of which were granted to the friars who had to celebrate a daily mass in this chapel. The Servites were to keep all donations of food, wine, estate, and «mobile things» while the 805 For the topographical distribution of professional activities in this area, see Paola Monacchia, ―Per una ricostruzione attraversi i catasti del quartiere di colle Landone com‘era prima del 1540,‖ in Rocca Paolina. Studi e ricerche (Perugia: Electa, 1992), 69-100, especially the map on p. 81. 806 ―Eronci molte bandiere de li Baglione morte [in 1543]‖ Fabretti, IV, Memorie di Giulio Costantino, 280. 807 See Regni, ―Apporti documentari,‖ in Garibaldi, ed., Divin Pittore, 555 for an identification of the patrons. For the social composition of this urban area, see Paola Monacchia, ―Per una ricostruzione attraversi i catasti del quartiere di colle Landone com‘era prima del 1540,‖ in Rocca Paolina. Studi e ricerche, 69-100. 293 Annunziata brothers could keep whatever other alms were deposited in the chapel as long as they were used towards its care and maintenance. The brothers indeed took great care of their chapel, regularly furnishing it with oil for the lamps.808 Proof of its popular success was the proceeds from the numerous visitors who deposited coins in a special casket (―la cassetta de la capella nostra de la Nunziata‖) and the presence of precious ex-votos in the form of jewels that the inventories reveal.809 Only four years after the concession, these gifts thanking the Madonna consisted of a ring, four pairs of silver earrings (quattro paie de archie d‟arieto) and two necklaces, one made of coral (una filaiola de coraglie) then held as prophylactic measures against evil (appendix 9). The Chapel of the Annunciation, as described in the 1470 inventory, lists the gonfalone coll‟Annunptiata and its elaborate tabernacolo (fig. 112) as the first items (appendix 9). The third entry is an altarpiece followed by what must have stood on the altar: two angels holding a candlestick recall the angelic pair in painted and gilded poplar wood that once stood on the main altar of the church of the Franciscan Observants, or the pair kept at the Diocesan Museum.810 There were two brass and two iron candlesticks, a consecrated stone, and a dozen white or colored wool, linen, or velvet cloths. Two «new» tovaglie uccellate refer to the expensive white linen and blue cotton altar covers that were a typical product of the region and that are shown as a female donation in the Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13a). The absence of a chalice and its paten means that these implements were safely kept in the sacristy. A large number of towels of various sizes and decoration, and liturgical vestments indicate that masses could be said with appropriate dignity. On the Nunziata altar, there were a pair of angels, a large scarlet [velvet] embroidered case for 808 See the numerous records for oil expenses labeled ―uscita d‘olio‖ in BDAnn, Libro economico (1499-1511). For example, f. 26; f. 39v (―Livere 8, denari 6 dato a visitatore de la capella per le lampene‖). 809 For example, four bolognini were found ―nel ceppo de la capella‖ and four florins were collected in 1507. ibid., ―entrate de denaro,‖ f. 66r. 810 Santi, Galleria Nazionale dell‟Umbria, II: 239, entry 246. The pair of angels from the Museo Diocesano has not been published. 294 corporals, and several palii of fine wool or linen tovaglie (altar cloths) (appendix 9, items nos. 8-12). Indeed, everyday mass was said for the benefit of a Trecento donor and, once of month, friars held a service for the deceased members of the Nunziata whose burial chapel it was. The confraternity‘s Gonfalone must have been executed shortly after the agreement establishing a Nunziata chapel was passed. On 25th June 1466, the city Priors voted a 25florin subsidy for the ornamentation of the «capella e gonfalone» in care of the men of the confraternity (appendix 8). Part of this money may have been used towards paying the artist but no document about the commission has been found. It seems highly probable that the choice of a respected Folignese painter (Niccolò di Liberatore) was made by the Servites themselves and not by the confraternity, as two friars from the Perugian monastery came from that city.811 The city‘s substantial allowance may also have been spent on commissioning the elaborately carved and gilded tabernacolo del gonfalone (fig. 71b) mentioned in the 1470 inventory (appendix 9, item no. 2). The richly carved and glimmering tabernacolo (fig. 71b) that framed the painting certainly attracted attention to the Nunziata Annunciation. It resembles a church or palace portal modelled on antique architecture with its rich mouldings for a rectangular porch, an entablature, and an arch. Supported by a predolla [sic] decorated with a frieze of curving leaves, the painting was flanked by three-dimensional pilasters adorned with candelabras and acanthus capitals. On their lateral sides and on the base of the architrave, rosette studded coffers quote an ancient Roman vaulting motif. The fascie-decorated architrave is surmounted by an arabesque frieze with winged putti heads on its ends and affronted griffons, symbol of the city, in its center. The entablature concludes with a cornice made of rows of inverted palmettes, classical dentils, and egg-and-dart moulding. A deep lunette also lined 811 Fra C[i]riacus Baptiste and Fra Stefanus Benedicti (appendix 7). 295 with coffers and rosettes tops this monumental frame. Its recess shows the half-figures of Gabriel and the Virgin Annunciate. At some unknown point in time, and until 1861, Domenico Alfani‘s 1522 Pietà (fig. 113) was inserted in this lunette although, supposedly, it was not originally meant for it.812 However, the theme of Mary mourning her Son resonated with the Confraternity‘s Easter devotional duty, i.e., the procession of their articulate statue of the Dead Christ (discussed in section 2, see below). This imposing frame promoted the new Renaissance style from Florence with its numerous motifs inspired from antiquity. It corresponds to the all‟antica frame that the contemporary Florentine artist Neri di Bicci described as consisting of a predella (basis), columns with base and capitals, a recess for the painting, an architrave, a frieze, and a thick cornice (chornicione).813 Although Neri does not mention a lunette (or is it the chornicione?), the extant frames (made by Giuliano da Maiano) of his paintings have one. The ―tabernacolo‖ of the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata made the painting seem much wider and it doubled it in height (fig. 112). The arresting ornamentation of the Nunziata chapel may have been generated out of visual rivalry among sodalities and religious orders. Another confraternity dedicated to the Annunciation (the ‗Confraternita della Capella dell‘Annunziata‘) existed in the Dominican church until at least the late fifteenth century before its discontinuation and rebirth under the name of the Rosary in 1534. It had received in 1459 a monumental marble altar dedicated to St. Lawrence.814 It seems that the wooden frame of the Nunziata gonfalone emulates some of its features such as its impressive size, its trabeation, and its antique motifs. This 812 Baldassare Orsini noted its presence in 1784. Santi 1985, II, 169 asserts that Alfani‘s lunette came from a ―lost or never executed‖ altarpiece. See also Francesca Abbozzo and Jacqueline Laroche‘s entries in Dipinti, sculture e ceramiche, 260. The criteria of all these authors for not attributing this painting to this tabernacolo are unclear to me. 813 See Laura Teza, tavolette di San Bernardino, 258 and footnotes 80-81. 814 Francesco Santi links this work to the contemporary façade of the Oratory of San Bernardino while attempting to reconstruct the original aspect of this altar. F. Santi; ―L‘altare di Agostino di Duccio in S. Domenico di Perugia,‖ in Bollettino d‟arte (1-2, 1961): 162-73. 296 Confraternity based in San Domenico received municipal support on several occasions. The Priori‘s deliberations show that it had a lavishly dressed statue of the Virgin (wearing a 10florin worth outfit) and that their chapel received an iron grille that cost 12 florins in 1467. Enclosing a church chapel in a church with a metal gate was a costly but efficacious remedy against thefts of ex-votos, a common crime in sacred spaces. The roster of the Nunziata possessions kept in the chapel took place on Sunday 22nd April 1470, that is, on Easter Day of that year. This means that the processions of Maundy Thursday and Holy Friday were just over. Would the confraternity order such an inventory annually? Did they fear thefts? As we have seen 25 florins were paid by the Commune to enclose the chapel of the Virgin in the conventual Franciscan church with the revered Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato (fig. 51).815 In 1475, the Nunziata requested financial aid for an iron grate, and I imagine that the Priori responded favourably, as they usually did in such cases (see below). The importance of the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata in the Servite church is evident from the 1470 inventory of the chapel (appendix 9). It lists this painting as the first item, adding that it was covered with silk veils and a blue linen curtain. It seems to me that the two sets of curtains are mentioned because the painting was visible, its hangings having been pushed to the side for Easter. Normally, the Annunciation scene would have been either divined through the gossamer silk veils or even excluded from view if the thicker linen curtain was drawn. Hangings for paintings were a standard feature in the pre-Tridentine era. Benozzo Gozzoli‘s 1452 fresco of a fictive polyptych set with its curtain drawn aside is a local example of such settings (fig. 114).816 Another example is an illumination from an Italian royal book of hour of ca. 1500 showing two angels parting the hangings of an altarpiece and revealing the Deposition from the Cross (fig. 115). 815 For the Confraternity of the Annunciate in San Domenico, see ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, 102, f. 27r. This decision took place on 16th March 1467. For the iron grille in San Domenico, see ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, 103, f. 136v and in San Francesco, ibid., f. 50v. 816 For this chapel in the church of San Francesco, Montefalco, see Cole Ahl, Gozzoli, 61-71. 297 In their oratory, the Nunziata brothers kept a curtain in front of their altarpiece (appendix 6c, item no. 67). A green or a blue curtain existed on the major altar while the Nunziata ordinary banner was covered by a white cloth - when not processed, one surmises.817 Uncovering images was symbolic of the Christian truth being revealed by the unveiling process.818 This ritual, performed only at certain times of the year, added drama to religious festivities and made the unveiled image even more spectacular. Viewing a splendid image became part of a collective experience and an attraction for participants of processions. With its vivid colors, its realistically depicted precious fabrics and Mary‘s imposing throne and pulpit, it must have looked particularly stunning as it was unveiled upon special holy days. The faithful at the bottom appeared at eye level, mirroring the awe of all who gazed at it. Niccolò‘s painting benefited from an excellent location in the city and a rich visual environment. This, together with the rituals around it, sufficed for it to act as a major attraction and pictorial representation of the confraternity. Between 1541 and 1543, the area called Colle Landone where Santa Maria dei Servi rose was entirely razed upon command of Pope Paul III to make way for his fortress. 819 In October 1543, a papal brief put an end to mass celebration in the Servite church and the friars reluctantly transferred all their furnishings to Santa Maria Nuova that they had received in 817 «doe tende una verde per l‘altare grande una per il piccolo » (15/1/1553) ; « una tenda cilestia de l‘altare grande » (6/9/1556) ; « una tenda bianchia dole france da coprire lo cofalone de gire in processione » (3/9/1561); « la tenda del confalone » (1/9/1566). See BDAnn., Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560, respectively ff. 61r-62r; 48r-49v ; 63r-64v ; 78r-79v and appendix 6d. 818 See J. K. Eberlein, ―The Curtain in Raphael‘s Sistine Madonna,‖ in Art Bulletin 65 (1983): 61-77 and A. Nova, ―Hangings, Curtains, and Shutters of Sixteenth-Century Lombard Altarpieces,‖ in E. Borsook, F. Superbi Gioffredi, eds., Italian Altarpieces, 1250-1550 (Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 177-200. 819 On the erasure of the entire area, see Daniela Bonella, Augusta Brunori, eds., La Rocca Paolina nella storia e nella realtà contemporanea. Visita guidata (Perugia: Guerra, 1995) and P. Camerieri, Fabio Palombaro, La „Rocca Paolina‟ un falso d‟autore (Perugia: Provincia di Perugia, 1988). The correct date for the demolition of Santa Maria dei Servi is provided by 16 th- and 17th-century chroniclers. See Raffaele Sozi, Annali, memorie et ricordi cominciando l‟anno MDVL (BAP, ms. 1221); Francesco Macinara, Memorie occorse ai tempi nostri (BAP, ms. 1164); ―Memorie di Giulio Costantino dall‘anno 1517 a 1550,‖ in Ariodante Fabretti, ed., Cronache della città di Perugia (Perugia, 1892). 298 exchange (appendix 16).820 On 4th November 1543, Santa Maria dei Servi was completely demolished. The Gonfalone thus lost its prime location but it did not lose its potential for visual attraction. In 1556, the friars asked permission from the confraternity to move the tavola dell‟Annunziata to the high altar because it suffered from humidity. 821 It implies that this painting was regarded as a worthy altarpiece, not as a mobile sign of identity. It is not documented as part of outdoor rituals and was probably never carried in procession at all. In the early seventeenth century, Cesare Crispolti described this tavola on the main altar of Santa Maria Nuova as «di maniera antica» but «bellissima». 822 It gained enough fame and recognition to be honored with the most important location inside the Servites‘ new church. In 1918, the painting alone was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria but the elaborate wooden tabernacolo (fig. 71b) remained in the church, framing a blank wall rather than its pictorial counterpart, and sadly missing its very raison d‘être. For the exceptionally lavish procession of Good Friday in 1576 (see next section), the Prior of the Nunziata described in detail the processional images.823 They included a ‗stendardo‘ with a mourning Madonna clad in black on one side and a Veronica on the opposite side, typical paschal themes. We will see that this banner was indeed used for Easter. It appears in the 1602 inventory as una Santa Veronica dipinta da una parte e da latera con Maria Vergine. Another painting of the Annunciate ―che si porta in processione‖ must refer to the banner made anew around 1557. The Nunziata inventories (see also Chapter 2.1) thus show that the confraternity already owned, at any time, at least one Marian banner. All the recorded processional paraphernalia suggests that Niccolò‘s Gonfalone was not a 820 For a substantial study on Santa Maria Nuova as a Silvestrine church, i.e. before the Servites moved in, see Annamaria Lucrezia Russi, Santa Maria Nuova a Perugia, dalle origini alla venuta dei Serviti, tesi di laurea (Perugia: Università degli Studi, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Dipartimento di Storia dell‘arte, 2005). 821 BDAnn., Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560, f. 71v. 822 C. Crispolti, Perusia Augusta, 124-126. 823 Ibid., ff. 55v-56r. 299 moving picture and that it was kept in a fixed position throughout its devotional life.824 It was preserved precisely because it was little handled, first hanging on a chapel wall in Santa Maria dei Servi and later functioning as an altarpiece in Santa Maria Nuova. It was meant to visually present and represent the confraternity to all visitors of Santa Maria dei Servi (and from 1543, in Santa Maria Nuova), a prime location that gave the Nunziata great visibility. 2) Public life and Easter rituals As the inventoried objects indicate, this confraternity participated in many general or self-initiated processions. There are records for the Nunziata‘s public participation in the festivities for the Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Visitation, the Birth of the Virgin, Saint John the Baptist, for Saint Bartholomew. The 1587 printed statutes also mention the feasts of St. Joseph and St. Mark.825 For the Feast of the Annunciation (25th March), there was no citywide cortège in Perugia but several processions of independent groups such as the notaries who marched from their premises to their hospital on that day. The Nunziata called it festa nostra for which each of the brothers contributed a small sum of money. For their banquet (―colazione‖) at vespers, they bought bread, figs, and apples.826 On that day, they staged an Annunciation play and went in procession to Santa Maria dei Servi, a visit that granted them an indulgence as it did in Servite churches for that feast. 827 Foremost, the members of the Nunziata strongly identified with their essential role during the paschal period when private 824 Sergio Fusetti and Paolo Virilli who restored this painting hold a different opinion. See their conservation report in Un pittore e la sua città, 230. 825 See Vermiglioli, Memoria, respectively 20, 33, 20-21, 34, 27, 8, and the numerous entries in the confraternity‘s account books (Entrate e uscite) which systematically mention processions for Candlemas, the Annunciation, Easter, Saint John the Baptist, the Assumption, and the Conception of the Virgin. See also Constitutioni dell‟Annuntiata 1587, chapter 4. 826 BDAnn, Libro economico (1499-1511), ―entrate e uscite‖, 25th March 1480, f. 26r. This is one example of annual entries recording such expenses. 827 ―festa nostra‖ is evoked in a 1370 book of Entrate e uscite that is no longer extant but that Vermiglioli consulted; see his Memoria, 71. See appendix 6a, item no. 40 which describes a stage prop as a low lectern for prayer when the Feast of the Annunciation takes place. A dove (palomba / palombetta), as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, is also mentioned in several inventories. 300 and public rituals revolved around their extraordinary crucifix, from the fourteenth century into the twentieth. At the heart of the ecclesiastical year The last four days Easter Week represented the climax of the religious calendar from the commemoration of Christ‘ Last Supper and vigil in the Mount of Olives on Maundy Thursday to Christ‘ crucifixion, death, and burial on Good Friday to his Resurrection on Easter Sunday (Pascha Resurrectionis). All devotional groups from monks and friars to canons, tertiaries, and confraternities celebrated these events in their own communities with processions and special liturgical services. Important preachers visited cities attracting large attentive mobs and the faithful attended masses for several consecutive days. Personal piety took a dramatic turn as the faithful were able to confess and commune on Thursday and Friday. The city government had specific requirements regarding law and order. During the nights of Christmas, Carneval, and of Thursday-Saturday of the Easter week, the Podestà‘s and Capitano‘s employees guarded the city, especially the main piazze. No wine was served or sold during Good Friday and its precedent evening. Like for other general processions, brawls and strife were forbidden but during the Holy Week, restrictions and punishment were more intense. Offences called for the amputation of the right hand, and murders, irrevocable decapitation.828 Throughout Christianity, the paschal custom for symbolizing mourning consisted of modifying the interior environment of sacred locations.829 Thus, on Maundy Thursday, a few chosen Nunziata brothers (five ―festaioli‖ in 1587) thus stripped the altars of their oratory, 828 Salem, Statuto 1342, De la guardia da fare en la nocte de la Natività del Segnore e de vienardì sancto e certe altre nocte, IV, §106; Del vendente el vino en dí de veinardí sancto overo en la nocte d‘esso precedente, III, §49; Deglie delinquente al tempo de le processione e en la stemana sancta, III, §68. 829 For the ceremonies of Holy Week in English churches, see Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars : Traditional Religion in England, C.1400-C.1580 (2nd. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 22-40. 301 and covered crosses and crucifixes, and windows with black cloths. They placed a Madonna dressed up in a black mantle on the altar and changed the altar curtain for a black one. They also prepared the canopy and tended their venerated movable Cristo morto.830 In the Gonfalone of San Valentino by Niccolò di Liberatore (fig. 116), a black curtain is placed behind a crucifix, an iconographic feature that reflects the custom of draping the altar cross on Easter Friday as a symbol for the death of Jesus.831 An extraordinary crucifix The brothers‘ most precious possession was kept in the confraternity‘s premises. It was an articulated statue of the Dead Christ that was taken out of its precious chest only once a year at Easter time, and both items are documented as early as 1375.832 For Umbrian art historian Elvio Lunghi, the extant statue (fig. 117) is the medieval one, going back to the 1360s, at least stylistically, and it is made of parchment.833 Christ‘ skin has the appearance of tinted paper mâché but the ritual manipulation of the statue necessitated a stronger material. Written in the mid seventeenth century, Ottavio Lancellotti‘s vivid account of the Easter festival in Perugia (appendix 17) allows for a precise characterization of the flesh of the 830 ―4 pieces of black linen cloth to cover crosses and crucifixes‖ (appendix 6a, item no. 107); ―a black curtain for the altar‖(appendix 6b, item no. 56); ―doi tende nere a le invetriate‖ are recorded in the inventories of 1/5/ 1558 and 3/09/1561; «una Madonna da mettere el venerdi santo su l‘altare con sua tenda nera» (6/9/1556), an entry which is repeated in the inventories dated 1/5/1558, 3/9/1561, 22/1 and 1/5/1563. See BDAnn., Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560, respectively ff. 48r-49v; 51r-52v; 63r-64v; 65rv, and appendix 6d. See also Chapter 11: Dell‘Offitio delli festaioli, Costitutioni dell‟Annunziata, 1587. 831 This processional banner from Terni was used during Easter Week. See M. Santanicchia‘s entry in Corrado Fratini, ed., Pinacoteca “Orneore Metelli” di Terni: Dipinti, sculture e arredi dell‟VIII al XIX secolo (Milan: Electa, 2000), 49-51 and Fabio Marcelli, in E. Bairati, P. Dragoni, eds., Matteo di Gualdo. Rinascimento eccentric tra Umbria e Marche (Milan: Electa, 2004), 143-144. 832 The earliest reference on the making and painting of this chest at a cost of 1.5 florins goes back to 1375. See Vermiglioli, Memoria, 4. ―crocefisso / crocefixo‖ appears in all complete inventories of the premises (appendix 6a, item no. 122-123; appendix 6b, item no. 3; appendix 6c, item no. 58). 833 Lunghi, oral communication, December 2007 and ―Due croceffissi da deposizione a Perugia,‖ in M. G. Lopez and R. Casciaro, eds., Riflessioni sul Rinascimento scolpito. Contributi, analisi e approfondimenti in margine alla mostra di Camerino, 5 maggio-5 novembre 2006 (Polena: Tip. San Giuseppe, 2006), 74-82. Ann Markham Schultz (oral communication) proposes the first half of the fifteenth-century. For a series of extant paper-maché statues made during the 16-19th c. for a fixed position in a church near Mantova, see Lucia Corrain, ―The Theatre of Miracles,‖ FMR. International Edition 2 (August-September 2004): 44-56. 302 Nunziata Christ. It was made of ―camozza‖, the fell of the female chamois. Strips of camozza, or another type of thin leather, placed at the neck, elbows, hands, knees, and ankles conceal the inner hinges allowing for its striking life-like movements. In its modern chest (late nineteenth century?), the statue that I examined wears with a wig and a beard, probably made of natural hair; a metal comb lies next to the head; and the corpus is carefully wrapped in chamois material. Written ex-votos of the 1930s attest to its continued use down to recent times. The statue is kept today in the secrecy of a former sacristy, in the deconsecrated Oratorio dell‘Annunziata. Today, this location that once belonged (from the seventeenth century) to the Nunziata Confraternity occasionally opens for cultural events but very few people in Perugia are aware of the presence of an exceptional statue in the back room adjacent to the apse.834 A scientific examination of this forlorn statue is needed to assess its material, age, and inner structure. If a future restoration corroborates Lunghi‘s chronological estimate, it would make this ritual three-dimensional image one of the earliest of its kind. It derives from the genre of wooden Christs with movable arms. More than one hundred such Christs are extant in Europe, especially in South Germany, Tyrol, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy.835 The articulation of the upper limbs was necessitated to re-enact more vividly the Descent from the 834 I would like to thank Dottore Gabriele De Veris, custodian of this building, for giving me access to this statue. 835 Johannes Taubert‘s own count reaches 68, including seven articulate Christ sculptures from Florence. See his updated ―Mittelalterliche Kruzifixe mit schwenkbaren Armen‖ in J. Taubert, ed., Farbige Skulpturen: Bedeutung, Fassung, Restaurierung (Munich: Callwey, 1978), 38-50. A recent dissertation proposes a first estimate of 100 for German-speaking countries. Tanya Jung, The Phenomenal Lives of Movable Christ Sculptures (Ph.D. in art history, University of Maryland, 2006) available at the following URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1903/3893. Four flexible Christs are recorded so far in Spain, and one articulate St. James (Santiago). Maria José Martínez Martínez, "El Santo Cristo de Burgos. Contribuciòn al Estudio de los crucifijos articulados españoles," Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología 69-70 (2003/4): 207-46. For Italy, see John T. Paoletti, "Wooden Sculpture in Italy as Sacral Presence," Artibus et Historiae 12, no. 26 (1992): 85-100 and the various essays on Spanish, French, and Italian extant Deposition figures: Giovanna Sapori and Bruno Toscano, eds., La Deposizione lignea in Europa. L'immagine, il culto, la forma (Perugia: Electa. Editori Umbri Associati, 2004). This substantial publication is based on a 1999 exhibition held in Montefalco, Umbria and includes only a few articulate statues. 303 Cross in the evening of Good Friday.836 While Deposition groups with Christ, the Virgin, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and John the Evangelist (fig. 119) first appeared in the twelfth century, the oldest articulate Christs go back to the fourteenth century. 837 They continued to be made until the Reformation, and beyond, in certain Catholic locations. A Perugian example is the Crucifix once in the church of the conventual Franciscans made by Agostino di Duccio in the 1460s and surrounded by four panels of angels holding the instruments of the Passion (fig. 120).838 This genre of sculpture formed the centerpiece of lauds performed as devotional plays by flagellant companies (especially in Italy) or they were the focus of the liturgical Passion drama recited by the clergy in private or public rituals. Most of the Deposition groups and movable Christs were kept in monastic or Mendicant churches, unlike the situation in Perugia where the Nunziata‘s corpus was clearly the possession of a confraternity. The Nunziata Christ is exceptional in its material and its extreme flexibility. In Deposition groups, one or more of the main figures may have had foldable arms with joints for the shoulder, elbows, or hands. The wooden Florentine crucifix kept in Saint-Germaindes-Prés (Paris) crossed its arms while its mouth opened as it was lowered for the Deposition.839 They are made of lindenwood, a lightweight and pliant material and covered with paint to give them more veracity (figs. 119; 120). If John Paoletti characterizes wooden polychromed sculpture in Italy as ―blurring the boundaries between representation and 836 The fundamental publication on the liturgical use is J. Taubert and Gesine Taubert, "Mittelalterliche Kruzifixe mit schwenkbaren Armen. Ein Beitrag zur Verwendung von Bildweken in der Liturgie," Zeitschrift des deutschen Verein für Kunstwissenschaft XXIII (1969): 79-121. 837 La Deposizione lignea, 81-84, presents a Mourning Mary from Roncione (Perugia, private collection) of 1236 that can bend shoulders and elbows. On this account, the chronology for articulate figures may have to be revised, even though the modeling of this figure was modified in the 18 th century. 838 Paola Mercurelli, ed., La ricomposizione di un tabernacolo da San Francesco al prato a Perugia. Un Crocifisso da San Crispolto di Bettona e otto Angeli di Benedetto Bonfigli (Perugia: Quattroemme, 2003). This publication endorses and confirmed Elvio Lunghi‘s hypotheses on the provenance of the Bettona Christ in La Passione degli Umbri. Croceffisi di legno in Valle Umbra tra Medioevo e Rinascimento (Spello, 2000), 133146. 839 A classic study for stylistic development and authorship of Italian wooden crucifixes, including articulate ones, is: Margrit Lisner, Holzkruzifixe in Florenz und in der Toskana von der Zeit um 1300 bis zum frühen Cinquecento (München: Bruckmann, 1970), especially 95-97 for movable arms. 304 actuality,‖ he would agree that the Nunziata Christ was perceived as a real human figure because it can bend at all joints in a very smooth manner. What‘s more, it is not made of wood. Its inner material is not known but it is covered by animal skin and its articulations are dissimulated by strips of animal skin. Only four such simulacra are recorded for Spain and three for Germany, spanning the fourteenth-sixteenth centuries.840 A significant difference with the polychrome wooden corpuses is that the leather surface and its multiple articulations imbues the assembled body with life, hence legends and miracles that were attached to them. The most famous – and best documented - is the fourteenth-century Santo Cristo from Burgos (Spain). It was believed to be made of human skin and to grow nails and hair. It has been recently restored, and it is, to my knowledge, the only one of this type to have been thoroughly examined by conservators. The basic, rough, shape is made of pinewood that has been covered with a first layer of special glue made of pieces of bovine fell (―cola de retazos de piel‖ says the conservation report). The further layers consist of this same glue mixed with equal amounts of plaster. Some parts such as hands and feet are entirely made of leather stuffed with wool fiber.841 These might be some of the components of the Nunziata‘s Christ. Ritual trappings The Crocefisso was kept in a painted wooden chest displayed next to the altar. 842 It was replaced in 1416 for three lire and again in 1516 at the high cost of six florins for a carpenter‘s work and for its hardware (―ferramenti‖) such as nails and chimes. Its four panels painted and gilded in 1517 by a Nunziata member, master Giovanni di Giorgio are still extant (fig. 118). Another chest was made in 1789 and kept until an ebony sepulchre with gilded 840 Paoletti, ―Wooden Sculpture,‖ 91. The leather-covered Christs are from Dobeln, Kempten, Schneidhaim (Germany), and from Burgos, Orense, Finisterre, and Palencia (Spain). Martínez Martínez, "El Santo Cristo de Burgos,‖ 237, n. 165, 239. A thorough research may well encounter or trace back a few more from other countries. 841 Martínez Martínez, 239-240. 842 Lancellotti, Sagra Scorta: ―sul piano dell‘altare,‖ 543v. 305 carvings was financed by an aristocrat member in 1818. In the meantime, in 1804, the sixteenth-century cassa was restored which shows that the Nunziata members were conscious that their confraternal identity was rooted in the ritual use of such artistic artefacts and they recognized it as an important part of their collective history. 843 But why was a wooden chest so special? Not a mere commodity, the brothers called this chest ―monumento‖ or ―sepolcro‖, as the confraternity archives reveal, and regarded it as a replica of Jesus‘ sepulchre. The same terms commonly designate the temporary or permanent structure ritually set up in Western medieval churches to commemorate Christ‘s burial in Jerusalem on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.844 Thus, in their oratory, the brothers were constantly reminded of Christ‘s sacrifice and the hope for redemption. More so at Easter time, when this chest revealed its content. Each year, this stirring statue with its five bleeding wounds was the center-piece for a visualization of Christ‘s Passion, both in private and in public. At dawn of Holy Thursday, the white-robed fratelli opened the chest and lifted the statue onto a special bier. The emotional impact of this indoor ritual is mirrored in the iconography of both long panels of the chest with soldiers guarding the tomb (fig. 118). While the guard on the left of each composition is still asleep, the soldier on the right has suddenly awoken and tumbles out of astonishment. This theme is usual for Easter Sepulchres throughout Europe. But in the privacy of their oratory, as the fratelli raised the life-sized statue out of its chest, the depicted guards suddenly came to life as well as they bore witness of the Resurrected Christ out of the 843 Vermiglioli, Memoria, 125-126: ―18/3/1416: 6 fiorini per la fabbrica della cassa e per spesa del falegname: spesi : lirene tre e soldi sette per il fornimento della cassa per segne e campanelle e agute e balecte.