K.christiansen, Early Renaissance Narrative Painting

8/12/2019 K.christiansen, Early Renaissance Narrative Painting

1/52

Early Renaissance Narrative Painting in Italy

Author(s): Keith Christiansen

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 41, No. 2, Early

Renaissance Narrative Painting in Italy (Autumn, 1983), pp. 1-48

Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3259419

Accessed: 27/08/2008 07:06

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless

you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and yo

may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mma.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed

page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the

scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that

promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3259419?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mmahttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mmahttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3259419?origin=JSTOR-pdf


2/52

~~~s~~~~B~~~s~~~~'B~~~~~~~~ll~~~~~r~~~~a O IPI II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~IN1-9-"IP

M., ~S

I. ~ ~ ~ ~


3/52

4iM


4/52

a r l y enaissanceNarrativePainting n I t a l y

byKeithChristiansenAssociate urator, epartmentf EuropeanPaintings

T h e etropolitanuseum o f r t


5/52

EarlyRenaissanceNarrative aintingn Italy

"The great work of the painter is the narrative" Amplissimumictors opushistoria),declaredLeon BattistaAlberti n his treatiseon painting,the De Pictura.The statementmust have seemed strangelyanachronisticn 1435,when itwaswritten,forat the time anartist's ctivitystill centeredon the productionof altarpiecesand devotionalpaintingsofthe MadonnaandChild. However,forAlberti,who wrotefromahumanistpointof view,narrative aintingplaceda numberof specialdemandson an artist hat ustified tsexaltedstatus. It of course presupposedhighly developed representational kills that wouldenable an artist to portraya varietyof expressionsand actions. As Bartolomeo Fazioobserved n his De Viris llustribusn 1456,"Nopainter saccountedexcellentwho hasnotdistinguishedhimselfinrepresenting he propertiesof hissubjectsastheyexist in reality.For t is one thingto painta proudman, butquiteanother o painta mean,orfawning,orimprovidentone, and so forth."Narrativepaintingalsorequireda masteryof the opticaltheory of one-point perspective. For,Albertiremarked,"no objects in a paintingcanappear ike realobjects, unless they stand to each other in a determinedrelationship."And for narrativepaintingto be trulyeffective, an artist, like a poet, had to carefullyconsider he salientaspectsof the event he wishedtodepictso that he mightselect thosedetailsthat wouldmost enhancehis representation.As novel as Alberti's deas may have seemed to contemporaries, o a degree theyreflectedthe priorachievementsof artists.It was in the 1420s,when the conventionsof

1. LorenzoMonacobefore372-after1422),The Nativity. The icture,which etains artitsoriginalgiltsurround,s oneoffourknownscenes fthe nfancy fChrist elongingo theprdellaofan unidentifiedltarpiece.Temperangoldonwood.82 x 113 inches.Robert ehmaCollection,975(1975.1.66)


6/52

2. Gentile a Fabrianoactiveby1408;died1427),The Nativity. Thepanelsfrom hepre-dellaofGentile celebratedltarpiece ftheAdora-tionoftheMagicompletedn1423fortheStrozzifamily ofFlorence.Temperandgoldon wood.93/4 x 244 inches.Uffizi,Florence

lateGothic art still predominated, hata realisticrepresentationalechniqueand a frcriticalapproacho subjectmatter irstappeared.Toappreciate he radicalransformthat was effected, one has only to contrastLorenzo Monaco'senchantingNativitabout 1405in the Lehman Collection(fig. 1)to Gentile da Fabriano'sNativityfrompredellaof his altarpieceof the Adorationof the Magi, paintedin 1423forthe humaPallaStrozzi fig. 2).In Lorenzo Monaco'spaintingthe Virgin, strikinglyclad in a violet dress and a bcloak with a chartreuse ining, kneels beneath the pitched roof of a makeshift shedfront of her, at what is roughly he middleof the composition,lies the ChristChild,nakedbodysurroundedby anaureoleof gold rays.Behind theChild isacave,and behthe mangerthat blocksitsjagged openingare anox andanass. In the lowerrightsitsfigureof SaintJoseph,hisgazedirectedheavenward,and abovehim, in a floodof lightangel announces the birth of Christto two gesticulating shepherds. It is temptinregardthis jewellike picture as Lorenzo Monaco'spersonalevocation of the birthChrist,but in fact it employs a numberof motifs that can be tracedto specific litersources. The Gospelof Saint Luke describeshow,at theAnnunciation o the Shephe"thegloryof the Lord shone roundaboutthem;andtheywereverymuchafraid," ndso-calledProto-Evangelium,which datesback to at least the secondcentury, dentificave rather than a stable as the place where Christ was bor; both details had bstandard eatures n painting oralmostacentury.The touchingdepictionof the radinakedChild, on the otherhand,was inspiredby a morerecent event. In 1370a Swedwidowof greatpietyandreligious ervor,BridgetGudmarssonshewaslatercanonizeSaintBridget),made a pilgrimage o Bethlehem, and while she contemplatedthe grwhereChristwaspresumedto have been born,she had a vision of the birthofJesustshe later recorded:I saw hechild n[Mary's]ombmoveandsuddenlyna moment hegavebirth o herson,fwhomradiateduchanineffableightandsplendour,hat he sunwasnotcomparableo it..saw thegloriousnfant yingon thegroundnakedandshining,hisbodypure romanykinsoiland mpurity.henI heard lso hesinging ftheangels,whichwasofmiraculousweetandgreatbeauty....TheVirgin... mmediatelyworshippedim,her head bent downandhands lasped.It is this precisevisionthat LorenzoMonaco has incorporatednto his Nativity.However diverse the literary ources that underlie this small masterpiece,they wnotthe primaryactors hatgoverned tsappearance.Rather twas the irregular, uatre

4


7/52

shapeof thegiltsurround, hichhas beencropped t either ide, thatdeterminedtscomposition. here was a longtraditionn Florentine rt orthe use of the quatrefoil;prioro 1400LorenzoMonaco ademployedt for hepredellaf analtarpieceow n theGalleria ell'Accademian Florence,and he used it repeatedly ntilquitelate in hiscareer.However, e firstncorporatedheshapeof thequatrefoilsaprinciplefpictorialdesign nthe LehmanNativity ndthreecompanioncenes nother ollections.ntheNativityheroofof the shed s inscribed eneath hequatrefoil'spex,thesupportsrecloselyalignedwith hepointofjuncturef theframe'surved nd traight ortions,nd,whilethe seated igure f Saint osephills he lower ight-handobe,theposition ftheangel'sutstretched ingsandarms asbeendeterminedythecurve ftheupper ight-hand obe.Part fLorenzoMonaco'sdeptnessndealingwith his nherentlyecorativeform ame romhispracticesabook lluminator,here heshapeof aletterdeterminedthe picture ield, but this seeminglyvirtuosoability o embellish rregularlyhapedsurfaceswas alsopartof the training f all Gothicartists.Thoughthe resulthere issingularlyttractive,hisapproacheverelyimited he sortof imageproduced,oritplaced heemphasis nthe decorativeatherhan he narrativeotential fascene.Gentile'spproachas heopposite.Thoughheemployedhesame iteraryources sLorenzoMonaco,he adopteda morecritical ttitude oward hemand he sought oendowhispaintingwith a descriptive recisionhatwouldapproximateheirs.Christ'sradiance asthe moststrikingeature f SaintBridget'sision,andGentilehasmade tthe focusof hisnarrativeswell.Instead fdepictinghe ightradiatingromChrist sthesymbolic ureoleof LorenzoMonaco'sainting,he hasinterpretedhe lightradiatingfromChristnaturalistically.t lights he underside f theopeningof thecave,the frontwallof the ruinedhouse,andthe barebranchesf thebushagainstwhichJoseph ests.And ince heNativitywasbelievedohave akenplaceatmidnight,Gentilehasproperlycontrastedhisbrillianceo thesilvery lowofthemoon-not thesun,as mentioned ySaintBridget-conferring wonderfullyoeticquality n thepicture.The faint hadowcastbythe lean-to nto hesideof the house sderived rom hemoon ntheupper-leftcorer, and t ispurposelyuxtaposedo the well-definedhadowastbythe houseontotheunderside f the roof f the ean-to.Yet thirdight ourcesdescribed ytheangel nthebackground. entilealsoabandonedhequatrefoiln favor f a simplerectangularfield,andhehascarefullyefined heforegroundpacebytherecedingwallofthe ruinedhouse.No less notable shistactile enderingfthefigures ndhiscarefultudyof theirattitudes ndexpressions-theraptdevotion ftheVirgin,hesleepycuriosityfoneofthemidwives,nd hedeepsleepof Saint oseph.Gentile'spproachonarrativeaintingplaced premiumnexposition, nd trequired descriptiveechniquehatwassimplybeyond he reach faGothic rtist ike LorenzoMonaco.TwoyearsafterGentilecompletedTheAdorationftheMagi,Ghiberti eceived hecommissionorthe third et of doors or the FlorentineBaptistery,aterknownas TheGatesfParadise.nitially program asdevisedbythe humanisthancellorfFlorence,Leonardo runi,whoenvisaged narrangementimilaro thatof the twoearlier etsofdoors:wentynarrativecenes ontainedntwentyquatrefoilrames. heplanmusthaveseemedpainfullyld-fashioned,ndGhibertiaterwrotewithpridehowhe wasgivenafreehand o designthe doorsashe sawfit. The quatrefoil asdiscardedn favor f asimple quare ictureield,and henumber fnarrativeeliefswasreduced rom wentytotenwhile he narrativepisodeswere ncreasedoover orty.Obviouslyuchadramaticchangewasnot madecasually.tboundGhiberti o a farmore omplex epresentationaltechnique, nd t required greater egreeof narrativenventiveness. hiberti imselfsingledoutthe imitation f nature,his use of a proportionalystem misura),ndwhatamountso theimplementationfone-point erspectives thefeatureshatdistinguishthe narrativesn this door rom hoseof hisearlier,Gothicdoor.Contemporaneously,Masaccio eganworkon a frescocycle in the Brancacci hapelat SantaMariadelCarmine hat took the principlesmbodiedn Gentile's ainting stage urther.Withthese two events he Gothic onventionshatunderlay orenzoMonaco'sittlemaster-pieceweredefinitivelyuperseded.


8/52

3. BenozzoGozzoliabout1422-1497),heDeathofSimonMagus.Thepanelisfromhepredellafanaltarpiecepaintedn1462forheCompagniaiSanMarconFlorence.emperaandgold nwood. 2 x 14 nches. . M. theQueen, amptonourt

No fifteenth-century painter had a more extensive career as a narrativeartist tBenozzo Gozzoli. In 1444, when he was twenty-two years old, he contracted wGhiberti to workon the third set of Baptisterydoors, then still incomplete, and ayearslater he was employed in Rome by FraAngelicoin the decorationof a chapePope Nicholas V.Amonghisfirst ndependentcommissionswere a frescocycleof theof Saint Francisandanotherof SaintJeromein the Umbrian own of Montefalco.Thwerefollowed, in 1453,withacycle of the life of SaintRosa,nowdestroyed, n the sahometown of Viterboand, in 1459,with his now-famous rescoesof the JourneyofMagiin achapelof the Medici palacein Florence.Then, in 1465,Gozzolidecoratedapse of the church of Sant'Agostinon SanGimignanowith scenes fromthe life of SAugustine, and fouryearslater he begana fifteen-yearenterprise,which his contemrariesrightlyviewed as his greatestachievement, the now-ravaged cenes fromthe Testament n theCamposantoat Pisa. Giventhisextraordinaryctivity, t is smallwonthat the narrative redellasof his altarpiecesrevealan inventivenessat variancewithconventional magesthey stood below.The Metropolitanpossesses fourscenes paiby Gozzoli for the predellaof the high altarpieceof the churchof SanPierMaggioFlorence.Two of these (figs.4, 6) areof special nterest n that theirsubjectswere treon another occasion by Gozzoli in panels now at HamptonCourt (fig. 3) and BeDahlem(fig. 5).Ananalysisof thedifferencesbetween the two sets providesa rare nsintohis approach o narrative ainting.The firstpairshows the death of the ignominious magicianSimon Magus,whopromisedto ascend into heaven in the presenceof the emperorNero and the ApoPeter and Paul as a demonstrationof his divine powers.Gozzoli's reatmentconformthe storyas told in TheGoldenLegend:On theappointed ay SimonMagus] limbed o thetopof ahigh ower...and hencehe roflight,witha laurel rownuponhis head.AndNero said o the twoapostles: Simonays oYou reboth mposters "ndPeter aid o Paul:"Liftup thyheadand ook "Paul iftedhish[and] awSimon lyingabout....Then Peter riedout:"AngelsfSatan,whohold hismanutheair, n the nameof myMaster esusChrist, commandouto holdhimupnolonger "straightwayimonwasdashed oearth,his skullwassplit,andhedied.In the panel at HamptonCourt Gozzoli showsthe emperorNero seated on an elevthrone at the left, staring gloomily at the fallen figure of Simon Magus with bl

