Raphael’s Ostrich 9780271077499

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Ostrich

r a p h a e l’ s

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ii

Illustrations

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Ostrich

r a p h a e l’ s

una roman d’elia

the pennsylvania state university press, u n iv e r s ity pa r k , p e n n sy lva n ia

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For Tony, Lucy, and Zoe, with all my love Publication of this book has been

Copyright © 2015 The

supported by the Lila Acheson

Pennsylvania State University

Wallace-Reader’s Digest Publications

All rights reserved

Subsidy at Villa i Tatti.

Printed in Singapore by

Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Millard Meiss Publication Fund of the College Art Association.

Tien Wah Press Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses.

Publication of this book has been supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Fellowship in Renaissance Art History of the

It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper.

Renaissance Society of America.

Publications on uncoated stock

Library of Congress

ments of American National

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Standard for Information

D’Elia, Una Roman, 1973– , author.

Sciences—Permanence of Paper

Raphael’s ostrich / Una Roman

for Printed Library Material,

D’Elia.

ANSI Z39.48–1992.

pages

cm

Summary: “Explores artistic depictions of the ostrich from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance works of Raphael. Traces the history of shifting interpretations given to the ostrich in scientific texts, literature, and religious writings”—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-271-06640-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Ostriches in art—History. 2. Art, Renaissance. 3. Painting, Renaissance. 4. Raphael, 1483–1520—Criticism and interpretation.

satisfy the minimum require-

Additional credits: page 12, detail of man bringing an ostrich up a ramp, mosaic, early fourth century (fig 12); page 34, detail of ostriches and horse bits, detail of a door, ca. 1475 (fig. 29); page 52, detail of ostriches on a boat, tapestry, sixteenth century (fig. 56); page 84, detail of Giulio Romano, Ostrich, pen and ink, 1514–46 (fig. 85); page 102, detail of Luzio Romano, grotesques with ostriches, fresco, 1544–46 (fig. 95); page 132, detail of Girolamo Mattei, Impresa, woodcut (fig. 130); page 156, detail of Carlo Antonio Procac-

I. Title.

cini, Ostrich Hunt, fresco,

N7668.O88D45 2015

detail of Giandomenico Tiepolo,

709.02’4—dc23

Punchinello with Ostriches,

2015003564

ca. 1800 (fig. 199)

iv

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ca. 1587–89 (fig. 151); page 186,

Illustrations

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Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgments xvii

1

A Brief

3

Introduction: Raphael’s Disputed Legacy 1

History

2

The

Eagle

Pope Leo X and Raphael’s



4

5

8

and the Ostrich: The Court of Urbino

Ostriches

Raphael’s

6

Curiosity

Taming

34

52

Heirs

Farnese Ostriches and

7

of the Ostrich: Antiquity and the Middle Ages 12

84

Vasari’ s

Raphael 102

Fortune Is an Ostrich:

Discontent

in the 1550s and 1560s 132

and the Ostrich in the Counter-Reformation 156

the Ostrich: Ripa and Aldrovandi 186

Notes 211

Bibliography 229

Index 241



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vi

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Illustrations

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Illustrations

1 Tomb of Raphael, marble and other stones,

11 Initial with ostrich and other birds, illuminated

begun in 1520, Pantheon, Rome. Photo: Alinari /

parchment, from Pliny the Elder, Natural

Art Resource, N.Y. 2

History, translated by Cristoforo Landino,

2 Raphael, Transfiguration, oil, 1516–20. Musei Vaticani, Vatican City. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y. 3 3 Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Giulio Romano, part of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Justice, Pope Urban I, and Charity, oil mural and fresco, 1519–24, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica. 4 4 Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Giulio Romano, oil murals and frescoes on the south wall and part of the ceiling of the Sala di Costantino, 1519–24, vault repainted under Sixtus V, Vatican Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica. 6 ral, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. 7

6 Flabellum showing Tutankhamun aiming an arrow at an ostrich, gold, metal, and wood, ca. 1350 b.c.e. From the tomb of Tutankhamun. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photo: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y.

fol. 119v. Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. Photo: The Bodleian Libraries, The University of Oxford.

19

12 Man bringing an ostrich up a ramp, mosaic, early fourth century, detail of the pavement in the ambulatory, Room of the Great Hunt Mosaic, Imperial Villa, Piazza Armerina. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, N.Y.

20

13 Daniel in the Lions’ Den and The Ostrich Frees Its Young, ink on parchment, from Speculum humanae salvationis, ca. 1430–50, Bodleian Libraries, MS Douce 204, fol. 28v. Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. Photo: The Bodleian Libraries, The University of Oxford. 25 14 Ostrich, ink on parchment, from a twelfth-

5 Raphael and Giulio Romano, Comitas, oil muPhoto: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

1476, Bodleian Libraries, Arch G. b. 6,

14

7 The weighing of the heart against an ostrich feather as the goddess Ma’at presides over the scales, from the Papyrus of Hunefer, Book of the Dead, painted papyrus, ca. 1280 b.c.e. British Museum, London. Photo: Jacqueline Hyde / The Art Archive at Art Resource / Art Resource, N.Y. 14

century bestiary, Bodleian Libraries, MS Laud Misc. 247, fol. 159r. Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. Photo: The Bodleian Libraries, The University of Oxford. 25 15 Ebstorf World Map (copy after the destroyed original), ca. 1300. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussicher Kulturbesitz. Photo: bpk, Berlin / Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussicher Kulturbesitz / Ruth Schacht / Art Resource, N.Y. 26 16 Boy with a trumpet riding an ostrich and other creatures, mosaic, 1163–65, Cathedral of Otranto. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

17 Ostrich causing its eggs to be born and other creatures, stone intarsia, ca. 1239, detail of the

8 The weighing of the heart, detail from the coffin of Nespawershefyt, painted wood, ca. 1000 b.c.e. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Photo: Werner Forman / Art Resource, N.Y.

14

9 Gladiators fighting animals, including an ostrich, mosaic, 320–30, Galleria Borghese, Rome.

façade of San Michele in Foro, Lucca. Photo: author.

27

18 Arnolfo di Cambio, ciborium, interior, stone intarsia, ca. 1285, San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome. Photo: author.

28

19 Cimabue, Fall of Babylon, badly damaged fresco,

Photo: Scala / Ministero per i beni e le attività

ca. 1280, Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi.

culturali / Art Resource, N.Y.

Photo: Alinari / Art Resource, N.Y.

16

10 Hero shooting an ostrich, marble, fourth

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20 Ostrich, River, Cobbler, Religion, Carpenter, and

century. National Museum, Budapest. Photo:

Grinder, fresco, late fourteenth or early fifteenth

Erich Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y.

century, Palazzo della Ragione, Padua. Photo:

16

The Bridgeman Art Library.

vii

27

30

Introduction

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21 Giovannino de’ Grassi, Ostrich and a Mastiff,

artistici ed etnoantropologici delle Marche,

pen and ink, watercolor, and white heightening, from Taccuino di disegni, late fourteenth century, fol. 2v. Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Bergamo. Photo: Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai.

31

22 Detail of a doorframe with an ostrich, marble,

29 Ostriches and horse bits, detail of a door,

wood intarsia, ca. 1475, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza per i beni storici artistici ed

permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle at-

etnoantropologici delle Marche, Urbino,

tività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza per

Archivio fotografico.

Marche, Urbino, Archivio fotografico.

36

23 Attributed to Attavante Attavanti and workshop, prologue to Vespasiano da Bisticci, Comentario de’ gesti e fatti e detti dello invictissimo signore Federigo duca d’Urbino, illuminated manuscript, 1490–98, Biblioteca Gambalunghiana, MS Sc-Ms 94. Biblioteca Gambalunghiana, Rimini. Photo: Alinari / SEAT / Art Resource, N.Y.

36

24 Tomb of Count Antonio da Montefeltro (d. 1404), marble, ca. 1400, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza per i beni storici artistici ed etnoantropologici delle Marche, Urbino, Archivio fotografico.

37

25 Tomb of Count Antonio da Montefeltro (d. 1404), lid of the sarcophagus, with an ostrich, marble, ca. 1400, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo,

Soprintendenza per i beni storici artistici ed



etnoantropologici delle Marche, Urbino, Archivio fotografico. 37

26 Montefeltro coat of arms with other imprese, stone, 1474–82, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo: author.

38

27 Design attributed to Sandro Botticelli, doors with Apollo, Pallas Athena, and perspectival views, wood intarsia, ca. 1475, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, N.Y.

39

28 Design attributed to Sandro Botticelli, doors with Apollo, Pallas Athena, and perspectival views, wood intarsia, ca. 1475, detail of ostrich, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza per i beni storici

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40

ca. 1475, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with

i beni storici artistici ed etnoantropologici delle

viii

Urbino, Archivio fotografico.

40

30 Dish with an ostrich on a coat of arms, tinglazed earthenware, made in Gubbio ca. 1525. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum.

41

31 Wood intarsia and a reconstruction of the oil paintings in the studiolo, 1474–76, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

42

32 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, ostrich, wood intarsia, 1474–76, studiolo, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza per i beni storici artistici ed etnoantropologici delle Marche, Urbino, Archivio fotografico.

44

33 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, detail of a wall of the studiolo, wood intarsia, 1474–76, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

44

34 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, detail of a wall of the studiolo, wood intarsia, 1478–82, from the Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1939 (39.153). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, N.Y.

46

35 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, ostriches, detail of a wall of the studiolo, wood intarsia, 1478–82, from the Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1939 (39.153). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, N.Y.

46

36 Detail of a doorframe, pietra serena, 1474–80, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Photo courtesy of MIBACT–Direzione regionale beni culturali e paesaggistici dell’Umbria–Museo Palazzo Ducale–Palazzo Ducale di Gubbio (PG).

47

Illustrations

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37 Detail of a window shutter, painted wood, ca.

47 Raphael and workshop, Apollo and Marsyas and

1472, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Photo courtesy

grotesques, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal

of MIBACT–Direzione regionale beni culturali

Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: author.

e paesaggistici dell’Umbria–Museo Palazzo Ducale–Palazzo Ducale di Gubbio (PG).

47

38 Detail of a window shutter, painted wood, ca. 1472, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Photo courtesy of MIBACT–Direzione regionale beni culturali e paesaggistici dell’Umbria–Museo Palazzo Ducale–Palazzo Ducale di Gubbio (PG).

47

39 Piero della Francesca, Montefeltro Altarpiece, oil and tempera, ca. 1472. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

47

40 Ostrich, detail of ceiling vault, gilded stucco, ca. 1540, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Photo with permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza per i beni storici artistici ed etnoantropologici delle Marche, Urbino, Archivio fotografico. 49 41 Attributed to Giulio Clovio, frontispiece to Dante’s Paradiso, the third part of Divina commedia, illuminated manuscript, midsixteenth century, MS BAV Urb. Lat. 365, fol.

58

48 Raphael and workshop, toads and other grotesques, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: author.

58

49 Sodoma, pilaster with grotesques and Pliny’s monstrous races, fresco, ca. 1505, cloister, Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. Photo: Doug McColeman. 59 50 Grotesques, fresco, 65 C.E., vault of the cryptoporticus, Domus Aurea, Rome. Photo: Werner Forman / Art Resource, N.Y.

60

51 Raphael and workshop, vault of the Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, fresco, 1516–17, Vatican Palace. Photo: author. 60 52 Raphael and workshop, ostrich, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: author. 61 53 Raphael and workshop, grotesque ostrich, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: author. 61

197r. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Città del

54 Raphael and workshop, sheaves of wheat, fresco

Vaticano. Photo © 2015 Biblioteca Apostolica

and wax, 1516, Stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena,

Vaticana. By permission of Biblioteca Apostolica

Vatican Palace, 1516. Photo: author.

Vaticana, with all rights reserved.

50

42 Grotesques, fresco, 65 C.E., Domus Aurea, Rome. Photo: Nimatallah / Art Resource, N.Y. 54

62

55 Raphael and workshop, sphinxes and other grotesques, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: author.

62

56 Ostriches on a boat, detail of The Arrival of Vasco

43 Bernardino Pinturicchio, Della Rovere

da Gama in Calcutta, tapestry, sixteenth century.

Chapel grotesques, fresco, ca. 1480–82, Santa

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon. Photo:

Maria del Popolo, Rome. Photo: Scala / Art

Alfredo Dagli Orti / Art Resource, N.Y. 63

Resource, N.Y.

54

57 Giovanni Barile (possibly after a drawing by

44 Raphael and workshop, decorations in the Stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, fresco with wax,

Raphael), The Mock-Triumph of the Poet Baraballo, wood intarsia, 1515, Stanza della Segnatura,

1516, Vatican Palace. Photo: Scala / Art Resource,

Vatican Palace. Photo: Erich Lessing / Art

N.Y.

Resource, N.Y. 64

57

45 Raphael and workshop, river god and other

58 After Raphael, Hanno, pen and ink, 1514–16.

grotesques, fresco and wax, 1516, Stufetta of

Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: Scala /

Photo: bpk, Berlin / Staatliche Museen / Jörg P.

Art Resource, N.Y.

Anders / Art Resource, N.Y.

57

46 Raphael and workshop, putto drying a river

64

59 Raphael, Portrait of Pope Leo X and Cardinals

god’s hair, fresco and wax, 1516, Stufetta of

Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi, oil on panel,

Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. Photo: Scala /

ca. 1518. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo:

Art Resource, N.Y.

Scala / Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali /

57

Art Resource, N.Y. 64

ix

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Illustrations

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60 Michelangelo, Temptation and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, fresco, 1508–12, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican. Photo: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y.

66

gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica. 74 70 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, detail of Justice with the scales and the Medici ring, oil mural,

61 Paul-Marie Letarouilly, Vatican Palace Loggia

1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

grotesques (detail), lithograph, from Le Vatican

Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione

et la Basilique de Saint-Pierre de Rome (Paris:

dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede

A. Morel, 1882); originals fresco and stucco,

Apostolica.

1516–19, Loggia, Vatican Palace. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, N.Y.

66

75

71 Giulio Romano, after drawings by Raphael, detail of The Adlocutio of Constantine, fresco, 1519–21, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

62 Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Pellegrino da

Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione

Modena, Creation of the Animals, fresco, 1516–19,

dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede

Loggia, Vatican Palace. Photo: Scala / Art

Apostolica.

Resource, N.Y.

67

76

72 Raphael and Giulio Romano, Egyptianizing

63 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, Justice, oil

telamon, fresco, ca. 1517, Stanza dell’ Incendio,

mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican

Vatican Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per

Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile

gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del

concessione dell’Amministrazione del

Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica.

Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica.

68

73 Designed by Raphael, Chigi Chapel, begun in

64 Sebastiano del Piombo, Flagellation of Christ, oil mural, 1516–24, San Pietro in Montorio, Rome. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

1511, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

69

65 After Leonardo da Vinci, Leda, oil on panel, ca. 1510. Galleria Borghese, Rome. Photo: Alfredo Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, N.Y.

77

71

66 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, detail of

77

74 Giulio Romano, tomb of Baldassare Castiglione, after 1530, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Mantua. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

77

75 Master of the Die, after Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with a Lion, an Eagle,

Justice, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino,

and a Phoenix, design for a tapestry, engraving,

Vatican Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per

1530–60. British Museum, London. Photo

gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del

© Trustees of the British Museum. All rights

Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica. 72

reserved. 81

67 Michelangelo, Erithrean Sibyl, fresco, 1508–12,

76 Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing

Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican. Photo: Erich

by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with a

Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y. 72

Lioness, a Cub, a Pelican, and Other Birds, design

68 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, ostrich, detail of Justice, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica. 73 69 Giulio Romano and workshop (overall composition based on drawings by Raphael), detail of the fictive tapestry border of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, with the Medici imprese, fresco, 1519–24, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per

for a tapestry, pen and brown ink with brown wash and white heightening, ca. 1520–21. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved. 81 77 Master of the Die, after Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with a Monkey and a Baby, design for a tapestry, engraving, 1530–60. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.

81

78 Master of the Die, after Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da

x

Illustrations

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Udine or Raphael, Putti with an Ostrich, design

89 Andrea Sansovino, tomb of Cardinal Girolamo

for a tapestry, engraving, 1530–60. British

Basso della Rovere, marble, ca. 1507, Santa Maria

Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the

del Popolo, Rome. Photo: Foto Marburg / Art

British Museum. All rights reserved.

Resource, N.Y. 96

82

79 Giulio Romano and workshop, after drawings

90 Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo Sanese, and

by Raphael, Battle of the Milvian Bridge, detail

Tribolo, entry of Pope Hadrian VI into Rome,

of the Villa Madama under construction, fresco,

tomb of Pope Hadrian VI, marble, 1523–33, Santa

1519–24, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

Maria dell’Anima, Rome. Photo: author.

Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y. 86

91 Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo Sanese, and

80 Raphael, Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine,

Tribolo, Justice, tomb of Pope Hadrian VI,

and workshop, decorations in the Villa Madama

marble, 1523–33, Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome.

loggia, fresco and stucco, 1521, Rome. Photo:

Photo: author. 97

The Bridgeman Art Library. 87

92 After Giuseppe della Porta, frontispiece,

81 Baldassare Peruzzi, elephant fountain, marble,

woodcut, from Sigismondo Fanti, Triompho di

mosaic, and other materials, 1524–26, Villa

fortuna, 1527. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New

Madama, Rome. Photo: Scala / Art Resource,

York, gift of Paul Sachs, 1925 (25.7). Image ©

N.Y.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source:

88

Art Resource, N.Y. 100

82 Giovanni da Udine and Giulio Romano, putti with rabbits, fresco, 1521–23, Sala di Giulio

93 The wheel of the ostrich, woodcut, from

Romano, Villa Madama, Rome. Photo: The

Sigismondo Fanti, Triompho di fortuna, 1527.

Bridgeman Art Library. 88

Warburg Institute, London. Photo: The Warburg Institute. 100

83 Giovanni da Udine and others, vault of the Sala di Giulio Romano, fresco, 1521–23, Villa

van Heemskerck, The Death of Charles de Bourbon

Library.

and the Sack of Rome, engraving and etching,

88

the Sala di Giulio Romano, fresco, 1521–23, Villa Madama, Rome. Photo: Eric Spitzer. 89 85 Giulio Romano, Ostrich, pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk on paper, 1514–46. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved. 90 86 Giulio Romano, ornament with ostrich heads and feathers, pen and brown ink with brown wash on paper, 1514–46. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved. 90 87 Giulio Romano, The Holy Family with Saints Mark and James, oil on panel, 1521–22. Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome. Photo: De Agostini Picture Library / V. Pirozzi / The Bridgeman Art Library. 95 88 Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo Sanese, and Tribolo, tomb of Pope Hadrian VI, marble, 1523–33, Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome. Photo: author.

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94 Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert, after Maarten

Madama, Rome. Photo: The Bridgeman Art 84 Giovanni da Udine, ostrich, from the vault of

xi

96

95



1555–56. Private collection. Photo: The Bridgeman Art Library.

101

95 Luzio Romano, detail of grotesques with ostriches, fresco, 1544–46, Cagliostra, Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome. Photo by permission of Soprintendenza speciale per il patrimonio storico, artistico ed etnoantropologico e per il polo museale della città di Roma–Museo Nazionale Castel Sant’Angelo. 104 96 Ostrich, detail of the vault, marble, 1544–46, Cagliostra, Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome. Photo by permission of Soprintendenza speciale per il patrimonio storico, artistico ed etnoantropologico e per il polo museale della città di Roma–Museo Nazionale Castel Sant’Angelo.

104

97 Detail of coffered ceiling with an impresa of Margherita of Austria, painted and gilded wood, c.e. 1540s, Palazzo Madama, Rome. Photo © 2015 Archivio fotografico, Senato della Repubblica.

106

Illustrations

9/4/15 9:44 AM

British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of

98 Luzio Romano, drawing of a sauce boat,

the British Museum / Art Resource, N.Y.

pen and ink and wash, 1540s. Royal Collection,

Windsor Library. Photo: Royal Collection Trust /© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2015.

107 Giorgio Vasari, Justice, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria,

109

Rome. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del

99 Ostrich ornament, pearl, enamel, gold,

Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica.

diamonds, and rubies, sixteenth–seventeenth century. Museo degli Argenti, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. Photo: De Agostini Picture 109

Paul III Receives the Homage of the Nations, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo

and brown ink and brown wash, ca. 1540.

dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,

Sede Apostolica.

the Elisha Whittelsey Collection, the Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1950 (50.605.11). Image © source: Art Resource, N.Y.

Judgment, copied before the original work was censored, oil on panel, 1548–49. Museo

110

Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples. Photo: Scala / Ministero per i beni e le attività

101 Giorgio Vasari, Justice, oil on canvas, 1543. Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples. Photo: Alinari / Art Resource, N.Y. (Luciano Pedicini, 1999).

112



119

110 Federico Zuccaro (and Jacopo Zanguidi, called

begun 1568/69, Sala del Cigno, winter

1543. Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte,

apartment, Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola.

Naples. Photo: Alinari / Art Resource, N.Y.

Photo: author.

(Luciano Pedicini, 1999).

113

111

124

Federico Zuccaro, ostrich, fresco, probably begun 1568/69, Sala del Cigno, winter apart-

103 Giorgio Vasari, Benignity, Religion, and Pope Paul III Distributes Benefices and Appoints

ment, Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola. Photo:

Cardinals, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni,

author.

Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome. Photo © ‘Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione Sede Apostolica.

canvas, 1569. Royal Collection, Hampton Court. Photo: Royal Collection Trust / © Her

115

Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2015.

104 Giorgio Vasari, Pope Paul III Supervising Work on St. Peter’s, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento

113

Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio 116

105 Giorgio Vasari, Charity, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica.

117

106 Giorgio Vasari, Abundance, drawing for the refectory of Monte Oliveto, Naples, pen and ink, wash, chalk, and white heightening, 1544.

125

Cesare Baglione and others, grotesques, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di

Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome.

della Sede Apostolica.

124

112 Federico Zuccaro, Calumny of Apelles, oil on

dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della

0 FM_pgs5.indd 12

culturali / Art Resource, N.Y.

il Bertòja?), ceiling vault, fresco, probably

102 Giorgio Vasari, detail of Justice, oil on canvas,

xii

119

109 Marcello Venusti, after Michelangelo, Last

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image



della Cancelleria, Rome. Photo © Musei Vaticani, per gentile concessione

100 Francesco Salviati, design for an urn, pen



117

108 Giorgio Vasari, Eloquence, Justice, and Pope

Library / A. Dagli Orti / The Bridgeman Art Library.

117

Torrechiara. Photo: author.

127

114 Cesare Baglione and others, ostrich and

other grotesques, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara. Photo:

115

author. 128 Cesare Baglione and others, grotesques with Atlas, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara. Photo: author.

128

116 Cesare Baglione and others, man weighing himself, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara. Photo: author.

128

Illustrations

8/20/15 12:16 PM

117 Casare Baglione and others, sphinx and

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University

other grotesques, fresco, ca. 1583, Castello di

of Toronto. Photo courtesy of the Thomas

Torrechiara. Photo: author.

Fisher Rare Book Library, University of

129

Toronto.

118 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, decorations in the Biblioteca

128 Impresa of Virginio Orsini, woodcut, from

di San Giovanni Evangelista, fresco, 1573–75,

Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et

Parma. Photo: author.

amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 60.

130

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University

119 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino,

of Toronto. Photo courtesy of the Thomas

and Ercole Pio, grotesques / hieroglyphic

Fisher Rare Book Library, University of

emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San

Toronto.

Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. Photo: author. 130

woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo

and Ercole Pio, ostrich feathers and other

Rovillio, 1574), 55. Thomas Fisher Rare Book

grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco,

Library, University of Toronto. Photo courtesy

1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista,

of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library,

Parma. Photo: author. 130 121 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, Justice and grotesques /

University of Toronto.

Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 93.

Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma.

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University

Photo: author. 130

of Toronto. Photo courtesy of the Thomas

122 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino,

Fisher Rare Book Library, University of

and Ercole Pio, ostrich and other grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. Photo: author. 131 123 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, ostrich and other grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. Photo: author. 131 124 Enea Vico, Portrait of Emperor Charles V, engraving, 1550. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.

134

Toronto. 131

139

Impresa of the Marchese del Vasto, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 94. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. Photo courtesy of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

140

132 Impresa of Count Pietro Navarra, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 96. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. Photo courtesy of the Thomas

125 Enea Vico, detail of Justice, Portrait of Emperor Charles V, engraving, 1550. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.

138

130 Impresa of Girolamo Mattei, woodcut, from

hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75,

134

126 Enea Vico, impresa, engraving, ca. 1550–60.

Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

140

133 Lovesick woman, woodcut, from Anton Francesco Doni, I marmi (Venice: Francesco Marcolini, 1552), 87. Thomas Fisher Rare Book

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Library, University of Toronto. Photo courtesy

Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum,

of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library,

London.

University of Toronto.

136

127 Impresa of Francesco Borgia, woodcut, from

0 FM_pgs5.indd 13

138

129 Impresa of Duke Alessandro de’ Medici,

120 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino,

xiii

138

143

134 Title page, woodcut, from Anton Francesco

Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et

Doni, La zucca (Venice: Francesco Marcolini,

amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 13.

1551–52). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript

Illustrations

8/20/15 12:16 PM

Library, Yale University. Photo courtesy of the

135

147 Camillo Procaccini, nymphaeum grotesques,

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library,

painted pebble mosaic, 1585–89, Villa Visconti

Yale University.

Borromeo Litta, Lainate. Photo: Mondadori

145

Portfolio / Electa / Art Resource, N.Y. (Paolo

Giorgio Vasari, title page, woodcut, from Leon

Manusardi). 161

Battista Alberti, L’architettura, trans. Cosimo Bartoli (Florence: Torrentino, 1550). Biblioteca

148 Carlo Antonio Procaccini, ostrich hunt, fresco,

Riccardiana, Florence. Photo: Scala / Art

ca. 1587–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta,

Resource, N.Y.

Lainate. Photo: author. 161

145

136 Pirro Ligorio and Curzio Maccarone, Fountain

149 Philips Galle, after Jan van der Straet, Ostrich

of Venus, stucco and marble, ca. 1567–70,

Hunt, engraving, ca. 1578. Private collection.

Villa d’Este, Tivoli. Photo: author.

Photo: Private collection / The Stapleton

149

Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library.

137 Pirro Ligorio, Fountain of Rome, 1567–70, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. Photo: author.

150

150 Antonio Tempesta, Ostrich Hunt, etching, 1598. British Museum, London. Photo © Trustees of

138 After Pirro Ligorio, detail of a frieze with

the British Museum / Art Resource, N.Y.

ostriches pulling a chariot, oil, ca. 1574–75,

Sala dell’Aurora, Castello Estense, Ferrara. Photo: author.

151

151

Generosity, fresco, 1566–67, vault of the Stanza

Borromeo Litta, Lainate. Photo: author. 162 152 Detail of the tomb of Roberto Altemps, marble and other stones, Santa Maria in Trastevere,

De Agostini Picture Library / A. de Gregorio /

Rome, ca. 1586. Photo: author.

152

153

140 Federico Zuccaro, vault of the Stanza della Photo: author.

153

154 Pasquale Cati, The Council of Trent, fresco, 1588, Cappella Altemps, Santa Maria in Trastevere,

della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli.

Rome. Photo: author. 165 155

142 Federico Zuccaro, Time, Stanza della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. Photo: author. 153

materials, 1592–94, loggia, Palazzo Altemps, Rome. Photo: author.

The Bridgeman Art Library. 155



Borromeo Litta, Lainate. Photo: author. 160

at the nymphaeum, 1585–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta, Lainate. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y. (Mauro Ranzani). 160

166

158 Antonio Viviani da Urbino, putti with an ostrich, fresco, 1592–94, loggia, Palazzo Altemps, Rome. Photo: author. 167 159 Michelangelo, Jonah, fresco, 1508–12, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Rome. Photo: Erich Lessing /

146 Designed by Martino Bassi and Francesco Brambilla, one of the working trick fountains

loggia vault, fresco, 1592–94, Palazzo Altemps, Rome. Photo: author.

145 Designed by Martino Bassi and Francesco Brambilla, nymphaeum, 1585–89, Villa Visconti

165

157 Antonio Viviani da Urbino, detail of the

fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. Photo: De Agostini Picture Library / A. de Gregorio /

Photo: author. 165

156 Pompeo dell’Abate, rustic fountain, mixed

fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. Photo: 144 Federico Zuccaro, Fortune, Stanza della Gloria,

Antonio Viviani da Urbino, loggia frescoes, 1592–94, Palazzo Altemps, Rome.



143 Federico Zuccaro, Reform, Stanza della Gloria, author. 154

View of the Tomb of Roberto Altemps and the Rome, ca. 1586. Photo: author. 165

141 Federico Zuccaro, decorations of the Stanza Photo: author. 153

164

Cappella Altemps, Santa Maria in Trastevere,

Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli.

0 FM_pgs5.indd 14

Carlo Antonio Procaccini, detail of Ostrich

della Nobiltà, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. Photo: The Bridgeman Art Library.

xiv

162

Hunt, fresco, ca. 1587–89, Villa Visconti

139 Federico Zuccaro, Liberality, Nobility, and



162

Art Resource, N.Y.

167

160 Aerial view of the Sacro Monte, Varallo.

Photo: De Agostini Picture Library / G. Gnemmi / The Bridgeman Art Library.

169

Illustrations

8/20/15 12:16 PM

161 View of chapels, Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo: author.

173 Antonio Tempesta, Creation of the Birds and

169

Fishes, etching, ca. 1600. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy

162 Detail of The Last Supper, mixed media, figures fifteenth century and frescoes eighteenth century, Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo: author.

of LACMA. 177 174 Antonio Tempesta, Temptation, etching, 1590s.

169

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of LACMA. 177

163 Gaudenzio Ferrari, detail of The Crucifixion, mixed media, early sixteenth century, Sacro

175 Johann Sadeler I, after a lost painting by Gillis

Monte, Varallo. Photo: De Agostini Picture

Mostaert, Temptation, engraving, late sixteenth

Library / A. Dagli Orti / The Bridgeman Art

century. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Library.

Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum,

169

164 Grille, Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo: author.

171

176 Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte, Varallo,

165 Galeazzo Alessi, design of the Chapel of Adam and Eve interior, from Libro dei misteri, 1565–69. Biblioteca Civica “Farinone-Centa” di Varallo, Fondo Edizioni Rare e di Pregio. Photo 171

Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon. Photo: cliché

copper, erected in 1697, Sacro Monte di San Carlo, Arona. Photo: Alinari / Art Resource,

author. 172 167 Interior of the Chapel of Adam and Eve, mixed media, sculptures late sixteenth century and

N.Y.

179

178 Titian and workshop, Adoration of the Magi, oil on canvas, ca. 1560. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana,

frescoes nineteenth century, Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo: Mariano Dallago, by courtesy of the Archivio della Riserva Speciale del Sacro 172

Milan. Photo © Dea / Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana / Art Resource, N.Y.

1617. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Erich

Ex Voto: An Account of the Sacro Monte or New Jerusalem at Varallo-Sesia (London: Trübner, 172

canvas, 1617. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo:

century, Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro

Erich Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y.

183

182 Detail of Jan Brueghel the Elder, Air, oil on

175

canvas, 1621. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y.

171 Detail of the elephant, mixed media, late sixteenth century, Chapel of Adam and Eve,

184

183 Grotesques, fresco, 1580s, Palazzo del Giardino,

175

Sabbioneta. Photo: author.

172 Albrecht Dürer, The Fall, engraving, 1504.

188

184 Bernardino Campi and workshop, vault of

Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photo

the Camerino di Enea, fresco and stucco,

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

ca. 1584, Palazzo del Giardino, Sabbioneta.

177

Photo: author.

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183

181 Detail of Jan Brueghel the Elder, Earth, oil on

174

170 Detail of the camel, mixed media, late sixteenth

Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo: author.

182

180 Jan Brueghel the Elder, Air, oil on canvas, 1621. Art Resource, N.Y.

sixteenth century, Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo: author.

Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y.

Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Erich Lessing /

169 Detail of the ostrich, mixed media, late

xv

180

179 Jan Brueghel the Elder, Earth, oil on canvas,

168 The Old Adam and Eve, from Samuel Butler,

Monte, Varallo. Photo: author.

Monte di Varallo (Varallo: Pietro Revelli, 1624).

colossal statue of Saint Carlo Borromeo,

Eve, 1570s, Sacro Monte, Varallo. Photo:

1888), plate 11. Photo: author.

Sogliano, Dialogo sopra i misterii del Sacro

177 Giovanni Battista Crespi, called il Cerano,

166 Galeazzo Alessi, Chapel of Adam and

Monte di Varallo.

woodcut, from Fra Thomaso Nanni da

Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon. 179

courtesy of the Biblioteca Civica “FarinoneCenta” di Varallo.

London. 177

188

Illustrations

9/4/15 10:57 AM

185 Bernardino Campi and workshop,

193 Giovanni Guerra, Fortune, pen and ink and

Unicorn Purifying a Stream, fresco, 1580s,

wash drawing, ca. 1600. Musée du Louvre,

Palazzo del Giardino, Sabbioneta. Photo:

Paris. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais / Art

author.

Resource, N.Y. (Thierry Le Mage).

188

186 Attributed to Carlo Urbino, detail of Orpheus

drawing, ca. 1600. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Palazzo del Giardino, Sabbioneta. Photo:

Photo © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource,

author.

N.Y. (Thierry Le Mage). 201

190

195 Title page with the device of Marco Antonio

of Parnassus, fresco, 1510–11, Stanza della

Zalterio, woodcut, from Antonio de Gislandis,

Segnatura, Vatican Palace. Photo: Scala / Art

Opus aureum, ornatum omni lapide pretioso

Resource, N.Y. 190

singulari (Venice: Marco Antonio Zalterio, 1598). Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library,

188 Ostrich, woodcut, from Konrad Gessner, Historia animalium liber III, qui est de avium natura (Zurich: Christoph. Froschover, 1555). Photo: author.

194

189 Male ostrich, female ostrich, ostrich skeleton, and other creatures, woodcut, from Ulisse Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, hoc est de avibus historiae (Frankfurt: Bassaie, 1610). From the copy held in the W. D. Jordan Special

of Toronto. 203 196 Luca Giordano, Justice, fresco, 1685, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence. Photo: De Agostini Picture Library / G. Nimatallah / The Bridgeman Art Library.

204

fresco, 1579–81, corridor of the Galleria degli

versity, Kingston. Photo courtesy of W. D.

Uffizi, Florence. Photo: Susanne McColeman,

Jordan Special Collections and Music Library,

reproduced by courtesy of the Ministero dei

Queen’s University.

beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo. 206

194

198 Giambattista Tiepolo, detail of the continent

Aldrovandi, Tavole di animali, MS BUB II: 68.

of Africa, fresco, 1752–53, Residenz, Würzburg.

Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna. Photo

Photo: Scala / Art Resource, N.Y.

di Bologna.

196

207

199 Giandomenico Tiepolo, Punchinello with Ostriches, brown ink and wash over black

191 Male ostrich, mistakenly identified as a female,

chalk, ca. 1800. Allen Memorial Art Museum,

watercolor, 1590s, from Ulisse Aldrovandi,

Oberlin College, Ohio, R. T. Miller Jr. Fund.

Tavole di animali, MS BUB II: 68. Biblioteca

Photo: Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin

Universitaria di Bologna. Photo by permission

College.

of the Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna.

207

200 Pablo Picasso, Ostrich, sugar aquatint, to

196

illustrate Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte

192 Gola, woodcut, from Andrea Alciati, Diverse

de Buffon, Histoire naturelle (Paris: Martin

imprese (Lyons: Macé Bonhomme for Gui-

Fabiani, 1942). Musée Picasso, Paris. © Estate

llaume Rouille, 1551), 94. University of Glasgow

of Pablo Picasso / SODRAC (2015). Photo ©

Library. Photo by permission of University

RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, N.Y.

of Glasgow Library, Special Collections.

0 FM_pgs5.indd 16

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University

197 Workshop of Alessandro Allori, grotesques,

by permission of the Biblioteca Universitaria

xvi

University of Toronto. Photo courtesy of the

Collections and Music Library, Queen’s Uni-

190 Male ostrich, watercolor, 1590s, from Ulisse



194 Giovanni Guerra, Justice, pen and ink and wash

Charming the Animals with Music, fresco, 1580s,

187 Raphael, Apollo and the Muses, detail



201

210

199

Illustrations

8/20/15 12:16 PM

Acknowledgments

I owe so much to so many generous people—

and friend and a generous and knowledgeable

this book was truly a pleasure to research and

expert on Renaissance art, who discussed this

write. As I come to write this, I am yet again

project with me for years. I am also grateful to my

overwhelmed at their erudition and kindness and

students and especially to my research assistants

at their belief that writing a book on ostriches

Theresa Huntley, Heather Merla, and Susanne

was a sane thing to do. I carried out the research

McColeman. I have discussed this project with

for this book with the generous support of the

an amazing group of international friends and

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

colleagues whom I wish I could see more often,

of Canada and had the enormous privilege of

including Nadja Aksamija, Monica Azzolini,

spending a year as a fellow at Harvard University’s

Stephen Campbell, Kathleen Christian, Filippo

Villa I Tatti—un grande abbraccio a tutti voi:

de Vivo, Chris Fanning, Charles Hope, Joost

Amy Bloch, Babette Bohn, Claudia Bolgia,

Keizer, Daniel Kokin, Bob La France, Stuart

Suzanne Boorsch, Daniel Bornstein, Eve Borsook,

and Estelle Lingo, Margaret Meserve, Aimee Ng,

Abi Brundin, Lorenzo Calvelli, Chris Carlsmith,

Emily O’Brien, Lino Pertile, François Quiviger,

Claudia Chierichini, Françoise Connors, Joe

Fabrizio Ricciardelli, Leslie Ritchie, Luke Roman,

Connors, Donal Cooper, Michael Cuthbert,

Mary Claire and Michael Vandenberg, and

Angela Dressen, Anne Dunlop, Serena Ferente,

Tristan Weddigen.

Francesca Fiorani, Allen Grieco, Martin Kemp,



Bob La France, Kate Lowe, Ann Moyer, Deborah

—Abi Brundin, Anne Dunlop, and Stuart Lingo

Parker, Michael Rocke, Marc Schachter, Carlo

—all read the entire manuscript before I sent it

Taviani, Louis Waldman, and Joanna Woods-

to the press, and each helped me cut through

Marsden. Without that time, lovely place, the

the mire and sharpen the argument. They

library, and especially the fellows and staff, I

showed me what I wanted to say. I could not

could never have contemplated writing such a

have asked for more sympathetic, generous,

wide-ranging book, and I wouldn’t be the scholar

knowledgeable, and thoughtful readers than the

that I am. While in Florence my family met our

ones chosen by the press, Marcia Hall and Paul

Italian family—Fede, Fabri, Ale, Paolo, Melania,

Barolsky. Another creative and rigorous scholar,

Marco, Elena, Pietro, e Stella, ci mancate!

Ken Gouwens, who is also an old friend, read the



It would not have been possible to print

Three formidable scholars and dear friends

entire manuscript before copyediting and helped

this sumptuously illustrated book without the

me avoid innumerable errors and infelicities. At

generous support of the Millard Meiss Publication

the press, Ellie Goodman has been quite simply

Fund, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Fellow-

an ideal editor—open-minded, generous, and

ship, and the Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest

critical—and Charlee Redman has been amazingly

Publication Subsidy from Villa I Tatti. I could

helpful in countless ways. I am also grateful for

not have told this story without these weird and

Keith Monley’s sensitive and smart copyediting.

wonderful ostrich images, many of which have

After all of this incredible help, any remaining

not been published before. I am grateful to many

errors are obviously my own. I talk to my parents, Timmie and Michael

individuals and institutions for helping me



obtain images, including Elena Fumagalli, Bob

Roman, on the phone every night, and we never

La France, Carlo Taviani, François Quiviger,

run out of things to say. But when I try to express

Yvonne Elet, Rosanna Di Pinto, Estelle Lingo,

what my husband, Tony, and our beautiful,

Susanne McColeman, and Anna Rita Paccagnani.

strong, and smart daughters, Lucy and Zoe, mean



I am lucky to have wonderful colleagues

to me, for once in my life, I’m speechless.

at Queen’s University and want to thank in particular Stephanie Dickey, Janice Helland, Cathleen Hoeniger. I am deeply saddened by the death of David McTavish, my colleague xvii

0 FM_pgs5.indd 17

Introduction

8/20/15 12:16 PM

xviii

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Illustrations

8/20/15 12:16 PM

Introduction:

Introduction: Raphael’s Disputed Legacy

the heavens while he was still alive, whose

When Raphael died suddenly in his thirties,

face bears a passing resemblance to the artist’s.

on Good Friday in 1520, reportedly after be-

According to Vasari, the last thing Raphael’s

ing made feverish from too much sex, writers

brush touched before his death was the face of

quickly enshrined the somewhat dissolute

Jesus—the divine creator of the divine creator.3

painter by comparing him to Christ, and art-

This painting, reinterpreted at Raphael’s death

ists scrambled to claim his legacy. The night of

as an apotheosis of the artist, had been made

Raphael’s death was marked by prodigies—

as a competitive artistic statement. Cardinal

the Vatican palace split in two, just as the tem-

Giulio de’ Medici had held a contest, in imita-

ple of Jerusalem had done when Christ died.

tion of the great artistic contests of antiquity,

Raphael requested that he be buried in the

between Michelangelo (who provided draw-

Pantheon, the ancient temple of the gods that

ings for Sebastiano del Piombo) and Raphael.

had been rechristened as a Christian church

When the finished paintings were exhibited

(fig. 1). Before he chose it, this was not a

in Rome, Raphael was universally acclaimed

prestigious place for a Christian burial, as it

the victor. Vasari tells us that Raphael continu-

did not hold distinguished relics. Raphael,

ally worked on the painting “with his own

who had been named by Pope Leo X director

hand” and so brought the picture to “final

of antiquities and had made many drawings

perfection.” The painting was, according to all

of the ancient building, was surely not inter-

of the artists, “the most celebrated, the most

ested in the Christian dedication of Santa

beautiful, the most divine.”4

Maria ad Martyres (the name given when the



building was reconsecrated). He was asking

well into the twentieth, the Transfiguration

to be apotheosized in the Pantheon, the best-

was hailed as Raphael’s greatest work.5 It

preserved remnant of the glory of ancient

seems particularly perverse that even as the

Rome. After Raphael, other artists sought

public fawned over the “Greatest Picture in

burial in the Pantheon to be near him, as if

the World,” art historians deemed half of this

his body were a relic.

painting to be the work of someone else,



Raphael’s chief pupil, Giulio Romano.6 Giulio

d’e l i a

Raphael Is Dead. Long Live Raphael!

1

Vasari tells us that the Transfiguration,

one of the last paintings Raphael completed

and others surely had a hand in painting the

before he died, hung above his bier and that

minor parts of this large painting, as was

people were consumed with grief when they

standard practice, particularly in Raphael’s large

compared his dead body to the living paint-

and efficient shop. But nineteenth-century art

ing (fig. 2). None of the many figures in the

historians regarded the whole bottom section

painting is a self-portrait, so the viewers were

of the picture as entirely Giulio’s. The upper

surely comparing Raphael to the shining and

part, with the softly glowing Christ floating in

triumphant Christ, raised to divine glory in

ethereal gentleness, was generally recognized

2

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From the seventeenth century until

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1

to be the work of Raphael, but the lower

Tomb of Raphael, marble and other stones,

section, with its discordant leaps between light

begun in 1520, Pantheon, Rome.

and darkness and strangely twisted figures,

2

had to be painted by someone else, surely not

Raphael, Transfiguration, oil, 1516–20.

the luminous and harmonious Raphael of the

Musei Vaticani, Vatican City.

Madonna paintings and the School of Athens. Art historians now recognize the whole as Raphael’s invention and largely his execution and see the contrasting upper and lower parts of the picture as creating an animating tension between the heavenly revelation of the divine and the earthly apostles’ frustrated attempts to exorcise a possessed boy.7

The Raphael that is famous today and

was idolized in the nineteenth century is a much simpler and more anodyne painter than the one that was divinized in 1520. All of those small “dear Madonnas” so celebrated for their sweetness were early modest works, probably made on spec, before he had received any of his grand commissions, and so were not much reproduced or widely praised in his day. The School of Athens, now famous for its seemingly perfect evocation of a harmonious classicism, was also little known, as it was painted in one of the pope’s private apartments and so, unlike the Transfiguration, could be seen only by a select few.8

It is precisely because Raphael was

apotheosized after his demise as no artist had been before him and became the chief god in the artistic Pantheon that we have inherited such a distorted vision of his art. The mythmaking, begun during his life and dramatically amplified by his death, has narrowed our view of Raphael, who was celebrated in the sixteenth century for his broad range of abilities. Vasari and others hailed Michelangelo as a master painter of one supreme subject—the heroic male body, made in God’s image. Raphael was, in contrast, infinitely flexible, a painter of raphel’s ostrich 2

male and female, old and young, people, animals, and plants.

Raphael’s Ostrich

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3

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Introduction

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4

Illustrations

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Many have discussed the range of

and patrons than the pope’s private apartments

Raphael’s art, and since the mid-twentieth

around the corner, and therefore a high-profile

century the Transfiguration has been recognized

commission.12

to be his creation and a key to understanding



sixteenth-century Italian painting. This book

series of sometimes nasty letters) between

takes as its starting point a much less well-

Sebastiano del Piombo, backed by Michelan-

known aspect of his broad legacy, a strange,

gelo, and the members of Raphael’s shop, the

exotic, rather ugly invention—Raphael’s ostrich

honor of finishing Raphael’s final work was

(fig. 3). The bird is an attribute of Justice,

given to Raphael’s chief pupils, Giulio Romano

painted in shadowy oils on the wall of the Sala

and Gianfrancesco Penni.13 The painting of

di Costantino in the Vatican Palace. Justice is

the room was completed a little more than

usually shown upright and forward facing, as

four years later, under Pope Clement VII. The

the embodiment of rectitude, not as such a

room is full of complex illusions—the scenes

sensual creature with a sidelong glance. Her

of the life of Constantine are painted as if they

left hand holds the scales, a standard attribute.

were tapestries, pulling at the nails from which

Her right hand curves gently, almost tenderly,

they hang and curling slightly at the corners

around the neck of a large, about half-life-

(fig. 4). Between these narratives are portraits

size ostrich. The ostrich, emerging from the

of the popes, in niches as if they were statues,

shadows, is easily identifiable by its size, its

but flesh colored. The portraits are flanked by

3

almost grotesque proportions—skinny legs,

allegorical personifications of virtues. The al-

Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Giulio

bulbous body, long sinuous neck—and its

legories are not the standard types but inventive

Romano, part of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge,

ugly, short-beaked, beady-eyed head.

figures with strange clothing and attributes,

Justice, Pope Urban I, and Charity, oil mural

including Justice with her ostrich.

and fresco, 1519–24, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

The Sala di Costantino and



Raphael’s Ostrich

and the classical virtue of Comitas, a pleasant

Vasari tells us that the dead Raphael was laid

mildness (figs. 3, 5), setting them apart from

out, with the Transfiguration above his head,

the rest of the decoration of the room, which

in “the room in which he was working.”9

is done in fresco, the more traditional and

This could be a studio in his house or the

less technically demanding technique for wall

Sala di Costantino, a reception room in the

painting. These two figures were likely painted

Vatican palace that he had begun painting for

during Raphael’s life, whereas the rest of

Pope Leo X. In October 1519 scaffolding was

the room was finished after his death. When

erected for Raphael to paint in the room.

Raphael’s followers were given the commission

Less than a week after Raphael’s death the

to finish the room, they were unable to master

following April, Sebastiano del Piombo began

the demanding oil mural technique and so had

to petition for the right to finish the room,

the walls stripped and reprepared for fresco.

surely not only because it was a prestigious

They seem to have left their dead master’s

papal commission but also because whoever

two figures painted in oil out of reverence

gained this boon would assume the mantle of

for him, despite the risk that these would

the master, becoming Raphael reborn.11 The

look incongruous next to the lighter colors of

room was a semipublic reception room and

fresco. Scholars who mention this work focus

banquet hall, much more accessible to artists

on the attribution of the Justice, whether it

10

5

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After some squabbling (recorded in a

Two figures are painted in oil, Justice

Introduction

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4 Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Giulio Romano, oil murals and frescoes on the south wall and part of the ceiling of the Sala di Costantino, 1519–24, vault repainted under Sixtus V, Vatican Palace. 5 Raphael and Giulio Romano, Comitas, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

6

Raphael’s Ostrich

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was painted by the master himself before he died or by his pupils after his death.14 The obsession with whether it was Raphael’s hand that physically painted these figures is partially a product of the divinization of the artist. One of Raphael’s great innovations was his ability to run a large workshop and to give the artists in it an unusual degree of autonomy.15 Vasari mentions the members of this shop, criticizing paintings that he deems not sufficiently by Raphael. He crystallizes the myth of the purity of a painting made by the divine hand of the artist in his account of Raphael alone painting the Transfiguration, the face of Jesus being the last thing he touched. Vasari, who himself was the impresario of a large and efficient shop, had to know that this was false. In the Renaissance, a famous artist’s hand was prized, and so contracts would stipulate how much of the painting the master was to execute and how much would be left to assistants.16 With the burgeoning workshops of Raphael and Vasari, in which the master was sometimes purely the inventor of imagery, leaving the execution to his assistants, the insistence on the mythical status of the artist’s hand is almost nostalgic. Justice is, regardless of how much his hand held the brushes that painted it, Raphael’s invention, based closely on his drawings. Giovanni da Udine, Raphael’s assistant who was an expert in animal painting, surely painted the ostrich on the wall. The ostrich is nevertheless Raphael’s, as much a part of his endlessly inventive art as the many other sections of his paintings executed by others.

Comitas has one bare breast, an armband

like that on a classical statue of Venus, and has her foot on a lamb.17 These are not standard symbols for any virtue, and if the figure were not labeled, she would be unidentifiable. Comitas, pleasant softness or mildness, is also hardly a traditional Christian virtue. The other figure painted in oil, Justice, is easily identifiable 7

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Introduction

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not only from the written label but also from

Leonardo’s famous depiction of Leda and the

the scales she holds. She, like Comitas, has

Swan (now known to us only through copies

one bare breast. This is appropriate for an

and preparatory drawings).19

allegory—it shows that she is not a real person



but a classically inspired personification of

justice comes from ancient Egypt, where the

an idea. Later it would become standard to

ostrich feather was the hieroglyph for justice,

show personifications in this way, but this

as was known in Pope Leo X’s Rome. Even

kind of revealing asymmetrical dress was not

though the hieroglyphic code would not be

a convention until Raphael made it so in the

broken for centuries, the hieroglyph for justice

Sala di Costantino. In the fifteenth century,

is described in a late Alexandrian text that

allegorical personifications, which are almost

humanists plumbed. Raphael’s mysteriously

always female, are shown decorously clothed,

dark ostrich evokes these arcane meanings but

with the exception of Truth, who is naked

does so in a modern way, as the bird is no flat

because she is completely exposed. In antiquity,

symbol or fanciful monster but a meticulously

Amazons are shown with one bare breast, but

observed creature, probably drawn from life

personifications of ideas are not. Raphael is

using a bird in the pope’s menagerie. Raphael,

being rather daring in exposing the breast and

by facing the bird forward, hides the tail

giving this figure a relaxed, open-legged pose

feathers that denote justice and so refuses to

and almost lazy sensuality. The lack of any

make the creature a straightforward symbol.

tailoring of the garment—it is more of a sheet

The overall meaning of the allegory is clear,

tucked around her than an Amazon’s tunic—

but the ostrich demands an explanation.

only adds to the sensuousness of the figure,

By creating a large naturalistic animal that

making it seem as if we could almost touch

evoked many disparate associations, a modern

this abstract idea.

hieroglyph, Raphael forced the viewer to

18



8

Justice’s profile, classicized head, and

The association between the ostrich and

consider how the natural world is imbued

odd, distinctive headdress—a kind of visor

with meaning. This issue came to a crisis by

with two braids wound around it—are in direct

the end of the sixteenth century, with the rise

imitation of Michelangelo’s Erithrean Sibyl on

of the foundations of both modern art history

the Sistine ceiling (see fig. 67). This is more

and natural history. Raphael’s invention was

criticism than flattery, as Raphael softens and

certainly not the only way to endow images

feminizes Michelangelo’s Herculean figure,

with meaning, but it raises the question that

gives the body an easy, graceful twist, and

became central to ongoing debate about art in

obscures the edges of the forms in atmospheric

the cinquecento, namely, how physical form

shadows. Perhaps in order to create this dark,

contains and communicates inner truths. In

smoky effect, so different from Michelangelo’s

this sense Raphael started the culture wars

stony crispness, Raphael painted this figure in

over the nature of images, which raged in the

oil. Raphael was a renowned fresco painter,

sixteenth century and were foundational for

but despite his expertise and the well-known

later Western art. Therefore, even if the late

technical problems with oil murals, he chose

sixteenth-century scientist Ulisse Aldrovandi,

to paint in oil, to create a sfumato reminiscent

for example, was not consciously reacting to

of Leonardo’s works. When painting the

Raphael’s ostrich, Aldrovandi’s idea of art, its

soft twisting form of a woman and a large

possibilities, and its limitations would not have

bird, Raphael must have been thinking of

been possible without Raphael.

Raphael’s Ostrich

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A humanist at Pope Leo X’s court,

also a maker of grotesques, in that he couples

probably Pierio Valeriano, the great scholar

unlike creatures for impenetrable reasons

of all things Egyptian, must have informed

in order to make monstrous art. Raphael’s

Raphael that the ostrich feather was the

art is neither a mirror of nature nor an

hieroglyph for justice. Raphael did not simply

illustration of a text; it is a series of juxta-

illustrate this idea but created an enigma,

positions that call attention to his artistry and

rich with possible associations, a poetic

cause the viewer to question the very nature

juxtaposition of beautiful woman and ugly

of the image and how to read it.

bird, abstract ideas that take on unexpected

9

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flesh, sinew, and feathers. In doing so, Raphael

The Ostrich in the Renaissance

claimed a new power for art, as something

The ostrich is an African bird, an exotic

in between the representation of nature and

curiosity that was painted on European maps

allegory, neither breathtakingly real nor

of Africa, alongside elephants, hippos, and

abstractly symbolic. The ostrich seems present

the monstrous peoples who were thought to

but cannot merely be an ostrich, far removed

inhabit the continent. Ostriches were kept in

as it is from any natural habitat. Likewise, the

courtly zoos in Europe along with other exotic

scantily clad woman cannot actually flank the

creatures, and ostrich eggs and plumes were

pope without scandal, and the heroic narrative

treasured imported commodities. Sixteenth-

is depicted as a tapestry that curls at the edge.

century travelers who published popular

Art here does not create a plausible illusion

accounts of foreign lands described ostriches

and thus illustrate or compete with textual

running wild in Africa, being hunted and

narratives—the painting is not a window onto

even cooked and eaten.

the world. Art offers playful and impossible



juxtapositions, levels of reality and illusion,

curiosity—a marvel, a monster—because of

and a slippery slope between historical truth

its enormous size and inability to fly. It is the

and fantasy. Allegories would seem to be the

largest of birds, has the largest eyes of any

images that are most at the service of texts in

land animal, with long eyelashes, and is the

that they are literal visualizations of written

only bird with two toes on each foot. These

attributes, offering little scope for fantasy,

and other peculiarities made it, according to

play, or the sort of divine ability to make

ancient, medieval, and Renaissance scientists,

living creatures for which Raphael was famed.

a liminal creature, part bird, part beast. In fact,

Raphael, however, used allegory to claim a new

the Latin term for ostrich is struthiocamelus,

status for art as a poetic language in its own

or “sparrow-camel.” Many medieval and

right. Allegory, which means “other speaking”

Renaissance images of the ostrich show it as a

in Greek, is the embodiment of an idea in

bird with camel’s feet. As a hybrid monster, it is

a completely different form.20 Languorous

like the mythical griffin and sphinx. There are,

Justice and her fierce ostrich dramatize the

however, no classical myths about ostriches.

dissonance of allegory, making the gap between

Ovid does not describe anyone changing into

the idea and its embodiment teasingly evident

an ostrich, and no ostriches run through the

and thus liberating the image from a slavish

Odyssey or the Aeneid. During the Renaissance,

dependence upon the word. God’s fantasy in

therefore, ostriches were not associated with

creating weird hybrid monsters, such as the

any one idea or narrative. Instead, they evoked

ostrich, inspires a like fantasy in the artist,

a host of different, often contradictory ideas.

The ostrich was thought to be a

Introduction

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Raphael’s is by no means the first ostrich

in Western culture. Ostriches had already

and, in a move both traditional and radical,

reared their strange heads in the Hebrew

created a modern hieroglyph that embodies

Bible, ancient Egyptian rites, classical Rome,

arcane ancient meanings in an unprecedentedly

medieval manuscripts and cathedrals, and early

naturalistic form.

Renaissance palaces. Through the centuries



the bird carried a host of meanings—some

was not made for the private pleasure of the

positive, some negative—signifying by turns

pope, who was known for his love of exotic

heresy, stupidity, perseverance, heat, and the

animals, but instead for the Sala di Costantino,

miraculous conception of Jesus, to name a

a semipublic reception room visited daily

few. This is also true of other animal imagery

by ambassadors and other dignitaries. It is

in the Renaissance: peacocks, for example,

hard to imagine what they made of Raphael’s

can signify both virtue and vice. Renaissance

ostrich as a personification of papal virtue. The

art is a complex and evocative language, for

incongruous nature of this image, in a space

which no meaningful dictionary can be written.

that would seem to demand more forthright

The ostrich, though, is peculiarly ambiguous,

rhetoric, is particularly pointed given that the

partially because its image was always

room contains otherwise explicitly pro-papal

uncommon and so, like a rare word, not easily

propagandistic imagery—scenes of the life

interpreted. Though the ostrich could mean

of Constantine—particularly after Clement

many things throughout the Middle Ages, it

VII changed the program to include the

was not an attribute of Justice. You have to

Donation of Constantine, the much-contested

return to ancient Egypt to find any precedent

moment when, according to the popes, the

for Raphael’s invention.

Roman emperor gave the papacy control not



only over religious matters but also over the

21

10

drew upon many strands of this rich tradition

Tracing the complex history of shifting

Raphael’s ambiguous exotic image

interpretations given to the ostrich in scientific

earthly government of the western empire.22

texts, literature, and religious writings and

Ambassadors would have been struck by the

images of antiquity and the Middle Ages

blunt message of the Constantinian scenes and

demonstrates the variety of ways people made

the laudatory portraits of the popes but might

sense of this living monster, with its strange

have been tempted to misinterpret the scantily

habits. Since ostriches were kept in zoos and

clad women who flank them, especially the one

hunted as a part of courtly pageantry, writers

fondling an ostrich, as figures of the corrupt

and artists attempted to describe and explain

decadence of the papacy.

the aberrant features of the actual bird—its



size, its apparently useless wings, and its

to pose little threat when Raphael was first

potentially deadly two-toed feet. The ostrich,

asked to paint the Sala di Costantino, but over

however, in a parallel tradition, also acted

the course of the century, as the Reformation

through the centuries as an abstracted symbol,

gained in strength, the popes responded by

its weird physiology and habits crystallized into

seeking to reform the Catholic Church from

a simple memorable image that could deliver

within, to make it less easily assailable. By the

a moral message. As a symbol it took on a

1560s, the Council of Trent had decreed that

classical Renaissance form in dozens of images

art should be decorous and comprehensible

in fifteenth-century Urbino, the sophisticated

and should not contain anything shockingly

court where Raphael was born and raised. He

new, and thereafter works of art were

Martin Luther and his followers seemed

Raphael’s Ostrich

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censored, most famously Michelangelo’s Last

as marvels in their own right, a new kind of art

Judgment. Theologians decried elitist, unclear

without a message. Other artists and writers

art. Raphael’s ostrich, despite its oddity and

in this self-conscious age adopted and trans-

ambiguity, was, however, never criticized or

formed Raphael’s invention in order to outdo

censored. Instead, artists imitated this image

or subvert it. Raphael’s evocative and ambigu-

throughout the sixteenth century and the

ous painting inspired not only these elite

centuries that followed. Because Raphael was

intellectual games but also terribly personal

enshrined as a god of art on his death, his

imagery. The alien ostrich, with its arcane

ostrich, a new and strange invention in 1520,

meanings, came to connote men’s and women’s

almost immediately became, in and of itself,

characters and the violent events of their lives.

a kind of a classic, which could be imitated,

Ostriches expressed the toughness of warriors,

emulated, and satirized. Among those who

the plight but also the strength of a woman

saw the ostrich as a vital part of Raphael’s

who was a political pawn, the nobility of a

legacy was Giorgio Vasari, who, even as he

ruler, the tyranny of another, and the bitterly

was constructing the enduring literary image

frustrated political aspirations of those who

of Raphael in his famous biographies of the

could not change with the times. The story

artists, made images with ostriches in tribute to

of Raphael’s ostrich, therefore, became inter-

and competition with Raphael.

twined both with larger histories—of the idea



11

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Sixteenth-century artists depicted os-

of art, the development of science, and the

triches as images of justice but also gave the

Counter-Reformation—and with the personal

ostrich new meanings. Men and women played

lives of the people who struggled and tri-

memory games that involved ostriches, in-

umphed in these turbulent times.

cluded ostriches in antique-inspired grotesque



decorations, collected prints of ostriches, made

before and those that followed after, Raphael’s

scientific studies of ostriches, wrote poems

ostrich illuminates a weird, lesser-known side

about ostriches, invented fantastic ostrich

of Raphael and therefore of the Renaissance.

tableware, and painted and sculpted the flight-

The strangeness of Raphael’s ostrich bears an-

less bird in churches, palaces, and villas. Many

cient arcane meanings but is not a fabulous

of these ostriches, are, like Raphael’s painting,

fantasy. Raphael’s painting and the many

naturalistic, and so the ostrich becomes viv-

ostriches that followed are founded upon an

idly present in the most unlikely of places, a

acute observation of the real oddity of living

celebration of illusionism and at the same time

beasts, and so these images of hybrid creatures

obviously a fiction. Some of these ostriches

are both marginal and central to major cultural

are not freighted with any moral or allegorical

shifts in attitudes toward nature—at the cross-

import—they are exotic beasts, to be admired

roads of art, religion, myth, and natural history.

In light of those images that came

Introduction

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chapter

One

12

R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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A Brief

History

of the Ostrich: Antiquity and the Middle Ages

The Ostrich in Ancient Egypt

afterlife, it is no wonder that the cult of Ma’at

Raphael evoked secret lore hidden in Egyptian

was widespread and drew many devotees.2

hieroglyphs when he painted his ostrich as an



attribute of Justice. Of course, the meaning

known in the Renaissance? The ostrich-

of the hieroglyphs had long been lost by the

feather hieroglyph is so stylized that it is not

Renaissance—no one was able to interpret

identifiable as a feather, let alone an ostrich

them until the nineteenth century—but the

feather. Renaissance artists and writers had

impenetrability of the hieroglyphs added

at their disposal the writings of a fifth-century

to the mystique of this hermetic pictorial

Alexandrian, Horapollo, which included

language, which was conspicuously present

a note that the text had been translated into

in Renaissance Rome in the obelisks, basalt

Greek from Egyptian by a certain Filippo.

lions and sphinxes, and other Egyptian objects

These writings offer interpretations of the

throughout the city.

hieroglyphs but are largely inaccurate, part



of an attempt to recover an ancient tradition

Ostriches are indigenous to Northern

Africa, and grandiose processions with

already lost. Horapollo identifies some

ostriches and staged royal ostrich hunts were

individual hieroglyphs correctly but gives

a part of the pageantry of the courts of the

false explanations. For example, he writes

pharaohs (fig. 6). In ancient Egypt the ostrich

that the hieroglyph for “mother” is a vulture

feather played a vital role as a symbol and

because there are no male vultures. Actually,

ritual object that conveyed notions of truth,

the hieroglyphs are not a purely symbolic

righteousness, and especially justice. The

language, but partially phonetic. In this case,

goddess of justice and the divine order of the

vulture means “mother” because the two words

cosmos, Ma’at, wore an ostrich feather on

are homonyms.3 For Horapollo the animals

her head, as did actual viziers, who acted as

themselves are exemplars—living signs that

judges. When a soul attempted to enter the

bear meanings.

underworld, the heart of the deceased was



weighed against an ostrich feather—something

can be shown with the ostrich feather. His

almost proverbially light—in order to see if

explanation, though, does not refer to the cult

the heart was worthy (fig. 7). Sometimes the

of Ma’at—instead, he writes that the feather

goddess Ma’at herself sat on the scales, weighed

signifies equity because all ostrich feathers

against the heart. Those who passed the test

are of equal length.4 This bit of nonsense,

could be decked out in a festive profusion of

like Horapollo’s pronouncement about the

ostrich feathers, which served as hieroglyph,

vulture, is easily disproved. If, however,

ritual object, headdress, and trumpery

he refers not to the length but to the unique

ornament all at once (fig. 8). Given her central

symmetry of ostrich plumes—unlike other

role in the passage to the elysian fields of the

birds’ asymmetrical feathers—his explanation

1

1 Chapter_pgs5.indd 13

How much of this rich tradition was

Horapollo writes, correctly, that justice

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raphel ’ s ostrich

14

R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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would be considered physiologically accurate.

widely read in the Renaissance as sources

Typically, he interprets the hieroglyphs not

for the history of Rome and its corrupt

as a human creation but instead as a

emperors. The Historia augusta recounts that

transcription of the meanings inherent in

the emperors used ostriches in magnificent

things. In so doing, he reduces the whole rich

displays. Probus (232–282) is described as a good

tradition of the cult of Ma’at and Egyptian

emperor, abstemious in his habits and fierce in

notions of human and divine justice and order

crushing any rebellion but also generous to the

to a dubious and trivial observation.

Roman people. To celebrate a military triumph,

The Ostrich in Ancient Greece and Rome

Raphael also inherited Greek and Roman ideas about Egypt and ostriches. Many classical authors, while unable to interpret the hieroglyphs, were both fascinated and repelled by the culture of ancient Egypt, and they associated ostriches with what they

6

he staged “in the Circus a most magnificent wild-beast hunt.” Earth, grass, and trees were brought in to make the arena seem like a forest, and then animals were let lose in this staged terrain: “one thousand ostriches, one thousand stags and one thousand wild boars, then deer, ibexes, wild sheep, and other grass-eating beasts, as many as could be reared or captured.” The Romans were then allowed into the arena

Flabellum showing Tutankhamun aiming

reviled as a decadent North African culture.

an arrow at an ostrich, gold, metal, and wood,

This attitude toward Egypt and ostriches is

ca. 1350 b.c.e. From the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Probus was thus offering a generous gift in

exemplified in a Roman account of the life

the form of meat but also cleverly inducing

of the Egyptian Firmus, who rose to become

people to volunteer as actors in the spectacle.7

prefect of Egypt under Aurelian (214/15–275)

The animals, including the ostrich, are

feather as the goddess Ma’at presides over the

and rebelled against the emperor. Firmus had

herbivores, and thus not such a danger as the

scales, from the Papyrus of Hunefer, Book of

many exotic and bestial habits, such as rubbing

animals pitted against captives in the Coliseum,

himself with crocodile fat and swimming

but ostriches, boars, and other large beasts

among crocodiles. We are told too that he

are hard to catch and potentially vicious, so

rode all sorts of mounts: elephants, hippos,

it would have made an exciting, somewhat

of Nespawershefyt, painted wood, ca. 1000 b.c.e.

and even “huge ostriches, so that he seemed

comical, and potentially tragic spectacle. We

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

to be flying.” He was also rough and hairy, “so

can envision the chaos of the scene from a

that many called him a Cyclops.” Firmus had

later mosaic (fig. 9). The sheer numbers of

a prodigious ability to digest anything: “He

beasts slaughtered at one time are probably

would eat great amounts of meat and he even,

exaggerated, but textual accounts describe

so it is said, consumed an ostrich in a single

hundreds of ostriches in imperial menageries.8

Egyptian Museum, Cairo. 7 The weighing of the heart against an ostrich

the Dead, painted papyrus, ca. 1280 b.c.e. British Museum, London. 8 The weighing of the heart, detail from the coffin

day.”5 The Roman tales about Firmus make the Egyptian upstart into an exotic monstrous beast, a crocodile swimming among crocodiles, ostrichlike in his grotesquely exaggerated appearance and appetite.

15

The life of Firmus is recounted in the

to take with them whatever they could catch.6



The emperors most associated with os-

triches in the Historia augusta and other ancient sources were notoriously evil: Commodus (161–92) and Elagabalus (ca. 203–22). Commodus was so fond of the Coliseum that he would himself enter the arena:9

Historia augusta, a collection of biographies

Wild beasts were brought from all over the world

that was written in the third century. These

for him to kill, species which we had admired in

lives—full of chatty, salacious details—were

pictures but saw for the first time on that occasion.

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9 Gladiators fighting animals, including an ostrich, mosaic, 320–30, Galleria Borghese, Rome. 10 Hero shooting an ostrich, marble, fourth century. National Museum, Budapest.

. . . [O]n one occasion he used some arrows with crescent-shaped heads to shoot at Mauretanian ostriches, birds that can move tremendously quickly because of the speed at which they run and because of their folded back wings. Commodus decapitated the birds at the top of their necks with his arrows, so that they went on running around as though they had not been touched, even when their heads had been cut off by the sweep of the arrow.10 The contemporary historian Herodian’s account gives a vivid sense of the excitement and repulsiveness of a spectacle that was novel in every way—an emperor in the arena, hunting with strange arrows never-before-seen creatures, which run around like decapitated chickens. Commodus plays for the adulation of the crowds by choosing a particularly difficult target—the fast-running narrow-necked ostrich. A later relief sculpture dramatizes such a moment, with the nude hero lunging toward his target (fig. 10). It would not have been much of a feat to hit the ostrich’s wide body! Dio Cassius, who was a senator during Commodus’s reign, recounts that Commodus once cut the head off an ostrich in the Coliseum and then threateningly brandished 16

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the bloody sword in one hand and the head

that was later popular among Renaissance

in the other in front of the senators. Cutting

humanists contains two recipes for sweet-and-

off a head as a bloody warning is, if gruesome,

sour sauces for ostrich chunks, made from

a fairly straightforward gesture—but why

honey, vinegar, pepper, mint, cumin, and other

an ostrich? It is not a particularly lovable or

spices.15 Ostrich was the sort of fancy food

humanlike creature, not a favorite pet, not the

appropriate for a wedding.16 The largess was

sort of thing one gives a name. Ostrich heads

only doled out capriciously to a few, though,

are also small, and so many would not have

while the rest of the populace endured the

been able to see what the emperor was holding.

emperor’s rapaciousness and violence.

Perhaps the beast was simply at hand and



expendable. Dio Cassius seems to have thought

famine, Elagabalus would offer absurdly

it a weird gesture too, as he wanted to burst

extravagant banquets. These events were

out laughing, but of course he did not dare. So

suffocatingly lavish—at one banquet literally

the senator tore a laurel leaf off of the crown on

so, as such a cascade of flowers landed on the

his head, stuffed it in his mouth, and chewed

guests that some were asphyxiated.17 The food

on it, so that the spicy taste would stifle his

was a part of the outlandish performance.

laughter. The other senators all followed suit.11

Elagabalus served “camels-heels, and also



cocks-combs taken from the living birds, and

Commodus was so reviled that after he

was murdered—strangled in the Coliseum

the tongues of peacocks and nightingales . . .

by his wrestling partner—Rome rejoiced.

and flamingo-brains,” among other delicacies.18

When Septimius Severus (145/46–211) took

At one such feast, the guests were offered six

power in 193, however, he rehabilitated

hundred ostrich brains.19 The ostrich’s head is

Commodus and built monuments to honor

of course very small—it has the smallest brain

his memory, presumably in order to bolster

in proportion to its body mass of any land

his own legitimacy by emphasizing his ties

animal—and so slaughtering six hundred of

to the emperor under whom he had served

such large and exotic birds just to eat the tiny

as a commander. Septimius Severus did not

delicacy is indeed conspicuous consumption.

enter the arena, but he did sponsor bloody

Elagabalus used such entertainments to

spectacles. On one occasion the Coliseum was

demonstrate his cruel power. It is said that he

transformed into a wrecked ship, out of which

would dine sumptuously himself while serving

poured seven hundred animals—bison, bears,

his guests fake food, sometimes mix excrement

lions, panthers, and ostriches—with hunters

in their dinners, and, when he served ostrich,

in pursuit.12

would say “that the Jews had been commanded



to eat them,” a nasty joke on the fact that ostrich

Elagabalus was perhaps even more

infamous than Commodus for his violence,

meat is forbidden by Mosaic law.20

sexual depravity, and decadence. He insisted



on luxuries no matter how exorbitant the cost,

known in the Renaissance, but the Historia

demanding great banks of snow in the middle

augusta, which is full of such disgusting and

of summer. The emperor could be generous,

bizarre anecdotes, was a popular source.21

holding lotteries and giving such prizes as ten

Petrarch read one manuscript of the Historia

ostriches.14 What the winner would have done

augusta and wrote such comments as “Who is

with such a prize is unclear, though Romans

more shamed than Commodus? And who more

did eat ostrich meat. A fifth-century cookbook

evil? . . . Elagabalus, the filthiest not only of

13

17

When Rome was suffering from a terrible

Dio Cassius’s histories were not well

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princes but of men.”22 The humanist Platina,

great wings to run faster. It has the “marvelous

in his fifteenth-century Lives of the Popes, which

property of being able to digest” anything.

became a bestseller in the Renaissance, drew

Pliny offsets this praise with a note on the

heavily on the Historia augusta to paint a

animal’s stupidity, for when it hides its head in

picture of the depravity of the emperors. As an

a bush, it thinks that the rest of its body cannot

example of Commodus’s propensity toward

be seen. This may be the origin of the modern

“every kind of disgraceful extravagance and

myth that ostriches hide their heads in the

obscenity,” Platina refers to the emperor’s habit

sand. This particular example of the stupidity

of hunting “wild beasts in the amphitheatre.”

of the ostrich was not often repeated in the

Likewise, in recounting the mad extravagances

Middle Ages or Renaissance, but the generally

of Elagabalus, Platina describes his collection

negative image of the bird as foolish, ignorant,

of thousands of animals: spiders, mice,

or negligent endured.25

weasels, and shrews. Neither author mentions



ostriches, but the many who read the Historia

compendium of knowledge was popular

augusta directly must have seen the riding,

through classical antiquity, the Middle Ages,

slaying, and eating of ostriches as a part of

and the Renaissance—Pliny “never had to

the decadent and cruel state theater of these

be ‘rediscovered’ since he was never lost.”26

deranged emperors.