‖ For the painted panels of 1517 and the 1804 restoration, see Santi, 1985, II, 217-218 and ill. 229. The inscription is missing today. In his catalogue entry, Santi has mistaken the extant chest paintings for the panels of the ―cadaletto‖ which has disappeared. For the new chests made in 1789 and 1818, see Siepi, Annotazioni Storiche, I: 119. 844 Pamela Scheingorn, The Easter Sepulcher on Great Britain (Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University, 1987). 306 Holy Sepulchre. To the brothers too, Christ had literally risen out of his chest, in anticipation of the Resurrection. Once out of its chest, the crocefisso was laid out on a special stretcher (―cadeletto,‖ see appendix 19) and made its way into the public sphere as the Nunziata flagellants exited their premises, around 10pm, to bring the corpus to the cathedral. The Nunziata members led the cortège made of the cathedral canons, other clerics, and numerous faithful. Accompanied by musicians and singers, chimes, torches and candles, they carried the Savior on a beautiful bier that was topped by a precious canopy. A confraternity record of 1538 mentions a member‘s bequest of 22 florins to have velvet ―drappellones‖ made, each bearing ―IHV‖ (Jesus Victor?) and an image of the Mons Pietatis for the flaps of the baldachin.845 It was the first of the two Easter processions that distinguished the Nunziata from all other confraternities. In his presentation of devotional groups of the laity in Perugia, Cesare Crispolti (1563-1608) singled out the Nunziata in these terms: ―La Confraterninita antichissima dell‘Annuntiata (…) fa due solennissime processioni, alle quale concorre gran popolo per la divotione di un divotissimo Christo, che in forma di pietà portasi il Giovedi santo da questa Confraternita al Duomo, & di Croceffisso, e morto, che la sera seguente l‘istesso riportarsi al luogho predetto.‖ 846 The painted bier was an important visual support identifying the confraternity and advertising it in the public eye. Its panels are not extant but they are accurately described in the contract established with painter Giovanni di Giorgio in 1505 (appendix 19).847 At Christ‘s head, the Virgin Annunciate faced the angel depicted at Christ‘ feet. On the other side of Gabriel, a painting of the crucifix flanked by two flagellants would have been well 845 "Confraternita dell'Annunziata: Memoriale dei contratti, 1333-1594‖(Perugia: Biblioteca Dominicini), 85-86. The 1538 bequest allocated 22 florins for the lambrequin expense. 846 Crispolti, Perusia Augusta, 175. 847 This artist, a student of Perugino, enrolled in the painters‘ guild in 1506. For a biography of this master, see Walter Bombe, Urkunden zur Geschichte der Peruginer Malerei (Leipzig: Klinkherdt & Bierman, 1929), 90-93. He was paid in 1505 eleven florins to paint this bier. See ASP, ASCPg Notarile, Protocolli, 485, 1505, f. 304r and appendix 19 which corrects Bombe‘s errors in his transcription of the contract (p. 91). Lancellotti believed that the bier had been painted by Pietro Perugino. 307 visible by the pious crowd. Thus, the scene of the Annunciation, the traditional name of the confraternity, framed the body of Christ in a theological synthesis linking the incarnation with the ultimate sacrifice of Mary‘s son. The two depicted flagellants stood for the entire fraternity in an image which condensed their redemptive scourging activity out of devotion for Christ‘s suffering and his eventual death. The crocefisso‘s special status was highlighted by the gilded bier, the surrounding torches, and the richly adorned baldachin. This procession attracted so many people that it offered potential riot, thus occasioning its mere suppression or the presence of high numbers of armed municipal militias.848 In the above quote from Crispolti, we learn that on the Thursday, the statue was processed ―in forma di pietà,‖ a reference to the ―imago pietatis‖ or the half-length man of Sorrows, a pictorial form that first appeared on Eastern icons before being appropriated by Western artists. Accordingly, Christ‘s head was tilted to his right while his arms were folded on his sternum, showing the stigmata of the hands and chest. The bier itself was painted on its outer front panel with a ―imagine de la pieta‖ (appendix 19).‖849 Hans Belting has suggested that this iconography, a close-up depiction of the suffering and death of Christ, supplanted in the fourteenth century the wooden groups of the Deposition. The imago pietatis offered the advantage of symbolizing a full range of meditation on the Passion because of its multiple meanings. It could stand for the sacramental Body of Christ when placed on an altar or it could express several moments of the Passion.850 The Nunziata‘s physical arrangement of their Christ announced his imminent sacrifice and assimilated the statue with the Blessed 848 Fabretti, IV, Memorie di Giulio di Costantino, 263: ―‘Perché fu tralassato de non portare el Crucifisso in santo Lorenzo el giovedì santo;‘ Fabretti, V, Memorie di cesare Rossi, 153-4: ―il giovedi santo, comparsero li Caporioni di Porta S. Susanna con 70 uomini incirca armati di archibugi et arme in asta, et andarono a far compagnia al Crucifisso nella processione solita, che si suol fare dalla Fraternita dell‘Annuntiata a S. Lorenzo, e questo acciò non nascesse tumult per la gente assai, che va alla detta processione.‖ 849 It is interesting to note that only another two articulate Christs can move their heads thanks to a joint in the neck: those of Dobeln (Germany) and Grancia (Switzerland). Martínez Martínez, "El Santo Cristo de Burgos‖, 237. 850 Hans Belting, The Image and Its Public in the Middle Ages: Form and Function of Early Paintings of the Passion (New Rochelle, N.Y.: A.D. Caratzas, 1990). 308 Sacrament. This mise-en-scène was a vivid example of the laity appropriating liturgical observances performed by the clergy such as the processions of the Host topped by a canopy and solemnly carried to the altar. While early morning sermons took place in all churches of the city, the dimly-lit cathedral interior, stripped of its adornments and dressed in black cloths, was packed because of the presence of the Nunziata Christ. It was placed in front of the venerated fresco of the Madonna del Verde. The Tenebrae service of Maundy Thursday commemorated Christ‘s vigil in the Mount of Olives. It urged sincere feelings of penance among the faithful in prescience of Christ‘s imminent death that they could visualize thanks to the Nunziata‘s corpus, mysteriously wrapped in white and black silks.851 Afterwards, the faithful were able to kiss the feet of this sacred ―image in relief‖ which explains the darkened areas on the extant statue. I observed this devotional gesture in Assisi during the procession that took the Duomo corpus to San Francesco on Maundy Thursday (fig. 121). A detailed record of the Holy Week rituals of the Nunziata in 1827 suggests that the lying Christ was then taken to the sacristy, placed in a chest that was sealed and guarded by a few Nunziata brothers until the next morning.852 Easter Friday The climax of ritual actions around the emaciated corpus was reached on Easter Friday. There is no record of the exact manipulation of this articulate statue but the documentation from other cities and countries can help to reconstruct the dramatic mise-enscène.853 In addition, a record of 1386 mentions the confratelli‘s banquet at the time of the 851 On the vitality and appeal of ―tradition religion‖, or the homogeneous character of the religious beliefs that late medieval parishioners shared and inherited, see Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars. 852 BDAnn, Partito dei Signori Confrati della SS.ma Annunziata, 18/04/1827. 853 A substantial and synthetic contribution on articulate sculptures is Johannes Tripps, Das Handelnde Bildwerke in der Gothik. Forschungen zu den Bedeutungsschichten und der Funktion des Kirchengebaüdes und seiner Ausstattung in der Hoch- und Spätgothik (2nd, enlarged ed., Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2000). 309 ―scavigliazione‖ (un-nailing) which implies the crucifixion of the corpus first. Consequently, it is safe to imagine the delicate nailing of the crocefisso with the ―chiuove‖ (nails) that were kept in the chest (see appendix 6c, item no. 58). The four large holes in the Nunziata Christ‘s hands and feet readily lent themselves to this practice. In the lengthy description of the Nunziata rites of 1827, there is not the slightest hint of this ceremony. It must have been discontinued because the crucifix was deemed too fragile to undergo heavy manipulation. Typically, between the ninth hour (around 3pm) and vespers, the Adoratio Crucis rite, according to the ordo romanus, entailed the chanting of hymns, readings, collective prayer, and a procession of the veiled image inside the church. During the final canticle, the congregation could go kiss the feet of the crucified, and communion followed. Afterwards, movable Christs were un-nailed in order to be descended from the cross. The Depositio rite followed with the corpus buried into a temporary or permanent structure built in simulation of the Holy Sepulchre, as the oldest document for the use of an articulate Christ (the 1370 ordo of Barking abbey, near London) indicates. Easter Sepulchre rites have been largely studied for England but they took place throughout Christianity. There were various formulas for the symbolic burial of Christ. Easter Sepulchres, in wood or stone, ranged from large recesses with priests entering it to small niches, in which case, the deposed body of Christ was limited to a consecrated Host. The tomb could also consists of a coffin placed near the altar. In many paschal rituals, the corpus (or the Host) was secretly removed during Holy Friday night so that the Easter Sepulchre could be shown empty to the faithful on the Sunday. A statue of the triumphant Christ holding the Resurrection flag was placed on the altar unless it was simply the Eucharist in a precious monstrance. In the Perugian cathedral, however, the representation of Christ‘s Death and Resurrection must have taken a different form. The corpus was probably lowered thanks to 310 the ―artfully connected ropes inside it,‖ but not hidden.854 From the nineteenth century (or earlier), a few confratelli carried it from the sacristy, where it had spent the night, back to the wooden stage in a procession with baldachin. Since it did not belong to the canons, it was returned to the Nunziata oratory on its bier by its confraternal owners who were, this time, dressed in their black robes in sign of their deep mourning. As Crispolti informs his readers (see quote above), the corpus was now lying ―di Croceffisso, e morto,‖ meaning, I assume, with arms down slightly away from the body. Like the Burgos Christ, the statue was covered with a black cloth in a suggestive presentation that enhanced its human appearance, a practice that continues to this day in paschal processions of a Dead Christ (fig. 121).855 The ritual of the Descent from the Cross is shown on a rare painting kept in the Augustinian convent of Medina del Campo near Vallalodid (Spain) (fig. 122). In this Spanish painting of 1722, the corpus is lowered with the help of linen but it does not look like a statue. Only the clothing of the viewers and the architecture of the church indicate that it is a contemporary Descent from the Cross and not an episode from the Passion cycle. Likewise, the Nunziata crocefisso, with its head and all limbs articulated, lent itself to a much wider variety of positions and readings. It allowed for a more vivid recreation of the ordeal of Christ, from the nailing onto the cross to the Adoratio Crucis to the dramatic un-nailing and burial of the crucifix. In some places, the articulate Christ was placed in the lap of a sculpted Mary in the position of a Pietà. This would certainly have been possible with the Nunziata Cristo morto. Its physiognomic accuracy and its kinetic qualities allowed for it to be experienced as the actual occurrence of the Passion in a variety of episodes. It would be interesting to compare the ritual handling of the articulate Christ with sacred drama. A chronicle reports in details an Easter play that took place in front of the 854 S. Siepi, Descrizione topologica, ―umano tegumento riempiuto all‘interno di corde artificiosamente connese,‖ 727. 855 Vermiglioli, Memoria, 126: ―19/5/ 1416: tegnere el panno nero per la coperta del sepolcro del crocefisso , cusone quatro‖ 311 cathedral on Good Friday 1448, after the sermon of friar Roberto Caracciolo. The laudatory account leaves no doubt as to the emotional success of this public performance that the witness deemed the ―most beautiful and devout play ever in Perugia.‖ However, the audience recognized the actors, especially the barber who acted as Christ, and it is quite clear that the spectators were well aware of the staging. While six men converted to a monastic life after that day, including the main actor, this religious engagement did not last for all. A few months later, the barber ―returned to his guild,‖ married, and was even ―a worse ribald than before.‖ Visualizing Christ‘ suffering through the ritual handling of a venerated semblance of Christ, like the Nunziata Cristo, was probably a much different experience than watching a sacred play with the knowledge of the actors‘ names and occupations. Possibly, the Nunziata life-like articulate sculpture elicited a more genuine empathy with Christ‘ s salutory mission because it had an aura that ordinary people enacting holy figures could not achieve.856 In Perugia, Christ‘ death and burial was thus represented by its removal from the cathedral and a procession to the Confraternity premises, in a solemn event that paralleled the Nunziata oratory with the Holy Sepulchre. What happened next is unknown until the documented usage, from 1581, of exhibiting the Cristo Morto in that oratory for public view until the next Tuesday. This was a deviance from liturgical practices since Christ was supposed to have risen from the Dead.857 It did not seem to matter either that it was realistically depicted as wounded and heavily bleeding and therefore, it could not represent the Resurrected Christ. In any case, before 1581, the Nunziata had the exclusive privilege of handling the venerated statue in the privacy of their oratory for the mystery of the Redemption. 856 Diario del Graziani, 598-599. See also on Roberto Caracciolo‘s sermons, Lunghi, La Passione degli umbri, 136-9. 857 BDAnn, Partito dei Signori Confrati delle SS.ma Annunziata, 18/4/1827. Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, f. 545r: ―Alle due ore, o tre ore di notte la compagnia della Morte assai numerosa de‘ fratelli, di torcie, e di musici vene a baciar i piedi al Salvatore dell‘Annuntiata. Intorno al 1581, dalle memorie della confraternita, che si desse principio a questa divotione.‖ 312 The rare display of the confraternity‘s Dead Christ and above all the elaborate continued ritual around it turned into an important sacred object for centuries. In the seventeenth century, a legend about the miraculous origin of the Nunziata ―devotissimo‖ Christ, as Crispolti qualifies it, circulated, an indication that its fame had not subsided since the middle ages.858 For Perugian historian Serafino Siepi, it was, in the early nineteenth century, a stunning sight because it seemed made of human flesh (tegumento), an effect that a soft and tenuous leather such as chamois fell could very well achieve. Additionally, it had miraculous curing properties, a quality which the Counter-Reformation bishop discovered as he visited the oratory on 12th December 1564 and severely condemned with the threat of excommunication.859 Each stigmata of the corpus was stuffed with an almond which remained in contact with it for a whole year. These five almonds were crushed as the chest was opened and particles were distributed to cure the crippled. The memory of this idolatrous practice was suppressed as Lancellotti does not seem to be aware of it. But if it stopped with the Tridentine reformations, a comparable tradition reappeared since pieces of silk were inserted in the corpus‘ wounds at the latest in the early nineteenth century.860 Throughout this work, I have argued for banners to be an especially valid and significant element for group identity but I have also shown that banners cannot be isolated from their ritual use and other symbolic trappings. At Easter, the public visibility of the forty men, or so, of the Nunziata Confraternity was essentially based on the staged exhibitions of their crocefisso and its paraphernalia such as the canopy, the bier, the white and then black robes worn by the brothers. What about banners? Their existence is recorded in inventories and their use in a report on Easter Friday of 1576. That year, the pope granted Perugia the authorization to hold a celebratation of the Jubilee that had been so successfully conducted in 858 For the legend, ibid., 544r. Archivio diocesano di Perugia, Visitationes 1564-1568, f. 68rv. 860 See BDAnn, Partito dei Signori Confrati della SS.ma Annunziata, 18/04/1827. 859 313 Rome the previous year.861 The bishop of Perugia obtained papal permission to combine the event with Holy Friday in a single city-wide procession for which the commune underwrote the expenses. Instead of un-nailing their corpus in the evening of Easter Friday, the Confraternity removed it in the morning, so that it could represent them and lead the entire city in an expiating procession for which a plenary indulgence was granted. Thus, the Nunziata members led the enormous cortège (―50,000 people‖) carrying their corpus followed by two banners, situated right after the sumptuous canopy (appendix 20).862 This extraordinary procession unfolded from 11 am to 7pm throughout the city (see map, fig. 123) in order to visit four major churches. It was a requirement that allowed the participants to gain the plenary indulgence, just like pilgrims in Rome had done in 1575. The city-wide procession concluded in front of the Nunziata oratory where the corpus was displayed for people to kiss its feet. Interestingly, the Nunziata banners did not show the Annunciation but a praying Madonna clothed in black, and a Veronica. In their twodimensional form, these mobile paintings still clearly represented the confratelli in their association with Easter and visually confirmed that this was an intrinsic part of their identity. The sacred corpus, even if seen for only two consecutive days per year, was indelibly connected to the corporate consciousness of the brothers themselves. When, in 1475, they asked the Commune for funding an iron grille to protect their chapel in Santa Maria dei Servi, the City offered them 30 florins, instead of 25, provided that the brothers left their famous crucifix in that chapel. They may have agreed since such a display would have given them even more visibility and prestige than storage in their oratory. If so, the presence of the cristo morto in that church did not last because chronicles of the sixteenth century mention the 861 For the Jubilee of 1575 in Rome, see B. Wisch, ―The Roman Christian Triumphant: Pilgrimage, Penance, and Processions Celebrating the Holy Year,‖ in "All the World's a Stage..." Art and Pageantry in the Renaissance and Baroque (The Pennsylvania State University, 1990), 83-118. 862 BDAnn, Libro dei partiti (1546-1560), f. 55r-56r. 314 oratory as the point of departure for the Maundy Thursday procession. 863 Perugian diaries are mostly silent about Easter processions but they did record the exceptional absence of the Nunziata crucifix, another evidence for the Christological identity of this confraternity. 3) The Assumption festival: multiple collective identities and civic consciousness For the Assumption festivities, two processions (14th and 22nd August) were another opportunity for the Nunziata to shine. The traditional rules of precedence for general processions meant that craftsmen and merchants who were also confraternal members had to march with their guild as all corporate statutes stipulated. Consequently, only a few male members were actually able to proceed with their confraternity. However, the Nunziata managed to overrule guild authority and asserted its confraternal identity as primordial. City deliberations of 1384 specified that membership in this Confraternity superseded in importance any membership in a guild, thereby allowing these men to participate in processions as flagellants rather than as craftsmen or merchants. 864 The issue of dual membership was resolved in favor of the Confraternity of the Annunciation versus the various guilds because the Nunziata was associated, at the time of the Assumption octave, with a venerated image called the ―Salvatore‖ (124a). Precedence had been negotiated in order to accommodate the decorum due to this special processional painting, owned by the cathedral clergy. Adapting a Roman ritual 863 For the iron grille in 1475, see ASP, Riformanze, 111, f. 68r. For the procession departing from the oratory, see Fabretti, Cronache, V: 153-4: ―[la] processione solita che si suol fare dalla Fraternita dell‘Annunziata a S. Lorenzo‖ (1583). 864 Pier Lorenzo Meloni, "Per la storia delle confraternite disciplinate in Umbria nel secolo XIV," in Storia e arte in Umbria nell'età comunale. Atti del VI convegno di studi umbri (1968), (Perugia, 1971), 533-607, here 575-576. 315 This splendid double-sided wooden panel showed on its oldest side (probably of the thirteenth century) a replica of the famous namesake acheropita (made by a non-human hand) icon of the Lateran that was revered in Rome from at least the eighth century. 865 The date of the Perugian Salvatore is not documented. However, Ricci has convincingly argued that the Assumption procession in Perugia imitated the Roman celebration, including its processional image. Since the Perugian procession was instituted in the 1220s, the panel must go back to that time. This artistic and devotional enterprise is well documented and it shows that the veneration and processional use of the Perugian Salvatore was still very lively at that time. Each August 14th, by night, the population followed the venerated icon of the ―Salvatore” from the cathedral to the Clares‘ church in Monteluce (see map, fig. 70) which was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin.866 As the cult of the Virgin developed, the Assumption became one of the major feast days in most cities. It was lavishly celebrated in cities dedicated to the Virgin, such as Siena or Venice (Diana Webb). In Perugia, it gave rise to three processions, on the eve and on the feast-day itself and on the octave.867 On 22nd August, after vespers, the fratelli of the Nunziata and the cathedral canons solemnly brought the Salvatore from the Clares‘ church in Monteluce back to the Duomo. In Rome, the Lateran Salvatore was carried to Santa Maria Maggiore where it solemnly met a Marian icon believed to have been painted by Saint Luke. 868 Other cities, such as Orte, Viterbo, Spoleto, and Tivoli set up a similar encounter of paintings for the 865 Giuseppe Wilpert, "L'acheropita del Sancta Sanctorum," L'arte X, no. 3-4 (1907): 161-77 & 247-62. The author was able to dismount the Roman icon and examines each part in order to reconstruct the history of its three major restorations and alterations. 866 This traditional procession by candlelight resumed in 1999 under the aegis of the bishop. Today, the participants are parishioners, not members of confraternities anymore (fig. 125). On this panel, see Maria Grazia Bernardini, Museo della Cattedrale di Perugia: dipinti, sculture e arredi dei secoli XIII-XIX (Rome: Istituto poligrafico a Zecca dello Stato, 1991), 16-18. 867 This procession had been instituted in the 1220s and granted a plenary indulgence in 1235 by pope Gregory IX. See Ettore Ricci, "Monteluce," Perusia II, no. 6 (1930): 140-66, 150 for a partial transcription of the papal bull. See Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, f. 198r-v. 868 This Marian icon has been known as Salus Populi Romani from the 19th century. See H. Belting, Bild und Kult. Eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst (Munich: Beck, 1990), 79-87. For an in-depth study of this Marian icon and literary sources about the procession, see Gerhardt Wolf, Salus Populi Romani. Die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter (Weinheim: VCH, 1990). 316 Assumption eve.869 In Perugia, however, there was no Marian icon or any replica or imitation as in Spoleto, Viterbo, Tivoli, or Orte, until the mid-fifteenth century. But it took the form of a relief sculpture on the reverse of the Salvatore showing the Virgin Enthroned with Christ (fig. 124b).870 I believe that this iconography was chosen in direct imitation of Jacopo Torriti‘s great mosaic apse of Santa Maria Maggiore (1295).871 The other cities in which similar processions took place staged an encounter of two icons, in imitation of the Roman rite. The Perugian Salvatore is larger than its Roman prototype but very similar iconographically with Christ standing against a gold ground and holding his right hand up while both feet conspicuously peek out from underneath his purple tunic.872 The Perugian Christ blesses with his right hand while holding a long cross in his left, while in the Roman icon, he holds his right hand in front his chest in an act of speaking and rests his left hand on a roll. These variations can be explained by the fact that the Roman icon was already extremely deteriorated from ritual use by the early thirteenth century and copying the icon could only be an approximate task.873 The Perugian icon encountered similar damage because in 1297, after maybe only 70 years of existence, it too had to be renovated. A drastic restoration took place as Battista di Baldassare Mattioli executed the second side of the panel in 1453. An area of flat red and vivid colors as well as a drape of honor imitating brocaded velvet enhancing the background of the lower half of the panel stand out as one looks closer. 869 See Gail Solberg, "The Madonna Avvocata Icon at Orte and Geography," in A. Ladis and S. Zuraw, eds., Visions of Holiness. Art and Devotion in Renaissance Italy (Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, 2001), 123-36. 870 The Roman sacred image had a cross painted on a canvas on its reverse from the 10 th century. Spoleto had a replica, dated ca. 1100, of the now lost Haghiorisotissa icon in Constantinople while Orte commissioned a Marian panel to a Sienese painter, Taddeo di Baldo, around 1420. Ibid, 129-130. 871 For the iconography and an interpretation of this mosaic, see Wolff, Salus Populi, 183-195. 872 The Roman icon originally showed an enthroned Christ but a second restoration, before 1200, turned him into a standing figure. 873 A silver plaque was given by Innocent III who ruled from 1198 to his death in 1216. Incidentally, he died in Perugia and was buried in the Duomo. The copying of the Roman icon meant that special papal permission had been obtained. Ricci, ―Monteluce,‖ 154) 317 This deterioration of the Roman and Perugian ―Saviors‖ was caused by the ritual smearing of ointment on Christ‘s feet and by the custom of kissing its head and touching it with hands. The Salvatore was kept in the chapel of Sant‘Ercolano in the cathedral, the ―Sancta Sanctorum‖ of Perugia.874 Therefore, it was in the custody of the cathedral canons who always escorted it on its journeys between San Lorenzo to Santa Maria in Monteluce. However, it was the forty or so brothers of the Nunziata who carried it, heading the march in their white hooded robes and holding tapers while four of them held up a sumptuous baldachin above the gilded ―confalone‖. This responsibility, and hence their precedence, goes back to at least 1375.875 They were followed by the usual order for Perugian general processions: the Perugian clergy, the bishop, the papal representative, city officials, and guilds, each person carrying a lit taper (appendix 17). The leading role given to the Confraternity of the Annunciation and its responsibility for the panel on this occasion was clearly an extraordinary privilege. Such was the prestige of this panel and the reverence due to it. But it was not the only group that drew attention. A civic procession The Assumption festival was of a more political nature than Easter. The Easter processions which the Nunziata led were strongly associated with the clergy and foremost, the cathedral canons who accompanied the corpus together with the confraternity brothers. The Assumption procession was city-wide and thus followed the rules established by the government. This civic appropriation of religious life was typical of the phenomenon of ―civic religion,‖ that I commented in the discussion of general processions (Chapter One). While the Easter processions of the Nunziata crocefisso involved the ecclesiastics in charge 874 Suggested by Ricci, ―Monteluce,‖149, as a parallel to the Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateran church where the icon was kept. 875 Vermiglioli, Memoria, 6. For the word ―gonfalone,‖ see introduction and Ricci, ―Monteluce,‖ 151, n. 4. 318 of the sacred space of the Duomo, the Assumption march ended in the church of the Poor Clares who, as women, could not claim primary representation in the march. The communal regime managed to recuperate the rites around the Salvatore in various ways. It claimed that, without the proper unfolding of the mid-August celebrations, it would have suffered ―shame and dishonor,‖ as almost happened in 1325. That year, in an attempt to demonstrate his own power to the secular authorities, the bishop locked the chapel of Sant‘Ercolano, thereby prohibiting access to the Salvatore. But the government ordered the doors to be knocked down, and the procession took place as usual.876 An additional way to monitor civic life within the rhythm of a religious feast was the eight-day long fair that took place in proximity to the Clares‘ church spanning the time between the two processions with the cathedral image. All regulations concerning this fair were issued by the City authorities. Processional paraphernalia provides further examples for the responsibility of the city authorities in securing adequate organization of the Assumption festival. They gave the sumptuous canopy that topped the Salvatore (see below), and a large amount of candles and tapers. Wax was distributed at the Commune‘s expenses to all officials and some devotional groups such as the Nunziata that received 13 pounds of wax (or the equivalent of 78 candles). But the care given to the Duomo panel vividly illustrates political authority over the centerpiece of the main events. The relief added to the reverse of the Salvatore in 1453 was entirely funded by the Commune, as well as the restoration of the older panel. Furthermore, the execution of the Virgin Assumed in Heaven (fig. 124b) was closely supervised by the Priori who had Baldassare Mattioli‘s relief assessed. The summoned experts deplored the lack of delicate woodcarving and the use of stucco for the faces and hands, or the application of linen bathed in gesso and glue for the drapery folds. However, they deemed the work acceptable on account of its refined brushwork, colors, and its pictorial quality overall. This 876 Ricci, ―Monteluce,‖ 159. Diario del Graziani, 633. 319 ambiguous characterization shows that time pressed for the Priori. The panel had been evaluated in July and money invested, and the prospect of having a new version made on time was not acceptable. Consequently, this traditional festival was appropriated by politicians for their own end in a process that aimed at demonstrating official authority within a demonstration of civic unity. The Confraternita dell‘Annunziata also endorsed the official sponsorship of this festival by carrying heraldic flags that bore the Perugian griffon. Their 1443 inventory mentions ―4 pennone cum grifone‖ that were stored next to the canopy lambrequins ―of the Salvatore‖ (appendix 6b, item 24). The leading role of the Nunziata The Nunziata was responsible for requesting from the Commune a magnificent canopy that dignified both the sacred panel and their own presence in these processions. The deliberations of the city official representatives around the baldachin show that it was often renewed and that it consisted of the most precious pallium given in sign of submission by the Perugian territories on March 1st. It was adorned with lambrequins (―drapellones‖) which hung from it.877 Four tall posts such as the pieces of red ―aste del Salvatore‖ listed among the confraternity‘s possessions allowed four brothers to carry it.878 This processional item enhanced the deference due to the panel of the Salvatore, as recorded in the city deliberations. It magnified the ―honor‖, ―status‖, and‖ magnificence‖ of the Massari (superintendents in bookkeeping) and of the entire population.879 In 1455, the political leaders decreed that this pallium was to be embroidered with two or three griffons in honor of and for identification 877 In 1515, the Commune gave the confraternity the considerable amount of 25 florins to have a new baldachin made. See Vermiglioli, Memoria, 87. 878 This practice of colored posts goes back to at least the Trecento. Vermiglioli, ibid., 6, found a mention of « painted posts » for the year 1377. He also found a reference of 4 big and long posts for the pallium over the Salvatore, in the years around 1390. Ibid., 3. 879 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1402, f. 154. 