6


9/52

4. Benozzo ozzoli, he Deathof SimonMagus.The ictures one ffourscenesntheMuseumhatmade p he redellafapreexistg is s n yga fourteenth-centuryltarpiecen the hurchfSanPierMagiore,Florence.twasover-cleanedntheate 940s.Temperanwood.53 x 18 nchjcl bewenRogers Fund, 91515.106.1)

streaming romhisbrokenskull.Tothe rightarethe ApostlesPaul(shownkneelingwithhisheaduplifted,as described nthe text)andPeter,who withraisedhandcommands hedemons suspending a minute figure of Simon Magus in the background o let themagician all to the ground.Beguilingthoughthis scene is, Gozzoli's aithfulness o thetext and his decisionto show Simon Magustwice posed a numberof pictorialproblemsthat he could not readilyresolve. Foremostamong these is the fact that while SimonMagus is shown flying at the back of the courtyard,SaintsPeter and Paul are in theforegroundand theiractionsseem to be directedtowardthe dead man. This has sadlycompromised he dramatic ocus of the story.Scarcely ess disturbing s the disparityofscale between the two groupsof figuresand the scaffold,which appearsto have thedimensionsof a footstool.In the panelin the Metropolitan fig.4) Gozzolihasrethoughtthenarrativewith these difficultiesn mind. He hasreversed he positionof the saintsandNero, taking nto account hata viewernaturally eadsapainting rom efttorightand thatthe focusin thisstoryproperlyies inSaintPeter's ommandinggesture,not inthe passivefigureof Nero. He has defined the courtyardwith greaterprecisionand groupedthespectators nto two equal masses. And he has shown Simon Magus floatingabove thewall, at once giving the figuregreaterprominenceand providingadditional pace foralarger caffold.Most important,he has rotated he figureof SaintPeterforty-fivedegreesso that t facesthe flyingfigureof SimonMagus,towardwhomthesaint's igorousgestureis directed.The focusof Nero'sattentionhas also been transferredrom the dead SimonMagus to Peter, thereby heightening the sense of dramaticmoment, and Paul hasbecome the veryimageof immovable aith. MoreoverGozzolihasaddedthreedetailsoftopical interest. He has given one of the armed soldiers a shield with an inscriptionidentifyinghisRoman tatus,he hasrevised he figureof Nerowithreference o a classicalrelieforcoin,and behindtheemperorhe hasportrayed curvedwall tosuggestan ancientRoman building. By these means Gozzoli has enriched the story and given it newdramatic orce.The same abilityto rethinka narrative nd its pictorialpotential s exemplified in the


10/52

5.BenozzoGozzoli,aintZenobiusResusci- - .tating DeadChild.Likefig., thispaintings Ifrom he redelaofthe ltarpieceforheCompa-f Sn ilgniadi SanMarcon Florence.emperandgoldonwood. /2 x133/8nches. emnldegaleie,Berlin-Dahlem60C)

two scenes showing Saint Zenobius resuscitatinga dead child. Accordingto his mauthoritativefifteenth-century biographer-the Dominican archbishopof FloreSaint Antonino-Zenobius had been entrusted with the care of a sick boy by a momakingapilgrimage o Rome. One day,while the saintwasparticipatingn aprocessithe churchof SanPierMaggioreon the feast of SaintsPeter andPaul,the childdied. mother retured the samedayand, findingherdeadchild, picked up hisbodyandrmeet Zenobius. She encountered the processionon the Borgodegli Albizzi,where holyman of God, afterhe hadofferedup aprayer ndmade the signof the crossoverhrestoredhim to his mother,broughtback from the dead."When Gozzoli paintedscene in Berlin(fig. 5), bothGhibertiandDomenicoVenezianohadalreadyrepresethe samemiracle.Gozzoliwasa less inventive artist haneitherof them, andhe has taover from Ghiberti's eliefin the cathedral he ideaof a rectangular iazzadominatethe faqadeof SanPierMaggioreas well as the symmetricalplacementof Saint Zenoand the mother along the bottom edge of the composition. However, unlike eiGhiberti'sor Veneziano'sdepictions, Gozzoli'swork shows the dead child laid outblanket perpendicular o the picture plane and both the motherand the saint tuinward with hands clasped. It was a solution possessing no dramaticpower, andbeauty of the pictureresidesin the delicate treatment of the figuresand the charmmanner n which the child standsupand walks toward he sainton tiptoes.Inthe panthe Metropolitan fig. 6) the piazzahasbeen made moreconvincing by opening it uthe left andincreasing he scaleof the surrounding alaces.The crowdhas been groumorelooselyto bettersuggest the confusionattendingthe mother's rrivalwith her dson, andthe child has been placed parallel o the pictureplane.Zenobius nowfaces bthe child and his mother,and his prayerbecomes the agent of the child'sresurrecwhich in tur is the sourceof the mother'sastonishment.Lavishingas muchdescripcare on this scene as he did on thatof Simon Magus, Gozzoli has replacedthe Gochurchfacadein the Berlinpanelwith a Renaissanceone of greatelegance.The panels at Hampton Court and Berlin are known to have formed part oaltarpiecepainted in 1461, he mainpanel of which is in the NationalGallery,Londand it stands to reasonthatthe moreclearlyarticulatedpanelsin the Metropolitanwpainted ater,notearlier, hanthat work. Their freshapproachonarration elpsto rethe present-dayestimationof Gozzolias a charmingbut unimaginativeartist.In Gozzoli'spanelsarchitecture s subordinate o the figural ontent. Nevertheless

8


11/52

6. Benozzo ozzoli,aintZenobiusResusctating DeadChild.Thepictures acompantofig.4 and, iket,wasover-cleanednthe ate7._ 1940s.Temperanwood. 51z 18 nches. og~~~~~~~~~~~i9~~~~~~~~ ~Fund, 191515.106.3)

wascareful,especiallyin the Metropolitan cenes, to create the sortof plausiblerelationbetween figuresand architecturehatAlberticonsidered undamental o narrative aint-ing. In a passageof the De Pictura hat was directedagainsta currentpracticeof Gothicartists,Albertiwrites,"AnotherhingIoftensee deserves to be censured,andthat s menpaintedin a buildingas if they were shut up in a box in which they canhardly it sittingdown and rolledup in a ball. So all the bodiesshould conform n size andfunctionto thesubject of the action."Within the restrictions mposed by its modest size, Botticelli'sAnnunciationn the Lehman Collection(fig. 7)answersAlberti's rescriptions erfectly. tshows the Virgin n an antechamberof a patricianpalace-her parentswere believed todescend fromthe royalhouse of David-kneeling before a lecternon which a prayerbook has been laid, with a high-backedbench, orcassapanca,behind her.Throughanopen door at the backof the room can be seen her bedchamberwith a crimsoncoveredbed, and at the frontof the buildinga curtainhas been drawnaside topermit hisintimateview.The Virgin's uarters ccupysomewhat ess thanhalfof the surfaceof the panel, theremaining pacebeing given over to a corridoreparatingherrooms romthe street.Vasari as left a descriptionof a famousaltarpieceof the Annunciationby Masaccio, nwhich the most remarkable eaturewas arowof columnsviewedinacuteforeshortening.This becamea standarddetailin most subsequentpicturesof the Annunciation, nclud-ing the Lehman panel, where a series of pillars n strongrecessionseparates he Virginfromthe angel Gabriel. Behind Gabrielan open door admitstwo shafts of light. One isnaturaland falls across he pavement, lightingthe backof Gabriel'swingsandflutteringgarment,one sideof thepillars,andtheVirgin'sace. The other s the divinelightof God,agentof the Incarnation, nd is representedasgold raysdescendingon the Virgin.It is apoeticdistinctionof the highestorderandcontributesnot a little to the vibrantbeautyofthis painting.Architecturalettings as complex as this one are relativelyrare n Botticelli'swork-even the frescoformerly n San MartinoallaScala, which sharescertainfeatureswiththe Lehman Annunciation,is simpler.Not surprisingly,he perspectiveconstruction


12/52

10


13/52

7. SandroBotticelli1444/45-1510),TheAnnunciation.Thepicture as conceivedasindependentorkand, though amaged, etagreatdelicacyndfeeling.Temperandgoldonwood.93/ x 143/8inches. obertLehmanCollection,975(1975.1.74)


14/52

8. (right)SandroBotticelli,The Last Commu-nion of SaintJerome.PaintedforheFlorentinewoolmerchant rancescoelPugliese,hepictureis oneofBotticellisfinestmallpaintings.Temperaonwood.132 x 10 inches.BequestfBenjaminAltman,1913 14.40.642).Above: Detail show-ingacolytes.

conformsin its essential featuresto Alberti's tenets. The vanishing point is onvertical axis of the picture,which runsthroughthe center of the unobstructedarwindow,and its height has determinedthe alignmentof the inclinedheadsof the Vand Gabriel along a common horizontal. In this way the structure of the paiunderscores he intimatecolloquyof the figures.Less complex but no less ingenious is the structureof Botticelli'sequallysmalCommunionfSaintJeromefig.8).The fourth-centurycholarand asceticwas a favorhumanistsnot only for his extensive learning,but also for his love of Ciceroneanstyhe once hada dream n which he was accusedby Godof being adiscipleof Cicero rthanof Christ-and a scene of Jeromeat work n awell-furnished tudyorbefore hinearBethlehemwas apopularhumanistsubject.The panelin the Metropolitan epfar ess commonepisode fromthe last momentsof the saint's ife. Jerome s shown iwattlecell, the frontwallof which has been removed. Aroundhim are the monks oorderhe founded. One has donned a redchasuble while the twoyoungestare dressacolytesand holdlargecandlestickswithlitcandles.Throughthe windows andabovroofcanbe seen the intenseblue of anearlyeveningsky.Inportrayinghe scene Botthasfolloweda letter then attributed o Eusebius thatenjoyed greatpopularity:Assoonas thepriestwhoheldtheeucharistamenear o him hegloriousman,with themaid,raisedhimselfon hisknees,and iftedhishead,andwithmany earsandsighs,beatibreastmany imes,he said:"ThouartmyGodandmyLord,whosufferedDeathand hePaforme,andnoneother "... and thenhe]received hemostholybodyofChrist, ndcasthiagainupontheground,withhis hands rosseduponhisbreast, inging hecanticle f Simtheprophet....Behind the affectinggroupof figuresBotticelli has shown Jerome'sbed drapedwsheepskincoverletandforeshortened o that it resemblesan altar.Aboveandto theof the headboardhangsJerome'scardinal's at, while the crucifix s placed so thapicture's anishingpointcoincideswith Christ'seet, makingthe crossthe symbolicfof the composition.Behind it hang three palms, symbolsof victoryoverdeath, aneither side there is a juniper branch,possibly as a symbol of chastity.Composistructure, ymbolism,andemotionalcontentconjoin n thispictureas in few othersThe earliest mention of the paintingis in the will of the Florentine wool mercFrancescodel Pugliese, drawnup in 1503. There it is listed as "the Passingof SJerome, by the hand of the said Sandro[Botticelli]."Pugliese appearsto have bepatronof decided tastes. He had a roomin his palaceon the Viade' Serraglidecorwith a narrativecycle by Piero di Cosimo that impressedVasari or its fantasy.picturesfrom this cycle have sometimes been identified as the HuntingSceneandReturnrom the Hunt in the Metropolitan see pp. 40-45); these are among the munorthodoxpictures of the Renaissance, and if they could be shown to have bdefinitely owned by Pugliese they alone would establish the patron'sunconventbent. Then, for a chapel in his villa atSommaia,Pugliesecollecteda numberof picof strikingdevotionalcharacter. n additionto TheLastCommunionfSaintJerome,wasa smalltriptychwith a Flemishpaintingof Christ's aceon Veronica'seil at its ceand two wings showing Christ and the Woman of Samariaand a Noli Me TangerFilippino Lippi, a LastJudgment by FraAngelicoflankedby twowings by Botticesmallpaintingby Pesellino, and an Adoration f the Magi by Filippino Lippi. In theof 1503Pugliese states his intention to leave these five picturesand his property oDominican convent of SanMarco,with which he had been closelyassociateddurinpriorateof Savonarola.Pugliese had been one of Savonarola'smost ardentdisciplewas in the convent-"breathing like a bull," one witness declared-on the n