Medieval authors drew heavily on Pliny’s



account in their bestiaries. In the Renaissance,

23

18

A different ancient image of the ostrich

Unlike many classical texts, Pliny’s huge

came to the Renaissance through less salacious

humanists who wanted to revive the ancient

and more authoritative texts—the scientific

language and culture of Rome found Pliny

writings of Aristotle and of Pliny the Elder.

invaluable because he covered so many topics.

Aristotle emphasizes the African origin of the

Petrarch and Boccaccio studied the Natural

ostrich by calling it the “Libyan sparrow.” He

History, as did virtually every scholar in the

describes it as falling between categories: “in

fifteenth century. As the humanist Ermolao

some points it resembles a bird, in others a

Barbaro put it, “without him Latin scholarship

quadruped.” It has feathers, but strange ones

could hardly exist.”27 Many richly illuminated

“like hairs,” and cannot fly. The ostrich’s upper

manuscripts circulated (fig. 11); the first

eyelashes make it like a quadruped, and the

edition was printed very early, in 1469; and

bird’s two feet, according to Aristotle, are

an astonishing fifteen editions were printed

cloven hoofs, rather than talons. Also, the

before 1500. Pliny’s unsystematic and anecdotal

sheer size of the beast is not that of a bird.24

writings therefore became canonical.

This image of the ostrich as hybrid monster



was repeated in almost every ancient, medieval,

citizenship and whose writings were read

and Renaissance text about the creature

throughout the ancient and Renaissance

and survives in the Latin term for ostrich,

worlds, wrote in a genre that was somewhere

struthiocamelus, “sparrow-camel.”

between the gossipy tidbits of the Historia au-



gusta and the sober categorization of Aristotle

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History

Plutarch, a Greek who took Roman

(bk. x, 1), notes that the ostrich is an African

and Pliny. His Moralia is a collection of philo-

or Ethiopian bird and repeats Aristotle’s

sophical essays that contain mordant criticisms

explanation of its liminal status as a bird-beast.

and entertainingly precise observations of the

He writes that the ostrich is larger than a

vicious habits of his times. He writes scathingly

man on horseback and cannot fly but beats its

about those who linger at the marketplace:

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11 Initial with ostrich and other birds, illuminated parchment, from Pliny the Elder, Natural History, translated by Cristoforo Landino, 1476, Bodleian Libraries, Arch G. b. 6, fol. 119v. Bodleian Libraries, Oxford.

19

“There are in Rome some people who care

Plutarch’s bitter commentary was appreciated in

nothing for pictures and statues, or even hand-

the Renaissance and is still relevant today, given

some boys or women exposed for sale, but

the popularity of tabloid accounts of

haunt the monster-market, and make eager

birth defects.

inquiries about people who have no calves, or



three eyes, or arms like weasels, or heads like

cylinder seals, some of which might have been

ostriches.”28 Plutarch here thoroughly succeeds

known in the Renaissance, as such small objects

in his moral purpose. It is horrifying that such

were dug up and traded in the Mediterranean.30

human “monsters” were on sale and that an-

Likewise, ancient Roman coins that portrayed

cient window-shoppers delighted in examining

ostriches or ostrich feathers may have been

them as commodities.

known in the Renaissance, though it is unclear



whether these small and worn images would

Plutarch writes that the “monsters” had

Ostriches are depicted on ancient Assyrian

ostrich heads. A human with an ostrich head

have been recognized as representing the

would be startling indeed, but the choice of

struthiocamelus.31 Large mosaics in Sicily and

the ostrich is strange, as ostriches’ heads are

North Africa offer more vivid testimony to

not terribly different from those of other birds.

the place of ostriches in ancient culture. One

Why not write that they had birds’ heads?

depicts captive animals being loaded onto ships

Perhaps it was the monstrous, hybrid nature

for transport, including large and reluctant

of the sparrow-camel that brought it to

ostriches (fig. 12).32 These mosaics, which

Plutarch’s mind. In the Renaissance, many

attest to the bustling trade in wild animals

continued to be fascinated with human “mon-

in southern Sicily, were not known in the

sters” and “prodigies.”29 Artists and writers who

Renaissance, as they were covered in a mudslide

created images of exotic animals, including

in the twelfth century, only to be unearthed in

ostriches, also described and depicted so-called

the nineteenth century.

monstrous persons, who were thought to be



omens, as well as entire imagined monstrous

was a favorite haunt of Renaissance artists,

races of people who were thought to inhabit

writers, and antiquarians, including Raphael,

the faraway realms of Africa and Asia—like

who went there with the writer Castiglione.

ostriches, living grotesques from exotic places.

The villa’s Maritime Theater has a frieze with

Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, near Rome,

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20

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putti and exotic animals pulling chariots,

of earthly ills, complains that neglectful people

including a pair of ostriches. Raphael and

are like ostriches, which abandon their eggs

his companions might not have noticed this

in the sand, unmindful that a stray foot may

detail—they did not write about it or sketch

crush them (39:13–18, and also Lam. 4:3).

it. If Raphael and other Renaissance artists

Perhaps someone may have observed the

knew of ancient images of ostriches, they were

breeding habits of ostriches. Hens lay their

small ones—bits of friezes, cylinder seals, or

eggs in one nest, and then the chief female

coins—which would have made little impact.

will incubate the eggs, favoring her own in the

The Renaissance notion of the ancient ostrich

center of the nest and neglecting the others.35

comes from texts: Horapollo’s mystic letters,

The biblical accounts mix observation with

Roman and Greek scientists’ analyses of this

exaggeration and moralization. We are told,

bizarre hybrid, and the stories of the cruel,

correctly, that the ostrich stretches its wings, as

brilliant, and impossibly extravagant courts

if to fly, but we also learn that the ostrich is a

of the most notorious of the emperors. The

creature of the fallen, sinful city of Babylon (Isa.

ancient ostrich survived as both an arcane

13:21, Jer. 50:39). Its unearthly screeching cries

symbol and a real creature that could be

are heard in Babylon’s streets. Similarly, Isaiah

analyzed, hunted, and eaten. Raphael drew

(43:20) mentions the ostrich as one of the wild

on these diverse traditions to create a modern

and cruel beasts of the desert—if even these

hieroglyph, an ostrich just as vividly present as

ferocious creatures adore God, then he is truly

the beasts were in the courts of the emperors

all-powerful.

but also a bearer of mysterious meanings.



33

12 Man bringing an ostrich up a ramp, mosaic, early fourth century, detail of the pavement in the ambulatory, Room of the Great Hunt Mosaic, Imperial Villa, Piazza Armerina.

21

Perhaps one of the reasons for the Jewish

antipathy toward the ostrich was the bird’s The Ostrich in Jewish

association with ancient Egypt. Egypt in the

and Early Christian Traditions

Hebrew Scriptures is a land of repression,

Raphael’s ostrich and those that follow it also

excess, and idolatry—specifically the adoration

draw upon a complex Judeo-Christian tradition

of animals. Gold from Egypt was used to make

of moralizing images of the bird. Long before

the golden calf, the idol around which the

it became a part of the pageantry of the Roman

Jews frivolously danced in adoration. Mosaic

Empire, the ostrich was mentioned again and

Law forbids Jews from eating the ostrich—it

again in the most ancient and revered texts

is unclean.36 Like fish without scales and other

of the Judeo-Christian tradition, beginning

unclean food, the ostrich is a hybrid creature.

with the Hebrew Bible. Ostriches were once

A bird with hooflike feet that does not fly, it

native to the Middle East, but as demand for

does not fit into accepted categories.

their feathers rose in the nineteenth century



and firearms made hunting more efficient, the

philosopher Maimonides (1134–1204) still

once plentiful herds dwindled, until the last

reviled ostriches as the most bestial of beasts,

Middle Eastern ostrich was killed in a flood in

completely guided by animal instincts. He

1966. Now some conservationists are trying

writes of those people who “give free rein to

to reintroduce a similar strain of ostriches to

their animal instincts and passions, as do the

Israel.34 In ancient times the animals of the

beasts and the ostriches.”37 Of course, there was

Hebrew Bible—the wild asses, gazelles, and

no need to name ostriches, as ostriches are a

ostriches—were not exotic creatures but local,

kind of beast, but adding the reference to the

recognizable wildlife. Job, as a part of his litany

notoriously nasty bird, monstrous in body and

More than a millennium later, the Jewish

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behavior, made his exhortation more vividly

worse is here considered exemplary. We should,

memorable. Renaissance humanists studied

like the ostrich, turn away from earthly cares

biblical texts in Greek and sometimes Hebrew

and, raising our eyes to Heaven, trust in God.42

and, in parsing obscure passages, cited the Bible and later Christian and Jewish writers

The Renaissance of the Ostrich in the

alongside pagan Greek and Roman writers.

Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries



For centuries, with the political instability

Early Christians had even greater

reason to abhor ostriches, as beasts associated

that followed the fall of the Roman Empire,

with the excesses of the emperors who

European rulers did not have control of

most delighted in persecuting Christians.

the trade routes that would allow them to

Christians, like the Jews, also condemned

keep menageries of exotic animals, and the

idolatry and superstition. Saint Augustine

tradition of writing about animals lost favor.

(354–430) complains of those who collect

Charlemagne, however, crowned Holy Roman

ostrich-bone rings, which were thought to be

Emperor in 800, as a part of his revival of

talismans against evil. Gregory the Great’s (ca.

classical culture kept a menagerie that included

540–604) widely popular commentary on Job

exotic birds, a lion, and an elephant, which

extends the biblical book’s brief mention of

was a gift from the caliph of Baghdad.43 Other

the neglectful ostrich into an almost obsessive

rulers followed suit, and by the twelfth century

litany against the beast, which is called over

it was de rigueur for anyone who was anyone

and over again a hypocrite. Ostriches are

to have a menagerie. King Henry I of England,

hypocritical because they pretend to fly and

for example, in April 1105 held a parade with

because they abandon their eggs. Job’s ostrich

camels, a lynx, a lion, and an ostrich.44

is thoughtless, but Gregory’s is malicious.39





of interest in classical texts came a revival of

38

Alongside this negative tradition a

more positive interpretation developed out

literature about animals. One of the most

of the descriptions of the ostrich in Pliny’s

widely copied texts was Hugh of Fouilloy’s

Natural History. The most widely dispersed

(ca. 1100–ca. 1172) De avibus, which combines

and imitated text was the Physiologus, a

observations about birds with moralizations,

compendium of writings about animals

in the style of the Physiologus.45 The long

(including such fantastic creatures as the

chapter on the ostrich is taken verbatim from

unicorn) composed or compiled in Greek,

the disquisition on the ostrich as a symbol of

probably in Alexandria, in the second or third

hypocrisy in Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job,

century. For each animal, a question is posed,

written over five hundred years before.46 Others

and the Physiologus—the Naturalist—answers,

offered an encyclopedic account. Vincent of

describing the animal’s characteristics. A

Beauvais’s (1190–1264) Speculum naturale—a

Christian moral follows. The Physiologus tells

tome with an astonishing 3,718 chapters—treats

us that the eggs of the ostrich are abandoned

scientific subjects but is organized according

by the mother, warmed in the sand, and then

to Genesis, beginning with God’s creation of

the ostrich looks to the sky, searching for the

the world. Vincent does not moralize and cites

constellation Virgiliae (the Pleiades), which

such diverse sources as the book of Job, Jewish

tells the bird when the young are ready to

legends, Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, Lucretius

hatch. The same behavior that Job had seen as

(the classical philosopher who was infamous

thoughtlessness and Gregory would decry as

for his atheism), and the Physiologus. The

40

41

22

With this revival of menageries and

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status of the ostrich as a bird-beast particularly

twenty-one books of his treatise on animals

fascinated Vincent, who commented on its

are a commentary on Aristotle’s writings on

weird threadlike feathers and “images of wings”

animals, but then books 22–26 consist of his

rather than actual wings.47

own observations and experiments, such as his



attempt to discover whether moles are really

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick

II (1194–1250) was particularly famous for his

blind.53 He writes about young and mature

menageries. He himself purportedly wrote a

birds, giving such details as measurements

long Latin treatise on hunting with birds, De

of height and detailed descriptions of color.54

arte venandi cum avibus (ca. 1230–40), in which

Albertus restates the established commonplaces

he discusses not only falconry but also the clas-

about the ostrich and proceeds to dispute them

sification, morphology, and biology of birds,

one by one. Ostriches are called stupid, but

boldly stating that Aristotle was not always

they are fast and ferocious in attack. Albertus,

right about animals. Frederick also has more

like Frederick before him, states that the

flexible categories, and so the ostrich is not

ostrich’s body is not adapted to incubating

such a misfit. He discusses birds that fly well

eggs and that the warm sand does this, but he

but are not such good walkers, as well as birds

counters the stereotype of the neglectful bird by

who walk well but are earthbound. He notes

noting that the mother stays and keeps guard.

what the ostrich shares with other animals, as

He even suggests that the legend of the ostrich

well as its unique characteristics, including, in

staring at her eggs, causing them to hatch,

a chapter on birds’ feet, its two toes.50 When

comes from this natural behavior. On several

describing how birds hatch and care for their

occasions Albertus tried to feed ostriches iron,

young, Frederick relates that ostriches do not

but they refused. They would, however, eat

brood on their nests, but does not draw a mor-

bones and pebbles. In fact, ostriches will eat

al from the bird’s neglect. Instead, he remarks

pebbles as grit, to help them digest, though

that ostriches are too heavy and would break

they will also readily eat metal. It is not clear

their eggs and that the sun is hot enough in

which metal object Albertus tried to feed the

Egypt to warm the sand and cause the chicks to

poor birds! He was particularly interested in

grow and hatch by themselves. Frederick claims

the ostrich because he, like so many before him,

to have observed these behaviors. He writes

considered it a liminal creature—what he calls

that he brought experts from Egypt to help

a media, or in-between being—as it does not

48

49

him breed ostriches in Puglia. Presumably

fit comfortably into his categories of flying,

ostriches were bred in Europe during the

swimming, and walking creatures.55

Roman Empire, but Frederick’s firsthand



account of breeding is the first to survive. His

Aquinas (1224–1274), was in many ways

writings, though seemingly dry and factual,

like his master, but their writings on the

are actually conditioned just as much by the

ostrich could not be more different. Thomas

literary tradition as by experience. In fact,

wrote disparagingly of the evil ostrich,

ostriches (male and female) do incubate their

following earlier authorities, particularly in

eggs, and the male ostrich cares assiduously

his commentary on the book of Job, with its

for the chicks once hatched.

diatribe against the ostrich.56 Over the centuries



that followed, other authors incessantly

51

Albertus Magnus (ca. 1200–1280) was

raised in Frederick’s court, where he had

repeated the stories that Albertus had sought

the opportunity to see ostriches. The first

to disprove—tales of the ostrich’s gaze causing

52

23

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its eggs to hatch and of ostriches eating iron,

break in it, the mother ostrich travels to Egypt

to name two. The most vivid of firsthand

to find a worm and uses the blood of the worm

observations were often discounted in favor

to free the young. The moral is allegorical—

of revered authorities.

God is the ostrich, the young are people, and



Christ, who saves us with his blood, is the

Many of these old tales are told again

and again in a genre of writing that was

worm given to us by God.64 The story of the

popular across Europe from the twelfth

ostrich and the Egyptian worm comes from the

century—bestiaries, texts modeled on the

Jewish tradition and is recounted in Talmudic

Physiologus that recounted the habits of animals

sources: King Solomon is forbidden from

coupled with moralizations. Many bestiaries

using metal tools to break rocks to build his

do not discuss such common animals as dogs

temple. He sends his men to capture a demon

and sheep.58 Ostriches, however, are included

that can tell him how he can overcome this

in every bestiary that I have examined.

obstacle. The king learns that he must enclose

These strange-looking creatures, with their

the young of a bird in a glass jar that is without

weird habits, were memorable. The ostrich

a break, and the mother bird will find in Egypt

is described in familiar terms in the oldest

a magical worm called the Shamir and use the

13

surviving bestiary written in a Romance

worm to free her young. Then the king can

Daniel in the Lions’ Den and The Ostrich Frees Its

language, composed by Philippe de Thaün in

take the worm and use it to break the stones to

Young, ink on parchment, from Speculum humanae

1121–35. He writes that the ostrich is like man,

build the temple. In Jewish sources, the bird is

presumably because its behavior holds moral

variously an eagle, a hoopoe, or a moorhen.65

lessons for humans. The ostrich’s strange form



of breeding “signifies a great thing.” Since God

an ostrich when the story enters the Christian

bestiary, Bodleian Libraries, ms Laud Misc. 247,

has made the whole world as a kind of allegory,

tradition. A tale about a bird going to the

fol. 159r. Bodleian Libraries, Oxford.

natural phenomena are pregnant with hidden

deserts of Egypt to find a magical secret would

meaning: “This is how the ostrich is painted,

naturally have brought to mind the ostrich,

and allegorically understood.” It is wholly

whose exoticism, antiquity, and magical

positive, “a beautiful example,” so conquered

powers were associated with ancient Egypt.

by God’s love that it abandons its heirs to

Furthermore, the common story that the os-

turn to God. In the Bestiary of Gervaise,

trich can stare at its eggs and cause the young

however, the neglectful bird signifies a turning

to be born has a parallel in the story of the glass

away from God, paying too much attention to

vase that can only be breached by supernatural

earthly goods to remember the divine.61

means. This fantastic tale was told and retold in



Jewish and Christian texts, learned and popular

57

59

salvationis, ca. 1430–50, Bodleian Libraries, ms Douce 204, fol. 28v. Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. 14 Ostrich, ink on parchment, from a twelfth-century

60

An early fourteenth-century Tuscan

The bird seems only to be identified as

bestiary offers two sonnets about ostriches,

(fig. 13). Even those who considered it a fable

with two different names (“De cameleon”

repeated the story, adding to the mythical aura

and “De struço”), under the misapprehension

of the Egyptian bird-camel.66

that these are distinct animals. The former, 62

following the most common pattern for

Ostrich Art in the Middle Ages

discussing the bird, tells of the good example

The earliest illustrated bestiary text from the

of the “bird-camel,” which turns away from

twelfth century shows the ostrich as a stylized

its eggs to the stars. The second poem tells

bird with a camel’s feet—a literal “sparrow-

a stranger story about the ostrich: when its

camel” (fig. 14). The ostrich has short legs,

young are imprisoned in a glass jar that has no

doglike ears, and a curving beak. It looks

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like a composite monster—a griffin or other fantastic bird-beast. Other early illustrations are, in contrast, quite accurate. The Ebstorf World Map of ca. 1300, for example, places the ostrich in the bottom right, just above the “ca” in “africa” (fig. 15).67 The feet are camels’ hooves, rather than the real bird’s long two toes, and the beak more hooked than in reality, but the ostrich is identifiable. The map is a perfect circle, which is circumscribed on the body of Christ, with inscriptions by his wounded hands and feet describing the world as his creation.68 The ostrich is both an accurately observed feature of the geography and a part of God’s morally ordered universe.

In Italy ostriches appear in the twelfth

century in the art of southern Puglia, an area with connections to North Africa and to Greek centers of learning. The most magnificent of these is the floor mosaic of the Cathedral of Otranto, which was made in 1163–65 (fig. 16).69 The mosaic depicts Christian and classical stories and mythical and real beasts. Two of these are clearly ostriches, one of which serves as the mount for a boy who holds a long trumpet and may herald the nearby scene of Noah’s Ark.70 Each has hooves, large wings and tail feathers, and the long curving neck and head of a camel and so is a monstrous hybrid—a literal depiction of the struthiocamelus. Soon after this, Frederick II would feel the need to hire Egyptian experts to breed ostriches in Puglia, which suggests that the birds were not bred there previously. They seem to serve here as an amusing marvel, placed on the floor and therefore subordinate to the divinities worshipped above, but not necessarily evil.

An ostrich with a more explicit meaning

is depicted on the façade of San Michele in Foro in Lucca, which was completed around 1239 (fig. 17). Sculpted relief and intarsia lions, dogs, wolves, bears, eagles, griffins, dragons, centaurs, and sirens adorn the multitiered 25

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15 Ebstorf World Map (copy after the destroyed original), ca. 1300. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussicher Kulturbesitz. 16 Boy with a trumpet riding an ostrich and other creatures, mosaic, 1163–65, Cathedral of Otranto. 17 Ostrich causing its eggs to be born and other creatures, stone intarsia, ca. 1239, detail of the façade of San Michele in Foro, Lucca.

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28

difficult to see, mostly visible to the priest

23

performing the Mass and his attendants. The ostriches are also shown just standing, without eggs, and in a pair, which creates an ornamental effect. Surely a learned priest who looked up from the altar could have drawn lessons from the animal intarsias, but no one interpretation is prescribed.

In the same years Cimabue (before 1251–

1302) painted an ostrich in an unambiguously negative context, in the fresco depicting the fall of Babylon in the basilica of San Francesco in Assisi (fig. 19). This is one of a series of

18 Arnolfo di Cambio, ciborium, interior, stone

apocalyptic frescoes in the transept of the

intarsia, ca. 1285, San Paolo fuori le Mura,

façade. Many of the animals surely carry

basilica’s Upper Church. There is no tradition

Rome.

associations from the bestiary tradition and

for depicting this rare scene. The poor state of

19

could be interpreted allegorically, but there is

preservation of the fresco makes it hard to read,

Cimabue, Fall of Babylon, badly damaged

no clear didactic program. Rather, the overall

but people can be seen fleeing the collapsing

fresco, ca. 1280, Upper Church, San Francesco,

effect is to convey the marvel of creation—the

city on one side, devils are visible on the other,

weird and wonderful book of nature—in a

and snakes pour out of windows and doors.

marginal space, on the outside of the church,

Before the doors of the city stands an ostrich,

as a prelude to images of the higher orders

large and prominent.73

of creation and the Creator on the interior.



The ostrich, though among these monstrous

James version), an angel declares, “Babylon

creatures, is given a clearly positive allegorical

the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the

meaning. It is in the center of the lowest level

habitation of devils, and the hold of every

of arcading, in a field twice as large as those

foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and

of the other animals. The ostrich—easily

hateful bird.” The ostrich appears repeatedly in

identifiable because of the long legs and neck,

the Hebrew Scriptures as a beast of Babylon

prominent tail feathers, and two-toed feet—

(Isa. 13:21, Jer. 50:39). The once mighty

is staring at a large egg, causing it to hatch,

Babylon turned away from God and so will

and therefore signifies the virgin birth of Jesus.

be so thoroughly destroyed that it will be

The neck, arching toward the egg, and the

for generations an uninhabitable wasteland,

slightly open beak make this exemplary ostrich

occupied only by ostriches, jackals, hyenas, and

the opposite of the neglectful mother so

goat-demons. The ostrich is placed front and

often decried.

center as the wildest of screeching creatures, a



monstrous beast among demons, and therefore

Assisi.

71

The ostriches on the interior of a

ciborium made by Arnolfo di Cambio (ca.

a fit inhabitant of this desolate place. Cimabue

1245–1301/10) for the church of San Paolo fuori

endowed the bird, despite the subject, with a

le Mura in Rome in 1285 are more decorative

dignified monumentality. The proportions are

(fig. 18). The ciborium, the canopy over

true to life, as is the distinctive shape of the face

the high altar, is hardly a marginal space, but

and beak. Raphael may well have known this

the ostriches are on the inside and therefore

prominent image by one of the most famous

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28

In the text of the Apocalypse (18:2, King

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20

founders of Renaissance art, as San Francesco

Ostrich, River, Cobbler, Religion, Carpenter, and

was in Raphael’s day a major destination for

Grinder, fresco, late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, Palazzo della Ragione, Padua.

both artistic and spiritual pilgrimage.

21 Giovannino de’ Grassi, Ostrich and a Mastiff,

Improbably, Giotto (ca. 1267–1337) also

worked on frescoes that include an ostrich,

pen and ink, watercolor, and white heightening,

the interior decoration of the Palazzo della

from Taccuino di disegni, late fourteenth century,

Ragione in Padua.74 The history of these images

fol. 2v. Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Bergamo.

is particularly complicated: originally painted by Giotto, with some further work done in the late trecento, they were repainted in the early quattrocento by Stefano of Ferrara and then heavily restored in the eighteenth century by a restorer who used a trecento astrology manual as a reference. The room offers an astrological vision of the world. The learned men who devised the program must have drawn upon a well-known work of Arab astrology, Abu Ma‘shar’s Kitab al-mawalid, in which the ostrich appears in the twentieth lunar mansion, during the ascendancy of Sagittarius.75 In the frescoes, in the area of Saturn, under the sign of Sagittarius, stands a naturalistically painted ostrich, with fluffy curling tail feathers and a curving neck (fig. 20). Most extraordinary are the feet—not generic bird feet or hooves, but two snakelike taloned toes, very like the real bird’s feet. The fresco is based on an even more realistic drawing of an ostrich, surely made from life, by Giovannino de’ Grassi (ca. 1355–1398), an artist based nearby in northern Italy (fig. 21).76 (The Paduan ostrich, therefore, was not painted by Giotto but instead was probably added in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century; if Giotto did paint an ostrich here, it was refashioned at a later date.) Giovannino has captured the ostrich’s strange grace. He used delicate stippling and hatching to convey the shift in coloring of the feathers, from dark on the body to light on the neck, wingtip, and tail. Giovannino worked for the court of the Visconti lords of Milan, who had menageries, which from the time of Azzone Visconti (r. 1329–39) included ostriches.77 The

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drawing contains an inscription: “an ostrich,

of the relatively new fashion for bestiaries of

which digests iron.” Even this drawing, un-

love.83 The graphic violence of the poem may

precedented in its sensitive rendition, reduces

also hearken back to stories of the slaughter

the complex bird to the simple idea of the

of ostriches in the Coliseum. Boccaccio’s book

iron eater.

was little known and only appeared in print

78

in 1832.84 The poem remains an isolated, idioMedieval Ostriches in the Renaissance

syncratic example that testifies to the violent

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) wrote an

and passionate tangle of associations that

oddly violent poem about love, the Caccia di

the ostrich evoked in the mind of a learned

Diana (Diana’s Hunt, 1333–34). Each canto

writer often seen as one of the first great pro-

describes nymphs hunting beasts. The story

tagonists of the Renaissance.

is told as a myth, but the nymphs bear the



names of contemporary noble Neapolitan

works by the most famous artists and writers

women, and so there is a characteristic tension

of the duecento and trecento: those by

between unreal fantasy and immediate reality,

Boccaccio, Arnolfo di Cambio, and Cimabue,

between the classical past and the Christian

and the cycle begun by Giotto. But a history

present. The last of the hunts—and the most

of the origins of the Renaissance that focused

bloody—is the ostrich hunt. When one of

on ostriches would tell a disjointed tale, as the

the nymphs, Covella d’Anna, runs after the

beast takes on so many different guises. Most

ostrich, as it flaps its wings and speeds ahead,

people had not seen an ostrich, but the literate

the thorns and bushes tear at her clothes and

could read about them and their memorably

legs, enraging her, so that she shoots the bird

weird appearance and habits. Scholars agreed

with her arrow. Boccaccio has her pause for a

that the natural world was meaningful, in

moment, but then her lust for blood consumes

that it offered moral lessons, that the book

her, and when she catches up to the felled

of creation was allegorical. They also agreed,

bird, she hits and twists the neck so violently

for the most part, on certain strange traits

that she decapitates it. In the end of the poem,

of ostriches: the abandoning of the eggs,

the chaste nymphs burn all of their animal

eating of iron, and so forth. Albertus Magnus

victims as a sacrifice to Venus. Their gifts are

and others challenged these ideas, but to no

rewarded, as the dead animals metamorphose

avail. If the “facts” varied little, the allegorical

into living men, who jump out of the flames

interpretation flipped wildly from text to text,

to the women who had slaughtered them,

even when one text directly imitated another.

becoming their consorts.

This latitude in interpretation has analogies



in the way in which Scripture was interpreted.

79

80

81

Scholars have suggested that Boccaccio

may have been evoking the negative tradi-

When theologians interpreted the Bible figur-

tion of the ostrich, which flaps its wings even

ally, seeing events in what was termed the

though it cannot fly, as a figure of hypocrisy

Old Testament as a prefiguration of events in

and stupidity, following such sources as the

the New, it did not matter if one story was

Moralia in Job. This seems unlikely, as it is

positive, the other negative, and so the ado-

hard to imagine that a stupid hypocrite would

ration of the golden calf could prefigure the

be a worthy consort for the nymph who bears

adoration of Jesus, even though the former was

the name of a prominent Neapolitan noble-

base idolatry and the latter the highest good.

woman. He may instead have been thinking

The resemblances were what mattered—a series

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32

Surprisingly, the ostrich appears in

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of almost pictorial patterns that repeated across

visual one. Images of ostriches tended to be

history, giving a shape and meaning to seem-

small and in marginal locations: hidden away

ingly random events. The ostrich also acted

in illuminated manuscripts, pavements, or

as a mirror for the divine plan, reflecting ideas

architectural ornament. The ostrich was often

of abandonment, earthbound confinement,

shown as a hybrid, with camel’s hooves and

and prodigious digestive power, whether for

sometimes no resemblance to the real bird.

good or for evil.

Other artists and writers sensitively observed



In a less prominent but still vital

the living creatures, lovingly describing in

tradition, ostriches also carried occult mean-

texts and images the peculiarities of their

ings, which associated them with arcane pow-

useless feathers and abnormal feet. The

ers, ancient Judaism, Arabic astrology, and

tension in many texts between observations

Egypt, the land reviled as a place of luxury and

of actual ostriches and the ancient symbolic

idolatry but also admired as a magical source

associations of the birds is also apparent in

of hidden wisdom. Similarly, the ostrich fig-

Cimabue and Giovannino de Grassi’s images.

ured in the Jewish and Muslim traditions,

Cimabue’s dignified bird would seem more at

which were likewise deemed both dangerous

home in a scientific treatise than among the

and fascinating by Christians. This living mon-

monsters of Babylon. Likewise, Giovannino’s

ster must have seemed like a sort of dinosaur,

meticulously observed drawing clashes with its

a living relic of the furthest antiquity and

crudely simple inscription. Raphael, whether

the most exotic realms.

he knew these precedents or not, exploited



33

As for antiquity, the textual tradition

the same dissonance between naturalism

of the Middle Ages was much more accessible

and arcane meanings in order to create his

to Renaissance artists and patrons than the

modern hieroglyph.

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chapter

Two

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The

Eagle

and the Ostrich: The Court of Urbino

Federico da Montefeltro

son, Guidobaldo, pays tribute to Federico.5

as the Ideal Prince

The image of Federico’s Urbino as the

Raphael may or may not have been familiar

ideal Renaissance principality has endured,

with many of the rich and strange ideas,

crystallized in the nineteenth century by Jacob

images, and legends attributed to the ostrich

Burckhardt, who famously called Federico’s

in antiquity and the Middle Ages, but the

court “a work of art.”6

painter must have known well the plethora



of images of ostriches in his native Urbino,

manuscripts are emblazoned with the duke’s

which flourished as a center for classical

imprese, personal and familial images. In the

learning and the arts under the leadership of

sixteenth century, theorists would codify the

Duke Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482).

rules for imprese, but in the fifteenth century

Federico, who died just before Raphael was

imprese were more loosely defined—they could

born, shaped the physical form of the city and

be symbolic images or more complex devices

its art, particularly the splendid Palazzo Ducale.

comprising an image and a motto. One of

The fifteenth-century bookseller Vespasiano da

Federico’s imprese is the ostrich biting a nail, a

Bisticci (1422/23–1498), in his life of the duke,

symbol of tough endurance. Ostriches appear

described Federico as the perfect Renaissance

on lintels, friezes, pendentives, doors, walls, and

prince. Vespasiano’s Federico is a man of

ceilings, in stone, stucco, gilding, and intarsia

both action and letters, learned in Latin and

(e.g., fig. 22). They are painted and gilded

Greek. He is pious and prudent, daring when

into manuscripts of classical authors, church

necessary, and a lavish patron.2 The palace

doctors, and Renaissance humanists. The most

that Federico commissioned and his extensive

splendid copy of Vespasiano da Bisticci’s life

library embody this image. The palace was

of the duke has an ostrich on the first page

celebrated by humanist poets as a marvel, a

(fig. 23).7 Federico owned a deluxe copy of

new palace of Caesar.3 Likewise, the library

Pliny’s Natural History, and Vespasiano men-

was a treasure trove, composed of the most

tions that Federico enjoyed having Aristotle’s

richly ornamented Latin, Greek, and Hebrew

works read to him, perhaps including the pas-

texts. Federico, Vespasiano relates, spurned the

sage discussing the nature of the ostrich.8 In

newly available printed books, which were too

Urbino the ostrich was purely celebratory, with

common. Today Federico’s magnificent library

none of the negative associations that were

is one of the most precious collections of the

common in medieval texts. There was also

Vatican Library. Vespasiano was not the only

no connection to any Christian allegory. The

one to celebrate Federico as the prototypical

ostrich was instead a thoroughly secular image

Renaissance prince. Baldassare Castiglione

of Federico’s toughness.

1

4

Federico’s palace and illuminated

(1478–1529), in the Book of the Courtier, which describes the court of Urbino under Federico’s

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22 Detail of a doorframe with an ostrich, marble, ca. 1475, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. 23 Attributed to Attavante Attavanti and workshop, prologue to Vespasiano da Bisticci, Comen tario de’ gesti e fatti e detti dello invictissimo signore Federigo duca d’Urbino, illuminated manuscript, 1490–98, Biblioteca Gambalunghiana, ms Sc-Ms 94. Biblioteca Gambalunghiana, Rimini. 24 Tomb of Count Antonio da Montefeltro (d. 1404), marble, ca. 1400, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. 25 Tomb of Count Antonio da Montefeltro (d. 1404), lid of the sarcophagus, with an ostrich, marble, ca. 1400, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.

raphel ’ s ostrich

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The Ostrich and



Other Montefeltro Imprese

lived in Florence, where he immersed himself

The Montefeltro ostrich, though at home in

in the intellectual circles of the early humanists,

Federico’s classical court, was not invented

including Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406) and

by one of his courtiers—it is one of the oldest

Giovanni Boccaccio.10 His humanist contacts

family imprese, first used in the trecento. It

may have inspired him to adopt the ostrich

was adopted by Federico’s grandfather Count

as an impresa, but the idea that ostriches

Antonio da Montefeltro (1348–1404), who,

eat iron was also commonly noted in bestiaries,

after being exiled, fought to regain control of

and thus the Montefeltro ostrich is more a part

Montefeltro territory and celebrated his victory

of a continuous medieval tradition than a

with the image of the iron-eating ostrich.

Renaissance invention. Federico, an illegiti-

The ostrich must have been important to the

mate son who was rumored to have ordered

count and his successors, as it is emblazoned

the assassination of his half brother predeces-

on his sarcophagus. The tomb is Gothic,

sor, emblazoned the old family impresa with

with a rather old-fashioned Man of Sorrows

its German motto all over his buildings and

and mourning saints on the front of the

possessions in order to legitimize his rule and

sarcophagus. The ostrich, engraved on the lid

emphasize the medieval roots of his family,

of the sarcophagus, is quite large and holds

even as he was completely refashioning Urbino

an arrow in its beak (figs. 24, 25). The bird is

into a Renaissance state.

identifiable because each foot has two toes, but



the depiction is not at all realistic—short legs,

taking these into account, Federico’s palace had

a thick neck, and a long beak. A Gothic border

relatively few frescoes.11 Instead, as humanists

frames the ostrich, and a banderole has the

at the time noted, it was beautiful in the perfec-

motto “I can eat a big iron”—not in humanist

tion of its proportions and in its stone decora-

Latin or Greek but corrupted German, which

tions, which display restraint in colors and

was a fashionable language for mottoes in the

materials—gray and white stone and stucco

trecento. At the time, it was generally thought

and brown wood. The palace, however, is cov-

that the language of the motto should not

ered with an unusual amount of sculpted relief

be the mother tongue of the viewers, as that

ornament and intarsia, a breathtaking display

would make the interpretation too obvious.

of workmanship.12 Federico’s imprese form the

9

37

When he was in exile, Count Antonio

Some decorations have been lost, but

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principle motifs of this decoration. The eagle

bird. Vespasiano da Bisticci, when celebrat-

takes pride of place, but also ubiquitous are

ing Federico as a military hero, emphasizes

the whisk broom (sweeping out corruption),

repeatedly that the duke was no bravado-filled

the crane (vigilance), the downward-exploding

hothead, but a man who acted with restraint.

grenade (military force), the horse bits (re-

Some scholars have wondered whether the

straint), and the ostrich. The whisk broom

iron-eating ostrich is also a reference to a

and bits had been imprese of Francesco Sforza,

particularly difficult circumstance that the duke

another military leader, and were adopted

had to digest, a jousting accident that disfig-

by Federico to convey a similar masculine

ured Federico and cost him his eye.14 Portraits

authority. The grenade, a new weapon in the

of Federico all show his “good” side, his left

fifteenth century, shows Federico’s pride in

side, where he still had an eye, but artists did

his cutting-edge military technology. The fact

not shy away from depicting his disfigured

that it explodes only when triggered and is

nose and other ugly traits. The ugly iron-eating

shown pointing downward may suggest that

ostrich is a particularly apt image for a fiercely

Federico’s use of force is primarily defensive.

tough, monstrous-looking warrior prince.

13

Also throughout the palace is the ermine, which carries a dual meaning. As one

The Palazzo Ducale in

of Federico’s personal imprese, its spotless fur

Urbino and Court Ceremony

signified purity. After 1474 it also referred to an

The intarsia images in the Palazzo Ducale are

honor bestowed upon Federico, the Order of

made from different-colored woods, cut and

the Ermine. Federico was perhaps most proud

fitted together with such sophistication that

of the Order of the Garter. Only twenty-five

the images have the subtlety of paintings.15

men, all heads of state, including the English

On one pair of doors in the public reception

king, belonged to this most elite of chivalric

room, large representations of Pallas Athena

orders. A large stone relief on the principal

and Apollo are shown as fictive statues in

staircase of the palace, which visitors saw on

niches, but they seem to move, and Athena’s

their way up to the reception rooms above,

spear projects out in front of the niche and the

is composed of Federico’s coat of arms, with

frame (fig. 27).16 Below are views of classically

Apollo, Pallas Athena, and perspectival views,

eagles, framed by the grenade, the ostrich, and

inspired palaces in vertiginous perspective—

wood intarsia, ca. 1475, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.

the symbols of the Order of the Ermine and

again a tour de force.17 The duke’s imprese,

the Order of the Garter (fig. 26).

including the ostrich, are in roundels on the

26 Montefeltro coat of arms with other imprese, stone, 1474–82, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. 27 Design attributed to Sandro Botticelli, doors with

Some of these images may have had a

38

flat frame, the stable counterpart to all of this

more personal significance for the duke. Many

illusionistic play (fig. 28). The ostrich is realistic

of the imprese could be seen as a response to

in overall proportions, though it has hooflike

the rumors that Federico had murdered his half

feet and a face like a camel’s. With no setting

brother in order to obtain his title. In particu-

or ground on which to stand, the ostrich

lar the ermine, an animal that was thought

functions as a flat symbol. Its curving forms are

to seek death rather than besmirch its white

decorative, like the palmettes and candelabra

coat, is emblematic of Federico’s unassail-

that ornament the frame. The pair of doors acts

able virtue. The ostrich may have had a

as a celebratory allegory representing Federico’s

similarly personal meaning for Federico. He

Urbino as an ideal city, protected by gods of art

certainly projected the qualities of toughness

and war and ruled by a tough, pure, and noble

and restraint exemplified by the iron-eating

man. The allegory works on different levels—

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the observer is drawn into the perfect city and to the deities that seem ready to step down from their niches to bless it, but the ostrich remains a schematized symbol.

On another set of doors the central

panels are filled with decorative candelabra, here no longer a marginal motif but expanded to create a fountain-like series of stacked basins and ornate posts, covered with classical leaf ornaments, garlands, winged putti, and some 28

of the Montefeltro imprese: an ermine raised up

Design attributed to Sandro Botticelli, doors with

on a platform, the horse bits, and two prancing

Apollo, Pallas Athena, and perspectival views, wood intarsia, ca. 1475, detail of ostrich, Palazzo

ostriches, tied to the bits by leashes (fig. 29).

Ducale, Urbino.

The ostriches do not stand in a realistic stance —they are dancing fantasies. Here the

29 Ostriches and horse bits, detail of a door, wood

decorative and the meaningful are playfully

After this “normal” part of the banquet was

intarsia, ca. 1475, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.

intertwined to create a celebratory atmosphere.

finished came the “special” dishes. A great



castle imprisoned live rabbits, which were

30

Very similar imagery must have been

Dish with an ostrich on a coat of arms, tin-glazed

used for the temporary festival decorations and

released and allowed to scamper among the

earthenware, made in Gubbio ca. 1525. Victoria

tableware that would add splendor to court

guests, who meanwhile were served roast

and Albert Museum, London.

ceremonies. Images of gods and goddesses

rabbits that had been sewn back into their

adorned temporary architecture, fountains

skins to appear alive. Likewise, peacocks and

were erected to run only for a few days, and tri-

an ostrich were brought in roasted, with their

umphal carriages paraded through Urbino for

feathers reattached, so that they too appeared

weddings and other festive events. Similarly,

alive.21 It was particularly extravagant to roast

as documentary sources attest, tapestries in

an ostrich, a prized creature that also produced

the palaces in Urbino and Gubbio displayed

expensive and luxurious feathers and eggs.

animals, including ostriches.20 Majolica plates

Furthermore, it would have been hard to find

painted with ostriches survive from the time of

a fire large enough to roast it whole, and to

Federico’s successors (fig. 30). Surely Federico

devise an armature to make the dead beast sit

also ate off of ostrich plates.

or stand erect and seem alive. This feast and



other quattrocento courtly ceremonies evoked

18

19

Federico may even have eaten ostrich,

though some of the elaborate banquet foods

imperial Rome in their extravagance.

prepared in the Renaissance were more for

41

display than consumption. A wedding in 1487

The Ostrich in the Prince’s Study

in Bologna, for example, culminated in a huge

The most magnificent space in Federico’s

banquet at which were served 1,621 pairs of

Palazzo Ducale is also, characteristically for

capons, 600 fat pigs, 378 pairs of sausages,

a man who prized refinement, quite small, the

2,525 eggs, 5,000 pounds of cheese, 700

studiolo (study), a room decorated with intar-

oranges, and other delicacies, including fish,

sias on the lower level and originally further

goat, boar, sugar cakes, liver, and squab. All of

ornamented with painted portraits above

the dishes were paraded before the admiring

(fig. 31). The gilded and painted coffered ceiling

populace in the piazza before being served.

is covered with Federico’s imprese, including

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three ostriches, a more densely packed and

courtiers and their artists chose the meaning

richly colored version of the decoration of the

that most pleased them from the panoply

rest of the palace. The intarsias are complex

of possibilities in the rich and wide intellectual

playful illusions.22 Depicted with an illusionism

heritage to which Federico laid claim.

that pushes the boundaries of the medium



are cabinets, with doors ajar to reveal messy

backrests for the fictive benches just below

piles of books and objects, and benches, some

(fig. 32). The intarsias are a kind of double illu-

folded, others holding a seemingly casual ar-

sion—an image of a piece of furniture, which

rangement of musical instruments and fruit.

in turn is decorated with an image. The cup-

The whole room is in fact an illusion, as

board above one ostrich is open, revealing

Federico’s library was kept elsewhere, and

a stack of books and a whisk broom, hanging

only on one side are there a few small actual

from one of the shelves (fig. 33). The whisk

cupboards. Likewise, one bench and desk can

broom, one of Federico’s imprese, is depicted

actually be unfolded, but it is hard to imagine

not as a flat symbol but as a real object, and so

the duke and his visitors being comfortable

the visitor to the room is offered not only dif-

sitting and reading in this cramped space. The

ferent levels of optical illusion but also puzzles

studiolo was created at the same time as the

of interpretation: which images are freighted

adjacent large reception room, and its function

with meaning? Luciano Cheles has argued

was primarily representational—to present an

convincingly that the objects’ arrangement

image of the studious and cultured duke to

and juxtaposition, which seem so casual, are in

elite visitors.

fact meaningful, which adds another layer to



The room displays the range of Federico’s

The ostriches in the studiolo serve as

the game of interpretation.23 In this case, the

interests, intellectual, cultural, and military.

ostrich is beneath the whisk broom (a military

The great men whose portraits once hung on

symbol of sweeping out corruption) and the

the upper walls were an eclectic mix of ancient

books of Cicero and Seneca, both of whom

and modern, pagan and Christian. Federico

provided models of stoic endurance.

included, along with such intellects as Aristotle,



Homer, Dante, and Petrarch, his humanist

tion and a flat symbol. Neatly framed in its

teacher, Vittorino da Feltre, two popes, and

rectangular field, it stands on a platform with

theologians he admired, including Gregory the

carefully depicted irregular holes and cracks,

31

Great, Albertus Magnus, and Thomas Aquinas.

as if it were parched earth, but a circular form,

Wood intarsia and oil paintings in the studiolo,

Of course, he did not read every word these

making it obviously artificial. Likewise, the

1474–76, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.

luminaries wrote, but it is worth noting that

banderole flying over the ostrich’s head signals

Albertus was the one who had sought to dis-

this is an emblematic image, but this banderole

prove by experiment the idea of the iron-eating

is shaded to create the illusion that it moves in

ostrich, which is emblazoned all over the pal-

three dimensions. The ostriches themselves are

ace, including this room, and that for Gregory

the most realistic depictions in Urbino, with

the Great and Thomas Aquinas the ostrich

long necks, large eyes, slim but powerful legs,

was a symbol of the basest hypocrisy. In other

and the two toes, one longer than the other,

words, in a fifteenth-century humanist court

that Urbino artisans otherwise never got right.

all of the medieval texts that interpreted the

The ostrich, both a convincingly realistic three-

ostrich negatively were by no means marginal-

dimensional creature and a flat symbol, is a part

ized as old-fashioned or out-of-date. Rather,

in the witty conception of a room in which the

43

The ostrich itself is both a realistic depic-

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32 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, ostrich, wood intarsia, 1474–76, studiolo, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. 33 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, detail of a wall of the studiolo, wood intarsia, 1474–76, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.

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viewer cannot comfortably sit but can admire



fake seats and play endless games of illusion

including those on door lintels (fig. 36).29 The

and interpretation.

most surprising survival is a large pair of win-



dow shutters that have been painted to look as

The naturalistic ostriches in the studiolo

suggest that ostriches were available for

if they were decorated in intarsia (figs. 37, 38).30

observation in Urbino—Federico probably

Floral motifs frame large dancing putti with

kept them in his menagerie. Certainly other

tambourines below and ostriches above. The

princely menageries in fifteenth-century Italy

ostriches, at a couple of feet tall, are the larg-

and France included ostriches: those of the

est surviving images of these birds from the

Visconti of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, the

Montefeltro court.31 The celebratory tone and

popes in Avignon, and Rene of Anjou in

putti may indicate that they commemorate the

France.24 Federico did have a menagerie with

long-awaited birth of Federico’s heir, Guido-

African animals. Among his retainers, along

baldo, who was born in Gubbio in 1472

with butlers, ladies in waiting, musicians,

after six girls. The ostriches eating iron in this

and humanists, the duke employed a “keeper

context could suggest the parents’ ability to

of the giraffe.”25

wait patiently for the heir, or perhaps Federico’s



endurance of the personal tragedy that oc-

Federico held a second court in Gubbio,

where he also had a palace built and decorated

curred soon after, the death of his wife Battista.

with his imprese, including the ostrich. The



Gubbio palace is smaller and less magnificent

Piero della Francesca (fig. 39) may also allude

than the wonder of Urbino and has been

to the birth of Guidobaldo and the death of

stripped of many of its original ornaments.

Battista. Some scholars have speculated that

Marble door frames decorated with Montefel-

the large baby and kneeling Federico, facing an

tro imprese, including the ostrich, are now in

empty space opposite him, offer a celebration

26

An altarpiece made for Federico by

the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

and commemoration of the triumph and trag-

Also stripped from the palace and on display

edy that came so quickly one after the other.

elsewhere (the Metropolitan Museum in

In the twentieth century, the egg that hangs

New York) is what must have been the jewel

centered in the upper part of the altarpiece was

of the building, the studiolo, decorated with

the subject of a particular famous art-historical

intarsia, a variation on the complex illusion-

academic debate, which demonstrates the

ism of the Urbino studiolo. The Gubbio room

profound ambiguity of these images. Millard

too has illusionistic cupboards, open to reveal

Meiss, noting that the perspective indicates that

books, and fake benches (fig. 34). Again, the

the egg is far behind the figures and thus larger

duke’s imprese, in this case the whisk broom and

than it at first appears, argued that it is an os-

garter, are made to look like objects casually

trich egg, mentioning the connection to the

disposed in the cupboards. The scheme is

Montefeltro impresa of the ostrich. Creighton

slightly less elaborate, and the ostriches are less

Gilbert disagreed, suggesting that the egg was

realistic (fig. 35). The artisans in Gubbio must

the one produced when, according to classi-

have been copying images from the Urbino

cal mythology, the nymph Leda had sex with

studiolo and would not have had access to Fed-

Jupiter in the form of a swan. These two prom-

erico’s menagerie, which surely did not accom-

inent scholars and others wrote arguments and

pany him when he made the difficult mountain

counterarguments over decades, publishing

journey to Gubbio.

their opinions in a series of articles and editori-

27

28

45

Some ostriches still decorate the palace,

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34 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, detail of a wall of the studiolo, wood intarsia, 1478–82, from the Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 35 Attributed to Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, ostriches, detail of a wall of the studiolo, wood intarsia, 1478–82, from the Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1939 (39.153).

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36 Detail of a doorframe, pietra serena, 1474–80, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. 37 Detail of a window shutter, painted wood, ca. 1472, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. 38 Detail of a window shutter, painted wood, ca. 1472, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio. 39 Piero della Francesca, Montefeltro Altarpiece, oil and tempera, ca. 1472. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

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als in the preeminent journal of the discipline,

of the egg, the issue with the ostrich is not

Art Bulletin, often using bad puns in the titles

which bird it is or which quality it signifies

(e.g., “The Egg Reopened”).

but the rich tangle of associations this ancient,



medieval, and Renaissance monster evoked.

32

The scholars sliced apart each other’s

arguments, gleefully demonstrating which

48

passages had been misquoted and which

The Montefeltro Ostrich

evidence overlooked. In one article Gilbert

After Federico

noted that the initial calculations were

The tradition of adorning the court with os-

incorrect, that the egg would in fact be twice

trich images continued with Federico’s succes-

the size of an ostrich egg. This does seem to be

sors well into the sixteenth century. An inven-

a problem, particularly for an artist as precise

tory of the palace in Gubbio, probably from the

in his geometry as Piero, but then Gilbert went

reign of Guidobaldo, lists a series of tapestries

on to argue that an ostrich egg would not be

in the duke’s bedroom, including “a green field

strong enough to hang from a chain, as the egg

with an ostrich in the middle of it.”33 Ostriches

does in Piero’s painting. Meiss, in response,

were also depicted on coins, which are the

stated with triumph: “For twenty years I have

most popular of images, as they sit in every-

had an ostrich egg hanging from a chain.”

one’s pocket. A quattrino—a relatively cheap

The egg must surely be an ostrich egg, Meiss

copper coin, with some silver—made under

claimed, as ostrich eggs were hung in churches

the patronage of Federico’s son, Guidobaldo,

at the time, and there is no precedent for

has on one side the Montefeltro coat of arms

depicting Leda’s egg in such a context or text

and on the other an ostrich holding a nail in its

relating Leda to Mary. The scholars also argued

mouth, around which runs the legend “gv. uv.

over the interpretation of the ostrich egg, if it

dux. urb”

is an ostrich egg. Given the prominence of the

Other coins have the more common eagle, a

egg, it seems to demand an interpretation, and

portrait of the duke, or a religious image, but

the imagery here is Christian, and so the egg

here the duke is represented by an iron-eating

probably refers either to the Virgin Birth or to

ostrich. Therefore the Montefeltro must have

death and resurrection. This use of the ostrich

felt that the image could be understood not

as a symbol for Christian mysteries is unique

only by the elite visitors who were led through

in the Montefeltro court, whereas there are

the inner sanctum of the studioli but also by a

literally hundreds of ostriches shown eating

broader public.

iron. The iron-eating ostriches have largely



been ignored by art historians, while the egg

of Dante’s Divine Comedy was begun under

has become a textbook case in the perils of

Federico but only finished with the patron-

scholarly interpretation. The egg surely became

age of Guidobaldo II della Rovere (1514–1574)

such a cause célèbre among art historians

in the mid-sixteenth century. Federico’s son,

because it is so beautiful. Piero’s luminous

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, had been with-

geometry is perfectly suited to a depiction

out an heir, and so he and his wife, Elisabetta

of an egg. It is hard to imagine him painting

Gonzaga (1471–1526), adopted the twelve-year-

a skinny, awkward, ugly ostrich! Federico,

old Francesco Maria della Rovere (1490–1538),

however, must have found the ostrich to be

the pope’s nephew, who became duke on

a much more effective image, as he had it

Guidobaldo’s death, in 1508. Francesco Maria’s

depicted all over his court. Unlike the problem

son, Guidobaldo II della Rovere, was anx-

(Guidobaldo, the Duke of Urbino).34

A splendidly illuminated manuscript

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ious to emphasize the continuity with the

and Calandro is so taken in by this ruse that he

Montefeltro and so kept many of the same

conceives a passion for her. The play is a bawdy

imprese. The Montefeltro imprese can be seen

series of misadventures in which the credulous

alongside the della Rovere triple obelisks in the

Fulvia is convinced at one point that she needs

splendid gilded-stucco ceiling of Guidobaldo

to go to a necromancer to have her lover, who

II’s studiolo in the Palazzo Ducale (fig. 40).

has been transformed into a woman, regrow

Guidobaldo II commissioned the completion

a penis. Poor Santilla is repeatedly groped by

of the Dante manuscript presumably for simi-

men and women to ascertain her sex. A servant

lar reasons. The frontispiece to the Paradiso

persuades Ruffo, the man pretending to be a

shows an ethereal vision of Dante and Beatrice

necromancer, that Santilla is a hermaphrodite

floating in front of the spheres, framed by

(ermafrodito in Italian). Ruffo has never heard

a fantastic profusion of classical ornament,

the word before and keeps saying merdafiorito

which includes a realistic ostrich, made a little

(flowering shit) instead.37 The humor is

taller and thinner than most of the previous

consistently vulgar and often directly sexual,

Montefeltro images in order to suit the tastes

and the happy ending has no particular moral

of the mid-cinquecento (fig. 41).36

or Christian ethos.38

35





Castiglione wrote a prologue for the

play, which was published with this popular work in the multiple editions that appeared in the sixteenth century.39 In it, he hails the work as modern, not ancient; in the vernacular, not Latin; and in prose, not poetry. He calls for pride in the spoken language of modern Italy, deriding those who denigrate their own language in favor of Latin and Greek. Dovizi’s play is set in sixteenth-century Rome in all of its decadent glory, but as Castiglione was well aware, it is also ancient, in that the Renaissance 40 Ostrich, detail of ceiling vault, gilded stucco, ca. 1540, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.

49

comedy closely imitates ancient precedents, One of the most celebrated events of

in particular the plays of Plautus. Castiglione

Francesco Maria della Rovere’s reign also

defends Dovizi from the charge of stealing from

included ostriches, which appeared in the

the ancient playwright but then remarks that

intermezzi (carnivalesque interludes) created

Plautus deserved this pillage because he had not

by Baldassare Castiglione for the Calandria,

secured his property and thus was negligent!

a comedy written by Bernardo Dovizi (1470–



1520) in 1513. The Calandria, considered by

with the play’s production, as he created the

literary historians to be the first Renaissance

inventions for the intermezzi, which include

comedy, is a farce about twins Lidio and

bizarre and exotic songs and dances, some

Santilla, separated as babies. The play is replete

performed by Moorish dancers, and a series

with cross-dressing and sexual misadventures.

of triumphal carriages of the pagan gods, one

The antihero of the piece is the fool Calandro,

of which is led by ostriches.40 Renaissance

whose wife, Fulvia, takes Lidio as a lover.

writers and artists were very taken with the idea

Lidio comes to Fulvia dressed as a woman,

of ancient triumphal processions. Petrarch’s

Castiglione was intimately involved

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41 Attributed to Giulio Clovio, frontispiece to Dante’s Paradiso, the third part of Divina commedia, illuminated manuscript, mid-sixteenth century, ms BAV Urb. Lat. 365, fol. 197r. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Città del Vaticano. Photo © 2015 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

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Trionfi describes the triumphal processions of

pyramids in Egypt and hailing the palace as

Love, Chastity, Death, and Fame. Federico da

worthy of a place among the Seven Wonders

Montefeltro’s copy of the Trionfi has splendid

of the World. Giovanni also wrote of Federico’s

illuminations of the triumphal carriages and,

wondrous library and the fine illuminated

like most of his books, is emblazoned with

manuscripts he had seen in Arabic, Greek,

an ostrich. The triumphal imagery was also

and Hebrew.43 Dovizi became Raphael’s pa-

a part of the palace decorations, as some of

tron, and Raphael was an intimate friend of

the intarsia doors in Urbino show triumphal

Baldassare Castiglione, the writer who

carriages, and Piero della Francesca’s famous

invented the ostrich intermezzo and, more

double portrait of Federico da Montefeltro

famously, evoked the splendor of Federico’s

and Battista Sforza is painted with triumphal

court in The Book of the Courtier. Already in

carriages on the back. Triumphal carriages were

the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries,

also a part of the pomp of courtly ceremonies.

Raphael’s father and Raphael’s closest compan-

41



In a letter describing the stage set for

ions looked back with nostalgia to the age of

the Calandria and the intermezzi, Castiglione

Federico as a golden age.

calls attention to the marvelous realism of the



perspectival scenery and of the doves pulling

The Courtier describes a courtly game—a

the carriage of Venus, which appeared to be

contest between young men, adjudicated by

alive. Neptune’s carriage was “completely

young women—in which serious issues can

full of fire,” and the “monsters” pulling it, he

provoke laughs and blushes.44 Castiglione

writes, were “the most bizarre thing in the

named one of the characters in his dialogue

world.” Juno’s carriage was pulled, as was

Bernardo Dovizi. In this literary characteriza-

traditional, by two peacocks, which again

tion, Castiglione’s Dovizi gives a discourse

seemed real, before which came two ostriches

on laughter and recounts a series of silly anec-

and two eagles, the Montefeltro birds. These

dotes and jokes, including a tale about Raphael

birds were so well done that “you would never

mocking cardinals who dared to criticize one

believe that something feigned could be so

of his paintings.45 The Urbino ostriches of

similar to the truth.” The ostriches and other

Raphael’s youth and those in the work of his

birds (presumably actors in costumes) danced

friend Castiglione and his soon-to-be patron

“with as much grace as it is possible to say

Dovizi are a part of this clever courtly imagery

or imagine.”

of festive celebration. The small, often illu-



42

Raphael would have known the

Castiglione’s Urbino is a witty place.

sionistic images on wall panels, seats, doors,

Montefeltro ostriches well, as he was born

window shutters, and other marginal surfaces

and raised in Urbino, and his father, Giovanni

are the equivalent of Castiglione’s intermezzi,

Santi, was a painter in the service of Federico’s

not the central drama—neither large heroic

son and daughter-in-law, Guidobaldo da

narratives nor courtly portraits. The eagle is

Montefeltro and Elisabetta Gonzaga. Raphael’s

the famous impresa of Federico’s reign and so

father also wrote an epic life of Federico da

is emblazoned on a large scale in prominent

Montefeltro in rhyming terza rima (the verse

locations. The ostriches, like Castiglione’s inter-

Dante used in the Divine Comedy). In his epic,

mezzi, have a classical heritage but wear it

Giovanni devoted more than a hundred lines

lightly, conveying Federico’s toughness with

to praise of the Palazzo Ducale and its marble

the most delicate of forms.

and wood ornaments, comparing it to the 51

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chapter

Three

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Pope Leo X and Raphael’s

Ostriches The Ostrich as a Grotesque:

Renaissance artists had used grotesques in

The Bibbiena Apartments

frames or other marginal spaces, but the apart-

Bernardo Dovizi’s comedy, with its dancing

ments of Cardinal Bibbiena were the first

ostriches, was performed in Urbino and then

spaces to be entirely adorned in this classical

in Rome before the recently elevated Pope Leo

style since antiquity.4

X (1475–1521). Two days later, one of the pope’s



first acts, much to the disgust of his family,

grotteschi comes from the word grotto.5 The

who were hoping to reap the early fruits of his

ground level had risen over the centuries, as

election, was to elevate his longtime devoted

buildings were built upon the rubble of the

secretary to the cardinalate, and so the writer

past, and so ancient buildings that were origi-

of comedies came to Rome and was known

nally at ground level were by the Renaissance

henceforth as Cardinal Bibbiena. Leo also

buried caves—dark and dangerous places filled

took the extraordinary step of giving the rather

with hidden wonders. The most famous and

poor new cardinal the use of a suite of apart-

spectacular discovery was that of Nero’s Golden

ments within the Vatican Palace itself. Cardinal

House (Domus Aurea), the vicious emperor’s

Bibbiena’s apartments were immediately above

outrageously decadent palace, which stretched

Leo’s own, and a private staircase connected

over much of downtown Rome (fig. 42). In

the two. This expert on jokes was made a

the late fifteenth century the fabled Golden

literal and figurative insider in Leo’s court.

House was rediscovered, then a network of



underground caves stretching for miles.

1

Cardinal Bibbiena commissioned

Raphael to decorate his new apartments,

Contemporary accounts describe Raphael

which include paintings of ostriches. Two

and his followers (Giovanni da Udine, Giulio

spaces survive with their original frescoes. It is

Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni, and others)

tempting to dream, surely fancifully, that oth-

climbing down into the caves, bringing a lunch,

ers may still exist underneath the heavy damask

and emerging bruised and scratched at the

of the section of the Vatican Palace that now

end of the day. An anonymous poem written

belongs to the cardinal secretary of state. One,

around 1500 gives an evocative description of

known as the Stufetta (literally “little stove”),

the experience:

served as the cardinal’s bathroom, or more precisely steam room.2 The other, known as the Loggetta (“little loggia”), is a vaulted walkway, originally open to the air on one side, that afforded shade, a breeze, and a view of an interior courtyard, another informal place for relaxation.3 Both are covered with grotesques, an ancient style of decoration. Previous

3 Chapter_pgs5.indd 53

Renaissance writers note that the word

In every season they are full of painters Here summer seems cooler than winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  We crawl on the ground on our bellies With bread, ham, apples, and wine To be more bizarre than the grotesques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  And each of us appears a chimney sweep. ........................... Breaking our backs and our knees.6

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raphel ’ s ostrich

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The artists themselves became grotesques, bent

vines and impossibly thin and tall columns,

in odd shapes and besmirched with dirt in this

with delicate swags of drapery and disembod-

strange underground world with its backward

ied heads or masks that seem to float in the air.

seasons, in an experience that seems to have



been a mixture of extreme spelunking and an

began to twine their way over architectural

antiquarian’s picnic. Raphael did not leave a

ornament, frames, ceiling vaults, and other

token of his presence in the “grottoes,” but

marginal spaces in both palaces and churches,

Giovanni da Udine and others scratched their

creating a delightfully inventive ornamental

names into the walls. Although it is no longer

classicism. Often the forms were arranged

necessary to crawl on one’s belly, still today

vertically in the fashion of a candelabrum—

visitors can go on special tours of the Golden

an impossible tall and tenuous form, not

House only to certain sections, wearing hard

something that could actually support a

grotesques, fresco, ca. 1480–82, Santa Maria

hats, with flashlights to create pools of light on

candle! Filippino Lippi, Pinturicchio, and

del Popolo, Rome.

the otherwise dark walls and vaults.

others adorned frescoed and marble pilasters





with these candelabra of beasts, monsters, and

42 Grotesques, fresco, 65 c.e., Domus Aurea, Rome. 43 Bernardino Pinturicchio, Rovere Chapel

The excitement over the discovery was

all the greater because so little ancient paint-

foliage. Pinturicchio, for example, painted

ing was known in the Renaissance. Early

onto the architectural membering of a chapel

Renaissance classicism is founded on the imi-

grotesques with delicately delineated four-

tation of ancient sculpture and architecture.

footed beasts, hybrid creatures, foliage, musical

Remains of ancient buildings filled Rome

instruments, masks, and other fanciful forms

and other sites, and lords, bankers, cardinals,

arranged in decorative patterns, including, just

popes, and anyone else who could afford to do

visible on the right edge of figure 43, a putto

so collected ancient sculpture. Centuries before

riding an ostrich, painted in white on a dark

the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum,

ground, like a cameo. Vaulted ceilings were

ancient painting was known through textual

also subdivided into compartments and richly

descriptions, accounts by Pliny the Elder and

ornamented with gold, fictive mosaic, and the

others of its breathtaking realism and dramatic

wildly colored twisting forms of grotesques.

power. The ancient Roman writer Vitruvius

When this type of decoration was proposed

had described a different style of painting—

for the Sistine ceiling, Michelangelo famously

more fanciful, full of playful monsters and

objected, arguing that such a richly ornamental

impossibly light forms that seemed to float in

style belied the values of Christian poverty.8

space—only to condemn it as a sign of deca-

And yet the plan to use grotesques made

dence and to call for a return to the realism of

sense, as ceilings were marginal spaces before

previous ages. What Renaissance artists found

Michelangelo made his central.

in their pilgrimages to the “grottoes” must



have seemed antithetical to the sober solid-

the margins, covering entire spaces in this

ity and elevated heroics of classical sculpture.

classical ornament. Cardinal Bibbiena, who was

These classical paintings were far from what

after all an expert on comedy and jokes, also

they had imagined from Pliny—they were in-

embraced this fanciful side of antiquity and

stead in Vitruvius’s decadent style, henceforth

commissioned Raphael to cover his apartments

known as the grotesque. The frescoes in the

in grotesques. It may seem strange to say

Golden House are replete with tiny flora and

so about these airy baubles, but Raphael’s

fauna, birds and hybrid monsters, framed by

grotesque decorations are an archaeologically

7

55

In the late fifteenth century, grotesques

Raphael brought the monsters out of

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correct, rigorous reconstruction of the classical

those in the Bibbiena apartments, especially the

style (fig. 44). Raphael, who was named Leo’s

Loggetta, have even more animals, which are

director of antiquities in this period, adopted

depicted much more realistically. In the ancient

not only specific forms from the Golden House

frescoes, birds stand at attention in decorative

(vines, birds, hybrid monsters, masks, etc.)

patterns. Raphael and the members of his

but also the way in which they were arranged—

shop played with this idea by depicting two

not only the vocabulary but also the grammar

birds on strings swooping realistically down

and even mood of this ancient decorative

then up, causing the strings to fall in mirrored

language. He and his workshop also adopted

perfect arcs (fig. 47). Two snakes slither into

the open, apparently quick brushwork of

perfect spirals around garlands to hiss likewise

ancient grotesques, creating frescoes that could

in symmetry at a poor turtle hanging from

plausibly have been passed off as antiquities.

its tail in between them. Other animals fly,

Raphael thus proclaimed the classical learning

run, and wriggle their way into geometric

of his patron (and by extension Pope Leo), but

patterns, even as they appear very much alive.

in terms that were anything but ponderous, in

A disembodied head floats above a pair of toads,

a witty style that suited the master of absurd

which sit on a platform that springs from the

mix-ups and silly wordplay.

head of a bust with bat wings, while butterflies

Stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, fresco with wax,



float to the sides and horseshoes hang from

1516, Vatican Palace.

the Bibbiena apartments, the imagery is subtly

strings (fig. 48). Unlike classical grotesques,

different from that in the Golden House.

the frescoes in the Bibbiena apartments are

Raphael and workshop, river god and other

In the Stufetta, for example, an older man

rich with animals from Africa, Asia, and the

grotesques, fresco and wax, 1516, Stufetta of

is repeated eight times in the lunettes. Half-

Americas: lions, a giraffe, a camel, monkeys,

44

9

Raphael and workshop, decorations in the

45

Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace.

Though the classicism is inescapable in

reclining, with a flowing beard and robes, he is

a parrot, a porcupine, and ostriches, among

46

clearly a river god (fig. 45), a well-known type

others. Just as the river god gets a haircut,

Raphael and workshop, putto drying a river god’s

from multiple classical statues then on exhibit

the fantastic composite creatures of the Golden

in Rome, including in the nearby Vatican

House become actual living hybrids: a sparrow-

hair, fresco and wax, 1516, Stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace.

Cortile del Belvedere. Though the figure

camel (ostrich), a camel-leopard (giraffe), and

is miniaturized, especially in comparison to

other exotica. Raphael and his followers may

colossal statues of this type, the association is

have conflated distance in time with distance

unmistakable, as some of the representations

in space—in re-creating a style from long ago,

hold urns from which water pours. The

they evoked faraway places. Certainly Raphael

mirror images of these figures, however,

was not the first to associate the “exotic” with

have attendants, who perform such mundane

the grotesque and monstrous. Among the

activities as washing the god’s hair, toweling

grotesques that decorate the pilasters framing

it dry, and cutting it (fig. 46). In a space in

the narrative scenes in the cloister of Monte

which precisely such personal grooming may

Oliveto Maggiore, painted by Sodoma a decade

well have taken place, the mini river god has

before the Bibbiena apartments, some show

his flowing locks tamed, in a gentle joke on

Pliny’s mythical monstrous races: the sciapod

the pomposity of classical imagery that makes

(man with one giant foot, used as shade from

these images both self-consciously ancient and

the sun), the encephaloid (headless man with

thoroughly modern.

eyes in his chest), and others (fig. 49).12 These



disturbingly derogatory images equate non-

10

11

The frescoes in the Golden House are

replete with animals and hybrid monsters, but 56

European people with monsters and make

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47 Raphael and workshop, Apollo and Marsyas and grotesques, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. 48 Raphael and workshop, toads and other grotesques, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. 49 Sodoma, pilaster with grotesques and Pliny’s monstrous races, fresco, ca. 1505, cloister, Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

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them marginal and ridiculous. They serve as a reminder that in paintings exotic animals were similarly shown as foreign oddities, which in their weirdness emphasize the preeminence of European man, made in God’s image.

Two ostriches are painted in the

Loggetta, not among the birds that populate the walls, which are small flying creatures, but among the land animals and mythical creatures on the vault. In close imitation of the vault of the cryptoporticus of the Golden House, that of the Loggetta is divided by delicate twining ivy frames into rectangular compartments, with thin lines outlining two nested rectangles, each an airy and weightless frame within a frame, containing a miniature image of a beast, which floats against the white ground, as a pretty shell or piece of coral would be displayed in a cabinet or box (figs. 50, 51). The play with scale is a part of the joy of these frescoes, as life-size songbirds can appear giants next to miniature lions. On the vault, mythical creatures abound: dragons, sphinxes, satyrs, unicorns, and sea monsters, juxtaposed with actual beasts.

One ostrich is quite realistic (fig. 52). It

walks forward on delicate legs, its long neck bent. The proportions are not exactly right, and details (such as the two-toed feet) are not legible, but the distinctive upward-curling tail plumes make the bird identifiable as an ostrich. This exotic creature is refined and elegant: a tiny, rather pretty bird, it is a fitting ornament for this luxurious space. On the other side of the same vault, in another vine-framed compartment, floats (you could even say flies) an ungainly, strange creature, which is equally clearly an ostrich, even though it looks very different from the pretty one (fig. 53). The proportions are monstrous, as is the juxtaposition of a bird’s upper body with the legs and hooves of a quadruped, but the head is a much more realistic depiction of an ostrich’s head than that on the other side of the vault. The very hybrid 59

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50 Grotesques, fresco, 65 c.e., vault of the cryptoporticus, Domus Aurea, Rome. 51 Raphael and workshop, vault of the Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, fresco, 1516–17, Vatican Palace. 52 Raphael and workshop, ostrich, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace. 53 Raphael and workshop, grotesque ostrich, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace.