320 with the city.880 It must have looked similar to the baldachin of the Venetian confraternity of San Giovanni that Gentile Bellini depicted in the foreground of his Procession in Piazza San Marco (1496) (fig. 15). This canopy was the property of the confraternity, and no controversy around its porters arose, a rare phenomenon. In Bonfigli‘s fresco (fig. 1), in which a baldacchino is conspicuously missing, one can distinguish among the privileged men carrying the holy relics, a Prior, a canon in his alb holding an incense-burner, and a Dominican friar. This shows that the competition for the honor of carrying the holy relic was resolved by involving members from the three major groups leading the procession. In reality, similar arrangements were made. In Pius II‘s entry, Priors, Chamberlains, and university professors took turns in carrying the canopy, a way of avoiding any dispute.881 The return of the Salvatore from Monteluce to the cathedral on 22nd August concluded the fair that took place near the convent. The bi-annual travelling of the Salvatore panel thus brought attention to this isolated area of town where the Clares‘ monastery stood (see map, fig. 70).882 First, it was the opportunity for the nuns to receive large amount of wax since the guilds had to leave their tapers (―facole‖) there. This costly wax was used to ―honor and illuminate the body of Christ‖ during mass. 883 This means that the elevation of the Eucharist could not be properly conducted without lit candles on the altar. The festival functioned as a fund-raiser in other ways as well. Monteluce was not located along the usual processional routes. The crowds that visited the church on 14th and 15th August must have been quite an event for the cloistered nuns who year round specialized in weaving.884 880 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1455, f. 83v. Diario del Graziani, 633. 882 The monastery was built in the 1210s for the Friars Minor but given to the nuns in 1219. Ricci, ―Monteluce,‖ 148, n. 1. 883 Staccini, Ciabattini, § 45, 42 (1312) and § 85, 64-65 (1314). 884 Few processions headed towards this monastery. They did in the case of funerals, for occasional crisis processions such as in 1457 and 1476, Scalvanti, ―Cronaca inedita,‖ I: 337-8 and II: 102 (see Chapter One). 881 321 Monastic identity The ―solemnity‖ of the Assumption was the major feast of the Pooor Clares who resided at Santa Maria in Monteluce. Not only was their church dedicated to this Marian event, but having the prestigious custody of the Salvatore for eight days spotlighted the community and was a defining component of their collective identity. For the mass of 15th August, the church walls were adorned with special fabrics and the indulgence attached to this feast was given then. It was a time when illustrious personages would visit. For example, in 1509, the cardinal and bishop of Urbino personally participated in the torchlight procession of the 14th August and, on the 15th, he had a grand mass celebrated with many sumptuous vestments from his own collection. The nuns summoned the population by ringing the ninth hour on both days.885 At the end of the fifteenth century, a time when the community was thriving with up to seventy nuns (instead of forty in the mid-fifteenth century), they seem to have been even more aware of their outreach to the population. In 1495, they added a second door to their public cloister (―chiostro de fore‖) so that the crowds of mid-August could enter and leave more easily. In the mid-fifteenth century, a few nuns started writing a chronicle of the life at Monteluce, an enterprise that lasted until 1838 and that clearly shows an increased awareness of their collective religious identity.886 In October 1514, the apostolic legate of the Patrimony Province, governor of Perugia, further encouraged attendance of this ritual by granting an indulgence of ten days to whoever would enter the church on Assumption Day in addition to the plenary papal allowance.887 885 Documented in Ugolini, Memoriale de Monteluce for 1628, 361. Ibid., introduction. 887 Ibid., 107. 886 322 The Assumption procession is part of the Perugians‘ Christian identity, and it was not abolished at the time Pius V suppressed its counterpart in Rome in ca. 1566.888 It also presents one more incentive for considering history in its longue durée. Chroniclers mention the processions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as important collective rituals of the year. The panel was still the focus of attention, and it was changed to a pointed form in order to adapt it to a more modern, rococo, frame that was made of animal skins (pelli) and paper maché (cartocci), and gilded.889 Although all processions had been officially abolished in 1860, the bi-annual transfer of this painting continued until 1875. Thereafter and until 1924, no processions to Monteluce seem to have taken place. Records in the Archivio Diocesano indicate that the voyage of the Salvatore resumed in 1924 with the participation of the bishop in his grand cope (―cappa magna‖) on 14th and 22nd August.890 After the Salvatore‘s restoration was completed, a simulacrum in the form of a life-sized photograph replaced the double-sided century-old panel for the mid-August procession (fig. 125), a measure deeply regretted by the parish priest of Monteluce. Once more the city authorities exerted control over this devotional event. I have sought to expose the ritual life of a single, well-documented, confraternity to show the significance of their artistic, devotional, or ritual possessions for defining collective identity. The only extant depiction of the Nunziata members in their Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata shows a tightly-knit group, in perfect harmony while praying the Annunciate Virgin under the protective intercession of their Servite patrons. In reality, a few members, the Doctors of Law, sought primary representation and did not adopt the flagellants‘ egalitarian robe. However, the brothers‘ devotional activities in Perugian ritual life show that they were indeed unified through their responsibility for certain images. The venerated Dead 888 Kirstin Noreen, ―The icon of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome: an image and its afterlife,‖ Renaissance Studies 19 (5-2005): 660–672. 889 Ricci, ―Monteluce,‖157, with no reference. 890 I owe this information to Isabella Farinelli, curator of the Archivio Diocesano, whom I deeply thank here. 323 Christ and Salvatore were exceptional artifacts only seen for a few days per year that reinforced the confraternity‘s prestige. These two images may seem to have eclipsed the primordial role of banners in representing collective identity, but they actually were only seen in association with the ordinary banners of the Confraternity. Although ephemeral and not as well documented, banners were nevertheless indispensable to gather the brothers in processions and further their image of unity. Banners should be seen as important movable pictures of an artistic and devotional nature but also as a commodity that could be replaced. When I first started this project, I thought that the main banner of the Nunziata brothers was the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata, given its name in fifteenth-century records. By contextualizing this painting within the material culture of the brotherhood, I now think that it was deemed too beautiful to suffer damage. Its elaborate composition, its brilliant colors, and its iconography highlighting important members turned it into a painting that had to be preserved. Visual and textual evidence reveal the numerous social networks that were involved in the public exhibition of this work in a popular and richly-decorated holy building. This stationary painting contributed to forming the confraternity‘s reputation while the ritual motion of venerated images gave the Nunziata members great visibility in the city all year round. 324 Excursus no. 4: The scholarly inscription on the Gonfalone dell’Annunziata (figs. 71a and 103) On the bottom edge of the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata, an inscription imitating ancient epigraphy identifies the patrons of this painting and the year, 1466. Studying the style of this inscription situates this painting within the Renaissance and also reveals the strategies of the prominent sponsors of this work. Perugia, a city that Niccolò di Liberatore had undoubtedly visited, offered excellent examples of ancient epigraphy on its Etruscan gates. Additionally, the famous Roman statement ―PERUSIA AUGUSTA‖ (that is, Perugia conquered by Emperor Augustus) was carved by Agostino di Duccio on the recently completed façade (1462) of the Oratory of San Bernardino in a beautiful classical majuscule lettering (fig. 13b). Niccolò‘ s adoption of Roman capital letters for his pictorial inscription follows a trend that prevailed in Italian art from the 1420s.891 This enthusiasm for imitating Roman epigraphy is especially visible in the work of Florentine sculptors and painters such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Bernardo Rosellino, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, and Benozzo Gozzoli.892 Like Alberti‘s Rucellai sepulchre in San Pancrazio (Florence) of the late 1460s (fig. 103), this inscription fills the space of the ledge; it also seems to support the floor above it. However, Niccolò‘s lettering does not reach the spare elegance and restrained measure visible in Alberti‘s square and wide letters distributed at equal intervals, admired by Vasari.893 Additionally, the 891 For examples and illustrations of the Gothic majuscules in painting, see Dario Covi, ―Lettering in Fifteenth Century Florentine Painting,‖ in The Art Bulletin 45 (1-1963): 1-28, especially 2-3 and ill. 5 and 9. For an equivalent study focusing on Renaissance sculpture, Millard Meiss, ―Toward a more comprehensive Renaissance Paleography,‖ The Art Bulletin 42 (2-1960): 97-112. 892 See Covi, ibid., for examples and analysis of the lettering shapes. For a survey of how the rediscovery of classical inscriptions affected Renaissance epigraphy including the Bolognese sepulchral monuments dedicated to the university lecturers of law, see John Sparrow, Visible Words. A Study of Inscriptions in and as Books and Works of Art (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969) and Grandi, I monumenti dei Dottori. 893 See Vasari‘s ―Life of Leon Battista Alberti‖ (1568 edition) in Gaetano Milanesi, ed., Le opere di Giorgio Vasari con nuove annotazioni e commenti (Florence: G. C. Sansoni, 1973 [1906]), II: 543. 325 Umbrian artist has not centered his inscription, which reaches the right end of the ledge but starts at a distance from the left rim. In fact, Niccolò does not integrate the mid-century stylistic innovations introduced by Mantegna and Donatello who perfected the lettere antiche by purging them of inconsistencies and non-classical conventions. Closer examination of Niccolò‘s lettering reveals a lack of geometric consistency and regularity in the shape of the tall and closely-set letters. For example, their height is fairly consistent but their width varies slightly as well as their spacing, and some words seem to stretch on the line because they are formed by wider units (―HOC‖ / ―A.D.‖). At mid-caption, the hem of a doctor‘s cape interrupts the regular spelling of the word ―FIERI‖ by separating further the first ―I‖ from the following ―E‖, an indication that the inscription was painted after the figures. The rhomboids dividing each word, unlike Roman phrasing, vary in size and the layout of the entire inscription does not rest on a straight horizontal line. Even less imitative of ancient Roman inscriptions are the uncial Es, borrowed from the Gothic majuscule alphabet. Only ―FECIT‖ has an appropriately square E. Another non-classical feature is the compact ―I‖ of ―ANUNTIATE‖ which is compressed under the capital T. These deviant graphic forms, to use Armando Petrucci‘s expression, were a contemporary phenomenon, observable, for example, in Sano di Petro‘s mixed script or in engravings. These anomalies disappeared in the 1490s at a time when Florentine editors started to eliminate them from printed books. These deviances became then typical of vernacular inscriptions of a more popular nature seen on ceramics or ex-votos. Dario Covi notes that, before 1470, even progressive masters highly aware of geometric shapes and antique lettering conventions did not avoid such departures from classical models. 326 For example, Piero della Francesca included an uncial E in the inscription of the double portrait of the duke and duchess of Urbino.894 The inscription remains nevertheless highly legible and shapely, convincingly placed at the approximate center of the ledge. Moreover, it is undisturbed by any scroll or text accompanying Gabriel‘s announcement. The impression of classic monumentality is preserved, lending authority and beauty to the identified confraternity and to the entire image, according to the new humanistic interests. The preference for Roman capitals in titles (and sometimes in chapter beginnings) is also apparent in manuscript and early printed books beginning in the 1460s.895 Niccolò may have had contact with one of the earliest printers present in Italy, the German Johann Neumeister who worked, probably as soon as 1463, as a manuscript copyist in Niccolò‘s hometown, Foligno. Around 1470, he set up a printing shop there and, in 1472, published the first printed version of Dante‘s Commedia Divina.896 894 Armando Petrucci, Public Lettering. Script, Power, and Culture (Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1993 [1986]), chapter 9. For a comprehensive and well-illustrated presentation of this phenomenon, see Covi, Lettering, 6-8. 895 For examples of Italian manuscripts adopting Latin epigraphy for capital letters, see almost all figures in the Renaissance section of François Avril, Dix siècles d‟enluminure italienne, VIe-XVIe siècles (Paris : Bibliothèque nationale, 1984), 109-179. For examples of Umbrian incunabula, see Andrea Capaccioni, Lineamenti di storia dell‟editoria umbra, il Quattrocento e il Cinquecento (Perugia: Volumnia, 1996). 896 On Johann Neumeister (or Numeister), see Capaccioni, ibid., 19-24. On early typography and printing in Foligno, see his bibliography in footnote 2, page 19. 327 CONCLUSION In the De Sphaera illuminated page showing a public execution (fig. 39), we see a ritual that unfolds in fictive city, embedded in a system of symbolic representations. It is fiction because the coat of arms depicted on the city walls is invented (except that of the patron of the manuscript). The heraldic colors of this urban community are repeated in the city guards‘ civic livery, and in their shields and flags. The chief justice‘s legitimate power is visible because from his mount, he raises a baton signaling his order, next to the billowing standard of that city. Confraternity members specialized in the care of the condemned can be recognized through their white habits, their tavoletta meant to convert the criminal, and their banner behind which they huddle together. Thus, the urban world, social status, profession, and devotional engagement are typified by symbolic representations. This image sums up the undercurrent theme of my dissertation, collective identity, and it shows that a wide array of symbolic artifacts represented this notion. Once examined in ritual contexts, these identity markers reveal their role in fostering authority, corporate awareness and consensus. I have focused on a special genre of paintings, banners and other mobile paintings that also had a devotional function. I analyze the activities of confraternities because they were, in general, in charge of these objects. However, I have also included other social groups: guilds, neighborhood companies, aristocratic clans, and city officials in order to get a more complete picture of the visual and material culture of late medieval and renaissance Italy through the example of a representative city, Perugia. Thus, in agreement with the visual environment of the confraternal banner depicted in the De Spherae scene, I have not dissociated confraternity gonfaloni from a wide variety of flags, civic, professional, religious, or heraldic ones because they had similar roles. In addition, I have also taken in my 328 purview mobile paintings on wood such as the tavolette of public executions or the YHS tablets launched by Bernardino da Siena. Archival records have left very little information on the use of ecclesiastical, guild, neighborhood, and confraternity banners in ordinary processions, probably on account of their ubiquity and predictability. Visual evidence is also scarce or must be taken with a grain of salt. We have seen that in Bonfigli‘s Second Translation (fig. 1), the prevalence of architectural symbols over processional paraphernalia is striking. Gentile Bellini similarly downplayed the role of flags from his depiction of the Procession in Piazza San Marco (fig. 15). Guild and confraternity statutory provisions for processions are mainly concerned with the members‘ mandatory equipment with tapers or candles of a precise weight according to their status within the group, thus marking hierarchy within the group. A corporately-owned flag, on the contrary, rallied the entire association. What distinguished mobile paintings from other symbolic representations is their double function as signs of identity and devotional, or even liturgical, artefacts. I have situated gonfaloni as a hybrid genre with textile or wood supports, visually akin to the nature of flags through their visibility, the clarity of their imagery, and their elevated position. Studying gonfaloni as artistic objects worthy of museological display would be missing an essential element in their raison d‘être, i.e. ritual performances. Gonfaloni worked like other symbolic features of rituals, such as clothing, sculptures, and wax: they identified a group, announced social status and authority, and represented group solidarity. Their use within ritual contexts also explains the thaumaturgic qualities that some paintings acquired. The dichotomy between ordinary and extraordinary gonfaloni that I propose is a useful typology to understand the disappearance or survival of these objects, and a way to refine the analysis of their functions. Extraordinary gonfaloni were essentially objects of cult. They had the leading part in penitential processions that gathered the population and acted 329 then as visual magnets for public manifestations of penance and contrition. But as altarpieces, prayers were addressed to them and mass was celebrated in front of them. In such contexts, they were indispensable images to which the faithful turned to in expectation of miraculous intercession. They brought prestige to the groups in charge of them (usually confraternities) and promoted the religious order that had initiated their creation and accommodated them. The elaborate care that they generated was expressed by the many candles around them, the ex-votos that they attracted, and their lavish frames and altars. Like any sacred paintings, they were protected by silk curtains that were lifted only in special occasions. It seems that in Umbria, they visually competed with the display of relics and even substituted physical remains of saints for major penitential processions. Umbria may be the region of Italy (or of Europe?) most specialized in extraordinary banners but further research is necessary to assess the situation. Ordinary gonfaloni were used by groups such as guilds, neighborhood associations, or confraternities and worked as commodities that could be easily replaced by copying the previous paintings. Confraternity gonfaloni were of a devotional nature not only because they showed Christ, Mary, or/and a patron saint taken as protectors of the association, but also because they were the support for a range of pious activities that benefited their owners. They also participated in the process of spiritual purification and thus their existence and care benefited the whole urban community. Because of visual competition among confraternities, the brothers made sure that professionals, and in many cases, masters of local or international fame executed them. This aspect is what saved many from destruction. Praised as aesthetic objects made by an important painter, many ordinary gonfaloni became altarpieces as a way to preserve them from the wear and tear occasioned by processions. Thus, an important aspect of the ritual function of gonfaloni was their immobility. Exploring ―moving‖ pictures means therefore examining also their afterlife or their double 330 function as processional and stationary paintings. While a fixed position explains why many banners have survived, the circumstances of this spatial shift differ in each case. While it seems natural for extraordinary banners to be elevated to the status of altarpieces, it was not a systematic procedure for ordinary banners. A thorough study on how brotherhoods dealt with them, decades after their making, awaits its historian. There may even be ―banners‖ that were not meant at all to be processed but acquired the name gonfaloni because they were painted on textile in the vertical format typical of large processional paintings. Similarly, in the catalogue of the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria, Francesco Santi qualifies several paintings on cloth as gonfaloni although they were likely propagandistic paintings or devotional ones that cost less as their wooden counterpart (see appendix no. 3). I have discussed mainly two paintings (figs. 13a and 71a) corresponding to this name-less type. The Gonfalone of San Bernardino (fig. 13a) is poorly documented and its actual use remains an open question. The Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (fig. 71a) is, on the contrary, documented as such as soon as it was made but no subsequent source records it among the processional paraphernalia of the Nunziata confraternity. I think that it may have been conceived as a gonfalone but not processed because of its stunning beauty, or it was labeled gonfalone because of its textile support although it had from the start a representative function. Only minute micro-histories for other ambivalent cases may produce a better understanding for this special genre. Social identity is the undercurrent theme of the entire dissertation and it binds all the objects I discussed into a larger semiotic ensemble. My study of general processions leads me to conclude that the images carried in them brought to the fore the distinctive identity of each group while offering a stage for the prestige of city officials. While groups competed with one another whatever the nature of their activities, solidarity between members of the same party was expressed in different ways. A consistent collective behavior and sharing visual 331 symbols, such as clothing or a processional image, made members bond and elicited their pride in their corporate identity. General processions were opportunities for groups to gain public recognition. They did so by parading the flags, banners, paintings, or sculptures that they collectively owned. In elite funerals, flags signified an individual‘s identity as a member of a family clan, as a lord, or as a military commander, or all of the above. Participating in mandatory processions and wearing a membership outfit while carrying tapers or candles demonstrated obeisance both to the group‘s regulations and to the civic ones. Sounds, smells, and food (in neighborhood‘s banquets, for example) were other sensory stimuli shared in public. All these symbolic representations contributed to the internal solidarity of groups. I have tried to show the mechanisms for asserting collective identity from corporatelyowned images. Flags and banners were major constituents of the symbolic system launched in rituals. Without ritual practices though, symbols cannot deploy their power of persuasion or stimulate cognition. Kertzer has argued that even if rituals could present a lack of consensus, their cognitive effects of solidarity operated because of the general agreement of the appropriateness of certain actions in certain circumstances. 897 I have highlighted the devotional, propagandistic, and identifying functions of ―moving pictures.‖ Did these objects allow the population to experience their urban identity (here, as Perugians)? In other words, did Perugian citizens define themselves primarily as members of a specific group or was there a Perugian identity that superseded one‘s local identity? The flags and banners that each group followed must have given the impression of harmony with a single, long cortège of the faithful marching at a slow pace and in neat rows. Whether the common feeling was that of a tightly-knit communitas is questionable because not everyone was included in such events and because conflict was always possible. But the spectacle offered by the ―moving‖ pictures discussed in this dissertation was undoubtedly stunning and a source of shared emotions. 897 Kertzer, Ritual, Politics, 67-69. 332 APPENDICES I have set in bold the passages commented on in this dissertation. For the transcription of texts in the vernacular, I separated words and introduced diacritical signs according to current Italian editorial practice. See the glossary for an explanation of a few vernacular terms. | | later additions or emendations in the margins or added at the end of a line. () uncertain resolution of abbreviations. *** blank in the original text. … illegible word or set of words. <> crossed out or cancelled words. [] lacuna in the original text (mostly due to a paper damage) / editorial annotation / integration of missing letters. ASP= Archivio Storico di Perugia / ASCPg = Archivio Storico del Comune di Perugia BAP = Biblioteca Augusta, Perugia BDAnn = Biblioteca Dominicini, Perugia: fondo Confraternita dell‘Annunziata 1. Timeline: history of Perugia 2a. Description of the city flag, 1378 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze anno 1378, f. 206v: ―Declaratio donationis armorum civitatis domino potestatis‖ (24th June) 2b. The civic flag is granted to the Podestà and the Capitano del popolo (1468) ASP, ASCPg,, Riformanze, anno 1468, f. 112v : « provisio xxv florenorums pro insignis domini potestatis » 3. The civic livery of the fifers ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze 1433 (15th September), f. 191v-192r 4a. Prescriptions for city-wide ordinary processions from the printed city statutes: Primum volumen statutorum augustae Perusiae (Perusiae: in aedibus Hieronymi Francisci Chartularii, 1526), f. 41rv 4b. Dispute for precedence between the cathdral canons and the Confraternity of the Gonfalone ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze 1539, f. 231r (15th March) 5. Prescriptions addressed to priests about processions from: Albertus Castellanus, Liber Sacerdotis (…) secundum ritum Sancte Romane & apotolice ecclesie [Rituale Romanum] (Venice: Victor a Rabanis, 1537), 231v-232r 6. Inventory of the possessions of the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata 6a. 1388. BDAnn: Libro del camerlengo, 1385-1392, ff. 33r-35v. 6b. 1443-1472. BDAnn: Memoriale dei contratti, 89-92. 6c. 15th c. (non dated). Ibid., 95-96. 6d. Confraternal identity through sixteenth-century inventories 6e. 1602. BDAnn: Libro dei partiti 1505-1566 7. Perpetual concession by the Perugian Servites of the newly built Annunciation Chapel in Santa Maria dei Servi to the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata. 29th April 1466. BDAnn. Memoriale dei contratti,1333-1594, 79-81. 333 8. The city Priori allocate, by law, a 25-florin subsidy to the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata to adorn their chapel in Santa Maria of the Servites. 25/6/ 1466. ASPg, ASCPg, Consigli e riformanze, 102 (f. 70r and 72v) 9. Inventory of the Chapel of the Nunziata in Santa Maria dei Servi (Perugia), 22 Aprile 1470. ASPg, ASCPg, Giudiziario antico, Iura diversa, IV 10. Inventory of the church of Santa Maria dei Servi, 1/8/1492. ASPg, ASCPg, Giudiziario antico, Iura diversa 12, anno 1470 (loose sheet). 11. The Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo in its liturgical setting ASP, ASCPg, Archivio di San Fiorenzo 26, f. 64r 12. De processione et luminaria annuatim facienda Consortium of the notaries, 1403 statute, BAP, ms. 973, ff. 36v-37r; 40r. 13. Agreement between the ‗consorzio‘ of the notaries and the ‗collegio‘ of the doctors of law on 15th October 1406 BAP, ms. 973, Matricola del Collegio dei notai, ff. 70r-71v 14. Malatesta Baglioni‘s funeral proceedings (January-February 1437) from ―Cronaca del Graziani,‖ in Archivio Storico Italiano XVI (1850), 412-414. 15. Professional occupation of Nunziata members (1418-1546) 16. The Servites‘ transfer to Santa Maria Nuova transcribed by Vermiglioli in 1802 from ―Memorie del convento e della chiesa di S. Maria dei Servi di Perugia‖ by G.M. Bruni, 1753 (non extant manuscript). ASP, ASPg, Posizioni di causa disposte per alfabeto 23, fasc. 38. 17. Easter and Assumption festival from Ottaviano Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, midseventeenth century, BAP, ms. 5 18. Good Friday and jubilee procession in Perugia, 20th April 1576 BDAnn: Libro dei Partiti, 1505-1566, f. 55r (Perugia: Biblioteca Dominicini) 19. Contract between painter Giovanni di Giorgio and the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata ASP, ASCPg, Protocolli 485, f. 304r 20. Bequest of 26 florins to have lambrequins made for the baldacchino used during the Easter processions of the Nunziata [1st May 1538] BDAnn: Memoriale dei contratti, 86-87 21. Glossary 334 Appendix 1 Timeline: History of Perugia The basic references are Pellini‟s Dell‘historia di Perugia (written in 1593) and Bonazzi, Storia di Perugia (1860). Major contributions for medieval and renaissance times include J. Grundman for the 12th-14th centuries; A. Grohman for urbanism; Maire Vigueur for political institutions, and articles by C. Black (see bibliography). A good summary in English is provided by J. Banker (1997). A substantial bibliography up to 1992 is given by Mario Roncetti in Grundman‟s book (XXI-XXXIV). However, a comprehensive history of Perugia remains to be written. End of 8th c. 1256 May 1260 1266 1295 1315 1393-1398 1400-1402 1408-1414 1416 1416-1424 1424 1425 1437 1452 1457-61 1459 1462 1473 1480s 1487 1500 1540 1542 1553 1860 Perugia is part of the Papal States (until 1860) Statuto del Comune: the earliest recollection of civic law Fra Ranieri launches the disciplinati movement, officially sanctioned by the Commune foundation of the Studium [1362-68: Sapienza Vecchia for 6 students of theology and six of jurisprudence; : Sapienza Nuova]; Fontana maggiore?? The collective ordinances of the guilds (ordinamenta artium) become the supreme legislation of the Commune with 10 guildsmen elected as Priors with short-term offices; The popolo minuto founds the office of the Camerarii (Chamberlains) The statutes of the Popolo and the statutes of the Commune merge: establishment of a durable administrative structure based on all guilds in theory (on the major oes in practice) Biordo Michelotti, lord of Perugia (assassinated 1398) Signoria of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan Ladislaus of Naples, lord of Perugia Patriciate gains right to belong to guilds Braccio Fortebraccio, lord of Perugia; Malatesta Baglioni is granted fiefs by the pope Papal overlordship: restoration of papal authority (Martin V) represented by a cardinal legate (―governor‖) but continuation of magistracy of the Priori. First stay of preacher Bernardino da Siena (Chapter 4) Malatesta Baglioni‘s funeral (Chapter 2) Annual procession for San Bernardino established ―in perpetuity‖ Construction of Oratory of San Bernardino Entry of Pius II (Chapter 2) First Monte di Pietà founded Holy Ring of the Virgin acquired by Priori; kept in Palazzo until 1486 (then special chapel in the cathedral) Open fighting between the Oddi and the Baglioni The office of the Capitano del Popolo is suppressed. Nozze rosse: bloody vendettas among the Baglioni ―Guerra del sale‖: Pope Paul III‘s troops invade the city; construction of the Rocca Paolina and demolition of the Baglioni‘s residences (colle Landone) The pope suppresses the Priorate. Demolition of Santa Maria dei Servi (Chapter 5) The Servites move with all their church and convent furnishings to Santa Maria Nuova Julius III restores the magistracy The Perugians demolish the Rocca Paolina 335 Appendix 2a ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze anno 1378, f. 206v: Declaratio donationis armorum civitatis domino potestatis (24th June) At the end of the Podestà‟s term, the Perugian flag is conferred to him in an honorific sign of his “well-deserved and loyal services” for the Commune (see 2b for other examples). This official transcript of the Priori‟ s deliberations is a rare description of the civic flag (in bold characters). Offitiales Comunis Perusii dudum electi et deputatis per Magnificos Dominos presentes Priores artium civitatis Perusii ad honorandum donis militaribus et armis nobile et strenium militem dominum Herrichum Malaspine de oppiçis de Luccha, honorabilem potestatis Comunis Perusii, propter sua benemerita et fideles operationes pro dicto comuni et populo perusino factis secundum tenorem ordinamenti nuper hediti per dictos dominos Priores et Camerarios de quibus ordinis et electis supra latius patet manu mei notarius infrascripti, in pallatio residentie Dominorum Priorum collegialiter congregati pro dicto eorum offitio exercendo habito cum pluribus discretis civibus prius consilio et anima advertentes diligentius gesta viriliter providere et feliciter per ispum dominum Herrichum in honorem, statum Comuni Perusii constitutionem et sterminium Bictoniensium [Bettona] emulorum et rebelliuum comunis Perusii et aliorum ipsi comunis rebellium qui in dicta terrra Bictonii receptantur et morans trahunt et volentes secundum eorum discretionem statu Comunis populi perusini et eius honore consideratur prefato domino Herricho de militaribus donis et armis providere inter ipsos omnes presentes in concordia partito diligenter posito et obtempto sollepniter secundum statutum comunis Perusii formam et exigentiam dicti ordinamenti formam sequentes ex omni potestate et bailia eis concessis et actributis per dictum ordinamentum et ex omni quam habent supra infrascriptis omnique modo via iure quibus melius utilius et efficatius potuerunt, ordinaverunt, statuerunt, reformaverunt quod expensis Comunis Perusii de avere et peccunia comunis Perusii ad manus massariorum ipsi comunis pervecta dru pervenienda. Ipsi massarii possint, teneantur, debeant emere et fieri facere unum stendardum de serico rubeo cum uno griffone in medio eius coloris argenti sive albi, cum una corona de auro in capitis ipsi griffonis et cum rostro aureo et etiam unguibus et cum uno scuto sive clipeo pendenti cum collum super spatulis [sic] dicti griffonis quod clipeus listatum sit per traversum cum listis sex, tribus coloris celestis sive aççuri et tribus albis sive argenteis, cum una asta sive lancea supra qua dictum stendardum ponatur et similiter unum scutum sive targeam cum similibus armis et ornatis cum frangiis de sericho, bullis et aliis consuetis; et quod dicti massarii possint eisque liceat iure eorum discretionem illud expendere de dicta peccunia comunis Perusii quod eis visum fuerit et insupra etiam statuerunt quod finito tempore sindicatis ipsi 336 domini Herrici potestatis, Domini Priores artium pro tempore existentes ispsum stendardum, scutum sive targecta vice, nomine Comunis Perusii ipsi domino Herricho in remuneratione benegestorum per eum publice ante portam pallatii Dominorum Priorum artium civitatis Perusii donare, tradere possint, non ante. 337 Appendix 2b ASP, ASCPg,, Riformanze, anno 1468, f. 112v : « provisio xxv florenorums pro insignis domini potestatis » Exactly at the end of a six-month term, on 4th December 1468, the Council of the Chamberlains (camerarii) agreed to grant the city coat of arms and insignia to the Podestà Johannes Baptista de Arengheriis from Siena.898 Tthe ballot was renewed the next day to include the Priori who consented on behalf of the podestà‟s love and efficiency for public service. A flag bearing the arms of Perugia is thus commissioned at a cost of 25 florins in recognition and acknowledgement (in signum et testimonium) of Arengheris‟s good deeds. This honor was not systematic but numerous other examples can be found in the municipal deliberations. ―Item cum pro parte magnifici et generosi equitis domini Johannis Baptisti de Arengheriis de Senis, honorabilis potestatis civitatis ex (sic) comitatus Perusii, humiliter fuerit supplicatum prelibatis Magnificis Dominis Prioribus et camerariis ut de benigna gratia placeat eidem concedere arma et insignia huius magnifice civitatis, ideo volentes prelibati Magnifici Domini Priores et camerarii ipsum dominum potestatem benemeritum de suis bonis operibus remunerari ut ipsi semper ubique de sua integra fide et legalitate possit gloriari et eidem dicta insignia largiri tunc propter virtutes suas cum etiam cum summa diligentia, integra fide et amore, erga rem publicam perusinam pertinentia ad eius offitum exercuit, puniendo malos et premiando bonos, igitur hac re preposita inter dictos Magnificos Dominos Priores videlicet die precedenti factis prepositis et misso partito ad bussulam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum et sollepniter obtentis per omnes decem mittentes et restituentes eorum fabas albas, et hodie inter dictos Magnificos Dominos Priores et camerarios factis, prepositis et missis partitis ad bussulam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum sollepniter obtentis per xxxviiii camerarios mittentes et restituentes eorum fabas albas quinque nigris in contrarium repertis non obstantibus vigore decreti prelibati reverendissimi domini gubernatoris quo cavetur quod prelibati Magnifici Domini Priori et camerarii impune possint mitti ad partitum predictam. Ex omnibus arbitriis, auctoritatibus, potestatibus ex baliis eisdem Magnificis Dominis Prioribus et camerariis coniuctim vel divisim concessis et attributis per summam quorumcumque statutorum et ordinamentorum comunis Perusii et omni meliori modo, via, iure et forma quibus magis et melius potuerunt, statuerunt et reformaverunt et ordinaverunt quod in signum et testimonium bene gestorum eidem domino potestati concedantur insignia et arma comunis et civitatis Perusii et expendantur pro vexillo fiendo cum dictis armis de pecuniis comunis Perusii floreni vigintiquinque ad rationem 36 bolognini pro floreno pro ut alii consueverunt non obstantibus quibuscumque mandantes ex nunc depositario comunis Perusii quatenus ad bollectinum Magnificorum Dominorum Priorum det et solvat dicto domino potestati dictos xxv florenos ad dictam rationem de quibuscumque pecuniis comunis Perusii causa solvendi pro dicto vexillo non obstantibus quibuscumque‖. (…) 898 The standard work on the offices of the podestà and the capitano is Vittorio Giorgetti, Podestà, Capitani del popolo e loro ufficiali a Perugia (1195-1500) (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo, 1993). For this podestà, see 272-3. 