Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy: Making the Invisible Visible Through Art and Patronage 075466953X, 9780754669531

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Wives, WidoWs, Mistresses, and nuns in early Modern italy through a visually oriented investigation of historical (in)visibility in early modern italy, the essays in this volume recover those women – wives, widows, mistresses, the illegitimate – who have been erased from history in modern literature, rendered invisible or obscured by history or scholarship, as well as those who were overshadowed by male relatives, political accident, or spatial location. a multi-faceted invisibility of the individual and of the object is the thread that unites the chapters in this volume. though some women chose to be invisible, for example the cloistered nun, these essays show that in fact, their voices are heard or seen through their commissions and their patronage of the arts, which afforded them some visibility. invisibility is also examined in terms of commissions which are no longer extant or are inaccessible. What is revealed throughout the essays is a new way of looking at works of art, a new way to visualize the past by addressing representational invisibility, the marginalized or absent subject or object and historical (in)visibility to discover who does the “looking,” and how this shapes how something or someone is visible or invisible. the result is a more nuanced understanding of the place of women and gender in early modern italy. Katherine A. McIver is a Professor of Art History at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.

Women and Gender in the early Modern World Series Editors: allyson Poska, the university of Mary Washington, usa abby Zanger the study of women and gender offers some of the most vital and innovative challenges to current scholarship on the early modern period. For more than a decade now, Women and Gender in the early Modern World has served as a forum for presenting fresh ideas and original approaches to the field. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary in scope, this ashgate book series strives to reach beyond geographical limitations to explore the experiences of early modern women and the nature of gender in europe, the americas, asia, and africa. We welcome proposals for both single-author volumes and edited collections which expand and develop this continually evolving field of study. Titles in the series Women, art and architectural Patronage in renaissance Mantua Matrons, Mystics and Monasteries Sally Anne Hickson Governing Masculinities in the early Modern Period regulating selves and others Edited by Susan Broomhall and Jacqueline Van Gent early Modern Women in the low Countries Feminizing sources and interpretations of the Past Susan Broomhall and Jennifer Spinks Caterina sforza and the art of appearances Gender, art and Culture in early Modern italy Joyce de Vries dominican Women and renaissance art the Convent of san domenico of Pisa Ann Roberts

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and nuns in early Modern italy Making the invisible visible through art and Patronage

Edited by Katherine a. Mciver

First published 2012 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright © 2012 the editor and contributors Katherine a. Mciver has asserted her right under the Copyright, designs and Patents act, 1988, to be identified as the editor of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Mciver, Katherine a. Wives, widows, mistresses, and nuns in early modern italy : making the invisible visible through art and patronage. -(Women and gender in the early modern world) 1. art patronage--italy--history. 2. Women art patrons-italy--history. 3. art and society--italy--history. 4. Women--italy--history. i. title ii. series 707.9'45-dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wives, widows, mistresses, and nuns in early modern italy : making the invisible visible through art and patronage / edited by Katherine Mciver. p. cm. -- (Women and gender in the early modern world) includes bibliographical references and index. isBn 978-0-7546-6953-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. art patronage--italy--Marche--history. 2. Women art patrons--italy--Marche--history. 3. art and society--italy--Marche--history. 4. Women--italy--Marche--history. i. Mciver, Katherine a. ii. title: Making the invisible visible through art and patronage. n5273.W58 2011 704'.0420945--dc22

ISBN 9780754669531 (hbk)

2011009463

Contents List of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements introduction Part I

vii xiii xvii 1

Overshadowed, Overlooked: Historical Invisibility

1

hidden in Plain sight: varano and sforza Women of the Marche Jennifer D. Webb

13

2

Pier Maria’s legacy: (il)legitimacy, inheritance, and rule of Parma’s rossi dynasty Timothy McCall

33

3

rediscovering the villa Montalto and the Patronage of Camilla Peretti Kimberly L. Dennis

55

Part II

Becoming Visible Through Portraiture

4

Rewriting Lucrezia Borgia: Propriety, Magnificence, and Piety in Portraits of a renaissance duchess Allyson Burgess Williams

77

5

a Face in the Crowd: identifying the dogaressa at the ospedale dei Crociferi Mary E. Frank

99

6

vittoria Colonna in Giorgio vasari’s “life of Properzia de’ rossi” Marjorie Och

119

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

vi

Part III

Spatial Visibility Reconstructed

7

revisiting the renaissance household, in theory and in Practice: locating Wealthy Women in sixteenth-Century verona Alison A. Smith

141

8

an invisible enterprise: Women and domestic architecture in early Modern italy Katherine A. McIver

159

Part IV Sacred Invisibility Unveiled Invisibilia per visibilia: roman nuns, art Patronage, and the Construction of identity Marilyn Dunn

181

10 the Convent of santa Maria della sapienza: visual Culture and Women’s religious experience in early Modern naples Aislinn Loconte

207

Bibliography Index

235 261

9

list of illustrations 1

Hidden in Plain Sight: Varano and Sforza Women of the Marche

1.1

Piero della Francesca, Diptych, front, portraits of Battista sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, c. 1472, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photograph: nicolo orsi Battaglini / art resource, ny.

1.2

abbreviated family tree. illustration: author.

1.3

Map of the Marche region. illustration: author.

1.4

Palazzo ducale, central courtyard, Camerino, 1464–75. Photograph: author.

2

Pier Maria’s Legacy: (Il)legitimacy, Inheritance, and Rule of Parma’s Rossi Dynasty

2.1

Capital, Church of san Moderanno, Berceto, c. 1485. Photograph: © author.

2.2

unknown artist, Pier Maria and Filippo Maria Rossi, c. 1500, British Museum, london. Photograph: © the trustees of the British Museum.

2.3

Gianfrancesco enzola, Pier Maria Rossi, 1471, victoria and albert Museum, london. Photograph: © victoria and albert Museum, london.

2.4

lorenzo lotto, Bernardo Rossi, c. 1505, Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, naples. Photograph: © scala / Ministero per i Beni e le attività culturali / art resource, ny.

2.5

lorenzo lotto, Allegorical Cover for Portrait of Bernardo Rossi (prerestoration), c. 1505, national Gallery of art, Washington dC. Photograph: © Foto reali archive, department of image Collections, national Gallery of art library, Washington dC.

viii

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

2.6

lorenzo lotto, Madonna and Child with Saints Peter Martyr and John the Baptist (originally Bernardo rossi as kneeling donor), 1503, Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, naples. Photograph: © scala / art resource, ny.

2.7

X-ray of lorenzo lotto, Madonna and Child with Saints Peter Martyr and John the Baptist (originally Bernardo rossi as kneeling donor), 1503. Photograph: © villa i tatti, harvard university, Fototeca Berenson.

3

Rediscovering the Villa Montalto and the Patronage of Camilla Peretti

3.1

Giovanni Battista nolli, map of rome, 1748, detail showing villa Montalto. source: .

3.2

vittorio Massimo, map of villa Montalto, 1836, showing the villa grounds with roman numerals indicating the order in which each piece of property was acquired. source: vittorio Massimo, Notizie Istoriche della Villa Massimo alle Terme Diocleziane, rome, 1836.

3.3

Giovanni Battista Falda, villa Montalto, c. 1590, detail of Palazzetto Felice and formal gardens. Source: David R. Coffin, The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, Princeton nJ, 1979.

3.4

villa Montalto, view from Porta esquilina toward the Palazzetto Felice. source: .

4

Rewriting Lucrezia Borgia: Propriety, Magnificence, and Piety in Portraits of a Renaissance Duchess

4.1

Mantuan school, Medal of Lucrezia Borgia and “Amor Bendato,” c. 1505, Museo schifanoia, Ferrara.

4.2

Bartolomeo veneto, Lucrezia Borgia, c. 1508–10, Musée des Beaux-arts, nîmes.

4.3

Giovanni antonio da Foligno, reliquary panels of san Maurelius, c. 1514, Church of san Giorgio fuori le mura, Ferrara.

4.4

Giovanni antonio da Foligno, detail of lucrezia Borgia, reliquary panel of san Maurelius, c. 1514, Church of san Giorgio fuori le mura, Ferrara.

List of Illustrations

ix

5

A Face in the Crowd: Identifying the Dogaressa at the Ospedale dei Crociferi

5.1

Palma Giovane, Christ in Glory with Doge Zen (The Telero Zen), 1585, oil on canvas, 152 × 136½ inches (386 × 346 cm), oratory, ospedale dei Crociferi, venice. Photograph: Cameraphoto arte, venice.

5.2

Apparitio (Apparition of St. Mark’s Relics), c. 1260, mosaic, san Marco, venice. Photograph: Cameraphoto arte, venice.

5.3a

view of the Morosini Chapel, san Giorgio Maggiore, venice. Photograph: author.

5.3b

Palma’s Telero Zen digitally superimposed on the Morosini Chapel. digital engineering by author.

5.4

view of Piazza san Marco from san Giorgio Maggiore, venice. Photograph: author.

5.5

Jacopo tintoretto, Resurrection of Christ with the Morosini Family, 1587, oil on canvas, size unknown, Morosini Chapel, san Giorgio Maggiore, venice. Photograph: Cameraphoto arte, venice.

5.6

detail of the dogaressa from the Telero Zen. Photograph: Cameraphoto arte, venice; Matteo da Fina.

5.7

detail of Cecilia Pisani from tintoretto’s Resurrection with the Morosini Family. Photograph: Cameraphoto arte, venice; Matteo da Fina.

6

Vittoria Colonna in Giorgio Vasari’s “Life of Properzia de’ Rossi”

6.1

Properzia de’ rossi, Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar, 1525–26, relief, san Petronio, Bologna. image: courtesy of alinari / art resource, ny.