12


15/52

C ~~~~~~r[11-~~~~


16/52

9. Sandro otticelli,hreeMiraclesf SaintZenobius.Theaintings one ffourpanelspossiblyntendedodecorateroom fa con-fraternityn Florence.emperanwood. 6/2x59/4 nches.ohn tewart ennedyund, 911(11.98)

Savonarolawasseized. He waslaterexiled from Florence forhavingreferred o the dof Urbino,Lorenzode' Medici, as "IIMagnificoMerda." t isawell-knownfactthatPugliese, Botticelli'sbrotherwas adiscipleof Savonarola.Whetherornot Botticellishhis brother's nd Pugliese'sfeelings as earlyas 1495,the probabledate of the Musepictureof SaintJerome, is uncertain,but the intense feeling with which he has trethis uncommonsubject suggestsat least a nascent sympathywith Savonarola'sdemoralreform.Sometime between 1500 and his death in 1510,Botticelli received a commissionseriesof fourpanelsshowingthe life of SaintZenobius.They were perhaps ntendedecoratea roomof aconfraternity ndwould have been framedabove awainscotingof these, showing scenes of the saint'syouth and three miracles,are in the NatGallery,London (figs. 10, 11).The third,also showingthree miracles,is in the Mpolitan(fig. 9), and a fourth,showingthreeepisodesof one miracleand the saint'sdeis in Dresden(fig. 12).Like most lateworksby Botticelli,they are less seductivelydrawnandexecuted his earlierpaintings, and they all employ architectureboth to identify the sceneparticularmiracleand to separateone miracle rom another. n the firstpanel in Lon(fig.10)two-thirds f the picture s devotedto the depictionof a church nwhich Zenois baptizedand then consecratedas bishop of Florence by Pope Damasus, and insecond panel (fig. 11) he threemiraclesareshownagainst he facadesof three differcoloredbuildings.In the Dresden panel(fig. 12)a compositestructurewith an elaboprojectingporchdominatesmore than two-thirds f the picturesurfaceandseparateepisodes of one miracle rom that of the saint'sdeath. But of the fourpanels, thatinMetropolitan(fig. 9) is perhapsthe most audaciouslycomposed. The central ardominatednotby the imposingmassof abuildingbutbya void definedbytheconverlinesof the palaceat left and the square, he palace,and the facadeof achurchat the rTo adegreethis unusualsolutionwas dictatedby the diversesettingsof the three mir

14


17/52

Detailoffig.9: SaintZenobius esuscitatesdeadyouth.


18/52

16


19/52

10, 11,12.Sandro otticelli, iraclesf SaintZenobius.Thehreepanelsre ompanionsofig.9. Eachemperanwood. 6/4x583/4,5/2x 55inches,ationalGalleryfArt,London(3918, 919); 6x 7134nches, emaldegalerie,Dresden9)

and theirsequence in Clemente Mazza's ife of SaintZenobius, composedin 1475publishedin 1487.The miracle hownon the left, where Zenobius meets the funeralprocessionof adyouthand restores he boyto life, tookplaceon a streetin Florence. In the Metropolipaintingthe Florentinesetting is suggestedby the large palacewith its simple, classdetailing.Mazzanext describeshow,while transportinghe relicsof foursaintsacrossApennines, a porter ell andwas killed. Zenobiuscame upon his companionsweepoverthe corpseandwasmovedtopray hatthe porterbe restored o lifein the nameoffoursaintswhose relicshe wasaccompanyingwhen theaccidentoccurred.Apparentlareto readthe distant andscape,not the borderingpalaceand square,as the settinthismiracle.The scene onthe right, oldinasuccessivechapterbyMazza, llustrateshZenobius blessed a glassof waterandsaltfor his subdeaconEugeniusto use in restoto life a relativewhohad diedwithoutreceiving he Sacrament.Toclarify he fact thatmiracle was performedthroughZenobius and not Eugenius, Botticellihas shownevent in threeepisodes. In a roomof the palacein the backgroundZenobiushandswater o Eugeniuswho, though nfirm,rises,crosses he square,and reviveshis relatithe foreground.Here, as in so manyfifteenth-centurypaintings,the textualsource has been folloas closely as possible. However,this does not mean that in the Saint Zenobius seBotticellihas slavishlyassumedthe role of an illustrator.What strikesthe viewerofMetropolitanpanel todayand what must have struckcontemporaries ven more iessentiallyunreal,almosthallucinatory uality,which has been achievedby the simcubicformsof the buildings,whosecornices,windowframes,and basementsall recedan area at the foot of the distant, leafless tree; by the schematic treatment oflandscape,devoidof anyenvelopingatmosphere;andby the insubstantialigures,whfrenetic movements seem impelled by some superiorforce. This was not an efBotticelli arrivedat casually.Incisionson the facadeof the left-handbuilding cleindicate hat nitiallyhe contemplatedanornatearcade nplaceof thesimple pilasterspedimented doors,and the juxtaposition, n the centralscene, of the dead bodyofporterwith the two skeletonsin a casket is an incomparably owerful nventionthatonlyhave resultedfromcarefuldeliberation. f thispicture scompared oGozzoli'spaof Saint Zenobiusresuscitating deadchild, it will be seen how Botticelli hasutilizconventionalrepresentationalechnique in an unorthodoxway to achieve an effecunrealityand how the sense of urgencythese scenes conveyis derived from thateffeOne of the reasons ifteenth-centurynarrative ainting ometimes seems soartifica modem viewer is its frequentuse of perspectiveas a principleof organization.Thwere, of course,occasionswhen thiswas mpractical.n the three scenes (figs.13-15)the predellaof Ghirlandaio'sltarpieceromSanGiusto alleMura,datable o about1the dimensions of the individualpanelsweresimplynot great enough to permitcomcated, spatialcompositions.For this reasonthe storyof the Marriage f the Virgin sbeforethe altarand windowof what canonly be surmised o be the apseof achurchhas been opened at the sides (fig. 13).Likewise, in illustratinghe legendof how a dtree sprang o life when it was touchedby the bier of SaintZenobius, Ghirlandaiindicated the spot where this occurredby showing the lower portionof the marevetmentof the FlorentineBaptistery ndthecampanileof the cathedral fig.14).Buhasnecessarilyresignedhimselfto an unavoidabledisparityn scale between the figand the buildings.Even in the charming cene of Tobiasand the Angel (fig. 15),whthe city of Florence can be seen in the distance,the landscape s simply composedseries of fouroverlappinghills borderinga lake. But such casuallyconstructedscewere the exception.The new style of narrativepainting,with its emphasison expositionand the cardescriptionof a setting,was not the prerogative f Florentineart.In his LivesoftheAof 1568 Vasari emarks hat "even in Modena there have alwaysbeen excellent prtionersofourprofession... asis seen in fouraltarpieces... whichwerepainted ntempa hundredyears ago in that city and are, for that time, very beautiful and dilige


20/52

13, 14, 15. DomenicoGhirlandaioabout1448-1494),The Marriage f the Virgin;TheBurialof SaintZenobius;Tobias and theAngel. Thehreeanelsformedpart fthepre-dellaofGhirlandaiosltarpiecepaintedforanGiusto lleMura,outside hewallsofFlorence.

Theurvedndentationstthe ides f he icturefieldsollowedhe ilhouettesf heframes.em-peraonwood.Each6V4 161 inches.FrancisL.Leland und, 91313.119.1-3)

18


21/52

16.BartolomeoegliEm (actie beteen 1460and1479),AMiracle fSaintDominic.This lt lpaintingsthe nly urvivingcenefromhepre-Modena, ommissionedn1467. Temperandgoldoncanvas, ransferredfromood.14 x1 /2inches.Bequest fMichaelDreicer,921.TheMichaelDreicerCollection22.60.59)

of the rood screen of the church."We now know that the high altarpiece of San Domenwas commissioned in 1467 from Bartolomeo degli Erri and that the Metropolitan's scof Saint Dominic resuscitating Napoleone Orsini (fig. 16)was probably from the predof that altarpiece. It is, therefore, contemporary with the Museum's scenes by BenoGozzoli, and even judged against them it seems very remarkable. Bartolomeo was aaccomplished draftsman than Gozzoli, but his scene is more rigorously organized:manner in which the vanishing point has been established along the axis of the poinarch of the large palace in the background and at the height of the two foreground figuis in accordance with Albertian practice. Moreover, perspective has been employedclarify the narrative. In the foreground we see Saint Dominic kneeling over the dfigure of Napoleone Orsini, who was killed when he fell from his horse on SValentine's Day, 1221; the gesturing figure in the left foreground is described ithirteenth-century biography of the saint as arrivingat the monastery "tearingout his and lamenting horribly." In the background Saint Dominic restores the youth touncle, Cardinal Stefano da Fossanova. By confining the firstepisode of the miracle toimmediate foreground, where the action is directed laterally, and by setting the secepisode deeper in space, with Napoleone Orsini's back to the viewer, Bartolomeo dErri has avoided the narrative contradictions that Gozzoli built into his treatment offall of Simon Magus.A representational technique of this sophistication presupposes contact with a martistic center. In the case of Modena this meant contact with the Este court at Ferrarwas under the successive rules of Lionello and Borso d'Este that Ferraraachieveconspicuous position in the cultural life of Italy. Lionello had been a pupil of GuarinoVerona, one of the most accomplished Greek scholars of his day, and upon his accessio1441 he set about to make Ferraraa center of the humanist movement. Men like Albewho dedicated a comedy and a treatise on horses to the marquis and who seems to hundertaken his architectural treatise, the DeReAedicatoria, at Lionello's insistence, wbefriended, and employment was given to artists like Jacopo Bellini, Pisanello, Pdella Francesca,and Lorenzoand CristoforoLendinara.The Lendinarabrothersw


22/52

(7 - -.7


23/52