338 Confirmation of the expense on 7th December 1468 (ASP, ASCP, Riformanze, anno 1468, f. 115r (7th December) ―Item mandamus vobis Francescus et Galiotto Oddi depositariis prefatis quatenus viso presenti nostro bolleteno, detis et solvatis magnifico et preclaro equiti domino Johanni Baptiste de Arengheriis potestatis nostre civitatis florenos vigintiquinque ad rationem 36 bologneni per florenum pro insignis et vexillo per ipsum (sic) fiendo cum armis comunis Perusii in remuneratione et testificatione suarum virtutum et suorum bene meritorum sibi debitos vigore legis edite in consilio camerariorum sub 1468 et de iiii mensis decembris manu Ser Simonis Johannes cum sit obtentum inter nos ad bussulam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum per omnes X mittentes et restituentes eorum fabas albas nulla nigra in contrarium reperta ex palatio die vii decembris‖. The same year, the Capitano del Popolo is granted the city flag with an almost identical juridical formula but this standard costs 5 florins less. ASP, ASCP, Riformanze, anno 1468, f. 120v-121r ―In primis quod cum pro parte magnifici equitis domini Petri de Falconeriis de Esculo honorabilis Capitanei popoli civitatis Perusii humiliter fuerit supplicatum prelibatis Magnificis Dominis Prioribus et camerariis ut de benigna gratia placeat concedetur eidem arma et insignia huius magnifice comitatis, ideo volentes prelibati Magnifici Domini Priores et camerarii ipsum dominum potestatem capitaneum et suis bonis operibus remunerari ut ipsi semper de sua integra fide et legalitate ubique possit gloriari et eidem dicta insignia elargiri tunc propter virtutes suas tunc etiam cum summa diligentia, integratate et amore erga rem publicam perusinam pertinentia ad eis offitium exercuiret, i gitur hac re preposita inter dictos Magnificos Dominos Priores videlicet die precedenti factis prepositis et misso partito ad bussolam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum et sollepniter obtentis per omnes decem mittentes et restituentes eorum fabas albas nulla in contrarium reperta, et hodie inter dictos dominos camerarios factis prepositis et missis partitis ad bussulam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum et sollepniter obtentis vigore decreti prelibati reverendissimi domini gubernatoris per triginta duos camerarios mittentes et restituentis eorum fabas albas del sic duodecim nigris in contrarium repertis non obstantibus. Ex omnibus arbitriis, auctoritatibus, potestatibus ex baliis eisdem Magnificis Dominis Prioribus et camerariis concessis et attributis per formam quorumcumque statutorum et ordinamentorum comunis Perusii et omni meliori modo, via, iure et forma quibus magis et melius fieri potest, statuerunt, ordinaverunt et reformaverunt quod in signum et testimonium bene gestorum eidem domino capitaneo contedantur insignia et arma comunis Perusii viginti florenos ad rationem 36 bolognini pro floreno non obstantibus quibuscumque mandantes ex nunc depositario comunis Perusii quatenus ad bolletinum Magnificorum Dominorum Priorum det et solvat dicto domino capitaneo dictos xx florenos ad dictam rationem et quibuscumque pecuniis causa solvatis pro dicto vexillo non obstantibus quibuscumque. »899 899 For this Capitano, ibid., 452-3. 339 Appendix 3 ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze, anno 1433 (15th September), f. 191v-192r The civic livery of the fifers This law establishes that the two city fifers must wear the same outfit as the other city employees working in the service of the Priori. At the city’s expense (five florins each), their clothing will be renewed every year during the calends of January. Ten years later, this sum for a livery made of red and blue cloth was doubled (see Riformanze of 20 th January 1443: “Bulletinum pifarorum vestuantis”). ―Quod piffari habeant fl. V pro quolibet pro indumentis, Item cum Stefanus et Antonius de Malgliano ... pifera conducti ad servitia palatii M[agnificorum] D[ominorum] Priorum vigore eorum conducte non habeant vestimenta de divisa a comuni Perusii quem ad modum habent domicelli et tubatores et alli de dicto palatio et pro honore dicti palatii et M. D. Priorum qui pro tempore exunt equum arbitretur dictos piferos assotiare debere M. D. Priores indutos cum vestimentis equalibus et conformibus aliis vestimentis aliorum de dicto palatio indutorum et de eorum salario indui nequeant pro parte paupertatem et paucitates salari aliqualiter per M.D.Priores et camerarios misericordis et aliquali suffragio pro indeatur ad hoc ut possint se indui de divisa qui M. D. Priores omnis decem presented in concordia exeuntes collegialiter et congregati in dicta eorum capella (…) ordinaverunt, deliberaverunt, decreverunt et reformaverunt quod dicti piferi habeant et habere debeant a comuni Perusii pro presenti anno incepto in kalendis mensis Januari et ut sequentis servientur pro parte eorum indumentorum de divisa et ad hoc ut habilius se possint indui ultra salarium eis deputatum quique florenos ad solidos lxxxx pro quolibet floreno. Et quod dicti piferi tenantur et debeant se indui hoc anno indumentis de divisa et ea continue portare pro ut faciunt domicelli et alii de dicti domo (…).‖ 340 Appendix 4a: Prescriptions for city-wide ordinary processions from the printed city statutes: Primum volumen statutorum augustae Perusiae (Perusiae: in aedibus Hieronymi Francisci Chartularii, 1526), f. 41rv (The city statutes of 1342 correspond to the beginning of §92 of the 1520s statutes. Trevor Dean offers a partial translation of the 1342 text but he mixed up the order of the guilds. See Dean, The Towns of Italy, 127-8.) §92 : Quod ordine artes et artifices accedant tempore processionum cum luminariis Ad evitandas rissas et contemptiones que cotidie erant inter artes et artifices artium quando accedebant cum lumine in vigilia beatissime Virginis Marie de mense augustii et in vigilia beati Herculani ad processiones et in aliis processionibus per statuta comunis Perusie et ut rumor vel discordia inter dictos artifices non sit in futurum : Statuimus et ordinamus quod artes et artifices ipsarum artium infrascripto modo debeant cum lumine ad ipsas ecclesias accedere et ordinare ut inferius declaratur est que vadunt similiter cum lumine ad ecclesiam beati Costantii et ad ecclesiam beati Dominici de mense Augusti et in aliis processionibus predictis et sic accedere debeat et non aliter ullo modo; et quecumquam ars modum infrascriptum et ordinem fregerit, vel non post artem inferius ordinatatur accederet, puniatur ars et camerarius ipsius artis in C libris denariorum. Et de predictis potestas et capitaneus contra artem vel artes et contra camerarios inquirere teneantur et repertos culpabiles punire et condennare in dicta pena : quod si negligentes fuerint in libris denariorum debeant per eorum sindicatorem condemnari. Et potestas et capitaneus et priores artium pena ccccc librae denariorum duobus diebus antequem dicte processiones fieri debeat banniri facere teneantur in scalis palatii in medio platee et etiam in diebus vigiliarum seu processionum dictarum et nominare singulas artes et quamlibet per se, videlicet talis sit prima et talis secunda et talis tertia et quarta ut inferius continetur et de hoc expresse sindicentur et teneantur reddere rationem. Ordo quarum artium inferius est expressus, videlicet quod in processionibus et luminariis supradictis post processionem religiosorum et fratrum et clericorum accedant domines rector scolarium et universatis et doctores Studii perusini cum universitate scolariorum dicti Studii et post modum domini potestas et capitaneus et domini priores artium et postmodum Prima ars accedens sit ars Mercantie et eius artifices Secunda ars sit ars Cambii et eius artifices Tertia ars sit ars Calzolarie et eius artifices Quarta ars sit ars Sutorum et eius artifices Quinta ars sit ars Lane et eius artifices Sexta ars magistorum lignaminis et lapidum Septima arts Macellatorum et eius artifices Octava ars fabrorum et omnes artifices Nona ars Albergatorum et Tabernariorum et panis coculorum et eius artifices Decima ars pannorum veterum et ars ferrariorum et ars scutellariorum et eorum artifices Undecima ars Pizicarellorum Duodecima ars Piscium Decimatertia procacciantium Decimaquarta ars Barberiorum Decimaquinta Tegulariorum Decimasexta Bovateriorum 341 Decimaseptima ars Speciarie Et postmodum subsequenter alie artes ordinate procedant sicut ipse alie artes et eo ordine quo scripte sunt supra in LXXXVII capitulo quod incipit nulla ars aliquo capitulo vel reformatione modo aliquo non obstante. Hoc tamen addito quod in qualibet lumenaria et processione, ad minus quatuor ex prioribus artium remanere debeant in palatio eorum residentie si eis videbit esse opportunum et mittere faculas pro eorum familiares: pena ipsis dominis prioribus predicta non observantibus et dictis artibus et camerariis ipsarum artium contrafacientibus in non servando predicta omnia et singula pro vice qualibet C libras denariorum quam penam ipso facto incurrant. Et ab eis de facto exigatur per dominos potestatem et capitaneum vel alterorum eorum ex officio ipsorum vel ad petitionem cuiuscumquem petentis. Et de predictis expresse debeant sindicari. Et quod qualibet ars et camerarius cuiuslibet artis cum illis artificibus eorum artis quos comode habere poterunt. Ita tamen quod quolibet camerarius artis grosse ducat ad minus quindecim artifices. Et quolibet camerarius artis parve quinquem artifices teneantur et debeant accedere ad luminarias que fuerint in festo sancti Constantii et in festo sancti Herculani et in festo Absumptionis beate Virginis Marie de mense augusti et tempore indulgentie loci fratrum predicatorum que est secunda et tertia diebus de mense augusti et in aliis luminariis per formam statutorum specificatis pena arti et camerario cuilibet contrafacienti s (?) arti grosse xxv librae denariorum et arti parve X librae denariorum eisdem de facto auferenda per maiorem sindicum comunis Perusie cuius pene medietas sit communis et alia medietas sit officialis facientis executionem. Item dicimus statuentes quod in vigilia beati Herculani artifices non debeant laborare nec operari artem eorum nec ipso die festi et duobus diebus sequentibus ipsum festum et quicunque contrafecerit solvat pro vice quodlibet qua fuerit operatus aliquod X libras denariorum. Et de predictis quolibet possit esse accusator et habeat medietatem banni et nihilominus de predictis potestas et capitaneus et eorum iudices inquirere teneantur. Volumus etiam ac ordinamus quod omnes artifices qui debent accedere cum eorum artibus cum luminariis ad ecclesiam beati Herculani accedant in vigilia dicte festivitatis et societates accedant et accedere debeant cum dictis luminariis in die festivitatis ipsius de sero. Et quia irrefrenata voluntas viventium semper desiderat in festivitatibus residere in grave dannum et preiudicium ipsorum et reipublice perusine et ad obviandum et parcendum immoderatis sumptibus et expensis : statuimus et ordinamus quod decetero nulla societas vel aliquis alius possit vel debeat tripudiare seu festum facere pro festivitate sancti Herculani ante vel post nisi dumtaxat in festo cathedre sancti Petri et in festo sancti Mathie et in vigilia sancti Herculani et eius festo et die sequenti. Et quod in diebus predictis vel aliquo predictorum non possit aliquid proiici in platea vel alio loco civitatis Perusie exceptis melaranciis. Nec etiam dicte societates nec aliquod alii possint de sero ire ad lumen seu luminaria nec torcias prohiicere sub pena pro predictis et quolibet predictorum pro qualibet vice et pro quolibet contrafaciente XXV lib. den[arorium]. Et quod potestas et capitaneus et quolibet alius officialis iuridictionem habens in civitate Perusie teneantur de predictis et quolibet predictorum inquirere et repertum culpabilem punire pena CCCCC librae denariorum sibi auferenda tempore sui sindicatus. 342 Appendix 4b: Dispute for precedence: Controversy between the cathedral canons and the Confraternity of the Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato ASP, ASCPg, Riformanze 1539, f. 231r (15th March) Decreta supra controversia inter canonicos ed Fraternitate Confalonis Sancti Franscici Cum sit quod retroactis temporibus actabit controversia inter reverendum capitulum canonicorum maioris et catedralis ecclesie Perusine ex una, et confratris fraternitatis Confalonis existentis in ecclesia SF et conventu ex altera, in associando dicti confaloni tempore processionum et perfectim supra precedentia et assistentia iuxta dictum confalonum quod videtur ad modum absurdum de modo rationabile; et presentis MDP omnes X presentes et in concordia semper intenti ad honorem Dei et decorem civitatis volentes quod huius modi in eius virtutiis occurrere, providere et obviare scandalis quo quotidie ex oriri possunt ac rixas et controversias tollere et penitus resolvere auditis partibus et super promissis confraternis considerandis matura deliberatione pro habita ex omnibus arbitriis potestatis et baliis ipsis MDP per formam quorumcumque statuti civitatis Perusie, datis, cassis et salubriter de omni meliori modo, deliberaverunt, statueverunt, decreverunt, ordinaverunt et declaraverunt quod de cetero pro parte futuris temporibus in processionibus et luminaribus que fuerint cum dicto confalone modo d‘ordine infrascripto pro Francisci debeatur videlicet cioè le fraternite et le altre religione debiano andare in ante commo sonno solite et dopo loro: inante al altre confalone debiano andare li reverendi signori canonici de San Lorenzo: et intraloro de dicto confalone li cantori et doi chierici de San Lorenzo ed li candeletii et lumi denante al altro confalone et niuna altra persona et, a la dextra ed a la sinistra del dicto confalone, et dericto al dicto confalone, debiano andare li fraternitate [sic] de dicta fraternita vestite ed non vestite a loro beneplacito. In omnes li detti reverendi signori canonici siano tenute de andare insieme con el magistrato a far compagnia al confalone a San Francesco et ancora che in evento el magistrato per alcuno legitimo impedimento non potesse andare a racompagnare dicto confalone sieno tenuti li prefati canonici andare loro senza el magistrato. Et ita dixerunt, pronumptiaverunt, decreverunt, statuerunt, ordinaverunt, declaraverunt et fieri ac observari mandaverunt omni meliori modo etc. Presente reverendi Troilo Balione, canonico et priore claustrali et cum presentia et consensu fratris Angeli Castulti et domini Percristofori de Crispoltis pariter canonicus, nomine totius capituli canonicorum dicte ecclesia Sancti Laurentii pro quo quidem capitulo, etiam quali opus sit de rato promissit dictam pronumptiam et declarationem in omnibus et per omniam 343 acceptante de gratias referente. (231v) Presente Ser Mariotto Iohannis dicto dala Calcina, unius de dicta fraternita, et nomine totius dicte fraternitate predicta omnia acceptante de gratias referente. 344 Appendix 5 Albertus Castellanus, Liber Sacerdotis (…) secundum ritum Sancte Romane & apotolice ecclesie [Rituale Romanum] (Venice: Victor a Rabanis, 1537), 231v-232r Albertus Castellanus was a Dominican friar from Venice who edited several religious works and authored a Chronicle of the Dominican order in 1516.900 Castellanus‘s Sacerdotale, first published in 1523, is one of the numerous predecessors to the official Rituale Romanum (first published in 1614) containing the priest‘s offices according to the Roman Rite. In the chapter on processions from which the following passage is excerpted, Castellanus cites William Durandus‘ Rationale divinorum officiorum of 1286, published for the first time in 1459 and frequently reprinted. This prescriptive handbook for priests specifies the purifying function of the procession through the sprinkling of blessed water along the itinerary (1). It describes the necessary processional trappings with accuracy: Flags, if any, precede the cortège (2); two or four tapers follow the cross, also at the head of the procession (3) and participants should hold lit candles throughout the march (8); the ecclesiastics wear appropriate vestments (4) and (5); relics may be replaced by an image of Mary or Christ (4); a canopy must top the sacred image or the relics (4). This passage shows that women were supposed to march last (7). §4 De ritu et modo processionum faciendarum In omnibus processionibus, prius incipienda sunt eaque in eis cantanda sunt in ecclesia secundum quod in singulis processionibus notatum est. Et dum egreditur processio secundum Dominum Gullelmum predictum: - primo, clericus cum aqua benedicta quam aspergat per viam qua processio transitura est hinc et inde et super omnes obviantes; (1) - postea sequuntur vexilla si portanda sunt, deinde portent serpentes et dracones super perticam et maxime in rogationibus; (2) - de hinc acoliti cum cereis duobus vel quattuor postea crux; (3) - deinde clerici minoribus precedentibus inter quos sint aliqui apparati sacris vestibus cum reliquiis et vasis sacris ; (4) - ultimo aliqua imago domini Iesu Cristi vel Virginis vel alicuius sancti reliquia et super dicta figura vel reliquia vel sacramento portandum est baldachinum a quattuor de principalioribus illius terre ; (4) - deinde sequitur principalis sacerdos apparatus cum pluviali medius inter diaconum et subdiaconum ; (5) - postea sequantur viri dignoribus precedentibus; (6) - deinde mulieres eodem ordine. (7) Qui omnes tam clerici quam laici in dictis processionibus mature et devota oculis que ad terram demissis procedere debent ; cogitantes quoniam misericordiam Dei requirunt ; que humiliter est petenda sicut dicit psalmus: humiliatus sum et liberavit me. (...) Et omnes qui possunt debent habere candellam accesam (8) in manibus per totam processionem. Et dum fiunt processiones, pulsande sunt campane omnes loci vel terre illus ad devotionem excitandam; in processionibus autem cantentur ea que in singulis processionibus assignabuntur. 900 See J. Quétif and J. Echard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum (Paris, 1721), II: 48-49. For Castellanus‘s critical edition of the Vulgate in 1511, see H. J. de Jonge, «A propos des premiers apparatus critiques dans la bible latine imprimée,» in Nederlans Archief von Kerkgeschiedenis 57 (1977): 145-147. 345 Solent etiam fieri altaria per vias unde transit processio et ibidem cantandam sunt aliqua devota omnibus coram altari genuflexis. Completa processione cum omnes redierint ad ecclesiam. Expectent sacerdotem nec aliquis recedat ante eius adventum. 346 Appendix 6a (f. 33v) MCCCLXXXVIII Al tempo che·sso‘ne Cino de Luccio priore e Nicolò de Vangne sopriore e Vicho de Vegniatolo chamorlengho, per tempo de quatro mese chomo fuorono marzo, aprile, maggio, giungnio assengniarono per anventario l‘enfrascritte chose e massarie e arnese de la frateneta de gli uomene de la Nunçiata, le quale cose e arnese e massarie stanno e·ssonno e‘·lla sagresstia de desciplinate de Serve de la Nuntia[ta] de Sancta Maria, le quale sonno state assengniate e recomandate per tempo de uno anno a: Vicho de Vegniatolo. E ancho escriveremo qui e en quisto livero tutte le chose e arnese e massarie de la detta frateneta e d‘uomene d‘essa. In prima: 1) 2) 3) Una altare grande murata I altare viareccio, sopra d‘essa picchola portareccia I tavola de leno grande penta con più figure de sante sopra la ditta altare, giù la fraternita 4) I crocie de leno picchola penta sopre la detta tavola 5) I crociefisso piccholo entagliato sopre la dicta altare e tavola 6) I crocie grande de leno cioène uno arbore e la traversa penta de cholore verde con una tavoletta penta e scritta - e‘·lla crocie fu da chapo de cholore roscio 7) I altro pieie d‘arbore non tanto grande per una croce senza traversa de cholore *** 8) I pietra forata per mettere el decto leno, è grossa e tonda 9) I tavola grande portareccia, da una parte ci è penta la Nonçiata coll‘agniolo e da l‘atro el nostro singnore Eddio leghato a la cholonda <grande> 10) II peççe de leno da mettere en cierte ferre che·ssono confitte e‘·lla dicta tavola quando se portasse deintorno 11) I cierchio de·fferro tondo a tre girone atto a·ttenere cierte corneciella de vetrio da tenere olio, en meço d‘esso I lampana grande e I fune che ‘l tiene el quale stane denanze a l‘altare 12) I lampana grande cholla fune en meçço de la fraterneta 13) I cierchio de ferro piccholo tondo con II cierchie 14) I chassetta confichata con tre serature e senza chiave 15) I armario da tenere l‘ampolle 16) I predola de l‘altare de legname 17) II ampolle; III bossole da osstie e ‘ncienso A lato del muro quando s‘entra e‘·lla casa de dicta fraterneta cie sonno per lo lungho a mano ritta: 18) 19) II banchora da·ssedere IIII banchora per lo traverso tra‘ quale ci è uno bancho vecchio chiuso da una parte Da l‘altro lato de la dicta chasa e frateneta verso el muro de la cità cie sonno per lo lungho: 20) III banchora strenie [sic] e largue al traverso strenie [sic] e chative 347 21) VI banchora esenza pieie E‘ l‘altare sonno queste chose: 22) ei corporale, I tovalglia con quattro tesste de seta 23) II tovalglie con tre capeta de bordia 24) I choperta de cuoio biancho 25) I dossale d‘una bandiera cholore endecho con tre teste de lione e schalandrone gielge 26) Una testa de palio a gilglie orate e con più arme per fregio 27) II chandaliere picchoglie de ottone essmaltate 28) I chandeliere de metallo picolo 29) I chandeliere de ferro picholo 30) II chandeliere de leno orate 31) I angniolo piccholo 32) II angnioglie all‘ale grande 33) I tavoletta da dare la pacie du‘è el volto del Salvadore 34) II aneme de leno da mettere e‘·ll‘aste de torchie encierate 35) I bancho chiuso da scrivere 36) II sedie da·ssedere 37) I chassetta da tenere chandele 38) IIII banchette tonde e ghuadre 39) I legio alto due se leggie 40) I legio basso de la devotione quando se fa la fessta de la N. 41) I peçço de bancho sença pieie 42) I esschala grande a pie‘ 43) I esschala picchola a pie‘ 44) IIII asste grosse e lunghe per lo palio sopre al Salvadore 45) IIII asste grosse e lunghe |so … tre| E‘·lla dicta fratenneta cie sonno stanghe sengniate per alfabeto nera, verde, gialla, rosscia, bigia e biancha, due sonno le vesste de discip(linati) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) A la stangha nera, vesste 1 A la·sstangha rosscia, veste 1 A la stang[h]a biancha, veste 1 A la stangha gialla, vesste 1 A la·sstangha bigia, vesste 1 A la·ssta[n]ga verde, veste 1 II chalondelgle emgiessate, stanno su da l‘altare I chonchola de acqua sancta III chanpanello de metallo II <pippiuole> da tenere acqua e vino III bossola da osstie, I da l‘incienso. Ella sagrestia sonno in prima: 57) 58) 59) Una cassa de leno grande entag(liata) I pallio dicto dossale roscio de·sseta el campo chollo lavorio appampane el quale è segnato per « I » I dossale che uno palio el champo rosscio e aççuro de seta con figure d‘oro avorio che·sstie segnato per vero « II » 348 60) 72) 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) palio de·sseta lavorato con più figure e verghato con figure agniove [sic] segnato per « III » I palio de seta lavorata ad aquile segnato per « IIII » I palio de·sseta lavorato a paone e campo, è·ssbiadato. e·sstente segniato per « V» I palio de·sseta el campo aççuro e·sscarlattino con verghe bianche e altre animale segnato per « VI » I palio de·sseta lavorato con·ffigure de sancte segnato per « VII » I palio de·sseta con pampane verde a rocche bianche e rosscie segniato per « VIII » I palio de·sseta lavorato a vipare bianche e aççure [repeated e aççure] e verde esstento sengniato per « VIIII » I palio de·sseta rotto e arso e·sstracciato lavorato a lune segnato per « X » I palio rotto e·sstracciato segnato per « XI » I palio ch‘è una bandiera choll‘arme stesa del nostro chomuno con uno griffone segniato per « XII » I palio de çendado roscio [repeated rosscio] de tre peççe con più arme e da chapo con lettere bianche segniato per « XIII » I palio de tre pennone coll‘arme del nostro chomuno de trombe segniato per « XIIII » I palio de panno de lino tento nero da ponere denante la † I palio de panno tento nero rotto per l‘altare, male tento, è mantello I peçço de panno de lino nero e aççuro per lo crociefisso I çendado rosscio bende de palie da bracchia v II teste de çendado ensieme |braccia IIII| I testiera de çendado fatta cum gilglie 78) 79) 80) 81) 82) 83) 84) 85) 86) 87) 88) 89) 90) 91) 92) 93) 94) 95) 96) 97) 98) 99) 100) Item uno bello messale I challecie d‘ariento cho la patena orate d‘oro cholla cas[s]a sença choperchio I pianeta messa ad oro e lavorata a ucielglie … I chamiscio chole finbie I amitto con le finbie al capo I manipolo vergato I stola rosscia; I ciengolo I pianeta biancha de çendado foderata de panno de lino b *** I chamiscio con le finbie I amitto <de palio> <bianche> I estola de palio I manipolo de palio I cientolo I chamiscio grande da preite solo II chamisciette picchoglie da rede I fregio d‘uno peçço da palio VIII tovalgliette de·sseta atte ad altare picchole II tovalglie de panno de lino picchole I tovalglia d‘altare rotta e repeççata I tovalglia per choprire l‘altare de la Nunçiata Una coltra de·ssetta per glie morte foderata de panno de lino vermelglio II ghianciaglie verghate de çendado rosscio, aggiono II sciucatoie per choperta II tesste de çendado rosscio cho·llettere bianche 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 70) 71) I (f. 34r) 349 101) 102) 103) 104) 105) 106) 107) 108) 109) 110) 111) 112) 113) 114) 115) 116) 117) 118) 119) 120) 121) 122) 123) 124) 125) 126) 127) 128) 129) 130) 131) 132) 133) 134) 135) 136) 137) 138) 139) 140) 141) 142) 143) 144) 145) 146) 147) I tessta de çendado violato cho·llettere bianche I tesstiera de çendado con più arme. è·ssquarciata e rotta piu peççe [ms. pecce] de tesstiere emsieme avolta II bende de·sseta con verghette d‘oro VI velette de·sseta tra picchoglie e grande V veloçelglie nere IIII peççuoglie de panno de lino nere per choprire le crucie e crociefisse II banderuççe: l‘una cho·llo scorpione, l‘[altra] chon uno croc[iefisso] Una borscia de sagrestia, en essa stonno: II breveleggie e I lettera de endulgentia che ci acatarono ei frate de Santa Maria de Serve II sogielglie datone [sic: d‘otone?]: l‘uno entagliato e‘l crociefisso e l‘altro è cho·lla Nuntiata I mappa verde de[·sseta] con bottone verde I matrichola antiqua I matrichola nuova II choffanette picchoglie II fune da tende: l‘una stane alto, l‘altra basso i III |una| bossoglie per glie mag…i [ms. mag , meaning Magi? magistri? magistrati?] I bossola da uncienso I benda de·sseta biancha I benduccia nere per l‘altare II peççe de paliotto per ponere all‘altare della Nuntiata de·ffuore Item pecciuoglie de çendado vermelglie ensieme atte Uno sepolcro [due] se repone el [crocie]fisso I crociefi[sso….] I crociefisso … I chassa de […] I esschorpica […ca]cioppola ch[… ] velo nero de […: probably ―la Morte‖] I peççe de pa[….] nero en esso […] I antiffanario noturnale I altare viareccio de marmo co·llettere greche, rotto da uno chanto I livero de devoçione ghuassta da l‘acqua I ferro da mettere en‘aste II giesuninne de leno picchoglie […] de leno·ssenta […] [II b]astone da la crocie: l‘uno nuovo e bello, l‘altro vecchio e usato I tirabele de ramo colla neviella [sic] dentro I palomba biancha I corbo nero II paia d‘ale verde grande cholle choregie I paio d‘ale rosscio cholle choreggie e·fferre VI cresste de carta da agnolie III chorone de chuoio orate antiche II chorone de ramo usate VII chappellature de più cholore VI |4| barbe de più cholore e più *** una chorona dessughatolo [sic] antiqua I cievorio de la·ffonte collo condutto de le canne forrate II veste de panno de lino emcarnate 350 148) 149) 150) 151) 152) 153) 154) 155) 156) 157) 158) 159) 160) 161) |4| piumacciuoglie da portare el Salvadore peççe de carta emcollata per lo cievrio [sic] de la chamora en‘ella de [la N]unçiata I giglio de carta biancha pechorina e l‘asste verde I cholonda de leno II asste nere da portare a morte cholla nenia, dentro da esse asste e torchie VIII asste bianche cholla crocie vermelglie per glie torchie da sancteficare IIII asste da torchie roscie III asste verde e torte I armario de leno due stane la tavola due sonno scritte gli uomine de la ditta frateneta I pie[i]e de leno da uno chandeliere d‘altare I lanterna de·fferro picola I chorona messa ad oro, stane e‘ una scatola I stella orata grande I sepulcro piccholo, è guassto e rotto VI VI De·ssopre e‘·llo terrato: 162) 163) 164) 165) 166) 167) 168) 169) 170) 171) 172) 173) 174) 175) 176) 177) 178) 179) 180) 181) (f. 34v) 182) 183) 184) 185) 186) I armario·ssopre de la schala I armario cholle scanciarie e·sserrature una bonbardetta de leno chollo ferro en essa. II trespede de leno II brocchole de terra I chassetta nuova I chassetta vecchia I padeletta de rano I paio de chattenelle I gratichola con cinque verghette de·fferro I caldaiuolo de ramo piccholo I paio de molglie I falcino da rompere le lena, usato I coltello da tavola I coltello meçço da battere el lardo I lettiera antiqua con doie essponde e chon una asse da chapo e una da pieie I banchetto da scrivere I gratta chascia pi[…] I candeliere de leno I scura vecchia una choltrecie rosscia con penna dentro picchola e anticha e molto usata I scudelaio piccholo V scudelle; II scudelette II tagliere grande, II picoglie I pigniatella de ramo picchola E·lla chasa due sta el frate e ‘l guardiano de la fraternita. Em·prima, 187) 188) 189) tegole: XXV, tomboglie: 25 I mattaraçço piccholo de bordo usato con borra I chappeççale de federa con penna, chattivo 351 190) 191) 192) 193) 194) 195) 196) 197) 198) 199) I chassetta picchola vechia con ***, tagliere, e scudelle *** butilglie lavandaiuole […] I lucerna de ramo […], chattiva, picchola I asse a lato el fuocho picola I vessta nera del Nemicho I targiotto de leno I banchetto lungho I brocholetta da olio I banchetto de leno 1 paio de chatenelle Tutte quiste cose esscrite ch‘erano e‘·llo detto terrato si fuorono date e assengniate per lo detto amventario a domino Beltramo de Chola da Chamerino, nostro preite, che·sse n‘è appattovito de·sstare con noie e‘·lla dicta fraterneta per tempo de *** A dì *** del mese de *** MCCCLXXXVIII [added in 1394; same handwriting as the concluding sentences] 200) uno paio de forbecette da tondire l‘osstie 201) uno paio d‘angnioglie [g]rande, vecchie, uno sen[z]a ale 202) <XLIIII> vesste XL[…] 203) uno crocefisso sopre l‘usscio del orto 204) uno paio d‘angnioglie non grande 1394: asengniamo a dì VI de gienaio a Gioliano de Biencieviene, chamorlengho de la fraterneta per tempo d‘uno anno chomençando a ditto millesemo de sopra e a dí VI del ditto mese. Truovanse veste en tuto quarantaquattro: XLIIII 352 Appendix 6b Inventory of the possessions of the Confraternita dell‟Annunziata, 1443-1472. Perugia, Biblioteca Dominicini, Confraternita dell'Annunziata: Memoriale dei contratti, pp. 89-92. 