6.2

italian, Medal of Vittoria Colonna, sixteenth century, samuel h. Kress Collection, national Gallery of art, Washington dC. Photograph: courtesy of Board of trustees, national Gallery of art.

6.3

raphael, Parnassus (detail), 1511, fresco, stanza della segnatura, vatican Palace, vatican state. Photograph: scala / art resource, ny.

x

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

6.4

italian, Medal of Vittoria Colonna with Column and Tree, sixteenth century, Kunsthistorisches Museum, vienna. Photograph: courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Museum.

6.5

italian, Medal of Properzia de’ Rossi, seventeenth century, British Museum, london. Photograph: © the trustees of the British Museum.

8

An Invisible Enterprise: Women and Domestic Architecture in Early Modern Italy

8.1

Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza, 1560s, architect: Jacopo vignola. Photograph: author.

8.2

diagram of Margaret of austria’s palace in aquila, 1572–77. Photograph: author.

8.3

Palazzo delle Papese, siena, 1460s. Photograph: author.

8.4

Palazzo dei Principi, Correggio, 1507. Photograph: author.

8.5

villa imperiale, Pesaro, 1529, architect: Girolamo Genga. Photograph: author.

8.6

Palazzo ricci, rome. Photograph: author.

9

Invisibilia per visibilia: Roman Nuns, Art Patronage, and the Construction of Identity

9.1

view toward choir gallery, c. 1638–39, santa lucia in selci, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

9.2

Giuseppe Passeri, St. Catherine of Siena in Prayer, c. early 1700s, santa Caterina a Magnanapoli, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

9.3

Girolamo troppa (after the design of Giovanni Battista Gaulli), St. Martha Resuscitating a Drowned Youth, c. 1671–72, santa Marta al Collegio romano, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

9.4

andrea Camassei, St. John the Evangelist Giving Communion to the Virgin, c. 1636–39, santa lucia in selci, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

List of Illustrations

xi

9.5

attributed to the school of Francesco allegrini, Virgin and Sts. Mary Magdalene and Catherine of Alexandria with the Image of St. Dominic of Soriano, santa Maria dell’umiltà, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

9.6

luigi Garzi, St. Catherine and the Glory of All Saints, c. 1701–02, santa Caterina a Magnanapoli, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

9.7

de torres family stemma on the high altar, san ambrogio della Massima, rome. Photograph: McGuire.

10

The Convent of Santa Maria della Sapienza: Visual Culture and Women’s Religious Experience in Early Modern Naples

10.1

santa Maria della sapienza, naples. Photograph: author.

10.2

detail of Maria Carafa from the façade of santa Maria della sapienza, naples. Photograph: author.

10.3

interior view toward the high altar, santa Maria della sapienza, naples. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli.

10.4

Cesare Fracanzano, The Assumption of the Virgin, 1640, santa Maria della sapienza, naples. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli.

10.5

Belisario Corenzio, Scenes from the Life of Christ, 1636, nave vault, santa Maria della sapienza, naples. Photograph: author.

10.6

Carlo rosa, The Crucifixion, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli.

10.7

Carlo rosa, Christ Healing an Epileptic, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli.

xii

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

10.8

domenico Gargiulo, Last Supper, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli.

10.9

Giovanni ricca, Transfiguration of Christ, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli.

10.10 andrea vaccaro, Temptation of Christ, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il P.s.a.e. e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli. 10.11 hendrick van somer, Baptism of Christ, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia. reproduced with the permission of the Fototeca della soprintendenza per il Psae e per il Polo Museale della città di napoli. 10.12 Matroneo, santa Maria della sapienza, naples. Photograph: author.

notes on Contributors Allyson Burgess Williams received her Phd in art history from the university of California, los angeles in 2005. she teaches art history of the early modern period at san diego state university, and her research interests include italian courtly patronage (particularly that of the este in Ferrara), gender issues, portraiture, palace design, and the history of collecting. Kimberly L. Dennis is an associate Professor in the department of art and art history at rollins College, Florida. her work focuses on the architectural and urban patronage of roman noblewomen during the Counter-reformation. her essay “Camilla Peretti, sixtus v, and the Construction of a locus of Peretti Family identity in Counter-reformation rome” is forthcoming in Sixteenth Century Journal. her current research project focuses on olimpia Maidalchini Pamphili (1594–1657), sister-in-law and long-time companion of Pope innocent X (Giovanni Battista Pamphili, r. 1644–55), examining donna olimpia’s involvement with the Pope’s many patronage projects throughout the city of rome. Marilyn Dunn is associate Professor of art history at loyola university, Chicago. her research interests focus on art and patronage in seventeenth-century rome with a particular emphasis on the role of women and convents as patrons of art and architecture. among her publications are articles in The Art Bulletin, Römisches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana, and Aurora, and contributions to Women and Art in Early Modern Europe (Penn state Press, 1997) and Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe (ashgate, 2003). Mary E. Frank is an independent scholar who received her Phd from Princeton university in 2006, with a dissertation entitled “Donne Attempate: Women of a Certain age in sixteenth-Century venetian art.” dr. Frank also has a master’s degree in art history with a concentration on twentieth-century art, from the university of Miami. dr. Frank is a member of the board of directors of save venice, inc., where she sits on the Projects Committee, determining which works of art and architecture save venice will conserve and restore. she is the immediate past president of the board of trustees of the Miami art Museum in Miami, Florida, where she makes her home when she is not doing research in venice. dr. Frank lectures and writes frequently on both venetian and contemporary art.

xiv

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

Aislinn Loconte received her doctorate from the university of oxford and has held fellowships in the uK and in italy. her research and publications focus primarily on neapolitan art and architecture, covering such topics as Giorgio vasari’s relationship to naples and the role of female patrons in the city. her current book project is provisionally entitled The Art of Queenship: Royal Women and Artistic Patronage in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Kingdom of Naples. Timothy McCall is assistant Professor of art history in the department of history at villanova university, Pennsylvania. his research primarily investigates gender, power, and visual culture in fifteenth-century Italian courts. he has published in journals including Renaissance Studies and Studies in Iconography and is currently preparing two book projects: a co-edited volume on rhetorics of secrecy in early modern europe and a study of the construction and representation of aristocratic masculinity in northern italian courts tentatively titled Brilliant Bodies: Art and Chivalric Masculinity in Early Renaissance Italy. Katherine A. McIver is Professor of art history at the university of alabama at Birmingham. she is the author of Women, Art, and Architecture in Northern Italy, 1520–1580: Negotiating Power (ashgate, 2006), winner of a society for the study of early Modern Women Book award in 2007, and the editor of Art and Music in the Early Modern Period: Essays in Honor of Franca Trinchieri Camiz (ashgate, 2003). she contributed to Women and Portraits in Early Modern Europe: Gender, Agency, and Identity, edited by andrea Pearson (ashgate, 2008) and has published articles and essays on the artistic patronage of italian renaissance women in Beyond Isabella: Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy, edited by sheryl reiss and david Wilkins (truman state university Press, 2001), Sixteenth Century Journal, Artibus et Historiae, and Explorations in Renaissance Culture, among others. her current project focuses on dining practices, kitchens and the domestic interior in sixteenth-century italy. Marjorie Och is Professor of art history at the university of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg va. she has published on vittoria Colonna’s art patronage in Beyond Isabella: Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy, edited by sheryl reiss and david Wilkins (truman state university Press, 2001) and Women as Sites of Culture, edited by susan shifrin (ashgate, 2002). her current research focuses on Giorgio vasari’s accounts of cities in his Lives of the Artists. Alison A. Smith is associate Professor of history at Wagner College, new york. she has published several articles on women, material culture and the veronese elite in the sixteenth century and is currently completing a book on aristocratic

Notes on Contributors

xv

sociability and the accademia Filarmonica, a prominent musical academy in verona during the second half of the sixteenth century. Jennifer D. Webb, assistant Professor of art history at the university of Minnesota Duluth, specializes in the study of fifteenth-century Italian Renaissance art and architecture, culture, and patronage practice. her article, “Golden age Collecting in america’s Middle West: Chester and Clara Congdon’s Glensheen historical Manor and raymond Wyer’s An Art Museum” (Journal of the History of Collections, 22/1, May 2010) explores patronage and the rise of museum culture in turn-of-the-twentieth-century america.