17.BartolomeoegliErri,SaintThomasAqui-nasAidedbySaintsPeterandPaul.Thepaint-ingat theefts one feightnowncenesfromnaltarpiecen achapelf he oodcreenfSanDomeniconModena. emperanwood. 7x12inches.letcherund, 923 23.140)18.LorenzondCristoforoendinaraactivey1449;died1477nd1491,espectively),iewofaCastle.The cenenwoodnlay, rintarsia,sfromhe hoirstallshebrothersompletedn1465for he athedralfModena. athedral,odena19,20.(overleaf)Masterf heBarberinianels(probablyraCarnevale,ctive y1445;died1484),The Birth f theVirgin; he Presenta-tionof theVirginntheTemple.TrainedinFlorencen the 440sbyFilippoLippi,Fra Car-nevale as ctiverincipallyntheMarches.n1467hewas aidfor xecutingnaltarpieceforhechurchfSantaMaria ellaBella n Urbino. hetwo anelshownereeemohaveformedhelateralwings f he ltarpiece.s stypicalfMarchigianltarpiecesf his ate,heframeasextremelylaborate,reatingseriesfsmallarcheslongheopofeachcene,ow aintedntoobtain rectangularhape. achemperanwood. 7 x377/ nches, ogersndGwynneAndrewsunds,935 35.121);8x382 inches,MuseumfFineArts,Boston, harlesotterKling und urchase37.108)

amongthe most accomplishedmastersof intarsia,orwood inlay,and between 14491453 heywereemployed by Lionelloand Borsod'Este in the decoration f astudyatcastleof Belfiore,on the outskirtsof the city.It is with the Lendinarabrothers'ntarsiated cenes that Bartolomeodegli Erri'swbearsclosest comparison.This relation s less surprisinghan it might seem, for infifteenth century there was no strict division between paintingand woodwork. TLendinaras redocumentedaspainters,andin his DivinaProportionef 1509Luca PadescribesLorenzoas "likea brother"caroquantofratello)o PierodellaFrancesca.PaalsopraisesLorenzoas asuprememasterof perspective.IfBartolomeodegliErri's ecpanelin the Museum(fig. 17),showingSaintThomasAquinasaidedby SaintsPeterPaul,iscompared o LorenzoandCristoforoLendinara'sntarsiated iew of acastle,fthechoirstalls heyexecuted forthecathedral f Modena between 1460and 1465 fig.it will be foundthatthe twoworksareconstructedalongthe same lines. Inboth, spasuggestedby the careful uxtaposition f asimple,cubicbuildingwith avoid,andinethe side of the building s brightly it andthe piercedfacade s left in shadowto enhathe geometricclarityof the scheme. The sametypeof compositionrecurs n the worPiero della Francesca,and in all likelihood Lorenzo andCristoforo earned t fromPwhile theywereemployedin Ferrara.Like the scene of Saint Dominic resuscitatingNapoleone Orsini,BartolomeodErri'spanel of Saint Thomas Aquinasbelonged to one of the fouraltarpieces eenVasarin San Domenico. However,rather han forminga conventionalpredella,itmountedtogetherwithperhapseight otherpanelsin anelaborateGothicframearoufull-length mageof the saint. The panelhas been croppedatthe top,andthe irregushaped spandrelshave been filledout, somewhatcompromising he compositionofscene. Despite this, Bartolomeo'suse of architectureas a narrativedevice is perfeevident.Throughthe archatthe left SaintThomasAquinas s shownrummaginghrohis bookssearching oranexplanation o apassage n Isaiah hat had troubledhim. Inprojectingroomat the righthe is seen again,seated between SaintsPaul andPeter,wmiraculously ppearedone nightandexplainedthe perplexingpassage.A fellow Domican,BrotherRinaldo, s saidto have overheardSaintThomas's onversationwith the


24/52

22


25/52


26/52

Detail ffig.19,Masterf heBarberinianel(probablyraCarnevale),he Birth f theVirginapostles and later taken down the exposition. He is shown readingin a loggia. Each -:episode is self-contained,and the narrative an be readwithoutconfusion. 8Like most fifteenth-centuryartists,Bartolomeodegli Erri aw his task as the represen-tationof a given subject in the clearest termspossible. However,in a famouspassageofthe DePictura,Alberti alluded to averydifferent set of values:The first hing hatgivespleasurena narratives aplentiful ariety.ustas withfoodandmusicnovel andextraordinaryhingsdelightus for various easonsbut especiallybecause hey are _-Hdifferentrom he old ones we areusedto, so witheverythinghe mind akesgreatpleasurenvariety ndabundance.... would ayapicturewasrichly ariedf itcontainedproperlyrrangedmixture f old men,youths,boys,matrons,maidens, hildren,domesticanimals,dogs,birds,horses,sheep, buildingsand provinces; nd I wouldpraiseany greatvarietyprovidedt isappropriateo what sgoingon inthepicture.. . .< ^The difficultywas that the varietyAlbertiso highlyrecommended was inappropriateo i ..'the subjectsmost artistswere called upon to illustrate.However,there are two related - ..pictures,one in the Metropolitan fig. 19) and the other in the Museum of Fine Artsin Boston (fig. 20), in which the subject is incidental to creating a narrative"thatgives pleasure." ....The first descriptionof these picturesoccurs in an inventoryof CardinalAntonio.....-Barberini'sossessionsdrawnup in 1644,where,under numbers13and 14 arerecorded"apaintingon wood thatshows a perspectivewith some women who greet each other..."and "a similarpainting that shows a perspectivewith some women on their way tochurch."Aboutthirtyyears ater heywereagaindescribed,somewhat moreprecisely,as _M"two pictures of the same dimensions: in one an edifice of a portico and anotherconstructionwith variouswomen who wash a newbornbabyand with a womanin bed; inthe other an edifice in the formof a triumphalarchand aview of columnsin the formof atemple with various iguresdressedas of old with certainpoor crippleson the ground." .Even thisdescriptiondoes not dojusticeto the wealthof detailthat fills these twoscenes,and it is understandable hat the actualsubjectof each panel provedso elusive. In fact,_the Boston paintingshows the Presentationof the Virginin the Temple. The youngVirginis shown dressed in blue, about to enter the temple, which is decoratedwithstatuesof theAnnunciationon the corniceandarelief of the Visitationabove the left door.In the apsecan be seen the attendingpriest.The Metropolitan's ainting,whichis, astheinventoriesnote, acompanionpiece, showsthe Birthof theVirgin.The "woman n bed"is SaintAnne, and she watches servants n an adjacentroombathe the newbornVirginwhile well-wishersarriveandgreeteach otheroutside the palace.There was a long-standing radition n Italyof treating hese events of the life of theVirgin n termsof contemporaryife. In Pietro Lorenzetti'saltarpieceof the Birthof theVirginin the Museo dell'Operadel Duomo in Siena of 1342,SaintAnne reclineson abrightlychecked bedspreadwhile two servantsarrivewith apitcherof waterand a basketof linen and anothersits, ready o fan her mistress.In his frescoof the Presentation f theVirgin n theTemple in the BaroncelliChapelof SantaCroce,TaddeoGaddiconveyedallof the excitement andparental olicitudethat attends a firstcommunion.In the fifteenthcentury Domenico Veneziano and Andrea del Castagnocarried this tendency a stepfurther n theirfrescoes(nowdestroyed) n the apseof SanEgidioin Florence.Accordingto Vasari,Veneziano's cene of the Birthof the Virginshowed "averyornateroomand achildwho beatson the doorof the roomwith a hammer,"while Castagno's resentationftheVirgin n the opposite wall included "many beggars, amongwhom is one who beats _another on the head with his bowl; and not only this figurebut all of them are quite --i.-.beautiful, having been done with great study and love." However, even in these' *- -24


27/52

Sz

(JL II? t'' ''r ~ ~ 4


28/52

exceptionally animated scenes the genre details must have been subordinate to theprincipal ubject. OnlyinJacopoBellini'sdrawings f about 1455 see fig. 21) s there a realprecedentforlavishingattentionon architecturalettingsand incidentalactivitiesat theexpense of the sacredevent. Yet,Bellini'sdrawingswere intendedforprivatedelectationwhereas the panelsin the Metropolitanand in Boston were almostcertainlyconceived asthe altarpieceof a church. In CardinalAntonio Barberini'snventorythe picturesareattributed unequivocally to the Marchigian painter Fra Carnevale (Bartolomeo diGiovanniCorradini).When Barberiniwaspapal egate to Urbinobetween 1631and1633,he confiscated Fra Camevale'smost famouswork, the high altarpiece orthe church ofSanta Mariadella Bella, substitutinga picture of the Birth of the Virgin by ClaudioRidolfi. Given these circumstances, here is everyreasonto believe that the two panelslistedin hisinventoryarethe lateral lementsof the SantaMariadella Bellaaltarpieceandthatthey werepaintedin 1467.Of all the Albertiandetails that vie for attention in these two works-"old men,youths, boys, matrons,maidens, children, domestic animals, dogs... horses... build-ings, and provinces"--it is the buildings that are the most striking. Each scene isdominated by the fagade of a single structurethat has been carefullyconceived tocomplementthe edifice in the otherpicture.In each an inlaidpavementand threestepsleadup toamassive,archedopeningwitha view into an interior.The archof the temple isflanked by pilastersand freestandingcolumns while that of the palace is flanked byengagedcolumns,andinbothscenes marblereliefs decorate he facade.InTheBirthftheVirginll of the orthogonals ecedeto apointfixedalongthe leftedge atthehorizon,whilethose in ThePresentationn theTempleecedeto apoint alongthe rightedge at the heightofthe crownof the archesof the roodscreen,underscoringheirconceptionaspendants.Yetthese similaritiesof composition and architectural eatures only serve to accentuatedifferences between the two buildings, for whereas the pavement and two massivecolumns on either side of the entranceto the temple are of richlyveined marble,in TheBirthoftheVirginhe pavementandengagedcolumnsareof a less luxuriousmaterial.Andwhereasthecornices,moldings,and architrave f the templeareelaborately arved, hoseof the palaceare,by comparison,quite plain.These differencesare far romcasual,for fwe turnto Alberti's reatiseon architecturewe will find apronounceddistinctionbetweenthe treatmentof ecclesiasticalandprivatestructuresadoptedasa fundamentalprecept:Torecapitulatehe wholequestionn a fewwords,wewillsay his: hatwhereas neought obeable o addnothingo asacred dificewhichwould ead ogreatermajesty,eauty, rwonder,ointhe privateone should not be able to take anythingawaywithout lessening its dig-nity.... Accordingly,evererestraints tobe used ndecorating private welling,houghn mostcasesa certainibertyspermitted.That Fra Carnevalewas familiarwithAlberti'sdeas andwith their mplementation n hisbuildingsat Riminiand Mantuathere can be no doubt. One of the featuresof churchdesignthathadconcernedAlbertiwashow toadapt hevocabulary f ancientarchitectureto the multistory ormof the traditional,basilicanchurch.In the TempioMalatestiano tRimini andin his designsforSant'AndreanMantua,which,however,datefrom1470,heutilized the featuresof a Roman riumphal rch orthe facade.This is whatFraCarnevalehasdone, albeitin a farmorearchaeologicalashion,for his temple in ThePresentationftheVirgin.Andjust asAlberti'sdecorativedetailsshowa close studyof ancientprototypes,soFraCarnevalehas attempted to reproduceancientmodels in his sculpturaldecoration.The figuresof the dancingmaenadand the piping faun that decoratethe bases of thecolumns of the temple, and the relief on the palace showing Silenus with the infantBacchus, are derived from classicalBacchic sarcophagi.The relief showing drunken

.?. ``r(2?

/.? ----

i ri)

.-?i

21.Jacopoelliniactivey1424;died 4701The Presentationf theVirginntheTemThe rawing,artofa notebookatingfromabout455,wasdescribedn theatefifteentetury s "abuildingithOurLady eingfferAs n ig.19,the eligiousubject atters littlemorehan pretextforn animatedcene omnated y hefacadefanenormousemple.Pen nd nkonparchment.7x11/s nches.Louvre, arisRight:Detail ffig.19,Masterf heBarberPanelsprobablyraCarnevale),he BirththeVirgin. aintAnnesshownecliningnhbedwhileervantsatheheVirgin. oth olyiures aveainthaloes.

26


29/52

.#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l,Y1 .- #?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ?