6c. (p. 89) + Al nome de Dio. A dì XII de maggio 1443 Questo è lo inventario de le cose de la fratterneta nuovemente detto dì assegniato per Angniolo de Tomasso camerlengo de la fratterneta al tempo de maestro Francesco priore et Giapocho suo (com)pagno a Giorgio de Lucha sequente camerlengho. In prima, sequendo de lo inventario vechio: 1) Uno messale cum la coperta roscia 2) Uno callece con la patena de ariento dorato |cum doi sciuchatoi| 3) Uno crocefixo cum la cassa sua 4) Uno palio de drappo cileste foderato cum cane messe d‘oro 5) Uno palio roscio e verde cum oche sopra esso de drappo 6) Uno palio de drappo cum foder de taffeto verde del Salvatore, el fodero d‘esso è posto al palio nuovo 7) Uno palio de guarnello roscio cum fighure de mezza animale e mezzo persone 8) Uno palio de drappo cremato 9) Uno palio <biancho> listato verde, roscio et biancho, e giallo de scatarzo [sic] cum lione <aquile> de guarnello 10) <Uno palio de guarnello fighurato biancho, giallo, verde et roscio cum aquile in esso> |n‘è fatto el piovale| 11) Uno palio de guarnello listato biancho, cilestro e verde 12) Uno palio de guarnello nella cassa del crocifixo 13) Uno palio de guarnello nero cum doi disciplinate croce bianche 14) Uno palio de guarnello cilestro e roscio cum vipere 15) <Uno palio de seta biancho cum lo lione roscio a bandere> |casso perché è tutto stracciato e rotto| 16) <Un palio de seta roscie cum uno grifone biancho a bandere> |frusto e stracciato - casse perché sonno guaste| 17) Una coltre de seta listata <verde> gialla e cilestra de morte 18) Una pianeta de drappo figurata verde roscio e messa ad oro cum lo fornemento |foderata de roscio| 19) Una pianeta de guarnello biancha fornita de tutto ponto fodera de panno de lino biancho 20) Una pianeta <giallo> verde e roscia trista fornita |è consumata| 21) Una pianeta de guarnello nere fornite 22) Uno piovale de guarnello fighurato verde e roscetto foderato de cilestro |fo guasto| [added between lines |el fodero suo azuro fo messo al piovale nuovo|] 23) |in una sachetta stracciata| Uno pezzo de seta roscie cum roche et targie et lettere in esso |straccie - et furono facte le veste de li camesciette| 24) Vintaquattro |20| bende dal Salvadore conte in essa 4 pennone cum grifone 25) Uno fregio d‘altare cum seta roscia listato roscio et giallo <et biancho> fornito cum lo sciugatoio 26) Uno fregio de guarnello nero cum lo sciugatoio 27) Uno fregio roscio cum francie gilglato |è consumato| 28) Doi guanciagle de seta roscie 353 29) 30) 31) 32) Uno guanciale de seta biancha |è lugrato, è guasto| Cuattro guanciagle <de seta> bianche de panno de lino |se ne truovano tre| Una tovalglia d‘altare grande Tre tovalgle d‘altare mezzane (p. 90) 33) doi croce: una da morte, l‘altra da processione cum le bende; una nera, l‘altra che sta cum la Nuntiata 34) uno scorpiccio da morte cum la caciopola e mantello 35) doi paia de torchie: uno da morte, l‘altro da la messa 36) una concola de bronzo 37) uno turabele 38) uno armario de le inpolle |è guasto| 39) doi guarda[n]appe da comunichare cum teste roscia, l‘altra nere de borde |uno ce n‘è buono con le teste de bordie - et uno fo posto a uno fregio cilestro con liste bianche et nere; et uno sta sopra l‘altare d‘angelo de la Donia et l‘altro non se truova| 40) sette sciuchatoie cum teste de bordie nere de più ragione 41) cinque sciuchatoi cum teste roscie bordie de l‘altare |uno straciato| 42) <doi> uno guluppo seta trista rosscia e l‘altro tristo; è in la cassa grande tutte rotte 43) uno guluppo de vegle de seta trista 44) doi paie de agnoli d‘altare: uno paio picholi, uno a S. Maria |un paio sono su in Sancta Maria| 45) sei |cinque| paie de ale da agniogle pichole, grande e mezane 46) sette |cinque| camiscie mezzane et pichogle et cinque amitte cum finbrie roscie e senza cioè quattro mezzane e tre pichole 47) una coltre vechia da morte stracciata 48) uno solfario da cantare messe cum coperta biancha de cuoio |tavolato| 49) uno libro da le istorie de le devotione bollettato 50) uno libro da lo inventario delgle bene de l‘ospedale |questo cessò| 51) una matricola cum tavolette cum gli ordine de la fratterneta vechie et nuove 52) doi tavole d‘altare: una bella a l‘altare grande cum la Nuntiata, l‘altra cum più fegure 53) una altra tavola vechia cum la Nuntiata grande |portareccia| 54) uno leggio de l‘ofitio 55) uno candeleto da morte novastro 56) doi tende de l‘altare: una nera buona, l‘altra vechia cilestra cum la crocie biancha |fu posta a un palio che lassò la Francesca de Meio de Panicale| 57) doi sedie dua se seghono e‘ priore de la fratenita e de l‘ospedale 58) diece banche novastre foderate da sedere 59) una cassa de noce dei paramenta cum serrame 60) doi cassone: uno de abeto mezzane, l‘altro pichole de noce da la cera 61) una cassa de abeto cum lo scorpiccio 62) doi cassette d‘altare mezzane e pichole 63) XVI |XII| corone da più refigurate cum la Nuntiata e senza |sonno XI| 64) cinque bossole 65) uno bancho da scrivere cum l‘armario intro 66) doi lampanari cum lampane chuole lampanelle e fune |uno è in Sancta Maria| 67) doi crocifisse pichole |vecchi et guasti| 68) una lucerna 69) <uno buove, uno lione> |foro prestate a San Francesco et mai sonno reauti| 354 (p. 91) 70) otto candeliere de ferro et de legname 71) doi lingnie da croce 72) doi campanelle, e una altra pichola 73) sei pezze d‘aste roscie del Salvadore 74) doi tavole da la Nuntiata e l‘agniolo 75) una tavola grande doppia da mangiare 76) una inpozzatoia 77) <doi pezze de scale: uno grande, l‘altro picholo> |sono rotte| 78) nuove |sette - IIII| veste nere |tutte rotte et straciate| 79) doi banderette: una cum la croce, l‘altra cum la stella |è guaste - stonno in una saccola cum l‘altre cose straciate, sono consumate| 80) una altra banderetta cum lo scorpione giallo |consumata| 81) doi banbovine in lo altare 82) uno pezzo de tovalglia a l‘a[l]tare de la Nuntiata 83) trantasette |42| veste bianche |a dì 3 de giugno 1463: sono trovati quelle remaste XVIII che sono arportate et perdute e sotrate - 1472: sono nella fraternita veste 45| 84) uno capello de pello de pecho biancho foderato de celestro |non c‘è| 85) uno tabernacolo da portare e‘ crocefisso 86) una palombetta 87) otto pezze de torchie de cera arsiccie |lograte| 88) una palla de leno cum la bachetta orata 89) una tavola cum la Nuntiata dua sono scritte gl‘uomene de la fraterneta 90) doi bottolglie d‘ornamentare e torchie 91) una immagine de latrone [sic] relevato |non c‘è| 92) uno cassone dua sono le fatture de lo spedale 93) una forcella de la tenda 94) doi paie de molgliette |uno| de stamocciare [or scamocciare] fachole a l‘altare, logorato |perduto| 95) una vesta incarnata |fo prestata a Pietro de Lunano in Sancto Pietro Martire, non fo riauta - perduta| 96) <più ferrame vechie> 97) <più legniame grosse et menute e tavole de più rag(ione) …> |legna arsa| 98) uno guanciale d‘altare roscio e nero Io Giorgio de Lucha ò recieuto el sopraditto inventario da Angniolo camorlengo passato a dì 12 de maggio 1443. Io Pietro de Menecho, camorlengo passato, ò assegniato a Bartolomeio de Mariotto el sopraditto inventario a dì otto de maggio 1446. A dì 12 de giugno 1463 fo reveduto questo inventario da me Agniolo de Tomasso e Paolo et fo segnato uno ponto le cose che c‘erano, consegnamo da Agniolo de Pavolino a Mariano de Bartolomeo, nostro cam(orlengo), con l‘altre cose agionte in questa carta da l‘altro lato. 355 Appendix 6c Inventory of the possessions of the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata, 15th c. (non dated). Perugia, Biblioteca Dominicini, Confraternita dell'Annunziata: Memoriale dei contratti, pp. 95-96.7. In nomine Domini, amen. Questo è lo inventario de le massarie et cose le quale se retruovano nella fratenita de la Numptiata de Perugia et sua sacrestia de la dicta fraternita e paramente e altre arnese. 1) In prima uno palio de drappo roscio ad oro foderato de verde cum XVIIII bende |sonno su lo palazo de‘ priore| |Item uno palio de drappo roscio folglato verde con fiorecte bianche et cilestre| 2) Item uno palio celestro de seta facto a cane d‘oro 3) Item uno palio de seta verde e roscio 4) Item uno palio de seta f[i]gurato açuro e roscio 5) Item uno palio de guarnello listato de verde e altre colore |sta all‘altare della capella nuova| 6) Item uno palio de seta figurato meço cane e meço persone 7) Item uno palio vermeglio meço grifone de drappo |tristo, straciato| 8) Item uno palio de seta figurato cum vipere bianche et pampane 9) Item uno palio biancho cum lioni grande roscio de sindado |tristo, stracciato| 10) Item uno palio de seta roscia lograto |è consumato - non ce n‘è più| 11) Item uno palio de sindado roscio cum lectere de Castello de la Pieve |è consumato - non c‘è più| 12) Item uno palio de seta listato de verde biancho roscio et giallo |n‘è fatto el piovale| 13) Item uno palio de seta lograto giallo et figurato 14) Item una coltre da morte de seta listata gialla et cilestra cum croce rosc[i]a foderata de panno de lino roscio cum croce roscie 15) Item una coltre da morte cum uno palio in meço guarnita d‘acanto de roscio |è trista| 16) Item una pianeta de drappo foderata de roscio figurata de verde fornita a dire messa 17) Item una pianeta nera cum uno fregio d‘oro fornita a dire messa 18) Item una pianeta de guarnello cum uno fregio per meço d‘oro fornita a dir messa 19) Item uno piovale de seta <nere> <verde> |de più colore| foderato de panno cilestro 20) Item tre |doie| camisce cum quatro |doie| amicte et <cincaglie> |uno fo perduto in Santa Maria Serve| 21) Item doi guancaglie de seta <verde et> roscia |listate, vechie| |Item uno camescio grande con l‘amitto Item una cotta vechia de banbagio con l‘amitto Item II camescette vechie con l‘amitte Item IIII camescette nuove con gl‘amitte| 22) Item quatro tovaglie <…> lograte et no |doi all‘altare| 23) Item quatro peçe de drappo: doi bianche et doi cilestre |non è covelle| 24) Item una tovaglietta da comunicare 25) Item uno guardanappo da altare 26) Item una thovaglia de altare 356 27) Item tre |doi| pennoncelli de seta roscie coli grifone 28) Item una bandiera cum onde d‘oro 29) Item uno scuccatoio cum capeta de seta 30) Item uno frego de drappo roscio listato roscio; una toviagluola de panno de lino 31) Item doie veglie bianche de seta 32) Item quatro tovaglie bianche et roscie 33) Item uno geluppo de seta lograta |è adoperata| 34) Item tre peçe de saia sciava nera 35) Item uno peço de panno giallo de lino |è adoperato - non c‘è più| 36) Item doie peçe de panno lograto |è adoperato - non c‘è più| 37) Item uno frego lograto d‘altare |sta a l‘a[l]tare - picolo e triste| 38) Item uno libro dua stonno le rag[i]one de la fraternita |cioè de che è rogato …| 39) Item uno paio de tenaglie 40) Item uno martellino |non c‘è - fo perduto| 41) Item una croce messa ad oro 42) Item uno sciuccatoiuolo de panno de lino 43) Item doie cogine de panno de lino per l‘altare (p. 96) [ms. 94] 44) Item quattro tovaglie per l‘altare 45) Item una coperta de cuoio |non c‘è più| 46) Item una tavolecta co la Numptiata messa a d‘oro 47) Item uno calice orato 48) Item uno calice segnato de prezo fl. VI, s. VI |co la patena| 49) Item uno messale 50) Item uno libro da devotione 51) Item VI bossole e uno cassecto ad ostie 52) Item doie bamboine 53) Item uno paio d‘agnoli piccoli |a la chapella| 54) Item uno paio d‘angnolieti grande |stonno alla chapella| 55) Item uno scorpicco da morte co la cacoppola colo mantello e un altro panno nero 56) Item uno crocefixo conficto nella croce sopra l‘altare 57) Item uno crocefixo piccolo sopra l‘usc[i]o <delolt> de l‘orto |è guasto| 58) Item una imagine de crocefixo nello monumento co li chiuove 59) Item una tavola de la Numptiata 60) Item uno tirabele 61) Item quattro torchie in aste 62) Item tre candeliere grande per l‘altare de legniame 63) Item VI candeliere de ferro 64) Item una concola da acqua santa de ramo 65) Item uno telaio col l‘aste per lo palio 66) Item una croce messa ad orpello 67) Item una tavola penta sopra l‘altare cum uno panno denante 68) Item doi |uno| lampanaie: uno cole lampane e l‘altro non |l‘altro è posto alla capella nuova| 69) Item una cassa de noce dua stonno le paramente 70) Item tre intra capxone e cassecte de abeto 71) Item una lucerna 72) Item tre campanelle cioè una piccola 357 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78) 79) 80) 81) 82) 83) 84) 85) 86) 87) 88) 89) 0) 91) 92) Item uno bastone per la croce Item uno sciuccatuiolo cum capeta de bordia Item VI lb de candele grosse Item VI lb de candele Item VIIII corone Item XXXVIII |XXXI| veste Item uno bancho da scrivere per lo camorlemgo Item tre sciuccatioe |uno n‘è sopra la Nuntiata nella capella nuova| Item XII banchora |da sedere, chiuse| Item uno bancho dua sta el sepolcro Item tre paia d‘angeli |ale grande| Item uno sole e una luna Item una palombetta Item uno corbo |non c‘è| Item uno armariuolo da empolle Item doi croce grande da devotione Item doi cofanecte piccole Item quatro scalone |non è covelle| Item uno frego gigliato per l‘altare |è lograto - non c‘è| Uno guanciale de seta roscia |vechio, con la vesta bianca| 358 Appendix 6d Confraternita dell‘Annunziata, Libro dei partiti 1505-1566, Biblioteca Dominicini, Perugia Confraternal identity through sixteenth-century inventories Frequence of extant inventories, 1535-1576 Inventories are drafted at the beginning of the year in January, just before the Nativity of the Virgin (8th September), May 1st or 2nd, or at Easter. Intervals go from 5 months to a year and a half, to ten years, but some inventories must be missing. 2nd May 1535 (70rv) 22nd January 1542, (68rv) 27th April 1546, (74v-75r): Tuesday after Easter Sunday 15th January 1553 and checked on 7th May 1553, (61rv-62r; 75v-76v) 30th January (47rv) and 6th September 1556, (48rv-49rv): 2 days before the Nativity of the Virgin 1st January and 1st May 1558, (51rv-52rv) 3rd September 1561 and checked on 7th September 1562, (63rv-64v) 1st May 1563, (65rv) 1st May 1564, (66v-67r) 1st January 1565, (67v) 1st September 1566, (78v-79r) The mobile possessions of the Nunziata (“robbe mobile”) are kept in the sacristy of its oratory and in the hospital of the Confraternity. I am only citing the most important items grouped according to their function. Paraphernalia for mass Most of the Nunziata possessions revolve around the proper conduct of mass and the ornamentation of their two altars (the main one called „grande‟ or just „l‟altare‟ and the small one mentioned as the „altare piccolo‟). The main altar has a velvet baldachin with eight lambrequins. Most inventories start with the chalice and its patena, and the missal. After 1553 they usually start with the well prized baldachino and its 16 lambrequins. - « doj calice cum pomette doro uno guasto et latro bono » (2nd February / 2nd May 1535) - ―un calice et una patena‖ (15th January 1553) - ―doi calici / doi messali‖ (30th January 1556) - « doi messale uno in carta pecora e laltro in carta bobacina » (2nd February / 2nd May 1535) - « uno messalle con do cuginetti » (6th September 1556) - « un messale da dire la messa » / « un messale de carta pecora » (1st May 1558) - « doj pianete fornite / una pianeta doi camisce et tre amite » (2nd February 2nd May 1535) - « uno corporale de velluto cremosi » (2nd February 2nd May 1535) - « tre corporali un de velluto cremosi un de raso cremesi et uno de brocatello » (15th January 1553) - « doi altri manipolo » / « una stola » (2nd February 2nd May 1535) 359 - ―un piviale de seta figurato‖ / « un pianeta de guarnello biancho con li suoi fornimenti » / « un pianeta de guarnello negro con li suoi fornimenti» / « un pianeta verde de setino figurato con li suoi fornienti» - « tre tovaglia uccellate usate » / « sette [undici] sciucattoi » / doi corporali [4 : (6th September 1556 )] / (1st January 1556) - « doi [tre] sciucatoi sopra il christo » (30th January 1556) - « uno velo de seta tesuto a quadretti bianchi sopra il cristo » (6th September 1556) - « 10 sciuchatoi de piu sorte doe su l‘altare doe sul crocefisso, doe su l‘altare piccolo et 4 nela cassa » (15th January 1553) - «doe tende una verde per l‘altare grande una per il piccolo » (15th January 1553) - « 2 fregi di seta un verde e uno azzurro da laltare » (1st May 1558) - « una tenda cilestia de l‘altare grande » (6th September 1556) - « otto drapellone per il baldachino de laltare de rasone » (15th January 1553) - « una croce de legno da porre su l‘altare » (1st May 1563) - « la tendetta da la Madonna » (30th January 1556) - « una tenda biancha con francia per la Nunziata » (6th September 1556) - « una tenda bianca con le france e retecelle da coprire la nuntiata piccola » (1558) - « 5 candeliere » (30th January 1556) / « 4 candeliere de ottone, doe in casa, e doe a le convertite » (1st May 1558) - « una lampena de octone » (30th January 1556) - « una lampana d‘ottone nanze [davanti] all‘altare » (6th September 1556) - « doi candeliere de ferro da tenere candele sull‘altare » (6th September 1556) - « un gulupetto con piu cose et max 4 manipoli et una stola et altre cose » (15th January 1553) - « doi angioli che stanno sull‘altare piccolo » (6th September 1556) - « doe ambolette per la messa » (1st May 1558) - « uno tubele dall‘incenso » (6th September 1556 ) idem (1st May 1558) - « un bacino d‘ottone » (15th January 1553) - « una pieta [piata] da dar la pace » (15th January 1553) / « una pace » (6th September 1556) / (1st May 1558) / « una piata da dare la pace » (3rd September 1561) Processional paraphernalia The baldacchino is often listed first, together or apart from its lambrequins (“drappelones”) - « dodici drappelone de raso » (2nd May 1535) / « otto drapellone per il baldachino de laltare de rasone » (15th January 1553) - ―in prima 16 drapelloni de taffeta negro li quali si portano il giovedi santo sul baldacchino a San Lorenzo con il crucifisso » ; item una cassetta per tenere detti drapelloni » (15th January 1553) - « una cassetta da tenener li drappelloni » (6th September 1556)/ « [idem (3rd September 1561) ―et coli soi bastoni‖] idem (1st May 1563) / (1st May 1564) - ―in prima baldacchino con sui fornimenti e drappeloni‖ (30th January 1556) 360 - « in prima un baldacchino con 16 drappelloni figurati con la passione sollito a portare la semana santa » (6th September 1556) - « 16 drapelloni con la passione si porta il giovedi santo » / « el telaro del ditto baldacchino con tela nera » / « 6 aste da portare ditto baldacchino » (1st May 1558) A large wooden cross is destined to processional use. It is adorned with a colored piece of fabric, a black one or a blue one. It is carried on a green staff. - « una croce cum aste » (2nd May 1535 ) / « una croce da portare in processione » (30th January 1556)/ idem (6th September 1556 )/ « un palietto da portar al croce » (30th January 1556 ) - « una croce di legno dipinta in orata da portare ala processione » (1st May 1558) - « un palietto de taffeta negro da portar ala croce » (30th January 1556) - ―doj paliecte da la croce uno nero et laltro cilestro de piu colori‖ (2nd May 1535) - « tre palie da portare in su la croce doe nere e uno griglilato » (1st May 1563) - « un aste verde da mettere la croce grande quando si va in processione » (1st May 1558) - « uno pallio giallo con francie gialle da portare a processione » (6th September 1556 ) - ―una Annuntiata da portare in processione‖ (6th September 1556) - ―2 Annunciate da portare in processione una nuova una vecchia‖ (1st May 1558) - « doi/e aste da tenere li torci/ torchie » (27th April 1546) / (15th January 1553) - « un crocefisso piccolo in croce da portare ale 40 ore con sua tenda » (6th September 1556 ) / « un crocefisso piccolo in croce da portare a horatione de le 40 hore finito con suo tabernacolo, e tenda nera con france» (1st May 1558) / « un crocifisso picolo con velo atorno e un tabernacolo e tenda/tela nera » (3rd September 1561) / idem (1st May 1563) The ordinary banner is processed with a colored stave (“aste”); it is covered or wrapped up (?) by a veil (“tenda”) to protect it. The old banner is also recorded. - « un gonfalone da portare in processione » (27/4/1546) - « doi gofalone co immagine de la Nuntiata un novo e latro vechio» (22/1/1563) /idem (1st May 1563) / « doie cofalone de la Nutiata » (1/5/ 1564) / « {un paro de angoli con quattro candeliere et la croce con} il confalone da gire in processione {et una pace} » (1st September 1566) - « una tenda bianchia dole france da coprire lo cofalone de gire in processione » (3rd September 1561) /« la tenda del confalone » (1st September 1566) - « doie oste [sic] verde uno da portare lo cofalone e latro da andare in processione » (3rd September 1561) - ―una aste da portare el cofalone (1st May 1563) / una aste da portare il gonfalone‖ (1st January 1565) - « una tenda biancha con francie per la nunziata » (6th September 1556) CHRISTO MORTO The articulate Dead Christ is called a crucifix although it is not attached to a cross. Its chest is called a „monument‟ but its decorated panels are not described. It is covered by a veil with golden stripes and a white one. It is not visible because confined in its chest. - ―un crocefisso solito portar la settimana santa a san Lorenzo » (15th January 1553) / ―un crocefisso grande da portare il giovedi santo‖ (6th September 1556 ) idem(3rd September 1561) / (1st May 1563) 361 - « un monumento grande del crocifisso con sua coperta » (1st May 1558) / « uno monimento grande da crocifisso con la sua coperta » (3rd September 1561)/ idem (1st May 1563) - « (...) doe sciuchatoi (...)sul crocefisso » (15th January 1553) - « un velo rigato doro da porre nel crocifisso » (30th January 1556) [« intorno al crocefisso » 6th September 1556 ] - « doie veli uno rigato doro che sta atorno a corcifisso [sic] enno rigato biancho per de sopra » (3rd September 1561) - ―un palio figurato de seta roscia sopra ... per sotto al crocifisso‖ (1st May 1558) - « uno guanciale con sue veglie del crocifisso » (2nd May 1535) VESTE are kept in a box but most of the black ones seem to be kept at home. - « veste vintatre » (27/4/1546) - « 34 [39crossed] veste la maiur parte senza cordone cio e veste 40 » (15th January 1553) - « 40 veste bianche infra grande e piccole » (30th January 1556 ) - « 34 veste bianche fra grande e piccole » (1st May 1558) - « 20[24] veste bianche » (3rd September 1561) - «16 veste bianche per andare in processione » (22/1/1563)/ idem (1st May 1563) - « cinque veste negre » (30th January 1556 ) - « 16 veste nere » / « 39 veste con quella de Ser Ranaldo e de Nicolo Gratiano » (6th September 1556 ) - « 17 veste negre » (1st May 1558) - « veste nere seddecie [14] » (3rd September 1561) - « una cassetta da tenere il sacco de li fratelli » (1st May 1558) Rituals inside the oratory - ―una Madonna da mettere [-si in l’ altare (1st May 1558)] el venerdi santo sulaltare con sua tenda nera‖ (6th September 1556 ) / idem (1st May 1563) / « una tenda negra per coprire la madonna » (3rd September 1561) - ―una campana denante alatare‖ (15th January 1553) - ―un campanaro mess a oro con 4 campani‖ (1st May 1558) - « una cassetta solita tenere le pallotte de li offitii » (15th January 1553) / ―una cassetta da tenere li ofiti‖ (6th September 1556 ) - « doe bossole da cogliere il partito et una cassetta da tenere/dare le fave» (15th January 1553) / idem (1st May 1563 : « cassetta , bossole, bacino ») Brothers share six books of prayers for the office of the Virgin. They have consigned their regulations in a “matricola” in one copy. A second copy is written around 1550. They own one book of the gospels and one Bible and a book for the Deads‟ office. They practice collective chanting. - « doi libricioli de la madonna » (2/5/2nd May 1535) / « sei offitiole de la donna con molte oratione » (15th January 1553) / « sei libricioli de la donna » (6th September 1556 ) : idem (1st May 1558) / « sette ofetioli de la madonna » (3rd September 1561) / « cinque ufitioglie de la madonna » (1st May 1563) / idem (1st May 1564) - « un libro de la matricola et uno de li morti » (2nd May 1535) / « una matricola » (27/4/1546) / « un libro chiamato la matricola » / « un libro chiamato la matricola vechia » 362 (15th January 1553)/« doi matricole una vecchia e una nova » (6th September 1556 ) / idem (1st May 1558) / idem (3rd September 1561) - « un libro legendario de li sancti e laltro de li vangeli » (2nd May 1535) / « un libro deli vangeli » (27/4/1546) / idem (1st May 1558) - ―un libro dei testamenti antico‖ (1st May 1558) - ―un libro da cantare la solpha [solfeggio]‖ (27th April 1546) Paraphernalia for funerals - «tre palii da la croce doj morti et uno da la processione » (15th January 1553) /« un palio nero per la croce quando se va al morto» (6th September 1556 ) - « tre palii da croce doie da morto e uno de andare in processione » (3rd September 1561) - « doie palii da morte uno negro laltro tane [=colore lione] » - « un palio nero da morti » (1st September 1566) - « otto palii de piu colori cio e quattro dai morti et quattro da dir messe de piu colori » (15th January 1553) - ―un libretto dal offitio deli morti‖ (30th January 1556 ) - « uno libro de li morti » (27/4/1546) / (6th September 1556 ) / « un libro da dire l‘offitio dei morti de carta pecora » (1st May 1558) - « una bara » (1561) - « un palio giallo et turchino con fodera roscia solito a portar per morti su la bara » (15th January 1553) / « un palio de seta gialla e torchina con fodera roscia solito a portare in su la bara » (3rd September 1561) - ―doe torchie de legno da portare ai morti dipinti‖ (1st May 1558) / idem (3rd September 1561 / 1st May 1563 / 1st September 1566)/ « doi doppiere de legno » (1st January 1565) - « uno candeliere de ferro grande da morti » (1st September 1566) « doe bandinelle da a la processione una nera per i morti, e una ...sua visata» (1st May 1558) / « un altra bandinella nera » (1st May 1558) - « una coperta da morti » (27/4/1546) /―una coltruccia de seta da morto‖ / (30th January 1556 ) Paraphernalia for sacred drama ―Quattro paie de ale et quattro zazzeri‖ (2nd May 1535) / (27/4/1546) « quattordece veste da rede « (2nd May 1535) ―doe capigliare da angioli‖ (15th January 1553) ―una scala‖ (30th January 1556 ) « doi torchie » (30th January 1556 ) « una collona de legno coperta di tela » (1st May 1558) « una croce grande con la sua spognia con la lancetta et con la colonna con soe fruste frustra » (15th January 1553) / idem 30th January 1556 ; idem but : « croce piccola » (3rd September 1561) « una coronna de spine » (6th September 1556 ) « una colonda » (6th September 1556 ) = colonna « doe pezze di fune » (1st May 1558) Oratory decoration « 10 banche 4 chiuse et sei no » (15th January 1553) «un panno negro a mettere nella cassa deli segni » (30th January 1556 ) 363 « un quadro dipinto con una nostra donna con suo telaro/sedaro(?) de noce » / « un quadro dove è dipinto San Sebastiano » (1st May 1558) «2 tende nere a le invetriate [finestre] » (1st May 1558) / idem (3rd September 1561) « un palio de damasco bianco con doe arme » (1st May 1558) « 2 banbini con suoi veste » (6th September 1556 ) /« un paio de banbine con le loro veste » (3rd September 1561) / « 2 banbine con suoi vestimenti » (1st May 1558) 364 Appendix 6e Confraternita dell'Annunziata: Entrate e uscite 1600-1602, Biblioteca Dominicini, Perugia, f. 92 Ad primo de Genaro 1602 Laventario de le cose de la sagrestia de la confraternita de la Nuntiata consegniate a Francesco Vermiglioli al presente sagrestano de m. Pietro Giapeco et m. Jusepe Massii priore per ordine et sotto il detto consegniatoli le infrascrite robe da Giovanni Battista Gultarotti et Lorenzo Barnabey. E in prima 1) 3) 5) 6) 6) 8) 9) 10) 11) un crocifisso che si porta in processione con sue bendoni di damasco bianco 2) uno stendardo dipinto con Maria Vergine Anuntiata che si porta in processione una tavola dipinta con Maria Vergine Anuntiata che si porta in processione 4) uno santo Jovanne de relievo/aretino con sua cassa de legname dolce che si porta in processione una santa Veronica dipinta da una parte e da latera con Maria Vergine doi angeli dorati per servitio de l‘altare grande sei candeliere de legno dorati per servitio de l‘altare una croce de lengio con il suo piede dorara una tavola sagra con ... quattro candeliere vecchie de legno orati doi candeliere grandi avanti allo altare dorati Paramenti de la altare uno paramento de velutto incarnato de guarnitione doro uno paramento di armesino bianco con francie giale e bianche uno de armosino bianco con guarnitione doro uno di damasco bianco con guarnitione di setta rossa uno di drappo pavonazzo con guarnitione de setta et oro con tre francie uno di armosino verde con guarnitione rossa et bianca uno di raso verde con fregio rosso uno damasco nero con fregio di brocato uno brocattello rosso e giallo uno di brocato doro et rosso uno di... orato uno damasco rosso tristo uno di... orato con la Nuntiata uno de pano ... con croce in mezzo Pianete nella credezza una pianeta di brocato doro figurata con rosso con sua stola et manipolo una di raso raciatto ... con sua stola et manipolo una di armosino verde con guarnitione di piu colore con stolla et manipolo una di drapo verde e rossa figurata vechia et stola et manipolo una di brocato giallo et rosso et una stola e manipolo uno di armosino nero con guarnitione doro manipolo et stola una di drapo figurato paonazzo con guarnitione di setta et oro con suo manipolo et stola 365 uan di armonsino bianco con guarnitione di piu colore et stolla e manipolo quattro drapelone de veluto giallo con fondo de argento quatro manice et coperoli ... bracie de laltare di S° Giovane una pianeta de velutto bianco con fregio per mezzo all‘antica doi fregi de armosino guarnito bianco et lateri giallo dici borgie de drapo e vellutto di piu colore una croce de lengno oratta e penta metere sopera allo altare una insengnia di tafetta nera con morte serve per andare alli morti quatro liberi doi grandi e doi picoli da scrivere a mano Robe nella credezza quatro guanciale de armosino bianco con guarnitione doi guanciale de armosino verde con guarnitione de oro e setta doi di drapo figurato pavonazzo con guarnitione di oro e setta doi de tafetta verde dofrio ed guarnitione doro doi guanciale de brocatto da una banda et laltera di tafetta rosso doi guanciali di rosso raciatto (?) con sue guarnitione bianche doi guanciali da una parte Bianca et latera rosso di drappo 366 Appendix 7. Perugia, Biblioteca Dominicini, contratti,1333-1594, pp. 79-81. Confraternita dell'Annunziata: Memoriale dei Perpetual concession by the Perugian Servites of the newly built Annunciation chapel in Santa Maria dei Servi to the Confraternita dell‘Annunziata. 