acknowledgements as with any project of this kind, one accrues many debts, and it is now my pleasure to thank those who so generously contributed to its completion. above all, the volume’s contributors need recognition. they not only responded promptly to my numerous queries and requests with patience and good humor, but also diligently met every deadline. our collaboration on this project has been a pleasure. tim McCall deserves special mention; conversations with him about invisibility sparked the idea for this book; he made me think of women and how they are perceived in the early modern period in an entirely new way. erika Gaffney, at ashgate, was enthusiastic about this project from the outset; her support and encouragement throughout the process is noteworthy; she is more than my editor, she is a dear friend. erika, along with the series editors allyson Poska and abby Zanger, and also the production staff, followed through superbly. in particular, i would like to thank Jacqui Cornish, Production editor, who was a pleasure working with. the anonymous reader offered indispensable insights, caught several inconsistencies, and in general, made this a better volume. Finally, i wish to thank my family, especially my husband, William C. Mciver, and friends, who listened patiently, kept me focused, and offered neverending support throughout the process. KAM Birmingham AL

introduction this volume grew out of a session (Women of Power: architecture and visual imagery in early Modern italy) that i organized and chaired for the sixteenth Century society and Conference held in st. louis in october 2008 and the discussion that followed, which led to further conversations with timothy McCall, whose own work and ideas were the inspiration for this anthology. the concept of this volume builds on not only timothy’s article, “visual imagery and historical invisibility: antonia torelli, her husband, and his Mistress in Fifteenth-Century Parma”1 (and an earlier version which i read), but also on an article by helen s. ettlinger, “visibilis et invisibilis: the Mistress in italian renaissance Court society.”2 Both articles are fundamental sources and stand out in the scholarship for their innovative approaches to the topic of women’s visibility/invisibility as a new/alternative method of recovering women. two of the papers in that session (those of Jennifer Webb and Kimberly dennis) were expanded for this volume, while the third (timothy McCall’s) takes a new approach, yet is a continuation of that paper. i then turned to other scholars whose research interests were similar and solicited papers from them. through a visually oriented investigation of historical (in)visibility in early modern italy, the chapters in this anthology recover those women – wives, widows, mistresses, the illegitimate (male/sons and female/daughters) – who have been erased from history in modern literature, rendered invisible or obscured by history or scholarship, as well as those who were overshadowed by male relatives, political accident, or spatial location. a multi-faceted invisibility of the individual and of the object is the thread that unites the chapters in this volume. though some women chose to be invisible, for example the cloistered nun, these contributions show that, in fact, their voices are heard or seen through their commissions and their patronage of the arts, which afforded them some visibility. invisibility is also examined in terms of commissions which are no longer extant or are inaccessible. What is revealed throughout the book is a new way of looking at works of art, a new way to visualize the past by addressing representational invisibility, the marginalized or absent subject or object and historical (in)visibility to discover who does the “looking,” and how this shapes how something or someone is visible or invisible. the result is a more nuanced understanding of the place of women and gender in early modern italy.

2

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

By re-interpreting old ideas and challenging past beliefs, the contributions to this volume correspond with new methodologies which focus on alternate ways of reading images, documents, and history; and the volume adds to the growing body of literature on gender and visual culture in early modern italy.3 While there is a large body of literature on women patrons of the arts such as sheryl reiss’s and david Wilkins’s Beyond Isabella,4 this volume is more diverse in approach, and not all of the chapters deal directly (or traditionally) with artistic patronage (Webb, McCall, och, smith). here “patronage” is used in its broadest sense, referring not only to the arts but also to politics; and therefore can relate to the power to make appointments, grant jobs or favors to supporters and so on (as we will see in Timothy McCall’s discussion). “Patron” is more loosely defined as someone who supports with money the efforts or endorsements of artists, charities and the like. even the term “art” can be seen in a broader context as a skill in conducting any human activity, such as the “art of conversation,” “the art of presenting oneself,” or “the art of manipulation” as timothy McCall shows in his discussion of Pier Maria rossi and his illegitimate sons. Moreover, “art” can be defined as the quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance.5 thus the contributions to this anthology show diversity in terms of methodology, approach to the topic, and geographical location, as well as the interplay of various disciplines. Overshadowed, Overlooked: Historical Invisibility the three chapters in this section address invisibility in three different ways as suggested by the subheading. Jennifer Webb’s four women of the sforza, Montefeltro, and varano dynasties (Pesaro, urbino, Camerino) were overshadowed by their husbands and obscured by history; similarly, Camilla Peretti (Kimberly dennis’s chapter) has been overlooked in modern literature as a patron of architecture, whereas, in timothy McCall’s chapter, mistresses are represented by their sons – the illegitimate who are rendered invisible by political accident. his chapter developed out of his Renaissance Studies article in which he discussed antonia torelli, wife of Pier Maria rossi – a woman overshadowed by her husband’s mistress.6 in her contribution, Jennifer Webb explores the question of the invisibility of four women living in the Marche region of italy. related by marriage, these women played powerful roles at their dynastic courts or devoted themselves to the church: Battista Montefeltro Malatesta (1383–1450); Battista sforza (1446–72), countess of urbino; her mother, Costanza varano (1426–47); and Beata Camilla Battista sforza (1458–1524), the illegitimate daughter of Giulio Cesare varano who assumed joint control of Camerino after the varano dynasty resumed control in 1443. Battista Montefeltro pioneered the education of women and played an

Introduction

3

active role in ruling the Malatesta court in Pesaro. Costanza is famed as a poet and for her advocacy of education as well as the public orations she gave in support of her city. Piero della Francesca’s portrait of Battista appears on the covers of dozens of histories of renaissance art, though her contributions to the culture of the Montefeltro court have been overshadowed by those of her husband and son; and Camilla wrote deeply spiritual treatises often linked with those written by mystics during the Counter-reformation. timothy McCall considers the gendered dynamics of the representation, political power, and historical visibility of various bastards of the rossi dynasty of Parma. Bastards manifested the prince’s virility and potency and generated pools of generally faithful, but often relatively disposable supporters. McCall argues that the historical visibility of bastards was contingent on constructions and expectations of gender and class, and on political necessity. it was often in times of political or dynastic crisis, in fact, that bastards became most historically visible. through examination of the image, recognition, and historical visibility of the illegitimate, and in some cases legitimated, children of Pier Maria rossi of Parma, McCall evaluates the representation and patronage of bastards at court, investigating frescoes, medals, and painted and sculpted emblems spread throughout the Parmense and beyond. While rossi is best known for a multimedia campaign of art celebrating his mistress, and thus his own amatory prowess, McCall explores rossi’s family relations within their own political and affective contexts, including the rather salacious case of disinheriting and making one of his legitimate sons (and would-be patricide) a bastard. Pier Maria utilized his illegitimate offspring to shape an image of power, virility, and chivalric authority, and the representational visibility of his mistress was not only a register of feminine virtue and his masculine prowess, but was essential as generator of bastards. The final chapter in this section, by Kimberly Dennis, focuses on Camilla Peretti, sister of Pope sixtus v, who purchased a piece of property located on rome’s esquiline hill, just northeast of the ancient basilica of santa Maria Maggiore in 1576. over the course of the next 12 years, Peretti systematically acquired 17 additional parcels of land in the area, gradually developing the first large-scale noble-family villa inside rome’s city walls, the villa Montalto. three years after the purchase of her first piece of property, Camilla Peretti was joined in her effort to develop the land into a Peretti family homestead by her brother, who directed the construction of two palazzi built by domenico Fontana on the grounds. Dennis traces Camilla Peretti’s patronage at the Villa Montalto from her first land purchase to its disappearance in 1867, when the palazzi and gardens were demolished to make way for the termini train station. the villa Montalto provides an engaging case study of issues of visibility and invisibility, as it once stood as a landmark in a developing region of the city, yet today only a small plaque remains to mark a corner of the property. as the villa once served as a monument to the Peretti family’s rapid rise in status within the roman social hierarchy, Camilla

4

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

Peretti may be understood to have initiated the project in an effort to render her family prominently ‘visible’ on the social map of early modern rome. Peretti’s contemporaries acknowledged her contributions to the complex, but just as the villa disappeared from the esquiline centuries later, Camilla Peretti’s role in the development of the site was gradually erased from the historical literature and reattributed to the agency of her brother. Becoming Visible Through Portraiture By definition, a portrait is “a likeness” or “a verbal description of a person” and portraiture, “a pictorial or verbal representation” – a visible image.7 Portraits involve self-fashioning – the manipulation of an image for a particular motive or purpose – image-making.8 the three chapters in this section approach the topic of portraiture in relation to women’s invisibility – women who were obscured in history yet who are made visible through their portraits. Both allyson Burgess Williams and Mary Frank use painted portraits to recover/rewrite the image of a particular woman: lucrezia Borgia and Cecilia Pisani Morosini respectively, while Marjorie och’s contribution is based primarily on literary or written imagery as portraiture in her consideration of vittoria Colonna in vasari’s Lives. as well, both Burgess Williams and och look at portrait medals as a method of self-imaging for the two women. allyson Burgess Williams rewrites the image of lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara and wife of Alfonso I d’Este. Vilified in the centuries following her death, history obliterated the “real” lucrezia. the actual duchess became invisible and her identity was elided with those of her father (Pope alexander vi) and brother (Cesare Borgia), and refabricated to serve a romantic need for a female villain. Burgess Williams proposes a more nuanced understanding of lucrezia Borgia’s circumstance through an examination of her portraits as strategies of female agency. she rejects unlikely images such as Bartolomeo veneto’s semi-nude vienna Flora and focuses on solidly identifiable portraits such as a medal, securely provenanced copies of a lost portrait by Bartolomeo veneto, and a reliquary panel to resituate lucrezia Borgia into the courtly culture in which she lived. While rendered physically all but invisible, portraits of the duchess were an important means through which she could manifest and present an appropriate identity. lucrezia Borgia used portraiture, as Burgess Williams shows, to great effect in the first tumultuous decade of her Ferarrese life, in order to obliterate her Roman past, and to make sure she was perceived as a virtuous woman suitable as a consort for a duke whose family was one of the oldest and most noble ruling families in the italian peninsula. In her chapter, Mary Frank investigates the role and significance of the woman standing conspicuously at the center of a world dominated by men in Palma il