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nature of the beast makes it clear that this is a struthiocamelus, an ostrich as a grotesque. This fantastic monster ostrich is immediately adjacent to other hybrid monsters, including one that is formed of the head and wings of a bird and the nether parts of a sea serpent.

What do these images mean? It is not

clear that they mean anything, in the sense of a strictly unified iconographic program. Franco Ruffini has sought to read the Bibbiena apartments, especially the Stufetta, as containing a hidden Neoplatonic message, a proper moral to justify the playful and often overtly sexual imagery in the room.13 Nicole Dacos has noted that Raphael gave his assistants freedom in designing and executing these paintings, which show little to no evidence of preparatory drawings.14 Therefore any unified iconographic program is unlikely. A few writers later in the century did defend grotesques as meaningful,15 and some of the images Raphael and his followers painted among the grotesques are surely meant to carry specific associations, to exalt Cardinal Bibbiena and Leo. The sheaves of wheat intertwined with the vegetation in the Stufetta evoke the Dovizi coat of arms (fig. 54). Likewise, the lions and sphinxes (lion-bodied hybrids) refer to Pope Leo, whose name in Italian (Leone) means “lion” (fig. 55).16 The other imagery is harder to shoehorn into any specific meaning. The ostriches here do not eat iron, nor are they identified with any text. These creatures are not characterized as positive or negative, images of virtue or vice, but instead exhibited as marvels.

Most Renaissance scholars write about

grotesques as a celebration of an artist’s free invention.17 Their very meaninglessness exalted the status of the artist, who was no longer an illustrator for a preexisting text but now the inventor. It is his rich and free fantasy that is displayed here. Surely the artist who painted

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most of the grotesque creatures was Giovanni

the great staged hunts of the Roman emperors.

da Udine, known for his gift for depicting

The stag on the vault of the Loggetta surely

animals. Vasari tells us that Giovanni made a

evokes the hunt.20

book of images of birds, which was “the delight



of Raphael.” Alas, the book does not survive,

mals. Pope Paul II, who tortured humanists for

though a few drawings and watercolors of

supposedly conspiring against him, was dearly

birds ascribed to Giovanni do, including

fond of his parrots.21 Leo also kept a parrot

a breathtakingly realistic ostrich.19 Vasari’s

as a prized possession and had a room in the

account of the book of birds suggests that these

Vatican palace decorated with parrots and other

frescoes, in their naturalism, wit, and variety,

exotic animals. Vasari states that Giovanni da

were first and foremost made for pleasure.

Udine, under the direction of Raphael, painted

18

Previous popes had also kept exotic ani-

in this room “all of the animals that Pope Leo Pope Leo X’s Animals

had: a chameleon, civet cats, monkeys, par-

Romans and distinguished visitors could also

rots, lions, elephanats, and other more exotic

see living exemplars of animals painted on the

animals.”22 Parrots, known for their marvelous

vault of the Loggetta in Pope Leo X’s famous

ability to speak, were objects of fascination and

menagerie. Some objected to clergy’s hunting,

had been imperial pets since Roman antiquity.

a pursuit that defined the ethos of secular no-

They were occasionally reviled as thoughtless

bility, but Pope Leo X was an avid hunter. Leo,

jabberers but most often revered as the wisest

who was not the first pope to hunt, was scan-

of the beasts, even an image of the word of

dalously devoted to the secular sport. Leo had

God.23 One of Leo’s most prized possessions

several hunting lodges and spent much of his

was a chameleon, a creature renowned for its

reign sponsoring lavish hunts, in imitation of

almost magical ability to change color.24

54 Raphael and workshop, sheaves of wheat, fresco and wax, 1516, Stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace, 1516. 55 Raphael and workshop, sphinxes and other grotesques, fresco, 1516–17, Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena, Vatican Palace.

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already suffering from the long walk, unaccustomed to the hard, paved roads. The delegation had to travel at night and hide within villas, but even so, eager curiosity seekers climbed the walls for a glimpse. When Hanno did make his formal entry into Rome, he came to a stop in front of Castel Sant’Angelo, the pope’s fortress, bowed before the pontiff, and sprayed water into the air, soaking courtiers and delighting the pope. Leo housed Hanno in the Cortile del Belvedere, along with a host of other beasts, making the Vatican palace into a truly imperial menagerie. Hanno in major ceremonies, parading through the city. One bad poet, Baraballo, when crowned laureate in an elaborate mock ceremony, went on solemn procession through Rome mounted upon Hanno. The elephant, surely distracted by the jeering crowds, knocked Baraballo off its back and ran, leaving the poor man in the dust to realize that he had been 56

made a fool. This prank was immortalized in an

Ostriches on a boat, detail of The Arrival of Vasco

intarsia panel on one of the doors of the Stanza

da Gama in Calcutta, tapestry, sixteenth century. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon.



Leo’s most famous animal, more of

a prominent member of the court than a



pet, was Hanno, an albino Indian elephant,

Hanno, Pope Leo’s affection for his elephant

which is depicted in miniature on the vault

was so excessive that it verged on the unseemly.

Even though there was a general craze for

of the Loggetta. King Manuel I of Portugal

When Hanno died, the pope had Raphael

(1469–1521), after receiving Hanno from one

paint a life-size memorial portrait on the wall

of his explorers, sent the elephant to Rome as

of the Cortile del Belvedere. A drawing that

a part of Portugal’s official tribute to the newly

survives may be a copy of Raphael’s preparatory

elected pope, along with leopards, lynxes, and

sketch (fig. 58). Leo went into mourning. Fra

other beasts and birds. The tribute may even

Bonaventura, a Franciscan friar, had predicted

have included ostriches, as the African birds

that the elephant, a number of cardinals,

were traded by the Portuguese. (A contempo-

and the pope himself would die in quick

rary tapestry shows the Portuguese explorer

succession.28 When Hanno and some of the

Vasco da Gama with boatloads of ostriches

named cardinals succumbed, Leo may well

and other exotic animals arriving in Calcutta

have been frightened. (Indeed, the relatively

[fig. 56].) When Manuel I’s delegation arrived

young but notorious sickly pope did not long

in Italy, all eyes, though, were on the elephant.

outlive his beloved elephant.) The very personal

Crowds were so eager to see the creature that

nature of his relationship to Hanno before

the embassy had difficulty making its way from

and after the elephant’s death makes it clear,

the port of Ostia to Rome, as throngs blocked

however, that Leo adored his elephant. Leo was

the path and scared the elephant, which was

the pope who excommunicated Luther, and

25

26

63

della Segnatura (fig. 57).27

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the growing group of reformers in the North

of Raphael’s shop. In each vault of the Loggia

cited his devotion to his elephant as a sign of

grotesques and fictive views of the sky frame

the decadence of the papacy. Luther created a

scenes from Hebrew Scripture, a compendium

vivid image of papal frivolity by describing Leo

of biblical imagery that has become known as

as swatting at flies and watching his elephant

“Raphael’s Bible.”

dance. In Rome itself, an anonymous writer



also mocked the extravagance of the papal court

scenes from Genesis like those on the Sistine

in the form of a “Testament of the Elephant,”

ceiling, must be seen again as the fruit of

in which Hanno willed parts of his body to

Pope Leo X’s rivalry with his predecessor, as

various cardinals and the pope himself, deeding

well as Raphael’s rivalry with Michelangelo.

his genitalia to a cardinal famous for his libido,

Given how many commissions Raphael was

for example.30 Both the praise and mockery of

undertaking simultaneously and how well oiled

the pope’s elephant make clear that this Indian

the machine of his shop was, it is obvious that

animal and the other creatures hunted by the

he himself applied little, if any, actual paint in

pope and displayed in his menagerie were

the Loggia. He and his followers do not even

central to Leo’s image of imperial magnificence.

seem to have attempted to make the frescoes

29

57

The entire project, which includes

look unified, as different scenes are painted in

Giovanni Barile (possibly after a drawing by Raphael), The Mock-Triumph of the

Raphael’s Creation of the Animals

widely varying styles. Perhaps the variety is a

Poet Baraballo, wood intarsia, 1515,

After completing the apartments for Cardinal

part of the pleasure in a space that is only ever

Bibbiena, Raphael and his efficient workshop

seen in separate parts, by someone idling away

58

carried out several commissions for Leo

the time wandering up and down.

After Raphael, Hanno, pen and ink,

and members of the papal court. The artist’s



famous portrait of the pope immortalizes

conception and was recognized at the time as

him as a lover of fine things, his enormously

such. Michelangelo (1475–1564) was a painter

corpulent body swathed in rich velvets, his

of larger-than-life heroes, not of landscape or

Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’

fingers laden with rings, a richly illuminated

animals. Even his Garden of Eden consists of a

Rossi, oil on panel, ca. 1518. Galleria degli

manuscript and minutely worked bell displayed

couple of boulders, a dead tree stump, and one

before him (fig. 59). He commissioned from

living tree with large leathery leaves (fig. 60).

Raphael designs for tapestries for the Sistine

In the Loggia Raphael replaces Michelangelo’s

Chapel, in competition with Michelangelo’s

gigantic musclemen and -women with small

ceiling, frescoed for Leo’s predecessor, Julius

elegant figures in lush settings, surrounded

II. The cost of production of these silk, gold,

by a plethora of animals. Realistic birds, rats,

and silver tapestries was more than five times

snakes, snails, squirrels, a leopard, an elephant,

that of the famous ceiling. At the same time,

lions, and other animals play in the vegetation

Raphael and his workshop were given the task

of the grotesques and fly in the skies around

of decorating the pope’s Loggia, a covered

the biblical scenes (fig. 61). Vasari wrote that

open-air walkway with views out over Rome,

Giovanni da Udine outdid the ancients in this

like Cardinal Bibbiena’s but much larger.

work: “Where else could you see painted birds

Appropriately, the Loggia of Leo X is also more

that are more alive and true in their coloring,

richly decorated than that of his retainer. The

feathers, and all other parts than those which

decoration consists of grotesques, but here the

are in the friezes and pilasters of that Loggia?”33

forms are created both in paint and in stucco

Raphael also chose to depict biblical scenes

relief, an ancient technique revived by members

that feature animals, including the Creation

Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace.

1514–16. Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. 59 Raphael, Portrait of Pope Leo X and

Uffizi, Florence.

31

32

65

Nevertheless, the project was Raphael’s

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of the Animals, the Disembarkation from the Ark, and the Journey to Canaan. Of course, Michelangelo could only represent the key episodes on the Sistine ceiling, but it is difficult to conceive of his painting, even if he had had the opportunity, the Creation of the Animals. Imagine a Michelangelo ostrich!

In the Creation of the Animals, God the

Father (probably executed by Pellegrino da Modena) has an open pose, gesturing in both directions at the abundance of animals that crawl, walk, and fly around him (fig. 62).34 He has a Raphaelesque grace—he is almost balletic, with one foot pointed ahead of him, and his body is swathed in ample curling drapery. This representation of the divine is antithetical to Michelangelo’s fierce and muscular God, terrifyingly focused, his energy expressed through the strength and movement of his body, obscured by as little drapery as possible, only a remarkably skimpy and plain shift. The animals in the Creation of the Animals, surely painted by Raphael’s animal expert, Giovanni da Udine, give eloquent visual form to the variety of God’s creation. Crustaceans and reptiles crawl on the ground. A magnificent lion with a rippling mane stands next to God as king of the beasts, while a bear beside him seems to be curiously sniffing something. A wrinkly albino elephant—another portrait of Hanno—rubs its hide against a palm tree, 60

near a fearsome-looking rhinoceros. A lovely

Michelangelo, Temptation and Expulsion

peacock perches on the branch of a deciduous

from the Garden of Eden, fresco, 1508–12,

tree while other birds soar in the sky or strut

Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican.

on the ground. Giovanni da Udine has shown

61

the very moment of creation, as some of the

Paul-Marie Letarouilly, Vatican Palace Loggia

creatures are only partly formed, a head or

grotesques (detail), lithograph, from Le Vatican et la Basilique de Saint-Pierre de Rome

torso emerging out of the ground. One of

(Paris: A. Morel, 1882); originals fresco and

the birds standing in profile on the left side,

stucco, 1516–19, Loggia, Vatican Palace.

almost a pendant to Hanno on the right, is an ostrich, recognizable because of its size and the distinctive tail. This image and the other depictions of animals in the Loggetta offer a

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62 Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Pellegrino da Modena, Creation of the Animals, fresco, 1516–19, Loggia, Vatican Palace.

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63 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, Justice, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. 64 Sebastiano del Piombo, Flagellation of Christ, oil mural, 1516–24, San Pietro in Montorio, Rome.

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glimpse of Leo’s magnificent zoo and therefore of his imperial stature. In an age in which artists were hailed as divine, images of God’s creation also evoked the artist’s creation. Here Raphael, through the hands of his followers, displays the breadth of his art, in polemical contrast to the narrow range of Michelangelo’s. Justice and Her Ostrich

In the same years in which he was directing the decoration of the pope’s Loggia, Raphael was engaged on an even more prestigious commission, to paint the large reception room in the Vatican Palace, the Sala di Costantino.35 Here he chose to paint the figure of Justice and her ostrich in oil mural (fig. 63), a rarely used and tricky medium. This experiment was a bold and potentially disastrous move, given that oil paint rarely adhered well to a wall. Ominously, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper—painted on the wall with a mixed technique, including oil —was already peeling.36 Sebastiano del Piombo (ca. 1485–1547) was experimenting with oil mural at the same moment.37 Sebastiano also had something to prove, as he was widely agreed to have lost a competition between his Raising of Lazarus and Raphael’s Transfiguration, even though Sebastiano was armed with Michelangelo’s drawings.38 His oil murals in the Borgherini Chapel are shrouded in mysterious darkness, from which Christ’s body emerges with fleshy insistence (fig. 64). Both Sebastiano’s murals and Raphael’s Justice demonstrate a mastery of this new technique. They are well preserved and exploit the medium in order to create a Leonardesque atmosphere and a palpable sense of textures, effects not possible in the lighter and crisper forms of fresco.

The surviving documents for the com-

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either on his own or in collaboration with

can achieve bright lights but also rich darks

Michelangelo. As early as six days after Raphael

and soft transitions between shades. Raphael

died, Sebastiano was writing to Michelangelo,

had pushed the limits of fresco in his earlier

anxious to get the commission. Three months

works, painting convincing nocturnes and

later, he wrote to Michelangelo again, this

the kind of shadowy atmospheric spaces and

time, in a letter laden with irony, to report that

textural illusions normally only possible in oil.

Raphael’s “boys” had painted on the wall a trial

Despite these obvious successes with fresco

figure in oil that was so exquisite it would out-

and the high risk of technical failure with oil

shine all of Raphael’s paintings in the Vatican

mural, Raphael used oil to paint Justice and her

palace. Sebastiano relates with glee in another

ostrich. Justice emerges out of dark shadows,

letter that the trial was unsuccessful and the oil

the contours of her form left largely undefined,

paints were running down the wall. Of course,

so that she seems to be surrounded by a haze.

Sebastiano wanted the “boys” to fail, and so

Raphael uses oil to convey textures—the

his word may be unreliable, but the experiment

yielding flesh of Justice, her glossy hair, the

must have failed, for the members of Raphael’s

harder sheen of the golden scales, the folds of

shop decided to remove the preparation for

her clothes, thick and soft; and the feathery

oil from the walls and start again with fresco.

chest, leatherlike neck, and glistening eye of

When they did re-prep the room for fresco,

the ostrich. Oil paint allows this representation

they reverently preserved the two figures that

of an abstract idea to be a palpable, living,

had been made before their master’s death,

sensuous presence.

Justice and Comitas, resurfacing the wall and



frescoing all around them, despite the risk that

emerging out of a smoky darkness, and the

the dark velvety oil paint of these two isolated

twisting figures of the woman and the ostrich

parts would contrast with the lighter, matte

are all reminiscent of the works of Leonardo da

surface of fresco. Documents from later in the

Vinci (1452–1519). Justice’s face is animated and

century offer different accounts of which parts

softened by the gentle hint of a Leonardesque

of the room were painted by Raphael, a confu-

half smile. Leonardo is not known for his

sion that is natural, given that the whole room

sensuous paintings today because of the

was understood to be his invention, if not his

accidents of survival, but in the Renaissance his

execution, an idea that his “boys” of course

erotically charged Leda was famous and much

wanted to perpetuate. Some art historians

imitated (fig. 65). In this painting, now lost

have read the documents differently, arguing

but known from copies (including a drawing

that one or both of these figures were painted

by Raphael), Leda’s body gently twists, and

by Raphael’s followers after his death, but

her smiling head turns to one side, as her hand

generally agree that they are Raphael’s inven-

caresses the neck of her lover, the swan, which

tions and based closely on Raphael’s drawings,

nuzzles her shoulder aggressively with his

whether he physically painted them or not.

long, serpentine neck. In painting a woman



and a large bird, Raphael could not but think

39

40

70

Frescoes have a chalky texture and

The use of oil mural, the soft forms

light colors because the plaster forms a

of Leonardo’s image—Justice fingering the

physical bond with the paint. They are suited

base of the neck of the ostrich and the double

to showing the clear light of day and crisp

curve of the ostrich’s neck are a sort of tribute

outlines. Oil paint, in contrast, can be applied

to the older master, who died in the year this

wet on wet or in thin translucent glazes. It

work was begun. The Leda may also help

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explain why the ostrich in Raphael’s painting is, though realistic and larger than most of the previous depictions of the bird, not quite life-size. Instead, it reaches Justice’s shoulder and thus is depicted on the same scale as the swan in Leonardo’s painting. Raphael’s ostrich turns away from Justice, who is of course partially clothed and not as intimately entwined with her bird, but the imitation of Leonardo suggests a relationship between Justice and the ostrich beyond that of personification and attribute, the hint of a story.

If Leonardo is the most obvious point of

reference, Raphael also imitates Michelangelo in this work. The broad, solid lap of the figure, her sharply projecting knees, and her largish feet, with thick ankles, evoke not only the serpentine grace of Leonardo’s Leda but also something of the heroism of Michelangelo’s sibyls on the Sistine ceiling. The head of Justice is in fact directly modeled on Michelangelo’s Erithrean Sibyl (figs. 66, 67). The repetition of the distinctive headdress—two braids over a visor—makes Raphael’s citation of Michelangelo explicit.41 In imitating his rival, though, Raphael critiques as much as he pays homage. The inventive dress of the Erithrean Sibyl pulls tight over her massive torso and bares powerfully muscular shoulders and arms. The more or less classical dress of Justice, in contrast, hides her shoulders and torso but reveals her rounded belly and 65

frames one warmly lit breast. The cloth falls

After Leonardo da Vinci, Leda, oil on

asymmetrically over the body, destabilizing

panel, ca. 1510. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

the figure and adding to the graceful twist.42 Raphael has curved the arms of Justice, so that she reaches down and around the ostrich with one hand and up to hold the scales, with an impractical, elegant, and highly artificial flourish, with the other. Looking from Raphael’s Justice back at Michelangelo’s sibyl, the latter seems masculine, stony, and stiff. The ostrich, something Michelangelo would never

71

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66 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, detail of Justice, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. 67 Michelangelo, Erithrean Sibyl, fresco, 1508–12, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican. 68 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, ostrich, detail of Justice, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

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have dreamed of painting, participates in the sensuous shadowy grace of Raphael’s painting.

Raphael competes not only in style and

medium but also in his choice to paint Justice with an ostrich (fig. 68). Ever a student of antiquity, he may have been acquainted with ancient imperial images of ostriches, perhaps, for example, the relief at Hadrian’s villa, a place that he knew well, or on an ancient coin or cameo, now lost. He surely knew the ostrich as a Montefeltro impresa. He may have seen the dancing ostriches at a performance of La Calandria or have talked about the intermezzo with his friend Castiglione. He certainly knew the images he and his workshop had painted in Cardinal Bibbiena’s apartments. In none of these images, or indeed in any images of the bird since ancient Egypt, had the ostrich or its feathers been used to signify Justice.43 The shadowy form of Raphael’s ostrich is appropriate to its mysterious origins in the hieroglyphs, an ancient divine language written in images.

Leo was a great supporter of scholarship,

including attempts to decode the hieroglyphs. One scholar who rose to prominence during Leo’s reign was Pierio Valeriano (1477–1558). Valeriano’s uncle Urbano Bolzano had been engaged in the study of the hieroglyphs, and Pierio, following his lead, became intensely interested in Horapollo’s late Alexandrian text on hieroglyphs as a young scholar. Leo gave Pierio lucrative benefices, even though the scholar had not taken holy orders. He also entrusted to Pierio the education of the young Medici princes Alessandro and Ippolito. Pierio was already working at this point on his magnum opus, the Hieroglyphica, a nearly one-thousandpage compendium first published decades later, in 1546, with a series of dedications to fellow members of Leo’s court that recall those halcyon days with nostalgia. Valeriano faithfully reports Horapollo’s account of the ostrich feather as a hieroglyph for Justice, along with 73

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69 Giulio Romano and workshop (overall composition based on drawings by Raphael), detail of the fictive tapestry border of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, with the Medici imprese, fresco, 1519–24, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. 70 Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, detail of Justice with the scales and the Medici ring, oil mural, 1519–20, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace.

other, mostly negative meanings for the ostrich

but Raphael leaves the reason for the pres-

taken from the Bible and classical sources. He

ence of the ostrich ambiguous. Unlike the

may well have given Raphael the idea for this

Montefeltro ostriches, which are shown with

invention. Other intellectuals at the court

nails or horseshoes to illustrate in graphic, clear

interested in Horapollo included Raphael’s and

terms the idea of eating iron, Raphael’s ostrich

Leo’s biographer, Paolo Giovio (1486–1552),

does not display the feathers that make it an

and Raphael’s friend and patron Pietro Bembo

image of Justice, let alone make it manifest that

(1470–1547), who owned an ancient table

these are of equal length.

covered in hieroglyphs (now known to have



been actually an ancient Roman fake, not an

ly marked, given that one of the Medici imprese

Egyptian original).

is a diamond ring with three ostrich feathers.48

44



45

Regardless of which scholar brought the

When this room was frescoed after Raphael’s

passage to Raphael’s attention and translated

death, the impresa was painted repeatedly as

it from the Greek for him, Raphael’s source

a part of the borders of the fictive tapestries

must have been Horapollo. Horapollo states

(fig. 69). The diamond ring is, in fact, included

that the ostrich feather signifies Justice because

in Raphael’s depiction of Justice, though its

an ostrich’s feathers are all of equal length.47

presence is not readily apparent.49 Small and

Raphael does not depict Justice holding a

delicate, it hangs from the fulcrum of Justice’s

feather, but caressing an entire bird. He does

scales—indeed it initially appears to be a part of

not even show any of the ostrich’s distinctive

the scales (fig. 70). All could recognize this fig-

curling plumes. Apart from a tuft on its chest,

ure as Justice, but seeing the ring and gathering

no plumage is visible. The ostrich’s body is,

its import would require a more discerning and

like that of Justice herself, completely frontal,

knowledgeable viewer. Perhaps such a viewer

and only its head turns to the side. Therefore

would realize that the hidden tail feathers of

the plumed tail, which serves to identify the

the ostrich would complete the impresa. Given

bird in the Loggetta and elsewhere, is not

how overtly familial and personal imagery was

visible, nor are the wings. Justice holds the

emblazoned in this period, the hidden ring and

scales, a traditional attribute, and the figure is

ostrich feathers show great subtlety. These are

labeled, so the meaning of the image is clear,

references for those in the know, as is the imi-

46

74

The omission of the feathers is particular-

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tation of the Leda and the Erithrean Sibyl. All could wonder at the breathtaking sensuality and novelty of Justice and her startlingly ugly and realistic ostrich, but only a few would grasp the full import of Raphael’s invention.

The ostrich is like a grotesque, in that it

is both naturalistic and manifestly fictional, an inventive image that calls attention to Raphael’s artistry by combining breathtakingly natural forms in improbable juxtapositions—a grotesque assemblage of African bird, scantily clad woman, Roman battle scene, and a sumptuously dressed pope. But this ostrich has the real weight of a flightless bird and is imbued with meaning—a fantasy that takes on physical and semantic heft. If the Bibbiena apartments resurrect an ancient style, Justice is absolutely modern in style. By making the ostrich naturalistic, Raphael poses the question of meaning, even though the interpretation of the figure as Justice is perfectly clear. The ostrich is no longer, as it had been in the Middle Ages and the Urbino of Raphael’s youth, a clear symbol, staring at an egg or chewing a nail and thus demonstrating the quality that is meaningful. Nor is it an airy nothing, a weightless grotesque. Raphael hides the feathers, leaving us to look at the ostrich itself and wonder how to interpret nature. Perhaps the size of the bird makes it an image of the grandeur of Justice, or the large eye a representation of the all-seeing judge? Raphael obscures the answer and instead invites us to observe nature in all of its wonderful strangeness, searching to find meaning in the inexplicable diversity of God’s creation. Ancient Egypt in Leo X’s Rome

Raphael’s ostrich is only one of a host of Egyptian images in Leo X’s Rome.50 Actual ancient Egyptian obelisks and other artifacts covered with hieroglyphs were visible in prominent locations all over the city, and others were being unearthed in Leo’s day. Most spectacularly, a 75

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wear helmets with ostrich plumes, which soldiers wore in antiquity, according to literary sources.)51 The background offers a glimpse of Raphael’s reconstruction of ancient Rome. The Mausoleum of Hadrian rises most prominently, with a large pyramid beside it. Further in the distance, on both sides of the Tiber, pyramids and obelisks are visible, including the recently unearthed obelisk that stood beside the Mausoleum of Augustus. Raphael’s ancient Rome was startlingly Egyptian.52

Images of sphinxes appear in the Bibbiena

apartments and in the Loggia of Leo X. Large Egyptian captives act as fictive supports for the vault in the Stanza dell’Incendio, one of the rooms in the Vatican that Raphael painted (fig. 72).53 The sphinxes (lion-bodied composite creatures) and Egyptian lions flatter Leo, as large obelisk was found near the Mausoleum

their leonine forms refer to his name. The

of Augustus. As Leo’s director of antiquities,

captives make it clear that the message created

Raphael must have been involved in the ex-

by the display of Egyptian images was just as

cavations. Leo had ancient Egyptian sphinxes

imperialistic for Leo as it was for the ancient

and lions, originally brought to ancient Rome

Romans. It is a marker of how important

as imperial booty, moved to newly prominent

the image and idea of Egypt were for men in

locations, with plaques that celebrated the

Raphael’s circles that they had their tombs built

pope as a restorer of ancient glory.

in the form of pyramids. Raphael designed the



burial chapel of Agostino Chigi, the powerful

Raphael’s own archaeological interest

in Egyptian monuments can be seen in the

banker and intimate of Leo, to house three

background of The Adlocutio of Constantine

pyramids (fig. 73). Likewise Castiglione’s

(fig. 71), one of the frescoes painted in the Sala

funerary monument is in the form of a pyramid

di Costantino by Raphael’s followers after his

(fig. 74).54 It is one thing to put Egyptian

death, using the master’s drawings. Raphael

images among grotesques. It is quite another to

was engaged on a major project to create a map

give an Egyptian form to a tomb, an image for

reconstructing all of ancient Rome, which in-

posterity and a prayer for the afterlife.

cluded of course the Egyptian monuments that

76

were so much a part of the ancient city. This

Yuhanna al-Asad and

map was never finished and does not survive,

the Ostrich as an African Bird

though written testimony lauds the endeavor

Raphael’s ostrich evokes the culture of ancient

as one of Raphael’s signal achievements. The

Egypt, but it is not painted in an ancient

Adlocutio fresco exhibits a kind of archaeologi-

Egyptian or in a classical style. Instead, it looks

cal classicism, visible in the meticulous recon-

like a living bird, evoking modern Africa.

struction of the armor, sandals, and standards

Italians could see ostriches in menageries,

of the figures. (Incidentally, several figures

and they could also read travelers’ accounts of

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71 Giulio Romano, after drawings by Raphael, detail of The Adlocutio of Constantine, fresco, 1519–21, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. 72 Raphael and Giulio Romano, Egyptianizing telamon, fresco, ca. 1517, Stanza dell’ Incendio, Vatican Palace. 73 Designed by Raphael, Chigi Chapel, begun in 1511, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. 74 Giulio Romano, tomb of Baldassare Castiglione, after 1530, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Mantua.

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ostriches running wild in Africa. By the middle

by Muslim pirates. As many pontiffs had

of the sixteenth century, one of the most

done before him, Leo attempted to unify the

popular accounts of Africa—its geography,

Christian rulers and lead them in a crusade

peoples, and animals—had been written by a

against the Ottoman Turks, to no avail. A

man known to Italians as Leo Africanus (ca.

learned Muslim, a high-ranking official no less,

1487–ca. 1554). The book, The Cosmography and

was a valuable source of information in these

Geography of Africa, was published in 1550 by an

fraught times.

Italian editor, Giovanni Ramusio, along with



accounts of Asia and the so-called New World.

perhaps acting voluntarily as a way to escape

It went through several editions, popular

imprisonment and probably torture, converted

among not only geographers and scientists

to Christianity. Leo X and his court celebrated

but also a broader public eager to hear about

the baptism of the convert as a great victory.

strange places and customs.

Al-Wazzan took the name Giovanni Leone



de’ Medici, after his patron, whose name

55

Leo Africanus began working on his

book in Leo X’s Rome. He had been born in

before he ascended to the papal throne had

Granada and given the name al-Hasan ibn

been Giovanni de’ Medici. It is a mark of

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Wazzan. He and his

his complex sense of his own identity that

family were Muslim participants in the vibrant

in his writings al-Wazzan henceforth called

and complex intercultural exchanges that

himself Yuhanna al-Asad, which is Giovanni

enriched the intellectual tradition of the Iberian

Leone translated into Arabic.57 Al-Asad

Peninsula. When Christian troops conquered

remained in Italy for nine years, writing an

the area and expelled the Jews and Muslims,

Arabic-Italian dictionary, a treatise on Arabic

al-Wazzan’s family moved to North Africa,

poetry, and other learned works, including

which was mostly under Muslim control. Al-

The Cosmography and Geography of Africa. As

Wazzan was given a thorough education in

a prominent member of Leo X’s and Clement

Muslim culture and religion and remained a

VII’s courts, he was a source of information

lover of Arabic poetry throughout his life. He

for Pierio Valeriano, Paolo Giovio, and others.

traveled, taking various jobs, until he achieved a

The Cosmography and Geography of Africa offers

prominent position as ambassador of the sultan

descriptions of the cities and smaller centers

of Fez. When al-Wazzan was on a mission for

among which al-Asad had traveled before his

the sultan in 1518, his ship was captured by

capture.58 He gives some political and natural

Christian Barbary pirates. Realizing what a

history, but most of the space is occupied with

prize they had obtained, the pirates brought

vivid accounts of markets, industries, food,

him to Pope Leo X as a gift.

people of learning, and those of less culture.



Although it includes derogatory remarks about

56

78

Al-Wazzan, perhaps coerced or

Al-Wazzan was incarcerated in the papal

prison of Castel Sant’Angelo and interrogated

people from the “Land of the Blacks,” his text

about the tenets of Islam and the politics of

is for the most part remarkably neutral in its

Muslim rulers. After the Ottoman Turks had

description of people of different ethnicities

conquered Constantinople in 1453 and further

and religions.59

Muslim victories had seemingly followed



without interruption, many were terrified that

other ancient authorities are full of wisdom,

Muslims would gain control of Europe. The

their accounts of African animals contain

pope himself had narrowly escaped capture

many errors, and so for European readers he

Al-Asad claims that though Pliny and

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will describe some of those that they will not

creatures from Africa. Pliny had written that

have seen. He lists ostriches among the gifts

Africa was full of monsters because the females

brought from a chieftain to the sultan of Fez,

there copulated indiscriminately with males

along with black slaves, eunuchs, camels, civet

of different species, producing hybrids.65 Thus

cats, spices, and perfumes.60 The notion of

Raphael’s ostrich is both an attribute of Justice

presenting rare or exotic animals and people as

and an African monster captured and displayed

tribute to a powerful ruler would not have been

as a European possession.

foreign to al-Asad’s Italian readers, but some



of his descriptions of the ostrich give a vivid

account all too well, reclaimed the idea of the

sense of a type of experience only to be had in

hybrid animal as a proud image of his own

Africa. Al-Asad writes of crossing the desert

identity. He wrote that because he was born in

and seeing ostriches running, noting that they

Europe and raised in Africa, he could choose

look like horses with riders. Pliny had written

his identity to suit the occasion. He told the

that ostriches run as fast as horses, but did not

story of a bird that could live in the air or in

give any sense of what it would be like to see

the water and so avoid taxes by claiming in

them doing so in the wild. Al-Asad also states

turn to be a bird or a fish. This image of a

that the peoples of Numidia (peoples whom he

tricky creature that moves between realms is an

calls more primitive than other Africans) eat

adaptation of a well-known Arabic fable about

the meat of the ostriches, and he describes its

an ostrich who avoids working by employing

terrible stench—the thigh meat is particularly

a similar ruse. Whereas the Arabic tale shows

unpalatable. And yet he recounts that he has

the ostrich as an exemplar of deceit, al-Asad

eaten the meat in Numidia and that it was

deploys it to vaunt his hybrid nature, which

“not that bad.”63 Al-Asad’s account does not

enables him to shift perspectives as necessary.66

describe the ostrich as an ancient symbol but

This image also suggests the dangerous game

does enable the reader to see its speed, taste its

he was forced to play. After nine years al-Asad

meat, and smell its powerful odor. Raphael’s

left Italy to return to North Africa. He could

painting similarly makes the African bird in all

not settle long in Fez, where someone had

its strangeness vividly present for its viewers.

recently been executed for converting from



Islam to Christianity while in foreign territory.

61

62

The story of Yuhanna al-Asad also makes

Yuhanna al-Asad, who knew Pliny’s

clear that African images in Leo X’s court

He never achieved his former political success,

served to demonstrate his power. According

but he seems to have lived out his life in relative

to Paolo Giovio, exotic people captured from

peace in Cairo. Meanwhile, in Italy, some

Africa and elsewhere were put in prisons

of his erstwhile intellectual companions felt

(seragli [zoos]) in Leo X’s time and kept as

betrayed. Pierio Valeriano, in the passage in

prized possessions, serving, just as exotic

the Hieroglyphica on bats, writes that as hybrid

animals did, as physical, living manifestations

creatures they are deceitful, like certain Muslims

of the extent of the pope’s sway. Justice’s

who claim to become Christians only then to

gesture toward the ostrich can be read in this

return to their perfidious heresy.67 Ostriches

context as less of a caress than a possessive

and other hybrids, as images of modern man,

claiming, indeed collaring, of the African bird.

could signify both the rich and fascinating

The very strangeness of the physical form and

possibilities for new perspectives and the threat

habits of the ostrich was considered, in the

of betrayal and war.

64

European tradition, to be characteristic of 79

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Plucking the Ostrich’s Feathers

Costantino, beneath the frescoes. For guests at

Pope Leo X also commissioned a large image

the elaborate multicourse banquets held in this

of an ostrich for a tapestry in a series made

room, the golden tapestries and gold and silver

for the Sala di Costantino. The tapestries have

tableware must have been dazzling.

been lost, but prints copying their designs



and later tapestries made from the same

Pope Leo X by showing little winged children

models allow us to reconstruct their original

(putti) playing with objects from the imprese

appearance. In 1521 a little-known member

of the pope. Garlands, with overspilling fruit

of Raphael’s workshop, Tommaso Vincidor

and flowers signifying the abundance of the

(1493–1536), claimed (in a letter to Pope Leo,

golden age, ran the length of each scene.

sent from Brussels, where he was overseeing

These garlands, common in grotesques but

the production of the tapestries) that he had

on a much smaller scale, formed the backdrop

made all of the designs and painted many of

in each tapestry for a group of putti. A few of

the cartoons for the tapestries. When Vincidor

the tapestries showed the putti with a lion,

left Rome for Brussels, Raphael had just

the most common image of Leo’s reign. In

died, and so Vincidor could have brought

one of these the lion presided over an eagle,

with him his master’s initial drawings for the

a phoenix, a putto with a crown and scepter,

series. The prints of these images are inscribed

and two others holding dishes brimming with

“Raphael invented it.” In and of themselves,

coins. The triumphal message could not be

these inscriptions offer scant evidence, as

clearer (fig. 75). Another tapestry, for which a

Raphael’s followers continued to brand many

richly detailed drawing survives, lauded Leo’s

of their productions with their master’s name

magnificent generosity by showing a lioness

long after his death. It is hard to believe,

nursing her cub and a pelican striking its own

however, that the pope would have given such

breast to heal its young (fig. 76), generally an

a prominent commission entirely to a little-

image of Christ’s sacrifice but here used to

known artist and that Raphael would not have

signify the munificence of Leo.

seen fit to contribute to the designs.





imagery. In one a monkey perched on top

68

80

The commission was particularly

The imagery on the tapestries celebrated

A few of the tapestries displayed stranger

splendid and costly—a set of twenty tapestries.

of the garland, grasping a baby in swaddling

Tapestries are enormously expensive (each

clothes (fig. 77).69 The monkey’s legs were

often costing at least ten times as much as

aggressively splayed open, his genitals

a painting) because of the labor required to

displayed. Two putti were trying to distract the

make them but also because of the materials

monkey and remove the child, one by holding

used: silks and threads covered in silver and

up a fruit, the other a mirror. (Monkeys were

gold. The workshop of Pieter van Aelst in

thought to be gluttonous and vain.) This image

Brussels, which also made the tapestries that

of vice is highly unusual in a courtly context.

Raphael designed for the Sistine Chapel, was

In the oil murals and frescoes above, virtues

one of the finest in Europe. This set for the

framed portraits of the popes, and vices were

Sala di Costantino was particularly showy,

nowhere to be seen. The tapestry also included

as the figures and animals were set against a

other animals—three doves, a snail, and a

background woven of gold-covered threads.

butterfly on the back of a turtle. The doves

The tapestries were hung on special occasions

are birds of Venus, goddess of love. Were

on the lower level of the walls of the Sala di

they to be equated with the monkey’s sinful

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75 Master of the Die, after Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with a Lion, an Eagle, and a Phoenix, design for a tapestry, engraving, 1530–60. British Museum, London. 76 Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with a Lioness, a Cub, a Pelican, and Other Birds, design for a tapestry, pen and brown ink with brown wash and white heightening, ca. 1520–21. British Museum, London. 77 Master of the Die, after Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with a Monkey and a Baby, design for a tapestry, engraving, 1530–60. British Museum, London.

81

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78 Master of the Die, after Tommaso Vincidor, possibly based on a drawing by Giovanni da Udine or Raphael, Putti with an Ostrich, design for a tapestry, engraving, 1530–60. British Museum, London.

nature or to signify a higher love? The snail,

in the later print, fig. 78).71 The putti, like

in combination with the turtle and butterfly,

those with the monkey, are antagonistic to

seems to refer to a common Medici impresa:

the ostrich. One firmly holds its left leg while

an image of a slow beast (usually a turtle) with

handing a fruit up to another, who sits on its

something fast on its back, accompanied by the

back, twisting to take the fruit and to grab

motto “Festina lente,” a Latin phrase meaning

the bird by the throat. The ostrich’s ugly head

“Make haste slowly,” conveying the paradoxical

swivels around to stare at the putto face-to-face,

ability to balance cautious deliberation and

its mouth open to squawk in protest. These

agile swiftness. If this is the meaning of

two putti are distracting and immobilizing

these three animals, how does it relate to the

the bird, so that a third (the only one without

monkey, and the doves? By removing any

wings) can reach up and pluck plumes from the

motto and making what had been symbols

ostrich’s tail. He has already placed two in the

come alive, Vincidor left these tapestries

circlet around his head and has just obtained a

open to interpretation. At moments during

third. In placing three ostrich feathers in a ring,

the endless banquets held here, conversation

the putto is creating the Medici impresa. The

must have turned to the tapestries. It is quite a

fact that the putto wears the ring as a crown,

challenge to translate a baby-snatching, genital-

making the feathers head ornaments—as ostrich

displaying monkey into a paean to Pope Leo

feathers often were in the period—adds another

X, but surely some of the quick-thinking guests

level of wit to the image.

rose to the occasion!





immediately below) Raphael’s Justice, acted

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In one of the lost tapestries an ostrich

This tapestry, which hung below (possibly

stood in front of the swag, so large that it

as a playful commentary on the master’s oil

barely fit within the image (or so it seems

mural. The hidden feathers and tiny reference

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to the Medici impresa in Raphael’s painting

of the signs on the obelisks of Rome—for

became the focus of the tapestry’s story. We

Raphael, the highest of mysteries demanded

know why the ostrich was here, as it was

the rich possibilities of oil paint. Justice and

explicitly a source of feathers. However, rather

her bird are breathtakingly present, but since

than show the putti playing with the plumes

no seminaked woman with an ostrich could

alone, the image portrayed the ugly beast in its

be sitting in the Vatican palace, they are

entirety. The classicism of the bodies and poses

also manifestly a fiction, art. The seemingly

of the putti only served to make the contrast

inexplicable juxtaposition of these creatures

with the fierce bird all the greater. The ostrich

taken out of any plausible context forces

vigorously objected to having its plumes

interpretation. Raphael’s ostrich therefore

plucked for emblematic purposes. It was hardly

demonstrates the possibilities of an art that

a static symbol, but a living, squawking, hard-

mimics nature in a way that is overtly artificial.

to-control creature. The throttling gesture

Making a painting of a story or a historical

of the putto straddling the angry bird read

figure naturalistic endows the image with

as a caricature of Justice’s caress. Perhaps

clarity, drama, and immediacy—it makes it

these could be seen as a sequence: Justice,

more real and present—and we suspend our

not wanting to risk a peck at her own tender

disbelief and enter into the story. By painting

exposed flesh, has asked her helpers to gather

Justice’s ostrich naturalistically, however,

some feathers, at which the bird has turned its

Raphael has veiled the meaning, hiding it in

ugly head to cry out in pain. Vincidor, possibly

the strange reality of a creature’s body. We are

following drawings by Raphael, understood

tempted to touch the woman and her bird but

the power and ambiguity of Justice and her

also distanced from them—they are elevated

living attribute and took the idea to a comical

not as idols for worship but as enigmas that

extreme, making the bird an unwilling victim

demand interpretation. The text below is

of those who wished to allegorize it.

prescriptive and declarative—“iustitia.” The



image, on the other hand, claims for art a

Both the grotesques and Raphael’s Justice

pose the problem of meaning. Writers and

different kind of power, a higher mystery in its

artists debated throughout the Renaissance

evasive twisting of flesh, sinews, and feathers

whether grotesques were meaningful

in and out of the shadows, in its insistently

hieroglyphs or simply pure fantasy. The ostrich

real beauty and ugliness and the elusiveness of

that Justice fingers is a grotesque writ large, a

its meaning. Raphael’s followers understood

naturalistic image of a living hybrid displayed

what was at stake. Immediately after Raphael

as an exotic possession. Here the image is

invented his ostrich, the tensions between

inscribed with the idea of Justice, but Raphael,

naturalism and meaning were already being

by hiding the feathers, has cut off any visible

played out in comically exaggerated terms in

link between the bird and this interpretation,

the tapestry designed to hang below it in the

leaving the ostrich as an inexplicable presence,

same room. These issues of how to convey and

an enigma, painted in Leonardo’s famously

occlude higher truths in the physical form of a

mysterious smoky manner. Raphael and others

living creature would be explored throughout

in the Renaissance understood the hieroglyphs

the sixteenth century in works that imitated,

as a visual language that contained in their

emulated, and subverted Raphael’s invention.

physical forms sacred truths. Raphael’s modern hieroglyph is far from the simple shapes 83

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CHAPTER

Four

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Raphael’s

Heirs The Villa Madama

ceremony of formal entry had to be followed.

and Imperial Grandeur

Representatives of the pope met the visitors

In the upper left corner of the Battle of the

outside of the city gates. The visiting delegation

Milvian Bridge, the scene at which Raphael’s

often needed to eat and sleep on the outskirts

ostrich seems to stare so intently in the Sala

of Rome and at any rate needed to bathe and

di Costantino, is a structure that at first glance

change into appropriate parade garb before

appears to be an ancient ruin (fig. 79). A closer

entering Rome in style. The lack of proper

inspection reveals that the building is a modern

facilities for this caused the papal master of

palazzo and that it is under construction, as

ceremonies, Paris de Grassis, terrible stress.

it has scaffolding. This palace, now called the

Once, after a delegation had already entered

Villa Madama (after a later owner), is the

and slept inside Rome, he found no alternative

best evidence of another aspect of Raphael’s

but to sneak them back out of the city in order

varied career—his architecture. It also contains

to make a proper entry the next day. The

a vividly naturalistic painting of an ostrich.

location of the Villa Madama, just outside the



walls, made it a perfect place to commence a

Raphael designed the building for

Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (1478–1534), Pope

proper, impressive entry into Rome.2 The Villa

Leo X’s cousin, who became Pope Clement VII

Madama, therefore, was intended to serve

in 1523. This villa, on the outskirts of Rome,

the same semipublic function as the Sala di

offered a place to escape the noise, dust, and

Costantino—as a place for entertainment

disease of the city and relax by the fishponds

and the reception of ambassadors and other

and in the shade of cool loggias. Only a small

dignitaries. Many visitors would have lingered

part of the building was ever completed,

in and admired both spaces, newly created

but Raphael’s drawings and letter describing

by Raphael, as a highlight of their visit to

the villa reveal the grandiose plans, which

Medici Rome.

included expensive waterworks, a circular



courtyard, and, built into the sloping hillside,

de’ Medici decided to proceed with the

a theater that would have had actual views of

decoration of the incomplete villa. The villa was

the city of Rome as a backdrop. Raphael’s and

to serve an essential diplomatic function, but

the cardinal’s ambitions were that the Villa

nonetheless the cardinal, in a letter he wrote

Madama would in its magnificence not only far

to Bishop Mario Maffei, did not specify which

outstrip any villas of their time but also rival

scenes were to be painted on the walls: “As for

those of ancient imperial Rome.

the stories or fables—I like varied things,



and I don’t care if they are all connected, and

1

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The scale and design of the villa were

After Raphael’s death, Cardinal Giulio

meant to serve a practical diplomatic function.

most of all I desire that they be well known, so

Protocol dictated that whenever an important

that painters don’t have to add labels, as did he

visitor came to Rome to see the pope, a

who wrote, ‘This is a horse.’ The things from

9/4/15 9:58 AM

Ovid that your lordship wrote to me are to

of calm dignity or focuses the eye on one dra-

my taste, but see to it that you pick the most

matic narrative scene; instead, it continually

beautiful ones, which I leave up to you. . .

delights by forcing viewers to discover new and

The stories from the Old Testament are good

inventive details as they linger, exploring its

enough for the loggia of His Holiness.”3

infinite variations.

From the cardinal’s instructions it is clear that he wanted the stories to be to his taste—

The Ostrich as an Inflated Grotesque

beautiful and classical but not so obscure as

Giulio Romano and Giovanni da Udine made

to be incomprehensible. He did not, however,

an almost academic reconstruction of ancient

specify any iconographic program or philo-

grotesques in the main space of the villa, a

sophical or personal meaning.

loggia open to the gardens. Giovanni da Udine



Cardinal Giulio gave the bishop a great

rediscovered the ancient technique of making

deal of liberty in devising pleasant, pagan

very fine relief sculpture in stucco and used this

subjects, but he wanted the villa to be deco-

in combination with the frescoes to brilliant effect. Tiny birds and beasts are painted and sculpted in stucco among the grotesques. The villa was once filled with ancient sculptures, which added to the classical atmosphere. For the garden, Giovanni da Udine designed a fountain as a large-scale memorial to Hanno the elephant, whose portrait is carved in marble atop great swags of carved fruit (fig. 81). The water spurted from Hanno’s trunk.5

In a banqueting room adjacent to the

loggia, the painters used grotesques in a new unclassical way. A painted frieze (made in imitation of the Giochi di putti tapestries in the Sala di Costantino) sets the festive tone,

86

rated in the latest style, with grotesques. After

as putti play in front of garlands of fruit and

Raphael’s death, his well-oiled, efficient shop

flowers. One of the putti is black, possibly to

broke down, and the two painters who had

signify the universal reach of the church, to

been his principal assistants had trouble decid-

add a note of luxury in a time in which courtly

ing who was in charge of the Villa Madama’s

patrons sought black child servants or slaves,

decoration. Cardinal Giulio called them “those

or simply to contribute to the variety of the

two crazies” and sought ways to convince them

scene (fig. 82).6 The central scene on the ceiling

to set aside their differences.4 The result of

depicts chariots of the sun and the moon and is

these creative battles is apparent in the interior

surrounded by a frame ornamented by typical

of the villa, which is covered—encrusted—

small, delicate grotesques (fig. 83). Around

with varied and inventive forms of decoration:

this are large roundels, eight of which are

delicate grotesques, fanciful arabesques, and

filled with Cardinal Giulio’s impresa of light

elegant stucco vying with a painting of the

shining through a sphere. Imprese are usually

muscular giant Polyphemus (fig. 80). This is

small—in books, on medals, or painted or

not a space that makes a unified impression

sculpted on a small scale in a private space,

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79 Giulio Romano and workshop, after drawings by Raphael, Battle of the Milvian Bridge, detail of the Villa Madama under construction, fresco, 1519–24, Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace. 80 Raphael, Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine, and workshop, decorations in the Villa Madama loggia, fresco and stucco, 1521, Rome.

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88

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81 Baldassare Peruzzi, elephant fountain, marble, mosaic, and other materials, 1524–26, Villa Madama, Rome. 82 Giovanni da Udine and Giulio Romano, putti with rabbits, fresco, 1521–23, Sala di Giulio Romano, Villa Madama, Rome. 83 Giovanni da Udine and others, vault of the Sala di Giulio Romano, fresco, 1521–23, Villa Madama, Rome. 84 Giovanni da Udine, ostrich, from the vault of the Sala di Giulio Romano, fresco, 1521–23, Villa Madama, Rome.

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such as the studiolo in Urbino. Around

period. This painting, in its carefully observed

these magnified imprese are fourteen large

naturalism, contrasts with a drawing by Giulio

compartments, each of which is decorated

Romano (fig. 85).8 In the drawing, Giulio has

with grotesque ornaments made large—arches

exaggerated the characteristic features of the

of greenery and curtain swags. The arches are

ostrich to make the creature more fantastic.

more of a flat decoration on the surface, but

The eye and nostril are huge, causing the head

the curtain swags, when painted on this scale

to bulge up around them. It seems as if Giulio’s

and realistically shaded, are given a weight and

hand quivered as he drew around the bumpy

depth that raises questions about what they

toes, and then remained steady to define the

are doing there and how they are supported.

attenuated neck. The toes are not quite long

These arches and swags form grand frames—

enough—almost like camels’ hooves. The

stages—for the figures and animals that occupy

wings jut aggressively forward, and the wing

them. A few contain people in classical dress

tips and tail feathers curl upward and out in

(performing sacrifices, etc.). In each of the

stylized arabesques. In the painting, in contrast,

others stands one isolated, splendidly framed,

the tail feathers flop realistically downward,

large exotic animal or fantastic creature,

giving the bird an almost drab appearance.

including a sphinx, a lion, a leopard, a turkey,

Giulio Romano also drew a fanciful decorative

and an ostrich.7

ornament of spiraling, intertwined ostrich



heads, necks, and feathers (fig. 86). He was

The ostrich, which has its head down to

the ground, presumably eating, is realistically

clearly taken with the exaggerated exoticism of

painted (fig. 84). Instead of a monstrous

Raphael’s ostrich, which has a similar spiraling

creature, it appears to be a real beast—

neck. Surely the person who drew this stylized

more real than Raphael’s ostrich, which in

ornament and the fanciful phoenixlike hybrid

comparison looks like a Leonardesque fantasy.

monster cannot be the same person who

The legs, tail, head, coloring, and posture of

painted the soberly, delicately realistic ostrich

the ostrich in the Villa Madama are quietly

in the Villa Madama. If the drawing, as seems

convincing and may offer the best evidence that

likely, is by Giulio Romano, then the painting

ostriches were kept in papal menageries in this

was surely done by Giovanni da Udine.9

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The effect of the fresco in the Villa

Madama is to make the creature itself, so realistically present, a kind of living grotesque, a marvel in and of itself, a mysterious living relic of ancient Egypt, like the sphinx, and a strange bird from a faraway land, like the turkey. Giovanni da Udine follows Raphael in painting this marvelous creature on a large scale in a semipublic location but surely competes with his dead, apotheosized master by making his ostrich much more real. There is also something playful in the unexpected nature of the imagery of this room. In the huge adjacent loggia, the deeds of the gods are painted on a miniature scale. Now in a smaller space, much closer to the viewer, the large and grand figures, rather pompously presented, are not the gods or heroes but a turkey and an ostrich.

What does the ostrich mean here?

Lacking an inscription and without conventional attributes, the ostrich does not carry any explicit meaning.10 Various possibilities come to mind. Justice is the most probable, as the ostrich was one of the attributes of Justice in the recently painted Sala di Costantino. The tail feathers of the Villa Madama ostrich, though, are realistically of many lengths. Perhaps the ostrich is shown with its head down, eating, to suggest that it eats iron. Certainly it seems unlikely that anything negative was intended— Raphael’s heirs would not be so stupid as to call the important cardinal and future pope a hypocrite or heretic! It is not clear that the ostrich signifies anything at all. After all, the cardinal had stated that he did not want obscure allegories, requiring labels, and there are no ostriches in Ovid. The ostrich, therefore, is an ostrich— a large flightless bird, an exotic import from Africa, a living grotesque that does not need to be caricatured to make it appear fantastic. The Northern artist Maarten van Heemskerck, who came to Rome on an artistic pilgrimage later in the century, carefully sketched, along with 90

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a hybrid creature on a fragment of an ancient

ability to digest the hardest of substances

frieze, the Villa Madama ostrich, as if it were a

makes it powerful but also indiscriminate

classical grotesque.

and destructive. Niccolò’s son Ludovico was

11

thirteen when Ferrara was plastered with these The Ostrich in the Literature

nasty verses. It is hard to imagine that he

of the Early Cinquecento

did not know about the attack on his father,

Despite these new positive (or at any rate

though it is possible that he was shielded from

neutral) images, the ostrich had by no means

the growing scandal. Twenty-five years later,

lost its negative associations by the early

when he wrote the Orlando furioso, Ludovico

cinquecento. Antonio Vinciguerra (ca. 1440–

may have on some level remembered these

1502), for example, in a lament on the sad

poems, as he too associated the ostrich with

state of the world, conjures up a voracious

the monstrous.

creature who, like an ostrich, eats everything.12



The ostrich’s ability to eat iron, which the

taste as the decorations in the Villa Madama

Montefeltro had claimed as emblematic of

for the various, often fantastic, and end-

courageous toughness, is here a horrifyingly

lessly inventive. In fact, literary critics in the

monstrous embodiment of indiscriminate,

Renaissance, defending the Orlando furioso

gluttonous destruction.

from those attacking it for a lack of unity, called



it a “most magnificent, rich and ornate palace.”15

The ostrich is time and again similarly

The Orlando furioso satisfies the same

invoked in a series of nasty poems attacking

Some criticized the poem, saying that it was

Niccolò Ariosto (1433–1500), the father of the

not a proper epic because it lacked any single

famous poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533).

unified plot describing the adventures of one

Niccolò was apparently a horrible man, whose

hero. Instead, Ariosto offered a whole series of

involvement in an assassination enabled

heroes and heroines and had a maddening

him to rise in power in Ferrara until he was

tendency to leave one strand of the plot hang-

named to the post of Giudice dei Savi, which

ing and jump to another. The text is full of diz-

allowed him to fleece the citizenry and the

zyingly complex voyages (some on the back

85

government coffers while physically torturing

of a hippogriff) to various exotic locations.

Giulio Romano, Ostrich, pen and brown ink

his enemies. In 1487, when the duke, Ercole



I d’Este, was away on pilgrimage and Niccolò

of the heroes, Ruggiero, approaches the palace

was on a trip to Rome, someone posted

of the enchantress Alcina. She is a mistress

all over Ferrara poems decrying Niccolò as

of metamorphosis—transforming herself

a monster, repeatedly calling him an iron-

from a hag into the loveliest of women and

eating ostrich. For this poet, who writes in a

transforming the men she has enjoyed into

colloquial vernacular, the ostrich is far from an

the trees, rocks, and animals of her domain.

image of justice—it is the worst insult for an

Ruggiero is warned by a tree-man of Alcina’s

unjust leader. Again, what makes the ostrich

dangerous deceptive magic, but he too falls

so horrible is not the reasons for which it

prey to her destructive illusions, until he is

was vituperated in antiquity and the Middle

rescued and can see things as they are. After he

Ages—abandoning its eggs, the inability to

has been warned, and before Alcina’s treacher-

fly—but the eating of iron. The poet writes

ous loveliness overcomes his good intentions,

of Niccolò’s “strange nature” as a creature

Ruggiero tries to skirt her dangerous realm but

that eats everything, even iron. The ostrich’s

is stopped by her monstrous guards:

13

with brown wash over black chalk on paper, 1514–46. British Museum, London. 86 Giulio Romano, ornament with ostrich heads and feathers, pen and brown ink with brown wash on paper, 1514–46. British Museum, London.

14

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A dramatic encounter occurs when one

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No stranger band of foes had ever been,

Pope Hadrian VI’s Ostrich

No faces more repellent or distorted;

If ostrich imagery makes a kind of mad

Some, human downwards from the neck, were seen

sense in the weird world of the Orlando

With cat or ape-like heads to be ill-sorted. ............................

furioso, it seems equally fitting in the learned

Some on a charger gallop to and fro

and Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici’s Rome. The

Without a rein; or on a donkey amble,

ostrich could only be completely out of place,

Or on an ox; on centaurs’ backs some go;

however, in the Rome of Leo’s successor,

On eagles, cranes and ostriches some scramble.16

Pope Hadrian VI (1459–1523). After Leo died,

The strangest, most monstrous, and most distorted of all creatures are hybrids, part beast and part human, “female or male or both.” Their mounts are likewise “ill-sorted” creatures, some slow, some fast; some real, some fantastic; centaurs, a huge turtle, a humble donkey, impossibly large and strong eagles and cranes, and ostriches. Ostriches are real beasts that can actually be ridden, unlike some of the other animals Ariosto describes, but as hybrid creatures they are appropriate for this weird company.

Raphael’s ostrich and those of his heirs

decorate the palaces of powerful patrons and are meant to evoke positive associations— justice, strength, and luxuriousness. But they also carry some of the monstrosity of the literary ostrich of the period. Raphael’s image pairs an exquisitely lovely, pearly-fleshed sensual woman with this rough, dark, sinewy bird, not to make some kind of visual joke at the expense of the pope, but to evoke the same kind of rich and fantastical variety of invention that makes Alcina’s realm and Ariosto’s poem in general so enchanting. Likewise, the realistically painted ostrich in the Villa Madama can stand as a grotesque, alongside the sphinx, just as Ariosto needs only to invoke ostriches—he does not need to make them weirder than they are—in order to present them as apt mounts for the most monstrous of riders, along with centaurs and a giant turtle.

culture and imperial decadence of Leo X’s

the cardinals had an unusually long conclave to pick his successor. Probably in order to forestall two young and powerful candidates, Giulio de’ Medici and Alessandro Farnese, an outsider was eventually chosen, a pious theologian from the Low Countries. Hadrian immediately set out to reform the abuses of Leo’s pontificate, cutting down radically on expenses and firing humanists and artists.17 Hadrian had a modest background—son of a carpenter, he became dedicated to a religious life at an early age. He was learned in theology and became a professor at the University of Louvain, where he was a teacher and an early supporter of the intellectual and reformer Erasmus of Rotterdam. During Hadrian’s brief reign as pope, 1522–23, the Lutheran reformers were gaining strength in Germany and other parts of northern Europe. Hadrian, a Northerner and both a staunch Catholic and a pious man interested in rooting out corruption, may have inspired hopes for a reconciliation within Christendom.

The new pope, unlike his predecessors,

lived very simply. He long delayed the ceremony of entry into Rome, which left the city, with its ineffectual secular government, in chaos. When the grateful citizens in July 1522 finally received news that the pope was to enter Rome almost eight months after his election, they began construction of large-scale temporary decorations, including a triumphal arch for the Porta Portuensis, the ancient gate through which the pope would enter the city.

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Pope Hadrian VI demanded that his ceremony

engage in large-scale destruction of antiquities,

of entry be without pomp (an instruction

but there is evidence that he sold some of the

that the Romans could not bring themselves

Vatican’s ancient statues. Vasari later reported

to follow to the letter), and specified that the

that Hadrian similarly disparaged and threat-

construction of the pagan triumphal arch be

ened to destroy Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling

halted immediately. Hadrian’s immediate

because the nudes were more appropriate to

predecessors would not have dreamed of

a bathhouse.24 The word Hadrian used to

objecting to classicism as pagan—they were

convey his disgust for such secular imagery

only too happy to express the triumph of the

is stufa, which suggests what Hadrian must

modern Catholic Church using the triumphal

have thought of Cardinal Bibbiena’s Stufetta,

arch, classical nudes, and other ancient forms.

with its grotesques!





18

Once in Rome, Hadrian continued to live

modestly. He ate little—ambassadorial reports

many of the offices Leo X had created that

say more like a parish priest than a prince of the

employed humanists. Artistic and architectural

church—and kept as few servants as possible.

projects (except the rebuilding of St. Peter’s)

19

An elderly Dutch woman cooked and cleaned

were stopped. The decoration of the Sala di

for him, and he cut the retinue of papal grooms

Costantino was halted—presumably the nudity

from 150 to 12. Hadrian reportedly did not

of many of the allegorical figures and lavish

want to live in the Vatican, but in a small house

classicism of the whole scheme was not to

with a garden.20 When he did take up residence

Hadrian’s taste. Vasari was exaggerating when

in the papal apartments of the Vatican, he was

he said that Giulio Romano and the other

clearly horrified by the imperial splendor of

pupils of Raphael were near starving, but work

his predecessors. The Cortile del Belvedere, a

for Raphael’s shop did drop suddenly from a

magnificent series of courtyards, gardens, and

whole series of important papal commissions to

terraces, used for plays and other spectacles,

none. The pope attempted to curb extravagance

had been commissioned as the central jewel of

and corruption in the court of Rome by

Pope Julius II’s plans to revive the grandeur of

limiting the cardinals’ benefices, cutting the

imperial Rome. Construction continued under

number of servants cardinals could have in their

Pope Leo X, who housed his elephant in the

households, and regulating everything from

Cortile and had Raphael paint Hanno’s memo-

dress to the food at feasts. Savage anonymous

rial there. The unparalleled papal collections of

poems attacking the hated “barbarian” pope

ancient sculptures were kept in the Belvedere.

for every vice imaginable were pasted around

When a member of the court showed Hadrian

the city. Hadrian tried fruitlessly to censor this

the famous statue of Laocoön, the pope report-

outpouring of rage by banning the feast of

edly shrugged and dismissed the statue as a

Pasquino, a day that celebrated the tradition of

pagan idol.21 He ordered that entrances to the

satirical poems.25 To the relief of many, Hadrian,

Belvedere be blocked, and personally kept the

whose health was not strong, died in 1523, after

key to the one remaining door. Girolamo

ruling for a little more than a year.26 Perhaps

Negri, Cardinal Cornaro’s secretary, specu-

because his reign was considered so disastrous,

lated that the pope would “soon be doing as

he was the last non-Italian pope to be elected

Gregory the Great did, and order the antique

until John Paul II in 1978.

statuary to be burned into lime for the building



of St. Peter’s.” Fortunately, Hadrian did not

called the cardinals to his chamber and asked

22

23

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One of the pope’s first acts was to abolish

When he was on his deathbed, Hadrian

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that they approve his nomination of a close

same lion has these wings on his shoulders

friend, Wilhelm van Enkevoirt (1464–1534),

with plumage so feathery and soft it is almost

to the cardinalate. Enkevoirt, another learned

unbelievable that the hand of an artisan could

man from the Low Countries, had been by

imitate nature in such a way.”32 Such praise

the pope’s side throughout his brief reign,

of naturalism is one of the standard tropes of

and as Hadrian had appointed him to the im-

writing about art, but it is generally reserved

portant office of the datary, Enkevoirt had been

for narrative scenes. Here Vasari praises a

responsible for executing many of Hadrian’s

symbol, one that is obviously not real, as

most controversial reforms. Enkevoirt was

lions do not lie peaceably at a man’s side, hold

to the pope “half of his heart and soul.” The

books, or sport wings. Giulio competes with

cardinals could not deny the dying pontiff,

nature, creates a “difficult and beautiful” image

and so Enkevoirt became a cardinal four days

by painting a hybrid creature, unnaturally

before Hadrian died. The grateful newly ap-

juxtaposed with man, just as Raphael did.

pointed cardinal commissioned a tomb for the

The painting’s dark tonality (which Vasari

pope, which was constructed in Santa Maria

thought was too dark, obscuring the imagery)

dell’Anima, the German church in Rome,

and large exotic animal suggest that Giulio

chosen because Hadrian was a Northerner.29

may have been thinking of Raphael’s Justice,

Just before he died, Hadrian gave explicit in-

an image he knew well. Indeed, the pose of

structions that his possessions be given to the

the Madonna, gently twisting with her legs

poor and that his funeral be simple, ordering

crossed, is reminiscent of it. Whereas the

that it should cost no more than twenty-five

simple-living Pope Hadrian was openly hostile

ducats, a paltry sum. Enkevoirt wanted to

to classical and classicizing art, the fabulously

honor his patron, but the lavish monument

wealthy Fugger chose to commission a

he created, which includes a marble ostrich, is

particularly rich, classical, Raphaelesque work.

antithetical to Hadrian’s austere ideals.





antithetical to those of Jakob Fugger, but the

27

28

30

94

For the same church another Northerner,

Cardinal Enkevoirt espoused ideals

the banker Jakob II Fugger (1459–1525), had

tomb he commissioned for the same church

recently commissioned an altarpiece from

as that which housed the banker’s altarpiece is

Giulio Romano, Raphael’s chief pupil and the

close to the painting in style and spirit (fig. 88).

man who inherited his shop (and the Sala di

For Hadrian’s tomb Cardinal Enkevoirt also

Costantino commission) after Raphael died

chose a follower of Raphael, Baldassare Peruzzi

(fig. 87). Fugger, known as “the rich,” was

(1481–1536). Peruzzi, more known as a painter

immensely wealthy, possibly the richest man in

and architect than a sculptor, had designed

Europe, and instrumental in financing Julius II,

the lavish suburban villa of Leo’s close associ-

Leo X, and Charles V. Luther himself criticized

ate, the banker Agostino Chigi (1466–1520).

Fugger by name as a rapacious banker who

He was also one of the team who painted

profited from indulgences.31 Vasari admired

the pope’s Loggia, and he designed stage sets

the altarpiece’s ornately complex composition,

for Bernardo Dovizi’s comedy La Calandria.33

singling out the winged lion: “Saint Mark

Peruzzi designed the tomb, which was

the Evangelist has a lion at his feet, which is

executed with the assistance of Tribolo and

reclining with a book and has fur that shifts

Michelangelo Sanese, two sculptors who

according to his position. This was a difficult

worked in a classicizing Raphaelesque idiom.

and beautiful thought—all the more so as the

Modeled on a pair of tombs Pope Julius II

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87 Giulio Romano, The Holy Family with Saints Mark and James, oil on panel, 1521–22. Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome. 88 Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo Sanese, and Tribolo, tomb of Pope Hadrian VI, marble, 1523–33, Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome.

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commissioned in Santa Maria del Popolo (fig. 89), it is in the form of a classical triumphal arch. Hadrian, who had refused to pass under a temporary stucco arch to enter Rome, was permanently buried under a much more splendid marble one. The tomb, like those in Santa Maria del Popolo, includes a recumbent effigy of the deceased, flanked by personifications of virtues, with coats of arms and inscriptions below and the Madonna and child above, underneath the arch. The tomb of Hadrian outshines its models in splendor. Two of the giant-order, two-storey Corinthian columns are of Lucullan black marble (known as nero africano). Peruzzi had painted just such columns as a part of the trompe l’oeil decorations of Agostino Chigi’s pleasure villa. Here it is the extremely costly real articles that adorn the austere pope’s tomb.

The sculpted decorations on Hadrian’s

tomb are also more elaborate than those on the previous tombs. The two lower coats of arms are set in front of great swags of drapery, and classicizing putti hold up the shields, perhaps in imitation of the Giochi di putti tapestries. Peruzzi also added an additional level, with a large high-relief sculpture depicting, of all things, Hadrian’s triumphal entry into the city (fig. 90). The pope is shown like an ancient emperor, on an elegant horse, leading a retinue, the classical city, with its pyramids and obelisks, visible in the background. In the foreground a pagan river god reclines elegantly.34 It is hard to imagine something more offensive to the pope’s sensibilities!

Hadrian would surely also have objected

to the almost life-size personifications of the virtues in clinging classical garments that flank the effigy. One of these depicts an ideal dear to the pope, justice (fig. 91). The rather languid contrapposto stance, Greco-Roman type of beauty, and fluid classical drapery of the figure seem to be modeled on Andrea Sansovino’s 96

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89 Andrea Sansovino, tomb of Cardinal Girolamo Basso della Rovere, marble, ca. 1507, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. 90 Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo Sanese, and Tribolo, entry of Pope Hadrian VI into Rome, tomb of Pope Hadrian VI, marble, 1523–33, Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome. 91 Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo Sanese, and Tribolo, Justice, tomb of Pope Hadrian VI, marble, 1523–33, Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome.

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Temperance, a figure on one of the tombs in

a Latin biography of Hadrian to be written by

Santa Maria del Popolo that Vasari later

Paolo Giovio, who had already immortalized

singled out for praise (fig. 89). Peruzzi is also

the splendor of Leo X’s reign with a biography.

closely imitating Raphael’s image in the

A member of Leo’s inner circle, Giovio was

Sala di Costantino, as he has included an

one of the few humanists to remain in favor

ostrich, which stands nestled against Justice’s

under Hadrian, who awarded him a benefice

side, its body and craning neck emerging

in Como, noting that he deserved this post

from behind her shapely and exposed right

because of his work as a historian, not his work

thigh. He even gives the figure a visor-

as a poet. Giovio’s prologue to the biography

like headdress, as Raphael had done. The

begins by comparing the written account to the

revealing and classicizing asymmetrical dress

papal tomb.38 He writes that the tomb, sump-

is also reminiscent of Raphael’s Justice. The

tuous with many expensive marbles and lavish

figure is not labeled, as Raphael’s was, but

art, is not an eternal monument to the pope’s

the traditional attributes of the sword and

greatness, that it will succumb to the ravages

scales make the primary meaning evident.

of time or may be suddenly destroyed by ill

Like Raphael before him, Peruzzi hides the

fortune. He claims that he has written his his-

wings and tail of the bird, so that Horapollo’s

tory so that not just the words inscribed on the

association with the ostrich plume and equity

tomb but also this account of Hadrian’s deeds

is not visible. Peruzzi’s Justice does not hold

will bring the pope eternal fame. This dire ac-

her ostrich. The body of the marble bird faces

count of the ephemeral nature of what was,

to the side, but the head stares abruptly and

after all, an extremely expensive monument

fiercely forward, much more intensely gripping

commissioned by Giovio’s patron was an odd

than the unfocused gaze of Lady Justice.

way to begin his biography, a hint of the ironic

The ostrich therefore seems, even more

tone of what follows. The biography, while

than Raphael’s bird, more than a symbolic

ostensibly praising the pope, dwells to such

attribute—it is a protagonist, or perhaps an

a degree on the criticism of his actions that it

antagonist. The richly detailed sculpture

becomes clear that Giovio’s sympathies do not

of the exotic bird is, like the columns of nero

lie with Hadrian or Enkevoirt, but with their

africano, a part of the imperial splendor of

detractors. It is extraordinary for a work com-

Hadrian’s tomb.

missioned as praise to have this kind of satirical



edge, which suggests something of the cool

35

The inscription on the tomb reads:

“Alas! How much it matters in which times the

irony Hadrian inspired, even in a scholarly man

virtue of even the greatest men flourishes!”

who had not suffered under his rule.

36

This is close to the sorts of complaints about



the limited scope for virtue in troubled times

and the biography to offer eternal praise to

that Hadrian himself was often heard to make.37

Hadrian. Giovio’s text subverts these wishes.

The tone of bitter lament for the vagaries of

Peruzzi, surely unintentionally, also created a

fortune, which stymied the efforts of the

work rich with irony. Ultimately, Hadrian’s

zealous reformer, is at odds with the overtly

dearest and closest ally enshrined his memory

pompous pageantry of the rest of the tomb.

in forms that make painfully evident the futility



of Hadrian’s attempts to reject the classical

In the same years Enkevoirt commis-

sioned another work to honor his dead patron,

98

Enkevoirt clearly intended the tomb

pageantry of the Roman court.