~~~~~~~~~'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\~~~~~~?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?


30/52

-d:?a

-:Mi

A1?:"8ir:r ?-:

?:

_xr ia:5:C""afrs%ai4srsii J

r ii? 1.a'F5 i_b?r":RI

WBllkC L-:::::- : b) linYPIPce

I.::i

t--i:-a:-lj?Siil;Ca

fd aB"',,YKB ?a-1 ;-sl?

Ci-D ?r:?ac ??- -?lp

II1: s- :i:4 is

Re8 ntrarasll gaasins8 d:i1138198 ii8saalslB8a B ::

i_

rS 86 ~""F3ksslas? ?asssaia

:gL::a?i: *(:":

?iB wc -g? :2'-9 21

Ri:X iSB"Uua-x_::?

-i;. ;;;:;BajE-iSbbSI*UXBliPsPiicPsBI.-::.: i,:

1??


31/52

22. (above)Thisancientcameo,eproducedn aneighteenth-centuryngraving,howsBacchusndAriadne.NowinthecollectionftheearlofYarboroughtBrocklesbyark,Lincolnshire,twas ownedbyCardinalFrancescoGonzagan thefifteenth entury.t wasreplicatedn a numberfplaquettesnd wasthe ourcefor reliefnthecourtyard fthePalazzoMedici,hebordersfseveral lluminatedmanuscripts,ndthefiguresfBacchusndhiscompanionn thedetailfromfig. 19(above ight).Two ther ncient ersions,oneofwhich elongedo LorenzolMagnifico,are known.Above right:Detailof ig. 19showingafeignedreliefwithBacchusupportedyoneofhisfol-lowers.The ompositionerivesfromheancientgem llustratedn ig. 22 orfroma contemporaryplaquette.However,n thereliefBacchus asbeenmade o holda glassofwineratherhanhisthyr-sus,and hiscompanionolonger asthe raitsofSilenus.Left: Detailoffig.19,Master ftheBarberiniPanelsprobably ra Carnevale), he Birthofthe Virgin.In thisdetailwell-wishersrrive nfrontofthe alace.

Bacchussupportedbyanother igure s basedon aclassical ameo,versionsof whichwowned by the Medici in Florenceand the Gonzagas n Mantua(above right, fig.And what at first ooks like an extravagant oly-water ont at the entranceof the temcontainsa branchand is probablyntendedasanancient incense burner orcandelabas Alberti referred o it in the seventhbookof the De ReAedificatoria).These refinementswould be inexplicablewere it not for the culturalenvironmenUrbino, where Fra Carnevaleworked, and the extraordinaryharacterof its duFederigode Montefeltro. The fifteenth-centurybookdealerVespasianoda Bisticcileft a celebratedbiographyof this remarkableman, who was one of the great milileadersof his day.Afterdescribingsome of his achievements on the battlefield,Vesiano turnsto his masteryof Latin, noting that "the Duke of Urbino had a very gknowledgenotonlyof the storiesand booksof the HolyBible, buthe was well informin philosophy... and he had Livy,Sallust,QuintusCurtius,Justin, TheCommentaCaesar,which he praised infinitely,read to him...." Then, of his achievementarchitecture,Vespasianowrites,"He wantedto be informedonarchitecture ndin histhere was no one, whether princeor private,who was so well informed as his graAlbertiwas a frequentvisitorat the courtof Urbino,and in 1467 he DalmatianarchiLuciano Laurana,was hired to supervise the constructionof the ducal palace alAlbertian ines. FraCarnevales saidto have been employedby Federigoon work npalace,andanumberof architecturaletails n TheBirthoftheVirgin-the squarewindframes,the elegantCorinthian apitalson the facade,thecapitaldecoratedwithdolpon the interior,and the medallions bearingthe Montefeltro device of the croweagle-are taken fromthe building. However,FraCarnevalecan hardlyhave beepracticingarchitect.The manner n which the featuresof the Archof Constantinehbeen imposedonto the basilican ormof the templewith no indicationof how the up


32/52

23.Benozzo ozzoli, he ConversionfSaint storyof the interior s tobe accommodateds evidenceof apictorial,notapractical,mPaul.Likefigs.and6, thispanelsfromhepre- In a like manner,the palacehas been constructedwith a disregard f proportionsdella fthe ig altarpiecefSanPierMaore in bafflingmixture of decorative elements. Fra Carnevalemay have been familiarwFlorence.emperanwood. S5/ x18 nches.RoencruTnde915 15d.065x 18 . Alberti's deas, but he has appliedthem in a dilettantishfashion,and in his attempenrich the storiesthat arehissubjectswith a wealthof classicalallusions,he hassacrithe dramatic ocus thatlayat the heartof Alberti's onceptionof narrative ainting.Owonders what the syndicsof the confratemityof Santa MariadellaBella, who commsioned the altarpiece,thought when presentedwith these unconventionalpicturwhich the religioussubjectis submerged n seculardetail.A passion or architecturesarecurrent eatureof fifteenth-centurynarrative aintiSometimes it is the architectureof a specificregionor city. In Gozzoli'sSaint ZenResuscitatingaeadChild,hechurch acadeat the backof the squareresemblesthatofcontemporaryFlorentinechurch of San Felice, and in Bartolomeodegli Erri'sAMiof Saint Dominic,the pink buildings repeat the local Gothic architectureof ModSometimes, as in Fra Carnevale's wo paintings, the architecture s fictitious an

