Visualizing Love in the Renaissance Dr. Sunnie Evers Lecture 5

Visualizing Love in the Renaissance Dr. Sunnie Evers Lecture 5: Portraits of Women February 16, 2016 Masaccio, Trinity, fresco, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, c. 1426; commissioned by Domenico di Lenzo and his wife, who kneel on either side of the trompe l’oeil chapel. Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi, c. 1470-­‐75, commissioned by Guaspare del Lama for his own chapel situated on the inner façade of Santa Maria Novella. The chapel was dedicated to the Magi, probably because the name of Del Lamawas the same as that traditionally given to one of the Magi (Gaspar). Guaspare was a broker and member of the bankers’ guild, the Arte del Cambio. He was also a Medici supporter and must have commissioned this painting before January 30, 1476 when he fell into disgrace and was condemned by the Consuls of the Guild for illicit dealings (or was this his penance?) Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin, Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1485. Ghirlandaio, Visitation, Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1485. Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406-­‐69), Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement, New York, MET,c. 1438-­‐45. Identity of sitters: 2 theories. 1. Lorenzo di Rinieri Scolari (coat of arms) and Angiola di Bernardo Sapiti -­‐ married 1436. One of 3 brothers. 1427-­‐29 he lived in Treviso, commuting btw Venice, Hungary and Florence. Married sometime between February 6 1438 and October 7 1439 (not 1436). Returned to Florence in the 1440s as head of family and moved into his father-­‐in-­‐law, Bernardo di Francesco Sapiti’s, house. Sapiti were popolani, successful but not particularly wealthy. Is the coat of arms HIS or HERS? 2. Francesca Scolari and Bobaccorso Pitti. Francesca (Checca) c. 1424-­‐after 1481, daughter of Matteo di Stefano Scolari and niece of Lorenzo di Rinieri. In 1426, at age 2, she was etrothed to Rinaldo di Maso degli Albizi’s eldest son, Giovanni; the engagement was dissolved c. 1433 when the Albizzi were exiled by the Medici. She was then engaged to Amerigo di Giannozzo Pitti, who died in 1436/38; the marriage was never celebrated but the dowry was paid. Finally she was engaged to Neri di Gino Capponi’s eldest son, Tommaso; he was emancipated from his father in 1437 and they were married on December 2, 1439, and the dowry was transferred to the Capponi family. Tommaso = 21 and Francesca = 13 or 14. Tommaso died in 1442; no children. 1444 Francesca married Bonaccorso Pitti and dowry was transferred to the Pitti family. They remained married for 40 years and had 2 sons and 1 daughter; they lived in the Pitti Palace. Francesca was extremely wealthy; her younger sister died and so she had a very large dowry of almost 3000 florins (rich merchant daughters’ dowries usually = 500-­‐1500 florins) • Inherited her mother’s estate outside Florence, Castello Vicchiomaggio • Noble status: her father had been ennobled by King Sigismond of Luxemburg and her uncle was an influential baron at the Hungarian royal court • Her shoulder brooch was her mother’s, described in 1424 inventory, worth 300 florins sleeve inscribed in pearls Lealta (loyalty); giornea (outdoor overdress), gamurra (indoor dress), sella (saddle-­‐like headdress) bride’s family provided the donora (dowry), ie. cash or land and trousseau groom’s family provided counter-­‐donora (jewelry, wedding feast, elaborate dress, newly outfitted nuptial bedroom, cassoni (wedding chests) and the manchia or cash gift upon consummation of the marriage. Sumptuary laws of 1472 stated that laws were needed to “restrain the barbarous and irrepressible bestiality of women who, not mindful of the weakness of their nature, forgetting that they are subject to their husbands, and transforming their perverse sense into a reprobate and diabolical nature, force their husbands with their honeyed poison to submit to them. These women have forgotten that it is their duty to bear the children sired by their husbands and, like little sacks, to hold the natural seed which their husbands implant in them, so that children will be born….For women were made to replenish this free city and to observe chastity in marriage; they were not made to spend money on silver, gold, clothing and gems. For did not God Himself, the master of nature, say this?” Reference to ancient story of Dibutades whose daughter, Kora, traced the outline of her beloved’s shadow which then Dibutades used to model his face = first portrait, origin of painting (Pliny, Natural History, XXXV, 12) Fra Filippo Lippi, Portrait of a Woman, Berlin, Staatliche Museen, c. 1445 Alesso Baldovinetti, Portrait of a Woman, London, National Gallery, c. 1465 Possibly Francesca, Contessa delle Palme, who uncovered a plot against Federico da Montefeltro in 1445 and was subsequently celebrated at the court of Urbino. Piero della Francesca, Portrait of Federico da Montefelto, Duke of Urbino and his deceased wife, Battista Sforza, Countess of Urbino, Uffizi, mid-­‐1470’s. • Battista Sforza married Federico in 1460 when she was 13 and died in 1472 at the age of 25, a few months after the birth of her son, Guidobaldo, the first boy after 6 daughters. • Federico lost his right eye and bridge of his nose in jousting accident •