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Pope Clement VII and the

are often bitterly negative. One page shows

Sack of Rome: Ostrich Plumes

the wheel of the ostrich (fig. 93). Among the

amid the Devastation

figures framing the rather realistic ostrich

Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, Pope Leo X’s

is Raphael. Artists, writers, philosophers,

cousin, was one of many cardinals who left

mathematicians, musicians, and political

Rome rather than endure the strictures of

leaders frame all of the wheels, and there does

Hadrian’s papacy. He went to his native

not seem to be an organized system for their

Florence and returned to Rome on Hadrian’s

placement, as, for example, no musicians frame

death, in 1523. Again a candidate for the

the wheel of music and no geometers the wheel

papacy, Giulio was this time successful, and

of geometry. Nevertheless, perhaps it is not

all hailed Pope Clement VII as the bringer of

coincidence that Raphael is associated with the

a golden age. Artists and writers flocked back

ostrich. The book is also, however, a sign of

to Rome. Clement resumed construction on

how much had changed in the few short years

the Villa Madama and ordered Giulio Romano

since Raphael’s death, as here the ostrich is not

to complete the decoration of the Sala di

an embodiment of justice but a part of a bitter

Costantino. His patronage emulated that of

high-stakes game of fortune, one that Clement

his kinsman Leo X. Clement commissioned

would soon lose.

his own tapestries, as well as his own Stufetta



covered with grotesques.

German Lutheran mercenaries, savagely



sacked Rome, looting and setting fire to the

39

The promise of Clement’s election was

short-lived, since the pope, tragically, showed

city, raping women (including nuns), and

himself to be politically inept, and soon the

murdering men. Clement took refuge in Castel

very existence of Rome was threatened by

Sant’Angelo, the papal stronghold in which

imperial troops. In January 1527, as tensions

al-Wazzan had been held captive before his

were mounting and an imperial army was

conversion. From the terrace where Pope Leo

descending the peninsula toward Rome,

had first seen the elephant Hanno perform his

Sigismondo Fanti published a fortune-telling

tricks, now vastly outnumbered gunmen took

game in the form of a book, dedicated to

shots at the occupying imperial troops. Many

Pope Clement VII.40 While the book purports

saw the horror of the sack as just punishment

to offer a pleasurable pastime, it is much

for the corruption and decadence of Rome.

more elaborate and politically pointed than

For others, the hopeful mood of the beginning

previous fortune-telling books, as players

of the century gave way to bitterness. The sack

could ask for answers not only to questions

had a devastating effect on the populace, the

about love but also to such topical questions

pope, artists, writers, and the idea of Rome

as which combatant would win and whether

and the Renaissance. Peruzzi, for example,

it was advisable to change allegiance to a new

was captured during the sack and tortured by

lord.41 On the title page Clement is depicted

Spanish troops.43

precariously balanced atop a globe, which an



angel of good fortune and a devil of ill fortune

their names on the walls of the Domus Aurea,

turn with great cranks (fig. 92). Fanti boasts

so the imperial troops left their mark on

in pompous prose of how useful his book

Renaissance Rome, destroying buildings and

will be in allowing the reader to triumph over

works of art and wreaking havoc and carving

fortune, but the answers given to the questions

graffiti into frescoes in the Vatican, the Villa

42

99

Later in 1527 imperial troops, including

Just as Raphael’s followers had scratched

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92 After Giuseppe della Porta, frontispiece, woodcut, from Sigismondo Fanti, Triompho di fortuna, 1527. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gift of Paul Sachs, 1925 (25.7). 93 The wheel of the ostrich, woodcut, from Sigismondo Fanti, Triompho di fortuna, 1527. Warburg Institute, London.

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94 Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert, after Maarten van Heemskerck, The Death of Charles de Bourbon and the Sack of Rome, engraving and etching, 1555–56, private collection.

Madama,44 and other sites that had clearly

Men, which offers a vivid account of the new,

come to stand for the papacy. One soldier

post-1527 world. Even after the sack, though,

even carved Martin Luther’s name into one of

Valeriano still wrote of Hadrian’s reign as a

Raphael’s frescoes in the papal apartments.

disaster, one that brought barbarity to Rome.47

45

The sack of Rome was only depicted decades

Hadrian’s severe restrictions on the income

later by Northern artists. It is ironic that in

and expenditure of the Roman court and his

these images the soldiers demolishing the

view of classical forms and ideas as heathen

Renaissance in Rome are shown as classical

idolatry had no lasting effect, even on the form

heroes with Michelangelesque muscles, wearing

of his own tomb (the construction of which

helmets adorned with ostrich plumes (fig. 94).

was interrupted by the sack and completed



afterward). Hadrian’s papacy, along with the

In some ways, Rome never recovered

from this blow, but the splendor of papal

sack, gave a sense of an ending and made

pageantry did return to the city, as discussed in

Leo X’s term as pope seem a halcyon time.

the following chapters. In light of this disaster,

Immediately after Raphael’s death, his heirs,

which many saw as just punishment for papal

claiming his legacy, continued to paint and

corruption, Hadrian’s austerity and calls for

sculpt ostriches as part of a seamless tradition.

reform seem prescient. The horrors of the sack,

In the 1540s, however, when artists and patrons

however, did little to raise the estimation of the

returned to the imagery of Leo X, they were

Dutch pope in Roman eyes. Giovio’s savage

consciously reviving a culture that had been

life of Hadrian was published long after the

attacked and then brutally demolished.

sack. Pierio Valeriano did not witness the sack 46

firsthand but so felt its consequences that he wrote a dialogue, On the Ill Fortune of Learned

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chapter

Five

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Vasari’s

‘

Farnese Ostriches and

Raphael

Pope Paul III: Making the

and so the upper floors of the massive and for-

Prison into a Palace

bidding structure are covered in airy, graceful,

When Pope Clement VII died in 1534 Rome

playful grotesques. In 1544–46 the pope

rejoiced. The pope was hated not only

commissioned a follower of Raphael’s pupil

because he was associated with the sack but

Perino del Vaga, Luzio Romano, to fresco an

also because he was seen as a foreigner, a

open loggia at the upper level of the fortress

Florentine only interested in aggrandizing

with classically inspired grotesques.5 High

his own city and family.1 Cardinal Alessandro

on the walls, in the candelabra that frame

Farnese (1468–1549) was elected the new pope

the central compartments, are pairs of tiny

in record time—the conclave took only three

ostriches, delicately pink and gray (fig. 95).

days—and chose the name Pope Paul III. He

The ceiling of the central space of the loggia

was hailed as a Roman, following upon popes

has been lost, but the vaults of the side sections

who had been Spanish, Sienese, Florentine,

are preserved, one of which centers on a marble

Ligurian, and Dutch.2 He capitalized on this

relief of a dolphin and a chameleon, with the

with a program to revitalize Rome as a cultural

motto “Festina lente” (Make haste slowly).6

center, making the city into a splendid stage

The dolphin was celebrated as the fastest of

for papal ceremonies by straightening the

creatures, whereas the chameleon was thought

Via del Corso, carving out other roads, and

to be slower than a tortoise, and so together

renewing work on the Vatican Palace and St.

they signal the perfect balance of bold action

Peter’s. He also redecorated the fortress that

and contemplative caution.7 On the other side,

had been Clement’s salvation and prison,

the ceiling centerpiece is a fine marble relief

Castel Sant’Angelo. With this revival of

of an ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak

Rome came a revival of images of ostriches.

(fig. 96).8 It is a precious image to suit Paul’s

Raphael’s strange invention was by the 1540s

taste for rich display, made of white marble

a kind of a classic, which could be imitated

with gilded trim and delicately carved with

and adapted for different uses, and thus was

deep undercutting, leaving the finely pointed

an effective political tool, evocative without

feet and curling feathers looking fragile. The

being overly explicit. The ostrich images made

bird itself, though, is monstrous, with a thick

for the Farnese demonstrate both the apogee

sinewy neck, deeply inset beady eye, an almost

of the success of Raphael’s invention and the

porcine snout, a huge ear, and camels’ hooves.

limitations of such arcane allegorical imagery.





the artist’s fancy or could hold some arcane

3

Clement had already commissioned art-

ists to redecorate parts of Castel Sant’Angelo.

allegorical meaning, but the sculpted reliefs in

Paul undertook a much larger campaign to

the vaults demand explanation. The dolphin

transform spaces into evocations of the Vatican

and chameleon have an accompanying motto,

Palace, again employing followers of Raphael,

but the monstrous ostrich has no text. Because

4

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The grotesques could be flights of

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95 Luzio Romano, detail of grotesques with ostriches, fresco, 1544–46, Cagliostra, Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome. 96 Ostrich, detail of the vault, marble, 1544–46, Cagliostra, Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome.

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its wings are outstretched, it could be read as

(1510–1537) when she was six. Two years later

a sign of hypocrisy, but these decorative

Margherita met both her father and her future

schemes leave no place for negative images,

husband for the first time. She was married

and so the ostrich must be a strange—finely

to Alessandro, by then the Duke of Florence,

wrought but hideous—compliment to the

just before her fourteenth birthday. Apparently

pope. Here the animal’s ability to digest iron

the marriage was a happy one, though brief, as

could be a flattering reference to the pope’s

Alessandro was assassinated the following year.

toughness or perhaps to his justice, following



Raphael’s invention.

to forge an alliance with the current pope and



so arranged a marriage between the sixteen-

The year after the loggia was finished a

Charles again decided to use his daughter

fire damaged the vault in the central section.

year-old Margherita and the thirteen-year-old

Fires were frequent problems in this loggia

Ottavio Farnese (1524–1586), Paul III’s grand-

because fireworks were launched from the

son, which was celebrated in the Sistine Chapel

top of Castel Sant’Angelo as a part of the

in 1538. The marriage was a failure personally

brilliant festivities Paul sponsored. The log-

and almost a disaster politically, as Margherita

gia would be further damaged when Castel

made it clear to all that she could not abide

Sant’Angelo reverted back to its older purpose

the presence of her husband. One ambassador

as a prison. The openings were walled up

commented comically on Ottavio’s inability

and frescoes plastered over, transforming

to kiss his bride—he was not tall enough!

this place of gossamer fancy into a closed and

Ottavio’s elder brother, Cardinal Alessandro

narrow cell. I wonder if the ostrich too was

Farnese (1520–1589), was openly envious and

covered or if it glowered down on inmates, its

allegedly offered this barb: “Her father first

grotesque ugliness surely taking on more sinis-

gave her as a child to a man, and now he has

ter connotations.

given her as a woman to a child.”10 Margherita refused to consummate the marriage or even

Margherita of Austria’s Ostrich

live with Ottavio. She took up residence apart

Paul’s relative by marriage Margherita of

from her husband in the Palazzo Medici in

Austria (1522–1586) also chose to adorn her

Rome, the palace of her previous husband,

palace ceiling with a large ostrich (fig. 97).

which became known as Palazzo Madama, as

Margherita held a position in noble society

she was often called “Madama d’Austria.” The

that was both privileged and precarious. The

scandal only abated when, in a sexual encounter

illegitimate daughter of the Holy Roman

that was an act of international diplomacy, the

Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) and a poor

marriage was finally consummated two years

Netherlandish servant, Margherita was raised

later. After her twin boys were born, in 1545,

under the care of Maria of Hungary, Charles’s

she was somewhat reconciled with her husband

sister and the governor of the Netherlands.

and the Farnese family, and later she served as

Margherita was trained in music, dance, and

governor of the Netherlands.

other feminine arts but also showed a propen-



sity for more aggressive pursuits, especially

of Palazzo Madama, including the ostrich,

hunting and horse riding. Negotiations for her

during the most fraught years of her life, the

marriage were under way when she was four,

1540s, just after her marriage to Ottavio, when

and Charles arranged her engagement to Pope

she moved to the Medici palace as a refuge

Clement VII’s nephew Alessandro de’ Medici

from her new husband. The splendidly gilded

9

105

Farnese Ostriches

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and

Margherita ordered the decoration

Vasari’s Raphael

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coffered ceiling is the only interior decoration

ambiguous, a wise expedient given the vola-

of the palace to survive from this period, as

tile circumstances. The ostrich is nevertheless

most of the building was remodeled after

highly aggressive. This fierce bird embodies the

Margherita’s death.11 The relatively large space

toughness of a woman who was both a power-

was probably used as a reception room. In the

ful political agent and a pawn.

central panel of the wooden ceiling, a large golden ostrich stares aggressively to one side,

Carnival Ostriches

carved with minute precision that reveals the

In 1539, after her marriage to Ottavio and be-

complex texture of the feathers, each curling

fore its consummation, Margherita was a major

in a different direction. This ostrich is much

protagonist in the carnival celebrations spon-

more naturalistic than the one made in the

sored by cardinals and Paul III, her husband’s

same years at Castel Sant’Angelo, with a more

grandfather. Staged battles and bullfights were

slender neck and head, although the feet

held in her honor, and while the pope watched

are still conspicuously cloven hooves. The

celebrations from the Vatican Palace, she looked

proud bird was both a Medici and a Farnese

out from the benediction loggia of St. Peter’s.

impresa. Margherita had presumably seen

Margherita was clearly hoping to gain public

Medici ostriches in the Sala di Costantino and

favor by presiding over these festivities as a

definitely seen them at the Villa Madama. She

member of the Farnese family, but her hatred of

first stayed in the Villa Madama in 1533, when

her husband was common knowledge, and am-

she came to Italy to be married to Alessandro.

bassadors gossiped over her unseemly rupture

97

When he died, her inheritance was a matter of

with the pope’s family.14

Detail of coffered ceiling with an impresa

some dispute, but she was given explicit title



to the Villa Madama as a part of her marriage

freedom to vent their frustrations in planned

contract to Ottavio Farnese. The villa has since

mayhem, and to entertain them with parades

borne this name. Margherita would often go

of triumphal carriages trumpeting his virtues.15

to the villa to relax and enjoy her favorite

Splendid carnivals, not seen in Rome since

pursuits of riding and hunting.

before the sack, were a part of Paul’s Rome



Margherita’s ostrich in the Medici

reborn. Embarrassingly, one statue of the pope

palace, her residence while a Farnese bride, is

fell off its float, another lost its blessing hand,

explicitly a Medici symbol, as the shield with

and a statue representing Rome lost its head—

the Medici balls floats above its back, anchored

“disgraces” that did not, however, ruin the

to the ostrich’s neck by a ribbon. An ambas-

event.16 On the fourth float, as recounted by an

sador reports having heard that even after

observer, “there was a large ostrich that carried

her marriage to Ottavio the very sight of the

in its mouth a piece of iron, which I think

Medici coat of arms made Margherita sigh in

means justice, and on the front of this float one

lament.13 The crown above the animal’s head

could read ‘omnibus idem’ [for all the same].”17

surely refers to Margherita’s royal descent. On

The eighth float had five statues of women,

either side of the bird appears a lily, the Farnese

one of which had an ostrich and the others a

flower, here present but subordinate. It is

unicorn, a dog, a swan, and an open book, with

probably fanciful, but irresistible, to imagine

the inscription “hae tibi erunt artes” (These

that the Farnese flowers are in danger of being

arts will be yours).18 The commentator who

trampled by the sinewy bird. Without a motto

recounted this did not hazard an interpretation

or a nail held in its beak, the image remains

of any of these other figures.

of Margherita of Austria, 1540s, Palazzo Madama, Rome.

12

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Paul used carnival to give the populace

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The other ostrich images of Renaissance



Inside the palaces of power, in much

Rome were erudite art made for the elite. A

more elite but surely no less fraught festivities,

carnival float is a part of a public, popular en-

ostriches formed a part of the elaborate para-

tertainment, something that communicates to

phernalia for banquets. Luzio Romano,

the crowds, as well as to the hypercritical car-

the artist who painted the grotesques in the

dinals and ambassadors who were constantly

upper loggia in Castel Sant’Angelo, also

waiting to call attention to the pope’s missteps.

made a drawing for an ornate and inventive

The literate source quoted above hazards a

sauceboat (fig. 98) that includes an ostrich.20

guess, probably accurate, that the ostrich

Beautiful female nudes, their lower halves meta-

signifies justice, which suggests that Raphael’s

morphosing into leafy arabesques, languorously

arcane invention was well enough known

curve around the belly of the vessel and up

by 1539 to be understood, at least tentatively,

under the handle and the projecting lip. It

by a more general audience. In 1545 a commen-

would be difficult to use the object without

tator on another carnival float with the same

caressing them. An exaggeratedly ugly ostrich

image and motto is even better informed:

stares aggressively at one nude. Because of the

In another there was an ostrich, which, against the nature of all other birds, has square wings and therefore for the Egyptians signified justice and a man equitable to all, who was not inclined more to one faction than another and was neutral, and it had this motto: “omnibus idem.” It held a piece of iron in its mouth, because they say that an ostrich can digest iron, which means there can be no occurrence so hard that his holiness is not able to digest it well.19

way its body follows the shape of the vessel, the ostrich is not initially apparent and comes as a bit of an amusing shock, in juxtaposition to the lovely ladies.

The sauceboat was designed as an object

of conversation for a Farnese banquet, perhaps commissioned by a member of the family or as a princely gift for the pope or one of his relatives. The most famous piece of tableware from the sixteenth century is Benvenuto Cellini’s (1500–1571) solid-gold saltcellar made

This explanation is very close to Horapollo’s

for King Francis I. Cellini’s invention, as he

statement that an ostrich’s feathers are all

proudly recounts in his autobiography, is an

of equal length and combines the Egyptian

allegory of the intermingling of the land and the

symbol of equity with that, popular since

sea to produce salt.21 Luzio Romano’s invention

the fourteenth century, of tough endurance.

is less elaborate but may also relate to the use

Given the divisive nature of Roman politics

of the object, as perhaps the ostrich’s famous

at the time, Paul had need of a symbol of

ability to digest anything would aid diners in

aggressively tough neutrality. The fact that a

their digestion when they took a little of what

man on the street watching the parade would

the ostrich offered to sauce their food. Over

correctly identify the figure—citing Horapollo,

a century earlier Jean, Duke of Berry, who had a

no less—and draw an appropriately laudatory

menagerie that included ostriches, was given by

message from the float is a testament to the

his son-in-law a saltcellar “in the fashion of an

extraordinary, improbable success of Raphael’s

ostrich, with a belly of pearl-shell, and seated

invention, originally as mysterious as the

on a terrace of silver-gilt enameled with green.”22

hieroglyphs and now clear and comprehensible

A late sixteenth– or early or seventeenth-century

political rhetoric.

ostrich ornament, whose body is made of a Baroque pearl, with gold, a ruby, and enamel,

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conveys some sense of what these exquisitely precious pearl and gold ostriches would have looked like (fig. 99).

The painter Francesco Salviati (1509–1563)

began his career, like Benvenuto Cellini, as a goldsmith, and throughout his career he continued to design metalwork, including a vase with an ostrich. Little appears without ornament in Salviati’s art, and so fanciful vases with zoomorphic handles and spouts fill his banquet scenes. One carefully finished pen-andwash drawing shows just such an ornamental vase (fig. 100).23 This vase was not depicted in a painting, and the detail is so fine that it 98 Luzio Romano, drawing of a sauce boat, pen

is probably a design for a metal object. The

and ink and wash, 1540s. Royal Collection,

elegantly swelling classical urn shape, resting on

Windsor Library.

a narrow flared base, is covered with a variety of ornament, including tall Farnese lilies. A

99 Ostrich ornament, pearl, enamel, gold, diamonds,

Farnese unicorn purifies a spring by dipping

and rubies, sixteenth–seventeenth century.

its horn into the water, causing the polluting

Museo degli Argenti, Palazzo Pitti, Florence.

snakes to issue forth. Curling leaves on one side support the handle, which ends in an ostrich head, which twists around to bite its own leafy body, forming the loop of the handle. Here the ostrich does not need to be shown holding a nail in its mouth, as it is biting its own metal self, another witty play on ostrich lore. Again the object is a palimpsest of imagery, with a series of surprising juxtapositions of the graceful and the monstrous: the wrinkles of a ghoulish countenance becoming rippling hair, then ribbons, then snakes; an ostrich’s feather becoming leaves, then a curling base. The ostrich is so clearly associated with justice that it can be understood on a parade float, but in other contexts the bird can just be fascinating in its own right. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese’s Ostriches in the Cancelleria

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some of them signified justice, but they looked nothing like Raphael’s painting, with the possible exception of the parade float from 1539 that included a statue of a woman with an ostrich. Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), however, made direct imitations of Raphael’s painting for Alessandro Farnese, Ottavio’s elder brother and another grandson of Pope Paul III.24 The pope made Alessandro a cardinal when he was only fourteen. Paul was clearly worried about scandal for this shameless nepotism and so kept the nomination in pectore (in his heart) for five months before openly celebrating Alessandro’s elevation, along with that of another teenager. The boys were called derisively Paul’s cardinaletti.

Alessandro seems never to have felt a

particular calling to the church. For most of his career, he declined to take holy orders as a priest and remained a cardinal deacon. He had a taste for married women, whose portraits he commissioned from leading artists, and his courtiers published books of poems about these famous beauties.25 Cardinal Farnese was enormously wealthy, having accumulated several ecclesiastical benefices. He was also very generous with his money, supporting many artists and humanists, living as splendidly as a pope, and giving lavishly to charity. In one 100

year he personally donated about the same

Francesco Salviati, design for an urn, pen and

amount of money to charity as the papal

brown ink and brown wash, ca. 1540. Metropolitan

city of Bologna paid the church in tithes.

Museum of Art, New York, the Elisha Whittelsey Collection, the Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1950

Alessandro, several times considered likely to

(50.605.11).

be elected pope but never chosen, was a kind of kingmaker who could manage the Farnese and the French. He would hold triumphal entries into Rome with hundreds of mounted followers, and these were thought to be “most popish.”

Cardinal Farnese may have been involved

in commissioning the decorations at Castel Sant’Angelo. Among his many offices, he was named in 1535 papal vice-chancellor, second 110

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in power only to the pope, a position that

Vasari then continues to describe at least seven-

gave him control over a large part of the

teen more figures and “copious” ornament

church finances and use of the Palazzo della

for what he calls “strange architecture.”29 The

Cancelleria, a grand Renaissance palace. The

letter calls the embodiment of justice Astraea,

humanist Paolo Giovio introduced Giorgio

a learned reference to classical poetry.30 Ovid, in

Vasari to Alessandro as a painter with great

describing the ages of man, recounts society’s

powers of invention. The cardinal commis-

degradation from the ages of gold and silver

sioned from the artist a huge painting on

to the horrifically violent age of iron. When

canvas of Justice for the Cancelleria, which

humanity descended into violence, the last of

was both the cardinal’s residence and the seat

the immortals to leave the earth was the virgin

of vital church offices (fig. 101). Vasari

goddess Astraea. Virgil then writes in his fourth

sent the cardinal a drawing of his invention

eclogue of a time when the child born of the

with a letter explaining it. The missive begins

virginal Astraea will bring back the golden age.

with the necessary humble and obsequious

By associating his patron with the rebirth of

compliments and then launches into a long

this halcyon time, Vasari lays it on thick, flatter-

description of the almost comically complex

ing Alessandro.

iconography, which includes neither the



scales nor the sword, the traditional attributes

drawing—even clothing and placement are

of justice, and instead boasts thirty human

significant. The reason for including the

figures, four animals, and a host of elaborately

ostrich is overdetermined. Not content with

wrought objects:

one explanation, he displays his erudition,

26

27

The Pandects of Justinian, the laws that are observed by living moderns through your rigor, are the foundation of astrea, whom, nude from the waist up, you see almost stripped of all passions, which can influence those who judge; and she has seven chains attached to her belt, with which the seven abominable vices are held imprisoned by her. . . . Above them, with well-guided Justice, is an ostrich at her right side, which is both aerial and terrestrial, just as Justice is both human and divine; which melts iron, just as Justice purges every ignominy; and which has the most equal and just wings; and [which] was therefore placed by the Egyptians as Justice in the pyramids. Truly, the twelve tablets of Romulus, ancient father of religion, are embraced on her right, held along with the scepter of dominion. Above this is the hippopotamus, an animal that massacres its mother, father, and relatives without any compunction, like a just judge, who does not pardon those close to him.28 111

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and

Vasari explains many details of the

inadvertently revealing his anxiety about tying the bird to a meaning. With the inclusion of a hippopotamus, another Egyptian beast, he again refers to Horapollo, but in this case Vasari reverses the significance his source had attached to the animal.31 Horapollo had written that the cruel hippo should be at the bottom of the scepter, the merciful stork at the top. Vasari’s hippo, in contrast, sits proudly at the top of the scepter, now a positive quality. Vasari’s reinterpretation, surely the fruit of a misunderstanding, given the artist’s penchant for using Horapollo as a source, emphasizes the looseness of the connection between image and meaning.

Alessandro was extremely pleased and

wrote back three days later, praising in particular the “novelty” of the invention. He had been publicly accused of injustice, in specific of favoring Jewish moneylenders because of their wealth. (The accusation is full of the anti-Semitism that was all too common in the

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101 Giorgio Vasari, Justice, oil on canvas, 1543. Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples. 102 Giorgio Vasari, detail of Justice, oil on canvas, 1543. Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples.

period.) Antonella Fenech Kroke has recently argued that the painting is a kind of visual answer to these accusations, as it lauds justice specifically in relation to equity, and its triumph over such vices as corruption and envy. Justice is also here identified with the personification of Rome, as well as with wisdom.32 Alessandro surely appreciated the sophistication of the invention both for its sheer complexity and for the many levels on which it flattered him.

The painting, which is more than three

and a half meters high, has even more detail than the composition described in the letter. Astraea wears a helmet crawling with sculptural ornament—a composite monster, grotesque figures, and a mask—all topped with an ostrich plume (fig. 102). The virtues all wear jewels, and even the vices are adorned with elaborately looped drapery supported by diagonal straps. The ostrich itself does not escape the omnipresent ornament—it has a scarf looped around the base of its neck, held in place by a grinning satyr-mask brooch, with a large gold ball dangling beneath. Not content with a simple nail, Vasari has placed a delicately worked chain in the ostrich’s beak, each link catching the light differently. Likewise, Astraea, unlike Raphael’s barefoot goddess, has her skirt hiked up to display ornamental boots, and the things of the world that Corruption eyes so longingly are carefully wrought pieces of courtly tableware. Even Truth, conventionally shown naked and unadorned, has elaborately coiffed and ornamented hair and wears a bejeweled sash and a belt that looks like a piece of plate armor holding up a garter.33 All of this ornament risks obscuring the meaning— embellishing the truth.

In the central figure and the ostrich,

Vasari hearkens back to Raphael’s Justice. He uses the same dark, Leonardesque palette and poses the figure so similarly that he must have wanted viewers to recognize the quotation. 113

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Vasari seeks to outdo the dead and revered

as Astraea. Fresco is generally an unforgiving

master not only by complicating the imagery

medium, as sections have to be done before

but also by making her a much stronger,

the plaster dries, but even such a master of

more heroic figure, with her head erect

quick fresco application as Michelangelo felt

and body firmly frontal. Vasari’s Astraea is

that Vasari had rushed the job. Vasari testifies

not reminiscent of Leonardo’s Leda—no

against himself by recounting that when

languorous sensuality here. The eroticism is

he bragged about his speed, Michelangelo

adamantine—high alabaster breasts, no softer

answered, “It shows!”35 Nevertheless, Vasari

than the ruby nestled between them. The

was justly proud of the rich inventions in the

figure is more exposed but less ambiguously

room, both for the erudite subject matter and

sexual. She does not finger the ostrich’s neck

for the theatrical way in which the scenes and

but reaches behind it to grasp a scepter. The

figures are set in faux architecture.36

ostrich itself follows Raphael’s model, in that it



is a dark bird with a double-S-curved neck that

di Costantino, with allegorical personifications

swells into the form of the body, but Vasari has

in niches alongside narrative scenes.37 One

made the ostrich considerably larger, almost

of these scenes shows the pope handing out

life-size. Vasari’s painting is, like Raphael’s,

cardinals’ hats and benefices, flanked by the

a demonstration of the painter’s power of

personifications Abundance and Religion

invention, but Vasari has denuded Raphael’s

(fig. 103). Here Alessandro has glossed over

modern hieroglyph of its mystery, making a

his own scandalous elevation at such a young

ponderous and stony image, freighted with

age. In the painting, Paul bestows hats on sages

erudition. Without the benefit of Vasari’s letter,

with beards—no fourteen-year-olds! A veritable

however, even the most educated of viewers

portrait gallery of Paul’s court (including Paolo

would find his invention incomprehensible,

Giovio, Pietro Bembo, Michelangelo, and

as he eliminated traditional attributes and an

Vasari himself) intermingles with allegorical

inscription and added such a surfeit of people,

personifications, some of which are painted

objects, and ornaments that he strained the

in gray tones to look like statues, but many

limits of genre, making a public, political

of which are flesh colored, such as the large

image that acts as an elaborate puzzle.

naked figure of Envy, who sprawls enchained

Vasari’s invention clearly pleased its

in the foreground. Similarly, in the depiction

patron, as evidenced by the cardinal’s reply, as

of the pope directing the work at St. Peter’s,

well as by the close variation that Vasari made

an accurate painting of the unfinished building

for the same patron, painted three years later,

is juxtaposed with an image of the Vatican

in 1546. Alessandro was so invested in papal

as a naked man with a bit of drapery to hide

politics in these years that he needed the large

his genitals, clutching the papal arms and

reception room in the Cancelleria finished

tiara (fig. 104). Raphael’s potentially fraught

quickly. Vasari complied, and so the room has

juxtaposition of scantily clad personifications

become known as the Sala dei Cento Giorni

and papal portraits in the Sala di Costantino

(Room of the Hundred Days). Vasari himself

has been taken by Vasari to a new extreme—

felt that the quality of execution suffered, that

here naked figures and the pope appear in the

he had left too much up to assistants. Lacking

same scenes.

here is the marmoreal polish that Vasari was



proud to give his earlier oil painting of Justice

makes the potential for misreading all the more



34

114

The scheme is based on that of the Sala

The eroticism of some of these figures

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scandalous. Framing these scenes are allegorical personifications in elaborately ornamented niches, each twisting in a different pose. Some, including Charity and Justice, are seen from behind. For Charity, Vasari reused the pose of an Abundance from a few years before (figs. 105, 106). Here, clingy drapery reveals the expanse of her back and buttocks.38 Both works are modeled on an ancient relief, the so-called Bed of Polyclitus, which was imitated by Raphael and became widely known in the prints of his followers.39 When Titian later used the same perspective for his Venus and Adonis, Ludovico Dolce wrote that the flesh of the lower back was so arousing that it would give a famously pious cardinal an erection.40 Charity’s voluptuousness is perhaps an appropriate indication of her abundant fertility. The still-young Alessandro Farnese also surely appreciated this ripe sensuality. A year before, he had commissioned from Titian a painting of Danaë, who one observer said made the figure in the Venus of Urbino look like a nun. Titian even offered to paint the head of Danaë as a portrait of Alessandro’s mistress.41

Justice in the Sala dei Cento Giorni is also

seen from the back, which makes little sense in terms of a direct evocation of the meaning, 103

but Vasari did not want to be straightforward—

Giorgio Vasari, Benignity, Religion, and

he prized indirection, obscurity, difficulty,

Pope Paul III Distributes Benefices and Appoints Cardinals, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni,

and the unnatural (fig. 107). The drapery loops

Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome.

heavily around her in complex and massive folds, in contrast to the gossamer cloth elsewhere, another counterpoint in this room of infinite variations. As in the previous canvas painting of Justice, Vasari attempts to outdo Raphael in complicated drapery and pose and to correct his languorous woman by making her heroic. She holds law books in one hand and the hippo scepter in the other, fingered in the most unnatural pose possible but now with the hippo correctly at the bottom of the scepter, though no stork appears at the top.42

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104 Giorgio Vasari, Pope Paul III Supervising Work on St. Peter’s, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome. 105 Giorgio Vasari, Charity, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome. 106 Giorgio Vasari, Abundance, drawing for the refectory of Monte Oliveto, Naples, pen and ink, wash, chalk, and white heightening, 1544. British Museum, London. 107 Giorgio Vasari, Justice, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome.

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118

23

The fasces (a bundle of sticks, signifying con-

formed a stage for the cardinal’s encounters

cord) lean against the edge of the niche, and

with other cardinals, ambassadors, and court-

under Justice’s bulging raised arm and the

iers and therefore could be vital to Alessandro’s

hippo scepter, an alert and realistic ostrich

hopes for the papal tiara. Giovio suggested

stares in profile. The hippo is completely un-

therefore that it would be scandalous to have

realistic, but the exotic, out-of-place ostrich is

a completely nude male allegory, with his

ironically the most natural and straightforward

genitalia showing.44

part of this artificial scheme.





of the Sistine Chapel and the Sala di Costantino

The ostrich is not the only exotic animal

In the 1510s and 1520s, when the ceilings

painted in the room. In the fresco of the con-

were painted, complete nudity in framing or

struction of St. Peter’s (fig. 104), improbably

allegorical figures was accepted, even in

small camels in the middle ground carry materi-

the pope’s chapel or his principal reception

als at the building site. In the fresco in which

room. By the 1540s, however, the mood had

Paul receives the homage of the nations

changed, partly in response to mounting

(fig. 108), the pope sits, with his son and

Protestant criticism of papal corruption.

grandson, Pierluigi and Cardinal Alessandro

When Michelangelo finished the Last Judgment

Farnese, and receives as tribute African animals:

in 1541, it met with a reception very different

a giraffe, an elephant, and a parrot. Justice,

from that of the ceiling almost thirty years

to the right, turns her body toward this scene,

earlier. The Last Judgment, which was criticized,

as does the ostrich, its head and neck mim-

threatened with destruction, and censored

icking the form of the nearby giraffe. Paolo

within Michelangelo’s lifetime, depicted

Giovio’s Latin inscription below announces

many of the saints without any clothing, as

that Paul has brought back a golden age of

is visible in a copy made before the fresco

justice.43 Justice is again, therefore, Astraea,

was censored (fig. 109). The debate revolved

but the Farnese golden age is hardly a pastoral

around nakedness but also, and more crucially,

garden innocent of conquest. It is, rather, a

legibility and audience. As the harshest critics

celebration of the extent of the pope’s power,

recognized, people are supposed to appear

manifest in the exotic beasts brought as gifts.

naked before their maker at the end of days. They worried, though, that all of these naked,

118

Reading and Misreading the

muscular, closely packed twisting men and

Sala dei Cento Giorni

women could be misunderstood.45 Critics

Vasari’s fresco is, unlike the oil painting made

were increasingly anxious to circumscribe

for the same building, clear, in that inscriptions

ambiguous imagery and relegate it to private

identify the figure of Justice and other scenes,

and wholly secular locations, to avoid giving

but the mixture of allegorical figures, natural-

Protestant polemicists fodder for their attacks

istic animals, and living and historical people

on the papacy as a whorehouse adorned

make these images even more fraught with

with pagan idols.

ambiguity than Raphael’s invention. Vasari,



Paolo Giovio, and Alessandro Farnese wanted

Judgment and must have thought highly of

innovative iconography but were worried that

it, because he commissioned more frescoes

the frescoes might be misinterpreted. Giovio

from Michelangelo. The pope was, however,

was particularly concerned about decorum

instrumental in the change in attitude that

in this reception room, a semipublic space that

made the Last Judgment controversial. He

Paul was the patron of the Last

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108 Giorgio Vasari, Eloquence, Justice, and Pope Paul III Receives the Homage of the Nations, fresco, 1546, Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome. 109 Marcello Venusti, after Michelangelo, Last Judgment, copied before the original work was censored, oil on panel, 1548–49. Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples.

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appointed to the cardinalate several zealous

follow the strictest decorum, whereas poetic

reformers, who would later lead the conserva-

invention admits of greater latitude, but even

tive reaction to the Reformation, including

in poetic (i.e., fictional) works, the figures

the future Pope Paul IV. Most crucially, he

depicted should be possible, not contrary to

convened the Council of Trent to prepare a

nature. The characters argue back and forth

response to the threat. In order to fight heresy

about grotesques and whether they are licit.

within the Catholic Church and discipline cul-

Ultimately, the argument against the depiction

tural production, he ordered the institution of

of monstrous fictions prevails—Gilio laughs

the Roman Inquisition and the Roman Index

at those who paint dolphins supporting

of Prohibited Books. Cardinal Alessandro

buildings and other such grotesque drolleries.

Farnese, even when still a teenager, was in-

He instead praises works that are playful but

volved in these momentous events. One of the

not unnatural, such as the paintings in the

scenes Giovio suggested for the Sala dei Cento

Loggia of the popes, which have grotesques

Giorni was the triumph of the Catholics over

without monsters, and images of such naturally

the Protestants, but someone must have wisely

diverting subjects as the children playing in

decided that this was premature.46

the Giochi di putti tapestries.49





Almost twenty years after the Sala dei

Cento Giorni was painted, Giovanni Andrea

including the frescoes in the Sala dei Cento

Gilio (ca. 1520–1584), a priest who spent most

Giorni, particularly problematic:

of his life administering to his flock and wrote such edifying works as a five-book history of persecutions against the Catholics, published a particularly telling critique of the frescoes. In 1564 he dedicated a book of dialogues to Alessandro Farnese. The first of these follows in the tradition of Castiglione’s Courtier and other such advice books, but with a much more insistent doctrinal slant, telling the aspiring courtier, for example, that he must stay away from any stain of heresy—hardly the sort of advice Castiglione would have

120

Gilio finds images that are mixed,

I have seen them and read Doni’s Zucca, in which he makes a commentary on all of that mixed history. I say that they are well ordered, well intended, and well made. But sometimes in some of these [mixed works] it seems to me that fiction trumps truth by a great deal, and truly to understand them, you need either a sphinx or an interpreter or a commentary. Since this is so, be careful lest ten people admiring them make ten different comments, each one contradicting the next.50

deemed relevant.47

Gilio avoids directly attacking Cardinal



Alessandro’s reception room and indeed praises

The second dialogue is on “the errors

and abuses of painters in their histories, with

it, but the praise is sandwiched between his

many annotations on Michelangelo’s Last

note about a commentary on the room and

Judgment and other figures.”48 As the title

his criticism of images that need to be read

makes clear, the principal focus of Gilio’s

with a commentary. Gilio soon after has his

ire is Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, a work

character say: “things are as beautiful as they

commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro’s

are clear and open.”51 He then goes on to mock

grandfather. Gilio makes a distinction between

those “Egyptians,” who do not want to be

different types of painting: the historical, the

understood and are afraid that the sun and air

poetic, and the mixed. Historical paintings,

will steal their ideas. Vasari could definitely

including those illustrating Christian history,

be called an “Egyptian”—he would have been

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proud of the epithet, of the obscurantism

graceful colorist and painter of extreme human

in this room, which cannot be read without

emotions and of grotesques, an able and varied

the aid of a commentary or a sphinx!

inventor, not some kind of classic god of art.

Vasari’s Raphael

published in 1550, a few years after he painted

Vasari seems to have particularly liked the

his emulations of Raphael’s Justice, thirty

image of Justice with an ostrich, perhaps

years after Raphael had died, and twenty-five

because it was his own invention, or rather

years after Giovio’s account. Vasari elaborates

elaboration on Raphael. In addition to the

on Giovio’s distinction between the gracious

examples discussed already, he made a sketch

Raphael and the difficult Michelangelo.57

for another unknown project for a ceiling with

Raphael, we are told, was nursed by his own

Justice coupled with an ostrich. While Vasari

upper-class mother and thereby learned genteel

was imitating Raphael’s ostrich as a classic

manners, whereas Michelangelo had a lower-

in his paintings, he was shaping Raphael’s

class wet nurse—a daughter of a stone mason,

legacy in a much more enduring way in his

from whose milk the sculptor first gained a

Lives of the Artists. Vasari claims that Cardinal

love of stone.58 Vasari dilates on Raphael’s

Alessandro suggested that he help Giovio write

excellences as a courtier and his many noble

biographies of artists. Giovio then, according

patrons. He also emphasizes Raphael’s poetic

to Vasari, ceded the task completely to him.

inventions, his ability to make narratives come



alive, and the variety of his paintings.59 Vasari

52

53

Vasari’s account was not the first bi-

repeatedly and lavishly praises Raphael’s grace

ography of Raphael. Giovio had written a brief Latin life of Raphael in 1525, which was

and the gracefulness of his paintings, especially

not published until the eighteenth century.

the lovely faces of his many images of the

Giovio’s Raphael is courtly (unlike the difficult

Madonna.60 Vasari’s Raphael has impressive

Michelangelo). His art is also graceful: “this

range—he can express tragedy as well as beauty.

most pleasing artist distinctively strove above

Vasari lauds the beauty of the grotesques

all for that one thing Michelangelo lacked,

in the Loggia of Pope Leo X, noting the

namely that to pictures learnedly drawn there

role of Raphael’s shop in this work but still

should be added the brilliant and pure adorn-

identifying it as a creation of Raphael’s.61 The

ment of colours mixed with oil.”55 Raphael is

greatest praise, though, is reserved for the way

not called divine, and so, for example, when

in which Raphael’s other paintings seem to

discussing the Transfiguration, Giovio does not

present real velvet, speaking likenesses, and

even mention the face of Jesus, which Vasari

strong emotions. These are standard tropes

would later claim was the perfect representa-

that writers used over the centuries to praise

tion of the divine and the last thing the artist

art, but Vasari’s emphasis on the miraculous

painted. Instead, Giovio praises the decid-

lifelike quality of Raphael’s colors, textures,

edly human distorted face of the possessed

and depiction of flesh surpasses any analogous

boy. He barely lists the frescoes in the Vatican

praise he gives to Michelangelo and other

stanze but takes the time to praise more fully

artists.62 He writes of Raphael’s amorousness

Raphael’s grotesques: “with equal elegance but

in some detail but calls him divine, making

with quite a playful brush he filled the Leonine

it clear that his art was what made him godlike.

Loggia with a notable variety of every [sort

It was Vasari who sealed the canonization of

of] flower and animal.” Giovio’s Raphael is a

Raphael by stating that the Transfiguration

54

56

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and

The first edition of Vasari’s Lives was

Vasari’s Raphael

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hung over his bier, that the face of Jesus was

but also diminishing him, Vasari made

the last thing Raphael created, and that visitors

Raphael more of an imitable model.

could not but compare the living Jesus to the



dead Raphael. In Vasari’s life Raphael has the

efficient workshop, which was a model for

godlike power to make a painting live and

Vasari’s own practice. The Raphael whom

becomes himself in death a holy icon.

Vasari describes so influentially in his texts is



not an impresario but a divine hand, an able

Vasari’s Raphael is divine, but in ways

that Vasari himself can imitate—in his courtly

and flexible imitator of nature and of other

grace and his flexibility in painting a wide

artists. Vasari praises Raphael’s inventiveness

variety of subjects. The arc of the 1550 Lives

and the ways in which he competes with

culminates in the praise of Michelangelo,

poetry in his depictions of narratives, the ways

celebrated as the consummate artist, but the

in which he makes stories and people real.

life of Raphael is no less positive, if very dif-

He does not focus on Raphael’s allegories, or

ferent, creating a tension that was exploited

on the grotesques. Although he lists the allego-

by Ludovico Dolce (1508–1568) and others in

ries on the ceiling of the Stanza della Segnatura

their polemical arguments about which painter

and praises the grotesques in the Loggia of

was supreme. Vasari made telling changes to

Leo X, he saves his most lavish praise and rich-

the life of Raphael in the second edition, of

est descriptions for portraits, paintings of the

1568, four years after Michelangelo died and

Madonna, and narrative scenes. Even as he em-

was eulogized in a funeral orchestrated and

phasizes the importance of “grace in Raphael’s

a tomb planned by Vasari. In the introduc-

most delicate hands,” he still lauds at length

tory paragraph, when calling Raphael divine,

narratives that were in their entirety clearly by

Vasari added “if it is licit to say so,” a careful

the workshop.66 It is the way in which Raphael

post-Tridentine qualification.63 He also added,

dramatized these stories that interests Vasari,

near the end of the biography, a long excursus

even more than the execution. Vasari’s Raphael

in which he recommended Raphael as a model

is a miraculously convincing painter of real

because he was the perpetual student, someone

people and events, not of abstract ideas.

who realized his limitations and copied oth-



ers. Vasari’s 1568 Raphael throws himself into

mentions that the artist began the scenes of

the study and imitation of a series of masters:

Constantine in the Sala di Costantino just

Perugino, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and oth-

before he died. In his biography of Giulio

ers. He discovers that he cannot compete with

Romano, Vasari reiterates that Raphael made

Michelangelo in the depiction of the male

the drawings for this room and lists the im-

nude and so sensibly focuses on perfecting

age of Justice, implying that it was based on

other things, including painting animals. John

Raphael’s drawings and executed after his

Shearman has argued convincingly that Vasari

death.67 He does not state anything about this

“traduced” Raphael in a perhaps subconscious

figure, other than that it is painted in oil—he

attempt to make the divine artist more like

makes no mention of the ostrich that he so

Vasari, a canny person who is adept at imitat-

assiduously imitated in his paintings. Vasari’s

ing others.65 Vasari, who was involved in the

literary portrait of Raphael characterizes his

foundation of the academy of art in Florence,

paintings as clear, eloquent, and immediate.

explicitly recommends that students model

Allegory does not fit within this vision of

themselves on Raphael’s diligence. By extolling

Raphael as a divine creator of living, breathing

64

122

Vasari does not emphasize Raphael’s

In the biography of Raphael, Vasari

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flesh and rustling silks. In the centuries that

like Raphael, died in his thirties on the same

followed, as Vasari’s lucid text had greater suc-

date on which he was born and, like him, was

cess than his hyperarcane images, Raphael’s

buried in the Pantheon.69 The painting of the

ostrich ultimately fell into obscurity, and its cre-

palace was a desirable commission in every

ator was canonized as the divine, courtly, grace-

way—a wealthy intellectual patron and the

ful imitator of nature and of other artists, not

glorious dream of reviving Raphael. Federico

the inventor of bizarre and ugly hieroglyphs.

Zuccaro (ca. 1540–1609), Taddeo’s younger brother, was one of many who claimed the

Cardinal Alessandro’s Retreat

title of Raphael reborn. He, like Vasari, wrote

Cardinal Alessandro remained a powerful

about art as well as practiced it and, also like

player in papal politics long after his grandfa-

Vasari, was instrumental in the foundation of

ther died, but he never became pope, at least

an academy of art. The day after his beloved

in part because he was a cardinal in the old

brother died, Federico wrote to ask for the

style—a lavish spender and notorious woman-

commission, which he was duly given. One

izer who held multiple benefices and seemed

room that Federico painted, according to

unconcerned with his episcopal duties. Some

some notes he scribbled on Vasari’s account

scholars have seen his turn toward the patron-

of the building, is in the winter apartment on

age of sacred paintings and the building of the

the ground floor (fig. 110).70 The decoration

Gesù later in life as a sign of a change of heart,

of this room is modeled closely on that of the

but these also could be read as calculated

Sala di Giulio Romano in the Villa Madama,

political moves in yet another bid for the tiara.

but Federico substituted Alessandro Farnese’s

In his last years Alessandro left Rome behind

imprese for Giulio de’ Medici’s. The peacock,

for the magnificent palace he commissioned

turkey, and ostrich are all repeated here.

from Giacomo da Vignola (1507–1573) in

Federico makes slight variations, refinements

Caprarola. Vignola, the architect of the Gesù,

rather than major changes—more delicate,

made the cardinal an extraordinarily imposing

wispy swags of drapery, floating patches of

hexagonal palace set on a hill, dominating the

ground for the animals rather than shelflike

town. The painter Taddeo Zuccaro (1529–1566),

platforms, the Farnese fleurs-de-lis worked into

a native of Urbino who considered himself

the decorations throughout.

a follower of Raphael, was hired to carry out



the decorations. The iconography was devised

same angle and in exactly the same position—

by Annibale Caro (1507–1566), one of the intel-

one leg slightly forward, with the head down

lectuals present when Alessandro suggested

pecking at the ground (fig. 111; cf. fig. 84).

that Vasari write the Lives. The style of decora-

Federico seems to have been better acquainted

tion descends from that of Raphael and his

with the Villa Madama than with actual

school, with a liberal use of grotesques and a

ostriches—he gives the creature three toes

mixture of historical scenes with allegorical

on each foot, adds feathers to the neck, and

personifications. Sometimes the citations

stretches the beak too long. It makes sense

of the Sala di Costantino are very direct, and

that Federico would want to pay tribute to

so, for example, the historical scenes of Farnese

the tradition of Raphael, but is perhaps more

glory are painted as if on tapestries.

surprising that Alessandro should evoke a



commission of Giulio de’ Medici, later Clement

68

Taddeo Zuccaro died suddenly in 1566.

His death only heightened his fame, as he, 123

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and

The ostrich itself is painted from the

VII, whose disastrous pontificate notoriously

Vasari’s Raphael

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110 Federico Zuccaro (and Jacopo Zanguidi, called il Bertòja?), ceiling vault, fresco, probably begun 1568/69, Sala del Cigno, winter apartment, Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola. 111 Federico Zuccaro, ostrich, fresco, probably begun 1568/69, Sala del Cigno, winter apartment, Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola. 112 Federico Zuccaro, Calumny of Apelles, oil on canvas, 1569. Royal Collection, Hampton Court.

included the sack of Rome. Perhaps Alessandro requested or at any rate agreed to the faithful copy of the room in order to evoke an age in which an educated cardinal, a lavish patron and recipient of nepotism, could become pope. That he did so in his palace in Caprarola, far away from the center of power, suggests that he had given up his own dream. The ostrich and the other arcane, exotic, grotesque decorations of the palace are in this sense nostalgic—evocations of a golden age already recognized as past. Federico Zuccaro’s Revenge

In 1569 Cardinal Alessandro fired Federico— probably because Federico had been largely absent, leaving his team to carry out his inventions—and hired Jacopo Zanguidi, called il Bertòja (1544–1574), to finish the frescoes. In response, Federico took the extraordinary step of creating a very large (more than two meters wide) canvas painting of the Calumny of Apelles (fig. 112).71 The ancient satirist Lucian recounts that the painter Apelles was so angry at being accused of treachery that he painted an allegory in which Calumny drags an innocent youth before the king, whose judgment is poisoned by Ignorance, Suspicion, Hatred, Envy, and Fraud. Lucian used the anecdote to comment on 124

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the communicative power of painting—

apparently not angry but amused, and contin-

the artist could convey his indignation in an

ued to have cordial relations with the painter.74

image more effectively than a writer could



in words. According to Lucian, the painting

a large engraving of the painting, so that his

worked, and Apelles regained the king’s favor.

defense could be made manifest to a broader

Federico’s painting is, in contrast, an exemplar

public.75 Here, Federico tempered the personal

of the incomprehensibility of allegorical art.

nature of his attacks; Fraud no longer has the

The painting does not include an ostrich,

features of il Bertòja. It is astonishing that

but the incident elucidates both the extent to



In 1572 Federico had Cornelius Cort make

Federico’s faith in allegorical art was such that

which Federico trusted in the efficacy of

he thought this print would communicate his

allegory and the ultimate limitations of this

outrage. In fact, the engraving is even more

kind of arcane invention.

recondite than the painting, as the inscription



on the tablet is in Greek, rather than Latin. The

Whereas previous Renaissance artists,

including Raphael, had reconstructed the an-

engraving was reprinted twice soon afterward,

cient work as an antiquarian exercise, Federico

with letters added to the figures, keyed first to

sent his enormous Calumny as proof of his

an explanation in Latin and then in the third

innocence to his protector, Francesco Maria II

version to an explanation in Italian. Whoever

della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. He cast himself

wrote this key seems not to have understood

in the leading role, painting a recognizable self-

the invention: Fraud, the animals, and the

portrait, heroically nude. Meanwhile, he por-

harpy are all labeled S and explained as “other

trayed his replacement, il Bertòja, as Fraud.

terrible monsters.” The inscription ends: “and

They appear before Midas, the bad judge, who

other beautiful and significant designs, the

wears asses’ ears. Surely to avoid antagonizing

explanation of which the reader can bring to

the powerful cardinal, Federico did not depict

mind for himself.”76 Federico’s grotesque alle-

Midas with Alessandro’s features. Amazingly,

gorical invention, despite or perhaps because

the often touchy and vindictive cardinal was

of its incomprehensibility, enjoyed a modest

72

73

fame, was reprinted several times in engravings on different scales, included in Cartari’s handbook of imagery, and even painted by Rubens in his house.77

Federico’s visual defense is as incompre-

hensible as a hieroglyph. And yet, even if it does not succeed in communicating the intended interpretation of each figure, it does convey a clear message about the status of the artist as intellectual and creator. Federico’s almost comically extreme and odd reaction is an illustration of what Raphael, in particular Vasari’s Raphael, did to art. Only if erudite invention and imitation are prized above all else and the artist exalted to the status of the divine does Federico’s grandiose, desperate gesture make any sense. Federico’s invention is an oration in 125

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and

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such elevated language that virtually no one

frescoed with grotesques (including ostriches)

stands a chance of understanding it.

in the Farnese-controlled Duchy of Parma



and Piacenza encapsulate this problem. The

Even though Federico Zuccaro followed

Vasari in his taste for arcane allegory, he left

castle in Torrechiara, perched on a hill in the

direct testimony of his virulent anger against

countryside outside of Parma, was owned in

Vasari, particularly against Vasari’s treatment

the late sixteenth century by Francesco Sforza

of Raphael, in the form of handwritten

di Santa Fiora (1562–1624). Francesco was

marginal comments on the 1568 edition of

educated by Ottavio Farnese and later served

the Lives. There Vasari had written a positive

as a military captain under the command of

account of the works of Taddeo and Federico

Duke Alessandro Farnese (1545–1592). After

Zuccaro, calling them his friends and praising

marrying into the family, Francesco was left

their invention and artistry. His brother dead

a young widower. Instead of marrying again,

and, in his eyes, sanctified, Federico felt that

he was made a cardinal in 1583 at the age of

Vasari had damned Taddeo with faint praise,

twenty-one. Soon afterward (1584–86) he

lauded others excessively at Taddeo’s expense,

had several rooms in the castle in Torrechiara

and reported others’ criticism of Taddeo’s

decorated with frescoes by Cesare Baglione

art. Federico repeatedly calls Vasari “malign,”

(mid-sixteenth century–1615) and Giovan

an “evil-speaker,” and says that he is biased.

Antonio Paganino (active 1574–87).81 The most



splendid of these rooms is the large salone on

78

Federico objects in particular to Vasari’s

added excursus to the 1568 edition, in which

the piano nobile, used for great banquets and

Raphael is described as a limited imitator.

other formal occasions (fig. 113). Imposing

Federico responds: “How he shows himself to

coats of arms of the Farnese and Sforza

be always partial in wanting to prefer Tuscans

families are the most ponderous elements of

to all others; fantasies to place Leonardo before

the decoration, which otherwise consists of

Raphael.” Federico reveals his own bias in

light and fanciful grotesques.

his comment on Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, which



he terms “dry and with not much taste.” If

figures, and animals stands a miniature and

his huge, public Calumny was ill-judged and

rather elegant ostrich, holding a nail in its beak,

unlikely to win him patrons, Federico could

its neck gracefully arched and tail feathers gaily

express his anger clearly and without jeopardy

waving upward (fig. 114). The ostrich may be

in these private notations. His temper flashed

a reference to the Farnese, subtler than the

because he understood what Vasari was

bluntly laudatory coats of arms. It could also

doing—creating a canon, one that exalted yet

be an image of the toughness or justice of this

at the same time circumscribed Raphael and

military man turned prince of the church. The

therefore his followers, including Taddeo and

way in which the ostrich is depicted does not

Federico himself.

prescribe any one such meaning—it participates

79

80

Among the acrobats, monsters, masked

in the fantasy and play between lightness and

126

Grotesques and Meaning at the

heaviness that characterize the paintings in this

End of the Century

room.82 Since antiquity, authors had criticized

If an allegorical scene demands an explication,

and praised grotesques for their use of thin

grotesques are even more problematic, as it is

and fragile supports to hold up buildings and

not clear whether they are meaningful at all,

other weights. In Torrechiara, the images

let alone how to interpret them. Two rooms

call attention to the gravity-defying nature

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113 Cesare Baglione and others, grotesques, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara.

127

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and

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114 Cesare Baglione and others, ostrich and other grotesques, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara. 115 Cesare Baglione and others, grotesques with Atlas, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara. 116 Cesare Baglione and others, man weighing himself, fresco, ca. 1583, Sala degli Acrobati, Castello di Torrechiara. 117 Cesare Baglione and others, sphinx and other grotesques, fresco, ca. 1583, Castello di Torrechiara.

128

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of grotesques. An Atlas figure, a strong man

several ostrich feathers. The style and the pur-

with bulging muscles, is bowed down by a

pose of these grotesques, however, are radically

mountainous mass of rock (fig. 115). He in turn

different. The images are arranged in the vaults

stands, however, on a light fabric baldachin

of the library in a grid-like fashion, akin to the

on thin poles, held up by nude dancers with

way text appears on a page. Interspersed with

the greatest of ease. Another figure painted

the images are inscriptions in Latin, Greek,

in the same room encapsulates the fabricated

Hebrew, and Syriac.

lightness of grotesques (fig. 116): He stands



in an artificially twisted position on a scale

sought to justify grotesques by calling them

and weighs himself. He seems to be wearing

hieroglyphs, images endowed with hidden

a mask—an image of the artifice and self-

meanings.84 Most grotesque decorations in-

conscious invention of grotesques.

clude images that would flatter their patrons



but are more playful and open in character. The

Dominating one wall is a pyramid of

acrobats, improbably balanced in contorted

vaults at San Giovanni Evangelista are an ex-

positions on the backs of pacing lions (fig. 113).

traordinary exception, in that images are used

They hold up Sforza diamond rings as modern

as a kind of hermetic and mystical text and are

gymnasts do hoops, and so form a kind of

based on Horapollo’s and Pierio Valeriano’s

living coat of arms. The ostrich, an outsized

descriptions of hieroglyphs. The animals and

and flightless bird, takes part in this play on

hybrids in one bay of the vaults, for example,

notions of weight and weightlessness. The bird

signify the ignorance of man and the madness

is depicted in miniature, standing, not flying.

and futility of human attempts at wisdom

Its improbable perch is a piece of fabric that

(fig. 119). The central medallion depicts the

is loosely draped over a hook on the frame of

mermen that often inhabit grotesques, but

the coat of arms on one side and a small shelf

here they are pathetic monsters, fish out of wa-

on the other (fig. 114). The ostrich’s distinctive

ter who yearn to fly. In another bay, signifying

feet seem barely to touch the fabric, which does

divine wisdom, the ostrich feathers are a sub-

not bend at all under its weight. A miniature

ject in their own right, following Horapollo

giant, it simultaneously stands and floats,

(fig. 120). In the center of the vault Lady

earthbound yet weightless, as much a display of

Justice is portrayed holding the scales and the

artistry and fantastic invention as it is a symbol

fasces (fig. 121). The ostrich is not one of her

of the virtues or political affiliation of the

attributes but is portrayed nearby, standing on

patron. In a nearby room, sphinxes sit among

a little platform inscribed with the phrase “ne

the grotesques, but even they do not seem

quid nimis” (nothing too much) (fig. 122).

to convey ancient wisdom (fig. 117). Instead,

The ostrich, here signifying the moderation of

the mysterious sages are here frivolous ladies,

true justice, is appropriate in that it has wings

bedecked gaily with ostrich plumes.

but does not fly. Another ostrich appears in the



The library of the monastery of San

bay filled with images of the power of divine

Giovanni Evangelista in Parma, also under the

wisdom (fig. 123). This bird holds a horseshoe

patronage of the Farnese, was frescoed a decade

in its beak and stands beneath a scroll with

earlier (1573–75) by the same artists, Baglione

the inscription “nil impossibile credenti”

and Paganino, in this case collaborating with

(Nothing is impossible to him who believes).

Ercole Pio (fig. 118). The vault here is covered

Here the ostrich’s fabled ability to digest iron is

with grotesques, including two ostriches and

used to connote the power that believers wield.

83

129

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and

By the mid-sixteenth century, some had

Vasari’s Raphael

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118 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, decorations in the Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, fresco, 1573–75, Parma. 119 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. 120 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, ostrich feathers and other grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. 121 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, Justice and grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma.

130

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122 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, ostrich and other grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. 123 Cesare Baglione, Giovan Antonio Paganino, and Ercole Pio, ostrich and other grotesques / hieroglyphic emblems, fresco, 1573–75, Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma.



131

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and

The grotesques in the library of San

evidences an attempt to reconcile these

Giovanni Evangelista in Parma are an

opposing demands. Although no other space

exception to the rule. Elsewhere, grotesques

was ever painted like this again, artistry and

continued to be painted throughout the

meaning became the central subjects of cultural

century in the light and fantastic way that

debate by the late sixteenth century.

Raphael and his followers had pioneered,



despite calls by theologians for a more sober

was by 1539 such a success that the image could

and meaningful use of the style. Indeed, the

be used in public and private and was widely

inventive and exquisitely artful grotesques in

understood, no longer an arcane mystery but

Torrechiara were painted a decade after those

a part of public political rhetoric. The self-

of San Giovanni Evangelista. The grotesques

conscious recognizable citations of Raphael’s

as hieroglyphs in the library vault, however,

Justice and the frescoes in the Villa Madama

form a limit case of the kind of problems that

make it clear that these images had become

were haunting grotesque imagery and art in

classics, open to imitation. Vasari’s paintings

general by the mid-sixteenth century. The

for the Cancelleria, Federico Zuccaro’s

status of the artist had reached a new high,

Calumny, the vault of the Biblioteca di San

and with the divinization of Raphael and the

Giovanni Evangelista, and the other arcane

foundation of academies for art, artfulness

allegorical images of this period take Raphael’s

could be a goal in and of itself. At the same

invention to an extreme, adding so much

time, increasing criticism of the Roman

erudition and complexity that they inadver-

Church by Protestants forced the Catholic

tently perform a kind of reductio ad absur-

hierarchy to respond. The attempt to reaffirm

dum, exposing the limits of such Renaissance

core values and reform the church from within

hieroglyphics. While Vasari paid tribute to

became a driving force in Italian culture and

the sophistication of Raphael’s Justice in his

artistic commissions by the end of the century.

paintings, he ignored this aspect of Raphael’s

Theologians called for art to be more affective,

legacy in his writings, creating the simpler

less artificial and artful, so that it could be a

image of Raphael as a divine imitator, rather

powerful tool for the Catholic cause. The vault

than an innovator. Federico Zuccaro’s angry

of the library lays bare these tensions, in that

marginal comments are not so irrational as

it is at once an absurdly artificial novel

they first seem, given how vital Vasari’s written

invention and a serious mystical exposition.

account has been in defining Raphael for sub-

The almost exasperated redundancy of image

sequent generations as the graceful painter of

after image and inscription after inscription

Madonnas, not ostriches.

Raphael’s ostrich, his modern hieroglyph,

Vasari’s Raphael

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chapter

Six

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Fortune Is an Ostrich:

Discontent

in the 1550s and 1560s

The ostrich rears its weird head in the centers

and thus sets up between capricious invention

of power, in commissions made for the pope

and observation a tension that animates his

but also repeatedly in the writings of the

writings. He was an outsider by Renaissance

satirist Anton Francesco Doni (1513–1574), and

standards—a man from a humble family,

in the works of his friends and acquaintances.

not terribly learned, who never achieved fi-

Doni revels in inventing, interpreting,

nancial success; a renegade monk in an age

reinterpreting, and perversely misinterpreting

of increasing piety; and a bitter satirist who

complex allegorical imagery, including images

upended social and literary conventions. Many,

of ostriches. He describes ostriches in actual

however, felt marginalized by the violent politi-

art (Vasari’s frescoes in the Sala dei Cento

cal and religious changes of the cinquecento,

Giorni among others) but also invents his own

and so Doni’s point of view is both peculiarly

grotesque and bizarre imagery. Doni writes of

his own and typical of the disaffection that

himself as an eccentric outsider:

swept over Italy in the 1550s and 1560s.

A thousand times, when I am no longer asleep, most nights, I stay in bed, making chimeras with my fantasy . . . not in the way that plebeians do or in the manner of learned men, but from a capricious brain. . . . When Lucian armed himself, he made castles in air; when Plato put himself in a tree, he put mountains on top of mountains; and when Ovid racked his brain, he sketched new worlds and formed men of rocks. I, who am not any of these healthy brains or robust intellects, distill my memories in a different way. Here I am at home: I fly in the air, over a city, and I believe myself to have become a big, big ugly bird.1 The bird circles over Florence, lands on the



Ostriches continued to be common

in allegorical art, despite increasing concerns about the legibility of images. At the same time, ostrich art was marginalized, relegated to an academic game or decoration of a villa out in the countryside, away from the centers of power. The patrons of this art were no longer popes but rather academicians and cardinals who, out of step with the new reforming spirit of the times, retired from papal politics. Likewise the meaning of the ostrich began to shift—what had been a laudatory image of justice was transformed into a bitterly negative embodiment of the arbitrary cruelty of fortune.

steps of the cathedral, and then overhears

6 Chapter_pgs5.indd 133

snatches of conversations, which Doni records

Enea Vico’s Imitation of Vasari

in the book. He invents a new word, chimeriz-

The most direct imitation of Vasari’s Justice in

zare (to chimericate), and allies himself with

the Sala dei Cento Giorni is in an engraving by

revered classical authors by making their

a friend of Doni, Enea Vico da Parma (1523–

works sound like fevered fantasies. By taking

1567), honoring Emperor Charles V (fig. 124).2

the perspective of an ugly bird, Doni claims

Charles’s portrait, in the center of the print,

to be an observer from an eccentric viewpoint

copies a painting by Titian. Vico’s invention,

9/4/15 10:06 AM

124 Enea Vico, Portrait of Emperor Charles V, engraving, 1550. British Museum, London. 125 Enea Vico, detail of Justice, Portrait of Emperor Charles V, engraving, 1550. British Museum, London.

raphel ’ s ostrich

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a triumphal arch that frames the portrait,

must derive from Vasari’s, and Doni uses the

occupies most of the sheet and includes seven

same words to interpret the ostrich in his

allegorical personifications and twelve Latin

texts describing both works. Vico, however,

inscriptions. Vico, who was first trained in

elaborates upon Vasari’s example, adding a

literature before being forced by economic

horseshoe in the ostrich’s mouth, making it akin

necessity to become a printmaker, displays his

to the emblem of endurance. His hippo scepter

erudition in this complex image.

is also correct, unlike either of Vasari’s versions,



as the stork of pity is on top, triumphing over

3

Justice is only identifiable to a viewer

familiar with Vasari’s painting, as she sits with

the ferocity of the hippo below.6

her back turned and has as attributes a helmet,



sheathed sword, hippo-and-stork scepter,

paintings, how much more dangerous was

and an ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak

Vico’s engraving, which circulated broadly and

(fig. 125). A putto above her holds a banner

could easily be misread by Italians furious at

that reads, “veni vidi devs vicit” (I came,

Charles V after the disastrous sack of Rome by

I saw, God conquered), clear praise of Charles

the emperor’s troops and still suffering under

as an imperial conqueror favored by God,

the tyrannical rule of Charles’s governors in

but not an idea related to Justice. The helmet

Milan and other Italian cities? Doni himself

seems more appropriate to Fortitude, and the

raged about the horrors of foreign rule in Italy

hippo-and-stork scepter demands knowledge

and the social inequities it brought. He and

of Horapollo’s text, even assuming a viewer

his friends bitterly mocked the Spanish for

could identify the doglike beast as a hippo.

taxing so mercilessly, selling grain instead

For those who read Latin, another inscription

of letting people eat it, and giving land to allies,

is more explicit: “Caesar learned from me to

so that farmers starved or fled to the woods

distribute awards fairly to those who act well

to live like animals.7 “Miserable Italy” was a

and punishments to the wicked.” The phrase

prostitute, selling herself to foreign princes.8

aequo iure comes closest to naming Justice,

Looking at the image in this light, the smirking

as it translates literally as “with equal law” or

prince, series of armed figures, and naked

“with equal rights.”

women appear less flattering—embodiments

4



Doni published a “declaration” in Italian

of the worst kinds of tyranny. The ostrich could

explaining Vico’s print. Eager to display his

suggest that Charles was like Niccolò Ariosto,

own intellect, Doni adds further levels of

monstrous in his ability to devour Italy. The

reading to an already dense image by beginning

Latin inscriptions and Doni’s text balance

with number symbolism and moving on to

power with clemency, but Vasari’s and Vico’s

dilate upon the attributes of each of the

hippo scepters demonstrate how easy it was for

personifications. He seems to protest too

images to convey the reverse of what

much when he repeatedly asserts that the Latin

was intended. Vico corrected Vasari’s errors,

inscriptions fully explain the meaning. Doni

but I cannot but think that the scepter could

notes that Justice’s helmet is made of gold, an

flip at any moment, that the danger of bestial

incorruptible metal, something that cannot

ferocity always lurks in justice.

be conveyed in a colorless engraving. Vasari’s



fresco in the Sala dei Cento Giorni was surely

to mock Charles. In fact, Vasari notes that

the model here for both the image and Doni’s

“Vico was rewarded by His Majesty and praised

description. Vico’s highly unusual iconography

by all.” Nevertheless, even Vasari did not

5

135

If Gilio raised concerns about Vasari’s

Vico and Doni of course did not intend

Fortune is an Ostrich

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8/20/15 12:15 AM

suddenly in 1567 when reaching for an antique vase to show the duke.12

As a way of expressing his struggles,

Vico invented a personal impresa (fig. 126).13 Encased in an elaborate grotesque and scrollwork frame stands an ostrich, with an alert head turned abruptly back toward its tail. The motto written on the banderole that snakes around the ostrich’s long and curving neck is “tentanda via est,” which translates as “The way must be attempted.” Though the hooflike feet are firmly on the ground, the bird’s little wing is raised, right under the word “tentanda,”

and so Vico seems to be comparing his

own constant labors to an ostrich’s attempt to fly. Vico was also well aware of the idea that 126

ostriches digest iron, and so he could have

Enea Vico, impresa, engraving, ca. 1550–60.

shown himself as a tough iron-eating fighter,

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

but he chose instead a more ambiguous image. According to Renaissance impresa theory, the understand the allegories, which he describes

true meaning is found in the combination of

as “a suitable ornament full of victories and the

word and image, each on its own incomplete.

spoils of war.” He saw triumph, conquest, and

An image of an ostrich (even one with its

weaponry, rather than Clemency, Justice, and

wings raised) can be positive, and the motto

Religion.

could be on a modern motivational poster,

9



Vico himself, like Doni, suffered from

but together they mark Vico as at best a tragic

twists of ill fortune and struggled to gain

hero, at worst a pathetic fool. For this more

patronage or make a career in printing.10 He

personal (though published) imagery, the

had some success in Pope Paul III’s Rome but

ostrich is an emblem of the futility of combat-

never received any substantial support from

ing adverse fortune, an image antithetical to

the Farnese. He moved to Florence to work

the ostrich of just rewards and punishments in

in the Medici court. There Vico received from

his print of Charles.

Pietro Aretino a letter detailing the horrors of being a courtier and asking him whether

Paolo Giovio and Ostrich Imprese

“it is better to live free as one of the highest

Vico was not the only one to use the ostrich

printers of others’ designs on paper or to die

for an impresa. This memorably strange bird

among the lowest, who struggle to get a piece

with several odd behaviors was useful for

of bread under the strange imperiousness of

inventors of imprese, including Paolo Giovio,

princes.” Vico must have opted for freedom

who included three ostrich imprese in his

because he moved to the republic of Venice.

treatise Dialogo dell’imprese militari e amorose.

Only in his last years did he obtain a stable

Decades older than Vico and Doni, Giovio

position in the court of Alfonso II of Ferrara.

was a learned humanist.14 An omnivorous

A true antiquarian to the end, Vico died

intellect, he wrote on the history of Ethiopia

11

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and worked with Pierio Valeriano on inventing

essential aspects of people’s characters and to

hieroglyphs. In addition to his monumental

describe or invent their imprese. He regularly

history of his times, Giovio also composed

refers to memory—these imprese are a form of

Latin biographies of Pope Leo X and Raphael,

visual and verbal biography. In fact many of the

among others. Giovio often devised written

imprese Giovio describes are of people who

programs for the increasingly complex

had died long before—this dialogue is the

historical and allegorical imagery that was in

work of a man distanced by time, space, and

vogue, including the imagery for the great hall

inclination from Rome, now an often fond and

of the Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, where

sometimes bitter memory.