30


33/52

intended to suggestan ideal, timelesssettingor to recreate he gloriesof ancientRome.Butineverycasethe architecture efinesthespace n which the narrativeakesplaceand,in the mostdistinguishedcases, itsdetailshelp to articulate he action. This approachonarrative aintinghad a longand fruitfulhistory,asanyonewho standsbeforeEl Greco'sMiracle f ChristHealing heBlind,Poussin'sRapeoftheSabineWomen,r David'sDeathofSocrateswill readilyappreciate.Landscapebackgrounds ccurwith far ess frequency, ornature s filledwith shapeswhose irregularitydefies the tidiness of perspectiveconstructionsand easily deflectsattentionfrom the action.The most straightforwardolution,the one favoredby Floren-tine painters, was simply to impose upon nature an artificialregularity. n BenozzoGozzoli'sConversionfSaintPaul fig. 23), it is the geometryof the composition,basedontwo sets of convergingdiagonals, hathas determined he slopesof theTuscanhillsin thebackground.One set is describedby the foregroundhill and the placementof SaintPaulon the ground; hese diagonalsconvergein the shoulderof the fleeing soldier n the leftforeground.The other,subsidiary,et is describedby the left-handslopeof the centrallyplacedhill and by the beam of light that extends fromChrist'shand to SaintPaul. Thedramaticntensityof the scene arises romthisgeometricscheme.In all probabilityt was Uccello who wasresponsible or the most extreme solutiontothe representation f landscapebackgrounds. na ruinedNativitypaintedforalunetteinthe cloister of the Spedale di San Martino,the furrowsof the flat, distant fields allconverge to a single point that was determined by means of an elaborateperspectiveconstruction.Perugino's pproachwasonlya little less artificial.He probably eceived hisfirsttraining rom Piero della Francesca,and from an early age he formedthe habitofvisualizingthe world in tidy, geometricterms. He perceived figures,architecture,andlandscapedetailsprimarily s elements in a spatialcompositionandonly secondarilyasthe protagonists f a narrative. t is this frameof mind that accountsforthe almost totallack of drama n the Museum'sResurrectionfig. 24),whichmaywell haveformedpartof

24.Pietro eruginoactivey1469;died 523The Resurrection.hepaintingisne ffivescenesf heifeofChristhatmay aveformepredellafPergino'sltarpiecenSant'AgosinSiena, ommissionedn1502.Thefeignedisoriginal. emperanwood. 05/8x18 ncheFrederick.Hewitt und, 91111.65)


34/52

25.AndreaMantegnaabout1430-1506),heAdorationf theShepherds.Temperandgoldoncanvas,ransferredfromood. 47/x21inches. nonymousift, 932 32.130.2)the predellato Perugino'saltarpiece orSant'Agostinon Siena, commissionedin 1Everything n the panel has been conceivedto enhance the effect of an ideal, geomeorder.The figureof Christrestshisvictorystandard n apointalong he verticalaxisofpicture,eachof the two Romansoldiers n the foregoundhas been arranged o thatarmand one leg is on the same planeas the frontedge of the sarcophagus, nd thesoldiers in the backgroundhave been positionedon the converginglines of a paorthogonals.Even the angled placement of the cover of the sarcophagushas bintegrated nto thisgeometricscheme, andthe distant andscapehas the character f aboardwith the hills arrangedat the sides at regular ntervals.Artificialand staticcomposition may be, but to fifteenth-centuryviewers the resultantidyllic calm cstituted a positive, not a negative factor."His things have an angelic airand are vsweet" (Lesue cosehanoariaangelica, t moltodolce)were the words the duke of Miagent in Florenceused to commendPerugino'sworkto his master.Such a drastic olutionfoundlittle favor n northern taly,whereGentile da Fabripupil, JacopoBellini,establishedafarmoresubtleandpoeticapproach. t isJacopo'sin-law,AndreaMantegna,who is the authorof whatiswithoutdoubtthe most beaufifteenth-centurynarrativepaintingin the Metropolitanwith a landscapesetting. Mtegnawas trainedby a disreputableentrepreneurby the name of Squarcione, n whworkshophe wasencouraged o draw romancientreliefsandcasts of antiquesculptFrom that training evolved his pretematural inclinationfor surfaces describepreciselyas to appearchiseled. In TheAdorationftheShepherdsfig. 25) he hasdepi

32I


35/52

26, 27. Thepicturet theuppereft safragmtaryreplica ftheMuseumsAdorationftheShepherds,nditfirmly stablisheshataboutandone-halfnches avebeen ut rom hatwoHowever,heoldwomann thereplica asoneon thewooden ridge ndonefootoffwhilen tMuseums icture othfeetreonthebridge.Thfifteenth-centuryrawing t theupper ight,whrepeatshisdetailfromhefragment, usthavbeen opiedfromhereplica eforetwascut,annotfrom heMuseumsicture.Tempera(?)nwood,9/ x 64 inches,PrivateCollection;rudrawingn colors npape, 11/8 x 85/8 nches,H. M. theQueen,Windsor astle12794)28. AndreaMantegna,The Agonyin theGarden.Temperandgoldonwood.272 x 3inches.Musee esBeaux-Arts,Tours


36/52

each pebble or blade of grasswith crystallineclarityand shown the coarse,sun-tannedfeatures of the two shepherds with unflinching fidelity. But this precision has notprevented him fromconveying an intense feeling for the naturalbeauty of his nativecountrysideof the ValPadana.On the banksof the meanderingriver n the backgroundcan be seen a woman seatedbeneath a treespinninganda manpreparingwo barrels orshipment while, on the opposite bank, an angel casually approachesan unsuspectingshepherd. Whereas in Perugino'sResurrectionpace is created by the applicationof aperspectivegrid, here it is suggested in a much more natural ashionby a succession ofcurves. And whereas in Perugino's cene the perspectivalconstructiondetermines thepicture'snarrative ocus and the placementof the figures,here a craggymountain n thelandscapeand a rocky prominencein the foregroundunderscore he Virginand Child'sdominantposition.These two landscapefeatures once playedan even more importantrole in emphasizingthe narrative ocus of the composition,for there is good reason tobelieve that originallythe Virginwas placed off-center. Careful examinationof thepaintingseems to indicatethat while the left-handedge is original, he right-hand ne isnot. Moreover, hereexists a fragmentary eplicaof the upperright-handportionof thepicture,which clearlysuggests thatabouttwo and one-half inches aremissingfromthatside. Judging from the fragmentary eplica (fig. 26) and a contemporarydrawingthatrecords ts lowerright-handeatures fig. 27), the foregroundhillock of the Metropolitan'spaintingmade acontinuouscurve below the twoshepherdsand a large ree dominatedatright. Besides creatingan asymmetricalcomposition, this addition made the figuresappear o be deeper in spaceandsmaller n scale. This sortof asymmetry eems to haveoriginatedwith JacopoBellini, and it recursin two youthful works of Mantegna, hiscelebratedAgonyntheGardenn the NationalGallery,London, and his predellapaneltothe SanZeno altarpiecen Tours fig.28). It is incomparisonwith these two worksthatwecan best judge the effect of the original ompositionof TheAdorationftheShepherds, ithits careful balance between a pastoral andscapesetting and the emotionally chargedfigures n the foreground.There is, unfortunately,no way of knowing for certain when the mutilationof thepainting took place. The picture is first listed in the collection of Cardinal PietroAldobrandini n Rome in 1603, but without any dimensions, while later inventoriesspecify only the height. Pietro Aldobrandiniacquireda quantityof picturesfrom the

29. Girolamo a Cremonaactivebetween45and1483), The Adorationof the ShepherGirolamo daptedMantegnasmage fig.25)forthisminiaturefromhemissalofBarbaraBrandenburg,marchionessfMantua.Tempandgoldonparchment. iblioteca,Mantua(fol.26)30. Girolamo a Cremona,The Adorationothe Shepherds. This lluminatedinitialfroa gradual,orchoirbook,s alsobased nMategnaa omposition. emperandgoldonparment.LibreriaPiccolomini,Cathedral, iena(Codex29,fol. 70)Detailoffig.25, AndreaMantegna,The Adtionof theShepherds

34


37/52

L?: : I Il 1 ICiCL iLiia?-

II I?

1 1 1 - I III ?I II"I 111 11 II

k lIsIIslIIII '15 1 I I I I Clli 1 III i ii ii rr

i

r

11 1111?1

11II r

i II----I I i111r :tr iiirrrlluluuel I Ii 111i pt C[ 111 'II I II? a:

F II i r ---- -----"); -Fta" -i'I ",L""--

t: j?i IIII I1-I : a_::::: - - illII - 1111;bi ///:::Irrr?pi a illi11;9 111 1=5?:r

i 'F III UYI ?4111IWYBII IIII la;;;.? r:E:i II 1 1Ii; LII Ir;

I II L li111 -1$?