29th April 1466 This important document gives the names and origins of the Servite friars in Perugia. Above all, it reveals that the Nunziata brothers had built at their own expense the chapel of the Annunciation in Santa Maria dei Servi and were then permanently conceded it with all its due rights. It also documents the obligations between friars and the brothers in terms of donations and maintenance of the chapel. A Baglioni is named as prior of the confraternity. In nomine Domini, amen. Anno Domini millesimo CCCCLXVI indictione XIIII tempore domini Pauli divini providentia pape secundi et die penultime mensis aprilis. Actum Perusii in sacrestia ecclesia (sic) Sancte Marie Servorum de Perusia presentibus Iohanne Rigutii de Perusio porte Heburnee et parochie Sancti Angeli et Nicolao Stefani olim de Castro Montisabbatis et cive perusino porte Sancti Angeli et parochie Sancte Marie de Viridario et Francesco Bartucciolo Antonii de Perusio porte Sancte Subxanne et parochie Sancti Luce et Alberto Angelelli de Perusio porte Heburnee habitante in porta Sancti Angeli testibus ad infrascripta vocatis, habitis et rogatis. Comvocato, congregato et coadunato publico et generali capitulo fratrum capituli et conventus Servorum Sancte Marie de Perusio in supradicto loco ad sonum campanelle more solito de Perusia, consensu, licentia et voluntate reverendi patris magistri Sebastiani Tomassi de Burgo Sancti Sepulcri sacre pagine professoris nec non provincialis provincie Patrimonii et etiam magistri Andree Angeli de Perusio sacre pagine professoris ad presens dignissimi prioris dicti loci. In quo quidem capitulo interfuerunt infrascripti fratres videlicet : Magister Sebastianus provincialis Frater Criacus Baptiste di Fulgineo Magister Andreas prior Frater Stefanus Benedecti di Fulgineo Magister Antonius Bernabutii de Sant‘Angelo in Vado Frater Polus Iohannes de Francia Frater Christoforus Angeli de Perusio Frater Bartolomeus Gregorii de Castelatio Frater Johannes Baptista Mateoli de Perusio Frater Leonardus Andree de Burgo S. Sepulcri Frater Martinus Mathei de Perusio Frater Lucas Alberti de Montepolinano Frater Nicolaus Christofori Frater Damianus Pauli di Sanct‘ Angelo in Vado Frater Petrus Angeli de Perusio Frater Simoni Jacobi de Sancto Marino que sunt plus quam due partes in dicto conventu et loco ad presens existentes et commorantes ut asserunt representantes publicum et generale capitulum in loco predicto. Quibus quidem fratribus per prefatum magistrum Andream priorem predictum in dicto capitulo fuerit expositum et narratum qualiter pro parte hominum disciplinatorum fraternitatis Annumptiate Gloriosissime Matris Virginis Marie di Perusio porte Heburnee fuerit et sit in dicta ecclesia Sancte Marie Servorum sumptibus et expensis hospitalis dicte fraternitatis edificata et de novo constructa et perfecta quedam capella ad honorem altissimi Dei et ad gloriam, laudem et reverentiam prelibate Annumptiate Gloriosissime matris Virginis Marie et propter dictam constructionem et perfectionem dicte capelle, prefati homines et disciplinati dicte fraternitatis desiderantes ac cupientes quod per prefatos fratres, capitulum et conventum prefatis hominibus et disciplinitatis dari et concedi dictam capellam, situm, solum aut locum 367 ubi constructa et perfecta est sita in dicta ecclesia cum omnibus iuribus ad dictam capellam, situm, solum aut locum pertinentibus et spectantibus quoquo modo. Qui reverendus pater prior una cum dictis fratribus et dicti fratres una cum dicto reverendo patre et visis et intellectis supradictis omnibus et supra predictis habitis consiliis et colloquiis ac tribus tractatibus factis inter ipsos super huismodi ut dixerunt et asserunt et considerantes petita et narrata ut supra pro parte dictorum hominum et disciplinatorum fore et esse iusta et equa et volentes predictis petitionibus et narrationibus dictorum hominum et disciplinatorum se inclinare et eisdem petitionibus et narrationibus effectualiter satisfacere ac executioni mandare, ordinaverunt et deliberaverunt quod predicta omnia dent et effectum roboris firmitatem habeant. Idcirco reverendus prior prefatus una cum prenominatis fratribus et prenominati fratres una cum prefato reverendo patre, neminis eorum discordantibus et viva voce, per eos eorum subcessores obligando res et bona dicte ecclesie et fratrum capituli et conventus eiusdem presentia et futura pro observatione omnium et singulorum supra et infrascriptorum dederunt, tradiderunt, cesserunt et concesserunt discretis viris civibus perusinis Francisco domini Iohannis de Ballionibus porte Heburnee, unus ex prioribus ad presens dicte fraternitatis, Iuliano Bartholomei et Petro Meneci dicte porte ad presens prioribus hospitalis dicte fraternitatis et Petro domini Martii et Angelo Tome dicte porte ut sindicis et procuratoribus dicte fraternitatis hominum et disciplinatorum ac hospitalis eiusdem et mihi Tebaldo Pauli de Perusio notario tamquam publice persone stipulantibus et recipientibus pro dicta fraternitate ac hominibus et disciplinatis et hospitali eiusdem supradictam capellam, situm, solum aut locum de quibus supra sit mentio cum omnibus eorum iuribus et pertinentis et ad ipsam capellam, situm, solum aut locum pertenentibus sive spectantibus quoquo modo ad habendum, tenendum, possidendum, utendum, regendum, manutendum, gubernandum, custodiendum, augendum et augmentandum ad honorem omnipotentis Dei et Gloriosissime Annumptiate beate Marie Virginis sub cuis nomine et vocabulo dicta capella fuerit et sit constructa cum his tantum pactis et capitulis initis infrascriptas partes videlicet : In prima che el convento predicto concede al priore et homine de la dicta fraternita la nuova capella facta ad honore et laude de la Numptiata et che glie frate et convento predicto sieno tenute et deggano omni di celebrare una messa nell’altare della dicta capella per merito de l’anime de quelle che si faranno alcuna elimosina et per li homine de la dicta fraternita et per l’anima de Ser Benedecto de Ser Pietro. Item che priore et homine de la dicta fraternita danno et concedono pleno iure al dicto convento e la dicta capella per dota et limosina de essa tre pezze de terra poste nel destretto de la villa de Monte Decreno nel vocabolo la stradella fra le loro confine quale el dicto convento se degga fructare a suo uso et volunta como sua cosa propria quale pezze de terra già fuorono de Ser Benedetto de Ser Pietro per dicto siche le dicte tre pezze de terra sieno et intendasse essere perperpetuamente dota della capella. Item che omne lemosina che se facesse a la dicta capella o vero all’altare di essa pane, vino, grano, carne et altre cose da mangiare sia del dicto convento. Item che omne lassata che fosse facta di cose stabile et mobile o vero denaro per la quale i frate et convento fossero obligate a dire messe o fare altre offitie a satisfactione de tale legato con cosa lassate che sia del dicto convento. [manicula] Item che omne altra lemosina data et lassata a la dicta capella et posta nell’altare d’essa, o no, sia liberame( ?) de li homene de la dicta fraternita et de lo 368 spedale d’essa e possalo et degalo spendere, convertere et mantenere a ornamento de la dicta capella como a loro et chi per loro cie serà deputato parrà et piacerà. Et vogliono et sonno d‘acordo che el priore che sera al tempo del dicto convento de Sancta Maria de anno in anno glie sia licito et possa et degga revedere et fare revedere la ragione a qualunche sera deputato al governo et cura de la dicta capella per glie homine de la dicta fraternita et vedere che le lassate che seronno lassate a la dicta capella sieno utelmente spese giusta la volunta de chi avesse lassato e offerito ad essa capella. (81r) Et quilli tali che avessero auta la cura e el governo de la dicta capella recusasse che la ragione non li fosse reveduta e essa ragione non volendola assignare che priore de la dicta fraternita quali seronno per li tempi possano et deggano fare stregniere de facto, assegnare et revedere la dicta ragione et intendase essere casso de la dicta fraternita e de la dicta sua commissione. Item che nella dicta capella non cie se possa pegnire ne fare pegnire niuna figura senza deliberatione del priore de Sancta Maria et del priore de la fraternita et de li soprastante de essa capella li quali seronno per li tempi. Ponentes dicti fratres capitulus et conventus dictos homines et disciplinatos dicte fraternitatis et etiam dicti hospitalis in locum eorum et eos procuratores ut in rebus eorum constituti ita ut ad modo et deinceps in iudicio et extra nominibus eorum in iudicio itaque possint agere, petere, causari, excipere, replicare, finire, refutare experiri se seque ... et omnia alia et singula facere, gerere et extra potest et quod dicti cedentes et concedentes dictis nominibus facere poteant ante presentem contractum. Quam quidem dationem, cessionem et concessionem fecerunt dicti cedentes et concendentes quibus supra nominibus *** hominibus et disciplinatis dicte fraternitatis et dicti hospitali ex causis predictis et etiam quia fuerunt confessi et contenti dictam capellam fuisset et esse factam et conpletam sumptibus et expensis dicti hospitalis et pro eo etiam quia sic voluerunt et sic eis placuit et etiam quia prefati priores tam dicte fraternitatis quam dicti hospitalis et etiam dicti sindici et procuratores habentes ad predicta et infrascripta omnia plenum et sufficiens mandatum ab hominibus dicte fraternitatis sub presenti millesimo et *** mensis ianuari proxime preteri ut asserunt obligandi res et bona dicte fraternitatis et hospitalis eiusdem presentia et futura pro observatione omnium et singulorum supra et infrascriptorum, promisserunt dictis fratribus, capitulo et conventi presentibus, stipulantibus et recipientibus dictam capellam in perpetum tenere, custodire, manutenere, augere et agumentare ad honorem omnipotentis Dei et sub nomine et vocabulo Annumptiate gloriosissime intemerate matris Virginis Marie pro hominibus et disciplinatis dicte fraternitatis, qui sunt vel qui pro tempore fuerint et pro *** perpetuis duraturis et etiam pro dicto hospitali. Et possessionem dicte capelle prenominati priores tam dicte fraternitis quam dicti hospitalis etiam dicti sindici et procuratores quibus supra nominibus fuerunt confessi et contenti habuisse et recipisse et in possessione fuisse et esse, promictentes dicti cedentes et concedentes quibus supra nominibus quod de predictis ut supra per eos concessis nemini ius alii *** aliquod est datum nec dabitur nec concedetur in futuro pro hominibus et disciplinatis dicte fraternitatis et hospitali eiusdem in aliquo nocere vel obesse possit. Quod si appareret, promiserunt ipsum ius predictis hominibus et disciplinatis eiusdem et dicto hospitali et eorum res et bona ius indempnes et indempnis conservare ; promictentes insuper dicti cedentes et concedentes quibus supra nominibus prioribus tam dicte fraternitatis quam dicti hospitali et etiam dictis sindicis et procuratoribus ut supra stipulantibus et recipientibus de predictis litem aliquam non movere nec moventi facere aut moventi conservare aliquo modo causa vel ingenio sed potius defendere quam omnem personam omnibus dictorum cedentium et concedentium quibus supra nominibus 369 sumptibus et expensis et in se iudicum et causa subscipere et statim lite mote et se liti et questionibus offere ad finem producere dicte intelligatur lis mota per unicam citationem tantum ius denumptiandi eisdem exparte remictentis (82) ; renumptiantes inter se ad invicem dicte partes singula singulis referendis exceptione non factis dictis dationis cessis et concessis et dictorum capitulorum et pactorum ac promissionum et obligationum habeant inde non factum rei sic non geste vel aliter geste et non celebrati presens contractus et omni alii legum et iuribus in auxilio consuetudini et statutorum et quod non opponet nec opponeri facient contra predicte vel aliquod predictorum et hec omnia et singula supra infrascripta promiserunt et convenuerunt ac etiam iuraverunt dicte partes in ... constituentes eorum videlicet dicti cedentes et concedentes ponendis manus eorum super pectus eorum et dicti priores tam dictis fraternitatis quam dicti hospitali et etiam dicti sindici procuratores in constituendi, iuraverunt ad sancta Dei evangelia corporaliter manu tactis scripturis predicta omnia et singula vera esse et fuisse et ea tenere, actendere inviolabiliter observare et contra ea non facere vel venire sub obligatione omnium et singulorum bonorum dictorum partium cuiuslibet presentia in futuro earum et pena ducentorum florenorum auri aplicanda parti observanti et observare volenti quam penam cum refectio dampnorum expensis et interesse litis et extra totiens quotiens contrafecerit uni pars alteri et altera alteri dare et solvere solempni stipulanti promisit. Qua pena soluta vel non habere omnia de predictis omnique et tenendis, attendenditis et firmiter observandis et adimplendis et de pena solvenda si commissa singulis fuerint promisserunt facere confessionem coram iudice comunis Perusii ecclesiastico et seculari et coram quolibet alio iudice competente pro eis petentibus et petitionem et ... . 370 Appendix 8 ASPg, ASCPg, Riformanze 102 (f. 70r and 72v) The city priori allocate, by law, a 25-florin subsidy to the confraternity to adorn their chapel in Santa Maria of the Servites. 25/6/ 1466 (f. 70r) Item cum pro parte priorum fraternitatis Anumptiate de Perusio porte Eburnee habentetium curam et regimen capelle Anumptiate existentis in ecclesia Sancte Marie Servorum de Perusio dicte porte Eburnee fuerit prefatis Magnificis Dominis Prioribus et camerariis humiliter supplicatum de aliqua quantitate pecuniarum pro ornamentis ipsius Capelle eisdem, amore Dei, subveniri ob reverentiam sue gloriosissime matris virginis Marie. Et igitur reproposita et narrata inter prefatos Magnificos Dominos Priores die videlicet precedenti exibitisque consiliis et facto posito ac misso partito ad bussolam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum et ordinamentorum comunis Perusii et solempniter obtentis per novem ex eis mictentibus et restituentibus eorum fabas albas del sic una faba nigra in contrarium reperta non obstante. Et hodie inter dictos camerarios factis prepositis exibitisque consigliis et facto proposito ac misso partito ad bussolam et fabas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum et ordinamentorum comunis Perusii et solempniter obtentis per XXXVIII ex eis mictentibus et restituentibus eorum fabas albas del sic septem fabis nigris in contrarium repertis non obstantibus, ex omnibus arbitriis auctoritatibus, potestatibus et bailiis eisdem Magnificis Dominis Prioribus et camerariis coniuctim vel divisim quomodolibet concessis ac atributis per formam quorumcumque statutorum et ordinamentum, et omni meliori modo, via, iure et forma quibus magis et melius potuerunt, statuerunt, ordinaverunt et reformaverunt ac deliberaverunt quod pro ornamentis et fulcimentis dicte capelle Anumptiate existitentis in dicta ecclesia Servorum Sancte Marie sub regimine et gubernatione hominum dicte fraternitatis Anumptiate, dicti priores dicte fraternitatis habeant et habere debeant a depositario pecuniarum dicti comunis Perusii de quibuscumque pecuniis dicti comunis Perusii ad bolletinum Magnificorum Dominorum Priorum florenos vigintiquinque ad rationem XXXVI bologninorum pro quolibet floreni. Et ita mandaverunt depositario predicto. Quibuscumque in contrarium facientibus non obstantibus. (f. 72v) Bolletinum priorum fraternitatis Anumptiate de florenis XXV Item mandamus tibi Nicholao magistri Antonii depositario predicto quatenus viso presenti nostro bolletino de quibuscumque pecuniis dicti nostri comunis ad tuas manus pervenctis seu quomodolibet perveniendis, des et solvas prioribus fraternitatis Anumptiate habentibus curam, regimen, et gubernationem capelle et gonfalonis Anumptiate existentium in ecclesia Servorum Sancte Marie de Perusio porte Eburnee florenos vigintiquinque ad rationem XXXVI bologninorum pro quolibet floreno pro ornamentis dicte capelle vigore legis edite in consilio camerariorum pro ut supra constat manu mei notarii infrascripti camerariorum ita sit inter nos obtemptum ad bussolam et falbas albas et nigras secundum formam statutorum. Datum ut supra, dictis millesimo die et indictione … ……………………………………………………………………………f. XXV 371 Appendix 9 ASPg, ASCPg, Giudiziario antico, Iura diversa IV, anno 1470 (loose sheet). Inventory of the Chapel of the Nunziata in Santa Maria dei Servi (Perugia), 22 Aprile 1470. (f. 1) Die XXII aprilis 1470 |1470 - 22 aprile| In nomine Domini, amen. Anno Domini millesimo CCCCLXX, indictione tertia, tempore sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini domini Pauli divina providentia pape secundi et die XXII aprilis. Actum in ecclesia Sancte Marie Servorum in capella Anumptiate, presentibus Amicho Nicholai Pauli et Astore Perantoni Mathei Petri de Gratianis porte Sancti Petri, testibus ad infrascripta habitis, vocatis et rogatis. Infrascriptum est inventarium rerum et massaritiarum capelle fraternitatis Annunptiate site in ecclesia Sancte Marie Servorum civitatis Perusie, porte Eburnee: 1) In prima, uno gonfalone co la Numptiata con la coperta de velii de seta et co la cortina de panno de lino celestra 2) Item uno tabernachiolo dal gonfalone con la predola del tabernacolo 3) Item una tavola penta, sta in su l‘altare 4) Item doi angeli con candeliere in mano 5) Item doi candeliere d‘ottone 6) Item doi candeliere de ferro 7) Item una pietra consagrata 8) Doi palie de panno de lino inborrate 9) Item doi tovaglie ucellate nuove 10) Una tovaglia cremonese grande nuova con banbagio biancho foderate 11) Item uno palio de pano de lana intrecciato 12) Item uno palio de pano de lana scaciato con più colore foderate de pano de *** 13) Item uno fregio damaschino biancho messo ad oro colo schucatoio overo … co oro attacato 14) Item uno fregio de velluto scacchato colo sciuccatio ed una croce in mezzo 15) Item un paio de corporaglie co la casa de cremosi con uno YHU de oro 16) Item un fregio de pano de lana rosato et verde con frappe colo scuiccatoio attaccato con una testa in mezzo 17) Item una icona d‘ariento orato de la nostra Dopna con uno mecchino lavorato con seta et con oro 18) Item una crocetta de alume biancha invollta e doi velecte, uno de seta et l‘altro de banbagio 19) Item una filaiola de coraglie e parrie [sic] picchola 20) Item una filaiola de paternostre nere 21) Item una scatola (f. 2) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) Item quattro paia de archie d‘ariento Item uno anello Item doi tovaglie vecchie Item uno sciuccatioio largo con una testa per canto et una in mezzo Item uno sciuccatoio 372 27) Item uno sciuccatoio largo con una testa per canto et una in mezzo con crocette 28) Item uno sciuccatoio largo con tre teste per canto e una in mezzo con crocette 29) Item uno sciuccatoio largo con tre teste con guangiole 30) Item uno sciuccatoio largo con una testa per canto et con guardiole roscie crocette 31) Item uno sciuccatoio mezzano con tre teste per uno con guardiole 32) Item uno sciuccatoio mezzano con tre teste, usato 33) Item uno sciuccatoio cole vergelle bianche 34) Item uno guardanappo ucellato, usato 35) Item uno sciuccatoio lungo ed doi vergelle una per canto et una croce in mezzo e crocette, uno poco arso 36) Item uno velo de lino con lectere messe in mezzo 37) Item uno sciuccatoio grande, rotto 38) Item uno sciuccatoiolo con una verga per canto, ruina 39) Item uno guardanappo piccholo, vecchio 40) Item una palla lavorata di seta roscia 41) Item una v[el]etta de lino, nuova 42) Item uno capezzo de panno de lino sotile 43) Item uno camoscio collo amicto et cordone cole fembrie de velluto cremosi 44) Item doi amicte cole fembrie de velluto cremosi et uno cordone de seta con mappa 45) Item doi stregnietoi de banbagio con tre teste bordie 46) Item doi velecte de seta, vecchie 47) Item uno pennone de tromba colo grifone 48) Item tovaglia stracciata cremonese 49) Item una cassa de noce biancha con la chiave 50) Item una predola d‘altare 51) Item doi paia d‘aste da torchie 52) Item uno candeliere grande de ferro 53) Item uno lucero e un luceriolo 54) Item uno sciuccatoio, tristo 55) Item uno lampanaio de ferro 56) Item doi martelline piccholi et uno paio de tovaglie (f. 3) Luca assigniavit inter omnes monetas bolognini diciannove cum picciolis. 373 Appendix 10 Inventory of the church of Santa Maria dei Servi, 1/8/1492. 1r In nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi eiusque genetricis et advocate Sancte Marie. Hoc est inventarium argenterie, paramentorum, librorum et ornamentorum sacristie atque aliarum rerum et bonorum ecclesie et conventus Perusii ordinis Servorum factum et celebratum sub anno domini millesimo CCCCLXXXXII et die prima augusti, de presentia, commissione et mandato reverendi in Christo patris et sacre teologie profexoris magistri Iohannis Dominici de Urbe Veteri, provincie Patrimonii dignissimi provincialis. In presentia venerabilis religiosi fratris Hieronimi de Balionibus de Perusio, prioris dicti conventus, et reverendorum magistrorum magistri Andree de Perusio et magistri Sebastiani de Burgho, fratris Luce et fratris Benedicti de Perusio et aliorum fratrum conventus predicti. In primis, inventarium argentarie: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Una croce grande d‘argento con quatro figure d‘argento et uno crucefisso con uno angelo de sopra d‘argento et dal lato denanze et dal lato de rieto con cinque figure smaltate colla sua palla de rame inorate con bottoni de argento vintanuove fiori, tre grande et doi piccoli d‘argento. Pesa *** Item una crocetta de crestallo ligata cum el crocefisso d‘argento et doi figure da piedi de relievo; manchali el pezzo de socto de detto crestallo Item uno piedi di crestallo con certi angelioti de relievo; manchava uno d‘esse Item una crocetta d‘argento con el suo piede de argento con certi reliquII di S. Giovani Baptisti col l‘arme de madonna Isabetta de messer Nofrio con certi perli intorno se Item una crocetta d‘argento con el suo piede de rame inorato, la quale dette la Giovanina de Iacomo de messer Francesco 1v Calices 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 2r In primis uno calice grande tutto d‘argento cum esmalti belli et degni per tutto facto per le mano de m° *** da Siena cum la sua patena tutta d‘argento con sei smalti piccoli intorno et in mezo uno smalto grande colla Passione del nostro Signore Iesu Cristo tutto d‘argento inorato. Pesano per tutto libre VI Item uno calice mezzano con la sua patena tutta d‘argento inorato et nella patena uno smalto colla figura de Iesu Cristo quando resuscita. Facte fare per le bone memorie de fra Marino et fra Guglielmino. Pesa libre V et once 6. |l‘à Alexandro orfo el calice et la patena - è qui in sacrestia| Item uno calicetto tutto d‘argento et nel piede refoderato de rame cum la sua patena d‘argento et in essa uno crucifixo smaltato. Fece fare donna Giovanna de Mariano como in dicto calice è scripto. Item uno calice tutto d‘argento; nel pomo ismaltato … sotto et sopra con certi ucelli. Pesa *** Item calicietto piccolo tutto d‘argento cum la sua patena d‘argento, tutti inorati nel piede d‘esso l‘arme de madonna Isabetta de messer Nofrio Item uno calice de ramo colla coppa d‘argento et sua patena de ramo inorati. Fece fare messer Crispolto, como in esso calice è descripto Item uno calice de ramo colla coppa d‘argento et con la patena de ramo inorati. Fece fare Magio de Angelo bidello de lo studio como nel predicto calice appare. Item calice de rame con la <patena> coppa d‘argento et con la patena de rame inorati nel oni piede è una arme de ser Cola, cioè uno giglio biancho Item uno calice de rame con la coppa d‘argento inorato et colla sua patena de rame inorati facto fare de la compagnia de gli Otramontane con S. Croce et S. Barbara 374 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) Item uno calice de rame colla coppa d‘argento inorato et nel pomo desso smalti quattro cioè doi piare [sic] et doi croce bianche. Fece fare la buona memoria de fra Marino de li beni de donna Marina |sta a Panicali a la Madonna| Item uno calice de rame colla coppa d‘argento et cum la sua patena de rame cum el su piede repezzato de rame Item uno calice de rame colla coppa d‘argento colla sua patena de rame in esso tre smalti, cioè nel suo piede fo de buona memoria de fra Pacifico da Perosia Item uno calice de ramo colla coppa d‘argento collo pomo smaltato in esso scripto per Maria de Agnesina colla patena Item uno calice de rame colla coppa d‘argento et col suo piede facto a fogliame. Fece fare donna Margarita Item uno calice de rame colla sua coppa d‘argento et nel suo pomo el segnio et nome de Pietro Pavolo da Antonio de Masso. Fece fare Magister Andrea nostro colla sua patena inorata |l‘à el priore frater Girolamo| Item uno calice de ramo colla coppa d‘argento inorata con certe arme. Fece fare meser Pier Tomasso per la memoria de dona Bartolomea de meser Mariotto como è descripto nel piede de esso de lectere de millesimo, facto al tempo de frate Luca Item uno calice de ramo colla coppa d‘argento colla sua patena de ramo inorata et tra li suoi smalti uno paio de mano et fece venire m° Andrea nostro |l‘à el priore frate Girolamo| Item uno calice de rame colla coppa d‘argento inorato colla coppa d‘argento inorato et cum la sua patena de ramo con certi YHS smaltati de rame consignate a la sacrestia per el servitio de la chiesa de San Pavolo. Argentarie 1) 2v 2) 3) 4) In primis uno turibulo d‘argento piccolecto de peso de livere tre o circa colli suoi anelletti, cioè uno grande et uno piccolo Item uno turibulo d‘argento grande et bello con tutti li suoi fornimente de peso de libre quattro once 10 qualie fecero fare m° Andrea et fratre Luca da Peroscia delli denare de la buona memoria de fra Martino de Matteo da Peroscia, loro patrone nel 1490 |la empegniò el Grasello per ducati 6| Item una navicella d‘argento con suoi fogliame dentorno inorati et uno fioro d‘argento inorato sopra a una bassetta d‘argento cum el suo piede e quattro bottoni d‘argento in essa. Fece fare mastro Andrea de elimosine et altri denare del convento. Pesa libre *** Item uno paio d‘ampolle d‘argento cum doi nostri domini nelle sui coperchi, una inorata et l‘altra non. Fece fare la bona memoria de fra Marino. Ornamente de rame 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) In primis, una coppa de rame acta a dar l‘acqua sancta tutta inorata cum el suo spargolo de rame inorati. Fece fare fra Marino. Item uno tabernacolo de rame inorato con doi occhi de crestallo et in esso reliquie de San Faustino Item doi tabernacoli de rame inorato, uno grandecello et l‘altro piccolo, fatte per portar el Corpus Domini Item uno tabernacolo de quatro pezze de ramo inorato con certi bosse tonde d‘avorio. Donò la buona memoria de fra Marino Item uno tabernacolo grande de rame inorato con propheti d‘argento ed uno vetrio grande quale fece fare la buona memoria de fra Martino per reporvi infrascripto braccio de Innocenti. Smalti 1) 2) In primis, uno smalto cioè uno crestallo grande ligato in rame inorato per li piovali Item uno smalto de rame inorato cum una Anuntiata in esso pro su piovali 375 3) Item uno crestallo piccolo ligato in rame inorato per li piovali. Donò Mastro Andrea da Peroscia 3r Pacie 1) 2) Una pace d‘avorio intorno d‘essa certi lavorii de bosso de la quale lavorio donò m° Andrea et el lavorio dentorno paghò frate Mario Item un altra pace in modo de una reliquiecte piccola cum più reliquII e de sopra coperta de vetrio Reliquii et Reliquiecte 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) Una reliquia grande de legniame inorata cum più et diverse reliquii de sancti Una anchonetta d‘avorio con quatro figure et una nostra Donna in mezo cum li suoi sportelli Uno cofanello d‘avorio da octo faccie cum la storia de Marcchabrune et cum l‘arme de Baglione et de meser Nicola di meser Dionigii venuto al tempo de m° Andrea et deputati per la capella de la Nuntiata Una anconetta piccola cum mezza Madona d‘alabaustro Una Madonna d‘avorio cum uno bambinello in gremio cum uno tabernaculetto cum una croce de crestallo Item doi cofanelletti piccoli da reporre reliquII depinti Uno bambinello nudo quale donò donna Rosata da Montone Item uno braccio de Innocenti quali fece venire la buona memoria de fra Martino da Peroscia Item uno cofanello longhetto depinto a oro per reporvi reliquii Item uno bossolo grandecello de tre pezzi con certi reliquii dentro Item una Anuntiata depinta in panno lino quale suoli cumunamente stare nell‘altare magiore Octonii et rame 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) In primis, uno caldaiolo de ottoni deputato per l‘acqua sancta Item uno caldaiolo de rame già per l‘acqua sancta et oggie se usa per accattare olio Item uno tureboletto de octone da morte Item uno turebolo de ramo da morte |è a Panicale| Item una navicella de rame assai trista Item una bacinella de octone deputata per quando se da la cenere benedecta 3v Candeliere 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) In primis, uno paio de candelieri de ramo inorato smaltati al tempo de m° Andrea et de fra Luca suo compagnio. Uno paio de candeliere de octone a 3 boctoni quale donò la buona memoria de Giovagnie da Orvieto per l‘altare de la Nuntiata cioè li Mavuncelli [sic] Item uno paio de candeliere de octoni minori de 3 boctoni quali donò la buona memoria de Alberto de ser Cola per l‘altare del Parto. Item uno paio de ceroforarii inorati longhi. Fece fare m° Andrea. Item uno paio de candeliere grande de legname ingiessati per l‘altare maiure. Fece fare m° Andrea. Angeli 1) 2) 3) 4) In primis, uno paio de angeli quali stanno ingionichiovi alquanti guasti depinti Item uno paio d‘angeli ricti cum li candeliere in mano facte reinorate per m° Andrea nostro Item uno paio d‘angelecti deputati per l‘altare de San Giuliano Item uno paio d‘angeletti cum l‘ali de ferro stagnato deputati per l‘altare de la Numptiata 376 Veste de corporali 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) In primis, una veste da corporali de seta cremosi figurata cum uno Agnus Dei raccamato in mezzo cum certi razzi intorno. Donò m° Andrea da Peroscia. Item una veste de velluto verde raccamato a fogliame. Donò m° Andrea. Item una veste de velluto cremosi con france cilestri de seta Item una veste de velluto cremosi cum figure verde et bianche et france verde Item una veste grandecella de cremosi cum uno YHS raccamato et in mezzo deputati per l‘altare de la Numptiata Item una corona d‘argento orato de la Madonna Paramente festivi 1) 4r 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) In primis, uno paio de paramente de velluto cremosi broccato d‘oro cioè pianeta dalmathica et tunicella bustati [sic] cum certi rachami in campo negro et la pianeta cum uno fregio raccamato a oro fino bello. Fece fare la buona memoria de fra Marino da Peroscia. Item uno paio de paramenti ordenati de velluto russo figurati a fiori bianchi et verdi cum li loro fregie. Fece fare la buona memoria de fra Guglielmino. Item uno paio de paramenti damaschino figurato biancho quali fece refare m° Andrea in loco de uno altro paio dicti de purporra biancha nel inventario vecchio ch‘erano tutti con sancti. Ella pianeta d‘essi cum uno fregio tessuto cum angeli d‘oro in campo verde Item uno paio de paramenti damaschino biancho apicciolato quali fece fare m° Andrea de li denari de donna Gabriella d‘Alisandro spitiali cum suoi fregi et mappe Item uno paro de paramenti, cioè dalmatica et tunicella de velluto a la piana quasi consunti, cremosi Item una pianeta de velluto cremosi figurati cum el fregio quale era de la pianeta biancha de purpure facta fare per fra Damiano da S. Angelo de li denari de donna Pisani da Castel Rigone deputata per li dicti paramenti Item uno paro de paramenti de velluto celestro cum li fimbrie de damaschino bianco. Fece fare m° Andrea de li denari de donna Mea de Conte Item uno paio de paramenti bianchi de baldachino luschesi quali fece venire da Lucca la buona memoria de fra Martino che gli avea lassati la buona memoria de meser Giovampiero da Luccha Pianete festive 1) 2) 3) 4) In primis, una pianeta de damaschino vermeglio brocchato a oro fino cum uno fregio raccamato cum la storia de la Passione cum la sua veste de panno quali diede, per l‘amor de Dio, Francescho Cambiozzi da Fiorenze, mercatanti al tempo de la bona memoria de fra Iuseph. Item una pianeta de damaschino verde cum fregio d‘oro facto ad angeli in campo rosso Item una pianeta de velluto verde broccato d‘oro fino cum el fregio raccamato a oro et da piei uno YHS a oro acquistati per opera et cagione de m° Andrea Item una pianeta de velluto cremosi figurata cum el fregio raccamato facta de li denari de m° Iannes, merciaro cum l‘arme de la capella de gli Oltramontane et cum el segno del dicto Iannes per sollicitudine de m° Andrea 4v Paramenti feriali usati 1) 2) 3) 4) Item una pianeta d‘oro lucchese in campo rosso cum doi scudi bianchi a le spalle Item una pianeta de damaschino biancho cum el suo fregio ad angeli. Fece fare Pavolo de Tancio, quasi consumpta Item una altra pianeta de damaschino biancho cum fregio Anuntiate, quasi consumpta Item una pianeta de tafetta rosso cum fregi facte a mandoli et a YHS, facta de paramenti già rossi et tutti consunti 377 5) 6) Item una pianeta de taffeta emdicha et in essa uno signali de m° Antonio da Viterbo Item una pianeta de seta cremosi reforzata cum el fregio facto Anuntiati in campo verde. Donò donna Leonarda, donna gia de Ollivier dei Baglioni Pianeti 1) Item pianeti diece de diverse sorti de seta de diverse colori et de valesso negro bianco et giallo a uso cothidiano Palii festive 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 5r 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) Item uno palio cremoso broccato d‘oro quali recò m° Andrea da Firenze in nome de Antonio Braccha et de poi è stato consegnato a glie heredi de Matheo de Pietro de Gratiani Item uno palio de velluto cremosi broccato d‘argento quali donò la buona memoria de Braccio al tempo de m° Andrea et messo l‘arme del dicto Braccio raccamato d‘argento Item uno palio de velluto verde broccato d‘argento. Donò la buona memoria de Braccio al tempo de m° Andrea. Item uno palio d‘oro in campo verde cum l‘arme de Antonio de Lippo da Lemine Item uno palio d‘oro in campo azuro cum l‘arme et segno d‘Antonio de Masso, eredi da Siena Item uno palio d‘oro in campo rosso quali lassò Minico furnaro detto Brozzanti cum le suo arme Item uno palio d‘oro in campo roscio quali donò Pavolo de Tancio cum le su arme Item uno palio d‘oro in campo rosso fatto anuntiati [sic] quali donò madonna Thalanta donna già de Nello de Pandolfo Item uno palio d‘oro in campo rosso quali donò ser Cola cum le sue arme et segno del fondico Item uno palio d‘oro in campo roscio quali donò Nicolò da Tode cum le soi arme Item uno palio d‘oro in campo rosso quali donò la buona memoria de madonna Iacoma de Malatesta cum le suo arme Item uno palio d‘oro in campo rosso quali dette la buona memoria de Matheo de Perigli per la capella de S. Girolamo Item uno palio d‘oro in campo rosso quali dette la buona memoria de Sinnibaldo de Alexandro spitiali per l‟altare dei Magi cum el segnio del fondico cum la thela gialla per fodero Item uno palio d‘oro in campo bianco quali dette la buona memoria del Brunello de Cherubino cum le sue arme Item uno palio d‘oro in campo verde cum fioroni d‘oro cum l‘arme de la capella degli Ultramontani fatto per la capella loro Item uno palio d‘oro in campo azuro quali venne sopra el cardanale [sic]. Comperò el convento de li suoi proprii denari. È vechio et usato assai Damaschini et velluti 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) In primis, uno palio damaschino biancho brocchati a oro fino venne sopra la bara de la buona memoria de meser lo veschovo de Peroscia, nostro frate Item uno palio de velluto biancho figurato cum l‘arme dei Peruzzi et Manuelli de Fiorenze quali cie lassò l‘Heremo Item uno palio de velluto biancho figurato quale donò la buona memoria de madonna Isabetta de meser Nofrio cum l‘arme de casa sua raccamati per soleccitudine de la buona memoria de fra Martino Item uno paliotto de damaschino biancho apicciolato quale fece fare m° Andrea de li denari de dona Gabriella d‘Alesandro per l‟altare dei Magi Item uno palio de damaschino biancho figurato. Fece fare fra Marthino de li bene de Renzo calzalaio per la sua capella Item uno palio de velluto verde a la piana con le teste de velluto apiciolato 378 7) 5v 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) Item doi palie de velluto paonazo a la piana. Donò donna Eulista de Francesco da Monte Melino per l‘altare de la Numptiata et del Crocefisso Item uno palio de velluto apicciolato