Introduction

5

Giovane’s Christ in Benediction with Doge Zen (ospedale dei Crociferi, venice). Commonly identified as Alucia da Prata Zen, wife of the thirteenth-century Doge in the painting, she stands directly under the figure of Christ. Although the painting purports to celebrate and document the beneficence of Doge Renier Zen to the ospedale, it has long been recognized that many of the men in the painting are honorable proxies; that is, portraits of actual contemporary sixteenth-century figures who played a role in the governance of the institution. While many of the men have been identified, no effort has been made heretofore to determine the contemporary identity of the central female figure, splendidly dressed in the garb of a sixteenth-century dogaressa. she has remained essentially invisible, her role decorative and one-dimensional. Frank uses both historical context and setting to rectify this oversight by reconstructing the importance of the protagonists, doge and dogaressa Zen, and some of the pictorial conventions particular to venice at the time. she artfully links this couple to the sixteenth-century procurator vincenzo Morosini, who aspired to become doge, and his wife, Cecilia Pisani, a woman prominent in her own right whose charitable acts allowed her to reach beyond the domestic realm and receive Christ’s blessing. turning away from visual imagery, Marjorie och takes a literary approach to portraiture. in her analysis of vasari’s Lives of the Artists, och turns to the work of vittoria Colonna, who was referenced by vasari several times in the Lives. Colonna offers an especially rich biography and body of texts that invites an examination of how this creative woman fashioned an identity for herself and how such a manufactured identity could have directed vasari’s understanding of a female-gendered genius. och suggests that vasari might have found in Colonna’s literary production a structure for writing about a woman’s life that directed his fiction. Vasari, in his “Life of Properzia de’ Rossi,” identifies the woman artist with her work and the work with autobiography, much as vittoria Colonna taught her readers what it was to be a woman writer who based her work on her own life experiences. Through a careful reading of Vasari’s text, Och finds significant parallels between Properzia’s constructed life and vittoria Colonna’s. indeed, Colonna’s self-constructed life as it was expressed in her poetry and depicted in her portrait medals became a model for vasari as he considered women artists. that de’ rossi’s work is treated by vasari as autobiography is based, in part, on the parallels between Colonna’s biography and poetry, and these made visible to vasari how a “life” of a woman artist might be inserted into his history of art. Spatial Visibility Reconstructed Women and secular architecture is the topic of this section; not just women who were builders, renovators, reconstructors of the early modern palazzo or villa, but also their spatial relationship or visibility within the household. For the most

6

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

part, women with a vested interest in secular architecture have been obliterated from the historical record in modern literature and the two contributions here propose to rectify this. Alison Smith looks specifically at women within the households of verona, while Katherine Mciver surveys a broad range of women throughout italy and their involvement with secular architecture to suggest that women, just like men, could and did commission palaces, villas and other structures. alison smith revisits some of the issues facing historians wishing to locate actual women in the physical spaces and property systems, the fiscal as well as the physical presence of women in elite households. Based on an archival survey of census data, she considers the evidence that there were large numbers of female-headed households in verona as well as households that contained almost exclusively women. Smith examines the configuration of family and servants in several veronese households, and demonstrates that any theoretical ideal that women be invisible and silent was impossible to implement in practice. Many of the ideals of household management and organization, discussed in the theoretical treatises published in such large numbers in the sixteenth century, were impractical and unrealistic for all but the wealthiest of noble families. some noble families in verona were extremely wealthy and lived in very large and elegant palaces, where it would have indeed been possible to sequester the female family members into separate, private spaces. Many other noble families, however, did not. therefore in the case of verona, as smith argues, this very impossibility of sequestration may have rendered noblewomen more visible and given them more direct access to the social and political life of the city. if we wish to restore noblewomen to greater visibility in the historiography of early modern italy, then it is useful to consider whether and to what degree the theoretical invisibility imposed upon them by their contemporaries (and modern historians) could be implemented in practice. in her chapter, Katherine Mciver notes that architectural patronage has always been understood to be a powerful tool for shaping both the physical and cultural environment, allowing the patron an opportunity for self-fashioning and the expression of public ideology. it was common practice for women with the financial means to commission religious or charitable structures. Not so the family palace, which has long been associated, in modern literature, with the male self-image of power and prestige. the palace spoke for the family or the husband, even if he was long dead. however, early modern sources often suggest that it was acceptable for women of power to demonstrate masculine qualities. From Boccaccio to tasso, authors of treatises on famous women spoke of the virtue of performing as a man, taking on the masculine role, even that of a palace builder; yet the modern assumption is that women did not build palaces, thus they are rendered invisible as patrons of residential architecture. in terms of secular architecture, Mciver has found that women not only constructed or

Introduction

7

reconstructed palaces or less ostentatious residences, they built country houses and villas, hunting lodges with gardens or parks and bath houses as well. some worked in conjunction with their husbands, brothers, or sons; others built structures as retreats for their husbands or for themselves; still others took on the male model and built private residences. her contribution presents an overview of what women throughout italy were capable of as builders of secular architecture, and thus making what was once invisible, visible. Sacred Invisibility Unveiled Cloistered nuns were, of course, virtually invisible to the public, hidden behind walls; yet their voices could be heard or seen through their commissions and patronage of the arts as the two chapters in this final section of the volume demonstrate. Both Marilyn dunn and aislinn loconte discuss convent patronage after the Council of trent (1545–63) which re-established the strict enclosure of female convents in order to protect the chastity of religious women and enable them to fulfill their function in Christian society. Convents were places dedicated to prayer, the principal element of nuns’ mission. nuns functioned as intercessors for the salvation and spiritual needs of Christians. their virginal purity and spiritual devotion rendered their prayers particularly efficacious. Convent architecture physically enforced clausura and shaped an environment conducive to nuns’ spiritual perfection. While contemporary male religious engaged in an active apostolate in the world, nuns fulfilled their role segregated from the secular world behind the cloister walls. they worshiped and recited the Divine Office in the nuns’ choir or chiesa interiore, separated by a wall from the external public church. in her chapter, Marilyn dunn notes that while they had no physical access to their public church, nuns nevertheless lavished attention on this space, embellishing it with architecture, paintings, sculpture, and liturgical furnishings. acting as a corporate body or individuals, roman nuns were frequently the principal patrons of the decoration of their public churches. though nuns were invisible to the public, hidden behind the obscuring grates covering their choirs, they asserted their presence though the art and architecture they sponsored. like popes and noble families, whose decorations fabricated their identities in the image-conscious society of seventeenth-century rome, both male and female religious orders utilized the decoration of their churches to construct the identity of their community and celebrate its mission within the Catholic Church. through a discussion of decorations in the public churches of various seventeenth-century roman convents, dunn examines how cloistered nuns used their art patronage to construct multi-faceted identities and establish a visible public presence. Within many convent churches in post-tridentine rome,

8

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

decorations established the female identity of the community, relating it to its corporate history, its religious order, and to saints and allegories that represented the virtues and prayerful mission ideally practised by nuns. rich embellishments spoke to the nobility of the inhabitants of the convent, enhancing its reputation. imagery established a corporate identity of a devout and virtuous convent, offering a validation of nuns’ vocation and reminding the public of the holy mission these cloistered virgins performed. While constructing a public image of ideal female religious in their decorations, aristocratic roman nuns also challenged the constrictions of enclosure by perpetuating their identity with their natal families, a practice frowned upon by the official Church, through their extensive employment of coats of arms marking their projects. through their active agency as art patrons, invisible nuns created a visible public presence that connected them to the social fabric of rome. In the final chapter, Aislinn Loconte turns to post-Tridentine Naples, the convent of santa Maria della sapienza and the Carafa family. in early modern Naples, convents assumed significant roles as sites fundamentally shaped by aristocratic and dynastic interests, where multiple political, social and religious concerns intersected and overlapped. at the center of this dynamic tension between the post-tridentine regulations governing their lives and the familial and societal ties which, even after taking the veil, bound them to the secular world, early modern religious women in naples found novel roles for themselves. loconte considers how, through their extensive artistic patronage, the nuns at santa Maria della sapienza bridged the public and private spaces of their convent, challenged the boundaries of absolute poverty and the rules of enclosure intended to render them invisible, and used visual language to address some of the central issues surrounding the experience of early modern religious women in naples. The nuns’ most significant project, as Loconte notes, was the construction and decoration of a new church for the sapienza during the seventeenth century. Until now, little specific attention has been given to the rich decorative program of the interior spaces of the church and the roles of the nuns in commissioning the works of art. The nuns at the Sapienza used their wealth and influence to build an image of themselves as particularly devout and pious nuns and patrons. Conclusion Without a doubt what marks the contributions to this volume as unique is their diversity in terms of methodological approach to the idea of “invisibility,” those erased from the historical record or obscured through time. the discussions are innovative, moving away from old ideas and past beliefs. each author’s individual voice is meant to come through in their chapter and, therefore, will enhance the

Introduction

9

volume as a whole. each author considers the issue of invisibility or historical visibility in order to make the women (and men) and their accomplishments visible to us today; and this is the common thread that binds the contributions together. it is the hope that this volume will provide a springboard for further research and understanding of women and gender in early modern italy. Notes 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8

Renaissance Studies, 23/3 (June 2009): 269–287. Renaissance Quarterly, 47/4 (Winter 1994): 770–792. the volume complements such collections as: allison levy, ed., Widowhood and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2003); helen hills, ed., Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2003), andrea Pearson, ed., Women and Portraits in Early Modern Europe (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2008); susan shifren, ed., Women as Sites of Culture (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2002); anne Jacobson schutte, thomas Kuehn, and sandra seidel, eds, Time, Space and Women’s Lives in Early Modern Europe (Kirkville Mo, 2001); sheryl reiss and david Wilkins, eds, Beyond Isabella, Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy (Kirkville Mo, 2001); Cynthia lawrence, ed., Women and Art in Early Modern Europe, Patrons, Collectors, and Connoisseurs (university Park Pa, 1997); Geraldine Johnson and sarah MatthewsGrieco, eds, Picturing Women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy (Cambridge, 1997); as well as a large number of single-authored volumes, the majority of which are listed in the bibliography. see particularly their preface and introduction. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary (new york, 1991), 991, 77. his article is cited in the opening paragraph of this introduction. Webster’s College Dictionary, 1062. For an in-depth discussion of portraiture, see andrea Pearson, “introduction: Portraiture’s selves,” in Women and Portraits, 1–13.