Reverse: Triumph scenes, celcbrating their virtues. Battista is seated on chariot pulled by 2 unicorns, accompanied by virtues, Faith and Charity (seated in front) and Hope hidden behind them. Chastity and Modesty stand behind her. “She that kept her modesty in favorable circumstances, flies on the mouths of all men, adorned with the praise of her great husband’s exploits.” • Federico, dressed in armor, crowned by victory, Justice, Wisdom, Valor, and Moderation. “He rides illustrious in glorious triumph, as he wields the sceptre in moderation. The eternal fame of his virtues celebrates [him] as equal to the greatest dukes” Domenico Ghirlandaio, Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi, Thyssen-­‐
Bornemisza, Madrid, 1488; inscription:Ars Utinam Mores Animumque Effingere Posses Pulchrior in Terris Nulla Tabella Foret 1488 (art would that you could represent character and mind); 1488 = year of her death. Bride and bridegroom were both 17 when they married. Giovanni’s sister was married to Lorenzo de’Medici, Piero’s brother. Their son, Giovanni was born October 11, 1487. Giovanna died while pregnant on Octover 7, 1488. This portrait hung next to Giovanni’s room in the Palazzo Tornabuoni; he was beheaded in 1497 trying to overthrow the government and reinstate the Medici. Botticelli, Portrait of a Lady (Smeralda Bandini?), c. 1470, V&A. She wears a summer at-­‐ home costume: guarnello (loose fitting cotton dress), gamurra (expensive red gown), camisa (chemise). Column = symbol of fortitude and constancy; According to Meditations on the Life of Christ, written by the pseudo-­‐Bonaventura in the early 14th century, Mary rested against a column during the delivery of Jesus. “The expected hour of the birth of the Son of God being come, on Sunday, towards midnight, the holy Virgin, rising from her seat, went and decently rested herself against a pillar she found there : Joseph in the mean time, sat pensive and sorrowful ; perhaps, because he could not prepare the necessary accommodation for her. But at length, he arose too, and taking what hay he could find in the manger, he diligently spread it at our Lady's feet, and then modestly retired to another part. Then the eternal Son of God, coming forth from his mother's womb, was, without pain to her, transferred in an instant from thence to the humble bed of hay, that was prepared for him at her feet.” '...I paused thinking deeply, and with sad thoughts, so much so that it made me seem to have an aspect of terrible distress...Then I saw a gentle and very lovely young lady, who was looking at me so pitifully from a window, showing so much in her face that all pity seemed concentrated in her...And so I decided to write a "sonetto", in which I would speak of her...(Dante, Vita Nuova,) •
Leonardo, Portrait of Ginevra de’Benci, NGA, Washington, c. 1474-­‐78. Reverse: wreath of laurel, palm and juniper with scroll inscribed VIRTUTEM FORMA DECORAT (beauty adorns virtue) [painted over virtus et honor (virtue and honor) as revealed by infrared reflectography.] Laurel branch and palm frond with the motto virtus et honor was the device of the poet and humanist Bernardo Bembo who was Venetian ambassador to Florence in 1475-­‐76; the juniper (ginevra) on the back and front are puns on the Ginevra de’ Benci. Ginevra was the daughter of Florentine banker Amerigo de’Benci; on January 15, 1474, she married the cloth merchant and widower Luigi di Bernardo Niccolini; the painting was almost certainly commissioned by Bembo to commemorate his platonic love affair with Ginevra. The affair was celebrated in poems of the 1470’s by Cristoforo Landino, Alessandro Braccesi and Naldo Naldi. Giuliano de’ Medici also had a platonic love affair with Lucrezia Donati in the 1470’s. Other idealized platonic loves = Dante and Beatrice, Petrarch and Laura. Platonic love = metaphor for poetic creation. ginepro = juniper Verrocchio, Lady with a Bunch of Flowers (Primroses), marble, c. 1475, Bargello 1st half-­‐length bust. Largest workshop in Florence; Leonardo was apprentice. Lorenzo di Credi, Portrait of a Young Woman, (Ginevra de Benci?), c. 1475-­‐80, MET. Apprenticed in Verrocchio’s studio. According to Vasari: “…since Lorenzo took an extraordinary pleasure in the manner of Leonardo, he contrived to imitate it so well that there was no one who came nearer to it than he did in the high finish and through perfection of his works.” In bad repair – surface abraded. Leonardo, Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, c. 1489, Crakow; oil on panel. Mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Leonardo began service to the duke in 1482. Her father