Andrea del Sarto depicted all of the nations of



the world bringing exotic animals in tribute

physical appearance, unlike Giovio’s collection

to Caesar.16 Under Pope Paul III, Giovio had

of portraits of famous men at his villa in

some initial success as a client of Cardinal

Como, which he called a “museum.” In the

Alessandro Farnese, to whom he introduced

villa, Giovio also had his imprese painted—not

15

Vasari. Giovio certainly was an advisor for

images of his body but allegories of his deeds

the imagery of the Sala dei Cento Giorni and

and virtues.23 Indeed, one of Giovio’s rules is

seems to have devised the program.

that imprese cannot include images of people.24



Giovio wrote that imprese should not be as

17

18

The erudite insider Giovio seems

antithetical to the satirist Doni, but the

obscure as a sphinx’s riddle or so clear that any

humanist found himself, like Doni, increas-

plebeian could understand them. The humanist,

ingly at odds with the atmosphere in Rome in

writing in the vernacular, revels in being

the 1540s. Giovio does not seem to have been

popular, but not too popular. Imprese can be

interested in religious reform. He was also

emblazoned in public places but should not be

staunchly pro-imperial, an unpopular posi-

too obvious, and so the motto should not be in

tion in the decades following the sack. He

the mother tongue of the bearer. These imprese

had hoped for a cardinalate, an ambition that

carry with them a whiff of intrigue, as they

remained unfulfilled, and in 1548, when the

originally allowed a knight to bear a sign of

bishopric of Como (the site of Giovio’s villa)

his lady without betraying his love for her too

became vacant, it was awarded to someone else.

openly. Giovio also tells stories that illustrate

The frustrated humanist left Rome in 1549 to

the opposite danger, that the subterfuge of

enter the service of Duke Cosimo de’ Medici

the impresa is so successful that it invites “vain

(1519–1574).20

and ridiculous . . . diverse interpretations.”25





19

137

The memories here are not of personal

During the summer of 1551 Giovio wrote

Giovio gives several examples of imprese

a dialogue on imprese as a way to while away

that betray their bearers. The infamous Borgias

the time when it was too hot for an old man

were ripe for such treatment. Francesco

to think seriously.21 He calls his work a “little

Borgia adopted an image of a mountain hit

treatise,” “pleasant and playful,” but notes,

by lightning, accompanied by these words:

in dedicating the work to Duke Cosimo, that it

“Feriunt summos fulmina montes” (Lightning

is “not a little serious because of the elevation

strikes the peaks of mountains) (fig. 127).

and variety of subjects.”22 Giovio’s character

Giovio notes dryly that this “was verified by his

in the dialogue, like the author, is an elderly

unhappy end, as he was strangled and dumped

man, whose great knowledge of recent history

into the Tiber by his brother Cesare.”26 Giovio

and biography make it easy to remember

also recounts the story of Virginio Orsini

Fortune is an Ostrich

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127 Impresa of Francesco Borgia, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 13. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. 128 Impresa of Virginio Orsini, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 60. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. 129 Impresa of Duke Alessandro de’ Medici, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 55. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

(d. 1497), a scion of a noble Roman family who

of Austria and of his thirst for glory in warfare,

foolishly rejected a post under King Ferdinand

which reminds Giovio of the fierce rhinoceros.

of Naples in favor of French patronage.

He tells of the rhinoceros that the king of

Virginio compared himself to a camel, “who

Portugal had earlier sent to Pope Leo X, how

by nature, arriving at a clear spring, will not

it died in a shipwreck, and how the stuffed

drink until after he has stepped in the water,

“true live-sized effigy” arrived in Rome.30 This

making it turbid.” He wore this “perverse” and

inspired Giovio to invent an impresa for the

“ill-considered” impresa, with the motto (in

bellicose duke: the rhinoceros (its image based

French, of course) “I like trouble” (fig. 128).

on Dürer’s woodcut of the same beast), with

Virginio lost in battle, was besieged, and soon

a motto in Spanish: “I will not return without

died in prison. For Giovio the fact that he

victory” (fig. 129).31 The author had opportunity

was aware of his nature and even broadcast

here to comment on the all-too-apt motto, as

it to others only added to his viciousness. In

the violent duke was assassinated soon after

Giovio’s Italy, beset by foreigners, misfortune

his nuptials. Giovio, however, more weary

could be a kind of divine retribution. Giovio

and wary than when he wrote his biography

prided himself on writing “without the boot-

of Pope Leo, was surely afraid of antagonizing

27

greasing of pseudo-praises.” He wanted this

the Medici, who gave him much-needed refuge

dialogue to be fun and was surely aware that

in his old age, and so moved on to other illus-

his gossipy stories of the failures and disasters

trious Medici imprese without mentioning

of the rich and noble would have more bite

Alessandro’s terrible fate.

than a puff piece. A little Schadenfreude makes



the whole experience all the more delicious.

involves a tragic and violent story, though it



praises the bearer, Girolamo Mattei, a Roman

28

Giovio advises that imprese offer a

“beautiful view” of stars, flowers, “bizarre

captain under Pope Clement VII (fig. 130).

animals, or fantastic birds,” and follows his

Giovio begins by saying, “I remember,” and

own prescription by including many exotic

then tells the story of how Girolamo waited

animals. He begins his description of Duke

patiently to wreak vengeance on his brother’s

Alessandro de’ Medici’s impresa with an

well-placed murderer, a nephew of Cardinal

account of the duke’s marriage to Margherita

della Valle. Girolamo slaughtered the man

29

138

The first of the three ostrich imprese also

R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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8/20/15 12:15 AM

130 Impresa of Girolamo Mattei, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 93. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

but is deemed “a man of resolute and high

than condemn such words, Giovio consoled

thoughts and a deliberative spirit, who waited

his friend, at which point the offended soldier

with great patience, perseverance, and

said, “If I was not helped to rise high by my

dissimulation.”32 Giovio’s invention lauds

goodness, at least I will remain captain general

Girolamo not for exacting justice but for his

of these unbeaten troops.”35 To embody this

calculating and deceptive caution in hunting

“thought,” Giovio proudly presents the “most

down his enemy and thus features an ostrich

beautiful sight” of an ostrich running, moving

eating a nail, with the motto “Spiritus

fast but unable to rise with his wings. The

durissima coquit” (The spirit digests the

specter of the sack haunts this pleasant book.

hardest things). This particular ostrich impresa

Here the captain’s virtue lies in reluctantly

took on a new resonance when it was used by

enduring ill fortune, or rather the ill favor of

the intellectual Giulio Einaudi (1912–1999),

the pope.

first for a journal repressed under fascism and



then as a proud symbol of resistance for the

for Count Pietro Navarro (fig. 132),36 whose

famous Einaudi press, which it still graces.33

ingenious subterranean war machines helped



him win a victory in the war between the

The ostrich, “because of the diversity of

its nature,” served Giovio again—this time

French and Spanish over the Kingdom of

shown flapping its wings while running—in an

Naples. Navarro tells Giovio his life’s story,

impresa for the Marchese del Vasto (1502–1546)

recounting “his victories and disgraces.”37 He

(fig. 131), who, slighted because he did not

offers up various ideas for an impresa, none of

receive a commission from Clement, said that

which Giovio likes. The humanist insists that

he almost regretted not participating in the

the impresa celebrate those war machines, which

sack of Rome (or so Giovio reports). Rather

he had described in lavish detail in his histories.

34

139

The ostrich also served “proportionately”

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140

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The chosen image depicts two ostriches staring

calls out in ecstatic abandon: “A woman with

at their eggs, the “most efficacious rays”

more breasts than a dog . . . and two women

causing the chicks to be born. The motto

that seem to want to wash themselves, who

reads, “Diversa ab aliis virtute valemus” (We

are taking off their shirts! . . . O, God, if only

are strong with a virtue different from others’).

they were alive!”41 Doni pokes gentle fun at

Staring at the eggs was commonly associated

the learned program of Giovio’s villa without

with the virgin birth of Jesus, and so Giovio’s

making any nasty comments at the humanist’s

transformation of the meaning would verge

expense, instead seeming to mock his own

on blasphemy if the interpretation of animals

foolishness. Giovio’s erudite display claims

were not completely fungible in this period.

grounding in the inherently diverse nature of

The most holy of miracles has become a newly

its objects, especially the multivalent ostrich.

powerful weapon, in a bitter twist that, if

Doni instead sees all images as open to inter-

Giovio was aware of the religious connotations,

pretive play. Giovio clearly relishes anecdotes

suggests the depths of his cynicism.

about imprese that betray their bearers, but



implies that there is some truth inherent in the

38

Giovio, although familiar with the asso-

ciation of the ostrich with Justice, did not

imprese, and so he demonstrates an underlying

invoke that association in his imprese. The re-

faith in the essential meaningfulness of word

reading of the animal in three different ways,

and image. Doni sees words and images as

Impresa of the Marchese del Vasto, woodcut, from

each new, was a particularly virtuoso intellec-

sites for his satirical projections. He knows

Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose

tual performance that drew marked praise from

that he is misbehaving, and the fact that he is

his interlocutor: “Certainly, My Lord, these,

naughty in his interpretation of the humanist

your ostriches with their properties, seem to

Giovio’s villa adds a soupçon of rebellion to

me to have served appropriately in these three

his letter.

131

(Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 94. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. 132 Impresa of Count Pietro Navarra, woodcut, from Paolo Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose

most diverse imprese, and I am not sure if you

(Lyon: Guglielmo Rovillio, 1574), 96. Thomas Fisher

could do better in the others that remain to

Anton Francesco Doni’s Fortune

Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

be told.” Giovio answers humbly but is

Anton Francesco Doni was, like Giovio, eager

clearly proud of his intellectual performance.

to display his intellect by creating complex



combinations of word and image. He was

39

Doni attempted in a particularly

desperate moment to gain patronage from

also fascinated with Fortune and her vagaries

Giovio, himself a writer in the service of others.

and used the ostrich to embody this idea. He

Giovio never gave Doni financial support

came from a working-class Florentine family

but did invite him to visit his famous villa in

and must have had some Latin, as he was

Como. Doni published two letters about the

briefly trained as a lawyer, but he wrote almost

villa, one a relatively sober description, with

exclusively in Italian. His most successful

the inscriptions duly recorded and each classical

works were satirical books composed directly

image identified, much like the text he wrote

for the printing press—often silly collections

about Vasari’s Sala dei Cento Giorni. In the

of anecdotes, written, he claimed, very quickly,

other letter, printed first, Doni took on the role

almost in a sort of stream of consciousness.42

of a fool who does not understand anything



and instead reads it all literally. For example,

Giovio’s or Vico’s, demonstrates the sway of

in the gardens, when he comes upon a statue

fortune, the opportunities but also the pitfalls

of Diana of Ephesus, who is shown with many

for intellectuals in these tumultuous times.

breasts to signify the fecundity of nature, he

When young, Doni became a Servite monk.

40

141

Doni’s career, more dramatically than

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8/20/15 12:15 AM

142

This life was uncongenial to him, and he left

the influence of well-placed friends. A few

the monastery and moved to Piacenza, where

years later, a similar quarrel erupted with

he became a member of the Accademia degli

Pietro Aretino. Invectives flew back and

Ortolani, a group of writers who enjoyed wine,

forth, but Doni had the last word—after he

women, and light poetry. It was in Piacenza

predicted in print that Aretino would die in

that Doni began his relationship with Lena

1556, Aretino did just that. Doni thus gained

Gabbia, his companion for several years, who

a formidable reputation, though not exactly

bore him at least two children. A local priest

one to recommend him to a prince, of

denounced the sinful life of this renegade monk

being a harbinger of ill fortune.

and his companions, but this only provoked



the academicians to print satirical attacks

went to Venice at his fellow satirist’s invitation.

on the priest.

Venice, which had an active printing press



and was relatively independent of the

Meanwhile, Doni was desperately

Before Doni broke with Aretino, he

writing letters attempting to get patronage.

increasingly reform-minded papacy, was in

The political winds shifted, and Pope Paul

these years a haven for intellectuals. Doni was

III claimed Piacenza as a part of a duchy for

a founding member of the Accademia dei

his son Pier Luigi Farnese. Many members of

Pellegrini, a literary and artistic group.43 In

the Accademia degli Ortolani belonged to the

the wake of his triumph over Aretino, Doni

old Piacenza nobility, who were ousted from

stepped into the vacuum left by Pietro’s death

power in favor of the papal bastard. Doni,

and became so successful that he was able

however, would not lose the opportunity

to move from his tiny flea-ridden rooms to

to gain a patron and so wrote a letter to

his own palazzo, and he even considered

Pier Luigi’s secretary, hoping for a position.

buying a villa on the mainland.

Nothing materialized, and Doni so alienated



his erstwhile friends that he had to make a

his compilation of anecdotes, jokes, and

quick exit and never returned to Piacenza.

other witty discussions, more than five hun-

He then resettled in his native Florence, to

dred pages long, was quickly written.44 One

work as a printer under Duke Cosimo de’

anecdote describes how Giuseppe Salviati

Medici, though the satirist never gained steady

gave the Accademia dei Pellegrini a painting

patronage from the duke or anyone else.

of Wisdom and Fortune, who “appear” to be

After penning one of his many sugary letters

adorning with garlands and honors men of

to a potential patron, he wrote in frustration

every walk of life.45 The primary meaning here

to Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) of his hatred

is clear, as Doni has identified the figures, and

of lords and cardinals and of his inability to

yet he signals ambiguity with the word “ap-

play the toadying role of a courtier. Doni was

pear.” After all, Fortune and Wisdom are not

famous for his temper, and when he turned

the same and are even potentially antithetical.

against his former dear friend Ludovico

The witty writers of the academy vied to inter-

Domenichi (1515–1564, an interlocutor in

pret this image, posting twelve different sen-

Giovio’s dialogue on imprese), Doni savagely

tenze (meanings) under the picture. Some are

denounced the fellow writer as a heretic in a

optimistic, suggesting that Fortune will reward

series of public letters. Domenichi was arrested,

Wisdom. Others see the two as irreconcilable.

surely tortured, and sentenced to prison, but

These writers knew all too well that wisdom

he was quickly exonerated, probably through

does not always bring good fortune.

Doni claims that La zucca (the pumpkin),

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lover was now interpreted as disdainful of the things of this world. Any reader of both books could notice the change and laugh. Doni was often anticlerical and was particularly biting in his comments on church reform, and so the play with image and meaning could suggest that an appearance of piety could be deceiving, that an ostentatiously devout person was not so different from a despondent lover.

Doni’s success did not last. He became

implicated in another polemical dispute with a priest (probably over real estate), but he was now in a vulnerable position. Paul IV had declared in 1558 that monks were required to return to their monasteries. Doni, unwilling to return, needed the protection of a patron and

133

tried, unsuccessfully, to plead with the Duke

Lovesick woman, woodcut, from Anton Francesco Doni, I marmi (Venice: Francesco Marcolini,

of Urbino. He settled briefly in Ancona, but

1552), 87. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library,

the papal city was not a safe haven for a

University of Toronto.

renegade monk, and so he soon had to move again. The Accademia dei Pellegrini wrote a

Doni finds another way to reinterpret

Ferrara, again to no avail. Doni eventually

La zucca. Often woodcut illustrations were

settled on a farm in the obscure village of

printed several times in different books, as

Monselice, essentially in hiding for the rest

a cost-cutting measure. Doni, a gleeful

of his life. It was during his peripatetic years

borrower of others’ ideas, also reused images,

that Doni wrote his most complex work on

in particular the allegorical images from

allegorical imagery, Pitture.50

Francesco Marcolini’s (ca. 1500–after 1559)



Le sorti. Marcolini’s book was a large-format,

allegorical paintings in a building that he

lavishly illustrated game of fortune. By follow-

erected in Arquà to honor Petrarch, including

ing the rules and looking at different pages

an allegory of fortune with an ostrich. He

filled with allegorical imagery, players could

wrote letters to patrons asking for money for

learn their fates. Le sorti does not include any

the project, but it is clear from the text that

ostriches, but they do appear in earlier versions

the building never existed, except as a virtuoso

of the game, such as Lorenzo Spirito’s Libro de

literary description.51 The manuscript does

le sorti (1482) and Sigismondo Fanti’s Triompho

not mention the building, and the printed

di fortuna (1527). Doni reused Marcolini’s

discussion dwells upon the fact that most will

personification of Melancholy as an image

not see the structure—printing will guarantee

of a lovesick woman in I marmi (fig. 133).48 In

its fame. The book is not directly satirical

the same year, Doni published the same wood-

in tone, though it does include jokes. Doni

cut in La zucca as an allegory of religion. The

does not mock Petrarch but instead imitates

unhappy woman gazing out after her departed

the revered poet’s works, in particular the

46

47

49

143

letter recommending him to the Duke of

images playfully in his use of illustrations in

In Pitture Doni claims to be describing

Fortune is an Ostrich

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allegorical poem I trionfi. Petrarch’s famous

of the human condition. Pazzia’s attribute is

triumphs included Love, Time, and Death,

a zucca, or gourd, and Doni states that Pazzia

all of which are chapters in Doni’s book, and

reigns over all of men’s zucche—their heads.

Petrarch is quoted as an authority throughout,

The title page is a play on one published a

but Doni is much more bitter. This is Petrarch

year before, designed by Vasari, for an Italian

without Laura and, for the most part, without

translation of Alberti’s treatise on architecture

God. Petrarch’s triumphs dramatize the vanity

(fig. 135).56 Doni adopted the same format

of earthly desires but offer three triumphs

(triumphal arch with a cloth hanging in the

after Death: Fame, Time, and finally the

middle) and arranged the allegorical figures

redemption offered by Eternity. Doni ends

as a mirror image of Vasari’s, but substituted

his book with Death. His painting of Man

Pazzia holding a gourd for Vasari’s Immortality

(not a usual subject for an allegory) is a

holding a globe and triumphing over Time at

catalogue of ills, beginning with pain at birth,

her feet. He has moved the globe underfoot,

living through physical and mental anguish,

making it a precarious perch. Everything is

including the constant threat of insanity, and

unstable, like the smoke and butterflies coming

ending in death. The “painting” depicts a heap

from the vases flanking the central figures.

of dirt, on which man is a tiny shadow. This

Though not depicted, time is triumphant

is far from the sort of celebratory image a

in this image, which is full of round objects

nobleman would want in his house.

that turn ceaselessly.57 The world is under the

Title page, woodcut, from Anton Francesco Doni,



direct sway of Insanity, flanked by the equally

La zucca (Venice: Francesco Marcolini, 1551–52).

allegory, which he recognizes as a kind of

powerful Good Fame and Bad Fame, either of

monstrous fantasy. He calls allegories “castles

which could have the last word.

in the air” and “grotesques” and writes



repeatedly that he will enter into the ranks of

discussion of fortune in Pitture, which also

Battista Alberti, L’architettura, trans. Cosimo

the insane by inventing his own allegories.53 In

includes a reaction to Vasari.58 He begins by

Bartoli (Florence: Torrentino, 1550). Biblioteca

his otherwise sober treatise on art, Il disegno,

dilating upon various misunderstandings of

Riccardiana, Florence.

he writes about classical grotesques, calling

the concept of fortune, writing about fools

them chimeras, reflections of “the chaos

who blame fortune for their own mistakes. He

52

134

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. 135 Giorgio Vasari, title page, woodcut, from Leon

Doni plays with the whole notion of

in our brains.” He compares the invention

paraphrases a story from Boccaccio about a

of grotesques to seeing shapes in clouds.

prince who had his servant choose, as a reward

For the title page of La zucca Doni exalts

for faithful service, between two closed coffers,

insanity by topping the traditional triumphal

one of which was full of riches and the other

arch not with a figure of Fame or a virtue

empty.59 When the servant chose the empty

but with Pazzia (Insanity), who sits over a

box, the noble argued that it was fortune that

globe, flanked by Good Fame and Bad Fame

had deprived him of his reward. The noble’s

(fig. 134).55 The image of a woman sitting on

fortune is just an excuse for rank injustice.

a ball was associated with fortune, and so

Many authors quoted Boccaccio’s Latin works

Doni is here implying that fortune is mad

in defining allegories, but it is characteristic

and rules the world insanely. The allegories

of Doni that he instead chose as his source

in Pitture similarly do not constitute some

the Decameron, with its bitter humor that

perfect hieroglyphic language that holds the

mercilessly exposes human frailty.

key to eternal truth but are instead fevered



imaginings, fantastic projections of the insanity

be an ancient cameo in the collection of

54

144

Doni offers a particularly complex

Doni then describes what he claims to

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145

Fortune is an Ostrich

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Gabriele Vendramin. In another book he

Doni emphasizes that these are “vulgar” and

identifies the same image as a round painting

“plebeian” images, ubiquitous and cheap. Not

belonging to Cardinal de’ Medici, and so it is

only are the images crude and the attributes

clear that the cameo, like the building in Arquà,

common, but the understanding of the concept

is a literary invention. Fortune here sits atop

of fortune is simplistic and false: all too often

a tree, batting down the fruit, which are

fortune is blamed for what is really inability

books, crowns, yokes, precious jewels, and

or injustice.

worthless rocks. These goods rain randomly



down on people and animals, so that a peas-

blind in order to blame her for the vices of

ant receives a book and a literary man a yoke,

lords, who should be rewarding the virtuous,

a pig a rich jewel and an ass a lord’s scepter.

a theme that must have been particularly

60

Vasari had invented this concept in a letter to

poignant for Doni at this nadir of his career.

Giovio, although Doni does not credit him.

“And therefore one gives the burden, blame,

61

In Vasari’s letter the description is longer and

and criticism to a figure that I don’t know

richer and the satire more biting. The recipients

whether has ever been or will ever be painted

are all animals, and the goods include positions

accurately: be it a god, genius, puppet, mask,

in the church hierarchy—the papacy falls to

fable, or song, even though one believes that it

the lot of a wolf, and cardinals’ caps to asses.

is something.”63 The very difficulty in defining

The courtier Vasari, writing to the historian

Fortune and her role in human affairs makes

Giovio, dared satirize the church in 1532 in

her impossible to depict. How could one

terms that were no longer possible in 1565—

ever paint this idea that is at times the exalted

even for the generally much more daring and

divine ruler of all and at others a mere puppet,

anticlerical Doni.

a mask for free will and destiny? After declaring



the impossibility of the task, Doni dilates for

Doni displays his erudition, making

reference to classical and contemporary

five more pages on images of Fortune: “So

authors—Plato, Plutarch, Democritus,

among painters and poets, wise brains and

Sannazaro, Petrarch, Ariosto, and others—

capricious crazies, she has been depicted in

producing a string of learned quotations

diverse ways: on dolphins, balls, wheels,

and popular sayings. He mocks traditional

worlds, and disks; and they even made her the

depictions of Fortune:

lady of islands.”64 The dizzying accumulation

The ancient and modern poets portrayed her bald, all of her hair in front to be grabbed, and thus in many places she is shown vulgarly on tables, walls, and playing cards, and sculpted in marble. It has not been long since I have seen her painted in a plebeian fashion on a chest, turning a wheel, to which many crowds were attached to rise to the top, and some with ladders, hooks, hammers, and nails were exhausting themselves in vain attempting to

of different images and sayings, often listed one after another with no comment, has the effect of rendering meaning here as unstable and constantly shifting as Fortune herself.

Finally, after mocking many “vulgar”

images and “stupid” writers, Doni himself takes on the impossible task of creating an image of Fortune, and when he does so, he seats her on an ostrich:

stop her. And from these jokes it is apparent that

Now, wanting to enter the ranks of the dozen

foolish people think of her as having power over the

awake ones or dreamers and not to ruin the

world, men, riches, and realms.

bouquet for a leek, I will imagine this Fortune,

62

146

Doni writes that Fortune is shown as

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Fate, Destiny, or whatever it is, in this new way.

that on the wheel, inasmuch as she viciously

If you like it, accept it as it should be accepted, as

wields an iron cudgel. Doni, himself so beaten

a castle in the air, a grotesque attached to the

down by Fortune, makes her a murderer of

thread of a spider’s web; and if you don’t like it,

pathetic stupid children.

imagine one yourself (which would please me) that



suits you better. My painting, therefore, made in

makes it, as Doni boasts, “new” is the ostrich

words, shows itself thus: a woman, with a little

with the wings of an eagle. Doni devotes a

cloud that impedes her vision, richly and pompously

whole paragraph to explaining this bird:

dressed in various colors, sitting on an ostrich, which has the wings of an eagle; while she turns it, she throws treasures, scepters, and crowns, which rain into her lap from a cloud above, and she distributes them around with her left hand, as if she does not give anything directly. In her right she has an iron cudgel with heavy and lethal balls, with which she strikes to the ground, wounds, and massacres men, shown as so many children that have little intellect, who are taking or stealing the treasures; some she kills and others she can’t reach, and she hits some a little and others not at all, but she receives badly those who do reach her, because she is stronger and does more harm with the right hand than

Truly the things of Fortune on earth are the quickest to pass, as signified by the ostrich, which among the animals that walk on the earth is the fastest, agile and quick to turn; and by the eagle’s wings, which rise more than any other: these are the fortunate, who arrive at the supreme heights; the ostrich digests iron, and the fortunate one with riches devours everything. This earthbound bird, because of its weight, cannot lift itself from the ground with its feathers; thusly the rich love the most earthly things and trust in them. With a look from its eyes the ostrich effects the birth of its children from their eggs, and with a look the rich man can produce anything.66

she rewards with the left, which does not ever

This one part of a complex image bears so

satisfy enough. And others, who defy her blows,

many meanings. The speed and strength of

either by chance or by prudence, carry away as

the bird show that fortune passes quickly. The

much as they like.

fortunate rich are both exalted to the heights by

65

Even as he is describing the painting, purportedly executed in his palace in Arquà but here avowedly “made in words,” Doni refuses even to name his personification—“Fortune, Fate, or Destiny.” This invention is more fantastic than the others, more of an airy nothing, not just a grotesque but one hanging from a spider’s web. This painting of whatever concept related to fortune the reader chooses is not blindfolded, but her vision is obscured by a cloud. She is richly dressed and has crowns, jewels, and so forth, which rain down on the undeserving, who are here ignorant children. She is no less capricious and more vindictive than the Fortune depicted in the tree or even 147

The main element of this invention that

the wings of the eagle and remain completely earthbound like an ostrich, obsessed only with the mundane. The quality that in this period was most often seen as a sign of justice, the digestion of iron, is here recast as the voraciousness of the rich. The incubation of the eggs by staring at them, for centuries associated reverently with the virgin birth of Jesus, is now the omnipotence of a rich man, whose very look makes things happen.

Doni knew well the image of Justice with

an ostrich. He had earlier described Vasari’s Justice in the Sala dei Cento Giorni and demonstrated that he knew Vasari’s earlier letter describing his painting of Justice as Astraea. Doni, piling on image after image, makes it

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148

23

seem as if his inventions are free associations,

as an image without an accompanying text,

pictures seen in the clouds. But in fact Doni’s

because, as he boasts, it is new. Indeed, by 1564

image of Fortune riding an ostrich is a deliber-

a woman seated on an ostrich who administers

ate and pointed inversion of Vasari’s Justice.

punishment with one hand and gives rewards

The miraculous ability of the ostrich/eagle to

with the other would surely be understood as

fly is related not to celestial justice but to the

Justice. In fact, a drawing by Battista Franco

exaltation of the rich. Fortune is cruel and

that closely follows Doni’s description of

capricious and wields a cudgel instead of a

Fortune has been incorrectly identified by a

scepter of clemency. The ostrich’s ability to

modern scholar as Justice!67 Doni’s Fortune

digest iron is no longer careful deliberation

is also too bitter for a courtly commission.

but the opposite: an indiscriminate monstrous

What lord would want an image of Fortune

devouring. The miraculous powers of divine

massacring children and giving ultimate power

justice are now bitterly given to a man who

to the merely wealthy?

is not deserving but wealthy. The inversion is



subtly signaled by the distinction between right

and unflattering image of Fortune was never-

and left. The right hand is the one wielding

theless executed by Federico Zuccaro as a part

the cudgel, the left distributing rewards. This

of a courtly commission in the Villa d’Este in

is the opposite of the ultimate image of divine

Tivoli. Cardinal Ippolito d’Este (1509–1572),

justice, Jesus in the Last Judgment, who

the patron of the extraordinarily sumptuous

always raises the saved with his right hand

villa, had himself suffered from fortune’s

and condemns to hell with his left, or sinister,

vagaries. He was by no means poor—quite

hand. In the elderly Doni’s bitter grotesque

the opposite, for he had accumulated so many

imagination there was no justice, divine or

benefices throughout a long career that his

human, only cruel and capricious fortune; no

household was almost three times as large as

divine power rewarding the right and castigat-

the average, already enormous household of a

ing the wrong, but only the tyranny of wealth.

cardinal. In tax records of 1571 he is listed as the

Doni indulges in a particularly dark vision of

third wealthiest cardinal, behind only Cardinal

man, bloodied by Fortune and her ostrich.

Alessandro Farnese and the extremely rich

Doni’s unpaintable, incomprehensible,

Charles of Lorraine.68 His career demonstrates

148

The Villa d’Este in Tivoli

the power but also the limits of a rich man’s

Doni’s images in Pitture, particularly his

gaze—just how much of the world immense

image of Fortune, seem unpaintable for

wealth allowed a man to devour. Starting when

many reasons. They are too complex, the

Ippolito was eighteen, his father, Alfonso

inventions of a writer, for whom it is easy

d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, offered large sums

to add a clause, rather than a painter, who

of money to make him a cardinal.69 When

must make a legible image. Doni mocks just

not initially successful, the duke and Ippolito

such hopelessly involuted imagery in another

himself continued openly to attempt to buy

chapter in the same book—there, he asks

the position, until Ippolito was finally elevated

literary men for advice in painting an allegory

to the cardinalate under Paul III, first secretly

of the republic and is given so many historical

(in pectore, i.e., kept in the pope’s heart) and

figures to include that the painter cannot fit

then openly in 1539, when the new cardinal was

them in his painting. Doni’s Fortune on an

thirty, still young for such an exalted position,

ostrich would also not be comprehensible

particularly for one who was not a blood

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Catherine de’ Medici’s (1519–1589) perceived tolerance of heresy. Instead, a scandal broke out when he attended a Calvinist sermon with the French queen. When Pius IV died, in 1565, Ippolito made one last attempt in what was his sixth conclave. By this point, however, any hope for the papal tiara was delusional. Even Catherine de’ Medici, pretending to support Ippolito, told her ambassador that the French should vote for the Medici candidate instead. When the zealous reformer Pius V (1504–1572) was elected, Ippolito retired to his villa in Tivoli, finally abandoning the arena of papal politics after a quarter century.

The villa in Tivoli was a wonder of its

age.72 Ippolito converted a monastery into a villa and transformed the steep hill below the building into a terraced garden, replete

136

with fountains, a sign of excessive wealth

Pirro Ligorio and Curzio Maccarone, Fountain of Venus, stucco and marble, ca. 1567–70,

par excellence in this dry and hot climate.

Villa d’Este, Tivoli.

One fountain had a water organ, powered by the falling water. In another, water would relative of the pope. Surely Paul III initially

accumulate in a reservoir before thundering

kept the nomination secret because of the scan-

in a dramatic deluge into a basin below. In the

dal attached to the overtly political nomination

Fountain of the Owl, the falling water made

of a man manifestly unfit for the position. Like

each bird pop out and sing its own song, until

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, Ippolito repeat-

the owl appeared and chased them all away.

edly campaigned hard to become pope without

Ippolito made it clear that this was a purely

success. Under Paul IV Carafa (1476–1559),

secular, classical space and so, for example,

a strict reforming pope, Ippolito was banned

installed a fountain of Venus into the side

from Rome, and the governorship of Tivoli

of the preexisting church of San Francesco

was revoked, because of simony, a charge that

(fig. 136). He lived as a secular lord, wearing

was certainly accurate, as is clear from the car-

“tight-fitting doublets and breeches” rather

dinal’s own letters. After Pope Pius IV (1499–

than a priest’s robes.73

1565) was elected, largely through the support



of Ippolito and his French faction, he was

of the overall plan and individual marvels of

reinstated. Surely it did not hurt that during

the gardens was the antiquarian Pirro Ligorio

the conclave he paid for more than forty-five

(1513–1583), who had previously worked for

jugs of wine per day!71

Pius IV but found himself in disgrace under



the zealously antipagan new pope, Pius V, who

70

149

In 1561–63 Cardinal Ippolito was sent

Ippolito’s architect and the designer

to France to deal with the problem of the

removed ancient statues from Vatican proper-

Huguenots and religious dissent. He was not

ties. Tivoli was a refuge for both the cardinal

the right man to convey papal displeasure with

and his architect. Indeed, after Ippolito died,

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137 Pirro Ligorio, Fountain of Rome, 1567–70, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. 138 After Pirro Ligorio, detail of a frieze with ostriches

a Ferrarese agent wrote a letter recommending Ligorio for a position under the Duke of Ferrara, lamenting Cardinals Ippolito d’Este and Alessandro Farnese as the last of their kind:

pulling a chariot, oil, ca. 1574–75. Sala dell’Aurora,

“Now only those are esteemed and honored

Castello Estense, Ferrara.

who under a pretext of continence and humility promote the greater part of their interests not only without spending but also without sponsoring persons of worth and intellect such as he [Ligorio]. Now that our Cardinal [i.e., the Cardinal of Ferrara] and the Farnese [Cardinal] are gone . . . this court [i.e., the papal curia] has been reduced to such extremity that men of his kind must find their living and fortune elsewhere.”74 The lavishly spending Renaissance cardinals were an extinct breed.

Pirro Ligorio created for the cardinal

an image of the city they had both left: the Fountain of Rome, which is the climax at the end of one of the principal axes of the garden (fig. 137). The Rome Ligorio built, though, is not the modern Counter-Reformation city but a reconstruction of ancient Rome, complete with pagan river gods. The great empire is miniaturized and thoroughly marginalized, out in a pleasure-villa garden, placed next to the surely more entertaining Fountain of the Owl. In order to give this little Rome reborn some actual antiquity, Ligorio took ancient sculptural reliefs from a local source, Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli, and incorporated them into the fountain, embedding the reliefs in the steps. One fragment, appropriately from Hadrian’s maritime theater, included putti riding a chariot pulled by ostriches.75 Ligorio associated the ostrich with the ancient empire and perhaps felt that this playful relief was particularly appropriate for his pleasant miniature Rome, far more enjoyable than the real toxic city. Because it is perched on the edge of a cliff, the Fountain of Rome has suffered over the centuries and now looks like a ruin, and so Ligorio and Ippolito’s Rome reborn is crumbling again. 150

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Ligorio was clearly struck with this

gion are standard subjects for princely decora-

ostrich image—when he later found another

tions, but what of Time and Fortune? The

refuge in the service of Ippolito’s nephew

message could be, as a modern commentator

Alfonso II d’Este (1533–1597) in Ferrara, he

suggests, that despite the vagaries of fortune,

designed a frieze with ostriches and other

the devout and just cardinal will in time be

animals pulling putti in chariots (fig. 138).

glorified.80 This Time is not the moral Father

Ligorio believed that images held truth, even

Time, who reveals truth or cuts down the sinful

grotesques: “All were symbols. . . . There are

with his remorseless sickle. Instead, he is twist-

fantastic forms, as of dreams, but there are

ing equivocally, as Doni describes, between

mingled both the moral and fabulous actions

the mirrors of the past and the future—even

of the gods. . . . All [were] placed amid lovely

time seems unstable and relative (fig. 142).81

festoons and bonds of a delicate and varied

Unlike in Petrarch’s Trionfi or even Doni’s

nature so as to present in this form moral

Pitture, here it is not clear what ultimately tri-

aims, positive actions, the false, the true, the

umphs, except perhaps the ill-defined Glory—

uncertainty, and the foreseeable, the phantasies

Religion, Magnanimity, Time, and Fortune are

of future things.”77 Ligorio understood that

all on an equal footing. Federico may have had

grotesques were fanciful and read them as

particularly great latitude in this small, margin-

pregnant with a whole range of meanings.

al space in a country villa and so may have

He interpreted the subject in the ancient relief

been expressing both the ideas of his friend

and the painted frieze allegorically, writing

Doni, whom he visited in Arquà in 1564,82 and

that as Cupid leads all of the animals, so

his own thoughts on the passage of time and

love conquers all. A visitor who noticed

the vagaries of fortune.These allegories

the relief on the Fountain of Rome in Tivoli

must also have been meaningful for Cardinal

would surely have been struck by the charm

d’Este, destined from the beginning to find

and arcane exoticism of the motif and might

his career in the church, astonishingly liberal in

have conjured up this kind of generic positive

his spending, and caught, like Time in Doni’s

association.

invention, between the past and the future.





76

78

151

The gardens are the grandest aspect

In the same room, a figure on the walls

of the Villa d’Este, but the interior was also

of the room bats fruitlessly with branches

lavishly decorated, by Federico Zuccaro and

at butterflies, which fly out of reach near a

others. In the vault of a reception room,

smoking brazier (fig. 143). Because this image

Federico painted personifications from Doni’s

appears to be a grotesque, scholars have not

Pitture: Liberality, Nobility, and Generosity,

recognized that it is another illustration of

clearly flattering the wealthy cardinal (fig. 139).

one of Doni’s paintings described in Pitture,

The nearby smaller Stanza della Gloria has a

the allegory of reform.83 He describes reform

frescoed ceiling with images of Time, Magna-

as fashion, hemlines and necklines rising and

nimity, Religion, and Fortune—an image of

falling. He also writes explicitly of political

Glory, known from early photographs, is

and church reform as meaningless, futile

now lost—all based closely on Doni’s Pitture

vacillation. He plays with language like a giddy

(fig. 140).79 Below, illusionistic paintings of

graduate student—“form,” “reform,” “inform,”

shelves of fine objects cover the walls of a

“deform”—in a virtuoso demonstration of the

little space that may have served as a kind

way that words and images participate in

of studiolo (fig. 141). Magnanimity and Reli-

this ceaseless mutability.84 Doni describes

Fortune is an Ostrich

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139 Federico Zuccaro, Liberality, Nobility, and Generosity, fresco, 1566–67, vault of the Stanza della Nobiltà, Villa d’Este, Tivoli.

152

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140 Federico Zuccaro, vault of the Stanza della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. 141 Federico Zuccaro, decorations of the Stanza della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. 142 Federico Zuccaro, Time, Stanza della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli.

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Reform as a woman attempting unsuccessfully to hit butterflies with branches. In the Villa d’Este, a man balances precariously, waving his branches, but does not even get close to the butterflies. Reform is here conflated with a detail from the frontispiece of Doni’s La zucca, which shows butterflies around a smoking brazier, which Doni explains is an image of vanity and insane caprice. This daring and bitter image encapsulates the way in which Doni’s satire struck a nerve, as many felt marginalized by religious reform, which must have seemed to the cardinal a form of insanity that had gripped Rome and deprived him of the papal tiara.

In the image of Fortune, Federico

Zuccaro followed Doni’s invention even more faithfully (fig. 144). Her right hand wields the vicious club, which has already felled some of the children surrounding her, while other more lucky ones hurry away with their booty. The ostrich’s face turns toward the woman, but its body is turned away from the viewer, who therefore confronts the ostrich’s rear, which seems appropriate for this image of justice inverted. Federico adds to Doni’s generic “treasures, scepters, and crowns” a papal tiara, which falls in the top center of the composition, upside down, right between the occluded eyes of Fortune and the back-turned head of her ostrich. The image must have been particularly pointed for Cardinal Ippolito, a fabulously wealthy man who never succeeded in eluding Fortune’s cudgel and grasping this one last, ultimate prize. Just as the cardinal has been relegated to a marginal existence far from the center of the Roman court, so too the image of the ostrich, once a large, proud attribute of Justice in a grand reception room of the Vatican, is now a tiny mount for Fortune in a bitter picture painted in a small room of a country villa.

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143 Federico Zuccaro, Reform, Stanza della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli. 144 Federico Zuccaro, Fortune, Stanza della Gloria, fresco, 1566–67, Villa d’Este, Tivoli.

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chapter

Seven

156

R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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Curiosity

and the Ostrich in the Counter-Reformation

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, Cardinal Ippolito

by theologians, including Cardinal Gabriele

d’Este, Pirro Ligorio, Anton Francesco Doni,

Paleotti (1522–1597), Carlo Borromeo’s close

Paolo Giovio, and others became increasingly

associate, and Carlo himself.

frustrated by the new rigors and restrictions



After the conclusion of the Council of

of the early Counter-Reformation. While

Trent, Carlo lived according to its precepts

some were displaced from the political and

and so, for example, wore rags, except when

cultural center of the church, other men were

occasion necessitated robes of office.3 He must

catalysts for change and so embraced the

have cut a figure very different from that of

spirit of reform that they came to be seen as

Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, who in the same years

living embodiments of the age. These new

dressed like a lord, lavishing money on silks

men, particularly Saint Carlo Borromeo

and gold threads for his ecclesiastical robes but

(1538–1584) and his younger cousin Federico

also for secular clothing.4 Carlo also reformed

Borromeo (1564–1631), sought to rein in

his household by first firing all of his servants

profane, distracting, and overly obscure images

and then hiring back only the minimum

and to ensure that religious art would inspire

number (a hundred, a vast quantity by present-

devotion. Surprisingly, both these paragons of

day standards but a meager few at the time), all

reform and secular members of the Borromeo

of whom were required to follow a strict code

family commissioned ostrich art.

of dress and behavior. Ambassadors wrote in their official reports that Rome had changed

The Borromeo Family

and become devout, citing as their prime

At the beginning of his career Carlo

example Cardinal Carlo Borromeo.5 Carlo was

Borromeo benefited from nepotism, as he

appointed archbishop of Milan and went to

was appointed cardinal by one of his uncles,

reside there, immersing himself in his episcopal

Pope Pius IV (1499–1565). The cardinal

duties, including the maintenance and building

was soon recognized as central to reform

of churches and other sacred sites. His

debates and was a dominant force at the

career was not without controversy—he had

closing session of the Council of Trent. Carlo

battles with both the papacy and the imperial

shaped the final pronouncements of the

government of Milan. Nevertheless, Carlo’s

council and their subsequent interpretation.

central role in the new religious and cultural

The council’s recommendation about art

climate was recognized during his life, and he

affirms the importance of images for Catholic

was canonized only twenty-six years after his

devotion. Reform is proposed in the most

death. Carlo’s reforms were continued by his

general of terms—art is not to be lascivious or

younger cousin Federico Borromeo, who was

novel.2 This pronouncement could be read as

raised by Carlo, made a cardinal at the age of

condemning much of Renaissance art! These

twenty-three, and appointed archbishop of

prescriptions were then interpreted at length

Milan eight years later.6 Federico was even

1

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more immersed in the reform of art than his

purely delightful. He only makes an exception

elder cousin. He wrote extensively on art and

for animals that are necessary to the story:

founded the Ambrosiana in Milan, a library,

“In a church, or in another sacred place, there

museum, and academy of art dedicated to

should not be found images of beasts of

7

training Counter-Reformation artists.

burden, dogs, fish, or other brutish animals,



unless the representation of the sacred story

Carlo and Federico Borromeo both

criticized the excesses of Renaissance culture

demands it specifically, according to the custom

and in particular visual art. The cousins

of the mother Church.”11 The inclusion of

were revered for their selfless help of plague

unnecessary animals must have been a source

victims. Carlo, in a treatise to the people of

of delightful distraction so prevalent that it

Milan following the plague of 1576, called the

demanded special consideration.

devastating epidemic a just punishment for the



sinful excesses of carnival, including dancing,

associate and follower of Carlo Borromeo and

comedies, and especially the wearing of masks,

teacher of the young Federico, articulated a

which allow for lascivious and secret talk and

similar horror of paintings of grotesques,

obscure the face of man, made in God’s image.

which he deemed “repugnant not only to the

The worst are masks in the form of beasts,

office of the painter but also to nature,” “books

and the most execrable of these, masks in

for idiots” that teach “lies, falsehoods, deceits,

the form of the serpent, as the devil wore that

and things that do not exist.”12 The painters of

mask when he came to tempt man in the

grotesques do not make art, but lies, and are

garden. When he came to visit Cardinal

like “drunks” or “idiots who make things by

Alessandro Farnese in Caprarola in 1578, Carlo

chance, without thinking of what they are

purportedly exclaimed with great irony, “What

doing,” acting “against art, reason, truth, and

then will paradise be like?”9 For a man living

nature herself.”13 Doni’s dreamer of chimeras,

in rags, the huge palace, encrusted with deco-

who sees images in the clouds and constructs

rative imagery, and expensive gardens full of

castles in air, has been brought down to earth

extravagant fountains must have been a particu-

and unmasked as a deceitful and stupid drunk.

larly gross manifestation of the corruption in

Paleotti does make an exception for realistic

the church and the accumulation of benefices.

foliate ornaments that follow the laws of nature



and for images of “those monsters . . . which by

8

Carlo wrote with disgust about

Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti, a close

the ubiquitous use of grotesque masks in

nature occasionally, even if it is outside of her

decorations: “The ornaments, which painters

regular order, have been produced.”14 Images

and sculptors are accustomed to add to

of ostriches, therefore, were in themselves licit,

images as decoration, should not be profane,

but the whole fantastical grotesque structure

or voluptuous, or only for aesthetic delight,

in which they were painted and interpreted was

or inappropriate for sacred painting, as,

exposed as an abomination.

for example, the human heads represented monstrously deformed that are vulgarly called

Profane Milan: The Villa Visconti

mascharoni, or the birds, sea, or green fields

Borromeo at Lainate

or other such things that are inserted only to

This severe culture of censure and reform

satisfy an aesthetic taste or as ornament.”

advocated by Carlo Borromeo, Federico

The monstrous is to be avoided, but so is the

Borromeo, and Gabriele Paleotti contrasts

10

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R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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sharply with the luxuriant lifestyles and playful,



often grotesque art commissioned by two

of the writer and painter Giovanni Paolo

relatives of the Borromeo cardinals, Pirro

Lomazzo.20 Like other members of theAcca-

I Visconti Borromeo (ca. 1560–1604) and

demia di Val di Blenio, a Milanese academy

Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps (1533–1595).

of artists and writers, Lomazzo chose to write

Pirro, a distant cousin to Carlo and Federico,

in the quasi-Germanic local dialect instead

was a member of the Milanese nobility. His

of elevated Tuscan and wrote satirical poetry

splendid villa at Lainate offers extraordinary

they called “grotesques.”21 Lomazzo dedicated

testimony to the vibrancy of profane culture in

the Rabisch, a collection of such grotesque

Milan. Pirro was in many ways a representative

poems, to Pirro.22 In a poem published in his

of the old guard. He was the scion of two old,

slightly earlier collection, Grottesche (1587),

noble Milanese families and was lavish in his

Lomazzo lays on the monstrous imagery:

spending. Many bitterly rued the injustices

Pirro was a patron and close associate

15

of imperial rule in Milan during this period.16 Absent rulers readily gave concessions to local nobles while fleecing the lower class

Furies, basilisks, vipers, ostriches Were present at courtly sprays.23

with onerous taxes and forced exports. The

Monstrous and real animals, evil and menacing,

working class starved and were devastated

seem to be gathering for some dark purpose

by plague, whereas the nobles, including

but then in the third line are transformed into

the Visconti Borromeo, became fabulously

grotesque decorations of a courtly fountain.

wealthy and built country palaces as escapes

Ostriches are a part of this monstrous horde

from the horrors of the city. Pirro came as a

because struzzi (ostriches) is a convenient

noble guest to Florence on two particularly

rhyme for spruzzi (sprays) but also because

grand occasions, the marriage of Francesco

ostriches, as living grotesques, perhaps still

de’ Medici to Giovanna d’Austria and the

carrying some of the taint of the sins of Babylon,

triply festive occasion on which Ferdinando

are at home among the howlers and the vipers.

de’ Medici was uncardinaled, married, and

In another context, Lomazzo wrote that

made grand duke. Pirro must have admired the

ostriches could be used as a symbol of sloth,

display of wealth and power in the extensive

surely not the specific association here, but simi-

waterworks that animated the fountains of

larly negative.24 These huge, monstrous, vicious

the gardens of the Medici villas surrounding

creatures are rendered pleasantly harmless, a

Florence.17 He emulated the spectacular

courtly amusement, by changing one letter.

celebrations of the Medici and other courts,



staging theatrical performances in Milan and

fountains surrounded by grotesques in the

at his villa in Lainate and sponsoring grand

extraordinary nymphaeum he had built at his

festivities to celebrate the election of his relative

villa at Lainate (fig. 145). The complex, which

Pope Gregory XIV. Pirro surely saw Carlo

contains over a dozen rooms, is covered in

Borromeo’s austere prescriptions for Milan as

pebble mosaics and filled with classical statues,

a threat to his way of life. His father was a

some of which are animated by a series of trick

part of the governing council that formally

fountains. The mechanisms for these fountains

objected to the “intolerable novelties” imposed

have recently been restored, and so it is now

by the archbishop.

possible—as it was in the sixteenth century—

18

19

159

Witches, sirens, and howlers, furry beasts,

Pirro realized this image of courtly

Curiosity and the Ostrich

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to get a surprise soaking by sitting on a bench or walking on a rigged step (fig. 146). Statues participate in these theatrical water tricks, and so a Venus seems to bend and twist under the force of a shower over her. Some rooms in the nymphaeum remain dry, as they are decorated in mosaics that have been delicately painted with oils on the white pebbles. These mosaics of large-scale grotesques run on the ceiling, the walls, and the floor, creating a sumptuous effect (fig. 147).

Today, there is a long wait for a guided

tour of the nymphaeum, but the main building is deserted. Its interior, though, is also splendidly decorated. One ground-floor room that opens directly onto the garden and affords a view of the nymphaeum has outsized grotesques, swags of fruit, and masks framing large familial and personal imprese, which alternate with hunting scenes, one of which depicts two men on horseback pursuing a pair of ostriches (fig. 148).25 The hunts are loosely based on a series of engravings, including one of an ostrich hunt, that were printed by Phillips Galle after drawings by Jan van der Straet (fig. 149).26 About twenty years later Antonio Tempesta’s series of ostrich-hunt prints, one of which closely mirrors the fresco at Lainate, attests to the continuing popularity of the theme (fig. 150).27

The inscriptions on Galle’s and Tem-

pesta’s prints emphasize the exoticism of the images—not only of the ostriches but also the “Moors” and their “Molossian hounds.” These prints are hardly realistic depictions of a desert, but a gesture in that direction was made in the form of palm trees and a relatively flat landscape, and the hunters wear elaborate costumes with turbans. The ostriches are alien looking, with huge bulging eyes, lumpy muscles, and strangely prominent anuses. The fresco in the Villa at Lainate offers a simplified version, with just two hunters and two birds. The landscape is now decidedly European, although the 160

R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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145 Designed by Martino Bassi and Francesco Brambilla, nymphaeum, 1585–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta, Lainate. 146 Designed by Martino Bassi and Francesco Brambilla, one of the working trick fountains at the nymphaeum, 1585–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta, Lainate. 147 Camillo Procaccini, nymphaeum grotesques, painted pebble mosaic, 1585–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta, Lainate. 148 Carlo Antonio Procaccini, ostrich hunt, fresco, ca. 1587–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta, Lainate.

161

Curiosity and the Ostrich

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149 Philips Galle, after Jan van der Straet, Ostrich Hunt, engraving, ca. 1578. Private collection. 150 Antonio Tempesta, Ostrich Hunt, etching, 1598. British Museum, London. 151 Carlo Antonio Procaccini, detail of Ostrich Hunt, fresco, ca. 1587–89, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta, Lainate.

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hunters have turbans, but their dun-colored

demanded of cardinals.29 He in fact mocked

costumes are barely noticeable. The greatest

Carlo for his “theatinatrics,” a reference to the

change is in the depiction of the ostriches

pious Theatine order.30 Satirists had long used

(fig. 151). The puffy tail feathers curve out-

the word “theatine” to signify an ostentatious,

ward, and the necks bend gracefully on these

empty show of piety, and Altemps makes this

pure-white birds, making them look more

clearer by playing on the sounds of “Theatine”

like swans than the beasts of the engravings.

(teatino) and “theater” (teatro). Altemps himself

The potentially scary struzzi have shrunk and

certainly made no such show of austerity. Pope

metamorphosed into cortigiani spruzzi and thus

Pius V purportedly said that he would consider

are completely of a piece with this thoroughly

himself rich if on his deathbed he could have

profane site of pleasure.

as much penitence for his sins as the money Cardinal Altemps had squandered.31 He was not

163

Profane Rome: Palazzo Altemps

from a well-to-do family but became fabulously

Another ostrich appears in the Roman palace

wealthy as a cardinal and accumulated enough

of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, who was

territory in the countryside around Rome to

known for his secular lifestyle but, as a cardinal

form a duchy for his son, Roberto Altemps,

and the brother-in-law and first cousin of

who was legitimized and made Duke of

Carlo Borromeo, was much more intimately

Gallese. Cardinal Altemps’s great triumph was

connected with church reform than was Pirro.

in marrying his son to an Orsini, the great

The career of Cardinal Altemps exemplifies

old noble family of Rome. He celebrated this

the difficulties that less-than-saintly men

alliance by emblazoning the Altemps and

encountered in negotiating the new religious

Orsini arms all over his city palace, the Palazzo

landscape. Pope Pius IV, Marco’s uncle and the

Altemps, and his splendid villa, the Villa

same pope who appointed Carlo Borromeo

Mondragone.32

cardinal, elevated Altemps to the cardinalate in



1560, when the latter was twenty-seven years

lived because of the disastrous and scandalous

old. Altemps was of German descent and was

behavior of his son, who, soon after his

given a bishopric in the North of Italy that

marriage, was caught abducting a woman

included territories in Switzerland, and so,

named Lulla Frangipane. This kind of crime,

like Carlo, he was physically in the vanguard

surely rape rather than a consensual encounter,

of those fighting heresy. As a German with

had previously been widely condoned or

strong ties to the North, Altemps was seen

ignored, especially when the victim was of

as a potentially valuable negotiator and sent as

low status. In Counter-Reformation Rome,

a legate to the Council of Trent. He was not

however, an example needed to be made, and

successful and sued repeatedly to be relieved

so Roberto was publicly tried. The cardinal

of his duties, which he finally was, near the

paid a fine, and Roberto was temporarily

end of the council. A contemporary observer

banished from Rome and ordered to serve in

recorded his complete nonparticipation:

the papal army at Avignon. What happened

“He neither listened, nor dared to speak, nor

next is murky. Some later documents state that

read, nor wrote.”28

Roberto was tried again, this time for adultery



with a widow of the Altemps family, a much

Although he purportedly spent several

Cardinal Altemps’s triumph was short-

hours a day in prayer, Altemps did not conform

more serious offense, and that, despite his

to the austere and devout lifestyle then

father’s desperate attempts at intervention, he

Curiosity and the Ostrich

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152 Detail of the tomb of Roberto Altemps, marble and other stones, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome, ca. 1586.

was beheaded on the order of Pope Sixtus V

council of which he had been such a useless

(1520–1590), near Castel Sant’Angelo. Other

member and which had brought in the new

documents suggest that he died suddenly,

austerity that had humiliated and possibly

possibly of a fever, on his way back from

killed his son, who was buried alongside it.

Avignon. Even if the more lurid story is a



fabrication, it is a testament to the public

commissioned by the cardinal bears little

scandal of Roberto’s brief life.

trace of this tumultuous history or of the new



austerity. The best-preserved paintings—made

33

His father commissioned a tomb for

Roberto, resplendent in white marble, with

between 1592 and 1594, a few years after the

reliefs of military trophies (including a helmet

death of Roberto—are in the vaulting and

with a delicately carved and drilled ostrich

lunettes of an open loggia that faces the

plume; fig. 152), as a pendant to a tomb of

internal courtyard (fig. 155).36 Cardinal Altemps

the distinguished Polish theologian Cardinal

used the loggia to display a part of his rich

Hosius, which shows a much more sober pile

collection of classical sculpture, which now

of books. Roberto’s tomb flanks the entrance

forms the nucleus of the branch of the Museo

to a chapel his father also commissioned in

Nazionale housed in the Palazzo Altemps.37

the early Christian basilica of Santa Maria in

A fountain on the end wall of the loggia is

Trastevere (fig. 153).35 Restoring early Christian

decorated with colorful rustic mosaics in

churches and adding to their splendor were

vegetal forms and three sculpted satyr babies

popular ways of expressing devotion and

who play under the rearing capricorns of the

orthodoxy in this period, but the Altemps

Altemps family (fig. 156). This fountain and

chapel has a much more explicit connection

the verdant frescoes transform this city palace

to the Counter-Reformation. For the interior

into a country pleasure villa.

of the chapel, Altemps commissioned the first



large-scale depiction of the Council of Trent, a

an open pergola covered with grape vines. This

fresco showing the theologians sitting in a kind

is Raphael’s loggia of the Villa Farnesina minus

of theater, with bosomy allegories of Faith,

any mythological story. The rooster, crane, and

Religion, and other appropriate virtues (fig. 154).

peacock are native birds, but a plump turkey,

In the chapel Cardinal Altemps celebrated the

a recent import from the so-called New World,

34

164

The redecoration of the Palazzo Altemps

The vaults of the loggia are painted with

R a p h a e l’ s O s t r i c h

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153 View of the Tomb of Roberto Altemps and the Cappella Altemps, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome, ca. 1586. 154 Pasquale Cati, The Council of Trent, fresco, 1588, Cappella Altemps, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome. 155 Antonio Viviani da Urbino, loggia frescoes, 1592–94, Palazzo Altemps, Rome. 156 Pompeo dell’Abate, rustic fountain, mixed materials, 1592–94, loggia, Palazzo Altemps, Rome.

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adds a note of exoticism (fig. 157). In the lunettes, rearing Altemps capricorns alternate with scenes in each of which putti struggle with an animal, images based on the Giochi di putti tapestries. The animals, however, have been changed, from Leo X’s lion to the Altemps goat, for example. The cardinal was no relation of the Medici and so was creating a more general echo of the golden age of Leo X.

The only lunette that is copied directly

from the Vatican tapestries is the lunette with an ostrich (fig. 158; see fig. 78). The same impudent putto steals the plumes from the tail and sticks them in his headband. The other two putti have slightly different poses, the one astride the ostrich no longer holding the beast’s neck but now turning back to help pilfer feathers, in a dramatic pose reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Jonah (fig. 159). Their companion, instead of sensibly restraining the ostrich’s leg, now grabs the beast’s neck. They do not stand on rocky ground but clamber on the volutes of a complex frame, and the birds flying in the air have been replaced by curling ribbons with tassels. This is a variation on a theme, slightly more complex and ornate, but

157 Antonio Viviani da Urbino, detail of the

so close to its model that even a moderately

loggia vault, fresco, 1592–94, Palazzo

informed viewer could recognize the source,

Altemps, Rome.

particularly since the tapestry design had been circulated in an engraving. The putti can no longer be engaged in making the Medici impresa of the ostrich feathers in a ring, and so they have become merely playful, the ostrich simply another strange beast. If it does have symbolic import in this context, it is of the most general kind, perhaps suggesting justice, though the female figure of Justice is depicted in the same loggia, with the sword and scales as her attributes, not an ostrich. By this time the image of the ostrich had gained such currency that it could be used as a general emblem of virtue.

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158 Antonio Viviani da Urbino, putti with an ostrich, fresco, 1592–94, loggia, Palazzo Altemps, Rome. 159 Michelangelo, Jonah, fresco, 1508–12, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Rome.

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The imagery here is resolutely profane

approve of the loggia. Of course, there are no

and for the most part meaningless—curiosities

sacred subjects here from which the animals

rather than imprese or allegories. The paintings

could distract, but that could not have been a

are more decorous than Raphael’s in the

mitigating circumstance for the severe saint.

Farnesina, as there are no love stories and no



erotic nudes. Strange birds have taken the place

connected, as a patron, church authority, and

of ancient myths. The myths, however, had

devout pilgrim, to the Sacro Monte at Varallo,

long been moralized, and so it was possible to

a pilgrimage site in the Italian Alps near the

read the Farnesina loggia’s paintings of Cupid

Swiss Border (figs. 160, 161).39 The Sacro

and Psyche seriously as an allegory of the ascent

Monte was founded in the fifteenth century

of the soul (psyche) to the divine through love.

by an observant Franciscan friar who, after

In Cardinal Altemps’s loggia, by contrast, even

a dangerous pilgrimage to the Holy Land,

a resourceful viewer would be hard-pressed to

decided to build a miniature replica of key sites

devise a moral allegory or even to read many of

in Jerusalem closer to home. The Sacro Monte

the animals as emblematic. In a way, Altemps’s

consists of a series of chapels in which life-size

ostrich declares the cardinal’s estrangement

polychrome statues form tableaux of scenes

from the pious culture of the papal court just

from the life of Christ. These scenes are highly

as clearly as the monument for his son and

realistic, often with human hair attached to

chapel in Santa Maria in Trastevere does.

the statues and such objects as real drinking

Carlo Borromeo was particularly closely

glasses, ropes, and nails included in the Saint Carlo Borromeo and the

vignettes (figs. 162, 163). The effect on a

Sacro Monte at Varallo

pilgrim, wearied by a long climb, faint with

Carlo Borromeo’s life was antithetical to that

hunger, and visiting at night with a torch, must

of Altemps, but he was a supporter of his

have been uncanny. Originally, a worshipper

brother-in-law and came to stay at Palazzo

could enter each chapel and witness the scenes

Altemps when he was called to make an

as a member of the crowd, caress the baby

appearance at the papal court. It is hard to

Jesus, and spit on his tormentors.40 The site

imagine what the austere saint, wearing a

became a focus of popular worship but was

hair shirt beneath his clothes, thought of the

also visited by the Milanese nobility and other

painted loggia and its ostrich! He may well

wealthy people.41 Major artists and architects

have castigated his relative, just as he reproved

worked at the Sacro Monte, creating chapels

Cardinals Alessandro Farnese and Gambara

and images in the most up-to-date styles.

for wasting “the greatest expenditures” on



the secular delights of the Palazzo Farnese

Sacro Monte well from his childhood. His

in Caprarola and the Villa Lante in Bagnaia,

mother, like many Milanese nobles, visited the

another lavishly appointed pleasure palace.

site on pilgrimage.42 As archbishop of Milan

Carlo called particular attention to the

and protector of the Franciscan order, he

fountains and the menageries of villas, chiding

had authority over the Sacro Monte and was

the cardinal and others for spending so much

frequently consulted from 1567 until his

for animals instead of providing shelter for

death, in 1584, about controversies between

Northern Catholics, refugees from Protestant

the Franciscan friars and lay patrons, as well as

persecution. Carlo, who railed against the

about the ways in which specific images were

representation of animals, surely did not

to be depicted in accordance with Scripture

38

168

Carlo Borromeo must have known the

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160 Aerial view of the Sacro Monte, Varallo. 161 View of chapels, Sacro Monte, Varallo. 162 Detail of The Last Supper, mixed media, figures fifteenth century and frescoes eighteenth century, Sacro Monte, Varallo. 163 Gaudenzio Ferrari, detail of The Crucifixion, mixed media, early sixteenth century, Sacro Monte, Varallo.

169

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170

23

and decorum. He visited the Sacro Monte

Libro dei misteri, which includes views of the

on at least three occasions, in 1571, 1578, and

whole site as well as ground plans and interior

1584, immediately before his death. Little is

and exterior elevations of each projected

known about the first visit, except that Cardinal

new chapel.45 The aim was to change the

Borromeo devoutly recommended the site to

hodgepodge of ramshackle chapels into an ideal

others. In 1578 he came to Varallo after seeing

city, with marble-clad chapels ornamented in

the Holy Shroud in Turin and used the chapels

the latest style. Alessi called the Sacro Monte

as a place to practice Jesuit spiritual exercises.

“beyond beautiful”: “One can say that it is truly



beautiful . . . as if nature and art had done this

Saint Carlo’s last visit to the Sacro

Monte, in 1584, has become a central part of

together in order to give the greatest pleasure

his hagiography. In preparation for his death,

to whoever sees it. The site is marvelously well

Carlo again first visited the Holy Shroud and

placed . . . in that this site is on the summit of

then, at the Sacro Monte, fasted, slept on the

this delightful and most lovely mountain . . .

floor, and beat himself, moving from chapel

a little landscape full of the most delightful

to chapel according to a rigorous schedule,

hills, which are separated by the most pleasing

day and night. He preferred to go alone

valleys, which are adorned with an infinity

and practiced Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual

of wild trees, which make it a very delightful

Exercises, using the chapels to focus his

place.”46 Alessi writes that the natural beauty

meditations. His many biographers dwelled

seems artful, an idea that was often applied to

on this last visit to the Sacro Monte as the

literary descriptions of the pastoral landscape

perfect way to do penance. Carlo could be

or villa gardens, places of profane pleasure.47

critical of the Sacro Monte even in these last

Alessi calls the Sacro Monte a “luogho molto

days of fervent devotion and wrote a letter

ameno” (very delightful place). The luogho

complaining that “the mysteries seem to me to

ameno is the Italian literal translation of the

be very confused.” For Carlo’s biographers

Latin poetic term locus amoenus, the pleasurable

and surely for the saint, however, the Sacro

setting of classical love poetry, the flowery

Monte allowed this most active of ministers a

bank in the dappled shade next to a murmuring

space for contemplation, largely removed from

brook.48 In didactic painting and poetry, such

such cares, a means of distancing him from

a pleasant, easy place is contrasted with the

this world and preparing him for the next,

hard climb up the mountain of virtue. Alessi

a mountain between earthly Milan and the

draws no such distinction—pleasure and piety

heavenly city.

go hand in hand.





43

44

170

The Sacro Monte underwent a great

Alessi’s plans also call explicitly for the

many physical changes during Saint Carlo’s

voyeuristic pleasure of peering through a

time and in the decades immediately afterward.

hole at a scene beyond. Previously, visitors

The site was by the 1550s in decay, neglected,

could enter the chapels. Alessi added grilles

and little visited. A local nobleman, Giacomo

and glass barriers, so that viewers would be

d’Adda, sponsored a large-scale rebuilding of

distanced from the chapels’ scenes, gazing in

the site, calling upon the renowned architect

at theatrical tableaux (fig. 164).49 He planned

Galeazzo Alessi (1512–1572) to draw plans,

new buildings at the entrance and exit of the

a project that engaged Alessi between 1565

Sacro Monte in order to frame the visitors’

and 1569. Alessi and d’Adda’s vision for the

experience in an entirely different way. A

Sacro Monte is preserved in a manuscript, the

grandiose triumphal-arch portal was to greet

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164

visitors at the beginning of their visit to the

Grille, Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte,

site, framing a view of a new chapel with Adam

Varallo.

and Eve in the garden. No longer a replica of

165

Jerusalem focusing on the life of Christ, now

Galeazzo Alessi, design of the Chapel of

the Sacro Monte was to show a history of man.

Adam and Eve interior, from Libro dei misteri, 1565–69. Biblioteca Civica “Farinone-Centa” di

On the other side, when leaving the site, “the

Varallo, Fondo Edizioni Rare e di Pregio.

curious” could see the representations of limbo, purgatory, and hell.50

Carlo Borromeo, who just at the outset of

these renovations took control of the site, must have wholly disapproved of this plan, which explains why almost none of Alessi’s ideas were executed.51 The entrance portal and the Chapel of Adam and Eve, however, were built, more or less according to Alessi’s plan.52 This chapel, which was decorated and redecorated during Carlo’s time and in the decades following, contains, among the host of animals surrounding Adam and Eve, an ostrich. The vicissitudes in the evolution of this chapel reveal the complexity of Carlo Borromeo’s attitudes toward art, despite the limpid simplicity of the story of his final devotions.

Alessi included drawings of the chapel’s

façade, plan, and interior (fig. 165). Eve’s naked body is displayed frontally, even though her head turns to the side. The apple-like breasts are as much a temptation as the apple, a connection suggested by the placement of the other apple she holds, which has leaves that serve to offer scant covering for her genitals. Adam is completely naked, with no such covering. Alessi originally planned that the chapel should have windows on all four sides, an odd arrangement he found important enough to mention twice in one sentence.53 It is hard to imagine what edification a devout viewer would gain from seeing Eve and Adam from the back!

Alessi writes that the façade of the chapel

“has already been most nobly made entirely of marble.”54 The juxtaposition of a columniated rectangular porch with a round, domed space behind make the chapel a miniature version 171

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172

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of the Pantheon. The portico and overall

subject, and, observing this, Jones and I gently

structure were built according to Alessi’s plan,

lifted as much of it as was necessary, and put the

except that now there are only apertures in the

matter for ever beyond future power of question

front of the chapel (fig. 166). The documents

that the farther, long-haired, beardless figure was

do not elucidate whether the side and back

Adam, and the nearer, mustached one, Eve.58

windows were ever constructed, though the square projections from the sides and back and the spacing of the much later frescoes on the interior imply that there may originally have been such windows. These were surely soon eliminated, not because of the plan of the path, as Alessi suggested with characteristic obliviousness, but because of the voyeuristic possibilities. The statues of Adam and Eve are quite close in pose and proportion to those in Alessi’s drawing, with only the addition of a convenient shrub strategically placed in front of each (fig. 167). These figures were, 166

however, clearly the focus of anxiety, as they

Galeazzo Alessi, Chapel of Adam and Eve,

were replaced twice by the end of the century.

1570s, Sacro Monte, Varallo.

The original statues, made sometime before

167

1573, were replaced with a pair by Prestinari

Interior of the Chapel of Adam and Eve, mixed

in 1595. These too were deemed inappropriate

media, sculptures late sixteenth century and

and were replaced only four years later by

frescoes nineteenth century, Sacro Monte, Varallo. 168 The Old Adam and Eve, from Samuel Butler, Ex Voto: An Account of the Sacro Monte or New

the Tabacchetti statues now in the chapel.55 Documents of 1599 note that there were two groups of statues of Adam and Eve and that

Jerusalem at Varallo-Sesia (London: Trübner,

all four statues needed to be placed “in a

1888), plate 11.

less conspicuous place.”56 Official reports in 1603 and 1604 call the statues in the chapel, especially that of Eve, “lascivious” and order that Eve be “made honest” by placing a tree in front of her or by some other expedient.57

In the nineteenth century Samuel Butler

went looking for Prestinari’s displaced 1595 Adam and Eve in the Chapel of the Capture of Christ (fig. 168):

173

Thus, centuries after Eve had been removed from view in the Chapel of Adam and Eve, clothed, placed behind a locked grate, and even given a beard and mustache, she was still subject to the groping of the curious. It was presumably because of this dangerous propensity to incite the most profane of investigations that Carlo Borromeo’s successor as authority in charge of the Sacro Monte, Carlo Bascapè (1550–1615), despite the urgent need to repair other spaces and plans to build new chapels, made it a priority to fashion entirely new statues of Adam and Eve twice, even though they were little changed from Alessi’s original design.

The chapel’s interior walls, tree, and

animals were also repeatedly repainted and reworked during the 1580s and 1590s. A contract from 1580–82 notes that the chapel had been made with sculptures showing Adam and Eve. Another contract in 1583 calls the chapel the Histories of the Creation of the World and specifies Carlo Borromeo as an authority to be consulted for the histories. More work was done on the chapel in 1584, and again Carlo was asked to intervene in controversies between the local nobility and the “foreign” observant Franciscans in order to decide who would be given the commission for this chapel.59 A few years after Saint Carlo died, Giovanni Antonio d’Adda, the son of the man who had commissioned Alessi’s plan and the

In the evening . . . Varallo authorities were on

Chapel of Adam and Eve, wrote a long letter,

the Sacro Monte, and had the grating removed

addressed to the secular overseers of the site,

so that we could get inside the chapel, which we

full of his concerns about the Chapel of Adam

were not slow to do. The state of the drapery showed

and Eve.60 The commission of the father and

that curiosity had been already rife upon the

the criticism of it by his son demonstrate an

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abrupt shift in attitudes. The son writes that it is more important to instruct the soul than to please the eyes and criticizes the emphasis on marvels and potential distractions. He does not seem to be concerned with the obvious delightful distractions, the nudes. Instead, he notes deviations from Scripture and from what he considers to be historical truth. For example, the snake should be in the form of an actual snake, not with the breasts and head of a woman. (This change was made.) Most important, the chapel should be changed from one depicting the Creation of the World to one that emphasizes solely the Fall. Any distractions should be eliminated, and the frescoes painted on the walls should show the moments just before and after the Fall, which would be of much greater didactic use than Alessi’s infinite landscapes. The chapel should not be ornamented with gold.

Giovanni Antonio d’Adda’s new rigor

does admit of some beauty, necessary for historical accuracy, as the Bible describes paradise as a place of beautiful plants of all kinds. Indeed, he suggests that there should be a painted or sculpted fountain, as this is mentioned in the Bible. This would make the chapel even more akin to a secular pleasure garden than the critic’s father and Alessi had envisioned! He writes also that it is licit to in169 Detail of the ostrich, mixed media, late sixteenth century, Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte, Varallo.

clude a variety of animals, as “this most lovely place was surely not only the habitation of serpents.”61 Animals are a special exception, even though the plethora of beasts in the chapel surely affords a potential distraction, a marvel for the curious, rather than the single-minded concentration that Carlo Borromeo, Giovanni Antonio d’Adda, and Carlo Bascapè strove to attain and promote. More documents, of 1593 and 1594, show that work was again done on the chapel, perhaps partially in response to d’Adda’s discourse.62 The frescoes from this period do not survive, as they were replaced in

174

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170 Detail of the camel, mixed media, late sixteenth century, Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte, Varallo.

the nineteenth century. Some animals have also been added or refashioned, but a print published in 1616 (illustrated below) confirms that most of the animals, including an ostrich, date

171 Detail of the elephant, mixed media, late

from the late sixteenth century.

sixteenth century, Chapel of Adam and Eve,



Sacro Monte, Varallo.

Domestic and exotic animals fill the cha-

pel. The ostrich stands a bit apart from the rest, behind the rhinoceros, silhouetted against the frescoed backdrop (fig. 169). The animals are in active poses. A camel, though seated, twists its neck and tilts its head, perhaps in reaction to the kid who nuzzles its cheek (fig. 170). A bull bows his head, as if to lick something, while his tail seems to be swatting away a fly. The bodies of the stylized elephant and rather more realistic rhinoceros have only a slight twist, but the direction in which they are angled, pointing their tusks straight at the viewer, endows them with a fierce aggression (fig. 171).