Part i overshadowed, overlooked: historical invisibility

Chapter 1

hidden in Plain sight: varano and sforza Women of the Marche Jennifer d. Webb

“our time is not lacking in outstanding women who deserve praise,” remarked ludovico Carbone (1430–85) in a wedding oration. “Who has not heard of Battista Malatesta, who delivered a fine oration before Pope Martin?” he continued.1 By posing such a hypothetical question, Carbone assumed that his audience was familiar with Battista Malatesta and other famous women who are now virtually invisible. Many hide in the shadows cast by their fathers or husbands while others, deserving of study, are ignored because the regions in which they lived are regarded as peripheral and provincial. this chapter explores the individual and group contributions of a dynasty of women born into the sforza, Montefeltro and varano families and living in Pesaro, urbino, and Camerino. this dynasty helped redefine expectations for the role of women in a way that both colored the culture of the Marche and established a tradition of female education without rival in italy.2 While these women did have greater opportunities than some of their peers, each woman was restrained by the opportunities available to her – often regarded as a forced choice between mental or physical clausura – and yet to some extent redefined her role and embraced her responsibilities. Each new generation built upon the advances of the previous and demonstrated further that renaissance women, so often invisible in history, played a critical role in the culture of court and convent. Battista Montefeltro Malatesta (1383–1450) pioneered the education of women and played an active role in the ruling of the Malatesta court in Pesaro. Costanza varano (1428–47) is famed for her role as poetess and advocate both for the rights of her family and for establishing educational programming in Pesaro. Battista sforza (1446–72), Costanza’s daughter and subject of Piero della Francesca’s Diptych (c. 1472, Fig. 1.1) has one of the most famous profiles in Renaissance history and played a critical leadership role at the court of her husband Federico da Montefeltro.3 Battista’s second cousin, Beata Camilla Battista da varano (1458–1524), the illegitimate daughter of Giulio Cesare da varano, abandoned the luxuries of court life, withstood parental pressures to marry, and devoted her life to God by becoming a Poor Clare (female follower of st. Francis)4 (Fig. 1.2). these women, as well

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

1.1 Piero della Francesca, Diptych, front, portraits of Battista sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, c. 1472, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence as their contemporaries and descendents, are not as renowned today as they were in their own age. italian specialists have reviewed individual biographies but nobody has explored the contributions the dynasty made as a whole. traditions of learning and leadership – that began with Battista Montefeltro Malatesta – deepened over the course of several generations and were realized completely in the life of Battista sforza’s famous granddaughter, vittoria Colonna. each woman’s path is typical of those prescribed for the perfect renaissance woman, but the subtleties of their individual biographies demonstrate that each found her voice and expressed herself with a vocabulary colored by her extraordinary humanist education and uniquely suited to her life. The question “Did women have a Renaissance?” was posed first by Joan Kelly-Gadol in 1977 and, over the subsequent three decades, the answers have become increasingly nuanced.5 While women did not benefit from the equality described so prosaically by Jacob Burckhart in The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, it is evident that certain women – both in courtly and republican settings – found a way to make the best of the situation in which they found themselves.6 like isabella d’este – famous for her interest in music, her

Varano and Sforza Women of the Marche Galeazzo Malatesta (1385–1452)

15

Battista Montefeltro Malatesta (1383–1450)

m

Costanza di Bartolomeo Smeducci (2nd wife) Elisabetta Malatesta (1407–1477)

m

m

Piergentile Varano (1400–1433)

Alessandro Sforza (1409–1473)

m

Costanza Varano (1426–1447)

Battista Sforza (1446–1472) (2nd wife)

m

Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482)

Agnesina

m

Rodolfo III da Varano (1399–1424)

m

Elisabetta Malatesta (1st wife)

Giovanni II Giulio Cesare da Varano (1432/3–1502) Camilla Battista da Varano (illegitimate) (1458–1524)

Fabrizio Colonna

Vittoria Colonna

1.2 abbreviated family tree leadership, and her patronage of artists like andrea Mantegna – the Malatesta, sforza, and varano women were groomed for positions of relative prestige and power. Born into some of the most powerful regional dynasties, aspirations for each woman’s usefulness within a complicated system of negotiated allegiances was high as were expectations for rule and patronage. Many of these women would serve as regent or reign in their own right which meant that they needed to be as highly, if not more highly, educated than their husbands.7 as in the case of Barbara of Brandenburg, the wife of ludovico d’este, duke of Ferrara, the consort often served as liaison with her natal family or as a conduit for information too important to be sent directly to her husband.8 in addition to serving in her husband’s name, a consort also took responsibility for the education of her children, the future dukes and duchesses. For this reason, it was essential that court ladies be familiar with classical writings and history, as well as be versed in Christian doctrine so that they could teach their sons, and daughters, the so cherished, and rather delicate, balance of the vita activa and vita contemplativa. as Florentine humanist leonardo Bruni wrote in his 1424 treatise addressed to Battista Montefeltro Malatesta and concerned with the education of women, “the intellect that aspires to the best, i maintain, must be in this way double educated […] it is religion and moral philosophy that ought to be our particular studies, i think, and the rest studied in relation to them as their handmaids, in proportion as they illustrate their meaning.”9 Guided by Bruni’s humanist program, this dynasty of women established a tradition of humanist training that passed

16

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

down through generations and which prepared their daughters well for the roles they were required to play at other courts. to understand the ways in which these women colored life in the Marche, one cannot focus on a single “extraordinary” woman but rather must consider the influence and interconnectedness of the dynasty as a whole in much the same way that scholars focus on the influence of the Medici family in conjunction with discussions of individual patrons. Studies of fifteenth-century politics throughout Europe, but particularly in the italian peninsula, focus on the importance networks of support and alliances played in fueling various power struggles and encouraging patronage. these networks – whether on the neighborhood, city, or regional level – were founded on links men forged in many ways, including through marriages and subsequent births, employment, political negotiations, and financial interdependence. Women, like their male relatives, also manipulated complex networks as an instrument for personal and familial gain as well as companionship.10 unlike men whose participation in the vita activa was praised as a social responsibility, women looked to allegiances that emerged from the limited opportunities available to them; a woman could be a wife, mother, daughter, or pursue a religious career. thus a woman’s network – which included sisters, cousins, mothers, aunts – extended from court to palace and into the convents with women like Battista sforza who belonged to tertiary orders, providing the point of contact between women under clausura and those living a more “active” or public life.11 For Battista sforza, like so many of her contemporaries, her networks converged to form a web that wove together those members of her family – including her great-grandmother, grandmother, and step-mother – who lived or had lived in Franciscan convents throughout the region with friends, family, and allies living at courts and in cities throughout the italian peninsula. Hidden in Plain Sight: The Legacy of the Visible yet Invisible Consort: Battista Montefeltro Malatesta and Battista Sforza this dynasty of extraordinary women fully took root with Battista Montefeltro Malatesta for whom Battista sforza, her great-granddaughter, was named. Born in 1384 to antonio da Montefeltro, the then count of urbino and the Montefeltro region (Fig. 1.3), Battista was baptized “Johanna Baptista” in recognition of her maternal uncle, Battista di vico, and the family’s devotion to st. John the Baptist.12 she married Galeazzo Malatesta, heir to the signore of Pesaro, in 1405 and quickly became central to life at the court. educated alongside her brother, Guidantonio da Montefeltro, at her family’s court in urbino, her interest in the studia humanitatis matured further after she moved to Pesaro, a city with a rich tradition of artistic patronage and of learning that attracted humanists Coluccio salutatio and Pietro turchi.13 a deeply devout woman, Battista successfully

Varano and Sforza Women of the Marche

17

1.3 Map of the Marche region balanced the vita activa and vita contemplativa. during the earlier years of her life she addressed diverse issues associated with rule and supervised, first, the proper education of her daughter, elisabetta – born in 1407 – and later, that of her granddaughter, Costanza varano.14 Bruni, a guest of the Malatesta court in rimini in 1408, heard many praise Battista for her knowledge, grace, and devotion, a fact that he acknowledged in the opening of one of his least studied texts in which he established guidelines for the proper education of women.15 although his text recognized the potential of women and encouraged them to study classical literature and history, feminist scholars criticize Bruni for discouraging women from becoming orators – a position regarded as the culmination of the study of classical literature and rhetoric – because it was an “arena” for men only.16 Bruni opened his correspondence by praising Battista and then continued by citing historic examples of eloquent and literate women.17 While the references to Cornelia, sappho, and aspasia follow the model used in biographies of women,