cum le teste de velluto verde figurato Item uno palio de velluto cremosi figurato col segnio de Giovagnie da Orvieto dato per l‟altare de la Numptiata Item uno palio de velluto cremosi figurato per l‟altare de la Numptiatia. Fece fare m° Giovanni Schiano Item uno palio de velluto negro a la piana. Fece fare meser Giovann Petruccio Item uno palio de velluto nero cum l‘arme de Braccio Baglioni Item uno palio de velluto nero a la piana. Donò meser Angelo Perigli Item uno palio de çetani negro. Donò la communità per l‘amore del veschovo de Casciano Item uno palio de velluto negro figurato per l‟altare dei Magi donò Sinibaldo d‘Alisandro Item uno palio de damaschino negro figurato per l‟altare de San Giovanni. Donò el Brunello de Cherubino 379 Appendix 11 ASP, ASCPg, Archivio di San Fiorenzo 26, f. 64r The Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo in its liturgical setting In this papal authorization, we learn that the chapel of the Virgin Mary in the church of San Fiorenzo was endowed by Vico Herculanus de Lomazzo with a weekly mass each Saturday and on Marian feast days. The title implies that the Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo (fig. 63a) was placed in that chapel and functioned as an altarpiece in front of which mass was celebrated. « Dispensa di poter anticipare la messa del Confalone le feste solemne » (1477) Sixtus Quartus servus servorum Dei dilectis filiis priori et fratribus domus sancti Florentii Perusii Servorum Beate Marie ordinis sancti Augustini, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem devotionis augmentum vobis Deo propitio provenire confidimus si vestris *** capitis nos benegnos et favorabiles habeatis. Hinc est quod nos volentes vos qui ut asseritis iuxta tenorem donationis facte a quodam Vico Herculani de Lomaza, cive perusino, capelle Beate Marie sita in ecclesia domus vestre de certis possessionibus tunc expressis quolibet die sabati et singulorum festivitatum eiusdem Beate Marie missam solemniter super altare eiusdem capelle sub certa pena tunc expressa celebrare debetis, favore prosequi gratiose veteris in hac parte supplicationibus inclinati ut de cetero perpetuis futuris temporibus quotie[n]s contingerit quod Sanctis Florentii vel aliud maeius festum die sabati ex ordinatione ecclesie debeat celebrari, liceat vobis ea die sabati celebrationem solemnis messe huius modi super altare dicte capelle impure omnictere ex pro maiori decore ex devotione populique ad ecclesiam ipsam ut etiam asseritis tunc confluunt in numero copioso illam in altari maiori dicte ecclesie celebrare dummodo ante ipsam diem sabati alio die eiusdem ebdomade de quo vobis videbitur in prefata cappella solemniter celebrare veretis (?) alius iusta ordinationem predictam premissis quibus quo ad hoc specialiter et expresse derogamus ac constitutionibus et ordinationibus apostolicis ceterisque contrariis neque quam obtantibus auctoritate apostolicem tenore presentium indulgemus nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc paginam nostre derogationis et concesionis infringere vel ei auso temerario contrarie. Autem hoc tentare presumpserit indignationem omnipotentes Dei ac beatorum Petri et Pauli apostolorum eius se noverit in cursurum. Datum Rome apud Sanctum Petrum anno incarnationis dominice MCCCCLXXVII nono kalendis martii, Pontificatus nostri anno septimo. (R. de Treliceris) 380 Appendix 12 Consortium of the notaries, 1403 statute, BAP, ms. 973, ff. 36v-37r; 40r. ―§1 De processione et luminaria annuatim facienda (…) Priores consortii notariorum civitatis et comitatus Perusii et omnes et singuli notarii qui scripti reperiuntur in presenti matricola habitantes civitatis Perusii vinculo iuramenti et etiam (…) quod ad penam viginti soldorum denariorum pro quolibet notario, annuatim ire tenantur et debeant ire ad processionem in vigilia festivitatis Anuptiationis domine Virginis gloriose, quod est de mense martii, cum luminaribus ad hospitale notariorum. Et quolibet notarius teneatur et debeat portare faculam suam accensam unius libre ad minus cum scriptura sui nominis applicata dicte facule et se congregare debeant ubi dictis prioribus placuerit ; et ipsos priores assotiare cum ipsis faculis accensis a loco ubi se congregabunt usque ad locum ad quem ipsa luminaria accedet, pena non venientibus et non habentibus legitimam excusationem viginti soldorum denari computata facula. Non venientes vero et legitimam excusationem habentes solvant loco facule quindecim soldos denari pro quolibet que quantites infra octo dies post dictum festum inmediate sequentes per non venientes solvi debeant. Alias solvant ultra dictam penam et quantitatem duodecim denari pro quolibet eorum et quolibet die quo post octo dies fuerit imora usque in perfectam quantitatem triginta soldorum denari omnibus computatis. Et notarii vero comitates solvant et solvere teneantur et debeant dicto consortio per dictam luminariam pro quolibet eorum anno quolibet infra quindecim dies post dictum festum viginti soldos denari et si dicti notarii essent negligentes in solvendo dictam quantitatem infra dictum terminum solvant nominee pene alios viginti soldos denari. Et quod priores dicti consortii et eorum consultor quando fiet dicta luminaria habeant et habere debeant faculas expese consortii ponderis quatuor librarum cere pro quolibet eorum ; et notarius consortii et prior hospitalis si prior esset habeant faculas trium librarum cere pro quolibet expense dicti consortii. Numptii vero dicti consortii habeant unam facula ponderis unius libre cere pro quolibet eorum; et similiter dari et erogari debeant religiosis accedentibus ad dictam luminariam usque in quantitatem sex librarum cere; et etiam ecclesie sancti Laurentii et ecclesie sancta Marie de Mercato unam libram candelarum pro quilibet dictorum locorum si et in quantum in ecclesia Sancti Laurentii pulsetur campane tempore processionis more solito. Teneantur etiam et debeat quilibet notarius vinculo iuramenti et ad penam quadraginta soldorum denari pro quolibet dimictere faculam suam quam tunc temporis apportaverit et quod nullus faculam suam minuat vel mutilet nec incidatur vel minirit et quoquo modo nisi comburendo et depondetur stetur iuramento apportantis. Et si tantum aliqui notarii pauperes reperirentur in habitantes (?) ad predicta declarandi per dictos priores consortii qui pro tempore fuerint usque in numerum decem ad predicta non teneantur nec agantur. Possint etiam expendere dicti priores pro tubatoribus et naccarino venientibus ad dictam luminariam usque in quantitatem quinque libras denari. (f. 40r) ―In vigilia Anunptiationis intemerate gloriose Virignis Marie de mense martii quilibet notarius annuatim cum una facula ponderis ad minus unius libre cum prioribus dicti consortii est ascessurus; et qui non adcesserit si legitiamam excusationem non haverit vigiti soldos denariorum solvere tenetur. Et si legitimam excusationem quidecim soldos denariorum. Et 381 quilibet notarius tenetur dimictere faculam sine aliqua diminutionem pena xl b[ologninorum] denariorum‖. 382 Appendix 13 BAP, ms. 973, Matricola del Collegio dei notai, ff. 70r-71v Agreement between the ‗consorzio‘ of the notaries and the ‗collegio‘ of the doctors of law on 15th October 1406 Doctors & judges are represented by a « venerable college » whereas the notaries form a « honorable consortium »; in the next sentence the two doctors (sindicus & procurator) are qualified as famous and distinguished. In addition, their representatives receive the epithet “dominus”; they are dressed with their “spetiale mantum.” The six priors of the notaries are “prudentes” and “circumspect.” (f70r) ―In nomine domini amen Ad honorem Laudem et reverentiam omnipotentis dey et beate marie et matris virginis gloriose de etiam Beati Luce et evangeliste. Et totuis curie paradisi. Et ad gloriam exaltationem honorem et manutentionem venerabilis Collegii doctorum et Iudicum Civitatis perusii Et honorabilis Consortii notariorum Civitatis et Comitatis perusie et utruisque eorum ad infrascriptum contractum unionis presentialiter venientium‖. All law doctors and judges of the Collegium must join the notaries‟ procession to the notaries‟ hospital on 24th March with lit up torches weighing 2 pounds each as is described in the doctors‟ matricula; they must leave these torches in the hospital except the Prior of the College and the Prior of the judges unless they wish to do so. Is this is the origin of the devotion to the Annunciate on the part of the doctors of Law? Cum sit valde bonum et iocundum habitare fratres in unum Eximio prophetarum Salmista testante. Id circho convenientes in unum in infrascripta audentia famosi et egregii legum doctores dominus Sacchus dominii Contis et dominus Matheus Felitianii de Perusia tamquam sindici et procurator de etiam in hoc Conmissarii Collegii doctorum et Iudicum Civitatis perusiae habentes ad infrascripta ab ipsis doctoribus et Iudicibus et eorum Collegio plenissimus sufficiens et speciale mantum aventem et potestatem prout Litissime constat manu mei notarii infrascripti obligando dictos doctores et iudices et collegium ipsorum de etiam bona omnia et singula eorumdem ex una parte Et prudentes ac circumspectii Viri ser Lucas, ser Nicole, ser Benedictus, ser Petri et ser Polutuis, ser Iohannis Cives perusini priores Consortii notariorum Civitatis et comitatus perusie homines ad infrascripta auctoritatem mandatum ac potestatem plenariam a notariis et ab adunantia generale dicti Consortii de quibus plenissime apparet manu mei Nicolay notarii infrascripti et nunc notarius Consortii prelibati obligando eorum et dicti Consortii singula bona ex parte altera univerunt ad invicem dicti duo videlicet Collegium dictorum iudicum et Consortium prefatorum notariorum et ad unionem infrascriptam pervenerunt. Cum tunc pactis capitulis et conventionibus inferius declaratis que capitula et conventiones voluerunt inter eos et dicta collegium et Consortium inviolabiter observari prout et quemadmodum inferius particulariter denotitur. In primis que omnes doctores ac iudices Collegii doctorum iudicum et quolibet eorum teneantur et debeant accedere cum prioribus et notariis dicti Consortii ad hospitale ipsorum notariorum tempore luminaria (70v) fiende obverendentiam Beate Marie Virginis de mense martii cum eorum faculis accensis pondeus duarum libri cere pro quolibet descripto in matricula ipsius Collegii iudicum et ipsas faculas dimictere in ipso 383 hospitali et pro eodem hospitalum prout dimietunt alii notarii illuc accedentes excepta facula prioris Collegii dictorum iudicum qui pro tempore fuit quam faculam ipse prior iudicum dimitere non teneatur nisi de sui processerit voluntate.‖ Whoever among the Collegium members does not attend the March procession must pay through a notarized act the Consortium of the notaries 2 pounds of wax or the notary‟s estimate, within 20 days. ―Item quod quicumque ex collegio dictorum iudicum et in eorum matricula descriptus non accederet ad dictam luminariam cum dictis prioribus notarius solvat et solvere teneatur et debeat Consortio ipsorum notariorum infra xx dies duas libras cere vel extimationem ipsius Et possit et debeat cogi et conpelli ad predicta per notarium dicti Consortii et per priores ipsius Consortii et eorum nunptios pro qua executione facienda prior dicti Collegii Iudicum teneatur et debeat prebere auxilium et favorem opportunum Et predicta non intelligantur a Civitate et Comitatu perusii. (absentibus)‖. The prior of the Collegium must walk between two priors of the Consortium followed by Dominus Marcus, the consultant of this Consortium in the middle of the other Prior of the Consortium and the Prior of the College; finally, the other doctors & judges must walk between two notaries. ―Item quod tempore dicte luminarie prior Collegii Iudicum accedere debeat in medio duorum ex prioribus dicti Consortii notariorum et subsequentus dominus Marcus Consultor dicti Consortii in medio inter alium priores ipsius Consortii et priorem doctorum et demum alii doctores et iudices de gradu in gradum in medio duorum notariorum subcessive.‖ If a member of the Collegium dies, the two Priors of the Consortium must go with notaries and their torches; if the defunct is a doctor, 4 torches are necessary, if not 2 torches. If one of the Priors of the notaries dies, the Collegium must assemble with the other doctors and judges in the premises of the notaries and go with the notaries to the funeral; the notaries‟ Priors together with the notaries must go to the funeral of a judge‟s relative in the same way as they have to go to that of a notary‟s relative, according to the rules of the matricula of the Consortium. ―Item quod tempore mortis alicuius ex collegio predictorum iudicum priores dicti Consortii notariorum accedere cum notariis et cum eorum tortitiis videlicet si talis defunctus fuisset doctor cum quatuor tortitiis Et si non fuisset doctor cum duobus tortitiis tamen Et etiam tempore mortis alicuius notarii, prior dicti Collegii iudicum teneatur et debeat una cum aliis doctoribus et iudicibus se congregare ad audientiam dictorum notariorum et accedere cum dictis prioribus et notarioribus ad tale funus Et etiam debeant dicti priores notariorum cum eorum notariis cum duobus tortitiis tamen accedere tempore mortis consanguineorum ipsorum iudicum prout tenentur accedere ad consanguineos notariorum secundum formam ordinamentorum matricule ipsius Consortii et non aliis nec alter ullo modo‖. The heralds of the Consortium must obey the Priors of the Collegium when it is decided that judges meet and these judges may/must have the convenience of the premises of the notaries for such meetings. 384 « Item quod nuptii~ dicti Consortii notariorum debeant obedire priori Collegii dictorum iudicum quando vellet ipsos iudices congregare et quod dictis iudices possint et debant habere commoditatem audientie notariorum‖. (71r) If a doctor, judge, or a lawyer hold a communal office (description of such offices follows), he must pay the Consortium 20 soldi per office. ―Item quod quolibet doctor, iudex vel advocatus qui haberet aliquod offitium ex infrascriptis offitiis comunis perusie teneatur et debeat solvere dicto Consortio viginti soldos pro quolibem infrascriptorum offitiorum infine dicti offitii videlicet: Iudices supra comuni dividundo pro quolibem eorum in tempore semestrali Consultor Offitiorum Armarii Consultor Massariorum Consultor Conservatorum Monete Consultor directorum Members of the Collegium must bequest money to the hospital of the notaries: at least 10 pounds for doctors and 5 pounds if non-doctors. In case of non-compliance, heirs are obliged to contribute to helping the poor who live in the notaries‟ hospital. The notaries keep full control of the administration of the hospital. ―Item quod quilibet de Collegio dictorum Iudicum in eorum matricula descriptus teneatur et debeat relinquere hospitali dictorum notariorum tempore mortis sue videlicet doctoratus ad minus decem librem denariorum vel ultra et non doctoratus quinque libras denariorum. Et inquantum non relinquerit heredes et bona talis doctoris et iudicis defuncti Intellingantur et sint ex nunc obligati ad dictam quantitatem solvendam Consortio predicto et cogi possint de facto prout notarius dicti Consortii per priores ipsius Consortii que quantitates dicta de causa solvende converti debeant per priorem hospitalis predicti in lectis pro pauperibus in dicto hospitali hospitantibus. Item quod prior Collegii ipsorum Iudicum vel ipsi Iudices non possint nec eis liceat se in aliquo intromictem in et de negotiis factis hospitalis notariorum et bonorum ipsius‖. (…) Doctors and notaries pledge to help each other in professional matters. ―Item quod omnes et singuli doctores iudices et advocata et omnes de matricula dicti Collegii Iudicu ac etiam dicti notarii Et priores ipsorum teneantur et debeant se gerere ad auxilium consilium et favores utriusque in quibuscumque negotiis et inter se ad invicem prestare auxilia consiglia et favores in honorem et conmodum (71v) doctorum Collegii et Consortii et utriumque ipsorum de etiam in eorum matriculis descriptorum. Acta gesta conventa et promissa fuerunt omnia et singula suprascripta per dictas partes nominibus quibus super in audentia Consortii dictorum notariorum sita in Capite platee comunis perusie contigua maiori Ecclesie perusine Sub Annis domini Millesimo cento iiii vi Indictione xiiii tempore sanctissimi in Cristo pris et domini domini Innocentii divina providentia pape vii die veneris xv mensis octobri presentibus Menecutio Mercatuti porta solis et parocchia sancti Simonis Angelo Francisci de dictis porta et parocchia et Santutio Iohannes alias Schinche de porta Sancti Petri et parocchia sancte Marie de Colle de Perusia testibus rogatis‖. 385 Appendix 14: Malatesta Baglioni‘s funeral, 1537 ―Cronaca del Graziani,‖ in Archivio Storico Italiano XVI (1850), 412-414 Adì 26 di genaio, in sabbato alle 22 ore, fo arecato in Peroscia el corpo de Malatesta preditto, e fuor serrati tutti lo fondechi e botighe in piazza, e molti signori e gentilomini e gentildonne se fiero incontra piangendo, et altre donne assai tutte scapigliate, et scontraro el corpo fra le doi porte, dove ce era Nello dei Baglione e Mariotto e tutto el resto dei Baglioni, et erace madonna Giapeca moglie del ditto Malatesta, e li figlioli e famigli, e Spellane e quelli da Canaia e quelli da la Bastya, homini e donne, facendo grandissimo corotto; et posero el ditto corpo in San Domenico, e lì lo lassaro, e li signori e li gentilomini tornaro a casa de Malatesta, e li altri a casa loro. La sera sequente fo portato el ditto corpo in San Francesco del convento, et lì fo sepelito in uno pilo. (…) Adì 2 de febraio, in sabbato, per voler fare la representazione della morte de Malatesta, venne in Peroscia el figliolo del signor de Fuligne, lo qulae era marito della figliola de Malatesta preditto, con molti Fulignate; et più ce vennero molti Spellani, fra li quali ce ne erano 30 vestite de negro e alcuni de azurino: ce vennero anco da la Bastya e da Canaia molta gente, e per viaggio ne ebbero a pericolare assai per la neve. E perché la domenica, cioè el dì sequente, se devè fare la dicta representazione, per questo se sgomborò la neve della piazza, et anco per la strada de San Francesco, per podere andarci col corrorro. Adì 3 de febraio non se podde fare la ditta representazione, perché la domenica a mane comenzò a nenguire terribilmente (…) Anco per la morte della buona memoria de Malatesta fu ordinato che la lume de San Gostanzo da piè de la piazza perfina alle scale de Santo Ercolano, che non se sonassero trombe. Adì 5 de febraio, in martedì dopo mangiare, fo fatto el ditto corrotto et representazione de la morte de Malatesta. Et in prima in S. Sydero fo ordinata una cassa alta più de cinque piey coperta de uno palio tutto figurato d‘oro nel campo azzurro e li bendoni con l‘arme loro, escepto denante alla bara nelli bendoni, cioè drapeloni, nelli quali ce era penta la Nunziata, da piey San Francesco, da canto San Giapeco, da l‘altro Santo Antonio, et el resto tutti con l‘arme loro; cioè con la Bagliona. Dipoi, quella medesima mane, nella ditta chiesa de San Sydero lì in piey de la piazza ce fo cantata la messa grande, con alcune altre messe delli morti, et sempre da capo e da piey alla ditta cassa stetteno 4 torchie accesi perfina che fo fornito lo ditto offizio. Doppo pranzo fo posta la ditta cassa in piey della piazza denante alla ditta chiesa de S. Sydero. Dipoi venne lì tutte li famigli della casa loro a cavallo, cioè prima uno a cavallo tutto vestito de nero, e ‘l cavallo coperto de roscio con l‘ochio, et uno stendardo in mano pure con l‘ochio; et questo era del comuno de Spello. Doppo questo, similmente un altro vestito de negro a cavallo con lo stendardo del comuno de Canaia, col campo roscio, con uno griffone bianco, con una canna frondata in fra le branche. Dipoi el terzo armato si era uno famiglio del ditto Malatesta, tutto armato de arme bianca, et tutti li altri famigli tutti con cavali coperti con l‘arme loro e con bandiere, tutti vestiti de negro, et andavano per la cità e borghi piangendo e stridendo sempre. Poi fu el corrotto dei contadini: prima quelli de Colle e dal ponte San 386 Giagnie; poi quelli da la Bastia e quelli da Canaia, e puoi quelli da Spello, che erano più de 30, vestiti de negro et azurino. Da puoi le donne contadine, e puoi le donne citadine, e gli homini citadini quasi tutti, e puoi li signori Priori e lo Vescovo et altri Prelati; e fuoro serrate tutte le botighe; e inante alla cassa erano 30 paia de torchie grosse, et altri 30 paia de torchie picoli in mano a certi mammoli, et fo posata la ditta cassa tre volte in piazza, con grandissimi stridi e pianti de gentilomini e donne per tutta la piazza; e fuor vestite de casa propria loro 130 persone, e fuorci tutti li religiosi della cità. Dipoi, el dì sequente, fu fatto lo obsequio per ditto Malatesta, e vestirse de negro citadini assai; fra li quali ce era el figliolo de Paulo e de Mateo de Pietro de Graziani, e doi figli del signor de Fuligne suoi parente, et certi altri che stavano qui a studiare. Adí 6 de febraio, in mercoledí, fo fatto un altro obsequio per l‘anima del ditto Malatesta, al quale ce fo molta gente, et tutti li famigli de casa tutti vestite similmente de negro, e chi azurino; dipoi Nello e li figlioli de Malatesta e del signor de Fulignie, e molti altri citadini fuoro vestiti, et anco molta gente de Canarese, e molti de P. S. Pietro, et anche de altra gente assai. 387 Appendix 15: Professional occupation of Nunziata members (1418-1546) Notaries - Ser Benedetto di ser Pietro (Memoriale dei contratti, 1418: donation of his house and 1425: testament) - Ser Giapecho di Baptista (ibid., 1429: buys a vineyard for the Confraternity) - Ser Paulus, Prior of the Confraternity in 1454 (Libro del Camerlengho, 3rd Nov. 1454, f. 139v) - Ser Girolamo de Giovangne = bishop‘s notary (Memoriale, 1487 : wrote a contract of land purchase for the Confraternity) - Ser Hieronimus Bartholomei, Prior of the hospital (1505), then Prior of the Confraternity (1516) (Libro dei Partiti, f. 8v; 14r) - Ser Bernardino di ser Angelo (ibbid., 1515: f. 19r; 25th June 1527: f. 27v) Doctor: ―Egregius medicine magister Francischus Bartolomey de Nursia,‖ Perugian citizen, Prior of the Confraternity (Riformanze, 13th March 1443 [erroneous reference from Palomba in his appendices]) Furrier (―pellicciarius‖): Paulus Petri, Prior of the hospital (ibid.) Spice and wax merchant (―aromatarius‖): Angelo di Tommaso of Porta Eburnea: furnished wax for the government (Memoriale, 1466 and Bastardello, 1467); Prior of the Confraternity (cited in Vermiglioli, Memoria, 104); provided candles for Candlemas in February 1455. Nobles - Francesco Giovanni Baglioni (Memoriale, 1466, f. 90r) - Battista de Buontempo and Guido de Fiumagiuolo ask to be admitted into the Confraternity in 1439 (Vermiglioli, Memoria, 35) - Antonmaria Baglioni: Prior of the hospital, 25th January 1529 (Libro dei Partiti 1505-1566, f. 31r) - Mario Cesaro de Fiumagioli: sindico and procurator of the Povere monastery in 1546 (Vermiglioli, Memoria, 39) Painters - Luigi di Francesco: admitted in 1385; painted a crucifix for the hospital; camerlengho in 1386 for 4 months; painted rebels on exterior wall of S. Lorenzo in 1388. (Vermiglioli, Memoria, 18) - Fiorenzo di Bernabeo di Magio (d. 1462): enrolled in the painters‘ guild in 1440; paid 2.5 florins (membership fee?) to the Nunziata in 1446 (Gnoli, Pittori e miniaturi, 111) - Maestro Giorgio who painted the cassa (fig. 118 ) for the Dead Christ in 1517; student of Perugino. Painted the bier (non extant) in 1505 cf transcriptions. (ibid., 156-7; Vermiglioli, Memoria, 37-38) Buckle-maker (―fibbiajo‖): Bartolomeo de Giovagne deceased with his brother, 1389 (Vermiglioli, Memoria, 30) Tailor (―sutor‖): ―Petrus Angelus admitted on 13th September 1546 (Vermiglioli, Memoria, 44) Barber (―barbiere‖): Pietro admitted on 15th April 1538 (Libro dei Partiti 1505-1566, f. 28r) Linen weaver (―tessitore de panno lini‖): Magister Bernardinus admitted on 15th April 1538, (ibid., f. 28r) Wife of a baker admitted in 1511: ―donna Mariotta, dona de Ceco fornaio,‖ and wife of a cook: ―Dona Giapeca de mastro Pietro Franco, cuoco de la Sapientia Vecchia‖ (ibid., f. 11v) 388 Appendix 16 ASP, ASPg, Posizioni di causa disposte per alfabeto 23, fasc. 38. The Servites’ transfer to Santa Maria Nuova transcribed by Vermiglioli in 1802 from a today disappeared manuscript, “Memorie del convento e della chiesa di S. Maria dei Servi di Perugia” by G.M. Bruni. It also confirms the date of October 1543 (Sozi / Macinara) for the transfer rather than September 1542 (Giani / Lupatelli). ―Per i padri di Santa Maria Nuova (...) che i detti padri serviti poi in occasione della fabbrica della fortezza paolina fossero obbligati lasciare la loro chiesa, ed il loro convento in Porta Borgne, da dove, si puo dire, che ne fossero cacciati, è indubitato, ed ecco la veridica storia della loro emigrazione, come si trova in un libro di memorie nell‘archivio di S. Maria Nuova compilato da un tal Padre Giuseppe Maria Bruni da dove si è ricavato quanto era occorente pag. 7to. Sotto il di 11 giugno 1543, il cardinale Perisani legato si portò a S. Maria de‘ Servi in Porta Borgne, e notificò a quei frati la necessità in cui si trovava di fare demolire la loro chiesa, ed il loro convento dei Silvestrini per la fabbrica della fortezza, ed insinuò loro di riflettere, se fosse stato di loro piacere la chiesa e il convento di S. Maria Nuova in Porta Santa Susanna. Tornò il 22 detto per la risposta, e ne tenne un più fondato discorso col Padre Niccolò Alfani, il quale rispose al cardinale, che l‘aria di S. Maria Nuova essendo malsena, e spiacendo troppo a religiosi il dover partire da Porta Borgne, avrebbe stimato meglio, che si fabbricasse per essi una nuova chiesa, nel fianco destro del convento. Il cardinale non approvò questo pensiero per la troppo vicinanza alla fortezza nuova ; in segioto di che il di 9 Lugli di dett‘anno 1543 il medesimo Padre Alfani andò dal cardinale e lo pregio a voler dunque ottener dal papa per i suoi religiosi il monastero, e la chiesa sudetta di S. Maria Nuova. Il di 30 Luglio giuse poi il papa in Perugia, ed il giorno seguente si fece recare al convento di S. Maria de’ Servi in Porta Borgne. Il Padre Alfani priore pregò il papa accio liberasse quel convento delle continue molestie che ricevava dei soldati ivi quartierati ed il pontefice gli diede assai buona speranza. Infatti con una bolla del di 6 ottobre dello stess’anno 1543, che comincia motu proprio, e che lasù nell’Archivio di S. Maria Nuova, il papa concedet a Serviti il monistero, e chiesa di S. Maria Nuova dei monaci Silvestrini. La loro chiesa, poi, e convento situato in Porta Borgne. Si cominciò a demolire con la massima sollecitudine. Di questo loro passaggio ne scrivo ancora in particolare in alcuni suoi ricordi il rammentato Padre Alfani, ed il Gianio nella sua opera dai Padri Serviti‖. 389 Appendix 17 Ottaviano Lancellotti, Scorta Sagra, mid-seventeenth century, BAP, ms. 5. In [] are modifications from the seventeenth-century copy (pp. 271-2) owned by the Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria (Biblioteca della Sopr‘intendenza), Perugia. Easter (543r) ―Giovedi santo. La solennità di questo giorno per l‘istituzione del [Santissimo] Sagramento era anticamente cosi grande che si dispensava coi fedeli il digiuno, al quale perciò si dava principio il lunedi doppo la Quinquagesima. {Gavanti, Comm. in Rubric. parte 4 tit. I §9 [tit: 5: 96:9]} Celebra in Duomo il vescovo pontificalmente; benedice gli olii sagri [santi], ripone per il giorno seguente il Venerabile nel sepolcro, e nella Cappella di S. Stefano lava i piedi a dodici poveretti [p. 470] vestiti a spese della camera pontificia all‘apostolica. Otto (543v) di questi vengono eletti dal Governatore e quattro dal Tesoriere apostolico di Perugia, e dell‘Umbria. Soleva già il vescovo sontuosamente banchettarli. Il banchetto però si è oggi cangiato nel donativo d‘una piastra per ciascheduno. (…) Doppo compietta si recita il secondo matutino, il quale spedito in Duomo, il Capitolo, et il clero vanno processionalmente a pigliar la bellissima e divotissima imagine di rilievo di Christo Redentore appassionato alla chiesa della Confraternita dell‘Annuntiata. Di là i fratelli vestiti di sacchi bianchi sotto il baldacchino lo portano con gran quantità di torcie attorno accompagnata dalla maggior parte della città. E fatta al naturale di camozza, e con tanta maestria, che tutto si piega, e per ogni parte si rende a maraviglia trattabile. Si conserva tutto l‘anno dentro ad una bella cassa sul piano dell‘altare della detta confraternita. La (544r) vista di così santa [statua] imagine si gode solamente il Giovedì, e il Venerdì Santo. Mi ricordo però che il vescovo Napolione Comitoli, felice memoria, nella publica e solenne ribenedizione della città, della quale al 24 di giugno, nel 1614 aprendosi doppo la processione generale fatta per le due piazze la porta maggiore del Duomo la fece vedere posta in croce a tutta la piazza piena di un numerossimo popolo, il quale a spettacolo tanto impensato stillando dagli occhi vive lacrime di cordiale pentimento alzò al Cielo voci supplichevoli di Pietà, e di Misericordia, et humilmente abbracciando l‘amoroso Pastore i piedi del Salvatore Crocefisso intonò piangente il Salmo Miserere Mei Deus. Ho usato ogni possibile diligenza per ritrovare in che maniera s‘havesse opera cosi nobile, nella quale la bellezza con la divotione gareggia. Non ho potuto finalmente altro risaperne, se non che quanto qui sotto scrivo. Esercitavasi anticamente nelle case della confraternita la caritatevole ospitalità a poveri passaggeri. Capitovvi un giorno un [povero] pelegrino, il quale goduta la carità il tempo debito, fu dallo spedaliere licentiato. Volse tuttavia qualche giorno restarvi. Alla fine sforzato a trovarsi un nuovo hospitio partì all‘improviso e lasciò l‘imagine involta in un panno assai ben rozzo. S’hebbe per cosa miracolosa, e per tale è stata sempre stimata e riverita, crescendone ogni giorno la stima, e la riverenza. Giunta in Duomo l‘imagine si pone avanti l‘altare della Madonna del Verde, e con ogni humiltà gle sono da ogniuno baciato divotamente i piedi”. (544v) ―Venerdì Santo. In tutte le chiese, dove cotidianamente la Quaresima sopra de pulpiti si discorre, questa mattina sul levar del sole si fa da predicatori il solito discorso del vero sole eclissato per salvezza nostra dalla tenebrosa oppositione della miscredente Sinagoga. Questo 390 particolarmente s’osserva in Duomo, dove è il concorso maggiore per riverire nella peroratione il Salvatore dell’Annuntiata inchiodato prima, e poi alzato in croce con straordinario movimento di quanti presenti vi si truovano. Con le solite cerimonie in ogni chiesa fassi la devota adorazione della Santissima Croce. Si conseguisce hoggi il ricco tesoro dell‘indulgenza plenaria col visitare qualsisia chiesa dei religiosi mendicanti. Cantasi doppo compietta il terzo matutino, il quale terminato in Duomo, il capitolo et il clero con i fratelli dell’Annuntiata [della Nunziata] vestiti [a] di sacco nero dalla chiesa catedrale (545r) si portanno la bella imagine del Redentore, como morto, sopra d‘un cataletto fatto aposta, e dipinto dalla divina mano del nostro Pietro ((Perugino)). Alla chiesa della medesima confraternita, che con varie inventioni s‘abbellisce riempiendosi principalmente d‘una gran quantità di lumi, che la rendono tutta piena di divotione, e maravaglia. Non tacerò che, nel 1639, 22 d‘Aprile non molto prima, che giungesse la Processione all‘oratorio la rottura d‘un lampadino la cui fiamma fu avvolorata da una gagliarda tramontana, che quel giorno soffiava, ridusse in cenere tutto l‘abbellimento, nel quale havevano fatto gran spesa i festaroli di quell‘anno il cavaliere di Malta Giacomo Vincioli, Alesandro Crispolti, Alberto Baglioni, Vicenzo Fumagioli, et Oratio Anastagi. Per tale accidente terminò la processione non a S. Isidoro, non a S. Stefano, e S. Biagio, non a S. Angelo P.B., come vi fu qualche pensiero, ma a S. Maria Maddalena delle Convertite, luogo governato dai fratelli dell‘Annuntiata. Sul tardi i fratelli del Confalone di S. Simone, S. Benedetto, S. Antonio ne‘ loro oratori si radunano, e fanno l‘oratione mentale insieme con la disciplina. Alle due ore, o tre ore di notte la compagnia della Morte assai numerosa de‘ fratelli, di torcie, e di musici se ne và a baciar i [sacri] piedi al Salvatore dell‘Annuntiata. Intorno al 1581, dalle memorie della compagnia, raccolgo che si desse principio a questa divotione‖. Assumption festival (198rv) ―14. Agosto Cantato il vespero dalla catedrale per la celebrazione del quarto lume, i mendicanti Regolari col clero, e capitolo processionalmente si portano a Santa Maria di Monteluce, chiesa dedicata all‘Assunzione, che domani solennizzano della Beatissima Vergine. Fra la famiglia amovibile e perpetua dei canonici, si porta un picciolo et antico confalone, che si lascia in detta chiesa per otto giorni continui. Vengono doppo il Capitolo, il vescovo, il governatore, el magistrato de’ Signori e tutti i collegi con i torchi accesi secondo il solito. Questa processione fu da Innocentio IV nel 1252 o istituita, o più tosto confermata con la concessione dell‘Indulgenza plenaria ch‘ancora oggi vi si conseguisce. La frequenza del popolo che vi concorre è cagione che per la strada che conducce alla detta chiesa s‘aprono varie botteghe di diverse mercerie per gli otto giorni che vi continua la visita per il conseguimento del perdono‖. “22 Agosto Ottava dell‘Assunzione Dal capitolo di San Lorenzo è riportata dopo vespro insieme con la confraternita dell‘Annunziata là al Duomo il piccolo confalone che al 14 vi si portò‖. 