::. :: :

1'1 I 11111111111 ' I 1[ 11


38/52

31,32. Cosimo urabefore431-1495),heAdorationf theMagi;The Circumcision.The wopaintingsre ompanionanelsoTurasFlight ntoEgypt fig. 3). The hree orksmaybefromhepredellaftheRoverellaltarpiece,paintedbout474forSanGiorgiofuorieMurainFerrara. achemperanwood.Diameter5inches,oggArtMuseum,arvardUniversity,Cambridge,ass.; iameter54 inches,sabellaStewartGardnerMuseum,oston

d'Este collectionin Ferrara,wherein 1588 a Nativityby Mantegna s mentionedamtwenty-threepictures n a chapelof the duchess, MargheritaGonzaga.The chapelmhave been quite extraordinary,or in addition to three pictures by Mantegna-oidentifiableas TheDeathoftheVirgin ow in the Prado n MadridandanotherprobablMadonna nd ChildwithSaints n the IsabellaStewartGardnerMuseum in Boston-thwere others by Raphael, Correggio,Dosso Dossi, Girolamoda Carpi,and Mazzarrangedon three of the walls with stucco surrounds.Upon the death of her husbAlfonso II d'Este, Margheritaooksome of the pictureswith herback to Mantua,wthe Prado and Gardnerpictures were purchased in 1627 for Charles I of EnglHowever, the Nativity seems to have been left in Ferrara.The picturewas probacquiredby PietroAldobrandinin 1598.Perhaps, ike the PradoDeathoftheVirgin,whas been cropped at the top, it was cut down to enable its insertioninto the chadecorativescheme. The 1588notice mentions a ChristWashingheFeetof theDiscpleMazzolinoas a pendantto the Nativity.This picturehasbeen plausibly dentifiedwpaintingin the John G. JohnsonCollection in Philadelphiathat, curiouslyenougexactlythe width of the cut-downAdorationftheShepherds.The provenanceof the picturefromFerraras of some interest,for in 1449Mantethen only eighteen yearsold, wascommissionedby Lionellod'Este to painthis porThe presentpicture,which is anearlywork,waspossiblyalsodone atthistime. In FeMantegnawould have seen an altarpieceby Rogiervan der Weyden, a wing of wshowed Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise.Though the structureof Manteglandscapedescends fromJacopoBellini, its meticulousrepresentationmay have binspiredby Rogier's ltarpiece, ust asMantegna's ealisticportrayal f the shepherdsthe extraordinarilycute depiction of emotions seem to reflect Rogier'sunparaldescriptiveabilities.Greatpictures-even great picturesof modest dimensions-have awayof generaotherpictures,andMantegna'sNativityhad such aninfluence. The miniaturistGiroldaCremonamayhave first een the picturewhileemployedilluminating Bible forBd'Este in Ferrara.n 1461Girolamowascommissioned-evidently on the recommetion of Mantegna-to illuminatea missal for the marchioness of Mantua, BarbaBrandenburg,and it is on a page of this missal(fig. 29) thathe firstadaptedMantegscene to the exigenciesof a miniature.He reversed he composition,so thatthe narrreads n the same directionas the text, butinotherrespectsGirolamo emained aithfhis model. As in the Mantegna,the Virginkneels with claspedhands on a rockyleadoring he ChristChild,wholieson the hem of her cloak. The tworustic hepherds,doffingrather hanholdinghishat,occupyapositionbelow the ledge, andthe Annuntion to the Shepherdsagain akesplaceon asharply isinghill in the middleground.Mimportant,Girolamohas preservedthe asymmetryof Mantegna's riginalcompositWhat has changed is the serious mood that permeatesthe Museum'spicture. Inminiature hishasacquireda homespun qualityof greatcharm.About a decade later,in 1473,Girolamohad occasion to illustrate he initialof a cbook for the Cathedralof Siena with the Nativity,and once more it was to Mantegimage, abbreviatedandadaptedto its new function,that he had recourse fig. 30). Tcurveof the rocky edge on which the Madonnakneels now servesto reinforce he cuof the framingP,and the shepherdshave been shiftedfromthe side to a positionbehthe ledge, actuallyclarifying he fictivespace. Despite these changes, somethingofemotional content of Mantegna'spicturesurvives.Like Mantegna,CosimoTuramayhavespent some time in Squarcione'sworkshoPadua,and he had the exampleof Rogiervan derWeydennear at hand in Ferrara,whfrom 1451he was employed by the d'Este court. However,from the outset Turawvisionaryartist,and his best narrative aintingsrevealanexceptional eelingforthe unand the fantastic.In the Museum's ondodepictingthe FlightintoEgypt (fig. 33),onthreeknownscenes devotedto the infancyof Christ figs.31,32), it is the landscape,wits magical pink sky over an open sea and the nightmarish ock formationsdotted wbarrenshrubs,that underscores he isolationof the poignantlyconceived Holy Fam

36


39/52

33. CosimoTura,The Flight into Egypt. Tem-peraon wood.Diameter 54 inches.The ulesBacheCollection,949(49.7.17)


40/52

Througha stroke of genius, the head of the donkey,the curve of whose neck echoes theshapeof the tondo, hasbeen alignedalongtheverticalaxisof the paneland itskindlyeyesalone address the viewer. Although there is much in this picture that recallsGothicpainting-the stylizeddrapery olds and the ornamental hapesof the rock ormations-it differs from a Gothic work in two importantrespects. First, the composition isrigorously eometric,and suchfeaturesas the back of theVirginorthe positionof herlegsreinforcethis structure.Second, the picture'sstylized featuresresult from a personalvisionrather han aconvention,andtheyderivetheirexpressivepowerfromadescriptivetechniquebeyondthe reachof Gothicartists.Tura'swork, with its tenuous relation to nature, stands at one extreme of earlyRenaissancepainting.At the otherextreme is the workofPiero di Cosimo. UnlikeTura,Piero was an avidstudent of nature. Vasari escribesa notebook of Piero'swith drawingsof animalsas "bothexceedingly beautifuland bizarre,"and he goes on to note Piero'sdevotion to the investigationof "certain ubtleties of naturewith no regard or time oreffort."Yet forPiero no less thanforTura hismasteryservedaneccentricandfantasticalimagination.Nowhere is this better illustrated han in his HuntingScene fig. 34) in theMetropolitan. t showsavarietyof figures-satyrs, centaurs,andmen-hunting gameinthe forest and rockyhills of a primeval andscape.Some, like the two satyrsat the right,brandishcrudeclubs. Others, like the Herculeanfigureseen between two gnarledtreetrunksorthe manwho hasjumpedon the backof agallopinghorse,crushtheirpreybare-handed. And still others, like the two men andthe armedsatyrwho have set upon threefightinganimals,have bandedtogether n acooperative ffort.In the distanceaforest ireblazes, and fromit animalsrunpanic-stricken,only to find themselves at the mercyofhunters ike those who lie inwait nthe passageof a hillat the left. It is theappearance f aforest fire that enables the identificationof two furtherpanels belonging to the sameseries. One, in a damagedstate(fig. 35), belongs to the Metropolitanandshowshuntersreturningwith theirgame to boats made of twigs and reeds where theirspouses awaitthem; more boatsfilled with people glide across he calmbay.Once againa fireburns nthe distance andanimalscan be seen swimmingforsafety.The thirdpanel(fig. 36) is inthe AshmoleanMuseum in Oxfordand shows a varietyof animals-some benign, somevicious, and some, with humanlikefaces, simplyfantastic-taking refugeon a plateau.In the middlegroundat the righta man-not clothed in skins butwearinga tunic,cloak,andshoes-carries ayoke clearly ntended forthe twofleeingoxen. A hut canbe seen inthe distance,and thereare smallfiguresof women drawingwater at awell. The forest nthe center of the scene is againafire.The theme of this seriesis notopen to doubt:it illustrates he evolutionof man fromaprimitive tateof bestialityto one of relativecivilization.And it is, in ageneralway,basedon descriptionsof ancientauthors,particularlyhe EpicureanphilosopherLucretiusandthe architectVitruvius.In the fifth book of the DeRerumNaturaLucretiusdescribeshowprimitivemenpassed heir ivesafter hewide-wanderingashion fwildbeasts.Nosturdy uider fthe curvedplowwas here,noneknewhow o work he fieldswith ron, odignewshootsnto heground,oprune ffoldbranchesrom he tall reeswitha sickle.What unandrain adgiven,what heearthhadproducedfherownaccord,hatwasagiftenougho content heirminds.... Notyetdid heyknowhowto work hingswith ire,nor o useskinsand o clothe hemselvesnthestrippingsfbeasts;buttheydwelt n the woodsand orests ndmountainaves,andhidtheir ough odies nthe underwoods....Andbytheaidof theirwonderful owers f handand oottheywouldhuntthe woodland ribesof beastswithvolleysof stonesandponderouslubs,overpowering any,shunning utafew n theirairs; ndwhennightovertookhem, ikesomanybristly ogs hey ustcast heir avagebodiesnakedupon heground, ollinghemselvesnleavesandboughs.This phase of man'sexistence is the subject of the HuntingScene,and a foreshortenedcorpse,which seems almost toprojectout of the picture,serves as agrizzlyreminderof itsdangers.In anotherpassageLucretiusdescribes a subsequentstagein man'sprogress:Next,whentheyhadgotthemhutsand kinsand ire,andwomanmatedwithmanwasappropri-atedtoone,and the lawsofwedlockbecameknown,and heysawoffspringorn f them,then

38


41/52

first he human acebegan ogrow oft. For he firesaw o it that heir hiveringodieswerable o endure oldunder hecanopy f heaven.... Nevertheless oncord ouldnotaltogetproduced,but a good part,naythe mostkeptthe covenantunblemished, r else the ramankindwouldhavebeen eventhenwhollydestroyed....This stagewould seem appropriateo both TheReturnromtheHuntand TheForeswhere man's ngenuity has contrived a more complicatedas well as a more domexistence. Lucretius then goes on to describe how "kings began to found cities anbuild a citadel for their own protectionand refuge."A painting n the Johnand MRinglingMuseum in Sarasota,Florida,showingthe constructionof a large palacsometimes been connectedwith the threescenesandcould be related o thisepisodis, however, somewhat taller than the other three panels, and its feeble execucontrastswith their brilliant realization.Moreover,despite their generic relatiLucretius,Piero di Cosimo's cenescannot be construedasanillustration f anytexin one important espectthey departfromall ancientdescriptionsof primitive ife.Lucretius attributedman's advancement to the discoveryand use of fire, wwarmth irstdrew men together.The same idea isput forthbyVitruvius n a passagwaswell knownin the Renaissancebecauseit wasquotedby Boccaccio n the GeneDeorum:The menofold wereborn ike thewildbeasts, nwoods,caves,andgroves, nd ivedonsafare.Astimewenton,thethicklyrowdedrees na certain lace, ossedbystorms ndwindrubbingheirbranchesgainst neanother,aught ire,andso theinhabitantsf theplaceputtoflight,being errifiedythe furiouslame.Aftertsubsided,heydrewnear ndobsethat heywereverycomfortabletanding efore hewarmire,theyputonlogsand,whilekeepingtalive,brought potherpeople oit,showinghemby signshowmuch omforthefromt. Inthatgatheringf men,at a timewhenutterance f soundwaspurelyndividuadailyhabits heyfixeduponarticulate ords ustas these hadhappenedo come;then,indicating yname hingsn common se,theresultwas hat nthischanceway heybeganoand thusoriginatedonversation ith one another.Thereforet was he discovery f firoriginallyaverise othecomingogether f men.Later illustrators f Vitruviusdid not miss the point, andthey made the discoveryoand the gathering ogetherof men around t the centralfeatureof theirillustratioPiero di Cosimo'sscenes, the forest fire burningout of control has a sinister,menacing quality, and the discovery of its potential usefulness appears to beimportant hanman's nnateintelligence.It is, of course, possible that the seriesoriginally ncluded a number of otherpdepictingthe discoveryof fire and its use. Indeed, it has been conjectured hat the tscenes formedpartof acycleof "diverse toriesof smallfigures"hatVasariirstrecothe 1550 edition of the Livesas decoratinga roomin the palaceof the Florentinemerchant Francesco del Pugliese. One of these pictures-the only one that Vdescribesin detail-showed "Marsand Venus with hercupids, andVulcan,donegreatskill and an incrediblepatience";it was Vulcanwho taughtman the uses ofAccording o this hypothesis, the cycle would have combined illustrations f the liprimitivemanwith an allegorical ycle devoted to Vulcan.This seems a ratherunlidea,and it does not account or the fact that n TheReturnrom heHuntandTheForeman'sprogress s conspicuouslynot relatedto his controlof fire.The noveltyof Piero di Cosimo's reatmentof primitive iferesides nhis use of ansourcessimplyas a pointof departureandin hiswillingnessto contradict heirauthLucretius,forexample, states thatprimitiveman"couldnot look to the commongbut "whateverprizefortunegavetoeach, that he carriedoff,everymantaught o livbe strong or himself at his own will."Yet,even in the Hunting cenebothmen andsseem boundtogetherby a common need forprotectionandfood, and in TheReturthe Hunt tenderness and mutual assistance, not bestiality,characterizeprimevaAgain,forLucretius "thewicked artof navigation hen layhidden andobscure"andsturdyguiderof theplowwasthere,none knew how toworkthe fields withiron."Ybuildingof boatsandthe harnessing f oxen areprimary ubjects n two of Piero's ce