18

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

Bruni’s belief that they – and Battista in particular – should not be “satisfied with mediocrity” deviated from standard expectations for the ideal wife and reflected attitudes of the dynasty.18 he espoused a program that fused a keen study of literature – including poetry, prose, and oration – with that of history, a combination which was more typical of humanist regimens for the education of boys.19 the only area Bruni cites as being inappropriate for female participation is that of public oration; in his effort to demonstrate the absurdity of oral performance, he verbally paints the picture of a wildly gesturing woman and underlines the undignified nature of public presentation before concluding that “the contests of the forum, like those of warfare and battle, are in the sphere of men.”20 in her article, “leonardo Bruni on Women and rhetoric: De studiis et litteris revisited,” virginia Cox questions familiar interpretations of Bruni’s passage by arguing that Bruni is not speaking of public oration in general, but of women playing a role in a judicial setting, a possibility which Bruni regarded as both ridiculous and degrading.21 Cox supports her reading of the passage by pointing out the ironic tone adopted by the author – which distinguishes the section from the formal authorial voice found elsewhere in the text – and by addressing the completely unrealistic nature of such limitations, even for the renaissance woman.22 Cox describes this tension as “a mismatch between scholastic prescription and courtly reality.”23 Bruni knew that societal constructs demanded that consorts, like Battista Montefeltro Malatesta, play an active role in life at court where eloquence and performance were praised. Many sforza, varano, Montefeltro, and Malatesta women had to give orations, transcribe letters, or write treatises in which they successfully emulated the language of famed classical and Christian scholars as they advocated a particular course of action or set of beliefs. during the decades of her involvement with critical political negotiations, Battista Montefeltro Malatesta composed numerous dispatches and gave several public speeches, the most famous addressed to sigismund, emperor of hungary, on his return from his coronation as holy roman emperor by Pope eugenius iv on 31 May 1433.24 Battista asked the emperor to support a group of those “unjustly ruined” – who opposed the expansion of Papal land holdings – that included both herself and her husband who had been sent into exile during a June 1431 uprising and who, she believed, deserved to return to their “dominion.”25 although the emperor was wisely reluctant to meddle in the politics of the region, Battista and her husband returned to Pesaro in 1433.26 sold to the sforza family in 1444, Pesaro was ruled subsequently by alessandro sforza and Costanza varano. the sale of Pesaro – along with a lack of feeling between Battista and her husband – led her, “disgusted by the things of the world,” to abandon her marriage and retire, as a Poor Clare, to the convent of santa lucia in Foligno where she died in 1448.27 thus, Battista Montefeltro Malatesta’s life, even more than any of her female descendants, fused the active and contemplative lives rather than facing the limited binary choice available to renaissance women: to assume the role of the

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19

consort – which often meant the abandonment of humanist study – or to become a nun – thereby losing certain freedoms. For much of her life, Battista served capably alongside her husband, encouraged the expansion of Pesaro’s rich cultural climate, while remaining deeply devout and committed to local religious orders. Before taking the veil, and adopting the name Suor Girolama, Battista allocated resources to a number of religious groups: she gave money to both sant’agostino in Pesaro and santa lucia in Foligno for renovations and donated almost all of her books to her daughter and other members of her family.28 Battista’s life embodies that of the model court lady; as the daughter of the Count of urbino, her marriage to Galeazzo Malatesta was arranged in order to unite two of the rival families in the region. Many dynasties, but particularly the varano and Malatesta, sought to heal fractured relationships through marriage allegiances.29 highly educated herself, Bruni’s treatise betrays Battista’s interest in providing her daughters and granddaughters with knowledge that rivaled that of men. By prioritizing equality of education and focusing on the needs of her female descendents, Battista established a practice that passed down through multiple generations. Battista’s daughter, elisabetta, married Pier Gentile da varano in 1422; when elisabetta’s husband was imprisoned and then assassinated during the family’s exile from Camerino, Elisabetta fled to her mother’s side, in Urbino, with her daughter, Costanza, her son, rodolfo iv, and their cousin, Giulio Cesare, the father of Camilla da varano.30 thus Costanza and Giulio Cesare received the same education – modeled on Bruni’s ideal – and the latter approved a similar program of study for his own children. Battista sforza, like her great-grandmother, embraced the role of duchess at the Montefeltro court. as the daughter of alessandro sforza and Costanza varano, her dynastic connections to some of the most powerful families in the Marche region as well as to the sforza family in Milan meant that future marriage negotiations held great promise.31 her eligibility and cultural visibility was enhanced further when her father decided to send her to be educated at the sforza court of her aunt, Bianca Maria visconti, and uncle, Francesco sforza, in Pavia.32 this arrangement likely appealed to all parties as Bianca Maria visconti had been a guest at the courts both in urbino and Pesaro and, rather fortuitously, was in Pesaro with her husband and young daughter, ippolita – who had been born in Pesaro the previous year – when Battista’s mother, Costanza, passed away.33 during Battista’s time in Pavia, she, along with her male and female cousins, received training under the watchful eye of Bianca Maria who also believed in educating all of her children equally.34 While receiving a comprehensive humanist education, Battista’s time in Pavia introduced her to the intricate workings of one of the most powerful fifteenth-century courts and also provided her with an additional powerful woman to emulate.35 the relationship between Bianca Maria and Battista was as close as mother and daughter – Battista even signed herself “figlia” in letters to her aunt – and this intimacy meant that Battista, like Bianca Maria’s own children, was a

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visible member of the sforza court and met many of the most important people of the age.36 her future husband, Federico da Montefeltro, one of the most powerful fifteenth-century condottiere, was employed by Battista’s uncle and was a frequent guest at the sforza court. over twenty years Battista’s senior, Federico negotiated a betrothal between Battista and his illegitimate son, Buonconte; such an alliance would have benefited him personally by securing the relationship between the sforza and Montefeltro families. When Buonconte contracted malaria and died in July of 1458, Federico decided to pursue the marriage for himself.37 By wedding a legitimate daughter of the sforza family Federico furthered his rise from illegitimate heir of the Montefeltro to his ultimate dream: to secure Montefeltro holdings in the region by becoming Duke – a title he received finally in 1474 – and by producing a legitimate heir.38 the marriage arrangements also offered Battista greater freedom because she came to the union of higher rank, with critical personal ties, and with an education that equaled her husband’s. Considering all of these elements, as well as the fact that she lived at one of the most important cultural centers in the fifteenth century, she should be more visible in scholarship exploring renaissance women and female patronage. however, while scholars have admired Battista’s cousin, Ippolita, for her erudition and discussed the significant role Battista’s daughterin-law, elisabetta Gonzaga, played as catalyst for Baldassare Castiglione’s courtly conversation, Battista sforza’s life remains relatively invisible, particularly in english-speaking scholarship. this invisibility is especially striking because her delicate profile is one of the most recognizable; her portrait graces the pages of every renaissance textbook and is one of the most famous of those executed during vasari’s seconda maniera. in Piero della Francesca’s Diptych (c. 1472, Fig. 1.1), the young countess faces her husband, Federico, whose deformed, hawklike nose and pock-marked face is framed by his red humanist robes and hat. Battista’s pale skin, high plucked forehead, and blond tresses were favored by her contemporaries, and yet in her portrait she lacks the vitality and rosy skin mentioned by sabadino degli arienti, in his life of the countess.39 the cold and stony nature of her face does not result just from the artist’s characteristically cool palette but also betrays the fact that Piero della Francesca painted this portrait from the death mask made after Battista’s premature death from a fever in July of 1472. Biographies and studies of Federico abound but few do justice to Battista’s extraordinary life. Praised for her intelligence and her fluency in Greek and Latin, she found ways to evade some of the proscriptions for female behavior and used others to her advantage.40 The first indication of her willingness and ability to embrace the responsibilities of court life was a latin speech she gave before her uncle at the age of five.41 For Battista, modeling herself on her aunt, mother and grandmother, such a presentation would be neither unusual nor unseemly, even for such a young girl, and this demonstrates her very early preparation for the duties of wife and leader. although only 14 when she married, in the eyes of renaissance

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society she was mature enough to assume her responsibilities and youthful enough both to produce an heir and yet be shaped by her husband. Federico, like all husbands, was expected, according to treatises on the education of women, to complete his wife’s training by explaining to her the specific tasks required for the successful running of their casa.42 Federico’s advice to Battista likely was limited as he knew that, upon his departure from the court, he could rely on his childhood friend and favored advisor, ottaviano ubaldini, with whom Battista maintained a close relationship.43 during Federico’s long absences, Battista, with ottaviano’s assistance and support, ran the court. her ability to lead in her husband’s place was tested almost immediately after her marriage; as soon as Federico left the region in his young wife’s hands, his nemesis in rimini, sigismondo Malatesta, decided to attack a small fort on the northern edge of the Montefeltro region.44 Battista responded immediately; she appealed to her uncle in Milan for additional troop support and then successful repulsed Malatesta’s advance. While this is testament to her ability to rule, it also demonstrates her nuanced understanding of regional politics and the expectations of her husband. her military acumen was rivaled by her political skill; she personally traveled to Pienza to speak with Pope Pius ii, thereby reinforcing the relationship between her husband and the Pope (whose respect for Battista’s aunt, Bianca Maria, and cousin, ippolita, is well documented).45 Pius ii also granted Battista permission to stay in convents during her various journeys.46 this allowed her not only to protect her virtuous reputation – essential for any renaissance woman – but also to communicate with cloistered women – who were also highly educated and descended from various noble families. Battista did not hesitate to travel and her pregnancies did not curtail her activities – or those of her female peers – as often argued.47 she frequently made the trip (about 45 miles) between urbino and Gubbio, the second capital of the Montefeltro region, and so wanted to give birth to her second child, elisabetta, in the Montefeltro region that she crossed the apennines from Pienza nine months pregnant.48 While the specific intentions of many of Battista Sforza’s trips are not known, she likely traveled as a diplomat for her husband and, for this alone, she is deserving of praise. in addition, she and ottaviano – rather than just Federico – must be recognized for their role as patrons. if both Battista and ottaviano were trusted with the running and protection of the region when Federico was away, they likely made critical patronage decisions on his behalf as well, as artists and architects continued to execute his vision or dream during his absences. it is no accident that luciano laurana arrived in urbino from Pesaro, where he had been working for Battista’s family. after her death in 1472, laurana left the court in urbino and eventually returned to the service of the sforza family in Pesaro where he built the rocca for Battista’s brother, Costanzo.49 While Battista’s contributions to the culture of the Montefeltro court cannot be distinguished from her husband’s, her most lasting personal legacy is the poise and intelligence of her children. Before