The ostrich strides forward, its beak

open, as if squawking. The overall proportions, long neck, and puffy tail feathers make the identification unmistakable, and the colors (possibly repainted later) are quite realistic. The overly long beak lends the bird a cartoonish aspect, and the feet are camels’ hooves. The wide variety of lively animals inspire marvel at God’s creation. They coexist peacefully, with a hint of foreboding in the aggressive stances of the larger beasts. But surely the idea of Eden could have been conveyed with fewer animals and less exotic ones! The animals do not have any particular symbolic valence in this scene. The camel, for example, is often associated with stubbornness but here sits placidly in the foreground, a curiosity rather than a symbol. Likewise, the cheerful, loquacious ostrich does not convey any particular moral message. Ostrich behavior was understood in many ways in the Christian tradition, but the cry of the ostrich was generally not discussed, despite the references to their howls in Hebrew Scripture.

175

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The marvelous animals, unfreighted by

scale, one that risks distracting from the serious

symbolism, can be seen in contrast to a

subject matter. A comically extreme version of

particularly famous precedent, Albrecht Dürer’s

the foregrounding of animals can be seen in

1504 engraving The Fall (fig. 172).63 Dürer

an engraving of the Temptation by Johan

tested the limits of the medium, conveying,

Sadeler I (1550–1600) after a lost painting by

along with the perfect human pair, a forest

Gillis Mostaert (fig. 175).65 This print, like the

dense in shadows, inhabited by beasts. These

others, is not dated, but it was created some-

animals are mostly native to northern Europe,

time in the same decades in which the interior

except for the parrot, common in Christian

of the chapel at the Sacro Monte was made

imagery because it was associated with the

and repeatedly redone. Here a sexy Eve sits on

word of God. Erwin Panofsky has noted that

Adam’s lap, and he grabs the apple right next to

the other animals represent the four bodily

her breast. Even this arresting pair is upstaged

humors, now in balance, just before the Fall

by the peculiar animals, each silhouetted and

will make man unbalanced and therefore

separated from the rest, so that it can be ad-

physically subject to disease. In contrast to this

mired individually: a dog, a deer, a monkey,

172

dense, learned, ambitious print, which proudly

a mole, a civet cat, and an ostrich. The ostrich

Albrecht Dürer, The Fall, engraving, 1504.

bears the artist’s monogram, the Chapel of

strides in the foreground, so large that it does

Adam and Eve in the Sacro Monte is much

not fit into the scene, much larger than the

173

more diffuse, with too many animals to convey

other animals and the humans. The tail feathers

Antonio Tempesta, Creation of the Birds and

such a tight system of meaning, a place for the

are cropped out of the scene, and so all that is

mind to wander and wonder.

visible is the monstrous but quite accurate foot,

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Fishes, etching, ca. 1600. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

174

At the very time when the chapel was

the sinewy bending neck, and the weirdly cy-

decorated and redecorated, Antonio Tempesta,

lindrical head, which turns its great dark round

1590s. Los Angeles County Museum of Art,

the maker of ostrich-hunt prints, also created

eye straight out at the viewer. The edifying

Los Angeles.

small etchings of scenes with ostriches from

inscription does not mention this extraordinary

Hebrew Scriptures (ca. 10 cm ). A particularly

beast, which is visually the protagonist of the

Johann Sadeler I, after a lost painting

ugly ostrich is the star of the Creation of the

piece. By comparison, the squawking ostrich in

by Gillis Mostaert, Temptation, engraving,

Birds and Fishes, with other ghastly drooping

the chapel at the Sacro Monte is shy and retir-

flightless birds and monstrous fish as second-

ing. Prints, severed from any built context and

ary characters, in humorous contrast to God’s

often from the demands of patronage, were a

elegance (fig. 173). In another tiny print,

powerful tool of religious propaganda but also

a woman-headed serpent hands Eve an apple,

prized secular possessions. The chapel is very

as Adam observes (fig. 174). This dramatic

much integral to a particular context, but it too

exchange takes up less than half of the compo-

evoked different associations as a pilgrimage

sition. The rest is occupied by a deep landscape

destination and as a surrogate for a faraway

with animals: a tiger, a badger, a deer, a horse,

land with all of its wondrous curiosities.

some kind of great cat or bear, an elephant,



and, standing on a hill underneath a large palm

published in 1616 by Fra Thomaso Nanni da

tree in the middle ground, a somewhat ridicu-

Sogliano offers an orthodox account of the

lous ostrich, discernible despite the tiny size

Sacro Monte and the penitential devotions to

because of its exaggerated form, especially the

be performed by pilgrims.66 In the prologue

huge bulging eyes. The animals are a demon-

the author recounts how his disciple expressed

stration of Tempesta’s virtuosity on such a small

a desire to go to Jerusalem, to which Nanni

Antonio Tempesta, Temptation, etching,

2

175

late sixteenth century. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

176

64

A guidebook to the Sacro Monte

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177

Curiosity and the Ostrich

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responded that such a trip was dangerous and

his footsteps. Cardinals Altemps and Farnese

therefore prohibited by the pope except by

both pushed hard for Federico’s elevation to

special license: “God likes a ready will more

the cardinalate, which happened when he was

than a difficult curiosity.”67 He writes of Carlo

only twenty-three, in 1587. Eight years later,

Borromeo’s last visit to Varallo, by this point

Federico was made archbishop of Milan. He

a standard part of the legend of the place. The

was one of the greatest advocates for Carlo’s

meditation on the first chapel asks the visitor,

canonization, which occurred in 1610, when

whom the author calls “my son,” to dwell on

Federico was at the height of his career.

the ingratitude of man, who does not listen to

Federico, like Carlo before him, both criticized

his own God-given sense of justice but instead

distracting animals in art and commissioned

to the serpent. There is no mention of the

images of ostriches.

other animals in the garden, but a woodcut



heading the chapter, despite the relative

Sacro Monte at Varallo was placed under

simplicity of technique, shows almost all of the

the direct jurisdiction of the bishop of Novarra

animals in their overlapping complex poses—

rather than the archbishop of Milan, and so

the rearing goat, the rhinoceros and elephant

Federico was less involved in day-to-day deci-

ready to charge, the seated camel, and the

sions than Carlo had been, though he certainly

ostrich, still looking friendly and with an overly

visited the Sacro Monte and was called to

large beak, now closed rather than squawking

intervene in disputes between the rival groups

(fig. 176). This careful imitation of the riot of

at the site. His devotion to the Sacro Monte

lively animals in the chapel is at odds with the

at Varallo can be seen in Federico’s sponsor-

text, which demands a concentrated meditation

ship of new Sacri Monti.70 Most ambitiously,

on man’s failings, and therefore betrays a

Federico planned to build a Sacro Monte in

slippage between text and image, the image

Arona dedicated to the life of his cousin.71

resisting condensation and simplification. The

The Sacro Monte at Arona was never com-

artist of the woodcut and perhaps even the

pleted, but Federico commissioned a statue

writer of the guide found a joy in the chapel

of Saint Carlo Borromeo twenty-three me-

that had to be explicitly denied in the text, even

ters high, which was erected at the site after

as it was translated into the printed image.

Federico’s death (fig. 177). Original plans called

68

Following Sixtus V’s decree of 1587, the

for the gigantic copper statue to be gilded, Cardinal Federico Borromeo

which would have made it even more outland-

and the Ambrosiana

ishly extravagant. Carlo would have been horri-

The man who most zealously guarded the

fied by this colossus-idol of himself, which

legacy of Carlo Borromeo was his younger

embodies how Federico’s fervent devotion

cousin Federico Borromeo. A full generation

shaped, inflated, and betrayed Carlo’s legacy.

separated the first cousins, as Federico was



born in 1564, when Carlo was twenty-five

the folly and excesses of lavish secular art.

years old. When Federico was orphaned as a

The villa garden in particular was emblematic

child, Carlo became his guardian. He studied

of this culture of vain pleasure, and Federico

under Cardinal Paleotti in Bologna and then in

wrote scathingly about “drops of water and

the university founded by Carlo in Pavia, the

tears of the fountains, at a most expensive

Collegio Borromeo. Federico was crushed by

price.”72 He had a more pragmatic and flexible

Carlo’s death, in 1584, and vowed to follow in

attitude, though, toward sacred art. This,

69

178

Federico, like Carlo before him, criticized

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combined with his energetic sponsorship of a new library, museum, and academy of art, made him much more successful than Carlo had been in establishing Milan as a center for sacred art. Federico founded the Ambrosiana, sent agents all over Europe to garner texts for its library, and collected works of art by the likes of Titian and Raphael for his museum. One of the jewels of the collection is the cartoon for Raphael’s School of Athens, which was bought from the heir of Pirro I Visconti Borromeo. Federico’s canny pragmatism can be seen in his advising that his agents buy relatively cheap secular works and then hire artists to transform their subjects from secular to sacred.73 Carlo, who abhorred any secular contamination of religious art, would surely not have approved.

In Federico’s writings on sacred art

he often echoes Carlo’s general principles, and so when discussing overall composition, he

176 Chapel of Adam and Eve, Sacro Monte,

writes that there should be no distractions:

Varallo, woodcut, from Fra Thomaso Nanni

“We sometimes see gratuitous depictions, from

da Sogliano, Dialogo sopra i misterii del Sacro Monte di Varallo (Varallo: Pietro Revelli, 1624). Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon.

a distance or close up, of . . . birds, beasts, horses, and dogs—all so poorly thought out as to be utterly preposterous.”74 Federico, however,

177 Giovanni Battista Crespi, called il Cerano,

tempers his austerity, decrying “condemnations

colossal statue of Saint Carlo Borromeo,

that are too rigid or severe.”75 He tells a story

copper, erected in 1697, Sacro Monte di San

about Titian’s Adoration of the Magi, recount-

Carlo, Arona.

ing that one of Carlo’s zealous followers had ordered that a puppy be painted out: Surely room could have been made in that painting for the little animal, since it was handsomely placed among the many horses and camels and the retinue of the kings. What that hardhearted man ordered could not be kept hidden— in fact it immediately became public knowledge— and from then on complaints were heard, loud and clear, from people who had seen the painting before and missed the excellent puppy. Even Titian himself, when he learned what had happened to his painting, is reported to have sighed and groaned that it was hardly surprising

179

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178 Titian and workshop, Adoration of the Magi, oil on canvas, ca. 1560. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan.

to him that men ignorant of art ordered the figure

and repeatedly. Federico lauds the virtuosity

to be obliterated.

and scope of Brueghel’s art, tiny scenes of the

76

Federico was surely referring to the painting of this subject in the collection of the Ambrosiana, in which restoration undertaken in the 1990s revealed a previously hidden dog, impudently urinating on a corner post of the manger (fig. 178).77 It is not clear whether Federico knew that the original dog was so indecorous. He could have given a symbolic meaning for the dog or at any rate defended the decorum of including a dog among the retinue of the Magi, but he did not. Instead, he praised the beauty and artistry of the animal. The prettiness of the puppy and Titian’s own resigned disappointment are really irrelevant to the question of whether such a figure belongs in reformed sacred painting, but Federico, unlike his elder cousin, did not think with such logical rigor about sacred art.

Federico’s writings and his patronage

of art show that he was dearly fond of animal paintings, in particular the exquisite miniatures of Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625), which are full of whole menageries of minutely rendered animals, including ostriches.78 He calls Jan his friend and praises him heartily 180

Passion set in a holy-water stoup: “he painted them in miniature, in fact in the smallest dimensions possible, yet they encompass almost everything that is magnificent and outstanding in art, and as a consequence you can admire grandeur and subtlety simultaneously.”79 Despite the sacred subjects and context, Federico does not talk about meditating on the sacred stories or even the purpose of the stoup—instead, he is wholly occupied by the “utmost meticulousness” of Brueghel’s technique. The great marvel here is that the artist can portray the whole world on such a small scale: “Brueghel seems to have wanted to wander, paintbrush in hand, through all of the things of nature. As we will see, he painted seas, mountains, caves, and underground caverns. He managed to squeeze all of these natural features into the narrow scope of miniaturist painting, even though in reality they would have been separated by enormous distances.”80 Federico does, in other texts, write of contemplating nature and paintings of nature as a form of prayer.81 Surely this kind of pious delight suffuses his pleasure in Brueghel’s work, but this passage is

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no paean to God’s creation. Instead, Federico

Eve, and God are faintly sketched in the far

celebrates the painter’s curiosity about the

background, thus making the painting into a

natural world and his delightful artifice.

depiction of Eden (fig. 181). The act of looking



could be a spiritual exercise, as the viewer is

Federico saves his greatest praise for four

slightly larger works he commissioned for

forced to hunt for the Christian truth behind

his museum, The Four Elements. He praises

the profane world, but this is not Federico’s

each in turn for different qualities: Water for

approach. Tarrying lovingly over the minute

the variety of fish so real that Brueghel seems

details of these paintings, he must have seen the

more a fisherman than a painter; Earth for

biblical figures but clearly did not think them

the variety of terrains and animals, including

worth mentioning. Instead, the lion’s proud

the “lion with a look of haughty disdain” and

mien commands his attention. The hidden

a “savage leopard” (fig. 179); and Fire for the

miniature figures in two of these paintings

clever mythological approach to portraying this

are Christian and in the other two pagan. If

most “sterile” of elements. Air was executed

these tiny details were the concealed key to

last, thirteen years after the first of the series,

interpreting the pictures, then Air would be an

and Federico describes it as the culmination of

impious travesty on Earth. They are instead just

Brueghel’s art and one of the greatest treasures

a part of the virtuosic delight.

of the museum (fig. 180):



82

He suffused the [Element of] Air with every delight as though it were a field of light. If something further needs to be said to compare this painting with the ones discussed earlier, I would note that the artist seems to have expended his last drop of ingenuity on this final painting, thus finishing the whole series. He did not create any sense of perspective—he felt that to depict things distanced from one another would diminish their miraculous impact—but that is perhaps the only respect in which The Element of Air falls short of artistic perfection.83

and therefore general that he gives no sense of the appearance or content of the painting. A nude female figure holds an astrolabe and a cockatoo, and putti play with astronomical instruments, but most of the composition is taken up with the sky and birds.84 Some of the birds fly, appropriately, but many are shown sitting on tree branches or standing on the ground, depicted still and with such detail that they resemble scientific illustrations. Brueghel was a court painter to Archduke Albert of Austria and the infanta Isabella of Spain in Brussels and wrote proudly to Federico

Again, the praise of the painting does not refer

Borromeo that the animals in his paintings

to God at all, nor does the criticism have to do

were drawn from those in their menagerie.85

with religious issues of decorum.

The archdukes had an extensive collection of



181

Federico’s praise of Air is so absolute

Indeed, the subject matter here is not

animals, including ostriches.86 Brueghel’s draw-

just secular but also pagan. The personification

ing of an ostrich, probably made at the me-

in the center is nude, with a cloth draped over

nagerie, shows the whole bird, with precisely

her groin, and barely visible against the sky

described feathers and feet as well as a detail of

are Apollo’s and Diana’s tiny chariots. Some

the head, with its huge eyes, and is inscribed

paintings, including others in this series, have

with a note on the height of the bird and the

seemingly secular subjects, with a miniature

colors of its plumage.87 Conveying “air” does

religious scene hidden in the background. Thus

not seem to have been Brueghel’s central aim.

in Jan Brueghel’s Earth, centimeter-tall Adam,

Instead, this is more like a miniature ornitho-

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179 Jan Brueghel the Elder, Earth, oil on canvas, 1617. Musée du Louvre, Paris. 180 Jan Brueghel the Elder, Air, oil on canvas, 1621. Musée du Louvre, Paris. 181 Detail of Jan Brueghel the Elder, Earth, oil on canvas, 1617. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

183

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logical treatise, with domestic birds, South American parrots, waterfowl, and several species that do not fly, including, in the center foreground, penguins, as well as an ostrich, which frames the composition on the right (fig. 182). A flightless bird seems more appropriate to Earth than to Air, and indeed a miniature ostrich also appears among the terrestrial creatures, in the background, near Adam and Eve. In Air the birds are not so casually arranged as they might first appear. Parrots sit on branches to either side; water birds, near the water; flightless birds, on the right. They are painted in the most minute detail, each with its different characteristic feathers and colors, and so even the short gray feathers of the ostrich’s body and neck are each individually painted with precise shadows and highlights. The crowds of birds and putti in front of the ostrich part slightly to offer an accurate view of its two-toed feet. The encyclopedic quality of this painting is of a piece with Federico Borromeo’s interest in the new science.88 He waxed eloquent on the marvels of the microscope and the telescope.89 Both are celebrated in this painting. The tiny details could be called microscopic. Directly in the center, a kneeling putto looks out into the air with a telescope. There seems to be a playful contrast here between the idea of vast distances and the tiny scale of what is depicted, a paradox that Federico Borromeo lauds as the great marvel of Jan Brueghel’s art. 182 Detail of Jan Brueghel the Elder, Air, oil on canvas, 1621. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

The ostrich, a flightless bird in a painting

of air, just one curiosity among many, is the largest of the birds, the only one with two toes, and as such merits special treatment in ornithological treatises and also in this quasi-scientific painting. This painting, a pure distraction, made by a wandering painter to attract a curious eye, encapsulates the very quality of profane curiosity and pleasure that Carlo Borromeo and Carlo Bascapè were so eager to eliminate from sacred art. Federico, more of a

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pragmatist but also a man with a joyous love

Massacre of the Innocents made women cry.

of nature and science, did not feel the need,

Zuccaro repeatedly emphasizes the beauty

as Carlo did, to eliminate all such marvels but

and artifice of these sculptures, singling out

instead perhaps felt that this kind of joy in

Gaudenzio Ferrari, “who was previously a

nature was safer and more decorous than other

disciple of Raphael of Urbino.”95 Far from

types of profane curiosity.

seeing the Sacro Monte as some kind of de-



votional folk art, Zuccaro endows Gaudenzio

Federico Zuccaro, friend of the renegade

monk Doni and painter of his chimerical

with the highest artistic lineage, one Zuccaro

allegories, was also closely tied to Federico

was eager to claim for himself. He praises

Borromeo, who was the cardinal protector

Gaudenzio’s “spirited genius” and “vigorous

of the Accademia di San Luca (the Roman

style” in the Chapel of the Crucifixion.96

academy of art) when Zuccaro was the director.

Despite Carlo Borromeo’s and Carlo Bascapè’s

One of Zuccaro’s treatises on art is dedicated

attempts to control the experience of the

to Federico Borromeo. The cardinal invited

viewer and make the journey to Varallo wholly

The

spiritual, Zuccaro, even when literally led by

painter, already more or less in exile from

Federico Borromeo’s guide, saw at the Sacro

Rome after offending powerful patrons there,

Monte principally delight, artifice, and self-

accepted and painted many works for the

conscious artistry, an art that comes directly

cardinal. Federico Zuccaro toured the area

from Raphael, not a reformed and chastened

and wrote effusive praise of both the Villa

art for a new age.

Visconti Borromeo and the Sacro Monte at



Varallo. He described the nymphaeum at

ostriches in art for members of the Borromeo

Lainate as “ornamented with fountains so well

family betrays the overlaps and tensions between

made with artifice that Rome and Florence

sacred and secular culture in a place and time

Zuccaro to come to Milan in 1604.

90

definitely would not have more beautiful ones.”

that saw the most rigorous implementation



Cardinal Federico Borromeo told the

of the new austerity. These exotic and fantastic

painter to visit Sacro Monte in Varallo and

animals, portrayed with great virtuosity by art-

hired a guide to show Zuccaro all of the

ists who sought to don Raphael’s mantle, may

local sites, including the Sacro Monte under

well have helped to draw the faithful to the

construction in Arona. In his account of the

Sacro Monte at Varallo and to other religious

trip Zucccaro dwells on the delights of fishing

sites, but clearly they were open to misreading

and visiting sites of “singular beauty.”92 The

by wandering minds. The ways in which

Sacro Monte at Varallo is likewise “a delight

even the faithful Federico Borromeo’s writ-

in itself ”—even the penitential climb up the

ings and commissions undermine his cousin’s

mountain is “all pleasant with diverse resting

legacy demonstrate that Carlo Borromeo’s aus-

places.”93 He writes of the devotional effect of

tere ideal of an art that is compelling but not

the sculptures—they seem “alive and real” —

distracting was ultimately untenable or, at any

and how the horrors of the Chapel of the

rate, unsustainable.

91

94

185

The surprisingly large number of

Curiosity and the Ostrich

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chapter

Eight

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Taming

the Ostrich: Ripa and Aldrovandi

By the end of the sixteenth century, the

scenes that popular travel accounts described.

increase in travel and trade and the abundance

Because of his success, Vespasiano gained

of printed books and images meant that even

the title to marshy land outside of Mantua,

a subject as obscure as the ostrich became

where he founded the city of Sabbioneta—

accessible, and ostriches appeared in paintings,

an ideal built in stone, shaped like a star, with

prints, sculptures, tableware, parades, and

palaces, a library, and a theater. This new Rome

texts. Ostriches were, in a modest way, a

in the marshes was decorated with painted

part of the onslaught of information brought

grotesques and classical scenes (fig. 183). Exotic

by the proliferation of printing. Attempts

animals abound in frescoes encrusting the ducal

were made to control this new exchange of

residences: parrots, tigers, elephants, monkeys,

ideas, including censorship of books and

and ostriches, among others (fig. 184). The

images, but censorship of images was neither

animals (infinitely cheaper in paint than real

widespread nor effective in this period,

specimens) create a virtual menagerie, in

partially because images were considered

imitation of princely collections such as the one

inherently Catholic in the face of Protestant

Vespasiano surely knew at the hunting lodge

iconoclasm. A depiction of an ostrich could

of Marmirolo, amassed by Duke Guglielmo

be ambiguous, but it was neither sexualized

Gonzaga of Mantua in this period, which

nor Protestant, and so, although authors

included ostriches, parrots, gazelles, leopards,

complained about esoteric art, ostrich images

monkeys, mongooses, and crocodiles.2 The

escaped censorship. The more effective and

Palazzo Ducale was Vespasiano’s official

lasting means of controlling the outpouring

residence and the seat of government of the

of imagery were the encyclopedic tomes that

tiny new principate. He also commissioned

collected, selected, and classified verbal and

a suburban pleasure villa, the Palazzo del

visual information. Ostriches figure in two

Giacinto, as well as a third large palace within

of the most celebrated of such agglomerations

easy walking distance, the Palazzo Giardino,

of knowledge: Ulisse Aldrovandi’s natural

an absurd redundancy in such a tiny burg—

histories and Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia.

not even a city.3

8 Chapter_pgs5.indd 187

In a small reception room on the ground

Sabbioneta: The Failed Dream

floor of the Palazzo Giardino, an ostrich

Increasingly, learned patrons of art read about

peers out of the central fresco on the ceiling

travels to Africa and the Americas, but few

(fig. 185).4 The room is one in an enfilade, with

had actually visited these locales. Vespasiano

doors arranged to allow for suitably grand

Gonzaga (1531–1591) was an exception. An

ceremonies of reception. The fresco shows

educated courtier who amassed an impressive

a unicorn dipping its horn into the water in

library, Vespasiano served as a viceroy of Philip

order to purify it, as other animals watch.

II in Oran, Algeria.1 He thus saw the sorts of

Images surrounding this central scene depict

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188

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Alexander, Caesar, Solomon, and exotic beasts

necked, awkward, so stylized as to look almost

battling with dragons. Visitors might not

metallic, and heavily shaded. He makes the

be able to decipher specific scenes, but the

donkey a paragon of elegance by comparison.

overall message is clear: noble, just, and pious,

The visitor, coming upon the animals one by

Vespasiano is a great leader who provides for

one, may laugh or even be startled at finding

his people and makes the sullied pure.

himself eye to eye with the ostrich.





Vespasiano, seeking to vie with the

The pastoral fantasy is again tinged with

great families of Italy, borrowed from Farnese

foreboding, as the next scenes show Orpheus

imagery. The Sacrifice of Alexander in this room

in hell, being savagely murdered by the

is copied from a Farnese tapestry.5 In the central

Bacchantes, and his body parts and instrument

ceiling fresco the unicorn, a Farnese emblem,

floating in the water. The imagery is far from

is brought to life in a narrative. All of the ani-

simple triumphalism. The animals, peaceable at

183

mals are in profile, facing the unicorn, except

the spring, claw at each other elsewhere in the

Grotesques, fresco, 1580s, Palazzo del Giardino,

for two on the left margin—a mischievous

same room, just as Orpheus is dismembered

Sabbioneta.

goat and the ostrich, which twists its neck to

in a maddened frenzy. Renaissance patrons,

184

stare in the opposite direction, away from the

poets, and artists found a dark pleasure in

Bernardino Campi and workshop, vault of

salvation that the unicorn brings. The fresco is

indulging in this kind of grim nostalgia for a

the Camerino di Enea, fresco and stucco, ca. 1584,

somewhat damaged, but the colors are lush

golden age already lost. Vespasiano demon-

and textures richly described, complete with

strates his sophistication and entertains his

an atmospheric setting, bathed in the rosy light

guests with these refined, lovely, and strange

of dawn. The animals are noble and elegant,

fantasies, tinged with their own demise, of

except for the ostrich, which is thoroughly

which the ostrich forms a part.

pedestrian, the opposite of the ethereal uni-



corn. The preponderance of African animals

is hard not to read the frescoes as prescient of

is surely in deference to the patron. Here the

the fate of the city. Vespasiano did not manage

real animals Vespasiano may have seen are

to create a real, living city, but a mirage in

transported into a fantasy, made all the more

the marshes, a stage set for his court, real

dreamlike in juxtaposition to the gawky bird in

enough in stone and paint but without any

their midst.

economic foundation or political or religious



importance. As soon as he died, in 1591,

Palazzo del Giardino, Sabbioneta. 185 Bernardino Campi and workshop, Unicorn Purifying a Stream, fresco, 1580s, Palazzo del Giardino, Sabbioneta.

Upstairs in the same building, in a

fresco on the side wall of a narrow corridor,

construction halted, and the city was largely

another ostrich pokes its ugly head out of an

abandoned.7 Since then the star-shaped

otherwise lyrical image, Orpheus Charming the

city has had the appeal of a ghost town

Animals with Music (fig. 186). Orpheus is a

and is described as such in the guidebooks.

version of Raphael’s Apollo from the Parnassus

The nostalgic tone of the paintings, which

(fig. 187), seated, holding a lira da braccio, in

completes the poetic mood of this fantastic

an open, twisting pose, with pretty features,

ruin, embodies a yearning for classical antiquity

shoulder-length wavy golden hair, and his neck

but also surely for another golden age, now

stretching to suggest the ecstasy of inspiration.

almost as mythical, the halcyon days of Popes

The leafy trees that part to reveal a vista of

Julius II and Leo X and Raphael. That is why

rolling hills help create the poetic mood. Even

Vespasiano covered his superfluous halls

the ostrich is in rapt attention here, but his

of this nonexistent state with grotesques,

form strikes a visually discordant note: thick

Raphaelesque mythologies, and exotic animals.

6

189

Knowing the history of Sabbioneta, it

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186 Attributed to Carlo Urbino, detail of Orpheus Charming the Animals with Music, fresco, 1580s, Palazzo del Giardino, Sabbioneta. 187 Raphael, Apollo and the Muses, detail of Parnassus, fresco, 1510–11, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace.

This act of self-conscious revival implied that the model was dead and buried, that the High Renaissance was definitively over. Ulisse Aldrovandi, a New Aristotle and a New Ulysses

In the same years that Vespasiano Gonzaga was constructing his fantasy, Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522–1605) was also collecting images of animals, but whereas Vespasiano’s life’s work left nothing but a ghostly monument to his dreams, Aldrovandi’s efforts, even his critics have had to recognize, laid the foundation of modern natural history and the natural history museum.8 He collected animals as specimens in his museum, dissected them, and analyzed their physiology and habits in his writings. The worlds of science and myth, however, were not separate, and the scientist’s ostriches carry even more cultural baggage than those of the ruler of Sabbioneta.

The sad irony is that whereas the patron

for whom mythical ostriches were made actually went to Africa, Aldrovandi’s desires to travel and see the objects of his study were largely frustrated.9 Ulisse, who identified himself with the ancient wanderer Ulysses, had only one epic voyage—a teenage pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, which took him to the end of the earth—Santa Maria Finis Terrae. As he wrote, he could go no further, and so he turned back. Later, as a physician and naturalist, he longed to travel to Asia and 190

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the so-called New World in order to gather

subtle but important fracture between images

specimens for his botanical garden and natural

and scientific thought, a distinction that

history museum and observe the animals

would widen in the centuries that followed.

in their habitats. He continued to petition

This book, the scientist’s first work of what

European rulers for support into his sixties,

was planned to be a series encompassing

when age and infirmity made such journeys no

all of natural history, was not published

longer possible. Instead, the modern Ulysses

until Aldrovandi was seventy-seven.14 The

made small trips within Italy to Rimini, Venice,

illustrations cost a fortune and took decades to

Verona, Ancona, Ravenna, Trent, Livorno,

make. The author tells the reader in a prefatory

Elba, and the Italian Alps. He contented

letter that traveling to see the birds, collecting

himself with the published accounts of travels

specimens, and commissioning major artists

as well as descriptions and specimens sent by

to make images from life were all immense

those luckier than he.11

expenses.15 As Aldrovandi wrote to a potential



patron, his natural-history books were to have

10

Aldrovandi combined these first- and

secondhand observations of animals and plants

more than eight thousand illustrations.16 In

with textual sources from antiquity and the

the contract with the publisher, Aldrovandi

Middle Ages. Later, in the eighteenth century,

assumed the responsibility and cost for having

Buffon (1707–1788) deemed this approach

the woodcuts made, but still the cost of

unscientific and noted scathingly that only if

printing the work bankrupted the publisher,

the vast majority of mythical nonsense were

who died soon after, a ruined man. The fame

removed would the few scientific observations

of Aldrovandi’s work, however, began to

in Aldrovandi’s work be useful. Linnaeus

spread, and the second printing sold much

(1707–1778), however, hailed Aldrovandi

better than the first.17

as the founder of natural history. Foucault



(1926–1984), in analyzing the seemingly

phasized the classification of animals. In the

uncritical mixture of scientific observation and

Ornithologiae he included a separate preface

the mythical tradition, noted the primacy of

explaining the order and categorization used

the written word for this humanist, arguing

and how it was an immense improvement

that Aldrovandi was collecting all that had been

on those used by his predecessors.18 Most of

written about these plants and animals and

his sections include dozens of birds, but

that this was considered proper scientific

he created a special category only for ostriches

method in his day. Just as it is almost

and bats, which comes just before a chapter

impossible to think of Sabbioneta without

on fantastic birds. Aldrovandi was well aware

pondering its rapid decline and abandonment,

that bats are unlike birds, in that they nurse

so it is difficult to assess Aldrovandi’s work

their young, are viviparous rather than ovipa-

without thinking of modern natural history.

rous, and have fur and teeth. The ostrich is



nothing like a bat, which is a small creature,

12

Aldrovandi included a lengthy and

learned chapter on ostriches—ten folio

nocturnal and carnivorous. The only thing

pages in Latin, with phrases in Hebrew and

that makes a bat appropriate to an ornithologi-

Greek—in his Ornithologiae, one of the few

cal treatise is that it can fly, which the ostrich

works published during his lifetime, appearing

conspicuously cannot. What they share is their

in three tomes between 1599 and 1603.

liminal status, part quadruped and part bird,

13

Examining this chapter in detail reveals a 191

Following Aristotle, Aldrovandi em-

as Aldrovandi emphasizes.19 He does not com-

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ment on the placement of these hybrid creatures directly before the chapter on fantastic birds, which includes discussions of the The scientist relegates mythical creatures to

Antipathia / Sympathia (hatred of horses and self-sacrificial devotion to its young)

their own chapter and clearly labels them

Capiendi ratio (modes of capturing ostriches)

“fantastic,” but he nevertheless includes them

Icones (descriptions of ancient images of ostriches on coins and insignia)

phoenix, harpies, and other legendary birds.

in his treatise on ornithology and gives them the same status as the real beasts by illustrating them in the same format and discussing them

Hieroglyphica (three uses of the ostrich as a hieroglyph)

classifies the ostrich as a liminal creature,

Proverbia (various witty sayings by classical authors)

real but on the edge of the fantastic.

Medica (medical uses of parts of the ostrich)

in similar terms. By implication, Aldrovandi



He divides his long chapters into subsec-

deal with classification and naming, then

Usus (ostrich meat, the use of eggs in churches, uses for feathers in military costumes and for ladies’ fans)

physical form and habits, and finally the way

Symbola (four imprese)

the bird has been used as a symbol, emblem,

Struthiocameli sceleti (an illustration and description of the ostrich skeleton, taken, as Aldrovandi notes, from Ambrosio Pareo)

tions. For each bird the first few subsections

or hieroglyph. Aldrovandi suggests a division between two types of knowledge in his preface. He lists such categories as genus, name, and habitat as “scientific speculation” and such categories as symbol, emblem, and hieroglyph as “pleasure reading.”20 The discussion of the ostrich is divided into these subsections:

The categories are not logical divisions, since Aequivoca and Sinonyma discuss the same subject, as do the introductory paragraph and Genus differentiae, Medica could be considered a subcategory of Usus, and several

De struthiocamelo (placement in a category with bats)

categories could be considered a part of Mores /

Aequivoca (linguistic ambiguities)

classifies the information is partially a result

Sinonyma (different terms for the animal, including Hebrew and Greek)

of his method of collecting it.21 The chapter,

Genus differentiae (liminal status, like that of a bat)

eration of knowledge rather than a logically

Forma / Descriptio (physical description)



Locus (habitat—Africa) Vox (call) Volatus gressus (inability to fly)

Ingenium. The way in which Aldrovandi

with its numerous divisions, offers an agglomorganized critical survey. Aldrovandi cites ancient authorities by

name, refers to medieval texts with the vague phrase “it is said,” and borrows freely from more modern texts without giving credit. The target of his most wholesale plagiarism

Victus nutritio (food, in particular the ostrich’s purported ability to digest iron)

is the Historia animalium of Konrad Gessner

Nidus / Generatio / Educatio (construction of the nest, supposed miraculous birth of ostrich young after the mother stares at the eggs)

Aldrovandi has copied verbatim.22 Aldrovandi

Affectus corporis (supposed heat of the ostrich) 192

Mores / Ingenium (consideration of the question of whether the ostrich is stupid to hide its head behind a bush)

(1516–1565), published in 1551, chunks of which cites Gessner and Pierre Belon (1517–1564) in the introduction to the Ornithologiae only

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to dismiss their work. He notes derisively that



Gessner organized his listings alphabetically,

ports in a comment at the end of Victus nutritio.

which to the later scientist seem completely

Following Gessner again, Aldrovandi notes

without method.23 Even the categorization of

that ostriches do eat metal, though they

the ostrich, however, is taken from Gessner,

cannot digest it; instead, they excrete it undi-

who wrote of the similarity between ostriches

gested or carry it in their stomachs until they

and bats. Aldrovandi avails himself particularly

die. Gessner and Aldrovandi cite dissections as

of Gessner’s erudition, and so Sinonyma, with

proof. The latter describes Albertus Magnus’s

its words in Hebrew and Greek, is almost

experiment and draws upon his own experi-

completely copied straight from Gessner.

ence: “When I was in Trent, I saw them eating

Likewise all of Proverbia and the first half of

bits of iron, but they excreted these bits un-

Icones are straight copies. (For the Proverbia,

digested.”27 Aldrovandi was able not only to

Aldrovandi prudently decided not to refer

observe the birds but also to analyze their

to Erasmus, whose works were by this point

excrement. He used this firsthand evidence to

on the index of prohibited books.) Almost

disprove the iron-digestion theory and surely

every other section borrows at least a couple of

also as the basis of his physical description of

phrases from Gessner.

the beast, but it is characteristic that only in this



one phrase does he mention his direct experi-

Aldrovandi, however, uses hardly any

of Gessner’s physical description of ostriches,

ence. In other subsections, the scientist is criti-

presumably because Gessner notes that he had

cal of received wisdom, arguing, for example,

never seen an ostrich. Indeed, the woodcut

that, the heat of the sun, not the mother’s

illustration in Gessner’s text is laughably

gaze, causes ostrich babies to be born.28 Here

inaccurate (fig. 188). Aldrovandi wrote in

he cites one classical authority as proof against

his introduction that Gessner’s and Belon’s

another, clearly his preferred method.

illustrations were few and crude. Gessner’s



ostrich is an elaborately detailed woodcut, as

making images from live models.29 Never

refined as Aldrovandi’s would be, but it shows

traveling far himself, he had to depend upon

the bird covered with curling plumes and

the accuracy of such images. In a letter he

thus looking oddly woolly. Gessner criticizes

wrote to the theologian Cardinal Gabriele

the illustration to his own book, but for the

Paleotti (1522–97) about painting and science,30

wrong reasons. He writes that the beak should

Aldrovandi argues that artists should not paint

be wider, more like a duck’s, which makes

grotesque monsters or chimeras, but rather the

some sense, but then writes that the quite

diversity of God’s creation, and that whenever

accurate feet should be more cloven and

possible they should do so based on firsthand

shorter and wider, like those of a calf. He then

observation. He lists the creatures that artists

concedes: “Let eyewitnesses be the judge, as

should depict, ordering the animals in accor-

I have not seen them.” Gessner does not even

dance with his classification system. Ostriches

seem to have a clear idea where one would go

appear of course immediately before bats.

24

25

Aldrovandi stresses the importance of

to see an ostrich, as he mentions that they are



only occasionally in Europe, specifically in

two full-page detailed woodcut illustrations

Venice and Amsterdam, republics not known

of ostriches. These appear on a smaller scale in

for their menageries (but perhaps mentioned

a 1610 edition, with the ostrich skeleton, bats,

as trading ports).

hieroglyphs, fantastic creatures, and parrots

26

193

Aldrovandi had seen ostriches, as he re-

In the Ornithologiae Aldrovandi includes

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(fig. 189). The illustrations are much more

digest iron, a theory Aldrovandi repudiates.

accurate than Gessner’s Muppet. At the end

In one watercolor, the ostrich holds a flat

of his physical description, Aldrovandi refers

and crude-looking nail in its beak. A modern

to these illustrations, noting that one is female

publishing house that printed a large-format

(the one with the egg) and the other male.

colored compendium of these illustrations in-

He suggests wryly that they are so similar

cluded this one without the nail, which must have necessitated reconstructing that part of

that only one needed to be shown, but the avaricious artist wanted to be paid for two.

the beak in the photograph.33 The editors

He does not name the artist, and so the remark

evidently felt that such effort in doctoring

reads as a comment on the profession, rather

Aldrovandi’s ostrich was necessary, in order to

than a personal attack. The illustrations are,

make it seem more scientific.

in fact, subtly distinct, the male depicted with



contrasting black and white feathers and the

of Aldrovandi’s text are also revealing. In the

female with gray feathers and neck, an accuracy

subsections Hieroglyphica and Symbola he

difficult to achieve in a woodcut.

refers to supposed qualities and behaviors of

31



Whoever executed the woodcuts

Contradictions between different parts

the ostrich that in other sections of the same

corrected an error in the original watercolor

chapter he declares are dubious or false. In one

illustrations (figs. 190, 191). These watercolors

of the hieroglyphs, for example, the ostrich

Ostrich, woodcut, from Konrad Gessner, Historia

depict two males (with black-and-white

hiding its head behind a bush is an image of

animalium liber iii, qui est de avium natura

plumage, rather than the brownish gray of

stupidity. Elsewhere, he notes that Diodorus

the females), the only distinction being that

argued that the ostrich was not being stupid

189

one is shown with a pink neck and head, the

but instead naturally astute in protecting

Male ostrich, female ostrich, ostrich skeleton,

other white. (The male ostrich’s head and

its most vulnerable part. Aldrovandi, who

neck become pink during mating displays.)

surely was not able to observe this behavior

historiae (Frankfurt: Bassaie, 1610). From the copy

Aldrovandi misidentifies the image of the

among the captive animals at Trent, declined

held in the W. D. Jordan Special Collections and

ostrich with the white head and neck as a

to weigh in on the matter. Under the heading

female in his Latin inscription. He may

Symbola, he describes imprese, mostly taken

have realized his initial error and requested

with minor changes from Paolo Giovio.34 The

the change. After all, in the text of the

first two show ostriches staring at their eggs,

Ornithologiae he clearly notes the distinction

causing them to hatch. The text of the first

in the color of the plumage. It is particularly

motto is “Diversa ab aliis natura valemus”

strange, therefore, that he does not comment

(We are strong by a nature that is different

on the difference, accurately portrayed in

from others’). Aldrovandi explains that

the woodcut, rather than attack the artist for

this impresa is meant to praise one who has

needlessly creating two identical images.

found some admirable artifice or talent that

His seemingly offhand remark makes evident

distinguishes him from others. In the earlier

his distance from the illustrator, the distinction

section on reproduction, he has denied that

between word and image.

ostriches stare at their eggs, causing them to



hatch, noting that, as for “many animals,” the

188

(Zurich: Christoph. Froschover, 1555).

and other creatures, woodcut, from Ulisse Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, hoc est de avibus

Music Library, Queen’s University, Kingston.

195

32

Aldrovandi also does not comment on

the nail held in one ostrich’s mouth and the

heat of the sun causes birth. In other words,

horseshoe in the other’s, which make these

ostriches have no such special power. The third

otherwise realistic birds emblematic and imply

impresa, again taken from Giovio, shows an

that the birds’ chief quality is their ability to

ostrich eating iron, with the motto “Spiritus

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durissima concoquit” (The spirit digests the

pious ones in the room near the chapel, the

hardest things), again a notion that Aldrovandi

personal scholarly ones in the next room, and

repudiates elsewhere as unscientific.

the bitter, satirical emblems in the room near



the menagerie.38 This learned imagery was

These contradictions are not simply the

result of an uncritical accumulation of con-

intended for an elite audience, serving as a

tradictory sources. After all, Aldrovandi often

hermetic system of knowledge. Giulio Camillo

compares authorities and his own experience

had built a memory theater, an actual theater

and either pronounces his conclusions or notes

covered with allegorical images that, when

that he is unable to judge. Instead, he treats

properly understood in and of themselves

images (hieroglyphs, symbols, and the actual

and in relation to each other, were to impart

illustrations to his text) as a kind of knowledge

knowledge. Camillo himself acted as a guide,

different from text. Images are a symbolic

unlocking the secrets to the privileged few

language and by implication divorced from

during personal tours. Camillo disassembled

scientific observations about actual beasts; the

and reassembled his theater, moving it from

image is a form of received knowledge worth

court to court, a kind of traveling circus of

repeating but not one open to scrutiny or

erudite imagery and arcane philosophy.39

argument. Therefore, based on his own obser-

Aldrovandi’s villa functioned similarly, like

vations of excrement, he could, without con-

Camillo’s memory theater, but instead of

Aldrovandi, Tavole di animali, ms BUB ii: 68.

tradiction, rail against the notion that ostriches

revealing knowledge about all of creation, the

Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna.

digested iron and yet depict (in images and

villa’s narratives and imprese illuminated the life

ekphrases of images) ostriches digesting iron.

of this modern Ulysses. Indeed, Aldrovandi’s

190 Male ostrich, watercolor, 1590s, from Ulisse

191 Male ostrich, mistakenly identified as a female,

His collecting and classifying of this mass of

portrait was painted on the wall with a motto

watercolor, 1590s, from Ulisse Aldrovandi, Tavole di

information serves not to unite art and science

identifying him as the rival of Aristotle—

animali, ms BUB ii: 68. Biblioteca Universitaria

but rather to expose a rift between the scientific

the same motto that accompanies the author

and the visual.

portrait in the Ornithologiae.40 Aldrovandi’s



villa created an image of its owner as Ulysses

di Bologna.

Aldrovandi also includes images of

animals in the decorations of his villa outside

and Aristotle, an ancient epic hero for a modern

of Bologna, now completely demolished,

scientific age.

though its decoration can be reconstructed



from a description in a manuscript. Along

Latin except two—one in the kitchen, banning

with scenes of the Odyssey, which fashion

anyone but cooks, and one over the entrance

his image as a modern Ulysses, Aldrovandi

to the toilets, about their use.41 Here we see

had his villa covered with paintings of

the humor of the scientist who was not above

animals and also kept live animals in a small

sifting through ostrich excrement. In a way,

menagerie. Three rooms were decorated with

these inscriptions also attest to Aldrovandi’s

thirty-seven different imprese, most of which

belief in the importance and primacy of

depicted animals, and flanking these were

language for communications. The quotations

more paintings of animals, without written

are in Italian, but surely the kitchen staff were

mottoes. The animals without text were,

illiterate, as were some using the toilets. He

characteristically, classified—flying creatures in

could have used images, but he instead had

one room, land animals in a second, mixed in

only text in both places. Texts could be elliptical

a third. Lina Bolzoni has noticed as well a

or straightforward for Aldrovandi. His images,

subtler classification in the imprese: the more

however, do not directly denote biological

35

36

37

197

All of the inscriptions in the villa were in

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functions but instead serve as allegories of

known about the life of Ripa than about that of

something other than their physical nature, a

the naturalist and university professor, because

moral quality not apparent from observation.

Ripa performed a humbler role. His chief



employment was as a poorly paid meat carver

In the room near the wild-animal

enclosures, one of the imprese showed an

in the service of Cardinal Antonio Salviati, in

ostrich staring at its egg, with the motto:

Rome, where he died in 1622 in utter penury.43

“We are strong with a different force,” a slight

He must have been well educated and able to

variation on the one listed under Symbola

make use of the cardinal’s extensive library.

in the Ornithologiae. It is one thing to list

If Aldrovandi was prevented from taking the

an impresa as a part of a compendium of

voyages of his dreams, Ripa was confined for

knowledge about the bird, but quite another

much of his life to servitude and want, but

to have it painted on his walls, as the educated

still he managed to compose the authoritative

visitor—a fellow naturalist, for instance—

work on allegorical images.

might be tempted to think that Ulisse, like



the ostrich, had only pretensions to being

extraordinarily successful publication, the

extraordinary, that he really had no special

author begins by stating his classicism: “Images

powers. Clearly Aldrovandi did not intend

made to signify something different from that

for the unflattering interpretation that a

which one sees with the eyes do not have any

purely scientific reading of the impresa

more certain or universal rule than the imita-

would provoke. Instead, his villa, like

tion of the memories that one finds in books,

the Ornithologiae, demonstrated the cleft

medals, and marbles sculpted by the industry

between scientific knowledge and images.

of the Latins and Greeks or by those of greater

His images were naturalistic imitations of

antiquity, who were the inventors of this

the appearance of animals, but the meanings

artifice.”44 Allegory is defined by the disjunc-

of these images were grotesque in that they

tion between form and meaning, a dangerous

were pure inventions, free from moorings in

gap, which needs to be controlled by following

real behavior. For Aldrovandi, text could be

the most ancient of traditions. Any invention

scientific or evocative, but images, appearing

that is not ancient, Ripa goes on to explain, is

real, were fantasies and hieroglyphs.

idiotic and to be avoided. He discusses at some

42

In a preface to the Iconologia, Ripa’s sole,

length the Aristotelian distinction between

198

Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia

substance and accidents. For Ripa, the form

and the Ostrich as Rhetoric

of an allegory is a veil, covering the meaning,

Cesare Ripa’s (ca. 1560–1622) Iconologia is, like

just as the accidents relate to but are distinct

Aldrovandi’s writings, a collection of ancient

from the substance. Artists err when they think

and modern knowledge from a panoply of

only of the accidents and thus are too literal.

sources. Examining the Iconologia’s passages

Instead, they should look for an invisible simi-

about ostriches again reveals a fundamental

larity of substance. Images, paradoxically, are

rift between images and texts. First published

true when they do not illustrate their subject,

without illustrations in 1593 and subsequently

at least in appearance.

republished in expanded form with woodcuts



starting in 1603, it is a product of the same

ship between the image and its meaning, but he

years and of the same cultural climate as that

also talks at length in his preface about rhetoric

which produced the Ornithologiae. Far less is

and how to craft images that are delightful and

Ripa writes of truth and a real relation-

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can therefore persuade the viewer to virtue

ostrich and Justice. Ripa also uses the ostrich

and away from vice. Each abstract idea can be

as an attribute of Rigor.47 Rigor is related to

expressed in several different images, a pleasing

Justice, but here the ostrich signifies toughness,

variety. Ripa weakens the bond between im-

not slow deliberation.

age and meaning, begging the question how



it can be possible for so many disparate things

ties antithetical to the admirable self-control of

to have any true similarity. He realized that

Deliberative Justice and Rigor—the vices

even with his treatise as a guide, such imagery

of gluttony, greed, and voracity. The second

would be ambiguous, and so recommended

image Ripa describes of Gluttony is of a

textual labels identifying the subjects.

woman sitting on a pig, holding an unclean



bird (probably a vulture or gull) in one hand

Ripa uses the ostrich as an attribute

For Ripa, the ostrich also signifies quali-

four times in the 1603 edition of the

and resting the other on an ostrich.48 Ripa justi-

Iconologia but does not illustrate any of these

fies the pig with a reference to Pierio Valeriano.

personifications. He offers several ways of

For the ostrich, Ripa cites two lines from a

depicting Justice. Some of the attributes he

verse in Andrea Alciati’s Diverse imprese.49 In

suggests are traditional, such as the sword and

Alciati’s text the title at the top of the page is

scales. Others are less easy to read, and so, for

“Gluttony,” and the subtitle reads: “Against

example, he writes that Divine Justice should

gossips and the gluttonous.” A poem is in-

be shown with an exceptionally beautiful

scribed below an image of what seems to be a

face, which makes sense conceptually but

gigantic birdlike monster in the sea in front of

not as a clear visual attribute. The beauty of

a sailing ship (fig. 192):

45

Divine Justice forms a vivid contrast to her sister, Rigorous Justice, who is depicted as un’anatomia, a flayed body, “a terrifying sight” meant to strike fear into the beholder.46 Justice can be conveyed as either the height of beauty or the most horrifying grotesque.

And, as a nose, or as a trumpet, it has a beak. It resembles the ostrich, like those who never are quiet, Never have peace from gluttony.50 Ripa quotes a slight variation on the last two

192



Gola, woodcut, from Andrea Alciati, Diverse

the figure should hold the sword and scales

lines. He omits mention of the monster and

imprese (Lyons: Macé Bonhomme for Guillaume

or an ostrich. Even this particular aspect of

applies the qualities to the bird itself.51 The beast

Justice can be portrayed in two different ways.

in Alciati’s print is large, with a long neck and

Since the sword and scales are also attributes

large round eye, and so resembles an ostrich,

of Divine Justice and Righteous Justice, it is

but made into a marine monster. Here the

hard to imagine how they would distinguish

hoarse cry of the ostrich, so rarely mentioned,

Deliberative Justice. (The distinction between

is a part of its evil nature. The ostrich’s ability

Righteous Justice, surely a redundant title,

to digest iron is not stated but surely implied in

and the other forms of Justice is also murky.)

this personification of gluttony. This power of

The ostrich is more specific as an attribute

digestion does not signify the careful delibera-

of this type of justice, as the weighing of

tion of justice but its opposite, a compulsive

evidence is conveyed by the ostrich’s ability to

unchecked voraciousness. The ostrich in Ripa,

digest iron. Ripa, who used Pierio Valeriano’s

like the monster in Alciati, is grotesque.

Hieroglyphica as a principal source, does not



mention any other connection between the

of his personifications have self-explanatory

Rouille, 1551), 94. University of Glasgow Library.

199

For Deliberative Justice, Ripa states that

It cries with a hoarse voice, has a long crop,

For the related quality of gorging, two

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200

23

attributes—one vomits, and the other has a

in the text, not corrected by the editor despite

large stomach. A third is less obvious:

his repeated requests, and then discounts the

a woman in a rust-colored dress holds an

accuracy of the illustrations: “Furthermore

octopus and has an ostrich next to her. Ripa

the carver of our figures has in some places

calls gorging a “disordered appetite” and here

not observed the text; therefore, wherever the

relates the color of the personification’s dress

figure is not comparable to the text, on any

to the ostrich: “One shows her dressed in the

occasion that you would like to represent it

color of rust, which devours iron uselessly,

for your own use, form it in conformity with

just as the greedy eater swallows everything

our words.”56 Even though the Iconologia is a

without taste, which appertains also to the

treatise on images, Ripa believed in the primacy

52

ostrich, who devours and digests iron.” This

of the word and so published the first editions

idea could only be conveyed in words, as a

without any illustrations. The illustrations to

reddish-brown dress could as easily be called

the 1603 edition seem to have been requested

the color of earth or blood as the color of

by the publisher rather than the author, and

rust. For the octopus, Ripa cites Horapollo,

Ripa, despite his carping, does not seem to

recounting that when the beast does not have

have devoted much energy to correcting

food, it eats itself. The personification of

them, as the table of corrections appended to

another sin, voracity, is described in similar

the book does not refer to many of the most

Giovanni Guerra, Fortune, pen and ink and wash

terms: a woman in a rust-colored dress, with

glaring errors in the images.57

drawing, ca. 1600. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

one hand resting on an ostrich and, in this case,



the other patting a wolf. He is not clear about

designed illustrations for the 1603 edition,

Giovanni Guerra, Justice, pen and ink and wash

the distinction between Gluttony, Gorging,

probably at the instigation of the publisher,

drawing, ca. 1600. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

and Voracity or about how to read the image

was Giovanni Guerra (1544–1618).58 Guerra

of an ostrich in general. If a woman is shown

was a successful artist who carried out frescoes

with just an ostrich and perhaps a reddish

in the Vatican for Pope Sixtus V, designed stage

dress, is she Deliberative Justice, Rigor,

sets and costumes, and created series of prints.

Gluttony, Gorging, or Voracity? Not just the

His illustrations for Ripa show Raphaelesque

ostrich but one particular quality, digesting

women in twisting poses, often with one

iron, evokes such antithetical meanings. The

breast exposed, like Justice in the Sala di

ostrich is both reduced to a single behavior

Costantino. He did not draw images of Delib-

and able to convey multiple ideas. Divorced

erative Justice, Rigor, Gluttony, or Voracity,

from the substance of science and from the

which were among the many personifications

complexity of the actual animals, Ripa’s iron-

not illustrated in the 1603 edition. In contrast

digesting ostrich is an abstracted metaphor,

to his rather conventional illustrations for Ripa,

a flexible rhetorical trope that can be used to

Guerra also produced a series of loose and

convey differing virtues and vices.

playful drawings of allegorical personifications



that were never printed, including Fortune

53

54

193

55

194

200

Ripa, like Aldrovandi, thought images

One of these untrustworthy artists who

were essential to conveying meaning but

and Justice with large birds. His Fortune is

ultimately distrusted them, all too aware of

based on Doni’s allegory in Le pitture, as she

the slippages in meaning between text and

sits on a large bird, with goods of the world

its illustration. He includes a warning at the

in one hand, no face, and a whip in the other

beginning of the first illustrated edition of the

(fig. 193). The bird is not really an ostrich,

Iconologia, of 1603. Ripa complains about errors

more an overgrown swan, which she straddles

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awkwardly. Guerra’s drawing of Justice (fig. 194) directly mocks Vasari’s images for the Cancelleria (see figs. 101–2, 107). Guerra’s Lady Justice has a large bird, an orb, books, a scepter with a smaller bird, and a complex helmet like that in Vasari’s inventions. In Guerra’s drawing Justice has fallen asleep, perhaps bored with all of this erudition, and slumps on her giant orb, her helmeted head lolling back and the scepter pointing at her genitalia. The books lie scattered on the ground, and a long-necked, sharp-beaked bird, surely a comic version of the ostrich, is the only one to attempt to peruse them. The label “Justice” has a bitter irony to it, suggesting that the world is in such a state that Justice sleeps and that the only one to read the law is an uncomprehending rapacious bird. Ripa was wise to mistrust such an illustrator, who included the attributes from texts only to subvert them.

Ripa’s text, for all of its Aristotelianism,

divorces substance from accidents, word from image. Like Aldrovandi, Ripa collected and copied previous knowledge, sometimes crediting his sources and sometimes engaging in outright theft. The effect of such a collection was not to create a unity of knowledge but to make obvious the disparities, multiplicities, and contradictions. The tension between scientific observation and the symbolic image in Aldrovandi is gone in Ripa, where the image has become pure rhetoric, a trope rather than a realistic beast. Severed from the need to account for the complexity of nature, the ostrich, with all of its accumulated legends and odd behaviors, is reduced to a single mythical quality, the ability to digest iron. Set loose from its grounding in science, this simplified caricature of the iron eater can be used as a rhetorical trope, signifying equally well either virtue or sin.

201

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Marco Antonio Zalterio,

are also unabashedly arcane and muddied

the Ostrich, and the Inquisition

in their multiplicity, hardly the sort of

How do these shifts in the relationships

clear and straightforward rhetoric rigorous

between science and art, and image and text,

clerics demanded. A vital strain of Counter-

relate to the religious changes brought by the

Reformation imagery, however, was designed

early Counter-Reformation? Aldrovandi was

precisely to appeal to an elite. Ostriches were

certainly aware of the religious crises of his

well suited to fill this need for images that were

time—as a young man he was arrested and

neither dangerous nor simple.

charged with heresy.59 The specific charges are



unknown, and Aldrovandi was released soon

tion of such images in a Counter-Reformation

after, but the experience must have left him

context is the printer’s device used by Marco

acutely aware of the shifting mood. He was,

Antonio Zalterio (fig. 195). Zalterio was one

as far as we know, a pious Catholic. His one

of many printers working for the press in

great journey was a pilgrimage, after all. He

Venice from the 1580s into the early 1600s.

cites the Bible reverently but not so piously

The Venetian Index of Prohibited Books had

that he considers Scripture to be the absolute

by this point gone through several editions,

authority.60 His project was neither dangerous

and the Inquisition was particularly active in

nor controversial, as it did not question any

prosecuting those who wrote or published

of the fundamental arguments about man’s

books that were deemed heretical or scandal-

place in the universe. Aldrovandi’s quarrels

ous.62 Zalterio, however, was not in any danger

with received wisdom were subtler, built into

of falling afoul of the authorities, as he special-

the structure of his sections and subsections,

ized in publishing manuals for inquisitors,

embedded deep in a long learned Latin treatise.

theological treatises, sermons, and expositions

Ripa’s project was written in the vernacular

of Catholic doctrine against the Protestants

and therefore more widely accessible. Little is

on such subjects as penance and marriage.63

known about his life, but his ideas must have

These are Latin treatises for educated priests,

been congenial to the papacy, as he invented

friars, and monks, not dangerous vernacular

the imagery for the Sala Clementina in the

writings for the laity.

Vatican and was knighted, even though he



was never financially solvent. Ripa offered a

sometimes also on the last page) Zalterio

compendium of images of vice and virtue, a

included a large ornate image of an ostrich with

handbook of visual rhetoric, which was widely

a horseshoe in its beak, accompanied by the

used by princes and prelates to delight and

motto “Nil durum indigestum” (Nothing hard

persuade viewers. The combined effect of

undigested).64 The ostrich itself is recognizable,

these encyclopedic collections—the severance

though unrealistic and grotesque, its head

of the image from science and the reduction

swiveling awkwardly to look back at its body,

of the image to rhetoric—well served the aims

whose legs have distinct camels’ hooves for

of reformers, who needed such flexible tropes,

feet. The frame varies in different books but is

rhetorical ornaments without the baggage

always lavish, with interlacing scrolls, straps,

of any presuppositions about nature and

foliage, and grotesque masks. This exotic,

God’s creation. If Ripa’s and Aldrovandi’s

richly overwrought confection seems at odds

images are pleasing in their variety,

with books that list types of heresies and

strangeness, and classical erudition, they

instruct inquisitors in how to punish them—

61

202

One example that encapsulates the func-

On the title page of each book (and

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more akin to the rich, learned, and wholly positive, laudatory tone of his letter, an image that flatters the viewer through its erudition. Ripa’s Legacy

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Ripa’s text went through several editions in every major European language. It was collected and annotated by artists and scholars alike, and Baroque art is replete with 195

allegorical inventions based upon Ripa. Most

Title page with the device of Marco Antonio

show the ostrich as an attribute of Justice,

Zalterio, woodcut, from Antonio de Gislandis,

as by this point Raphael’s invention had

Opus aureum, ornatum omni lapide pretioso singulari (Venice: Marco Antonio Zalterio, 1598).

become a standard trope. Luca Giordano’s

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University

(1634–1705) Apotheosis of the House of the

of Toronto.

Medici in the reception room of the Palazzo a weird embodiment of the values of a press

Medici in Florence offers a particularly grand

that specialized in Counter-Reformation

example. The Medici arms and current scions

manuals and doctrinal works.

of the family are exalted to the heavens in the



One book, a collection of the Latin

center of the fresco, while around the edges

sermons of the Cassinese monk Jacobus de

personifications signal their virtues. Justice

Graffiis, includes a lengthy introductory letter

has bare breasts and fancy boots, like Vasari’s

(also in Latin) written by the printer to the

invention, and she carries a sword and scales

abbot of the Cassinese Order.65 Zalterio begins

(fig. 196). Her foot rests on the base of the

the letter, a kind of preface and justification

neck of an ostrich, whose huge eye, great

for the book, by invoking “The Great Plato.”

66

Zalterio cites the pagan philosopher in arguing

are all exaggerated to make the beast both

for the necessity of theological study and

naturalistic and monstrous. The ugly form of

hastens to add that what he writes about Plato

the ostrich and the fact that it is under the foot

comes from the fathers of the church. He then

of Lady Justice might make it seem a figure

offers a long exordium on the virtues of study,

of sin, trampled by Justice, except that the

theology, the author, and the Cassinese Order.

ostrich itself steps on both a tiger and a man

His letter is completely laudatory, whereas

with a mask and a snaky tail. The man clearly

the author’s much briefer letter to the “pious

expresses the notion of fraud, hiding behind a

reader” has a very different tone. This letter

mask, with serpentine nether parts hidden in

is also learned but offers stern exhortations,

the shadows, offering a bouquet of flowers

railing about depraved men and the poisonous

that is in fact held together by hissing snakes.

powers of obscene, clandestine, or otherwise

A net behind his shoulders reiterates the

villainous speech, as opposed to the sweet

warning not to be caught in this lovely trap.

goodness of divine sermons. Jacobus would

The ostrich here is not so much an attribute

surely have chosen an image for the title page

as a doubling of the figure of Justice, itself

that offered just such a dichotomy between

triumphing over fraudulent deception, doing

good and evil. Zalterio instead used something

the work for Justice so that she need not be

67

203

swollen two toes, and craning muscular neck

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204

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196 Luca Giordano, Justice, fresco, 1685, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.

205

sullied by physical contact with vice. The very

of Raphael and Vasari are here miniaturized,

ugliness of the ostrich plays with viewers’

made into a grotesque curiosity, perhaps

expectations, as it is the pretty figure of

decrying gluttony but, if so, in such light and

deception that they must shun, not the ostrich.

lovely terms that the message could scarcely

This is precisely the sort of splendid rhetoric,

offend even the most determined gourmand.

full of glorious redundancy, that Ripa’s



compendium lauded and enabled.

eighteenth century, Ripa’s text was attacked, his



allegories deemed “incorrect and monstrous.”68

Images of the ostrich as an attribute

With the advent of neoclassicism in the

of Gluttony, Gorging, or Voracity are much

Two works by Giambattista Tiepolo and his

less common. Negative allegories are rare in

son Giandomenico Tiepolo demonstrate

general because patrons preferred imagery to

contemporary attitudes. For the vault above

celebrate their virtues. Images of overeating

the staircase in the palace of the prince-bishop

are perhaps the most unusual, as guests

of Würzburg, Giambattista Tiepolo painted a

partaking of meals with dozens of courses

vision of Apollo floating above the continents.

would surely not have wanted to mar their

The painting is pure hyperbole, likening this

appetites by looking at grotesque images of

local potentate to a god who reigns over

the swollen bellies, craning necks, and sharp

the entire world. The ostrich is painted as a

rapacious beaks of gluttonous ostriches.

part of the representation of Africa (fig. 198).

Nevertheless, one fresco survives showing

The purpose is to embody the same sort of

the ostrich, if not clearly as an attribute of

laudatory rhetoric popular in the Renaissance,

Voracity, at any rate as a symbol of eating and

but the ostrich no longer serves as an allegory.

digestion. It appears among the grotesques

Instead, it evokes the riches of Africa and the

painted in the vaults of a corridor of the Uffizi

trade in ostrich feathers. It is painted as if

that in the sixteenth century led to government

standing on a ledge in front of the other figures,

offices and served as an art gallery for the

with a monkey that pulls at its tail, perhaps

display of ancient sculpture (fig. 197). The

to restrain the flightless bird and keep it from

grotesques follow the forms of those from

falling. The ostrich is, in other words, not an

Raphael’s shop but differ in that, at least in

ancient symbol of either virtue or vice but

this bay, an allegory seems to be intended, as

first and foremost just an ostrich, as well as a

the figures and even animals are all eating or

marginal figure of fun.

known for their appetites. Classical ladies and



men recline in an archaeologically correct way

ostriches meet with a group of Punchinellos,

to dine around the perimeter of the vault. The

the stock characters that were the butt of jokes

central scene shows a bare-breasted woman,

in the performances of the commedia dell’arte

surely an allegorical personification, sitting

(fig. 199).69 The Punchinellos’ beak-like noses,

between two tables laden with food and drink,

hunched backs, and awkward poses mimic

a rapacious toothy wolf or dog at her feet,

the proportions of the birds, making them

what looks to be an embryonic fowl on her

seem more akin to the ostriches than to the

gesturing hand, and, standing behind the table

classical statue and the elegant folk who watch

on her left, an ostrich. The painting follows

the confrontation from behind a railing. The

Ripa’s description of Voracity with a wolf and

ostriches puff out their useless wings, and a

an ostrich, but the smiling beauty hardly reads

Punchinello grabs one, calling attention to the

as a figure of sin. The grand moral allegories

absurdity of a bird that cannot fly. Here the

In Giandomenico’s drawing, a family of

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197 Workshop of Alessandro Allori, grotesques, fresco, 1579–81, corridor of the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. 198 Giambattista Tiepolo, detail of the continent of Africa, fresco, 1752–53, Residenz, Würzburg. 199 Giandomenico Tiepolo, Punchinello with Ostriches, brown ink and wash over black chalk, ca. 1800. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, R. T. Miller Jr. Fund.

206

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207

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ostriches are a grotesque spectacle, as are the

wisdom and scientific observation, overlaid in

Punchinellos, figures of fascination for their

a confusing and rich web of possibilities. An

odd appearance and pathetic limitations,

examination of the contradictions, lapses, and

not bearers of arcane meaning.

confusion in both texts, however, reveals an essential similarity in attitude toward images

208

Coda: The Ostrich in

and meaning, in that both authors sever texts

the Renaissance and Today

from images, using even the most natural-

The question that Raphael’s ostrich posed,

istic images as tropes, unreliable for science

how to interpret symbolic meaning in a

but extremely useful as rhetoric, as they are

naturalistic image, had become an issue of

untethered from the purely scientific truths

great urgency—a crisis—by the end of the

that words alone can convey. Raphael’s ques-

sixteenth century. The increasingly academic

tion—how form is imbued with meaning—has

view of art, promoted and exemplified by

been answered in a way that disrupts the con-

Vasari, came into conflict with the needs of

nections between word and image, science and

Counter-Reformation patrons for limpidly

art, that made Raphael’s ostrich so rich. This

straightforward works. This imagery was re-

disjuncture, which is still so subtle in Ripa and

quired to convey abstract qualities, virtues and

Aldrovandi that it generally goes unnoticed,

vices. Ripa’s compendium thus fulfilled a

became a wide gulf in the centuries that fol-

pressing need. The myriad possibilities for

lowed, as art and science, myth and natural

each allegory that he described, however, as

history, became entirely separate disciplines.

well as the dangerous potential for slippage



between image and meaning that is implicit

feathers and flesh, and by creating unexpected

and explicit throughout his text, make the

juxtapositions of bird, woman, epic battle, and

manual as much a monument to the perils

historical portrait, Raphael claimed the status

of visual allegory as it is a celebration of this

of a poet, creating art that, though a personifi-

tradition. The Iconologia is thus a culmination,

cation of a virtue, was evocative rather than

both in its successes and in its failures, of the

declarative. His art and the images that fol-

tradition of arcane allegorical art for which

lowed are the product of the artist’s fantasy,

Raphael’s example was so crucial. Raphael’s

not in the sense that the ostriches are invented,

naturalistic ostrich also stands as a milestone in

as these are real monsters. The creative act lies

a parallel development, the rise in the explora-

instead in playfully combining gossamer light

tion and scientific study of the natural world,

and ponderously weighty creatures, weird

which reached a new peak in Aldrovandi’s

forms extracted from any rational context

writings and museum. Ripa’s and Aldrovandi’s

and juxtaposed with one another. Raphael’s

texts are utterly different, both in general pur-

art and that of his followers are grotesques,

poses and tone and in their treatment of the

some in the strict sense of the term and others

ostrich. One is a vernacular manual that was

more loosely in their hybrid, fantastic nature.

immediately popular with artists and writers

The ostrich, no longer in Africa or a menag-

alike, in which the ostrich is a crudely simpli-

erie, instead is a companion for half-dressed

fied and flexible rhetorical device that can be

women, winged babies, bats, and acrobats;

used to signify both virtue and vice. The other,

it stands proudly on its own platform, under

in Latin, is an erudite treatise for scholars, in

trellises and pompous swags of curtains, as if

which the ostrich is a palimpsest of received

on a stage. Some learned artists invented their

By embodying and veiling meaning in

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own obscure imagery. But Raphael demon-

which acts as grit in the stomach, but they do

strated how, even when working from a writ-

eat iron, and so Renaissance artists and writers

ten program and painting a didactic image of a

were not far from the truth.

virtue, the paint could create an image that was



independent of such textual meanings, which

but they do not hide their heads in the sand.

were both hidden and embodied in the incom-

The misconception may come from Pliny’s

prehensible forms of a natural monster. Some

observation that ostriches hide their heads

of Raphael’s followers emulated his modern

behind a bush or from their lying prone on the

hieroglyph, creating naturalistic images with

ground, making their bodies look like desert

arcane significance, but others followed the

scrub, to avoid attack. The image of a bird with

Raphael of the grotesques, inventing images

its head in the sand, though, is an extremely

without any textual meaning, paintings of real

widespread and effective rhetorical trope, a

beasts inhabiting pure fantasies. The radical

way to convey a particularly modern notion

nature of this division between art and mean-

of a stubborn and willful blindness to reality.

ing can be seen in the criticisms that such

Not only cartoons but also photographs show

fantastic ostrich art provoked in the latter

ostriches with their heads in the sand, which

half of the sixteenth century. The tensions in

seems to support the notion that this is a real

Aldrovandi’s and Ripa’s texts reveal that their

behavior. In fact, the Internet offers advice on

attempts to rebind image and meaning were

how to stage such a photograph: by digging

doomed to failure, that the rupture was irrepa-

a hole, lining it with ostrich food, and then

rable—the artist was, in a sense, free.

shoving the bird’s head into it, before taking a



quick shot.71 The most pervasive current images

As a modern looking back, it is easy

to be condescending about the Renaissance

of ostriches are completely divorced from

view of animals, to find the images of birds

science, even purposely falsified, so that a real

with camels’ hooves and horseshoes in their

bird is forced to enact a fictional trope. Modern

mouths charming and naïve. Today ostriches

scientific study abounds with marvelous and

are still bearers of myths, ones that have less

strange observations about ostrich breeding,

foundation than those most popular in the

eating, anatomy, and excretion. Papers in

Renaissance. Ostriches are still known for their

scientific journals reveal, for example, that

voraciousness, and so, for example, in modern

ostriches have highly developed sphincter

Italian someone who has what speakers of

muscles and so can, unusually for a bird,

English would call an iron stomach has “the

urinate and defecate separately.72 An extended

stomach of an ostrich.” Ostriches did and do

study of ostriches in the wild has examined

eat almost anything they can reach, including

their communal nesting system, revealing how

metal objects. Rob Nixon, in his piercingly

minor hens deposit eggs in the major hen’s nest

evocative memoir of his childhood in South

and how the major hen will protect her own

Africa, Dreambirds, writes unforgettably of

eggs by rolling others’ eggs out of the nest,

the moment when an ostrich swallowed his

leaving them to predators, a morality tale if

grandfather’s watch. At an ostrich farm

there ever was one.73 Ostriches have the largest

outside of Toronto, I saw the not terribly

eyes of any land animal and the smallest brain

bright birds pecking fruitlessly at the nails of

in ratio to body size. Male ostriches, unlike

the cart on which I was riding. As Aldrovandi

most other birds, have penises.74 Any of these

realized, they do not actually digest the iron,

weird and wonderful observations could be

70

209

Ostriches do many peculiar things,

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fodder for a witty allegorical invention, but

Picasso, like Moore, turned back to an earlier

science is no longer a main source for visual

age, looking for something that modernity

and verbal rhetoric, and scientific findings,

had lost. His ostrich, though, is no hero, but a

when they are noticed by those outside

gawky, hairy, charming fool.

of select scholarly circles, can seem at best



quirky and at worst ridiculous. When Dr.