served the duke as well. Cecilia was renown for her beauty, intelligence and poetry. At 10, she was betrothed to Stefano Visconti, but the marriage was called off in 1487, perhaps because the duke became enamored with her. She became his mistress and bore him a son. He went on to marry Beatrice d’Este and Cecilia was married off and sent from Milan. • Ermine = symbol of purity – it would die rather than soil its coat • Leonardo owned the medieval bestiary, Fiore di virtu, described it as: “MODERATION The ermine out of moderation never eats but once a day, and it would rather let itself be captured by hunters than take refuge in a dirty lair, in order not to stain its purity” and “Moderation curbs all the vices. The ermine prefers to die rather than soil itself.” • Traditional aristocratic pets • Ludovico was awarded the insignia of the Order of the Ermine by the King of Naples in 1488; Ludovico was known as l’Ermellino •
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Pun on her name: ancient Greek term for the ermine = gale or galee (Gallerani) Association of weasels with pregnancy In 1491 the Duke of Ferrara was told that Ludovico “no longer wished to touch [Cecilia] or have her nearby, since she was so fat, ever since giving birth.” Bernardo Bellincioni, On the Portrait of Madonna Cecilia, which Leonardo Made, sonnet, 1492 At what are you getting angry? Of whom are you jealous, Nature? Of Vinci, who has portrayed one of your stars; Cecilia, so very lovely today is the one Whose beautiful eyes make the sun seem a dark shadow. The honor is yours, even if in his painting He makes it that she seems to listen, and not speak. Think, how much more lively and beautiful it will be The more glory will be yours in every future age. Thus, you may now thank Ludovico And the ingenuity and hand of Leonardo, Who wish to leave part of her to posterity. Whoever will see her like this, although it be too late To see her alive, will say: it is enough for us To understand now what Nature and Art Leonardo, Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda), Louvre, c. 1504-­‐14; Madonna Elizabetta Gherardini, wife of Florentine merchant in 1495 married Marchese Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo; sfumato; giocondo (jocund or cheerful); giocondita (serenity and contentment); copy with columns in Baltimore, Walters Art Museum. Raphael, Lady with a Unicorn, c. 1506, Borghese Gallery. Raphael, Portraits of Agnolo Doni and Maddelena Strozzi, Uffizi, c. 1506. married in 1504 when Maddalena was 15. Agnolo Doni was successful textile merchant, art patron and collector; he hired Francesco del Tasso to decorated the bridal chamber with elaborate wood furnishings and commissioned Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo (his own panel painting) to celebrate the birth of their first child. Reverse: Serumido Master, grisaille scenes of the gods of Olympus and the Greek myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha, progenitors of a new human race (i.e. fecundity). Deucalion, son of Prometheus, and Pyrrha throw stones over their shoulders, producing a pile of women on one side and men on the other. The Doni’s suffered a series of miscarriages before their first child, Maria, who was born in 1507 and baptized on September 8. Their son, Francesco, was born in 1508. Michelangelo, Doni Tondo, c. 1507, Uffizi Raphael, Donna Velata, c. 1515, Pitti, Galeria Palatina. Anonymous engraving after drawing by Francesco Salviati, Triumph of the Phallus, early 18th century. Raphael, La Fornarina, c. 1520, Galleria Nazionale, Rome. Andrea del Sarto, Portrait of a Woman with a Book of Petrarch, c. 1526-­‐28, Uffizi; book open to sonnets 153 and 154 (see below). Andrea del Sarto, Drawing of a Lady, Florence, Uffizi, c. 1526 Parmigianino, Portrait of a Poet, known as Schiava Turca (possibly Veronica Gambara), c. 1530’s, Parma. Wears a Balzo (headdress) with medallion of Pegasus: son of Poseidon in his guise as horse-­‐god, born from the decapitated head of Medusa; ascended to heaven and struck the ground and created Hippocrene, the fountain on Mt Helicon and source of poetic inspiration. Pegasus was also the motto of Petro Bembo – on the reverse of his medal struck after 1537. Balzo = dome-­‐shaped headdress Fan >> word play: Italian piuma or penna = feather and also pen Bronzino, Portrait of Laura Battiferri (poet and wife of Ammanati), c. 1555 She holds a book of Petrarch poetry. In 1560 she published Il primo libro dell’opere toscane, a collection of 187 poems – 146 by her and others by her male mentors. Bronzino, Portrait of Eleanora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I, with her son, Francesco, c. 1545, Uffizi. Married Cosimo I de’Medici, Duke of Florence in 1539. Petrarch 153 and 154 (in Andrea del Sarto’s Portrait) ITALIAN ENGLISH Ite, caldi sospiri, al freddo core, Go, warm sighs, to her frozen heart, rompete il ghiaccio che Pietà contende, shatter the ice that chokes her pity, et se prego mortale al ciel