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her premature death in 1472, she gave birth to nine children including her son and heir, Guidobaldo, all of whom received an education to rival their mother’s.50 all of Battista’s daughters were wed to powerful men and her son married elisabetta Gonzaga, one of the most visible renaissance women thanks to her centrality to Baldassare Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier. Speaking Out: Costanza Varano and Camilla Battista Varano’s Rhetorical Gifts Costanza varano, Battista sforza’s mother, was also highly educated; celebrated as a poetess, she, like her grandmother and daughter, gave public speeches in which she pleaded that the varano family be freed from exile and returned control of their dynastic seat, Camerino. the small town sits in the foothills of the apennine Mountains and in the heart of the Marche region about 70 miles inland from ancona and 45 miles southeast of its most famous neighbor, the city of urbino (Fig. 1.3). the varano family took control of the area’s fertile lands in the thirteenth century and married into the most powerful and influential dynasties throughout the Italian peninsula during the fifteenth century.51 While these alliances evidence the importance of the family, the fifteenth century was not an easy time. They were sent into a nine-year exile in 1434 after which the family ruled only briefly before being conquered by Cesare Borgia.52 like their seigniorial peers, varano patrons commissioned works of art and architecture specifically designed to celebrate their standing in the region, to further secure their tentative hold on power, and to fashion an image of their dynasty of God-fearing humanists. the varano family palace, or Palazzo ducale, sits in the center of town in the main piazza shared by the duomo and is characterized by a modest exterior façade and richly painted interior sale. After returning to power definitively in 1443, and particularly during the golden rule of Giulio Cesare, the palace underwent a substantive renovation (1464–75) that transformed it into a residence that emulated the features of the more famous Palazzo ducale in urbino; the echo of the latter complex is evident particularly in the preference for a centrally situated, classicizing courtyard (Fig. 1.4). the men and women who ruled in this region are doubly invisible within the history of the renaissance because the towns – particularly Camerino – are isolated and regarded as peripheral and provincial. While not cosmopolitan centers of culture during the fifteenth century, Urbino and Camerino, as well as Pesaro, were significant way stations on journeys north along the ancient Roman road, the Via Flaminia. in addition, numerous travelers departed for the dalmatian Coast and Constantinople from the harbors along the italian coast, thus increasing the amount and diverse nature of the traffic in the region. Stephen Campbell, Thomas Tuohy, and evelyn Welch have convincingly demonstrated that renaissance scholars

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1.4 Palazzo ducale, central courtyard, Camerino, 1464–75 must look beyond the boundaries of the most famed centers – Florence, rome, and venice – in order to gain a more nuanced understanding of renaissance culture and exchange of ideas.53 Ferrara, Mantua, Milan, and, to a lesser extent, naples have benefited from this call to action, and evidence of influence from the smaller courts on the larger centers has been clearly proven. the art and architecture – as well as other patronage interests like the studioli and libraries – of the Montefeltro court in urbino demonstrate a knowledge and desire to emulate the new architectural idioms of Filippo Brunelleschi, Michelozzo Michelozzi, and leon Battista alberti while at the same time turning to the aesthetic language of their closer neighbors. Many of the artists favored by Federico da Montefeltro and Battista sforza, after her arrival at the court, were born and trained in Camerino, traveled to Florence to complete their artistic study, and then returned to the region.54 the works by “peripheral” artists inspired by both the aesthetic language of Florentine masters and classical models appealed to patrons and are symptomatic of the spread of what edward shils calls the “central value system” from the symbolic center of society to the peripheral areas.55 this merit system, with its associated primary and secondary values, develops from the center by way of elites, like the counts and dukes, who wished to imitate those peers in the “center” because ideals and ruling bodies are inextricably linked to notions of authority, power, and to

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the civilizing process. Elites at courts in fifteenth-century Italy sought to bind themselves to those with greater authority by emulating those values in the arts. at the same time, they wished to make clear their distinctive qualities by turning to local, or vernacular, traditions or aesthetic vocabularies. thus the Montefeltro and varano leaders commissioned works of art and architecture that appropriated from a number of sources in an effort to both reinforce their legitimacy and authority while also providing them with an identity, based in local traditions, that distinguished them from the source or center.56 Over the course of the fifteenth century, the individual states became more and more dependant on each other and, while local traditions persisted in the Montefeltro – where urbino was the “center” – the expansion of the Papal states into umbria, and eventually into the Marche, led to a shift in orientation from local, smaller “centers” to a dependence on the cultural practice of rome. to some extent, too, the cultural force of Milan, through sforza family ties, led to an emulation of the tastes of Francesco sforza and Bianca Maria visconti and a desire to win their support. dependency on Francesco sforza for the varani’s return to Camerino led Costanza sforza to address numerous appeals to him, all of which failed. it was not until 1443, when Francesco deemed such a negotiation convenient for personal and dynastic gains, that the family – headed by the regent elisabetta varano – entered the town in triumph. in november 1443, Costanza also agreed to marry Francesco’s brother, alessandro, who had long wished for the union; his earlier proposals were rejected by Costanza’s mother, elisabetta, who felt that alessandro, as a knight and a warrior with no land holdings of his own, did not deserve the hand of a woman belonging to a ruling dynasty.57 When it became clear to elisabetta that an alliance with the sforza would be fortuitous for stabilizing Camerino and that Federico da Montefeltro’s negotiations would make alessandro ruler of Pesaro, she agreed to the union.58 Born in 1422, Costanza lived through the most tumultuous time in the history of the varano dynasty. she knew of the assassination of her father and half-uncles, fled with her mother into exile, and longed for a return to her natal land. While many children would be emotionally devastated by such hardship, Costanza benefited from the events on some level because it allowed her to experience life at more than one court and to come into personal contact with her grandmother, Battista Montefeltro Malatesta. Battista passed her belief in the importance of education on to Costanza, who is famed for her improvement of the educational system in Pesaro; she invited teachers – Pietro da tolentino, antonio da strullis da Cordazzo, and Giacomo da Pesaro – to the city.59 the latter, the family’s grammar tutor, dedicated his De octo partibus orationes to Costanza and, after her premature death from complications resulting from the birth of her son, Costanzo, a number of eulogies celebrated her fame and intellect as well as her more gagliando roles of writer, orator, and politician.60 Costanza’s involvement with the political aspirations of the varano dynasty did not end with her pleas to Francesco sforza. during the periods of instability, she

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wrote letters and gave public orations; in a speech before Francesco’s predecessor, Filippo Maria visconti, she spoke of the varani right to rule Camerino and reminded Filippo Maria of her father’s dedicated service to the visconti family.61 like her mother, Costanza was politically active and, while she sought assistance from many powerful men, she also curried favor locally; in 1443 she celebrated the rule of oddantonio da Montefeltro – who became Count and then duke of the Montefeltro after the death of his father, and Costanza’s beloved great-uncle, Guidantonio – by comparing his life and its successes with those of Julius Caesar.62 the irony of oddantonio’s assassination the following year should not undermine the sentiment of the poem; in its writing Costanza intentionally appropriated classical tropes in order to inextricably link the young duke with the glory of classical antiquity at the same time that she hoped to win his support for the varano cause. her graceful use of language, her erudition, and her deep devotion were recognized by contemporaries like famed humanist isotta nogarola, with whom Costanza corresponded. in a letter to Cecilia Gonzaga, Costanza referenced Cicero and Quintilian as she spoke of the desire to nourish the intellect because humanity is distinctive for “a certain vitality and swiftness of mind.”63 she continued her praise of Cecilia by comparing her with “excellent learned women,” including Cornelia. Just as she had done in an effort to secure oddantonio’s favor, Costanza turned to classical references and formulas in praise of women to celebrate her addressee’s skills as well as to demonstrate, with the appropriate modesty, her own erudition. Costanza’s most famed oration came upon the restoration of Camerino to the varani in 1443; thanking the people of the town for inviting the family to return, she said: “yet, dear fathers, the sight of you here restores and renews me, [bespeaking] your prudence, charity, inexhaustible good will, and undaunted faith, which we evidenced today […] when you with one voice recalled the magnificent lords, my loving brothers rodolfo and Giulio varano and [our whole family], to the rightful proper and ancient throne of our ancestors.”64 First ruling Camerino jointly with Costanza’s brother, rodolfo iv, Giulio Cesare became sole ruler after the latter’s death in 1464.65 a condottiere like so many of his rivals in the region, Giulio Cesare sought to secure his family’s control of the southwestern portion of the Marche through carefully chosen political alliances and marriage negotiations. By all accounts he doted on his first, albeit illegitimate, daughter Camilla da varano and dreamed of her auspicious marriage into a more powerful family. in preparation for the critical role she would play as consort to an influential man, Camilla received the best humanist education and training appropriate to a woman who was to play a highly symbolic and visible role in court life. Camilla herself admits that she enjoyed dancing, singing and all of the frivolities of life. however, after a particularly inspirational 1479 sermon by Francesco da urbino in which he encouraged every member of his congregation to shed a tear, every thursday, in memory of Christ’s Passion, Camilla made a pledge to herself that she would