Renaissance, because animal anatomy and

Charles Paxton, a professor at the University

symbolism were linked, because the physical

of St. Andrews, published his findings about

strangeness of animals was inherently mean-

abnormal behavior among ostriches bred in

ingful, ostriches were bearers of a panoply of

captivity—they were performing mating rituals

richly complex and contradictory meanings and

before their human keepers rather than other

associations, evoking the arcane wisdom of the

birds—it earned him an Ig Noble award, a

hieroglyphs, the lavish spectacle of imperial

mock prize given in order to jeer at what the

Rome, the morality of the bestiary, the sophis-

organizers deem to be useless science.

tication of Renaissance court culture, and the



erudition of humanists, travelers, and scientists.

75

A poem by Marianne Moore (1887–1972)

In antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the

and a print by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) serve

The distinction Aldrovandi subtly instituted

as eloquent testimony to this rupture between

between science and images of animals has now

art and science, as both hearken back to the

become a wide gulf, and so images of these

earlier rich and tangled tradition. Moore’s

bizarre creatures have been severed from both

poem, “He ‘Digesteth Harde Yron,’” takes its

this marvelous history and from the stranger

title from a passage in a sixteenth-century text,

reality of the actual animals. Raphael’s ostrich

John Lyly’s Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit.

was so breathtakingly evocative because he

She forces us to notice the archaism by using

breathed new life into an ancient Egyptian idea

old spelling. Moore makes what has been lost

by making his Justice into a fleshy, sensuous

the subject of her poem. She recounts that

woman fingering the neck of a realistic, alert,

the other gigantic birds, the roc and moa, are

and rather fiercely ugly ostrich that emerges

extinct, but the “camel-sparrow,” “the best

out of the shadows as both a symbolic attribute

of the unflying pegasi,” survives, because it

and a convincingly living creature. The modern

200

can digest iron and cares assiduously for its

reductive cartoon of the ostrich with its head

Pablo Picasso, Ostrich, sugar aquatint, to

young. She evokes the strangeness of the

in the sand is the result of the disjuncture be-

illustrate Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon,

real bird’s “comic duckling head,” but insists

tween art and science that had already begun to

Musée Picasso, Paris. © Estate of Pablo Picasso /

repeatedly that the ostrich “was and is a symbol

develop in Aldrovandi and Ripa’s day. Raphael

SODRAC (2015).

of justice.” This heroic idea of the ostrich as

stands at the apex of the intermingling of

survivor strikes me as recuperative—a reaching

word, image, and science, but his art also

back for a living tradition that can anchor the

signals the beginning of the end of this tradi-

natural world with meaning. Picasso’s sugar

tion—his grotesque fantasies are not illustra-

aquatint of an ostrich projects a very different

tions of any text, scientific or literary. The

tone, a light absurdity (fig. 200). It is one of a

exponential rise in the status of the artist, epito-

76

Histoire naturelle (Paris: Martin Fabiani, 1942).

series of prints made to illustrate passages in

mized by the deification of Raphael, and the

Buffon’s eighteenth-century Histoire naturelle.

independence of the image brought a new free-

If Buffon found Aldrovandi laughably

dom to artistic expression, one that ultimately

unscientific, by Picasso’s time Buffon’s work

came at a price.

77

was considered to be more legend than science. 210

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Notes Introduction

evocative comments on the Raphael of

20

the “dear Madonnas” (a phrase from

For a meditation on allegory, natural-

Browning), see Pope-Hennessy, Raphael,

ism, and the relationship between text

175. On the reception of Raphael, taking

and image, focusing on Leonardo’s alle-

into consideration the inaccessibility

gorical drawings and writings, see Keizer,

of the School of Athens in the sixteenth

“Leonardo and Allegory.” This article

century, see ibid., 9–37. For a complex

was published too recently for me to inte-

view that includes some criticism of

grate its arguments fully into this book.

Raphael, see Perini, “Raphael’s European 1

Fame.” For a history of how the

For comparisons between Raphael and

perception of Raphael’s works affected

Christ after the artist’s death on Good

physical objects, see Hoeniger, Afterlife of

Friday, see Shearman, Raphael in Early

Raphael’s Paintings.

Modern Sources, 1:572–74, 575–78, 581–83. For the evidence on Raphael’s testament (now lost or destroyed), see ibid., 1:569– 71. See also Pasquali, “Raphael’s Tomb and Its Legacy.” 2

Vasari, Opere, 4:383. See Weil-Garris, “La morte di Raffaello.” 3

Vasari, Opere, 4:372. 4

“[L]a quale egli di sua mano continuamente lavorando, ridusse ad ultima perfezione . . . questa opera,

The only ancient Roman association of the ostrich with justice that I have found is a coin described in a 1599 text as having Tiberius on the obverse and ostrich feathers on the reverse, with

“[N]ella sala ove lavorava”; Vasari, Opere,

the inscription “iustitia”; Aldrovandi,

4:383.

Ornithologiae, 594.

10

22

Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern

De Jong, Power and the Glorification,

Sources, 1:484–85.

84–90.

11

Sebastiano to Michelangelo, 12 April 1520, in ibid., 587–88.

Chapter 1 1

12

For images of ostriches, ostrich feathers,

On the Sala di Costantino, see Quednau,

and ostrich eggs in ancient Egypt, see

Sala di Costantino. For other sources, see

Laufer, Ostrich Egg-Shell Cups, 16–20.

chapter 3 below.

2

fra tante quant’ egli ne fece, sia la più

13

celebrata, la più bella e la più divina”;

Menu, “Maat”; Taylor, Journey Through

Even though a reliable witness attests that

Vasari, Opere, 4:371–72. On this

the Afterlife, 209–12.

Giulio Romano and Gianfrancesco Penni

competition, see Goffen, Renaissance

had been awarded the commission in

Rivals, 245–55. Unless otherwise noted,

May 1520, Sebastiano continued to seek

all translations are my own.

the commission for more than six months

5

On idolization of the Transfiguration, see Rosenberg, “Raphael’s Transfiguration,” and Cropper, Domenichino Affair, 1–21. 6

I am quoting from the redundant title of an article by someone calling himself Petronius Arbiter, “A Great Work of Art: Raphael’s ‘Transfiguration’: The Greatest Picture in the World.” For the reception of the Transfiguration and the

thereafter (and possibly was at one point

For the Greek passage (bk. 2, chap.

in Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern

into Italian, German, and English, see

Sources, 1:592–94, 606–8, 615–16, 616–17,

Horapollo, Hieroglyphica, 215; Horapollo,

619–20, 631–32.

The Hieroglyphics, 98; Horapollo,

14

For the complex and sometimes

5

“Firmus, Saturninus, Proculus, and

chapter 3 below.

Bonosus,” in Magie, Scriptores, 3:393–97

16

Baxandall, Painting and Experience, 1–27;

For recent interpretations of the painting,

M. O’Malley, Business of Art, 77–96.

Segnatura (where the School of Athens

Hieroglyphenbuch, 1:80–81.

scholarly debates about attribution, see

7

For the inaccessibility of the Stanza della

Geroglifici, 230; and Horapollo,

contradictory documentation and the

See Talvacchia, “Raphael’s Workshop.”

8

47–48. 4

118), commentary on it, and translations

to Raphael, see Gould, “Raphael Versus

Kleinbub, Vision and the Visionary, 120–45.

As discussed in Iversen, Myth of Egypt,

he indignantly refused); documents

15

see Cranston, “Tropes of Revelation,” and

3

offered part of the commission, which

shift in attribution from Giulio Romano Giulio Romano.”

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 211

9

21

17

Quednau, Sala di Costantino, 208–11. 18

U. D’Elia, “What Allegories Wear.”

is located), as opposed to the Sala di

19

Costantino and other more public rooms,

This figure is discussed in relation to

see Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern

Michelangelo’s and Leonardo’s works in

Sources, 2:933–34, 944–45, 1259–61. For

chapter 3 below.

(iv, 1–vi, 5). 6

“Probus,” in Magie, Scriptores, 3:374–77 (xix, 1–8). 7

On this incident, and more generally on giving carcasses from the arena as gifts and eating arena meat, see Kyle, Spectacles of Death, 187–94. 8

Loisel, Histoire des ménageries, 1:105–9.

8/20/15 11:33 AM

9

23

38

Dio Cassius, Roman History, 9:105–17

Platina, Lives of the Popes, 86–87, 90–91,

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, bk. 2,

(lxxiii), also discussed and quoted in

108–11.

chap. 20.

24

39

Parker, Archaeology of Rome, 7:22–23. 10

Aristotle, Parts of Animals, 428–29

Gregorii Magni, Moralia in Job, 1:359–61

Whittaker, Herodian, 100–103 (1:15, 105).

(697b:15).

(vii:xxviii:36), 2:1058–59 (xx:xxxix:75),

For a contemporary depiction of a putto shooting such a crescent-shaped arrow at an ostrich, see Koch, Die mythologischen Sarkophage, 6:14, 89–90 (cat. 12, pl. 18a). 11

Dio Cassius, Roman History, 9:113–15 (lxxiii, 21). 12

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 478–79 (bk. x, 1). 26

Nauert, “Caius Plinius Secundus,” 300. 27

Ibid., 305.

Ibid., 241 (lxxvii, 1, 4), also discussed

28

in Abbondanza, Valley of the Colosseum,

Shilleto, Plutarch’s Morals, 247 (“On

20–21.

Curiosity,” x).

13

29

“Antoninus Elagabalus,” in Magie,

See Niccoli, Profeti e popolo, and Daston

Scriptores, 2:150–53 (xxiii, 7–8).

and Park, Wonders and the Order of

14

Ibid., 148–49 (xxii, 1). 15

Apicius, Art culinaire, cl–cli (vi:i.1–2). 16

Riti nuziali, xxxviii.

Nature. 30

and 3:1557–72, 1576–79 (xxxi:viii:11–xv:29; xxxi:xx:36–xxiii:42).

40

See, for example, Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, 265 (xii.vii.20). 41

On the Greek and Latin versions and their reception, see Morini, Bestiari medievali, vii–xvi. 42

Ibid., 66–68. 43

Clark, Medieval Book of Beasts, 17–18. 44

Ibid., 18.

For example, see Porada, Ancient Near

45

Eastern Seals, 1:94, no. 773E.

See Clark, Medieval Book of Birds. For

31

See note 21 to the introduction. Aldrovandi may have assumed, because

another summary of some of the medieval texts about ostriches, see Lutz, “Medieval Impressions of the Ostrich.” Lutz notes a shift away from moral readings, but

17

of his familiarity with Horapollo’s text,

“Antoninus Elagabalus,” in Magie,

that the image he saw on the Roman coin

Scriptores, 2:146–49 (xxi, 5).

depicted ostrich feathers.

18

32

a list of mostly medieval sources about

Ibid., 146–47 (xx, 5).

On the mosaics at Piazza Armerina, see

ostriches, see also Levi d’Ancona, Zoo del

Carandini, Ricerche; Gentili, Imperial

Rinascimento, 205–6.

19

Ibid., 164–65 (xxx, 2). 20

Ibid., 156–57, 160–61, 162–63 (xxv, 9; xxvii,

4–5; and xxviii, 4). On the Jewish

prohibition against eating the ostrich, see below in this chapter. 21

Dio Cassius’s Historia Romana survives

Villa; Dunbabin, Mosaics of Roman North Africa, 196–212; Wilson, “Roman Mosaics”; and Wilson, Piazza Armerina. 33

Ueblacker, Teatro Marittimo, 82. 34

Bruemmer, “Promised Land.” 35

from a few fragmentary medieval

Analyzed in detail in Bertram, Ostrich

manuscripts and was first published only

Communal Nesting System.

in 1548, as noted in Cary, introduction to Dio Cassius, Roman History, 1:vii– xxviii. There are several fifteenth-century manuscripts of the Scriptores historiae augustae, and the first edition was published very early, in 1475. Reynolds, Texts and Transmission, 354–56. 22

“Quid Comodo incommodius, quid turpius? . . . Quin et Heliogabalus ipse, non principum modo sed hominum spurcissimus”; Petrarca, Epistole, 818–20 (Ep. Sen. xiv:1).

212

25

36

Lev. 11:16. On the unclean status of hybrid animals, see Douglas, Purity and Danger,

I would argue that moral qualities continued to be tied to observations about the ostrich’s form and behavior. For

46

Clark, Medieval Book of Birds, 188–98. 47

“[F]iguras alarum”; Vincent de Beauvais, Speculum naturale, 1231–32 (chaps. 138, 139, and 140). 48

Frederick II, De arte venandi, 2–4 (i:1). 49

Ibid., 44 (i:25). 50

Ibid., 188 (i:188).

41–57. I would like to thank Alan Grieco

51

for suggesting this source. For a later

Ibid., 126 (I:106).

commentary on the less clear question whether the ostrich egg is a clean or unclean vessel, see Maimonides, Book of Cleanness, 114, 397. 37

Maimonides, Book of Cleanness, 120.

52

Suggested in Albertus Magnus, Man and the Beasts, 24. 53

Ibid., 24, 179–80 (bk. 22:143). 54

Ibid., 316–17 (bk. 23:102).

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 5 – 2 3

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55

71

82

Ibid., 317.

Palla Scoditti, San Michele in Foro, 61–62.

Ibid., 15–16.

56

72

83

Aquinas, Literal Exposition on Job, 437–38.

For the ciborium and its condition, see

On Richard de Fornival’s Bestiaire d’amour

D’Achille, “Ciborio.”

and its reception, see Segre, Bestiaires

57

See, in addition to specific sources cited below, Baxter, Bestiaries, 1–28. 58

See Rowland, “Art of Memory.”

I would like to thank Donal Cooper for

84

Ibid., Boccaccio, Caccia di Diana, 22–23.

its context. Monferini, “Apocalisse di Cimabue,” 30–31, 37, identifies the animal as a wading bird, possibly an ibis, and a

see Cattabiani, Volario, 254–55.

reference to the Holy Spirit. The bird is

pingitur, et allegorice intelligitur . . . essample bel”; in Morini, Bestiari medievali, 178. 61

Ibid., 340–42. 62

See Carrega, “Introduzione,” in Proprietà degli animali, 15–30.

365–68.

and useful discussion of this fresco and

For comments on ostriches in bestiaries,

“[G]rant chose signefie. Hic assida

d’amours, and Morini, Bestiari medievali,

his suggestions regarding bibliography

59

60

clearly an ostrich and a negative symbol. On this painting, see Ruf, Fresken der Oberkirche, 301–3, with a discussion of the ostrich as a symbol of sin. 74

Barzon, Cieli; Palazzo della Ragione (1963); Palazzo della Ragione (1992); Rigobello and Autizi, Palazzo della Ragione. Despite the realism of Giotto’s image, modern scholars have identified

Chapter 2 1

Vespasiano da Bisticci, Vite, 1:355–416. For a modern account of the life of Federico da Montefeltro, see Benzoni, “Federico da Montefeltro.” 2

See Clough, “Federico da Montefeltro’s Patronage.” 3

See Porcellio de’ Pandoni, Feltria (ca. 1475),

it as a swan, noting that it represents

in Rotondi, Palazzo ducale, 1:415–16 n. 55.

63

the constellation Cygnus (Palazzo della

4

Ibid., poem xlvii, 129–30, with

Ragione [1992], vol. 1, plate 275, and

Vespasiano da Bisticci, Vite, 1:398. On

commentary on 398–99.

Rigobello and Autizi, Palazzo della

Federico’s library, see Peruzzi, Cultura,

Ragione, 93), or as an ostrich, but a sign of

potere, immagine; Simonetta, Federico da

the swan (Barzon, Cieli, 108).

Montefeltro and His Library; and Peruzzi,

64

Ibid., poem xlix, 133–34. The notes state that the source of this legend is unknown. 65

For the Shamir, see the Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 68a–b, Sotah 48b, and Hullin 63a; and discussions in Baring-

75

Ornatissimo codice.

Caiozzo, Images du ciel, 340–45. For the

5

astrological associations of the ostrich,

Castiglione, Cortegiano, 15–17 (bk. i:ii).

see also Charbonneau-Lassay, Bestiary of Christ, 275–77.

Gould, Curious Myths, 386–98, and

76

Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 4:166–69.

Pochat, Exotismus, 99; Toesca, Pittura e

66

See, for example, Albertus Magnus, Man and the Beasts, 44, and Perdrizet, Étude sur le “Speculum,” 99–100. 67

On some of the specific features of Africa that are differentiated on the Ebstorf map, see Relaño, Shaping of Africa, 79–81. 68

Edson, World Map, 21–22, 228. 69

See Settis Frugoni, “Per una lettura,” and Settis Frugoni, “Mosaico di Otranto.” 70

Compare a similar image, in relief, on the dossal of the episcopal throne at the abbey church of Montevergine, illustrated and

213

73

la miniatura, 140. On Giovannino de’ Grassi’s drawings of animals, see WoodsMarsden, “‘Draw the Irrational Animals.’”

6

Burckhardt, Civilization of the Renaissance, 29, 135. 7

For this manuscript, see Peruzzi, Ornatissimo codice, 221–24 (cat. 18).

On the ostrich, see Scheller, Medieval

8

Model Books, 143–44, and Rossi, “Grassi,”

Vespasiano da Bisticci, Vite, 1:380.

esp. 641.

9

77

On the tomb, see P. Dal Poggetto, Fiori-

Larner, Culture and Society, 104.

tura tardogotica, 176–77.

78

10

“[U]no struzo che padisse lo ferro.”

Raggio, Gubbio Studiolo, 1:13–15.

79

11

See the introduction to Boccaccio, Caccia

As discussed in Cieri Via, “Ipotesi di un

di Diana, 3–95.

percorso,” 47.

80

12

Canto 15, in ibid., 140–43. On the actual

For a contrast between the Palazzo

Covella d’Anna and the importance of her

Medici in Florence (and other palaces)

family, see ibid., 197–98, 205.

and the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino, see M.

discussed in Settis Frugoni, “Mosaico di

81

Otranto,” 246, fig. 2.

Canto 17, in ibid., 147–49.

Dal Poggetto, “Presenza della scultura.” Dal Poggetto argues that the emphasis on sculpture, rather than frescoes or

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 2 3 – 3 7

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other adornments, offers a new kind of

24

36

magnificence, in line with Alberti’s ideas

Luz, Das exotische Tier, 168; Delort,

On this manuscript, see Battaglia Ricci,

in his treatise on architecture. No extant

“Prince et la bête,” 188; Gagnière, “Jardins

“Iconografia del Dante urbinate.”

inventories list decorations of the palace

et la ménagerie,” 107. For an ostrich attack

during Federico’s reign, and so there

at a game park outside of Ferrara in 1462,

may have been more tapestries and other

see Chambers, Giovanni Pietro Arrivabene,

ornaments than have been suggested.

407. (Thank you to Robert La France for

13

the last reference.)

On Federico’s imprese, see Lombardi, “Simboli di Federico di Montefeltro”; Lauts and Herzner, Federico de Montefeltro, 217–27; Ceccarelli, Murano, and Aliventi, “Non mai,” 21–22 (on the ostrich);

Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, 1:142–43. 26

55–56. 38

For a very different, moralistic reading of this play, see Ruffini, Commedia e festa. 39

Dovizi, Calandria, 3–4.

and Fenucci, “Notes on Federico da

For a lavishly illustrated book on what

40

Montefeltro’s Emblems.”

remains in the palace and on the decora-

See documents printed in Ruffini,

tions that have been stripped from it,

Commedia e festa, 307–15.

14

Lombardi, “Simboli di Federico di Montefeltro,” 138, and, following him, Capannelli, Palazzo ducale di Gubbio, 276.

see Capannelli, Palazzo ducale di Gubbio. On the ostriches here, see ibid., 276. 27

41

See Peruzzi, Ornatissimo codice, 70. 42

Illustrated in ibid., 337–39.

“[T]utto pieno di foco. Questi mostri

On the intarsie, see Cieri Via, “Ipotesi

28

erano la più bizzarra cosa del mondo. . . .

di un percorso,” and Trionfi Honorati

See Fabianski, “Federigo da Montefeltro’s

E tutti questi erano tanto ben fatti . . .

“Prospettiva nelle porte.”

Studiolo in Gubbio,” and Raggio, Federico

che certo non credo che mai più si sia

da Montefeltro’s Palace.

finto cosa così simile al vero: e tutti questi

15

16

See Piero e Urbino, 236–37 (cat. 43). 17

On these perspective city views on the intarsia doors of the Palazzo Ducale,

29

See also the lintel illustrated in Capannelli, Palazzo ducale di Gubbio, 270, fig. 6.115.

see Trionfi Honorati, “Prospettiva nelle

30

porte.”

The full shutters are illustrated and

18

discussed in ibid., 242–43, figs. 6.32–34.

uccelli ballavano . . . con tanta grazia quanto sia possibile a dire, né imaginare”; document in Ruffini, Commedia e festa, 309–10. 43

Santi, Vita e le gesta di Federico di Montefeltro, 2:414–17, 420–21. 44

For the connection between the intarsia

31

doors and contemporary festivals, see

A pair of wooden doors once in the

Cieri Via, “Ipotesi di un percorso,” 47–52.

palace has two relatively large ostriches

45

(though not as large as those on the

Castiglione, Cortegiano, 201–91 (bk.

shutters), one of which occupies the top

ii:xliv–xcvii);

panel on each door—the other six panels

about Raphael, ibid., 260 (bk. ii:lxxvi).

19

On these celebrations (and the difficulty in reconstructing them, given the sparse evidence), see Garbero Zorzi, “Festa e spettacolo.” 20

Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Ducato di Urbino, Classe terza, filza 5, fol. 55v: “una verdura con n’uno struzzo in mezzo.” I would like to thank Robert G. La France

See also Greene, “Il Cortegiano.”

specifically for the anecdote

are filled with rosettes, again making the ostrich a decorative element (illustrated in ibid., 341). 32

Gilbert, “On Subject and Non-Subject”; Meiss, “Ovum Struthionis”; Meiss, “Addendum Ovologicum”; Meiss and

Chapter 3 1

On the Bibbiena apartments, including a reconstruction of the chapel, see Fernandez, “Raphael’s Bibbiena Chapel.”

Jones, “Once Again Piero”; Lavin, “Piero

2

della Francesca’s Montefeltro Altarpiece”;

On the Stufetta, see Redig de Campos,

Ragusa, “Egg Reopened”; Gilbert,

“Stufetta”; Dacos, in Dacos and Furlan,

“‘Egg Reopened’ Again”; Meiss, “Not

Giovanni da Udine, 35–44; and Nesselrath,

21

an Ostrich Egg?”; Brisson, “Piero della

“Antico vissuto.”

Sorbelli, Bentivoglio, 78–79.

Francesca’s Egg Again”; Carrier, “Piero

for this reference and the information on dating and location of this undated inventory.

22

della Francesca and His Interpreters.”

On the refined serious play in the levels

33

of illusion and complex, often rebus-

See note 20 above.

like imagery in the studiolo, see Cheles, “‘Topoi’ e ‘serio ludere.’” 23

Ibid.

214

25

37

Act 3, scene 17, in Dovizi, Calandria,

3

On the Loggetta, see Dacos, in Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni da Udine, 44–60. 4

34

On grotesques in the Renaissance, see

Reposati, Della zecca di Gubbio, 388–89.

Dacos, Découverte de la Domus Aurea;

35

Luchetti, “‘Imprese’ dei Della Rovere.”

Morel, Grotesques; and Zamperini, Grottesche, 121–95.

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 3 7 – 5 3

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5

bene e commode per la licenzia che s’ha

31

For selected primary sources on

di far ciò che si vuole”; Sebastiano Serlio,

Campbell, Tapestry in the Renaissance,

grotesques, see Barocchi, Scritti d’arte,

in Barocchi, Scritti d’arte, 3:2624.

198–99.

3:2619–701.

18

32

6

“[I]l trastullo di Raffaelo”; Vasari, Opere,

See Dacos, Loggia of Raphael.

Dogni stagion son piene dipintori ­

6:550.

piu lastate par chel verno infresche secondo el nome dato da lavori Andian per terra con nostre ventresche con pane con presutto poma e vino

“Ma dove si possono in altro luogo vedere

Illustrated and discussed in Weddigen,

uccelli dipinti che più sieno, per dir così,

Raffaels Papageienzimmer, 209–10.

al colorito, alle piume, e in tutte l’altre parti vivi e veri, di quelli che sono nelle

per esser piu bizarri alle grottesche

20

El nostro guidarel mastro pinzino

On Leo X and hunting, see Gnoli,

che ben ci fa abottare el viso elochio

“Cacce,” and Kruse, “Hunting.” On Leo’s

parendo inver ciaschun spaza camino

menagerie, see Vasari, Opere, 4:362 and

34

Et facci traveder botte ranochi

6:555; Gebhart, Renaissance italienne,

For this fresco and the attribution to

civette e barbaianni e nottoline

179–80; Loisel, Histoire des ménageries,

Pellegrino da Modena and Giovanni da

rompendoci la schiena cho ginochi.

1:202–4; Bedini, Pope’s Elephant; Dacos,

Udine, see Dacos, Loggia of Raphael, 139,

Loggia of Raphael, 106–16. The late Henry

240.

Quoted and discussed in Dacos, Découverte de la Domus Aurea, 9–10.

Fernandez gave an illuminating talk on documents relating to Leo’s menagerie,

7

“Pope Leo X’s Papal Zoo and Other

Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture, 91–92

Beastly Housing,” at the Renaissance

(bk. vii, chap. 5).

Society of America Annual Conference,

8

Hibbard, Michelangelo, 101–5. 9

San Francisco, 23 March 2006. 21

See A. D’Elia, Sudden Terror, 3.

fregiature e pilastri di quelle loggie?” Vasari, Opere, 6:553.

35

On the Sala di Costantino, the central work remains the magisterial study by Quednau, Sala di Costantino; on the Justice, see 243–46. See also Cornini, De Strobel, and Serlupi Crescenzi, “Sala di Costantino.” 36

See Dacos, in Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni

22

See an account of degradation already

da Udine, 35–60.

“[T]utti quegli animali che papa Leone

in 1517–18, transcribed in Newton,

aveva; il camaleonte, i zibetti, le scimie,

“Leonardo,” 74 n. 32. For Leonardo’s

i papagalli, i lioni, i lionfanti, ed atri

mixed technique, see ibid., 75–86. I

animali più stranieri”; Vasari, Opere,

would like to thank Joost Keizer for this

4:362.

reference and his thoughts on Leonardo.

10

On classical river gods and their reception in the Renaissance, see U. D’Elia, “Giambologna’s Giant.” 11

See Dacos, in Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni da Udine, 39.

23

37

On this room and parrots in the

Hall, “High Renaissance,” 172–75.

Renaissance, see Weddigen, Raffaels Papageienzimmer. For an account of

12

parrot lore through the ages, see Boehrer,

See Acidini Luchinat, “Grottesca,” 174;

Parrot Culture.

Chastel, Grottesque, 42–43; and Morel, Grotesques, 76–77. 13

See Ruffini, Commedia e festa. Dacos mentions Neoplatonism but offers a less prescriptive reading in Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni da Udine, 35–44. 14

See Dacos, in Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni da Udine, 35–60. 15

See chapter 5 below. 16

See Curran, Egyptian Renaissance, 196. 17

“Queste grottesche adunque . . . fatte

38

In addition to the documents cited in the introduction above, see also letters by Sebastiano and Castiglione and other

24

later accounts in Shearman, Raphael in

Campana, “Camaleonte.”

Early Modern Sources, 1:702–3, 707–8;

25

For a richly documented account of

2:999, 1003, 1072–79, 1111, 1374, 1444; and Vasari, Opere, 4:369–79, 5:527–28.

Hanno’s life and the images made of him,

39

see Bedini, Pope’s Elephant.

Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern

26

Illustrated and discussed in Delmarcel, Tapisserie flamande, 165. 27

Bedini, Pope’s Elephant, 90–105.

Sources, 1:702–3. 40

For the argument that the Justice was carried out in Raphael’s lifetime and was partially or wholly his execution, see Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Raphael, 2:449–

28

52; Gamba, Raphaël, 116; and, for support

Ibid., 140–42.

of such an argument as a likelihood, J.

29

As discussed in ibid., 152–53, 209–12.

con tanto disegno, con sì varj e bizzarri

30

capricci”; Vasari, Opere, 6:551. See also

As quoted and discussed in ibid., 155–60.

ibid., 551–54. “Le quai cose tornano molto

215

33

19

Hess, “On Raphael and Giulio Romano,” 88, and J. Hess, “Chronology of the Sala di Costantino.” John Shearman became increasingly convinced that the Justice was painted by Raphael before he died, partially as a result of seeing the

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 5 3 – 7 0

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cleaned painting on the scaffolding and

44

61

partially from his intensive engagement

On Pierio’s Egyptian studies, see Curran,

Jean-Léon l’Africain, Description de

with the complex and contradictory

Egyptian Renaissance, 227–34.

l’Afrique, 571; Ramusio, Navigationi, fol.

documents: he considered this attribution a possibility “not to be ruled out,” in “Raphael’s Unexecuted Projects,” 180;

45

Ibid., 231–34.

62

the painting a work of such quality “da

46

sembrare opera raffaellesca dall’inizio alla

As noted in Quednau, Sala di Costantino,

fine,” in “Raffaello e la bottega,” 263, and

245.

something that “gives the appearance of having been painted by Raphael,” in Raphael in Early Modern Sources, 1:607. Recent scholars have followed Shearman, calling this painting most likely a Raphael:

47



As discussed in chapter 1 above.

Navigazioni, 453–54.

Raphael, 208, who calls Raphael’s physical

Quednau, Sala di Costantino, 246;

participation “possible” and treats the

Raffaello in Vaticano, 362.

scheme was Raphael’s invention. Hartt argues that both figures were painted by

64

Davis, Trickster Travels, 77–78. 65

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, bk.

50

viii,

For the following, see Curran, Egyptian

Travels, 151.

Renaissance, 189–218.

17; also discussed in Davis, Trickster

66

51

Discussed in Davis, Trickster Travels,

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, bk. x, 1.

110–14.

Raphael’s followers immediately after he

52

67

died. Hartt, “Chronology of the Sala di

Curran, Egyptian Renaissance, 216–18.

Valeriano, Hieroglyphica, 252; also

Costantino,” and Hartt, Giulio Romano, 1:43–44. He is the only scholar to question whether the followers had Raphael’s

53

Ibid., 200–208.

drawings (which is explicitly stated in the

54

documentary sources). Quednau, Sala di

Ibid., 208–12.

Costantino, 244–45, argues that Justice cannot be by Raphael’s hand but that it was done just after he died and was conceived under his direct supervision. Similarly, Jones and Penny, Raphael, 243, argue that though the Justice and Comitas

55

Ramusio, Navigationi. 56

On the life and works of the man known to Italians as Leo Africanus, see Davis,

“are of such outstanding quality that it is

Trickster Travels.

tempting to attribute their execution to

57

Raphael himself,” they must have been

As discussed in ibid., 65.

painted by Raphael’s followers, closely following his cartoons “with his own example fresh in mind.” 41

58

The Libro de la cosmographia et geographia de Africa survives in manuscript (Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Rome,

As noted in Quednau, Sala di Costantino,

V. E. ms 953). A translation has been

244–45.

published in French: Jean-Léon l’Africain,

42

U. D’Elia, “What Allegories Wear.” 43

A possible exception is the Roman coin mentioned in note 21 to this volume’s introduction and note 31 to chapter 1.

Description de l’Afrique. Giovanni Battista Ramusio published a slightly edited version of al-Asad’s text in 1550, as a part of the Navigationi et viaggi. 59

See the nuanced discussion in Davis,

Even if the coin did show ostrich feathers,

Trickster Travels, 140–49.

the idea of ostrich feathers meaning

60

justice was associated in the Renaissance

Jean-Léon l’Africain, Description de

with Egyptian hieroglyphs, not ancient

l’Afrique, 139; Ramusio, Navigationi, fol.

Rome.

26v; Ramusio, Navigazioni, 125–26; also discussed in Davis, Trickster Travels, 50–51.

216

l’Afrique, 571; “né molto cattiva mi parve”; Ramusio, Navigationi, fol. 102r; Ramusio,

49

trial figure and argues that the overall

“Elle ne m’a pas paru très mauvaise”; Jean-Léon l’Africain, Description de

Ames-Lewis, “Early Medicean Devices,”

Hall, After Raphael, 46; and Talvacchia,

identifies Justice as Giulio Romano’s

Navigazioni, 22.

48

126–27, 129.

Freedberg, High Renaissance, 1:569–70,

“[M]en nobile di tutte l’altre”; Ramusio,

63

Fernetti, “Allievi di Raffaello,” 136;

work as Raphael’s invention.

102r; Ramusio, Navigazioni, 454.

discussed in reference to al-Asad in Davis, Trickster Travels, 247–48. 68

On this series, see Quednau, “Zeremonie und Festdekor,” and Campbell, Tapestry in the Renaissance, 229–33, 253–56 (cat. 27). 69

Raffaello in Vaticano, 360–61 (cat. 135b). 70

See ibid., 360–61, where it is suggested that by “making haste slowly” one can best the monkey. 71

Ibid., 361–62 (cat. 135c).

Chapter 4 1

On the Villa Madama, see, in general, Coffin, Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, 245–57; Lefevre, Villa Madama; Napoleone, Villa Madama; as well as other sources listed below. 2

See Shearman, “Functional Interpretation.” 3

“Quanto alle storie o fabule: piacemi siano cose varie, né me curo siano distese e continuate, e sopratutto desidero siano cose note, acciò non bisogni che ’l pintore

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 7 0 – 8 6

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vi aggiunga, come fece quello che scrisse:

11

gardens for his private enjoyment. Reiss

Questo è un cavallo. Le cose di Ovidio, di

See Hülsen and Egger, Die römischen

also notes that Hadrian did let Venetian

che Vostra Paternità mi scrive, mi vanno

Skizzenbücher, vol. 1, fol. 50r. I would like

envoys into the Belvedere to see the

a gusto; però veda di eleggerne le belle,

to thank Joe Connors for making me

il che a lei rimetto. Cose oscure come

aware of this drawing.

ho detto non voglio, ma varie sì e scelte. Le cose del Testamento Vecchio bastino alla loggia di N. S.re.” Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici to Bishop Mario Maffei, 17 June 1520, in Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern Sources, 1:602–5. 4

“[Q]uei duo pazzi”; Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici to Bishop Mario Maffei, 4 June 1520, in ibid., 599–601.

statues in April 1523. 23

12

As quoted in Pastor, History of the Popes,

In Raccolta di poesie satiriche, 73. For

9:73.

another monstrous, ostrichlike appetite, see Teofilo Folengo’s description of his hero in Baldus, bk. 2:6, in Cordié, Opere, 1:136. 13

On the life of Niccolò Ariosto, see Bertoni Argentini, “Ariosto, Niccolò.” The poems are anonymous, but a poem that attacks

24

Vasari, Opere, 5:456. Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:74, notes that this anecdote is recounted only in Vasari, not Giovio, and is therefore probably apocryphal. 25

Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:119.

5

Niccolò Ariosto as an iron-eating ostrich

26

Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni da Udine,

is included in an autograph manuscript

Ibid., 9:222.

149–50; Bedini, Pope’s Elephant, 169–72.

by Antonio Cammelli, called il Pistoia:

6

A complex interpretation by Mario de Valdes y Cocom published on the Internet and profiled on Frontline relates this figure to Alessandro de’ Medici through a series of allusions, hinging on one possible word for the putto’s

Rossi Bellotto, Il Pistoia, 38–39, 128–29. Therefore the poems have been attributed to il Pistoia. (For a counterargument, see de Robertis, “Cammelli, Antonio.”)

28

“[C]orculi et animae dimidium,” as

The incident is discussed and the sonnets are printed in Cammelli, Sonetti contro

29

l’Ariosto.

On the tomb of Hadrian VI, see

14

frontline/shows/secret/famous/emblem.

“[S]trana natura”; Cammelli, Sonetti contro

html). For an example of a courtly patron

l’Ariosto, 34.

“Isabella,” 134–35.

Ibid., 9:213.

quoted in ibid., 9:75.

pants (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/

seeking black child servants, see Kaplan,

27

15

As quoted and discussed in Shearman,

Gregorovius, Tombe dei papi, 1:84–86; Frommel, Baldassare Peruzzi, 119–21; Knopp and Hansmann, S. Maria dell’Anima, 33–38; and Reiss, “Adrian VI,” 357–59. 30

7

Mannerism, 141–46. On the debates about

A caption to an unnumbered plate of

the structure of the Orlando furioso and

Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:215.

the turkey in Napoleone, Villa Madama,

epic unity in the cinquecento, see Wein-

31

unpaginated, identifies the turkey and

berg, History of Literary Criticism, 2:954–

See Strieder, Jacob Fugger, 163–64 and

the ostrich depicted here as being among

1073, and Javitch, Proclaiming a Classic.

passim.

the gifts brought by the embassy of King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X in 1514. No source is given. The documents attest that a host of exotic animals were presented to Leo, along with the elephant—so an ostrich and a turkey may well have been among these gifts—but,

16

32

Ariosto, Orlando furioso, 1:236 (canto vi,

“San Marco Evangelista che ha un leone

stanzas 61–62).

a’ piedi; il quale standosi a giacere con un

17

libro, ha i peli che vanno girando secondo

On Pope Hadrian VI, see Rosa, “Adriano

ch’egli è posto: il che fu difficile e bella

VI.”

considerazione; senza che il medesimo

as far as I know, none of the documents

18

specifies an ostrich or a turkey. See

Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:68.

Bedini, Pope’s Elephant, 47–48, 56. 8

Hartt, Giulio Romano, 1:87, 295, cat. 142, fig. 131. 9

On Giovanni da Udine and birds, see chapter 3 above.

19

Ibid., 9:71. 20

leone ha certe ale sopra le spalle, con le penne così piumose e morbide, che non pare quasi da credere che la mano d’un artefice possa cotanto imitare la natura.” Vasari, Opere, 5:533. 33

Ibid., 9:76.

Ibid., 4:600.

21

34

This anecdote is recounted in multiple sources and is therefore likely accurate, as

The incongruity of this detail is noted in Gregorovius, Tombe dei papi, 1:86.

10

noted in ibid., 9:73. This contrasts with

Cf. Cieri Via, “Villa Madama,” especially

the general praise for the statue,as noted

on the ostrich, 360–61. Cieri Via reads the

in Maffei, “Fama di Laocoonte,” 183.

Frommel, Baldassare Peruzzi, 121, calls the

22

also calls a swan in the Sala di Costantino.

ostrich as a symbol of justice and as a part of a complex program of solar imagery.

Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:73–74. Reiss,

35

bird a swan and relates it to the bird he

“Adrian VI,” 348, offers the alternate interpretation that Hadrian wanted the

217

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 8 6 – 9 8

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 217

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36

4

18

“proh dolor. quantum refert in quae

Dacos and Furlan, Giovanni da Udine,

Ibid., 550.

tempora vel optimi cuiusque virtus

120–22, 138–47.

incidat!”

Frommel, Baldassare Peruzzi,

120–21. On the inscription, see also Gregorovius, Tombe dei papi, 84–85. 37

Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:125.

“In un altro uno struzzo, qual fuor della

On this space, its decoration, and the

natura de tutti li uccelli ha le ale quadrate,

subsequent damage it suffered, see

et però li egittii per tal alor significavan

Affreschi di Paolo III, 2:37–45.

la giustitia, et un uomo eguale a tutti

6

non inclinato più ad una banda che ad un’altra, et neutrale, con questo motto:

38

The same motto was used in one of the

Paolo Giovio, in Burmannus, Hadrianus

Medici imprese, as noted in chapter 3

VI, 85–86.

above.

39

7

cosa tanta dura, che sua Santità non la

On Clement’s Stufetta in Castel

Ghidoli Tomei, “Impresa ed emblema,”

digerisca bene.” Ibid., 557–58.

Sant-’Angelo, see Dacos and Furlan,

42, 43–44.

Giovanni da Udine, 120–22, and Contardi and Lilius, Quando gli dei si spogliano. On Clement as a patron of tapestries,

8

Ibid., 42, 45.

see Campbell, Tapestry in the Renaissance,

9

241–43.

For the life of Margherita of Austria, see

40

S. Fanti, Triompho di fortuna. 41

Biondi, “Sigismondo Fanti.” 42

Benzoni, “Margherita d’Austria.”

omnibus idem.

Teneva un ferro in bocca

perché si dice il struzzo padir il ferro, che vuol significare non poter occorrer

20

Affreschi di Paolo III, 2:42–43. 21

See Cole, Cellini, 15–42. 22

Buettner, “Past Presents,” 604. For

10

ostriches in Jean’s menagerie, see Loisel,

My translation from a document

Histoire des ménageries, 1:179.

transcribed in Rebecchini, “After the Medici,” 200.

23

For a discussion of this drawing,

11

mentioning the ostrich head as a Farnese

On the dating and use of the room, and

image, see Monbeig-Goguel, Francesco

43

for a discussion of the coffered ceiling

Salviati, 254 (cat. 98).

Vasari, Opere, 4:601. On the devastation

and its emblems, see Fumagalli, “Palazzo

of the sack and humanist reactions

Madama,” 87–88. I would like to thank

to it, see Gouwens, Remembering the

Dr. Fumagalli for all of her generosity

Renaissance, and Hook, Sack of Rome.

in helping me obtain information and

Eisler, “Frontispiece.”

44

For damage to the Villa Madama, see Coffin, Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, 246.

images and gain access to the room. 12

Lefevre, Villa Madama, 156–83. 13

45

Document transcribed in Rebecchini,

De Jong, Power and the Glorification, 90.

“After the Medici,” 200.

46

14

De vita Leonis decimi pont. max. libri IIII,

Documents in ibid., 195–96.

. . . Hadriani sexti pont. max. et Pompeii Columnae cardinalis vitae was first published in Florence, by L. Torrentino, in 1548. 47

Pastor, History of the Popes, 9:224; Valeriano, as quoted and discussed in Gaisser, Pierio Valeriano, 33–34.

15

See ibid., 163–68 and, for documents, 191–200.

Chapter 5 1

Rebecchini, “After the Medici,” 154–57. 2

Ibid., 157–62. 3

Ibid., 168–71.

24

For the life of Alessandro Farnese, see Robertson, “Farnese, Alessandro.” 25

Zapperi, “Cardinale Alessandro Farnese.” 26

On this painting, see Giorgio Vasari, 89– 90 (cat. 28c), and Fenech Kroke, Giorgio Vasari, 172–91. 27

Vasari, Der literarische Nachlass, 3:121–24. 28

“Le Pandette di Justiniano, legge dai moderni viventi osservata per rigore di lei, son fondamento di astrea: La quale

16

nuda dal mezzo in su, vedretela quasi

Summarized in ibid., 166; documents,

spogliata di tutte le passioni, che possono

194–95.

offendere chi giudica; et ha sette catene

17

alla cintura, quali sette abominevol vitii

“S’apresentava di poi il quarto carro,

218

19

5

sopra del quale era uno grande struzzo che in bocca portava un pezo di ferro, che io penso significasse la iustitia; et in esso carro da la parte dinanzi si leggeva: omnibus idem.” A contemporary description of the Festa di Agone e di Testaccio in 1539, in Cruciani, Teatro nel Rinascimento, 549–50.

sono da essa in prigionia sostenuti. . . . Soprali, alla ben guidata Justitia, vi è à man di lei dirtta lo struzzo, il quale per esser’ aereo et terrestre, si come essa è humana et divina, smaltisce il ferro, si come si purga per lei ogni ignominia; et ha le ali parissime et giusti carattere, posto per la Giustitia dalli Egyptii nelle piramide. Vero è che le xii tavole di Romulo, antico padre di religione, sono

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 9 8 – 1 1 1

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 218

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dalla destra di lei abbracciate, insieme

41

52

tenute con il dominio sceptro. Sopravi

Hope, “Neglected Document”; Zapperi,

For this drawing (now in the Courtauld

l’ipopotomo, animale che ammazza la

“Alessandro Farnese, Giovanni della

Institute Galleries), see Monbeig-Goguel,

madre et il padre e i parenti senza nessun’

Casa.”

Manierismo fiorentino, 84 (tav. xxii).

42

53

On this image, its precedents, and the

Vasari, Opere, 7:681–82.

riguardo, simile al giusto judice, che al proximo non perdona.” Ibid., 1:121–22. 29

somewhat incorrect description of it by

Some of this is not visible in the painting

Doni, see Robertson, “Paolo Giovio,”

or the surviving preparatory drawing, as

226–27.

noted in Giorgio Vasari, 89.

life (Pliny the Elder and Quintilian),

43

see Zimmermann, “Renaissance Art

30

On this inscription, see also Cheney,

Criticism,” 416–17.

On Astraea in antiquity, the Middle Ages,

“Giorgio Vasari’s Sala dei Cento Giorni,”

and the Italian Renaissance, see Yates,

138–39.

Astraea, 29–38.

44

31

Robertson, “Paolo Giovio,” 227–28,

Also noted in Giorgio Vasari, 89.

citing Giovio, Lettere, 2:38–39 (no. 226, 15

32

Fenech Kroke, Giorgio Vasari, 172–91. 33

On this figure in relation to Truth and Innocence in the Sala di Costantino, see Pierguidi, “‘Veritas filia Temporis,’” 162–63. For the tradition of nude Truth, see Panofsky, Studies in Iconology, 157–60. 34

On this room and Paolo Giovio’s

August 1546). 45

See Barnes, Michelangelo’s Last Judgment; Schlitt, “Painting, Criticism, and Michelangelo’s Last Judgment”; and J. O’Malley, “Art, Trent, and Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgment.’” 46

Robertson, “Paolo Giovio,” 227, citing Giovio, Lettere, 2:38.

involvement in the program, see

47

Robertson, “Paolo Giovio,” and Cheney,

Di Monte, “Gilio.”

“Giorgio Vasari’s Sala dei Cento Giorni.”

55

As translated in Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern Sources, 1:809. 56

Ibid., 1:809. 57

Discussed in Shearman, “Giorgio Vasari,” 19–20. On Vasari’s life of Raphael, see also Barolsky, “Vasari’s ‘Portrait’ of Raphael”; Huntley, “What Raphael Meant to Vasari”; Rubin, Giorgio Vasari, 357–401; and Cast, Delight of Art, 136–41. 58

Also discussed in Barolsky, “Vasari’s ‘Portrait’ of Raphael,” 25–27. 59

On Raphael’s history paintings and

48

rhetoric, see Rubin, “Raphael and the

35

Giovanni Andrea Gilio, “Dialogo nel

Rhetoric of Art.”

Discussed in Cheney, “Giorgio Vasari’s

quale si ragiona degli errori e degli

Sala dei Cento Giorni,” 125.

abusi de’ pittori circa l’istorie, con molte

36

Vasari brags, for example, of the “new device” of the steps, as quoted in ibid., 123–24. See also ibid., 125–30, on the theatricality of this room’s painted architecture in relation to Vasari’s stageset designs for Aretino’s Talanta. 37

Also noted in ibid., 129. 38

Vasari had earlier used the same pose to signify Abundance in the refectory of an Olivetan monastery in Naples, as discussed by Carloni and Grasso, “Eloquenza della virtù,” 429–30, who suggest that in the Sala dei Cento Giorni, Giovio’s inscription contrasts in its sober

annotazioni fatte sopra il Giudizio di Michelagnolo et altre figure, tanto de la nova, quanto de la vecchia capella del Papa: Con la dechiarazione come

60

For a subtle analysis of Vasari’s characterization of Raphael’s grazia (as opposed to the related quality of venustà), see Arasse, “Raffaello senza venustà.”

vogliono essere dipinte le sacre imagini,”

61

in Barocchi, Trattati d’arte, 2:1–115.

Vasari, Opere, 4:362–63.

49

62

Ibid., 18–23.

Also discussed in Barolsky, “Vasari’s

50

‘Portrait’ of Raphael,” 28–33.

“Io l’ho vedute e lette ne la Zucca del

63

Doni, dove egli fa a tutta quella mista

“[S]e così è lecito dire”; Vasari, Opere,

istoria un commento. Dico che sono bene

4:316.

ordinate, bene intese e ben fatte. Ma se ne fanno a le volte alcune, che di gran lunga mi pare che la finzione avanzi il vero, e per bene intenderle ci bisognerebbe o la Sfinge o l’interprete o ’l commento. Che

64

Ibid., 4:373–79. 65

Shearman, “Giorgio Vasari,” 20–21.

ciò sia vero, ponetivi a cura che, se diece

66

persone vi stanno a mirarle, vi faranno su

39

“[L]a grazia nelle delicatissime mani

diece commenti e l’uno non si confronterà

Bober and Rubinstein, Renaissance Artists

di Raffaello”; Vasari, Opere, 4:349. For

con l’altro.” Gilio, in ibid., 2:98.

examples of narratives that interest Vasari,

tone with the sensuality of the image.

and Antique Sculpture, 127 (cat. 94).

219

54

On Giovio’s classical sources for this

51

40

“La cosa tanto è bella, quanto è chiara et

Roskill, Dolce’s “Aretino,” 212–17.

aperta”. Gilio, in ibid., 2:99.

even though they were wholly executed by the shop, see ibid., 4:360–61.

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 1 1 – 1 2 2

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67

sopradetti venirne in cognitio”; illustrated

sassi. Io, che non sono nessun di questi

Ibid., 4:369, 5:527–28.

in Bartsch, Illustrated Bartsch, 52:251 (no.

cervelli sani, o intelletti busi, mi lambiccio

219-ii [201]).

in un altro modo la memoria. Eccomi

68

For this room, see Partridge, “Divinity

77

and Dynasty.”

Acidini Luchinat and Capretti, Innocente e

69

Acidini Luchinat, Taddeo e Federico

78

Zuccari, 1:279.

These postille are not dated but seem to

70

This room is generally called the Sala del Teatro or Sala del Cigno. For an argument that, despite Federico Zuccaro’s own statement, this room was painted later by Antonio Tempesta and Pietro Bernini, see Partridge, “Federico Zuccari at Caprarola,” 176–77. In 1568, just before Federico was fired, some work was being done in these rooms, but it is not clear if it was architectural or decorative. As late as 1578, a witness described the rooms as not “furnished with paintings.” If

have been written sometime soon after 1568, a few years after Federico painted Fortuna in the Villa d’Este, as later in his career he tempered his anger and wrote with moderate praise of Salviati, whose death Federico had celebrated as an unalloyed good in his comments on

mi credo esser diventato un uccellaccio grande grande.” Doni, Marmi, 1:5. 2

Bodon, Enea Vico, 86–87. 3

Ibid., 16–17. 4

“a

me didicit caesar aeqvo iure

distribvere bene agentibvs premia , improbis supplicia .”

Vasari’s Lives. The postille to the life of

5

Taddeo Zuccaro were first published in

Doni, Sopra l’effigie di Cesare. Vico did not

Vasari, Opere, 7:73–134. For a discussion

think his own print was self-explanatory

of these and selected other postille, see

and so himself wrote a pamphlet

Acidini Luchinat, Taddeo e Federico

explaining it.

Zuccari, 2:273–74.

6

79

Robertson, “Paolo Giovio,” 226–27, points

absent supervisor for a large shop, which

“Come si scopre sempre partiale in volere

out that Doni’s description of Justice in

complicates attribution. The rooms in

preferire i Toscani a tutti li altri; fantisie

the Sala dei Cento Giorni must be based

this area have also been much retouched.

antepore Lionardo a Rafaello”; in Acidini

on a written program, rather than the

For a suggestion that the rooms may have

Luchinat, Taddeo e Federico Zuccari, 2:274.

fresco, as it includes the stork, which

Federico was involved, it was as an often

been begun by Federico and finished by Bertoja and his shop, see Acidini Luchinat, Taddeo e Federico Zuccari, 2:25. 71

The painting now in the British Royal Collection may be the one originally sent to the Duke of Urbino. On this

80

“Secha e di poco gusto”; in ibid., 2:274.

is not in the painting. Cf. Agosti, Paolo Giovio, 134–35, who argues that Doni did not necessarily cite a text, but instead the

81

image, and that the stork was originally

On the dating and attribution of the

included on top of the scepter but has

frescoes in the Salone degli Acrobati at

now been lost because of damage to that

Torrechiara, see Morel, Grotesques, 249–51.

area of the fresco.

incident and the surviving paintings,

82

7

prints, and drawings, see Whitaker and

See the rich discussion of these paradoxes

Grendler, Critics of the Italian World,

Clayton, Art of Italy, 76–79 (cat. 10), and

in the grotesques at Torrechiara and other

70–75.

Acidini Luchinat and Capretti, Innocente e

places, in ibid., 251–95.

calunniato, 94–105. 72

Raphael’s Calumny was a drawing, now lost and known only through copies; Acidini Luchinat and Capretti, Innocente e calunniato, 244–47 (cat. 8.4). Federico Zuccaro may have known this drawing, which is mentioned in Vasari’s Lives, even though the work was not reproduced in

83

8

For Doni, Lando, and Franco on “la

See ibid., 111–37.

misera Italia,” see ibid., 70–103.

84

9

See, for example, Ligorio and Lomazzo,

“[C]on un ornamento pieno di vittorie,

in Barocchi, Scritti d’arte, 3:2676–77, 2694;

e di spoglie fatte a proposito; di che fu

also discussed in Morel, Grotesques, 111–12.

premiato da Sua Maestà e lodato da ognuno”; Vasari, Opere, 5:428.

Chapter 6

10

For Vico’s life, see Bodon, Enea Vico,

prints until the eighteenth century.

1

73

“Mille volte, uscito che io son del sonno,

Ibid., 97.

il più delle notti, mi sto con la fantasia

11

a chimerizzar nel letto . . . non già in

“[S]e meglio è il viversi libero in primo

quella maniera che fanno i plebei né in

grado, tra gli intagliatori degli altrui

quella forma che pensan i letterati, ma

dissegni in carte, che di morirsi nel

75

da capriccioso cervello. . . . Quando

numero degli ultimi, che stentano

Ibid., 100–103 (cat. 2.1).

Luciano armeggiava, ei faceva castelli in

l’acquistar d’un pane, sotto la strana

aria; quando Platone s’inalberava, poneva

imperiosità dei principi”; ibid., 25.

74

Ibid., 94.

76

“[A]ltri mostri terribili . . . con altri belli et significanti disegni, quali il lettore per sestesso potra per la dichiaratione delli

220

calunniato, 252–55 (cat. 8.7).

a casa: io volo in aria, sopra una città, e

monte sopra monte; e quando Ovidio si stillave il cervello, egli schizzava di nuovi mondi e formava infino agli uomini di

15–46.

12

See the letter of 1567 quoted in Vasari, Opere, 5:429 n. 2.

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 2 2 – 1 3 6

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 220

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13

26

potrete migliorare in quell’altre che vi

The emblem was included as the verso

“[S]ì come verificò con l’infelice sua

restano a dire”; ibid.

to the frontispiece of Vico’s book on

fine, essendo scannato e gittato in Tevere

numismatics dedicated to Pope Pius IV

da Cesare suo fratello.” Giovio, Dialogo

in 1560, as noted in Bodon, Enea Vico,

dell’imprese, 39. The motto discussed in

143–44.

the text is slightly different from that in

41

the illustration, “Feriunt summos fulgura

“[U]na donna . . . c’havea piu poppe

montes.”

assai ch’una cagna . . et due donne;

14

For Giovio’s life, see Zimmermann, Paolo Giovio, and Zimmermann, “Giovio,

27

Paolo.”

“[I]l quale per natura arrivando a un fonte

15

See Tedeschi, “Paolo Giovio e la conoscenza dell’Etiopia,” and Gorse,

chiaro non beve di quell’acqua se prima

che parevano, che si volessero lavare, si cavavano la camicia. . . . O Dio se l’erano vive eh?” ibid., fol. xlvv.

calpestandola non la fa torbida” and “Il

42

me plait la trouble”. ibid., 75.

For Doni’s life and career as a writer,

“Augustan Mediterranean Iconography,”

28

324–25.

As translated in Zimmermann, Paolo

16

40

Doni, Lettere, fols. xlviir–lir.

Giovio, 222.

see Grendler, Critics of the Italian World, 49–65, and A. Longo, “Doni, Anton Francesco.” 43

On Paolo Giovio and art, see Kliemann,

29

“Pensiero di Paolo Giovio,” and

“[B]ella vista . . . animali bizzarri e uccelli

Robertson, Gran cardinale, 210–15.

fantastici”. Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 37.

17

30

source for descriptions of its members

Vasari, Opere, 7:681–82.

“[L]a sua vera effigie e grandezza”; ibid.,

and activities. In fact, however, other

70. On the rhinoceros, see Bedini, Pope’s

documents support the academy’s

Elephant, 111–36.

existence, though perhaps not exactly in

18

Robertson, “Paolo Giovio.” 19

Giovio was against any “extreme severity” in reforms, as quoted and discussed in Zimmermann, Paolo Giovio, 175. 20

Ibid., 226–28.

31

“Non buelvo sin vencer”; Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 70.

33

Aiello, “Struzzo Einaudi.” 34

“Lo struzzo mi servì ancora per la diversità di sua natura”; ibid., 98.

giocondo,” “non poco grave per l’altezza

35

e varietà de’ soggetti”; Giovio, Dialogo

“[S]’io non sono stato aiutato a montar

dell’imprese, 33, 34.

in alto per la bontà mia, almen restando

23

See Maffei, “Giovio’s Dialogo delle imprese.” 24

Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 37–38. On the five rules and Giovio’s exception to

capo general di questa invitta fanteria”; ibid. 36

“[P]roporzionatamente”; Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 99.

the rule banning images of humans, see

37

D. Caldwell, Sixteenth-Century Italian

“[T]utte le vittorie e le disgrazie sue”;

Impresa, 16, 18–19.

ibid.

25

38

“[I] diversi interpretamenti . . . i quali

“[R]aggi efficacissimi”; ibid., 100.

spesse volte riuscivano vani e ridicoli”; Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 60. Also discussed in D. Caldwell, SixteenthCentury Italian Impresa, 17.

Pellegrini, see also Giaxich, Dell’Accademia

und Selbstbezüglichkeit, 86–90.

di risoluto e alto pensiero e animo

ibid., 96–97.

“[P]icciol trattato assai piacevole e

World, 58 n. 123. On the Accademia dei

accademie, 4:244–48; and Rosen, Mimesis

perseveranza e dissimulazione aspettato”;

22

noted in Grendler, Critics of the Italian

Mattei romano, . . . che fu uomo

D. Caldwell, Sixteenth-Century Italian

published in Lyon in 1559.

the form in which Doni described it, as

de’ Pellegrini; Maylender, Storia delle

deliberato, avendo con gran pazienza,

illustrated. The first illustrated edition was

Doni’s playful writings are the principal

“Ricordomi d’una ch’io feci a Girolamo

Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 33. See also

history.” The first edition, of 1556, was not

the existence of the academy because

32

21

Impresa, 6–7, who calls it a “short-hand

Many modern scholars have doubted

44

On the structure of this work, see del Lungo, “Zucca del Doni.” 45

Doni, Zucca, fols. 209r–v. 46

Quiviger, “Arts visuels, iconographie et déraison”; Plaisance, “Réemploi des images”; Mulinacci, “Quando ‘le parole s’accordano con l’intaglio.’” 47

On Spirito, see de Marinis, “Illustrazioni per il Libro de le sorte.” On Fanti, see chapter 3 above. 48

Also noted in Plaisance, “Réemploi des images,” 104. 49

Doni, Fiori della zucca, 23. Also noted in Quiviger, “Arts visuels, iconographie et déraison,” 57. 50

39

Both the manuscript and printed editions

“Certamente, Monsignore, questi vostri

of Pitture have been published with rich

struzzi con la loro proprietà mi par che

commentaries by Sonia Maffei: Doni,

abbiano servito a pennello in queste tre

Nuove pitture, and Doni, Pitture.

diversissime imprese e non son certo se

221

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 3 6 – 1 4 3

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 221

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51

se la sarà mai dipinta a punto: sia nume,

vista dell’occhio fa nascere i figlioli delle

Bolzoni, Gallery of Memory, 196–204;

genio, fantoccio, maschera, favola o

sue ova, e con lo sguardo del ricco si fa

Doni, Pitture, 13–18.

canzona, e pur se ne crede qualche cosa.”

produrre il tutto.” Ibid., 170–71.

52

Doni, Pitture, 252–53. 53

“[G]rottesche in aria . . . castegli in aria”; ibid., first in the preface, 142, and then throughout the book. 54

On Doni, the grotesque, and fortune, see also del Lungo, “Zucca del Doni,” 71, 89–91.

Ibid., 167.

J. Caldwell, “Distributive Justice.” The

“Così fra i pittori e fra’ poeti, i savi cervelli

mistake was noted by Maffei in Doni,

et i matti capricciosi, l’è stata in diversi

Nuove pitture, 215.

modi figurata: sopra delfini, palle, ruote, sopra mondi e girelle, e l’hanno ancora fatta signora d’isole”; ibid., 168. 65

“Ora, volendo entrare in dozzina degli svegliati o de’ sognatori e non guastar il mazzo per un porro, fingerò questa

68

Hollingsworth, “Cardinal in Rome,” 82. 69

For the machinations leading up to his appointment to the cardinalate, see Hollingsworth, Cardinal’s Hat.

55

Fortuna, Sorte, Destino, o come la si sia,

70

Ibid., 73–75.

in questo modo nuovo. Se la vi piacerà,

Hollingsworth, “Cardinal in Rome,” 81.

56

As noted and discussed by Mulinacci, “Quando ‘le parole s’accordano con l’intaglio,’” 116–29. Doni must have known this work, as it was published by Torrentino, who took over from Doni when he left for Venice. 57

Ibid., 123–25.

acettatela come la si debbe accettare, per un castello in aria, una grottesca ataccata a un fil di ragnatelo; non vi piacendo, fingetevene una (perché n’arò piacere) che vi calzi meglio. La pittura mia così in parole fatta vi si mostra: una femina che con una nuvoletta gli impedisca

Ibid., 84. 72

On the villa and its gardens, see Coffin, Villa d’Este, and Lazzaro, Italian Renaissance Garden, 215–42. 73

per mano della pompa con varii colori,

Hollingsworth, “Cardinal in Rome,” 82.

a sedere sopra uno struzzo, il quale abbia alie d’aquila; mentre che egli è da

Doni, Pitture, 158–73.

lei volteggiato la getta tesori, scettri e

59

71

la vista degli occhi, vestita riccamente

58

Boccaccio, Decameron 10:1, as noted by

corone, che in grembo da una nube sopra gli piovono, e lei attorno gli sparge con

74

Archival document transcribed and translated in Coffin, Villa d’Este, 4–5, with Coffin’s interpolations.

la sinistra mano, quasi che drittamente

75

la non gli dia. E nella destra ha una

The original ancient relief, so destroyed

mazza ferrata con grevi palle e mortali,

as to be largely illegible, is in the Museo

60

con le quali atterra, ferisce et amazza gli

di Villa Adriana in Tivoli, and the copy in

Doni, Pitture, 109–10 and 160–61 n. 88.

uomini, figurati per tanti bambini che

the Rome fountain of the Villa d’Este is

di poco intelletto sono, che prendono

also very worn down. Ueblacker, Teatro

o rubano il suo tesoro; tale amazza e tal

Marittimo, 82. For the incorporation

non giunge, un poco certi e nulla alcuni,

of this into the Villa d’Este, see also

ma coglie malamente quando l’arriva,

MacDonald and Pinto, Hadrian’s Villa,

perché è più potente con l’offesa della

289, and Ranaldi, Pirro Ligorio, 116–18.

Maffei in Doni, Pitture, 168 n. 113. Doni does not name his source.

61

For Vasari’s letter to Paolo Giovio and other sources for this image, see ibid., 105–9. 62

destra e più nuoce che la remunerazione

“I poeti et antichi e moderni l’hanno fi-

de la sinistra, che non giova mai tanto che

gurata calva, e tutti i capegli posti dinanzi

baste. Et alcuni i quali schifano, o a caso o

per poterla ciuffare, e così in più luoghi si

per prudenza, i suoi colpi, ne portano via

mostra al vulgo nelle tavole, ne’ muri, su

quanto piace loro.” Ibid., 170.

le carte e sculpita in marmo. Non è molto tempo che io la viddi dipinta alla plebea in una cassa, che la volgeva una ruota, dove s’attaccavano molte brigate per salire in cima, e certi con iscale e con oncini, col martello e chiodi per fermarla invano s’affaticavano. E da queste baie viene che la sciocca gente l’ha in considerazione per una cosa che abbia potere in sul mondo, sopra gli uomini, nelle richezze et in tutte le signorie.” Ibid., 162–63.

76

For the attribution of the execution of these frescoes, with previous literature, see Arcangeli, Bastianino, 64. Ligorio had previously imitated the same frieze in the

66

Casino of Pius IV in the Vatican gardens

“Le cose invero della Fortuna in terra

but did not in this case include ostriches.

son velocissime a passare, significate per lo struzzo, il quale fra gli animali che caminano per terra è il più velocissimo,

77

As translated in Coffin, “Pirro Ligorio,” 34.

agile nel volgersi e destro, e per le alie

78

che tiene d’aquila, che alto si levano più

Ibid. See also Fedozzi, “Speculum

di tutte le altre alie: sono i fortunati, che

principis,” 145–46, who relates this

a suprema altezza arrivano; lo struzzo

triumph of love to the triumph of time

smaltisce il ferro et il fortunato con le

signified by the other paintings in the

ricchezze il tutto devora. Questo uccel

room.

63

terrestre per la gravezza sua con le proprie

“E così si dà il carico, il biasimo e la tacca

penne non si può levar da terra; così i

a una figura, che io non so se ella fu o

ricchi per i più amano le cose terrene et in quelle si posano. Lo struzzo con la

222

67

64

79

On Zuccaro and Doni’s Pitture in this room and another in the villa, see Doni,

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 4 3 – 1 5 1

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 222

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Pitture, 51–60; noting only the connection

ne deliciosa, ne denique a sacra pictura

21

to the Stanza della Gloria, see Coffin,

abhorrentia; ut deformiter efficta

On the Accademia di Val di Blenio

Villa d’Este, 58–59, and Acidini Luchinat,

capita humana, quae mascharoni vulgo

in relation to the other academies in

Taddeo and Federico Zuccari, 2:6.

nominant; non aviculae, non mare,

sixteenth-century Milan, see Albonico,

non prata virentia, non alia id generis,

“Profilo delle accademie.”

80

Acidini Luchinat, Taddeo and Federico Zuccari, 2:6. 81

Doni, Pitture, 182–84.

quae ad oblectationem, deliciosumque prospectum, atque ornatum effiguntur”; C. Borromeo, Instructionum fabricae,74, with an Italian translation, 75. 11

82

“Effigies praeterea iumentorum,

Noted in Federico Zuccaro’s hand on a

canum, piscium, aliorumve brutorum

drawing in Windsor Castle.

animantium in ecclesia, aliove sacro loco

83

U. D’Elia, “Doni’s Painting of Reform.” At the time I wrote this article, I discussed only the text, as I was not aware that Doni’s Reform had been painted. 84

For example: “riformatore e formatore,” “sformandoci,” “rinformiamo,” “informerà”; Doni, Pitture, 209–18.

Chapter 7

fieri non debent; nisi historiae sacrae expressio ex matris Ecclesiae consuetudine

22

Rabisch, 180 (cat. 28). 23

“Lamie, Sirene, & Ulule, Pelosi, / Erici, Basilischi, Aspidi, Struzzi / Furon presenti a cortigiani spruzzi”; Lomazzo, Rime, 444, also quoted and discussed in relation to the nymphaeum at Lainate in Morandotti, Milano profana, 16.

aliter quandoque fieri postulat.” Ibid., 70,

24

with an Italian translation, 71.

Lomazzo, Scritti sulle arti, 2:399.

12

25

“[T]al pittura non solo è repugnante

Morandotti, Milano profana, 199.

all’officio del pittore, ma ancora alla natura . . . se le pitture hanno da servire per libri agl’idioti, ch’altro potranno essi imparare da queste, che bugie, menzogne, inganni e cose che non sono?” Paleotti, in Barocchi, Scritti d’arte, 3:2656.

26

Bartsch, Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 56, no. 5601.104:25. Van der Straet had designed a series of tapestries of hunts for the Medici villa, Poggio a Caiano, including an ostrich hunt. The tapestry is lost, but the

1

13

design is known from a print and a draw-

For the life of Carlo Borromeo, see De

“[A] similitudine de ebrii vaneggiando,

ing. The print is illustrated (though dif-

Certau, “Borromeo, Carlo S.”

per non dire de stolti che fanno le cose

ficult to see in the poor reproduction) and

sue a caso, senza pensare quello che fanno

discussed in Bok-van Kammen, “Strada-

. . . contro l’arte, la ragione, la verità e la

nus and the Hunt,” 168–70. The drawing

natura istessa”; ibid., 3:2656, 2658.

is discussed and illustrated in Goguel,

2

Summarized in Blunt, Artistic Theory, 103–36. 3

Jones, “Court of Humility.”

14

“[Q]uei mostri, o marini, o terrestri, o

Manierismo fiorentino, 75, 92 (fig. 31). 27

altri che siano, che dalla natura talora,

Because the date for the fresco is

4

se bene fuori dell’ordine suo, sono stati

uncertain, it is not clear which came

Hollingsworth, “Taste for Conspicuous

prodotti”; ibid., 3:2639.

first, the print or the fresco. Morandotti,

Consumption.” 5

Quoted and discussed in Antonovics, “Counter-Reformation Cardinals,” 302–5. 6

For Federico’s life, see Prodi, “Borromeo, Federico.” 7

Quint, Cardinal Federico Borromeo; Jones, Federico Borromeo and the Ambrosiana.

15

See Morandotti, Milano profana, 23–27.

Milano profana, 199, claims that the frescoes are loosely based on the prints, which he states were circulating by

16

the mid-1590s, but the captions to the

Grendler, Critics of the Italian World,

paintings in the same book (211–15) date

71–75.

the frescoes to 1587–89, earlier than the

17

Morandotti Milano profana, esp. 23–27. 18

Ibid., 26–27.

prints. The overall composition and disposition of the riders on horseback are closest to Bartsch, Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 37, no. 1111 (166). 28

19

“[N]ec audit nec audet nec legit nec

“[I]ntollerabili novità,” as quoted in

scribit,” as quoted in Ulianich, “Altemps,

Benzo, “Arte, storia, cultura,” 21. For

Marco Sittico,” 554. For the life of

ongoing tensions and outright battles be-

9

Cardinal Altemps, see also Panizon,

tween Saint Carlo Borromeo and the sec-

As quoted in Antonovics, “Counter-

Cardinale lanzichenecco.

ular governors of Milan, see Rondinini,

Reformation Cardinals,” 322.

“Carlo e Federico Borromeo,” 51–52.

8

As quoted in Cascetta, “‘Spiritual tragedia,’” 143–45, n. 67.

10

20

“Parerga, utpote quae ornatus causa

On Pirro, Lomazzo, and the Villa Litta

imaginibus pictores, sculptoresve addere

at Lainate, see Morandotti, “Ninfeo di

solent, ne profana sint, ne voluptaria,

Lainate,” and Morandotti, Milano profana,

29

Antonovics, “Counter-Reformation Cardinals,” 304. 30

“Theatineria,” as quoted in ibid., 324.

14–21.

223

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 5 1 – 1 6 3

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 223

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31

Alessi, Libro dei misteri, introduction in

53

Ulianich, “Altemps, Marco Sittico,” 555.

1:11–55. See also P. Longo, Sacro Monte di

“[S]i vede per quattro aperture il Misterio

Varallo, esp. 92–93.

de l’offesa che essi fecero al grande Iddio

32

On Cardinal Altemps and the Villa

46

Mondragone, see Ehrlich, Landscape and

“[O]ltra modo bella. . . . Bella veramente

Identity, 68–78.

si può dire, . . . come se insieme la natura

33

The documentation is analyzed, with further references, in Jurkowlaniec,

estrema sodisfattioni di chi lo vede: Il sito, è meravigliosamente ben disposto

come ho detto ne la presente pianta si può vedere per quattro aperture nell’opra istessa si usaranno ò tutte ò parte secondo che accommodarà a la nova strada”; Alessi, Libro dei misteri, vol. 1, fol. 12v.

. . . imperoche questo sito, è posto

54

nella sommità di detto Monte ameno,

“[P]ortico del tempio di Adam et Eva; il

34

et vaghissimo, . . . un paesetto pieno

quale è già nobilissimamente tutto fatto di

Ibid., 221–36.

di amenissime colline, le quali da piace

marmo”; ibid., fol. 13v.

“Surprising Pair,” 231–34.

35

Friedel, “Cappella Altemps”; Strinati, “Santa Maria in Trastevere.” 36

On the frescoes and fountain in the loggia, see Scoppola, Palazzo Altemps,

volissime valli sono disgionte; adornate d’infiniti arbori silvestri che rendono il luogo molto ameno.” Alessi, Libro dei misteri, vol. 1, fol. 3v. 47

Cf. Sannazaro, Opere, 51–53. For

226–28, documents transcribed on 293.

characterization of the Adam and Eve

37

garden, see Perrone, introduction to

De Angelis d’Ossat, Scultura antica in Palazzo Altemps, 17–18. 38

“[L]e grossissime spese”; letter printed and discussed in Koller, “Giovan

Chapel and the portico as a profane Alessi, Libro dei misteri, 1:31–32. 48

Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, 185–202.