42/52


43/52

34. Pierodi Cosimo1462-1521?),HuntingScene. Alongwithfigs. 5 and36, thispaintingwaspartofthedecorationfa room; erhapsheywerentendedo be ramed bovea wainscoting.Oilonwood.273/4 661/4nches.GiftofRobertGordon, 875(75.7.2)


44/52

Detailoffig.34, Pierodi Cosimo,HuntingScene. Thefigure fa man whocrushes bearagainsthischests based nAntonioPollaiuoloscelebratedronze tatuettefHerculesnd AntaeusintheBargello,Florence.

Detailof ig. 34: Themanat the eftwearsa lionskin,theheadofwhichurnsback o orma collaroundhis neck.

42


45/52


46/52

44

?-Lll:i 4?


47/52

35. Pierodi Cosimo,The Return rom theHunt. This aintingwas a companiono igs.34and36. Oilon wood.2734x 662 inches.GiftofRobertGordon, 875(75.7.1)


48/52

36. Piero iCosimo,he ForestFire.Thepaintings acompaniono igs.34and35.Oilonwood. 8x 79/2 nches. shmoleanuseum,OxfordA420)The reasons or Piero di Cosimo's ympatheticandcompellingtreatmentof primlife are not hard to uncover.Accordingto Vasari,Piero was something of a primhimself: "He did not like his rooms to be swept, he preferredto eat when hunand he did not want his garden hoed or the fruit trees pruned, preferring o letbranches of his vines trail on the ground.... also he enjoyed seeing everythinginundomesticated tate,as his own nature."Morethanthis,he hated the soundsofcity"The cryingof babies, the coughingof men, the soundof bells, the singingof friarthisannoyedhim." AndPierowas fascinatedby freaksof nature,which he went out ofwayto see. It wasthisexceptionalframeof mindthat enabled him to invest suchclasaberrations s the satyrand the centaur-whose existence, incidentally,was deniedLucretius-with the samebelievabilityashismen, and it wasprobablyhisdisapprovcivilized life that led him to envisage primitive ife as somethingmore thandeprivaandanimalbehavior.Though the content of these panels is strikinglyunconventional,the narrative eniqueemployedis not. The manner nwhich, in the HuntingScene,paceis suggesteclearing wo diagonalpathsthrough he forest andaligning he foreshortened orpsean ominous stick along one and the figureof a satyrwith a club and a groupof mcarrying bearalongthe other is adevice that can be traced o Uccello,whilethe diviof the picturesurfaceby meansof two trees in the foregrounds analogous o Botticuse of architecturen the Museum'sMiraclesfSaintZenobius. ertaindetailscan, in fbe shownto derivefrom other less eccentricworksof art. The dog attackinga lion inleft of the Hunting cenehas its origin n battle and huntingscenes best documented

number of fifteenth-century ngravings,while the figurecrushinga bear s patternePollaiuolo's amed bronzeof Herculesand Antaeus.Even in TheReturnrom heHuntTheForestFire, which are among the most ambitious landscape compositionsof Renaissance,Piero has reliedupon a numberof conventions.In TheReturnromtheHthe action is confined to the foreground,and the manat the left and the centaurwiwomanon his back at the rightareplacedalong convergingdiagonals.In TheForest inumber of animalsarestrungalonga plateauin a mannerparalleled n numerousopictures,and the circularorm of the distantforestserves the same function as a circchurch or temple dominating the piazza of a more conventional painting with46


49/52

?^ f v7-, - -%L^A4 - --Er

architecturaletting.These compositionaldeviceswerenotrestrictingactors-quite the Detail ffig. 6, Piero iCosimo,TheorestFcontrary.Their imaginativeuse testifies to the extraordinaryitalityof earlyRenaissancenarrativeechniquesand helps to explaintheirpersistencelong afterthe workof earlyRenaissancepaintersceased to exerta direct nfluence on Europeanpainting.

I ... .." - 3* *.-: - s,11 ,pP~~~..


50/52

Photographs f works romother museumshavebeen reproduced ourtesyof the institutionscitedin the captions.The engraving nfig. 22 is fromMuseumWorsleyanum:r,a Collectionf Antique assoRelievos,Bustos,Statues,andGems..., vol. 1, London, 1794.

Quotationsrefrom hefollowingources:L. B. Alberti,DePictura, rans.by C. Grayson,London, 1972,pp. 55, 71,77, 79.De ReAedificatoria,d. by G. Orlandi,Milan, 1966, II, p. 785Anonymous etterto the duke of Milan, inP Miiller-Walde,"BeitrigezurKenntnisdes Leonardoda Vinci"JahrbucherKoniglichreussischenunstsammlungen,VIII, 1897,p. 165SaintAntonino,SummaHistorialis,quoted in H. Home, SandroBotticelli,London, 1908,p. 311FraBartolomeodaTrento,VitaAltera,quoted inActaSanctorum,Augusti, , Parisand Rome, 1867,

p. 575V.da Bisticci, Vitedi Uomini llustri,ed. by P. d'Anconaand E. Aeschlimann, Milan, 1951,p. 207SaintBridget,Revelations, uoted in H. Cornell, The conographyftheNativityofChrist,Uppsala,1924, p. 12Eusebius, DeMorteHieronymi,uoted in H. Home, SandroBotticelli,London, 1908,p. 175B. Fazio,De Viris llustribus, uoted in M. Baxandall,Giotto ndtheOrators,Oxford, 1971,p. 103M. A. Lavin, Seventeenth-CenturyarberiniDocumentsnd Inventoriesf Art,New York,1975, pp.158,369Lucretius,DeRerumNatura,rans.byW.H. D. Rouse,New York,1924,pp.407,409,411,413,419G. Vasari,LeVite..., Florence, 1550,III, p. 38. LeVite..., 1568,ed. by G. Milanesi,Florence,1906,II, pp. 676 ff., IV,pp. 133ff., 142,VI, p. 481Vitruvius,TheTenBooksonArchitecture,rans.by M. H. Morgan,Cambridge,1914,p. 38

J. de Voragine,TheGoldenLegend,rans.and adaptedby G. Ryanand H. Ripperger,New York,1941,p. 336

Selected ibliographyChristiansen,K. "ForFraCarnevale''Apollo109(1979):198 ff.Dacos, N., Giuliano,A., andPannuti,U. 11Tesoro i LorenzolMagnifico.Florence,1973Home, H. "The LastCommunionof St. Jeromeby SandroBotticelli' Metropolitan useumfArtBulletin10(1915):52 ff., 72 ff., 101 f.Lightbown, R. SandroBotticelli.Los Angeles, 1978Longhi, R. Officinaferrarese.ome, 1934Offner, R. "The BarberiniPanelsand Their Painter" n MedievalStudiesnMemory fA. KingsleyPorterCambridge,1939, I, pp. 205 ff.Panofsky,E. "The EarlyHistoryof Manin a Seriesof Paintingsby Pierodi Cosimo' Journal ftheWarburgnstitute (1937):12ff.; reprinted n StudiesnIconology. xford,1939,pp. 33 ff.Zeri, F Duedipinti, afilologiae un nome.Milan, 1961"RivedendoPierodi Cosimo' Paragone15 1959):44

Cover:Detail, Pierodi Cosimo, Hunting ce(fig. 34)Back cover:Detail, Masterof the BarberinPanels(probablyFraCarnevale),TheBirthoftheVirginfig. 19)Inside frontcover:Detail, SandroBotticellThreeMiraclesfSaint Zenobiusfig. 9)Inside back cover:Detail, AndreaMantegnTheAdorationftheShepherdsfig. 25)

48


51/52

IIf i? ..5 "tCI- r'c ?rr: ;.6-?;,r C-r'L LI r-r.? ?1?

isa?r.,? :? ;??.r???;.r?.I."IYCP ?,91s*\, ?- ?'-~ `?Ir?3et ti n ?a? "-?1.1.-j: P,?r ?? .. ?, c.5 jbi?` ?1jp- i ?? .iQI --.* inPI:

'ac g ??I; -*.. ? i:? ur? ?.I1 CLI. ?_?:2*c- ..c;-" r3 -?s? f?;:? ICLSt I" ii; *;gjId*. 'WL /.* Cstp, P? ?i .. Wp .??a; f? rirrg? ?I-?af- ? -?L I?:i: ?=rRI1:f.?.?r I-j Tt : .)h?r,-rFF" r' ?a, -.L1~ U.r: r

A' "O..^BB.


52/52

-1--k$ it: aE : ?a-

??: i-I;-iiII: ;;;??;:8;:n ren?.BW1Ba:?ip;iw

?I BBBnaes---??

K.christiansen, Early Renaissance Narrative Painting

Documents

Transcript of K.christiansen, Early Renaissance Narrative Painting