s'intende, and if mortal prayers rise to heaven, morte o mercé sia fine al mio dolore. let death or mercy end my sorrow. Ite, dolci penser', parlando fore Go, sweet thoughts, and speak to her di quello ove 'l bel guardo non s'estende: of what her lovely gaze does not include: se pur sua asprezza o mia stella n'offende, so if her harshness or my stars still hurt me, sarem fuor di speranza et fuor d'errore. I shall be free of hope and free of error. Dir se pò ben per voi, non forse a pieno, che 'l nostro stato è inquïeto et fosco, sí come 'l suo pacifico et sereno. Gite securi omai, ch'Amor vèn vosco; et ria fortuna pò ben venir meno, s'ai segni del mio sol l'aere conosco. Through you it can be said, perhaps not fully, how troubled and gloomy is my state, as hers is both peaceful and serene. Go safely now that Love goes with you: and you may lead fortune smiling here, if I can read the weather by my sun. ITALIAN ENGLISH Le stelle, il cielo et gli elementi a prova The stars, the sky, the elements employed tutte lor arti et ogni extrema cura all their art, and all their deepest care, poser nel vivo lume, in cui Natura to set in place this living light, where Nature si specchia, e 'l Sol ch'altrove par non trova. is mirrored, and a Sun without compare. L'opra è sí altera, sí leggiadra et nova The work, so noble, graceful and rare che mortal guardo in lei non s'assecura: is such that mortal gaze cannot grasp it: tanta negli occhi bei for di misura such is the measure of beauty in her eyes par ch'Amore et dolcezza et gratia piova. that Love rains down in grace and sweetness. L'aere percosso da' lor dolci rai The air struck by those sweet rays s'infiamma d'onestate, et tal diventa, is inflamed with virtue, and becomes che 'l dir nostro e 'l penser vince d'assai. such as to conquer all our speech and thought. Basso desir non è ch'ivi si senta, There no unworthy desire can be felt, ma d'onor, di vertute: or quando mai but honour and virtue: now where fu per somma beltà vil voglia spenta? was ill will ever so quenched by noble beauty? Petrarch 64 and 240 (in Bronzino’s Portrait of Laura Battiferri) ITALIAN ENGLISH Se voi poteste per turbati segni, If you, with signs of your unease, per chinar gli occhi, o per piegar la testa, lowering your eyes, bowing your head, o per esser piú d'altra al fuggir presta, or being more ready than anyone to flee, torcendo 'l viso a' preghi honesti et degni, turning your face from honest worthy prayers, uscir già mai, over per altri ingegni, or by some other ingenuity, seek escape del petto ove dal primo lauro innesta so from my heart, from which Love grafts Amor piú rami, i' direi ben che questa more branches of that first laurel, I'd agree fosse giusta cagione a' vostri sdegni: there was just cause for your disdain: ché gentil pianta in arido terreno for a noble plant in arid soil par che si disconvenga, et però lieta is embarrassed by it, so naturally naturalmente quindi si diparte; delights in being moved somewhere else: ma poi vostro destino a voi pur vieta l'esser altrove, provedete almeno di non star sempre in odïosa parte. ITALIAN I' ò pregato Amor, e 'l ne riprego, che mi scusi appo voi, dolce mia pena, amaro mio dilecto, se con piena fede dal dritto mio sentier mi piego. I' nol posso negar, donna, et nol nego, che la ragion, ch'ogni bona alma affrena, non sia dal voler vinta; ond'ei mi mena talor in parte ov'io per forza il sego. Voi, con quel cor, che di sí chiaro ingegno, di sí alta vertute il cielo alluma, quanto mai piovve da benigna stella, devete dir, pietosa et senza sdegno: Che pò questi altro? il mio volto il consuma: ei perché ingordo, et io perché sí bella? and though your destiny prevents you being elsewhere, you can at least provide that you're not always somewhere you hate. ENGLISH I have prayed to Love, and I pray again that he'll make you pardon me, my sweet hurt, my bitter joy, if in perfect loyalty I stray at all from the straight way. I cannot deny, lady, and don't deny that reason, that restrains all good souls, is overcome by passion: so he leads me at times to places where I unwillingly follow. You, with that heart that heaven illumines with such clear wit, and such noble virtue, as ever rained down from a fortunate star, should say, with pity and without disdain: 'What else can he do? My looks consume him: why does he long so, why am I so beautiful?' Laura Battiferri to Eleonora of Toledo 1560 Most happy lady, to whom the proud Arno and the lovely Arbia make their reverences, now that you give order and law to both, sole worthy queen of these cities, one destined by her will and the heavens to revere and to sing of you, honoring you above all other ladies, consecrates to you today these artless new verses, a poor gift of her feeble, sterile intellect, offering them up to your great valor, although fully to speak of you would require the tongue of a god. Do not disdain them, pray, for the great Jove, who made the sun and moves it, does not scorn the humble offerings of a devout heart.