55

Göttler, “Sacro Monte,” 462, with previous references. 56

“[I]n luoco meno apparente le quattro statue d’Adamo et Eva,” as quoted in De Filippis, “Dal vescovo Carlo Bascapè,” 439. 57

“[L]ascive,” “si procuri di honestarle,” “oltre a ciò che è fatto già per questo per honestà maggiore si metta qualche arbore fra la statua di Eva et il cancello, col quale

49

si venga a nascondere quanto più si può

Discussed in Langé, “Esperienza del reale

la nudità di essa”; documents as quoted

e spazio virtuale,” 24–25; Göttler, Last

in ibid., 438–39. See also the documents

Things, 90–101; and Lasansky, “Body

showing Bascapè’s direct involvement in

Gambara at Bagnaia that he should have

Elision,” 258–61.

the painting of the chapel and his follow-

used the money to build a nunnery:

50

Giussano, Vita di San Carlo, 635–36.

Alessi, Libro dei misteri, vol. 2, fols.

Francesco Gambara,” 28–29. See also the anecdotes in an early life of Saint Carlo in which the saint disapproves of the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola and tells Cardinal

39

See, in addition to the literature cited

312v–318r. See Göttler, “Sacro Monte,” 462–76, and Göttler, Last Things, 71–110.

up to his orders about Eve, quoted in Gatti Perer, “Sacro Monte di Varallo,” 60, 62. 58

Butler, Ex Voto, 121–22.

below, Landgraf, Sacri Monti, esp. 81–118;

51

Perrone, “Sacro Monte di Varallo.”

On Carlo Borromeo’s reaction, and in

59

particular his decision to seek a different

For the complex documentation, see P.

plan from his own architect, Pellegrino

Longo, “Sacro Monte di Varallo,” 102,

Pellegrini, see Perrone, introduction to

106, 108–9, 115, and 116.

40

Lasansky, “Body Elision.” 41

Hood, “Sacro Monte of Varallo,” and Nova, “‘Popular’ Art in Renaissance Italy.”

Alessi, Libro dei misteri, 1:38–46. Giacomo d’Adda died in 1580, and Carlo Borromeo died in 1584, and so work was halted for

42

a while. See also Langé, “Esperienza del

Gentile, “Sacro Monte di Varallo,”

reale e spazio virtuale,” 26–30.

unpaginated.

52

43

Alessi, Libro dei misteri, vol. 1, fols.

See P. Longo, “Sacro Monte di Varallo,”

12v–17r. On this chapel in relation to

126–42, and Gentile, “Sacro Monte di

Carlo Borromeo and to the Villa Litta at

Varallo,” unpaginated.

Lainate, see Morandotti, Milano profana,

44

Transcribed in P. Longo, “Sacro Monte di Varallo,” 139. 45

The manuscript has been published in facsimile, with an extensive historical introduction by Stefania Stefani Perrone:

224

et l’arte havessero ciò fatto per render

mangiando del vietato pomo, et se bene

60

Transcribed in ibid., 179–82, and discussed in ibid., 119–20. 61

“[P]erché c’è lecito di credere che nido di serpenti solo non fusse quello amenissimo campo, ma che de bellissimi uccelli et quadrupedi insieme fusse albergo,” in ibid., 181.

102. For a detailed discussion of this

62

chapel in relation to ideas about curiosity

As noted in Göttler, “Sacro Monte,” 463.

and Alessi’s planned Chapels of Limbo, Purgatory, and Hell, see Göttler, “Sacro Monte.”

63

Panofsky, Albrecht Dürer, 84–87. 64

Bartsch, Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 35, nos. 6 (127), 11 (128), 20 (128).

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 6 3 – 1 7 6

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 224

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65

creation,” in order to make it clear that

96

Ibid., 70, pt. 1, no. 45. Göttler, “Sacro

Federico does not refer to God’s creation

“[D]i spiritoso ingegno e di maniera

Monte,” 463, also compares the animals in

here at all.

gagliarda”; ibid.

this chapel to a Sadeler print.

81

66

See Jones, Federico Borromeo and the

Nanni da Sogliano, Dialogo sopra i

Ambrosiana, 76–84, and Kolb, Jan

misterii. This guide in general and the

Brueghel, 50–52.

illustration and text on the first chapel in particular are also discussed in Göttler, “Sacro Monte,” 472. 67

“[A] Dio piace piu una pronta voluntà che una difficile curiosità”; Nanni da Sogliano, Dialogo sopra i misterii, unpaginated. 68

“[F]igliolo”; ibid., unpaginated.

Chapter 8 1

For the life of Vespasiano, see Avanzini,

82

“Gonzaga, Vespasiano,” and the thorough

Jones, Federico Borromeo and the

and laudatory account in del Forte,

Ambrosiana, 237–38 (cat. iA, no. 34);

Sabbioneta, 125–224.

Kolb, Jan Brueghel, 56–59.

2

83

Malacarne, Cacce del principe, 137.

F. Borromeo, Sacred Painting, 168, trans. 169, with Rothwell’s interpolation. I have translated “miracula” as “miraculous” rather than “marvelous.”

3

See Ventura, Dei ed eroi. On the use of the Palazzo Giardino as “a place of representation” that in an elite,

84

semiprivate setting celebrates the patron,

69

On this painting, see also Kolb, Jan

see Della Lucilla, “Palazzo del Giardino.”

For Federico’s life, see Prodi, “Borromeo,

Brueghel, 59.

Federico.” 70

As noted in Langé, “Esperienza del reale e spazio virtuale,” 35.

85

4



On this room (but not the ostrich), see

As noted in ibid., 13.

Ruina, “Sala di Alessandro Magno e

86

Giulio Cesare.”

Ibid., 13–17. A painting illustrated in ibid.,

5

71

fig. 23, shows the archdukes in Brussels

Ibid., 87–91.

Stoppa, “Sacro Monte di Arona”; Langé,

with their animals, including an ostrich.

“Omaggio incompiuto.” 72

As quoted in Morandotti, Milano profana, 72. 73

The advice is found in a letter of 1615, transcribed in Rovetta, “Leone Leoni,” 45; also discussed in Morandotti, Milano profana, 71–72. 74

F. Borromeo, Sacred Painting, 30, trans. 31.

6

87

See Capozzi, “Corridoio di Orfeo,”

Illustrated and discussed in ibid., 16.

169–81.

88

7

On these works as visual zoological

For the economic and political situation

treatises, see ibid., 24–31.

in Sabbioneta after Vespasiano’s death, see

89

del Forte, Sabbioneta, 225–63.

As quoted in Jones, Federico Borromeo and

8

the Ambrosiana, 83.

For the legacy of Aldrovandi, Kirchner,

90

and others in the eighteenth and

On Federico’s stay in Milan and the

nineteenth centuries, see Findlen,

frescoes for the Collegio Borromeo,

Possessing Nature, 393–407.

75

see Acidini Luchinat, Taddeo e Federico

9

Ibid., 30, trans. 31.

Zuccari, 2:247–50.

For Aldrovandi’s life, see Montalenti,

76

91

“Aldrovandi, Ulisse.”

Ibid., 32, trans. 33.

“[O]rnato di fontane tanto ben fatte con

10

artificio, che Roma e Fiorenza al sicuro

Discussed in Findlen, Possessing Nature,

non ne avranno di più belle”; Zuccari,

313–15.

77

As noted in ibid., 233 n. 30. 78

On Brueghel and Federico Borromeo, see also Quint, Cardinal Federico Borromeo, 86–95, and Kolb, Jan Brueghel, 47–59. 79

F. Borromeo, Sacred Painting, 164, 166, trans. 165, 167. 80

Ibid., 166, trans. 167. I have altered Rothwell’s translation of “cuncta natura,” which Rothwell renders “all of natural

Passaggio per Italia, 21. 92

“[G]iardini di singolar bellezza”; ibid., 20.

11

Bacchi, “Libri di viaggi.” 12

93

Foucault, Order of Things, 34–42. On the

“[Q]uesto Monte di Varalo è una delizia

mixture of different types of knowledge in

per se stesso . . . un miglio in circa di

Gessner and Aldrovandi, as well as reasons

salita in giro, e tutto piacevole con diversi

for the demise of what William Ashworth

riposi”; ibid., 15.

terms the “emblematic world view,” see

94

Ashworth, “Emblematic Natural History,”

“[V]ive e vere”; ibid., 16.

and Ashworth, “Natural History.”

95

“[C]he fu discepolo giå di Rafaello di Urbino”; ibid., 18.

225

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 7 6 – 1 9 1

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 225

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13

25

40

Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, 587–98.

“Iudicent testes oculati, mihi enim hanc

As transcribed in M. Fanti, “Villeggia-

14

As discussed in Antonino, “Opere a stampa.” 15

Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, unpaginated prefatory letter to the readers. 16

Quoted in Antonino, “Opere a stampa,” 12. 17

Ibid., 11–12. 18

Aldrovandi, “De ordine,” in Ornithologiae, 7–8. 19

Ibid., 587. 20

“[Q]uae ad Physicam speculationem spectant, up puta Aequivoca, Synonmia, Genus, Differentiae, Locus, Cognominata, Denominata primò addacuntur; deiri ea quae iucunditatem legentibus parere solent, ut Moralia,

avem nondum videre contigit”; Gessner,

tura,” 35. Discussed in Findlen, Possessing

Historia animalium, 710.

Nature, 309–11.

26

41

Ibid., 709. 27

“[D]um Tridenti essem, observavi, sed quae incocta rursus excerneret”; Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, 593. 28

Ibid., 593, citing Aelian. 29

“[O]culatus testis”; ibid., unpaginated introduction to the reader. Also discussed in Antonino, “Opere a stampa,” 13. 30

Printed in Barocchi, Scritti d’arte, 1:923– 30.

“Nessuno si pensi far quivi dimora chi con la cuciniera non lavora” and “Per esser destro fu necessario all’uso humano”; transcribed in M. Fanti, “Villeggiatura,” 34–35. 42

“Gli struzzi che guardano le uova: Varia ab aliis vi pollemus”; transcribed in ibid., 30. 43

Stefani, “Cesare Ripa.” 44

“Le imagini fatte per signifcare una diversa cosa da quella, che si vede con l’occhio, non hanno altra più certa,

31

ne più universale regola, che l’imitatione

“Nos interim maris & faeminae iconem

delle memorie, che si trovano ne’ libri,

privatim exhibemus, etsi unica sufficeret,

nelle medaglie, e ne’ marmi intagliate

sed pictoris id avaritia factum est”;

per industria de’ Latini, & Greci, ò di

Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, 589.

quei più antichi, che furono inventori di questo artifitio”; Ripa, Iconologia,

Usus, Mystica, Hieroglyphica,

32

Historica, Symbola, Numismata, Icones,

As noted in Boldreghini, “Atlante

Emblemata, Fabulae, & Apologi”; ibid.,

dell’avifauna selvatica,” 79, and Antonino,

45

unpaginated prefatory letter to the reader.

Animali e creature mostruose, 230.

Ibid., 187–89.

21

33

46

His manuscripts for the Ornithologiae

Antonino, Animali e creature mostruose,

“La vista spaventevole di questa figura”;

reveal how he worked: first having

204.

ibid., 189.

assistants copy relevant passages from ancient and more modern sources, then cutting and pasting these passages in

unpaginated preface.

34

47

Giovio, Dialogo dell’imprese, 96–97, 100.

Ibid., 434.

a proper order, adding subtitles, his

35

48

own observations, and illustrations; see

M. Fanti, “Villeggiatura”; Bolzoni,

“Folica Uccello” is translated various

Antonino, “Opere a stampa,” 10.

“Parole e immagini”; Findlen, Possessing

ways in sixteenth-century texts. In the

Nature, 302–16.

Hebrew Bible, the folica is listed as an

22

unclean bird, not suitable for eating, like

Gessner, Historia animalium, 708–14.

36

On Gessner’s use of images in his Historia

Bolzoni, “Parole e immagini,” 319. The

plantarum, see Kusukawa, Picturing the

manuscript mentions a “seraglio” but

Book of Nature, 138–61.

does not detail which animals Aldrovandi

49

kept. He surely did not own an ostrich,

The full four-line verse is in only one

as otherwise he would have had no need

edition of the Diverse imprese, that

23

“[C]onfuse omnia sine ulla methodo,

the ostrich. Ripa simply states that it is “similarly gluttonous.”

of observing their habits in Trent.

published in Lyon in 1551.

Ornithologiae, unpaginated preface to

37

50

the reader. Also discussed in Antonino,

Transcribed in M. Fanti, “Villeggiatura,”

The title is “Gola,” and subtitle “Contra i

“Opere a stampa,” 13–15.

29–30.

chiacchiareri & golosi.” The poem reads:

24

38

Grida con roca voce, il gozzo ha largo,

“[P]aucarum tantummodo, earumque;

Bolzoni, “Parole e immagini,” 336–44.

utpote ordine alphabetico”; Aldrovandi,

vulgatarum icones tradentem”; Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae, unpaginated prefatory letter to the reader. Also discussed in Antonino, “Opere a stampa,” 13–15.

39

Camillo, Idea del theatro. See Yates, Art of Memory.

E, come naso, o, come tromba, ha il rostro. Lo struzzo e assembra a quei, che mai ­­­—non tace, Ne con la gola in alcun tempo ha pace. Alciati, Diverse imprese, 94.

226

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 9 1 – 1 9 9

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 226

9/4/15 10:20 AM

51

aureae; Ledesma, Tractatus de magno

76

“Lo Struzzo sembra à quei che mai non

matrimonii sacramento; Ravisius Textor,

Moore, Complete Poems, 99–100, and, for

tace / Ne con la gola in alcun tempo ha

Epithetorum.

the derivation from Lyly, notes on 277.

pace”; Ripa, Iconologia, 193.

64

52

I have found only one edition by Zalterio

Ibid., 232.

without the ostrich: Bzowski, Sertum

53

“[U]n disordinato appetito . . . si dipinge vestita del color della ruggine, perche

77

See the suggestive remarks in Wind, Art

the ostrich emblem.

and Anarchy, 54. On Picasso’s image and

come l’ingordo ogni cosa tranguggia

Graffiis, Sermones spirituales, unpaginated

senza gusto, al che appartiene ancora lo

dedicatory letter. This is the only writing

struzzo, che il ferro divora, & digerisce”;

by Zalterio that I have found. Another

ibid., 232.

book has a brief letter to the reader

55

Ripa, Iconologia, 520.

of the letter: Ravisius Textor, Officina. 66

“Magnus ille Plato”; Zalterio, in Graffiis, Sermones spirituales, unpaginated dedicatory letter.

non si confrontarà con il testo, ad ogni occasione, che vi piacerà per servitio

67

“Praefatio authoris ad pium lectorem”; ibid., unpaginated preface.

vostro rappresentarla, la formarete

68

conforme alle nostre parole”; ibid.,

See Gordon, “Ripa’s Fate.”

unpaginated prefatory warning.

69

57

Byam Shaw, Drawings of Domenico Tiepolo,

As noted in Pierguidi, “Giovanni Guerra,”

93–94 (cat. 93).

172–74. 58

Ibid., 158–75.

70

Nixon, Dreambirds, 9–11. 71

59

See a description of such a photo

Baldini and Spruit, “Cardano e

shoot at http://www.globalgourmet.

Aldrovandi.”

com/food/egg/egg0197/ostrich.

60

html#axzz1jB6JrMQI.

See, for example, Aldrovandi,

72

Ornithologiae, 593.

Warui, Erlwanger, and Skadhauge, “Gross

61

On the knighthood, with transcriptions

Anatomical and Histomorphological Observations.”

of the relevant documents, see Witcombe,

73

“Cesare Ripa and the Sala Clementina.”

Bertram, Ostrich Communal Nesting

62

See Grendler, Roman Inquisition and the

Einaudi,” 39.

printers, it is not clear which is the author

56

osservatore del testo; però dove la figura

the Einaudi press, see Aiello, “Struzzo

from the printer, but since there are two

“Oltre ciò l’Intagliatore di queste nostre Figure non è stato in alcuni luochi

“About One of Marianne Moore’s Poems.”

of the saint having a vision substitutes for

65

54

as well as some variant lines, see Stevens,

gloriae: S. Hyacinthi, in which an image

divora questa il ferro senza suo utile,

Horapollo, Geroglifici, 219.

For a penetrating analysis of the poem,

System. 74

Venetian Press.

Ibid., 2.

63

75

Patavini, Sermones; Comensis,

As reported by the BBC News: http://

Lucerna inquisitorum; Eymericus,

news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/

Directorium inquisitorum; Brunorus

scotland/2834025.stm.

a Sole, Propositionum iuris pontificii; Follerio, Praxis censualis; Anglès, Flores theologicarum quaestionum; de Graffiis, Sermones spirituales; Gislandi, Opus aureum; Capponi della Porretta, Veritates

227

N o t e s t o Pa g e s 1 9 9 – 2 1 0

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 227

8/20/15 11:33 AM

228

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Bibliography

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 240

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Index

Antonio da Montefeltro, 37, 37

Bembo, Pietro, 74, 114, 115

Apocalypse, 28–31, 29

Benedetto da Maiano, 44, 46

Apollo

Bernini, Pietro, 220n. 70



in Air (Brueghel), 181, 183

Berry, Jean, Duke of, 108



in Bibbiena apartments (Vatican), 58

il Bertòja, 124, 125



in Palazzo Ducale (Urbino), 38, 39

bestiaries, 24, 28, 32, 37



in Parnassus (Raphael), 189, 190

Bestiary of Gervaise, 24

Page numbers in italics



by Tiepolo, 205, 207

Bibbiena, Cardinal

indicate illustrations

Apotheosis of the House of the Medici

a

(Giordano), 203–5, 204



apartments of, 53–62, 57, 58, 60, 61,



62, 63, 65, 73, 74, 75, 76, 93

Calandria, 49–51, 53, 73, 94

L’architettura (Alberti), 144, 145



Aretino, Pietro, 136, 142

Bible. See also Christianity; Judaism

Ariosto, Ludovico, 91–92



in Adoration of the Magi (Titian),

Abu Ma’shar, 31

Ariosto, Niccolò, 91, 135

Abundance, 114, 115, 115, 117

Aristotle



Aldrovandi and, 202

Accademia degli Ortolani, 142



Aldrovandi and, 191, 197



in The Four Elements (Brueghel), 1,

Accademia dei Pellegrini, 142, 143



Federico da Montefeltro and, 35, 43

Accademia di San Luca, 185



Frederick II and, 23



in Loggia, 65–69

Accademia di Val di Blenio, 159



Ripa and, 198, 201



ostrich in, 21, 22, 28, 32–33

Adam and Eve



Vincent of Beauvais and, 22



in Sacro Monte at Varallo, 168–70,



Chapel of (Varallo), 171–78, 171, 172,



writings of, 18

174, 175, 179

Arnolfo di Cambio, 28, 28, 32



in Earth (Brueghel), 181, 182, 184

Arona, Sacro Monte at, 178, 179, 185



The Fall (Dürer), 176, 177

The Arrival of Vasco da Gama in Calcutta,



The Old Adam and Eve, 172



Temptation (Sadeler), 176, 177

Asad, Yuhanna al-, 78-79

Bolzoni, Lina, 197



Temptation (Tempesta), 176, 177

Asciano, Monte Oliveto Maggiore at,

Bonaventura, Fra, 63



The Adlocutio of Constantine (Giulio



Book of the Courtier (Castiglione), 35, 51, 120

Romano), 76, 76

Assisi, San Francesco in, 28–31, 29

Book of the Dead, 14

Adoration of the Magi (Titian), 179–80, 180

Astraea, 111–14, 112, 113, 147

Borgia, Francesco, 137, 138

Air (Brueghel), 181–85, 183, 184

astrology, 31, 33

Borromeo, Carlo. See Carlo Borromeo

Alberti, Leon Battista, 144, 145

Athena, Pallas, 38, 39

Borromeo, Federico, 157–58, 178–85

Albert of Austria, 181

Attavanti, Attavante, 36

Botticelli, Sandro, 39, 40

Albertus Magnus, Saint, 23–24, 32,

Augustine, Saint, 22

Brambilla, Francesco, 160

43, 193

63, 63

56–59, 59



179–80, 180

181, 182

169, 171–78, 171 Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista, 129–31, 130, 131 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 18, 32, 37, 144 Bolzano, Urbano, 73

Augustus, Mausoleum of, 75–76, 76

Brueghel, Jan, the Elder, 180–85, 182,

Alciati, Andrea, 199, 199

Aurelian, 15



Aldrovandi, Ulisse

Buffon, Comte de, 191, 210



Counter-Reformation and, 187, 202



nature and, 208, 209, 210



Ripa compared with, 200, 201



on Tiberius coin, 211n. 21, 212n. 31

b



writings of, 190–98, 194, 196

Baglione, Cesare, 126–31, 127, 128, 129,

Alessi, Galeazzo, 170–73, 171, 172

Burckhardt, Jacob, 35 Butler, Samuel, 172, 173

Babylon, 21, 28–31, 29, 33

183, 184

130, 131

c

Calandria (Dovizi), 49–51, 53, 73, 94

Alexander the Great, 189

banquets, 17, 41, 80, 82, 108–10, 109, 110

Allori, Alessandro, 206

Baraballo, 63, 64

Altemps, Marco Sittico, 159, 163–68, 178

Barbaro, Ermolao, 18

Altemps, Roberto, 163–64, 164, 165

Barile, Giovanni, 63, 64

animals. See bat; camel; chameleon;

Bascapè, Carlo, 173, 174, 184, 185



and giraffe, 56

civet cat; eagle; elephant; ermine;

Bassi, Martino, 160



and ostrich, 9, 18, 19, 24, 25, 33, 38,

giraffe; goat; Hanno; lion; menager-

Basso della Rovere, Girolamo, 96



56, 89, 103, 138, 202, 209, 210

ies; monkey; octopus; ostrich;

bat (animal), 56, 79, 191–92, 193, 208



hooves of, 9, 17, 24, 25, 33, 89, 103,

parrot; peacock; rhinoceros; swan;

Battle of the Milvian Bridge (Giulio

toad; turkey; wolf



Romano), 6, 85, 86

Bed of Polyclitus, 115

Calumny of Apelles (Zuccaro), 124–26,

125, 131

camel, 22, 56, 79, 118, 138, 138, 170, 170,



178, 179, 179

138, 202, 209

Camillo, Giulio, 197 Campi, Bernardino, 187–89, 188

Belon, Pierre, 192–93

241

Bibliography

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 241

8/20/15 11:33 AM

Caprarola, Palazzo Farnese at, 123–24, 124

Cimabue, 28–31, 29, 32, 33

Carlo Borromeo, Saint

civet cat, 62, 79, 176



Counter-Reformation and, 157–58,

Clement VII





al-Asad and, 78

163, 184–85



Federico Borromeo and, 178, 179



Castel Sant’Angelo and, 103



Sacro Monte at Varallo and, 168–75,



death of, 103



Hadrian VI and, 92



imprese of, 86–89

carnival, 107–8, 109–10



Margherita of Austria and, 105

Caro, Annibale, 123



Palazzo Farnese and, 123–24

Cartari, Vincenzo, 125



Portrait of Pope Leo X and Cardinals

Castello di Torrechiara, 126–29, 127,



178



statue of, 179



128, 129, 131



Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi (Raphael), 64, 65

Castello Estense (Ferrara), 151, 151



Rome, sack of, and, 99–101, 103

Castel Sant’Angelo (Rome), 63, 99,



Sala di Costantino and, 5, 10





Transfiguration (Raphael) and, 1



in Triompho di fortuna (Fanti), 100 Villa Madama and, 85–86, 99

103–5, 104, 107, 110

Castiglione, Baldassare

Book of the Courtier, 35, 51, 120





Calandria (Dovizi) and, 49–51

Clovio, Giulio, 50



at Hadrian’s Villa, 19



ostriches and, 73



tomb of, 76, 77

Comentario de’ gesti e fatti e deti

dello invictissimo signore Federigo



duca d’Urbino (Vespasiano da

Cathedral of Otranto, 25, 27



Bisticci), 35, 36

Cati, Pasquale, 164, 165

Comitas, 5, 7–8, 7, 70

Cellini, Benvenuto, 108–9

Commodus, 15–18

il Cerano, 179

Constantine, 5, 10, 76. See also Sala di

chameleon, 62, 103



Chapel of Adam and Eve (Varallo),

Coornhert, Dirck Volkertszoon, 101



Cort, Cornelius, 125

171–78, 171, 172, 174, 175, 179

Costantino

Charity, 4, 115, 117

Cortile del Belvedere (Rome), 56, 63, 93

Charlemagne, 22

The Cosmography and Geography of Africa

Charles of Lorraine, 148



Charles V, 94, 105, 133–36, 134

Costantino, Sala di. See Sala di Costan-

(al-Asad), 78-79 tino Council of Trent

Cheles, Luciano, 43 Chigi, Agostino, 76, 77, 94, 96



Altemps and, 163, 164

Christ



art reformed by, 10–11





Carlo Borromeo and, 157



The Council of Trent (Pasquale), 164, 165 Paul III convenes, 120



in Flagellation of Christ (Sebastiano del Piombo), 69, 69



Giovio impresa and, 141





on Hadrian VI’s tomb, 96

The Council of Trent (Pasquale), 164, 165



The Holy Family with Saints Mark

Counter-Reformation



and James (Giulio Romano), 95



Altemps and, 163–64



Holy Shroud, 170



art reformed by, 10–11, 118–20



in Last Judgment, 148



Carlo Borromeo and, 157–58, 184–85



ostrich and, 24, 25, 26, 28



nature and, 208



Raphael compared with, 1



ostrich in, 157, 185, 187, 202–3



in Sacro Monte at Varallo, 168, 169, 171

Creation of the Animals (Raphael,



in Transfiguration (Raphael), 1, 7,



Giovanni da Udine, and Pel-



legrino da Modena), 65, 69, 67



121–22

Christianity, 21, 22, 23–24, 25–31, 32–33,

48. See also Bible

Cicero, 43

Creation of the Birds and Fishes (Tem-

pesta), 176, 177

Crespi, Giovanni Battista, 179

d

Dacos, Nicole, 61 d’Adda, Giacomo, 170 d’Adda, Giovanni Antonio, 173–75 da Gama, Vasco, 63 Danaë, 115 Daniel in the Lion’s Den, 24, 25 Dante Alighieri, 43, 48–49, 50, 51 De arte venandi cum avibus (Frederick II), 23 Death, 144 The Death of Charles de Bourbon and the Sack of Rome (Coornhert), 101, 101



De avibus (Hugh of Fouilloy), 22 decadence. See also gluttony; morality

Clement VII and, 99–101



Leo X and, 65, 92



in Rome, ancient, 15–18, 21, 55

Decameron (Boccaccio), 144 de Gislandis, Antonio, 203 dell’Abate, Pompeo, 165 della Rovere, Francesco Maria, 48 della Rovere, Francesco Maria II, 125 della Rovere, Guidobaldo II, 48–49, 143 del Sarto, Andrea, 137 d’Este, Alfonso I, 148 d’Este, Alfonso II, 136, 143, 150, 151 d’Este, Ercole I, 91 d’Este, Ippolito, 148–54, 157 Dialogo dell’imprese militari e amorose

(Giovio), 136–41, 138, 139, 140

Dialogo sopra i misterii del Sacro Monte

di Varallo (Nanni da Sogliano), 176–78, 179

Diana, 181, 183 Diana of Ephesus, 141 Diana’s Hunt (Boccaccio), 32 Dio Cassius, 16–17 Diodorus, 195 Il disegno (Doni), 144 Diverse imprese (Alciati), 199, 199 Divine Comedy (Dante), 48–49, 50, 51 Dolce, Ludovico, 115, 122 Domenichi, Ludovico, 142 Domus Aurea. See Golden House Donation of Constantine, 10 Doni, Anton Francesco

Counter-Reformation and, 157, 158



Giovio and, 141



Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico)



and, 135

The Crucifixion (Ferrari), 169 curiosity, 170–73, 174–75, 176–78, 184–85

242

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 242

Index

8/20/15 11:33 AM



Villa d’Este and, 151, 154



Giovio and, 121, 137

Franco, Battista, 148



writings of, 133, 141–48, 143, 145, 200



Ippolito d’Este compared with, 149

Frangipane, Lulla, 163

Dovizi, Bernardo. See Bibbiena, Cardinal



on Margherita of Austria, 105

Dreambirds (Nixon), 209



Palazzo della Cancelleria and, 111–21, 119

Dürer, Albrecht, 138, 176, 177

e



Palazzo Farnese and, 123–24



wealth of, 148, 150, 158, 168

eagle, 38, 51, 80, 81, 92, 147

Farnese, Pier Luigi, 118, 119, 142

Gabbia, Lena, 142

Earth (Brueghel), 181, 182, 183, 185

feathers, ostrich

Galle, Philips, 160, 162

Ebstorf World Map, 25, 26



Galleria degli Uffizi (Florence), 205, 206

eggs, ostrich





Aldrovandi and, 192, 193, 195, 198



in Air (Brueghel), 181–84

Garden of Eden (Michelangelo), 65, 66



Doni on, 147



in Battle of the Milvian Bridge (Giulio

Garter, Order of the, 38



in Judeo-Christian tradition, 21, 22





in Middle Ages, 27, 28, 32





modern view of, 209



Evangelista (Parma), 129, 130



in Montefeltro Altarpiece, 45–48, 47



in Egypt, ancient, 8–9, 13–15, 73

Gilio, Giovanni Andrea, 120, 135



in Navarro impresa, 140, 141



Federico da Montefeltro and, 41

Giordano, Luca, 203–5, 204



in Renaissance generally, 23–24



in Greece and Rome, ancient, 18, 19

Giotto di Bondone, 31, 32



in Middle Ages, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33

Giovanna d’Austria, 159

Fugger, Jakob II, 94

g

Farnese, Duke Alessandro (1545–1592), 126 Farnese, Ottavio, 105–7, 126

Egypt, ancient

hidden in Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da Udine), 73–75

Romano) border, 74, 74 in Biblioteca di San Giovanni

Gambara, Gianfrancesco, 168

Gervaise, Bestiary of, 24 Gessner, Konrad, 192–93, 194, 195 Gilbert, Creighton, 45–48



Justice (Vasari) and, 111



in Palazzo Altemps (Rome), 166

Giovanni da Udine



Justice (Raphael and Giovanni



in Sala di Costantino tapestries, 82–83



Bibbiena apartments and, 61–62

da Udine) and, 73–74



in Tiepolo fresco, 205



Creation of the Animals, 65–69, 67



Leo X and, 73–74, 75–76



in Villa Madama, 90



Golden House and, 53–55



ostrich in, 8–9, 10, 13–15, 14, 21, 24,

Fenech Kroke, Antonella, 113



Justice (with Raphael), 4, 6, 7, 68, 72,

Ferdinand of Naples, 138



Vatican Palace and, 62





33, 73–74, 210



Paul III and, 108

Ferrara. See also Alfonso I d’Este; Alfonso



Raphael and, 75–76



II d’Este; Ercole I d’Este Castello



Villa Madama, 86–91, 87, 88, 89



Sala dei Cento Giorni and, 120–21



Estense at, 151, 151



Vincidor works, drawings for, 81, 82

73, 75

Einaudi, Giulio, 139

Ferrari, Gaudenzio, 169, 185

Giovannino de’ Grassi, 31–32, 31, 33

Elagabalus, 15, 17–18

Fire (Brueghel), 181

Giovio, Paolo

elephant, 9, 15, 22, 65, 118, 175, 175, 176,

Firmus, 15



Counter-Reformation and, 157



Flagellation of Christ (Sebastiano del



Dialogo dell’imprese militari e amorose,

Enkevoirt, Wilhelm van, 93–94, 98





Erasmus of Rotterdam, 92, 193

Florence



Farnese and, 110

Erithrean Sibyl (Michelangelo), 8, 71–73,



Galleria degli Uffizi in, 205, 206



on Hadrian VI, 98, 101





Palazzo Medici Riccardi in, 203–5,



Justice, Pope Urban I, and Charity

178, 184. See also Hanno

72, 75

Piombo), 69, 69

136–41, 138, 139, 140

ermine, 38, 41



Ermine, Order of the, 38

food, ostrich as, 17, 21, 41, 79, 192



Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (Lyly), 210

fortune



Leo X and, 78, 79

Ex Voto (Butler), 172, 173



Doni and, 133, 141–48



in Ornithologiae (Aldrovandi), 195



Fortune (Guerra), 200–201, 201



Sala dei Cento Giorni and, 114, 115,



Giovio and, 136–41





Ripa on, 200–201



Vasari and, 121, 137, 146



Triompho di fortuna (Fanti), 99, 100



villa of, 141



Vico and, 136

giraffe, 45, 56, 118,



Villa d’Este and, 148–54

Giuliano da Maiano, 44, 46

f

The Fall (Dürer), 176, 177 Fall of Babylon (Cimabue), 28–31, 29 Fanti, Sigismondo, 99, 100, 143 Farnese, Alessandro (1468–1549). See

Paul III

Farnese, Cardinal Alessandro (1520–1589)

243

Frederick II, 23, 25



Counter-Reformation and, 157



Federico Borromeo and, 178

204, 213n. 12



(Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and Romano) and, 74

118, 119, 120

Fortune (Guerra), 200–201, 201

Giulio de’ Medici. See Clement VII

Fortune (Zuccaro), 154, 155

Giulio Romano

Foucault, Michel, 191



The Adlocutio of Constantine, 76, 76

The Four Elements (Brueghel), 181–85,



Battle of the Milvian Bridge, 6, 85, 86





Chigi Chapel, 76, 77

182, 183, 184

Francesco Sforza di Santa Fiora, 126 Francis I, 108

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 243

8/20/15 11:33 AM

Giulio Romano (continued)

Clement VII and, 99



Golden House and, 53–55



The Holy Family with Saints Mark and ornament with ostrich heads and feathers, 89, 90



Justice, Pope Urban I, and Charity (Raphael and Giovanni da Udine)

and, 75, 83, 208–9, 210



Hadrian VI, tomb of, and, 98



in Hieroglyphica (Valeriano), 73–74



Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da



Udine) and, 74



Justice (Vasari) and, 111



Ligorio on, 151



ostrich, writings on, 13–15, 21



Loggia (Vatican), 65, 66



Paul III and, 108 Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico)



Ostrich, 89, 90



Lomazzo poetry as, 159





Sala di Costantino, 4, 5, 6, 7, 216n. 40



Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 56–59, 59



and, 135



Stanza dell’Incendio, 76, 77



Palazzo del Giardino (Sabbioneta),



Ripa cites, 200



Transfiguration (Raphael) and, 1–2





Vasari on, 122



Palazzo Farnese (Rome) and, 123–24

Hugh of Fouilloy, 22



Villa Madama, 86–91, 87, 88



in Punchinello with Ostriche (Tiepolo),

Hunefer, Papyrus of, 14

187, 188

Giuseppe della Porta, 100



205–8, 207

Gladiators fighting animals, including



Ripa on, 199





Sala dei Cento Giorni (Rome) and,

Hosius, Cardinal Stanislaus, 164

hunting, 62

gluttony, 199-200, 205



goat, 28, 41, 166, 178, 189



Santa Maria del Popolo (Rome), 54, 55

i

God



in Vico impresa, 136, 136

an ostrich, mosaic, 15, 16

120–21

Iconologia (Ripa)

Counter-Reformation and, 202



in Creation of the Animals (Raphael,



Villa Madama (Rome) and, 86–91



legacy of, 203, 205



Giovanni da Udine, and Pel-



Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta



nature and, 208, 209



ostrich in, 187, 198–201

legrino da Modena), 66–69, 67

in Creation of the Birds and Fishes



(Lainate), 159–62, 161

Zalterio used, 202–3, 203

Ignatius of Loyola, Saint, 170

Grottesche (Lomazzo), 159

imprese



in Earth (Brueghel), 181, 182

Gubbio, court of, 41, 41, 45–48, 46, 47



Aldrovandi and, 195, 197–98



Justice, Pope Urban I, and Charity

Guerra, Giovanni, 200–201, 201



Dialogo dell’imprese militari e amorose



of Federico da Montefeltro, 35, 36,



(Tempesta), 176, 177



(Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, and



Romano) and, 75



ostrich and, 9, 24, 25, 28



parrots and, 62

Gola (Alciati), 199. See also gluttony

h

(Giovio), 136–41, 138, 139, 140

Hadrian (emperor)

Golden House, 53–55, 54, 56, 59, 60, 99



Mausoleum of, 76, 76

Gonzaga, Elisabetta, 48, 51



Villa of, 19–21, 73, 150

Gonzaga, Guglielmo 187

Hadrian VI, 92–98, 101

Gonzaga, Vespasiano, 187–90



Grazie di Curtatone, Santa Maria delle

Hanno (elephant), 63–65, 64, 66, 67,



Grazie at, 76, 77



tomb of, 94–98, 95, 96, 97 86, 88, 93

Greece, ancient, 9, 15, 18

Hanno (after Raphael), 63, 64

Gregory XIV, 159

head of ostrich, hiding of, 18, 192, 209, 210

Gregory the Great, 22, 32, 43, 93

“He ‘Digesteth Harde Iron” (Moore), 210

grotesques and the grotesque. See also

Heemskerck, Maarten van, 90–91, 101



Henry I, 22

monster, ostrich as



Aldrovandi and, 198

Herodian, 16



Bibbiena apartments (Vatican),

Hieroglyphica (Valeriano), 73–74, 79, 199



53–62, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62 Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evange-



lista (Parma), 129–31, 130, 131



Castello di Torrechiara, 126–29, 127,



244

Golden House (Rome), 53–55, 54, 56, 59, 60

James, 94, 95





128, 129, 131

Histoire naturelle (Buffon), 210 Historia animalium (Gessner), 192–93, 194 Historia augusta, 15–16, 17–18 Historia Romana (Dio Cassius), 212n. 21 The Holy Family with Saints Mark and James (Giulio Romano), 94, 95



Castel Sant’Angelo, 103–5, 104





Counter-Reformation and, 158

Holy Shroud, 170



Doni on, 133, 144, 147, 148

Homer, 43



Giovio on, 121

Horapollo

Biblioteca di San Giovanni



Evangelista and, 129



37–51, 37, 39, 73 Justice (Raphael,and Giovanni da Udine) and, 73, 74–75



Medici, 74–75, 82–83



in Palazzo Farnese, 123



in Palazzo Madama, 106, 107



in Sala di Costantino, 74, 74, 80, 107



of Vico, 136, 136



in Villa Madama, 86–89, 107



in Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta,



160, 161

Index of Prohibited Books, 120, 202 Inquisition, 120, 202 Insanity, 144 iron. See also toughness of ostrich

Aldrovandi on, 192, 193, 195–97, 209



Bibbiena apartments and, 61



Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evange-



lista and, 129 Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da Udine) and, 74



in Middle Ages, 23, 31–32



modern views of, 209, 210



Montefeltro imprese and, 37, 38, 43,



45, 48, 74, 91

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 244

8/20/15 11:33 AM



Palazzo della Cancelleria and,



111, 118

Justice (Guerra), 200–201, 201 Justice (Vasari), 111–14, 112, 113, 118

l



Paul III and, 105, 107, 108





in Pitture (Doni), 147, 148





in Renaissance generally, 32, 91



Doni familiar with, 147–48





Ripa on, 199, 200, 201



Galleria degli Uffizi compared

Laocoön, 93



in Vico impresa, 136





Villa Madama and, 90



Guerra mocks, 201



Isabella of Spain, 181



Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico)

Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci), 69

Isaiah, 21



compared with, 133–35

Last Supper (Sacro Monte at Varallo), 169

Islam, 78

Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da

Leda and the Swan (Leonardo da Vinci),



Udine), 4, 6, 68, 72, 73, 75. See also





Sala di Costantino



j

Jacobus de Graffiis, 203 Jesus Christ. See Christ Job, 21, 22 Jonah (Michelangelo), 166, 167 Judaism. See also Bible

Farnese and, 111–13



ostrich in, 17, 21–22, 24, 28, 32–33

Julius II, 65, 93, 94–96, 189 Jupiter, 45 justice. See also Justice (personified)

in Egypt, ancient, 8–9, 10, 13–15, 14, 73–74



in Iconologia (Ripa), 199



Paul III and, 107–8, 109–10



in Renaissance generally, 11

Justice (personified)

in Apotheosis of the House of the Medici (Giordano), 203–5, 204 in Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evangelista (Parma), 129, 130



Giovio imprese and, 141



Hadrian VI, on tomb of, 96–98, 97



Justice (Guerra), 200–201, 201



in Justice (Vasari), 111–14, 112, 113,



133–35, 147–48, 201, 203, 205



Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da



Udine), 4, 5–9, 68, 69–75, 72, 73, 75,



79, 82–83, 108, 113–14, 121, 122–23,



131, 200, 203, 205, 210



in Palazzo Altemps (Rome), 166



in Pitture (Doni), 146–48



in Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico),



134, 135



Ripa on, 199, 200–201



in Sala dei Cento Giorni, 115–18, 117, 119



Vasari on, 122–23



in Villa d’Este, 154, 155



Villa Madama and, 90

Apotheosis of the House of the Medici (Giordano) compared with, 203

with, 205

Lainate, Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta at, 158–63, 160, 161, 162, 185, 224n. 52

Last Judgment (Michelangelo), 11, 118–20, 119

8, 70–71, 75, 114 after Leonardo da Vinci, 71

Leda and the Swan, Montefeltro Altar-



attribution of, 5–7, 70, 215-16n. 40



Egypt, ancient, and, 73–74





Erithrean Sibyl (Michelangelo)

Leo Africanus. See Asad

compared with, 8, 71–73, 75

Leonardo da Vinci

Galleria degli Uffizi compared

piece and, 45–48



Justice (Vasari) and, 113–14



with, 205



Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da



God and, 75



Udine) influenced by, 8, 69,



grotesques and, 75, 83, 208–9, 210





Hadrian VI, tomb of, compared



Last Supper, 69



70–71, 75, 83, 89, 113–14



Leda and the Swan, 8, 70–71, 71, 75, 114



The Holy Family with Saints Mark and



Mona Lisa, 126



James (Giulio Romano) compared



Raphael studied, 122, 126

with, 94

Leo X



with, 98



imprese and, 74–75



Bibbiena and, 53, 61



Justice (Vasari) compared with, 113–14



Clement VII compared with, 99



Justice in, 4, 5–9, 68, 69–75, 79, 82–83,



decadence and, 65, 92



108, 113–14, 121, 122–23, 131, 200,



Egypt and, 73–74, 75–76



203, 205, 210



Fugger and, 94



Giovio on, 137

70–71, 75, 83, 89, 113–14



Hadrian VI compared with, 101



medium for painting, 5, 69–70



hunting and, 62



nature and, 8–9, 11, 75, 83



Islam and, 78



ostrich in, 4, 5, 7, 8–9, 10–11, 68, 69–



Loggia of, 65–69, 66, 67, 76, 94, 121, 122



75, 79, 82–83, 89, 92, 103, 108,



menagerie of, 8, 62–65, 66–69, 67,



109–10, 113–14, 121, 122–23, 131,

Palazzo Altemps (Rome) and, 166



Leonardo da Vinci influenced, 8, 69,

208–9, 210





Paul III and, 103, 108, 109–10



Portrait of Pope Leo X and Cardinals



ring in, 74–75



Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’



Sala dei Cento Giorni compared





with, 115–18 Sala di Costantino tapestries and,



82–83 Vasari on, 122–23

k

Kitab al-mawalid, 31

Rossi (Raphael), 64, 65



Raphael and, 1, 5, 56, 61



Sabbioneta and, 189



Sala di Costantino and, 5, 80

Letarouilly, Paul-Marie, 66 Liberality, Nobility, and Generosity

(Zuccaro), 151, 152

Libro dei misteri (Alessi), 170, 171 Libro de le sorti (Spirito), 143 Ligorio, Pirro, 149–51, 149, 150, 151, 157 Linnaeus, Carl, 191 lion, 13, 17, 22, 25, 25, 56, 59, 61, 62, 65,

245

93, 138

66, 76, 80, 81, 89, 94, 95, 129, 166, 181

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 245

8/20/15 11:33 AM

Lippi, Filippino, 55

Medici, Cardinal de,’ 146



Lives of the Artists (Vasari), 121–23, 126, 131

Medici, Catherine de,’ 149



Udine) and, 75, 79, 92

Lives of the Popes (Platina), 17–18

Medici, Cosimo de,’ 137, 142



Lomazzo poetry and, 159

Loggia of Leo X (Vatican)

Medici, Ferdinando de,’ 159



in Middle Ages, 22–33

Medici, Francesco de,’ 159



in Monastery of Monte Oliveto



Creation of the Animals (Raphael,



Giovanni da Udine, and

Medici, Giulio de’. See Clement VII





Pellegrino da Modena), 65–69, 67

Meiss, Millard, 45–48



Paul III and, 103–5, 104, 109



Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico)

Maggiore, 56–59, 59



Egypt and, 76

menageries



Giovio on, 121



Air (Brueghel) and, 181–85, 183, 184





grotesques, 65, 66



of Aldrovandi, 197



in Renaissance generally, 9, 11, 91–92



Peruzzi and, 94



Carlo Borromeo and, 168



Ripa on, 199



Sala dei Cento Giorni and, 120



of Federico da Montefeltro, 45



in Rome, ancient, 18–21



Vasari on, 122



Gessner on, 193



in Santa Maria del Popolo, 54, 55

Lomazzo, Giovanni Paolo, 159



of Leo X, 8, 62–65, 66–69, 67, 93, 138

Montefeltro Altarpiece (Piero della

Lucca, San Michele in Foro in, 25–28, 27



in Middle Ages, 22, 23, 31



Lucian, 124–25, 133



Palazzo del Giardino (Sabbioneta)

Montefeltro, Federico da, 38

Lucretius, 22



Luigi de’ Rossi, 64, 65



in Rome, ancient, 15



Luther, Martin, 10, 63–65, 94, 101



Villa Madama and, 89



Palazzi Ducale and, 37–41, 45–48, 51

Luzio Romano, 103, 104, 108, 109

Michelangelo



portrait of, 51

Lyly, John, 210



Erithrean Sibyl, 8, 71–73, 72, 75



as prince, ideal, 35



Garden of Eden, 65, 66



studies of, 41–45



Giovio on, 121



Trionfi (Petrarch), copy of, 51



Jonah, 166, 167

Montefeltro, Guidobaldo da, 35, 45,



Last Judgment, 11, 118–20, 119





Raising of Lazarus (Sebastiano del

Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 56–59, 59

m

Ma’at, 13–15, 14 Maccarone, Curzio, 149 Madonna paintings (Raphael), 2, 121, 122, 131 Maffei, Mario, 85–86 Maimonides, 21–22 Manuel I, 63 Marcolini, Francesco, 143 Margherita of Austria, 105–7, 138 Maria of Hungary, 105 Mark, Saint, 94, 95 I marmi (Doni), 133, 143, 143 Marsyas, 58 Mary, Virgin

Hadrian VI, on tomb of, 96



The Holy Family with Saints Mark and



James (Giulio Romano), 94, 95



Madonna paintings (Raphael), 2, 121,



122, 131 in Montefeltro Altarpiece, 47, 48

Master of the Die (after Vincidor),

80–83, 81

Mattei, Girolamo, 138–39, 139 Mausoleum of Augustus, 75–76, 76 Mausoleum of Hadrian, 76, 76 Medici. See Clement VII, imprese, Leo

X, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo



Medici Riccardi, Villa Madama

Medici, Alessandro de,’ 105, 138, 138,

246

Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da

217n. 6



and, 187–90, 188, 190

Piombo) and, 69



and, 135

Francesca), 45–48, 47 imprese of, 35, 36, 37–48, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47, 73, 74

48, 51

Montevergine, abbey church of, 213n. 70



Raphael and, 1, 2, 65, 66, 69, 121, 122

Moore, Marianne, 210



Sala dei Cento Giorni and, 114, 115

Moralia (Plutarch), 18–19



Sala di Costantino and, 5, 70

Moralia in Job (Gregory the Great),



Sistine Chapel and, 55, 65, 66, 66, 93



Vasari on, 2, 121, 122



22, 32

morality. See also decadence

Middle Ages



ermine and, 38



Federico da Montefeltro and, 43



Federico da Montefeltro and, 43



illustrations from, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31



in Judeo-Christian tradition, 21–22



ostrich in generally, 9–10, 18, 22–33, 210



in Middle Ages, 23–24, 25

Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana at,



Reformation and, 10–11





in Renaissance generally, 32–33

The Mock-Triumph of the Poet Baraballo,



Sala dei Cento Giorni and, 118–21



Mostaert, Gillis, 176, 177

178–85, 180 63, 64

Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci), 126 monkey, 56, 62, 80–82, 81, 176, 187, 205 monster, ostrich as. See also grotesques

and the grotesque in Apotheosis of the House of the Medici (Giordano), 203–5, 204 in Bibbiena apartments, 53–62, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62 Federico da Montefeltro and, 38, 43, 48

n

Nanni da Sogliano, Thomaso, 176–78, 179 Naples, Monte Oliveto at, 115, 117 Natural History (Pliny the Elder), 18, 19,

22, 35, 55, 56, 58, 78-79, 209

nature

Federico Borromeo and, 180–85



in The Holy Family with Saints Mark



in Golden House, 53–55, 54, 59, 60





in Judeo-Christian tradition, 21–22



and James (Giulio Romano), 94 Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da



Udine) and, 8–9, 11, 75, 83



Renaissance and, 32–33, 208–10

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 246

8/20/15 11:33 AM

Navarro, Pietro, 139–41, 140



Negri, Girolamo, 93



Giovanni da Udine, and



Nero. See Golden House



Pellegrino da Modena), 66, 67



Nespawershefyt, coffin of, 13, 14



in Creation of the Birds and Fishes



Nixon, Rob, 209



Noah’s Ark, 25



decadence and, 15–18, 21, 199–200, 205



in Dialogo dell’imprese militari e

nudity

in Air (Brueghel), 181, 183



Hadrian VI and, 93



Paul III and, 108



in Sacro Monte at Varallo, 171–73,



171, 174

o



Vasari and, 111, 114–18

The Old Adam and Eve (Butler), 172 On the Ill Fortune of Learned Men (Valeriano), 101

Opus aureum, ornatum omni lapide pretioso singulari (de Gislandis), 203



Order of the Ermine, 38 Order of the Garter, 38 Orlando furioso (Ariosto), 91–92 ornament with ostrich heads and feathers

(Giulio Romano), 89, 90

Ornithologiae (Aldrovandi), 191–98, 194 Orpheus Charming the Animals with Music (Urbino), 189, 190



Orsini, Virginio, 137–38, 138 ostrich

in The Adlocutio of Constantine



(Giulio Romano), 76



as African bird, 76–79



in Air (Brueghel), 181–85, 183, 184



Aldrovandi on, 191–98, 208



Altemps, Roberto, on tomb of, 164, 164



in Apotheosis of the House of the Medici



(Giordano), 203–5, 204 in Bibbiena apartments (Vatican), 53,



56–62, 61



in Bible, 21, 22, 28, 32–33



in Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evan-



gelista (Parma), 129, 130, 131



in Castello di Torrechiara, 126, 128, 129



in Castello Estense (Ferrara), 151, 151



in Castel Sant’Angelo (Rome), 103–5, 104



Christ and, 24, 25, 26, 28



in Christianity, 21, 22, 23–24, 25–31,



32–33, 48 in Counter-Reformation, 157, 185,





187, 202–3

Carpenter, and Grinder (Palazzo della Ragione), 30, 31 Ostrich and a Mastiff (Giovannino de’



amorose (Giovio), 136, 138–41, 139, 140 eggs of, 21, 22, 23–24, 27, 28, 32,

Ostrich, River, Cobbler, Religion,



Grassi), 31–32, 31 Ostrich causing its eggs to be born

and other creatures (San Michele



in Foro, Lucca), 25–28, 27

The Ostrich Frees Its Young (Speculum

45–48, 140, 141, 147, 192, 193, 195,



humanae salvationis), 24, 25



198, 209



Ostrich Hunt (Galle), 160, 162



Ostrich Hunt (Tempesta), 160, 162



in Palazzo Altemps, 166–68, 167



in Palazzo del Giardino, 187–89, 188, 190



in Egypt, ancient, 8–9, 10, 13–15, 14, 21, 24, 33, 73–74, 108, 210 feathers of, 8–9, 13–15, 18, 19, 23, 25,



28, 31, 33, 41, 73–75, 82–83, 90, 164,



in Palazzo della Ragione, 30, 31



166, 181–84, 205



in Palazzo Farnese, 123–24, 124



in Palazzo Madama, 105–7, 106



Federico da Montefeltro and, 10,



35–45, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46,



Paul III and, 103–5



47, 49



in Pitture (Doni), 146–48 in Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico),



as food, 17, 21, 41, 79, 192





fortune and, 133, 136, 141, 143, 146–48





in Galleria degli Uffizi, 205, 206



Portuguese and, 63, 63



God and, 24, 25, 28



in Renaissance generally, 9–11, 13,



in Greece, ancient, 9, 15, 18



grotesques and, 53–62, 83, 89–91,



Ripa on, 198, 199–201, 208



103–5, 133, 136, 159, 199, 202–3,



in Rome, ancient, 9, 10, 15–21, 16, 19,



205–8, 208–9

in Sacro Monte at Varallo, 171, 174,



in Sala dei Cento Giorni (Rome), 117,



in Sala di Costantino (Vatican)



in Santa Maria del Popolo (Rome),



Hadrian VI, on tomb of, 97, 98



head, hiding, 18, 192, 209, 210



in Historia animalium (Gessner),



in Judaism, 17, 21–22, 24, 28, 32–33



justice and, 8–9, 10, 11, 13–15, 14,



70–71, 107–8, 109–10, 199, 203–5

134, 135





193, 194





18–21, 24, 25, 91–92, 208–10

20, 22, 210 175–78 118, 119 tapestries, 82–83



in Justice (Guerra), 201, 201



in Justice (Vasari), 111, 112, 113–14, 113



in Temptation (Sadeler), 176, 177



in Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da



in Temptation (Tempesta), 176, 177



Udine), 4, 5, 7, 8–9, 10–11, 68,



by Tiepolo, 205–8, 207



69–75, 73, 79, 82–83, 89, 92, 103,



toughness of, 35, 37, 38–41, 45, 48, 51,



108, 109–10, 113–14, 121, 122–23,



131, 208–9, 210





54, 55

74, 90, 91, 105, 107–8, 126, 129, 135, 199



Margherita of Austria and, 105–7



in Triompho di fortuna (Fanti), 99, 100



in Middle Ages, 9–10, 18, 22–33, 25,



Vasari and, 11, 122–23



in Vico impresa, 136, 136



26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 43, 210



as monster, 9, 11, 18–21, 21–22, 22–23,



in Villa d’Este (Tivoli), 150, 154, 155



23–33, 38, 43, 48, 59–62, 75, 79,



in Villa Madama (Rome), 85, 89–91, 89



91–92, 103–5, 109, 135, 159, 199,



in Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta



203–5

Zalterio used, 202–3, 203



morality and, 10–11, 21–22, 23–24, 25, 32–33, 43



(Lainate), 160–63, 161, 162

Ostrich (Picasso), 210, 210



nature and, 32–33, 208–10

Ostrich (Giulio Romano), 89, 90



Ostrich (Picasso), 210, 210

Ostrich (twelfth-century bestiary),



Ostrich (Giulio Romano), 89, 90



Ostrich (twelfth-century bestiary),



247

(Tempesta), 176, 177







octopus, 200





in Creation of the Animals (Raphael,



24–25, 25

24–25, 25

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 247

8/20/15 11:33 AM

Ostrich, River, Cobbler, Religion,

banquets and, 108–10

della Ragione), 30, 31



carnival and, 107–8, 109–10

Pope Paul III Supervising Work on



Castel Sant’Angelo and, 103–5





Hadrian VI chosen over, 92

Porta Portuensis, 92–93 Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico),

Grassi), 31–32, 31



Nations (Vasari), 118, 119 St. Peter’s (Vasari), 114, 116



Ippolito d’Este and, 148–49



other creatures (San Michele in



Piacenza and, 142



Foro, Lucca), 25–28, 27



Reformation and, 118–20

Portrait of Pope Leo X and Cardinal



in Sala dei Cento Giorni, 114, 115, 116,



Ostrich causing its eggs to be born and

The Ostrich Frees Its Young (Speculum



humanae salvationis), 24, 25



118, 119



133–36, 134 Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi (Raphael), 64, 65

Ostrich Hunt (Galle), 160, 162

Paul IV, 120, 143, 149

Prestinari, 173

Ostrich Hunt (Tempesta), 160, 162

Paxton, Charles, 210

printing, 187

Otranto, Cathedral of, 25, 27

peacock, 10, 17, 41, 51, 66, 123, 164

Probus, 15

Ovid, 86, 90, 111, 133

Pellegrini, Pellegrino, 224n. 51

Procaccini, Camillo, 161

Pellegrino da Modena, 65–69, 67

Procaccini, Carlo Antonio, 161, 162

Penni, Gianfrancesco, 5, 53–55

Protestantism. See Reformation

Perino del Vaga, 103

Punchinello with Ostriche (Tiepolo),

p

Padua, Palazzo della Ragione in, 30, 31 Paganino, Giovan Antonio, 126, 129,

130, 131

Palazzo Altemps (Rome), 163–68, 165,

166, 167

Palazzo del Giardino (Sabbioneta),

187–90, 188, 190

Palazzo della Cancelleria (Rome), 111-21,

112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 131



Doni on, 133, 135



Giovio and, 137



Guerra mocks, 201, 201

Palazzo della Ragione (Padua), 30, 31 Palazzo Ducale (Gubbio), 41, 41, 45–48,

46, 47

Palazzo Ducale (Urbino), 35, 37–45, 36,

37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 49, 49, 51

Raphael raised near, 10

Palazzo Farnese (Rome), 123–24, 124 Palazzo Madama (Rome), 105–7, 106 Palazzo Medici Riccardi (Florence),

203–5, 204, 213n. 12

Paleotti, Gabriele, 157, 158, 178, 193 Panofsky, Erwin, 176 Pantheon, 1, 2, 173 Pareo, Ambrosio, 192 Paris de Grassis, 85 Parma

Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evange- lista, 129–31, 130, 131



Castello di Torrechiara near, 126–29,

127, 128, 129, 131

Parnassus (Raphael), 189, 190 parrot, 56, 62, 118, 176, 184, 187, 193-95 Paul II, 62

Perugino, 122 Peruzzi, Baldassare

Hadrian VI, tomb of, 94–98, 95, 96, 97



Rome, sack of, and, 99



Villa Madama, elephant fountain at, 88

Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca)

Doni and, 143–44



Federico da Montefeltro and, 43



Trionfi, 49–51, 151



works studied, 17, 18

r

Philippe de Thaün, 24 Physiologus, 22, 24 Picasso, Pablo, 210, 210 Piero della Francesca, 45–48, 47, 51 Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Milan),

178–85, 180

Pinturicchio, Bernardino, 54, 55 Pio, Ercole, 129, 130, 131 Piombo, Sebastiano del, 1 Pirro I Visconti Borromeo, 158–63, 179 Pitture (Doni), 143–48, 151, 154, 200 Pius IV, 149, 157, 163 Pius V, 149, 163 Platina, 17–18 Plato, 133, 146, 203 Plautus, 49 Pliny the Elder

on ancient painting, 55



al-Asad on, 78–79



Federico da Montefeltro and, 35



Natural History, 18, 19, 22, 35, 55,



56, 58, 78-79, 209

Plutarch, 18–19 Poggio a Caiano, Villa Medici at, 137 Pope Paul III Distributes Benefices and



205–8, 207

Rabisch (Lomazzo), 159 Raising of Lazarus (Sebastiano del

Piombo), 69

Ramusio, Giovanni, 78 Raphael. See also Justice (Raphael

Philip II, 190



248

Pope Paul III Receives the Homage of the



Ostrich and a Mastiff (Giovannino de’

Paul III

Carpenter, and Grinder (Palazzo



and Giovanni da Udine); Sala di



Costantino



Bed of Polyclitus and, 115



Bibbiena apartments, 53–62, 57, 58, 60,



Calumny of Apelles (Zuccaro) and,



Christ, compared with, 1



Creation of the Animals, 65–69, 67



death of, 1, 5, 121–22



Egypt and, 75–76



Fall of Babylon (Cimabue) and, 28–31



Giovio on, 137



Golden House and, 53–55, 56



at Hadrian’s Villa, 19–21



Hanno (after Raphael), 63, 64



legacy of, 1–5, 7, 11, 121–23, 125–26, 131



Leo X and, 1, 5, 56, 61





61, 62, 73, 74, 75, 76, 93 125–26

in Lives of the Artists (Vasari), 121–23,

126, 131



Madonna paintings of, 2, 121, 122, 131



Michelangelo and, 1, 2, 65, 66, 69,



Palazzo Altemps and, 164–66, 168



Parnassus, 189, 190



in Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, 179



121, 122

Appoints Cardinals (Vasari), 114–18, 115

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 248

8/20/15 11:33 AM



Portrait of Pope Leo X and Cardinals



Palazzo Altemps, 163–68, 165, 166, 167



commissions for, 5, 69–70



Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’



Palazzo della Cancelleria, 111–21, 112,



Constantine in, 5, 10, 76



Rossi, 64, 65



113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 131, 133, 135,



Hadrian VI and, 93



137, 201



imprese in, 74, 74, 80, 107



Sabbioneta and, 189–90



Sacro Monte at Varallo and, 185



Palazzo Madama, 105–7, 106



Leo X and, 5, 80



Santa Maria del Popolo, 76, 77



Pantheon, 1, 2



media used for painting, 5, 69–70



School of Athens, 2, 179



Paul III and, 103



Michelangelo and, 5, 70



Sistine Chapel and, 65



Porta Portuensis, 92–93



nudity and, 118



Stanza dell’Incendio, 76, 77



sack of, 99–101, 103, 135, 139



Palazzo Farnese and, 123



Tomb of, 1, 2



San Paolo fuori le Mura, 28, 28



Penni and, 5



Transfiguration, 1, 3, 5, 7, 69, 121–22



San Pietro in Montorio, 69



Sala dei Cento Giorni compared



in Triompho di fortuna (Fanti), 99



Santa Maria dell’Anima, 94–98, 95,



Urbino, court of, and, 51



Sebastiano del Piombo and, 5, 69–70



Villa Madama, 85–91, 87, 88, 89, 92,



tapestries for, 80–83, 86, 96, 120, 123, Vasari on, 122





99, 107, 123, 131

Santa Maria del Popolo, 54, 55, 76, 77,





94–96, 96, 98

with, 114

166



Santa Maria in Trastevere, 164, 164, 165



65–69, 67, 70, 80, 86, 93, 121



Tomb of Raphael, 1, 2

Salutati, Coluccio, 37



Villa Madama, 85–91, 87, 88, 89, 92, 99,

Reformation; Reformation

Reformation. See also Counter-Refor-



107, 123, 131 Rome, ancient

Salviati, Antonio, 198 Salviati, Francesco, 109, 110



decadence in, 15–18, 21, 55

Salviati, Giuseppe, 142



Justice (Vasari) and, 111–13

Sanese, Michelangelo, 94, 95, 96, 97

Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evange-



ostrich in, 9, 10, 15–21, 16, 19, 20, 22, 210

San Francesco (Assisi), 28–31, 29





Renaissance and, 55

San Michele in Foro (Lucca), 25–28, 27

Villa d’Este and, 150

San Paolo fuori le Mura (Rome), 28, 28



mation lista and, 131



Clement VII and, 99–101





Hadrian VI and, 92

Rome, fountain of (Villa d’Este, Tivoli),



Leo X and, 63–65



Paul III and, 118–20

Rubens, 125



Sala di Costantino and, 10–11

Ruffini, Franco, 61

Renaissance



150, 150, 151

s

Cinquecento, early literature of, 91–92



Counter-Reformation and, 157–58



modern views of, 208–10

Sabbioneta, 187–90, 188, 190, 191



ostrich in generally, 9–11, 13, 18–21,

Sacrifice of Alexander, 189

24, 25



Rome, ancient, and, 55



Urbino, court of, and, 35

rhinoceros, 66, 138, 138, 175, 178

San Pietro in Montorio (Rome), 69 Sansovino, Andrea, 96–98, 96 Santa Maria dell’Anima (Rome), 94–98,

95, 96, 97

Santa Maria delle Grazie (Grazie di







Curtatone), 76, 77

Santa Maria del Popolo (Rome)

Basso della Rovere, Girolamo, tomb

Sacro Monte at Arona, 178, 179, 185



Chigi Chapel, 76, 77

Sacro Monte at Varallo, 168–78, 169, 171,



Rovere Chapel, 54, 55



172, 174, 175, 185



of, 94–96, 96, 98

Santa Maria in Trastevere (Rome), 164,

Sadeler, Johann, I, 176, 177

164, 165

ring, 74–75, 75

Saint Peter’s Basilica

Santi, Giovanni, 51

Ripa, Cesare



Hadrian VI and, 93

School of Athens (Raphael), 2, 179



Counter-Reformation and, 202



Paul III and, 103

Sebastiano del Piombo, 5, 69–70, 69



Iconologia written by, 187, 198–201



Pope Paul III Supervising Work on

Seneca, 43



legacy of, 203, 205





nature and, 208, 209



river god, 56, 57

Castel Sant’Angelo, 63, 99, 103–5, 104,

107, 110

St. Peter’s (Vasari), 114, 116

in Sala dei Cento Giorni, 114, 115, 118

Sala dei Cento Giorni (Vasari), 114-21,

Rome. See also Vatican

249

96, 97

workshop of, 1–2, 5, 7, 56, 61–62,

reform, 151–54, 154. See also Counter-







115, 116, 117, 119

Septimius Severus, 17 Sforza, Battista, 51 Sforza, Francesco, 38 Shearman, John, 122, 215n. 40

Doni on, 133, 135

Sistine Chapel

Giovio and, 137



ceiling of, 55, 65, 66, 66



Erithrean Sibyl (Michelangelo), 8,



Hadrian VI and, 93

attribution of, 5–7, 70



Jonah (Michelangelo), 166, 167

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, 6, 85, 86



nudity and, 118



Clement VII and, 10, 99



tapestries for, 65



Comitas in, 5, 7–8, 7, 70





Clement VII and, 99–101



Egypt in, 75–76



75, 76. See also Justice (Raphael and



Golden House, 53–55, 54, 56, 59, 60, 99



Giovanni da Udine)



Mausoleum of Augustus, 75–76, 76



Mausoleum of Hadrian, 76, 76

Sala di Costantino, 4, 6, 7, 68, 72, 73,





71–73, 72

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 249

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Sixtus V, 164, 178, 200



Sodoma, pilaster with grotesques and

Montefeltro imprese and, 35, 37,



Lives of the Artists, 121–23, 126, 131





on Michelangelo, 2



Pliny’s monstrous races (Monte



Palazzo Madama and, 107



Monte Oliveto and, 117



Oliveto Maggiore), 56–59, 59



Paul III and, 107–8



nature and, 208



Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico)



Solomon, 24 Le sorti (Marcolini), 143



and, 135

Speculum humanae salvationis, 24, 25



in Renaissance generally, 91

Speculum naturale (Vincent of Beauvais),



Ripa on, 199



22–23



Vico impresa and, 136

Spirito, Lorenzo, 143



Villa Madama and, 90

Stanza della Gloria (Villa d’Este, Tivoli),

Transfiguration (Raphael), 1–2, 3, 5, 7,



151–54, 152, 153, 154, 155



69, 121–22

Palazzo della Cancelleria (Rome),

111–21, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 131,



133, 135, 137, 201



Portrait of Emperor Charles V (Vico)



Raphael influenced generally, 11



in Sala dei Cento Giorni, 114, 115



on Transfiguration (Raphael), 1, 5, 7 on workshops, 7, 93



and, 133–36

Stanza della Segnatura (Vatican), 63, 64

Tribolo, 94, 95, 96, 97



Stanza dell’Incendio (Vatican), 76, 77

Triompho di fortuna (Fanti), 99, 100, 143

Vasto, Marchese del, 139, 140

Stefano of Ferrara, 31

Trionfi (Petrarch), 49–51, 143–44

Vatican. See also Rome, modern; Vatican

swan, 107, 163, 200. See also Leda and the

turkey, 89-90, 123, 164

Swan (Leonardo da Vinci); Leda

t



and the swan, Montefeltro Altar-



piece and

Tutankhamun, flabellum, 13, 14



Tavole di animali (Aldrovandi), 195, 196 Tempesta, Antonio, 160, 162, 176, 177,

220n. 70

Temptation (Sadeler), 176, 177 Temptation (Tempesta), 176, 177 Thomas Aquinas, Saint, 23–24, 43 Tiberius, coin with, 211n. 21, 212n. 31,

216n. 43

Tiepolo, Giambattista, 205, 207 Tiepolo, Giandomenico, 205–8, 207 Time, 151, 153 Titian, 115, 133, 179–80, 180 Tivoli

Hadrian’s Villa, 19–21, 150



Villa d’Este, 148–55, 149, 150, 152, 153,

154, 155



toad, 56, 58



Torrechiara, Castello, 126–29, 127, 128,

129, 131

toughness of ostrich. See also iron

Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evange-



Castello di Torrechiara and, 126



Castel Sant’Angelo and, 105



Giovio impresa and, 139



Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da





lista and, 129

Udine) and, 74

Palace

u



Cortile del Belvedere, 56, 63, 93



Rome, sack of, and, 99–101



in Sala dei Cento Giorni, 114, 115



Sistine Chapel, 8, 55, 65, 71–73, 93,

Unicorn Purifying a Stream (Campi),



St. Peter’s Basilica, 93, 103, 114, 116, 118

unicorn, 22, 59, 107, 109, 187-89, 188

Tabacchetti, 173



187–89, 188

Urban I, 4



118, 166, 167

Vatican Palace. See also Sala di Costantino

Bibbiena apartments, 53–62, 57, 58, 60,



Loggia, 65–69, 66, 67, 76, 94, 120, 121,



Paul III and, 103



Rome, sack of, and, 99–101



Sala del Pappagallo, 62



Stanza della Segnatura, 63, 64

Valeriano, Pierio



Stanza dell’Incendio, 76, 77



al-Asad and, 78

Vendramin, Gabriele, 144–46

Biblioteca di San Giovanni Evange-

Venus, fountain of (Villa d’Este, Tivoli),

Urbino, Carlo, 189, 190 Urbino, court of. See Federico da

Montefeltro; Palazzo Ducale

v

(Urbino)









lista and, 129



61, 62, 63, 65, 73, 74, 75, 76, 93 122

149, 149



Giovio and, 137

Venus and Adonis (Titian), 115



Hieroglyphica, 73–74, 79, 199

Venus of Urbino (Titian), 115



Justice (Raphael and Giovanni da

Vespasiano da Bisticci, 35, 36, 38



Udine) and, 9, 73–74

On the Ill Fortune of Learned Men, 101

van Aelst, Pieter, 80

Vico, Enea, 133–36, 134, 136 Vignola, Giacomo da, 123 Villa d’Este (Tivoli), 148–55, 149, 150, 152,

van der Straet, Jan, 160, 162 Varallo, Sacro Monte at, 168–78, 169, 171,

L’architettura (Alberti), title page for,



144, 145

153, 154, 155

Villa Madama (Rome), 85-91, 87, 88, 89,

172, 174, 175, 179, 185

Vasari, Giorgio



92, 131



Clement VII and, 99



Margherita of Austria and, 107



Palazzo Farnese and, 123



on Giovanni da Udine, 62, 65

Villa Medici (Poggio a Caiano), 137



Giovio and, 137, 146

Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta (Lainate),



on Hadrian VI, 93



on The Holy Family with Saints Mark



Justice, 111–14, 112, 113, 118, 133–35,



250

38–41, 45, 48, 51

and James (Romano), 94



158–63, 160, 161, 162, 185, 224n. 52

Vincent of Beauvais, 22–23 Vincidor, Tommaso, 80–83, 81

147–48, 201, 203, 205

Index

9 Notes/Biblio_pgs5.indd 250

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Vinciguerra, Antonio, 91 Virgil, 111 Virgin Mary. See Mary, Virgin virtue. See morality Visconti, Azzone, 31 Vitruvius, 55 Vittorino da Feltre, 43 Viviani da Urbino, Antonio, 165, 166, 167

w

Water (Brueghel), 181 Wazzan, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn

Ahmad al’. See Asad

wisdom, 142 wolf, 146, 200, 205 workshop of Raphael. See also Giovanni

da Udine; Giulio Romano;



Pelegrino da Modena; Peruzzi;



Raphael



Bibbiena apartments and, 61–62



Creation of the Animals (Raphael,



Giovanni da Udine, and



Pellegrino da Modena), 65–69, 66



Hadrian VI and, 93



Sala di Costantino and, 5–7, 70, 80



ransfiguration (Raphael) and, 1–2



Vasari on, 122



Villa Madama and, 86

z

Zalterio, Marco Antonio, 202–3, 203 Zanguidi, Jacopo, 124, 125 La zucca (Doni), 142–43, 144, 145, 154 Zuccaro, Federico

Calumny of Apelles, 124–26, 125, 131



Federico Borromeo and, 185



Palazzo Farnese and, 123–24, 124



Villa d’Este frescoes, 148, 151–54, 152,

153, 154, 155

Zuccaro, Taddeo, 123, 126

251

Index

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Typeset by Diane Jaroch Design Printed and bound by Tien Wah Press Composed in Galliard and Syntax Printed on Hansol Titan FSC Matt Bound in Saifu

252

Index

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