391 Appendix 18 Confraternita dell‘Annunziata, Libro dei Partiti, 1505-1566, f. 55r (Perugia: Biblioteca Dominicini) Good Friday and jubilee procession in Perugia, 20th April 1576 This report was written in the evening of April 20th 1576, right after the extraordinary procession of the Jubilee in Perugia. Its author, the Prior of the Confraternity of the Nunziata, recounts the preliminary measures and the circumstances of this city-wide event. On Saturday 14th April, Pope Gregory XIII granted that the celebration of the Jubilee be held in Perugia. His letter arrived on Monday 16th and “for three days, orders were given so that the procession go well.” Since this major procession was planned for Good Friday (20th April), the officials of the Nunziata requested – successfully - the authorization to carry their Dead Christ to the four appointed churches. Whoever participated in that Jubilee procession, “accompanying the Confraternity‟s sacred Crucifix,” gained, in one single day, the same plenary indulgence as those who visited the four appointed churches during the two weeks allotted for this. This document describes the itinerary of the eight-hour long procession that departed from the cathedral to the Dominican church, looped back proceeding to the Augustinian church, then to the Franciscan convent, and finally to the confraternity premises. Apart from documenting processional routes in Perugia (see map, fig. 123), this report reveals the iconography of the ordinary banner that the Nunziata used for Easter and it also indicates the order of the processional trappings with the gonfalone immediately preceding the canopy under which the revered articulate Christ lay. The Easter gonfalone of the Nunziata does not depict the Annunciation but a praying mourning Madonna dressed in black while the recto showed Veronica displaying the icon of Christ‟ features. ―Al tempo di Bevingniate de la Mandolina e Desiderio de Giovanni Antonio priori del seggio, e messer Lorenzo Monti Milini e Angniolo di Battisti, priore de lo spedale, e messer Pietro Paulo sopra intendete camerlengo Paulo Marino Raneri et Giulio Braca, e perché la santita di papa Gregorio terzo decimo concessi il santo giubileio a Perusia per tutta la quadragesima senon al otava di Pasqua e perché li sopra detti priori e il sopra intendeti si risolsoro di scrivere a Monsignore illustrissimo et reverendissimo Fulvio Cardinale de la Cornia che ricercasi da sua santita de otenere un gibileio [sic] per in giorno acompagnando il santo Crocefisso de la Nunziata. Cosi parvi a sua santita farci tal donio et venero le letere de tal tenere a Monsignore illustrissimo governatore, (55v) et ancor a Monsinior vescovo di Perusia e al magnifico magistrato e al vicario e suo arciprete messer Giulio de la Cornia e ali detti priori, tenore e forma, contento de concedere alla vostra fraternita de la Nunciata e a tutti quelli de l’uno e l’altro sesso che verrano insieme con essa fraternita acompangniando il vostro crocefisso et passando per le quattro chiese deputati per una 392 sol volta cioè el venerdi santo la medesima indulgentia che si concederette a chi per li xv giorni visitasaro li quattro altari di ciscuna e oservasero le cercustantie ordinati per il giubileo universale et altri laccesi preso altre volte come intendeveti piu a pieno da monsignore vescovo a di 14 aprile 1576. Gregorio XIII Et venuta la resulitione demmo prencipio a la processione de la quali c‘era di tempo tre giorni inperoché le letere venero il lunedi santo et in quelli tre giorni fu fatto gli ordini acio la processione andassi bene. E dato prencipio la matina del venerdi santo, subito detto l‘oficio, partendosi da San Lorenzo venne al Rastello, ugi [past tense of ―uscire,‖ to exit] per quella al for de le mura a Santa Maria di Angeli anrentro per li doe porte e venne a S. Domenico per la porta di S. Costanzo, una de le prime chiese deputati, et se ne venne alla volta de la piazza a San Lorenzo per la strada nova a Santa [sic] Agostiano. Per la seconda chiesa deputato, partendosi da Santo Agostino de sopra il portone de S. Cristoforo a S. Maria Novelle, gesi [past tense of ―gire,‖ to walk around] la piagia e si venne a la volta di Pastine a la piazza Grimana divisa la piazza con travati (56r) acio il populo non si dessi fastidio nel incontrarsi. E si ne venassi a la strada vechia a la volta de Pastine a San Valentino a la piazzetta incontro a S. Luca a la volta di S. Francesco, terza chiesa deputata. Partendosi da San Francesco intorno a S. Luca se ne venni per la diretta strada di porte S. S[usanna]. & volto al Calzo a la volta de la Cupa & venimo a la nostra confraternita e fu lasato il Cristo nella piazzetta di essa fraternita. Et cominciando da li sopriori, tutto il populo bagiando e piedi al ditto cristo con belisimo ordini, il quali fu in quella modo che oni porta andasi da se, senza mescolanza de altre porte, e le parochi de le porti cum una stessa separata da li altri ; aci una parochia non si mescolasi con le altre con il parochiano avanti al sua parochia, parato con camigio e stola, e doi omini de la fraternita con vesti e bordoni e in mezzo, il soditto parochiano e uno altro de li fratelli uscito con suo bordoni, il quali teneva cura solo di una parochia ; cosi tutti le parochie givino benissimo senza mescolanza di persona alcuna & i contadini restasino in dirietto pilgliandeni la cura molti gentilomine ; e fu cominciata la detta processione la matina ali sedici ore e finissi ale venti quattro & fu fatto fermo giuditio da persone giuditiose che fusi numero di quaranta cinque overo cinquanta milia persone ; e fu portato il ditto Cristo sotto il baldacchino con gran numero di torci acesi, e dopo il ditto baldacchino, vi era portato uno stendardo grandi che v’era dipinto una madonna del piatto vestita tutta di negro con le 393 mano gionti, e dopo questa una Veronica e nele mano teneva il velo con la immagine de Cristo cosa tanto bene ordinati che desti a maravegliare a omnia. Et io, Desiderio, al presente priore, [h]o fatto i detti recordi che fu ali 20 di Aprile 1576‖. 394 Appendix 19 ASP, ASCPg, Protocolli 485, f. 304r Contract between painter Giovanni di Giorgio and the Confraternity of the Nunziata, 1st December 1505 (written by notary Mariotto Calcine) ―Iulianus Gasparis de Boncambis de Perusio porte Heburnee et Vincentius Ioannis de Perusio porte Heburnee et parochie S. Nicholai homines electi ab adunantia disciplinatorum fraternitatis Annunziate de Perusii porte Heburnee agentes infra cum .... et voluntate Nicholai Ioannis de Perusie prioris fraternitatis predicte dederunt ad coptumum Ioanni magisteri Georgi de Perusio porte Sancte Sussanna presenti et acceptanti ad pingendum captalettum hoc modo et sub infrascriptis capitulis. Cadalecte nuovamente facto per lo loco de l‘Anunziata per tempo sino a messo Gennaro 1506 nel quale cadeletto e la parte danvante sia obligato de dipengere la imagine o figura de la Nunziata ciò dentro a capo dove el morto tene la testa e da piede dove terra le piede l‘angelo e da l‘altro lato dirietro al angelo la imagine overo figura de crocefixo in croce cum doi imagine o figure de frustati overo disciplinati e da l‘altra parte de fuora de esso cadeletto devante la imagine de la pietà et excepte tanti quanto piglieronno dette figure sia tenuto mettere ad oro fino ben brunito cum le quattro palle inorate ad uso de buon maestro e loquale ec per lo quale si promettono dece fiorini x/ ad xl bolognini per fiorino (...)‖. 395 Appendix 20 « Memoriale dei contratti », Confraternita dell‘Annunziata (Biblioteca Dominicini, Perugia), 86-87 Bequest of 26 florins to have lambrequins made for the baldacchino topping the Dead Christ during the Easter processions of the Nunziata. [1st May 1538] ―Item iudicavit et reliquit dicte fraternitate amore Dei florenos vigenti duos ad xl rationem soldi xviii ex precio unius petieterre per dictum testatorem empte a Mattheo Christofori Augustini de villa Pretole manu mei notarii infrascripti et florenos quattuor exigendos a Gaspare Antonii Angeli olim de dicta villa cive perusino, de quibus soldi xxii dicti fraternitatis disciplinati faciant fieri et teneantur facere drapelones rasi cum nomine IHV in quolibet drapelone et subtus nomen ihv figuram montonis coloris quem deputabit Johannes Paulus Baptiste Matthei portandos cum baldachino supra crucifixum in hebdomada sancta et quantus alius necesse congruum videbitur dictis fraternitatis disciplinatis, cum conditione dicti drapelones non possint mutuari nec mutuentur a eius ullo tempore quod si sicus fiat deteniant ad domum ecclesiam Sancte Marie Servorum. Qui drapelones fiant (p. 87) fieri debeant per dictos disciplinatos per tempus unius anni post mortem dicti testatoris cui onere quod dicti fraternitatis disciplinati faciant sui duo exequia in ecclesia dicte fraternitatis et in semel congregati ad Sanctam Mariam Angelorum de Assisio pro anima dicti testatoris (...). infrascriptus: Serafinus Antonii Simonis de Perusia porte Eburnee et parocchie Sancti Bartholomei‖. 396 Appendix 21 GLOSSARY I have used the following studies but also common sense especially for the terms in vernacular: F. Agostini, F. ―Il libro di memorie della confraternita di S. Agostino di Perugia.‖ Studi Linguistici Italiani VII (1967-1970): 99-155. _________. ―Il volgare perugino negli ―Statuti del 1342,‖ in Studi di Filologia Italiana XXVI (1968): 91-199 Barr, C. The Monophonic Lauda and the Lay Religious Confraternities of Tuscany and Umbria in the Late Middle Ages. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications - Western Michigan University, 1988. Bianchi, E. Dizionario internazionale dei tessuti. Como: Tessile di Como, 1997; published in CD form in 2001. Bisogni, F. ―Le testimonianze sui tessili nella documentazione degli Oratori delle Contrade di Siena‖ Paramenti e arredi sacri nelle contrade di Siena;Florence: La casa Usher, 1986. 75-86. Navarro Salazar, M.T., ―Un glossario latino-eugubino del Trecento.‖ Studi di lessicografia italiana VII (1985): 20-155. Santucci, F. ―Gli statuti in volgare trecentesco della confraternita dei Disciplinati di San Lorenzo in Assisi. Bolletino di Deputazione di Storia Patria per l'Umbria LXIX (1972): 155-97. __________. ―‗Lauda della scavigliazione‘ della fraternita dei disciplinati di S. Stefano di Assisi (sec. XIV).‖ Atti dell‟Accademia Properziana del Subasio, serie IV, no. 22 (1994): 243-63. Sella, P. Glossario latino italiano. Stato della Chiesa - Veneto - Abruzzi, Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944. Staccini, R. ed. Le Arti perugine de la bambagia e della seta. Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto Medioevo, 1994. Trabalza, C. Una laude e un libro de prestanze, Roma: Tipografia del Senato, 1901. Ugolini, F.A. ―Annali e Cronaca di Perugia in volgare dal 1191 al 1336.‖ Annali della facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell‟Università degli studi di Perugia I (1963-1964): 141-336. Veneroni, G. Dictionaire françois, et italien. Dittionario francese, e italiano. Venezia: Antonio Bortoli, 1724. chativo / triste: worn covelle: nothing (Ugolini, 1964) dua /due = dove : where (Ugolini, 1964) ella = nella: in the … TEXTILE TERMS benda / banderetta : strip of cloth; little flag borscia = borsa: purse, bag (Agostini, 1968) chorregia : leather belt ciengolo/cincaglie = cintura/e : belt cogine : cuscini endecho/ emdicho = indigo esbiadato = sbiadito: which has lost its hue finbrie/fimbrie = fibbia : clasp (covered by cloth) (Sella) fregio / frego : ornamental upholstery (Staccini) guarnello: mixed weave made of linen or hemp with cotton (Staccini) gielge = giallo: yellow guluppo/geluppo: bundle (Veneroni) 397 nenia: a funeral chant, but here, a funeral garment raso : smooth silk fabric (Staccini) roscio: red (Agostini, 1968) saia : light and thin woolen cloth (Bisogni) sciucattoio / sciuchatoi / sciuccatoio/ sciuccatoiuolo : towel(s) sindado / cendado : silk (Sella) taffetà : gossamer silk cloth vergato : striped (Sella) OBJECTS AND THINGS aneme de leno : wooden core (here: of staff) arbore: tree armario: set of shelves (Salazar) banbovine / bamboine: children (here: statues of baby Jesus) banchora: bench(es) (Santucci, 1972) bossole: recipient, pixis (here for the host) (Santucci, 1972) breveleggie: papal briefs granting privileges (Ugolini, 1964) cacopola/ cacoppola: clepsydra [held by Death in sacred drama] (Trabalza) cevorio = ciborio : ciborium candeletto = cataletto: bier (Agostini, 1968) chamorra : bedroom (Agostini, 1968) chiuove = chiodi: nails (Sella/(Agostini, 1968) concola : cup (Sella) conlonda: column eschorpica: see scorpiccio ghuadre = quadre: square impozzatoia : ustensil to draw water from a well (Agostini, 1967) inpolle / empolle / ampolle : vases lingnie da croce: wooden shafts (?) monumento: sepulcher (here: chest for statue) (Santucci, 1994) piei: feet (Santucci, 1994) scanciarie: shelves solfario : book of solfeggio scorpiccio /eschorpica: scythe [held by Death in sacred drama] (Trabalza) stamocciare (or: scamocciare): to snuff tondire: to cut tortitia: grossi ceri (Staccini) turabele / tirabele = turibolo: incense holder ucielglie = uccelli: birds vesta incarnata / emcarnata: flesh-colored (leather) garment to simulate Jesus‘ nudity in sacred drama (Barr) PERSONS Donia / Dopna = Madonna (Virgin Mary) Thalanta donna [here : daughter of] già de Nello de Pandolfo =Atalanta Baglioni Marcabrune: 12th c. troubadour N. / Numptiata / Nunziata = l‘Annunziata : the Annunciate but it is a common expression in 15th century Italian used to refer to the scene of the Annunciation Nemicho : the enemy (the devil) 398 orfo = orafo : goldsmith (Agostini, 1968) preite = prete: priest (Agostini, 1968) rede : children (Ugolini) 399 The Unifying Power of Moving Pictures in Late Medieval and Renaissance Umbria ILLUSTRATIONS BAP = Biblioteca Augusta, Perugia B.M. = Bibliothèque municipale Bnf = Bibliothèque Nationale de France GNU = Galleria Nazionale dell‘Umbria When no mentioned otherwise, all gonfaloni are painted with tempera on canvas [linen]. Chapter 1: City identity and processional rhythms Fig. 1: Benedetto Bonfigli, Second Translation of Sant‟Ercolano, 1460s, Chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori, GNU, Perugia and detail: portal with lunette (fig. 1b) and painted arms of Sixtus IV Fig. 1b: Original marble statues of side portal: San Lorenzo (124 cm), Sant‘Ercolano (133 cm), San Costanzo (128 cm), ca. 1350, GNU, Perugia. Fig. 2: Seals in red wax with the Griffon and Sant‟Ercolano hanging from a 1284 document, ASP, ASCPg, Diplomatico, no. 1780 Fig. 3: Heraldic griffon; miniature from the Statutes of the Arte della bambagia (cotton guild), 1392, BAP, ms. 968, f. 7r Fig. 4: Matteo di ser Cambio, miniature from the Statutes of the Cambio, 1377, Archivio del Collegio del Cambio, ms. I, f. 3r Fig. 5: Façade of the notaries‘ premises, carved emblem, 1440s, Perugia Fig. 6: Sant‘Ercolano in communal registers: 6a/ 1493, ASP, ASCPg, Consigli e Riformanze, 122, f. 31r 6b/ 1501, ASP, ASCPg, Sussidio focolare 242, f. 1r Fig. 7: Bartolomeo di Pietro and Mariotto di Nardo, Sant‟Ercolano, stained-glass window, 1411, San Domenico, Perugia Fig. 8: Dono Doni, Julius III returns the magistracy to Perugia, 1572, fresco, Palazzo dei Priori, sala rossa, Perugia Fig. 9: Sant‟Ansano, fresco, early 15th c., Santa Pudenziana, (Narni) Fig. 10: Hans Holbein, Our Lady of Solothurn, 1522, Kunstmuseum, Solothurn, Switzerland (140.5 x 102 cm) Fig. 11a: Come le gente della Chieza sconfisse i Perugini, watercolor and ink on parchment, ca. 1400, from Le Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi lucchese, §557, Archivio di Stato, Lucca (15 cm) Fig. 11b: The Perugians conquer Assisi, Chronicle of Giovanni Villani, 1340s, Codex Chigiano, f. 226r, Vatican Library Fig. 12: Statutes of the consortium of the notaries, 1403-1801; BAP, ms. 973, ff. 1v-2r 12a: Vanni di Baldolo, Procession of the notaries, 1340s 12b: _____________, Annunciation, 1340s Fig. 13a: Bonfigli, Gonfalone of San Bernardino, 1465, GNU, Perugia (349 x 221 cm) Fig. 13b: Agostino di Duccio, Oratory of San Bernardino of Siena, Perugia, 1457-1461. Fig. 14a: Masaccio, Birth Scene, desco da parto (birth tray), ca. 1430, Staatliche Museen, Berlin (56 cm diameter) Fig. 14b-d: Scenes of capital punishment: 400 b/ Cosme Tura, Martyrdom of San Maurelio, Pinacoteca nazionale, Ferrara c/ ―How some men from Mostesigradi were beheaded for having attempted to sell Lucca to the Florentines in 1372‖ from the Chronicle of Giovanni Sercambi, § CCXLI d/ ―How someone from Soragio was beheaded‖ from the Chronicle of Giovanni Sercambi, § CCCXXXVI Fig. 15: Gentile Bellini‘s Procession in Piazza San Marco, 1496, Accademia; Venice (745 x 365 cm) Chapter 2: The Formation of group identity through the use of symbolic representations Fig. 16: Pellegrino di Giovanni, Virgin and Child, 1428, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (150 x 61 cm) Fig. 17: List of the names of the priors and their notary with emblems of their rioni, their coats of arms, and their professional devices, ASP, ASPg, Riformanze, 1568, f.. Fig. 18: Casket for the election of the Priori, poplar wood gilded and painted with tempera, second half of 15th c., GNU, Perugia (55 x 70 x 45 cm) Fig. 19: Emblem of the Mercanzia from their matricola, 1403, A CM, ms. II, f. 66r. Fig. 20: Full illuminated page with Sant‟Ercolano and Saint Luke (above) and Five Notaries at Work (below), 1525, ASP, ASPC, Sussidio focolare, 357, f. 2r Fig. 21: Benedetto Bonfigli, The Annunciation with St. Luke, early 1460s, GNU, Perugia Fig. 22: Matteo di Gualdo, Gonfalone of the Confraternity of the Santissima Trinità, early 16th c., Pinacoteca comunale, Gualdo Tadino Fig. 23: Gonfalone of the Confraternity of San Francesco (recto), late 1300s, Museo comunale, Assisi (144 x 101 cm) Fig. 24: Perugino, Altarpiece of Santa Maria Novella, 1496, GNU, Perugia (146 x 104 cm) Fig. 25: Pinturrichio, Gonfalone of Sant‟Agostino, 1501, tempera on silk, GNU, Perugia (115 x 83 cm) Fig. 26: Sinibaldo Ibi, Gonfalone di San Antonio Abbate, 1512, GNU, Perugia (123 x 81.5 cm) Fig. 27: Portal of the oratory of the Confraternity of San Francesco with emblem of column flanked by two scourges, Perugia Fig. 28: Francesco Melanzio, Madonna del Soccorso, ca. 1500, Pinacoteca Comunale, Montefalco (213 x 161 cm) Fig. 29: Lattanzio di Niccolo, Madonna del Soccorso, 1509, Castel Ritaldi (190 x 144 cm) Fig. 30: Gonfalone of San Pietro Martire, oil on silk, GNU, Perugia (107 x 68 cm) Fig. 31: Gonfalone of San Vincenzo Ferrer, oil on linen, GNU, Perugia (140 x 75 cm) Fig. 32: Jacopo Bedi (doc. 1432-1475), San Vicenzo Ferrer, San Domenico, Gubbio Fig. 33: Gonfalone of Sant‟Ercolano, 1575-1600, oil in linen, GNU, Perugia (145 x 82 cm) Fig. 34: Gonfalone of the Madonna del Rosario, 1575, oil on silk, GNU, Perugia (98.5 x 64 cm) Fig. 35: Perugino, Gonfalone of San Giacomo della Marca, 1517, tempera on linen, GNU, Perugia (152 x 81.5 cm) 401 Fig. 36: Bartolomeo Caporali, Altarpiece of the Confraternity of Sant‟Andrea della Giustizia, 1475, GNU, Perugia Fig. 37: Unknown master, The Execution of Savonarola, ca. 1500, Museo di San Marco, Florence Fig. 38a-b: Perugian School, Tavolette of the Confraternity of Sant‘Andrea della Giustizia, GNU, Perugia: 38a: Crucifixion 38b: Way to the Calvary, first half of 16th c.; with original frame (35.5 x 35 cm) Fig. 39: Full page illustration from De Sphaera, ca. 1470, Biblioteca Estense, Modena, ms. Lat. 209, f. 6r (245 x 270mm) Fig. 40: Perugino, ―Gonfalone della Giustizia‖ [banner of the Confraternity of San Bernardino], 1496, GNU, Perugia Fig; 41: Bernardino di Mariotto, Deposition, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sanseverino (210 x 80 cm) Fig. 42a-b: Funeral vigil, miniatures from the Office of the Dead in books of Hours (from A réveiller les morts, D. Alexandre-Bidon, ed., fig. VI-VIIa): 42a: Flemish Hours, 16th c., ms. 5999, f. 119v, Bibliothèque municipale, Lyon 42b: Très belles heures de Notre-Dame, 15th c., ms. Nal 3093, f. 104, Bnf, Paris Fig. 43a: ―Come messer Bernabò è morto e portato a sopellire,‖ Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, I, §CCXCVII, watercolor and ink on parchment, ca. 1400, Archivio di Stato, Lucca (10 cm) Idem, woodcut from Salvatore Bongi, ed., Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi (1892), I: 335 Fig. 43b: ―Come lo conte Ranieri moriò,‖ Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, I, §CXXXI, watercolor and ink on parchment, ca. 1400, Archivio di Stato, Lucca (13 cm) Idem, woodcut from Bongi, ibid., I: 93 Fig. 43c : ―Come li stendardi del duga funno stracinati per Vinegia‖, Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, §CCCCXCVI (12 cm) and woodcut from Bongi, ibid., I: 38-39. Fig. 44: ―Vigil on the tomb of Alexander the Great‖, Quintus Curtius, Historiae Alexandri Magni, ms. Français 711, f. 41v., Bnf, Paris Fig. 45: Funeral pall of Henry Fayrey, 1516, Dunstable Priory, England (from Julian Litten, The English Way of Death, fig. 1) Fig. 46: ―Chome messer Bernabò moriò‖ Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, I, §CCCCIII, watercolor and ink on parchment, ca. 1400, Archivio di Stato, Lucca (15 cm) Fig. 47: Sixtus IV‟s Procession to the Lateran, c. 1472, fresco, Hospital of San Sisto, Rome Fig. 48: Pope Martin V consecrates the church of San Egidio in Florence, miniature from Missale Romanum, ms. 67, f. 285, Museo Nazionale, Florence Chapter 3: Extraordinary banners “per placare l’ira di Dio” Fig. 49: Giovanni di Paolo, Procession of St. Gregory, c. 1465-70, Musée du Louvre, Paris (40 x 42 cm) Fig. 50: Limburg brothers, ―Procession of St. Gregory‖, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1413, f. 71v-72r, Musée Condé, Chantilly Fig. 51: Benedetto Bonfigli, Gonfalone of San Francesco al Prato, 1464, Oratorio of San Bernardino, Perugia (290 x 180 cm) Fig. 52: Villani, Nuova Cronica, 1350-1400, Vatican, Apostolic Library, Cod. L. VIII. 296, f. 197v. 402 Fig. 53: Benedetto Bonfigli (attr.), Gonfalone of Civitella Benazzone, 1470-80?, Civitella Benazzone, Church of Sant‘Andrea (200 x 145 cm) Fig. 54: Procession of the Relics, colored woodcut, Nürnberg, 1491 Fig. 55: Benedetto Bonfigli (attr.), Gonfalone of Corciano, c. 1464-1480, cathedral, Corciano (240 x 132 cm) Fig. 56: Benedetto Bonfigli? /Fiorenzo di Lorenzo?/Maestro della Pietà di S. Costanzo?, Gonfalone of Paciano, 1464 (?) or 1470-80, Church of San Giuseppe, Paciano (225 x 140 cm) Fig. 57a: Bartolomeo Caporali, Gonfalone of Montone, 1482, Museo di San Francesco, Montone (236 x 164 cm) Fig. 57b: ―mostra‖ (altar and frame) for the Gonfalone of Montone, c. 1474-82, Museo di San Francesco, Montone Fig. 58: Maestro di Eggi (attr.), Virgin of Mercy, ca. 1350 or 1420s, private collection, Florence Fig. 59: Anonymous painter, Madonna of Mercy, ca. 1400-1450, Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo, Narni Fig. 60: Girolamo di Giovanni, Gonfalone of Tedico, 1463, Pinacoteca civica, Camerino (206 x 125 cm) Fig. 61: Mariano d‘Antonio / Benedetto Bonfigli?, Virgin of Mercy, c. 1455, Church of Santa Croce, Perugia Fig. 62a: Benedetto Bonfigli (attr.), Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova, 1471, Church of Santa Maria Nuova, Perugia (330 x 171 cm) Fig. 62b: altar of the Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova, 1646, gilded wood, Church of Santa Maria Nuova, Perugia Fig. 63a: Benedetto Bonfigli (attr.), Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo, 1476, Church of San Fiorenzo, Perugia (310 x 183 cm) Fig. 63b: altar of the Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo, late 18th c., Church of San Fiorenzo, Perugia Fig. 64a: Bonfigli (attr.), Gonfalone of San Simone, 1470?, Church of San Simone, Perugia (169 x 114 cm) Fig. 64b: Apse of the church of San Simone with the Gonfalone of San Simone, wall decoration, c. 1840, Perugia Fig. 65a: Gianicola di Paolo or Ludovico d‘Angelo Mattioli (attr.), Gonfalone of San Domenico also called Gonfalone of Beata Colomba, 1494, Church of San Domenico, Perugia (240 x 196 cm) Fig. 65b: Altar of Gonfalone of San Domenico, ca. 1711, Church of San Domenico, Perugia Fig. 66: Berto di Giovanni, Gonfalone of the Duomo, 1526, Cathedral of San Lorenzo, Perugia (250 x 140 cm) Fig. 67: Paolo da Visso (attr.), Gonfalone of Terni with the Virgin of Mercy, c. 1450-1475, Pinacotea comunale, Terni (134 x 117 cm) Fig. 68: Niccolò di Liberatore, Gonfalone of Assisi, ca. 1468-70, Priesterhaus, Kevelaer, Germany (180 x 130 cm) Fig. 69: Sinnibaldo Ibi, Gonfalone of Gubbio, 1503, Museo comunale, Gubbio (198 x 169 cm): 69a: recto: Sant‟Ubaldo 69b: verso: Virgin of Mercy Fig. 70: Map of Perugia with the major churches / Diagram with major itineraries for processions 403 Fig.71a: Niccolò di Liberatore, Gonfalone of the Annunciation, 1466, GNU, Perugia (341 x 172 cm) Fig. 71b: “Tabernacolo” of the Gonfalone of the Annunciation, 1466-70?, Church of Santa Maria Nuova, Perugia Fig. 72: Giovanni di Pier Matteo (Boccati), Madonna dell‟orchestra, post-1448, GNU, Perugia Fig. 73: School of Perugino, Gonfalone of Sant‟Anna, Pinacoteca comunale, Betttona (173 x 124 cm) Fig. 74: Piero della Francesca, Sigismondo Malatesta before Saint Sigismund, 1450s, fresco, Templo Malastetiano, Rimini Fig. 75: Andrea Mantegna, Camera picta, frescoes, 1465-74, Ducal palace, Mantua Fig. 76: Parade of the pallio of the joust to be run on Saint John‟s day at the gates of Pisa, Chronicle of Giovanni Villani, ms. Chigiano L VIII 296, Biblioteca Vaticana, Rome, f. 152r (From: Il Villani Illustrato, C. Frugoni, ed., 2005, p. 184) Fig. 77: Giovanni Toscani, Submission of the palii, cassone (wedding chest), 1425-9, Museo Nazionale del bargello, Florence (40 x 200 cm) [detail] Fig. 78: Dalmatic of Bishop Vanzi, end of 15th c., red velvet and gold brocade, Museo del Duomo, Orvieto Fig. 79: Antependium, early 16th c., red velvet and gold brocade, Museo dell‘Opera del Duomo, Siena Fig. 80: Engravings of Gonfalone of Santa Maria Nuova, Gonfalone of San Francesco, Gonfalone of San Fiorenzo, 18th c., ASPi, Perugia Fig. 81: Pierantonio Mezzastris, Saint Sebastian and donor, ca. 1477, Church of San Sebastiano, Foligno (230 x 110 cm) Fig. 82: Pierantonio Mezzastris, San Rocco [Saint Roch], ca. 1481, Church of San Giacomo, Foligno (235 x 118.5 cm) Fig. 83: Bernardino di Mariotto, Gonfalone of Ponte Felcino, 1523, Church of San Feliccissimo, Ponte Felcino [Perugia] (176 x 120 cm) Fig. 84: Lo Spagna, Gonfalone of Bazzano, ca. 1503-1510, Collection of Lord Aberconway, Bodnant, North Wales, England (217 x 148 cm) Fig. 85: B. Caporali, Virgin of Mercy, ca. 1480, fresco, Church of Sant‘Antonio, Deruta Chapter 4: The unifying power of Bernardinian images Fig. 86a: Tavoletta with the YHS trigram, 1420-50 (?), GNU, Perugia (illustration from Pacetti, 1981, fig. 716; work not extant in the GNU as of July 2007) Fig. 86b: Tavoletta with the YHS trigram, Museo Comunale, Montefalco (166 x 84 cm, with frame and pedestal) Fig. 87a: Tavoletta with the YHS trigram and its lunette with Holy Spirit (recto) / verso with fake curtain, Pinacoteca Comunale, Deruta (69 x 60 cm; lunette: 49 x 65 cm) Fig. 87b: Tavoletta with the YHS trigram, Pinacoteca Comunale, Deruta (62 x 51 cm) Fig. 88a-b: Tavoletta with the YHS trigram and its predella with the Stigmatization of Saint Francis (recto) and the Annunciation (verso), Tesoro, Sacro Convento, Assisi (170 x 66.5 cm; tablet itself: 66.5 x 53 cm) 404 Fig. 88c: Engraving with relics from Treasury, 17-18th c., Biblioteca, Sacro Convento, Assisi Fig. 89: Tavoletta with the YHS trigram, 1425?, Convento dell‘Osservanza, Siena Fig. 90a-b: Pietro Mazzaforte (attr.), Gonfalone with the YHS trigram (90a) and Virgin of Mercy (90b), ca. 1450-55, Pinacoteca Comunale, Trevi (107 x 64 cm) Fig. 91: Sano di Pietro, San Bernardino preaching on the Campo in Siena, c. 1445, Pinacoteca comunale, Siena Fig. 92: Francesco di Giorgio, San Bernardino preaching, predella (detail), c. 1458-60, tempera on wood, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Fig. 93: Giovanni da Capistrano exorcises a possessed woman, from a polyptych in L‘Aquila (Kaftal, Iconography of the Saints in Central and South Italian Schools of Painting, entry 205, col. 640-1, fig. 747) Fig. 94: Maestro di San Verecondo, double-sided gonfalone with Saint Francis and tavoletta with the YHS trigram, Museo Piersanti, Matelica (60 x 48 cm) Fig. 95: Well with incised trigram and carved Perugian griffon, 1452, limestone, Perugia Fig. 96: Agostino di Duccio, San Bernardino holding the trigram tablet, 1457-61, relief (detail of facade of the Oratory of San Bernardino, Perugia) Fig. 97: Agostino di Duccio, San Bernardino holding a pennon with the trigram, 1457-61, relief (detail of facade of the Oratory of San Bernardino, Perugia) Fig. 98: A. di Duccio (attr.), Statue of San Bernardino da Siena, Museo di San Francesco, Corciano [Perugia] (146 cm) Fig. 99: Hypothetical reconstitution of the niche for the Gonfalone of San Bernardino proposed by Bertini Calosso in 1945 (today rejected) Fig. 100: Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, painted niche of San Francesco al Prato, 1487 (tempera on wood) and same artist, statue of Saint Francis, painted wood, (125cm without the pedestal) Fig. 101: Giovanni da Capistrano on the battlefield in Belgrade (from Kaftal, Central Italy, entry 205, col. 639, fig. 746) Fig. 102: Bartolomeo Vivarini, San Giovanni da Capistrano, 1459, Louvre (198 x 99 cm) Chapter 5: the prestige of mobile and immobile images Fig. 103: Niccolò di Liberatore, Gonfalone of the Annunciation, detail of fig. 71a: patrons of the Nunziata Confraternity and inscription, GNU, Perugia Fig. 104: Bolognese notaries, illuminations from Liber Iurium et Privilegiorum Notariorum, ca. 1482, ms. 644, f. 3r, 4v, Museo Civico Medievale, Bologna (335 x 240mm) 104a: Notary between the coats of arms of Bologna and of the Università dei dei notai 104b: Notaries kneeling in adoration of the Virgin and Child Fig. 105: Famous doctors of Law from Pontani palace, 1530s, fresco, GNU, Perugia (79 x 79 cm) [inv. 459; 464; 463; 461] Fig. 106: Leonbattista Alberti, Rucellai sepulchre, 1460s, San Pancrazio, Florence Fig. 107: Scholars at their desks 107a: ―St. Jerome translating the Bible‖, woodcut, from Biblia cum concordantiis Veteris et Novi Testamen (Venice, L. de Giunta, 1511) 107b: Lorenzo Attavante, Initial G from Berlinghieri‘s Italian translation of Ptolemy‘s Geography, manuscript illumination, ca. 1480, ms. AC XIX 44, Biblioteca Braidense, Milan 107c: 405 Fig. 108: Tomb of Venetian Doctor of medicine Pietro Roccabonella (d. 1491), San Francesco, Padua Fig. 109: Benozzo Gozzoli, St. Augustine‟s Vision of St. Jerome, 1465, fresco, Church of Sant‘Agostino, San Gimignano Fig. 110: Niccolò Pizzolo, St. Gregory the Great in his Study, c. 1448, fresco, Ovetari Chapel, church of the Eremitani, Padua (destroyed in WWII) Fig. 111: Gentile da Fabriano, Allegory of Music, c.1411, fresco, detail of the Liberal Arts Hall, Palazzo Trinci, Museo comunale, Foligno Fig. 112: Digital reconstruction of the Gonfalone dell‟Annunziata (GNU, Perugia) in its frame (Santa Maria Nuova, Perugia) Fig. 113: Domenico Alfani, Pietà, 1522, GNU, Perugia (124 x 240 cm) Fig. 114: Benozzo Gozzoli, Mock polyptych, 1452, fresco, detail of St. Jerome chapel, ex-church of San Francesco, Museo comunale, Montefalco Fig. 115: Jean Bourdichon, Angels revealing the Deposition altarpiece, from Book of Hours of Frederic III of Aragon, ca. 1500, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, ms. Lat. 10532, f. 198 (245 x 115 mm) Fig. 116: Niccolò di Liberatore, Gonfalone of San Valentino (Crucifixion with Saint Francis and San Bernardino da Siena), 1497, Terni, pinacoteca comunale, tempera on linen (225 x 165 cm) Fig. 117: Statue of the Dead Christ, chamois leather, 1360s?, ex- Oratorio dell‘Annunziata, Perugia Fig. 118: Giovanni di Giorgio, Panels for the chest of the Dead Christ: Guards in front of the Holy Sepulchre / side panel, 1517, GNU, Perugia (59x178 cm) Fig. 119: Deposition, painted beech, 1228, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Volterra Fig. 120: Reconstruction of the (partially extant) tabernacolo for the articulate Christ of San Francesco al Prato: Agostino di Duccio, Crucifix, 1460s, Church of San Crispolto, Bettona and Benedetto Bonfigli, Angels of the Passion (4 panels), GNU, Perugia [inv 160-163] Fig. 121: Procession of the Duomo crucifix to San Francesco carried by confraternity members, 14th April 2006, Assisi Fig. 122: Representation of the Desenclavo (un-nailing), 1722, Medina del Campo (Valladolid, Spain) Fig. 123: Map of Perugia with itinerary of Easter Friday and Jubilee procession on 20/04/1576. Fig. 124: Processional panel of the cathedral, Museo Diocesano, Perugia (200 x 109 cm): 124a: recto: Salvatore, tempera on wood, 13th c. 124b: verso: Battista di Baldassare Mattioli, Christ and the Virgin Enthroned, relief, carved wood, stucco, and gessoed fabric, 1453 Fig. 125: Night Procession for the Assumption Feast, 14th August, 2003: leaving the Perugian Duomo and reaching Monteluce carrying a photo of the doubled-sided Salvatore panel (fig. 124ab) Fig. 126: Luca di Paolo Matelica, Double-sided ―stendardo‖ with the Annunciation and Virgin Enthroned, unknown provenance, GNU, Perugia (93 x 54 cm) [inv. 879] Fig. 127: Corpus Christi procession, May 2005, Orvieto 406 Fig. 128: Julius banners from Obwalden, Luzern, and Zurich, 1512, Damask silk, embroidery, pearls 407 BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbreviations AFH BAP BDSPU ASP ASCPg BDAnn Archivum Franciscanum Historicum Biblioteca Augusta, Perugia Bollettino della Deputazione di Storia Patria per l‘Umbria Archivio di Stato, Perugia Archivio di Stato del Comune di Perugia Biblioteca Dominicini, fondo Confraternita dell‘Annunziata, Perugia PRIMARY SOURCES ASP, ASCPg, Archivio di San Fiorenzo 26 ASP, ASCPg, Consigli e Riformanze (abbreviated as Riformanze): 14th –16th centuries (abbreviated as Riformanze) ASP, ASCPg, Consorzio dei Notai, ―Collegio dei Notai: Entrate e uscite‖ASP, ASCPg, Protocolli 485 ASPg, ASCPg, Giudiziario antico, Iura diversa 12 ASPg, ASCPg, Giudiziario antico, Iura diversa, IV ASP, ASCPg, Massari, ―Statuto dei Massari‖ ASP, ASCPg, Notarile, Bastardelli, 1103 ASP, ASPg, Posizioni di causa disposte per alfabeto 23, fasc. 38 BAP, ms. 973, Matricola del Collegio dei notai BDAnn, Libro del camerlengo, 1385-1392 BDAnn, Memoriale dei contratti,1333-1594 BDAnn, Libro economico (1499-1511) BDAnn., Libro dei partiti: 1546-1560 BDAnn, Partito dei Signori Confrati delle SS.ma Annunziata, 18/4/1827 "Confraternita di San Agostino, Libro delle Prestanze: 1426-1468.". 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