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do just that.66 For two years she struggled to balance her blossoming religious feelings with the lure of the secular world and to ignore the torments of other members of the court who teased her about her devotions and weekly fasting. she found producing a “tear” difficult and, later in life, felt guilty that this was the sole expression of her youthful devotion. after successfully shedding a tear, Camilla happily would return the next day to the distractions of the court. i did not know that there was any other approach to God, for apart from that little time i spent in prayer, all the rest i squandered in singing, playing, dancing, promenading, and all such youthful and worldly frivolities which spring therefrom. devotion, friars and nuns were so hateful to me that i could not look at any of them. i even made jokes about anyone who read devotional works. i was completely occupied in adorning myself and in reading idle literature.67

in her 1491 La Vita Spirituale (Spiritual Biography), Camilla recalled not just the struggle to choose between a secular life and one devoted to God, but also expressed a deep sadness about the inevitable sacrifice of her father’s love if she decided to follow the contemplative path. For two years, he forbade her from becoming a nun, and she likened this period to the Jewish attempt to be free of the egyptian pharaoh. While most biographies talk of this as an example of the familiar struggle between a woman determined to become a nun and a forceful father, her biography suggests otherwise.68 in her vivid and colorful language, Camilla talks about her fears of disappointing her father and of leaving behind a life of passion and dynamism for the quieter one of a nun. although this choice meant fewer cultural outlets and separation from her family, cloistered nuns – until the Council of trent put in place tighter restrictions for clausura – did have contact with the outside world and often continued their studies.69 in 1481, Camilla could no longer ignore the increasingly incessant calls from God and, disobeying her father, joined the Poor Clares in their convent in urbino where she joined a community of deeply devout women, many from similar court backgrounds, who shared Camilla’s humanist interests and belonged to a firmly established network of women that stretched from cloister to castle.70 over the course of her life, Camilla wrote several deeply spiritual treatises that scholars associate with those executed by Counter-reformation mystics.71 Written in the local vernacular with Biblical passages quoted in Greek and latin, Camilla’s La Vita Spirituale recalls her spiritual trials and speaks in deeply evocative terms of her conversations with Christ and of their spiritual marriage. not unlike the oft-cited words of the sixteenth-century spanish mystic, st. teresa, Camilla experienced her passions in very physical terms. “and then they [seraphim and cherubim] spoke earnestly and intimately with me as though i were a dear friend and companion of theirs and they said, ‘What brings you pain brings us delight. You have the fire of ardent desire but in this body you lack the presence and

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abundance of him Whom we desire.’”72 of a period in her life when she felt abandoned and empty of God’s favor, she conjures terrifying images of the devil and paints a picture of a battle for her soul that evokes a physical struggle like that experienced by male saints. then the pit of the abyss of diabolical malignity was uncovered, which had remained closed for ten years and there came forth that envenomed dragon with open jaws. he [the devil] roared against me with such violence and frenzy that he seemed about to swallow me. and as far as his malign will was concerned, he did indeed devour and swallow me. But the powerful hand of God, Who never abandons ‘the one who hopes in him’ (1 Pet. 3, 5) rescued me unharmed and intact from his roaring jaws, as you know, by his goodness alone, not by any virtue of prudence of mine.73

her passionate language and ability to make the reader “feel” occurs again in her I dolori mentali de Gesu (Meditations on Christ’s Passion), written, at the urging of her abbess, in 1488.74 often described as “conventional” and typical of spiritual exercises by Franciscan mystics dating back to the thirteenth century, Camilla’s text is, according to William v. hudon, innovative; the author not only avoided familiar themes, but also creatively wove scriptural passages together with sections in which she describes what Christ was thinking and feeling.75 although now overshadowed by the work of Counter-reformation mystics, her influence on contemporary Church writings is evident in texts by Lorenzo scupoli – in the service of Pope Paul iv – that appropriate Camilla’s intensity and feeling but edit vocabulary and elements deemed inappropriate.76 Camilla’s language is not that of the sheltered nun, but of a lady conversant in court slang as well as in vulgar turns of phrases, which she used to evoke pain and suffering and to heighten awareness of Christ’s humanity.77 hudon argued that such a fusion of courtly and devotional language allowed Camilla to paint a verbal picture of Christ’s mental anguish that made his physical suffering seem otherwise insignificant.78 this vivid evocation of human suffering is symptomatic of later Counter-reformation teachings that sought to inspire deeper and more personal devotions by inspiring more emotional responses to the Church’s message. each of these highly educated women – Battista Montefeltro Malatesta, Costanza varano, Battista sforza, and Camilla varano, as well as many of their female relatives – understood society’s conflicting expectations for them. While they should be prepared to lead, they must be modest and virtuous; while they should be highly educated, they should never be proud of their erudition; while they must be devout, they should serve the needs of their dynasty. rather than consider each of these women in isolation or celebrate their lives as “extraordinary,” studies of renaissance women must consider entire dynasties of women whose individual contributions pale in comparison with the cumulative achievements of daughters, sisters, aunts, and cousins. Considering this richer legacy and the critical role these women played in smaller regions further nuances any answer to

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Kelly-Gadol’s question “Did women have a Renaissance?” Each of the Varano, sforza, and Montefeltro women embraced the path chosen for her and made lasting contributions to the political, cultural and religious history of a region now regarded as provincial and peripheral. Notes 1

2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9

10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

anthony F. d’elia, “Marriage, sexual Pleasure and learned Brides in the Wedding orations of Fifteenth-Century italy,” Renaissance Quarterly, 55/2 (summer 2002): 419. virginia Cox, Women’s Writing in Italy, 1400–1650 (Baltimore, 2008), 1–36. Marinella Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro: Una “principessa” nel Rinascimento italiano (urbino, 1993), 79–80, 143, 161. William v. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation: some sources of theatine spirituality,” in A Renaissance of Conflicts: Visions and Revisions of Law and Society in Italy and Spain, John a. Marino and thomas Kuehn, eds (toronto, 2004), 337–363. Kelly-Gadol’s article is republished in Feminism and Renaissance Studies, lorna hutson, ed. (oxford, 1999), 21–47; Cox, Women’s Writing in Italy, i–xxiii. Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, s.G.C. Middlemore, trans. (london, 1990), 250. Cox, Women’s Writing in Italy, 5–7. elisabeth Ward swain, “‘My excellent and Most singular lord:’ Marriage in a noble Family of Fifteenth-Century italy,” Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 16/2 (Fall 1986): 178–183. leonardo Bruni, “on the study of literature,” in The Humanism of Leonardo Bruni: Selected Texts, Gordon Griffiths et al., trans. and introduction (Binghamton NY, 1987), 240–251. Mary rogers and Paola tinagli, eds, Women in Italy, 1350–1650 (Manchester and new york, 2005), 157. For the Florentine network of convents, see saundra Weddle, “identity and alliance: urban Presence, spatial Privilege, and Florentine renaissance Convents,” in Renaissance Florence: A Social History, roger J. Crum and John t. Paoletti, eds (Cambridge, 2006), 406–412; rogers and tinagli, Women in Italy, 230–233. Giovanna Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” in Le Donne di Casa Malatesti, anna Falioni, ed. (2 vols, rimini, 2006), vol. 2, 829–830. Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 830–832. Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 835. Bruni, “on the study of literature,” 240–251. Lisa Jardine, “Isotta Nogarola: Women Humanists – Education for What?” History of Education, 12/4 (Winter 1983): 241–244. Bruni, “on the study of literature,” 240. Bruni, “on the study of literature,” 240; see also stephen Kolsky, The Ghost of Boccaccio: Writings on Famous Women in Renaissance Italy (turnhout, 2005).

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25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36 37 38

39 40 41 42 43

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Bruni, “on the study of literature,” 241. Bruni, “on the study of literature,” 244. virginia Cox, “leonardo Bruni on Women and rhetoric: De studiis et litteris revisited,” Rhetorica, 27/1 (February 2009): 47–75. Cox, “leonardo Bruni on Women and rhetoric,” 54–56. Cox, Women’s Writing in Italy, 21. Clough’s research is fundamental to my own work. Cecil h. Clough, “daughters and Wives of the Montefeltro: outstanding Bluestockings of the Quattrocento,” Renaissance Studies, 10/1 (March 1996): 44–5; Margaret l. King and albert rabil, Jr., Her Immaculate Hand: Selected Works by and about the Women Humanists of Quattrocento Italy (Binghamton ny, 1983), 36; Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 836–840. King and rabil, Her Immaculate Hand, 37. Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 841. Clough, “daughter and Wives of the Montefeltro,” 46l; Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 844–848. Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 847–848. Matteo Mazzulupi, “la politica matrimoniale tra i Malatesti e i da varano,” in Le Donne di Casa Malatesti, anna Falioni, ed. (rimini, 2006), vol. 1, 341–356. Piero luigi Falaschi, “splendori di una signoria inedita,” in I volti di una dinastia: I da Varano di Camerino, exh. cat. (Milan, 2001), 14–19. Clough, “daughters and Wives of the Montefeltro,” 32; Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 11. B. Feliciangeli, “notizie sulla vita e sugli scritti di Costanza varano-sforza (1426– 1477),” Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 23 (1894): 45; Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 904–905. Patrignani, “le donne del ramo di Pesaro,” 843, 852, 890, 905. Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 31–3. Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 42; evelyn Welch, Art and Authority in Renaissance Milan (new haven, 1995). asMi. Potenze sovrano. no. 1475, 9 december 1458 letter; Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 42. Gino Franceschini, “la morte di Gentile Brancaleoni (1457) e di Buonconte da Montefeltro (1458),” Archivio storico lombardo, 2/3–4 (1937): 13. For Federico’s life, see Maria Grazia Pernis and laurie schneider adams, Federico da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Malatesta: The Eagle and the Elephant (new york and Washington dC, 1996); Cecil h. Clough, The Duchy of Urbino in the Renaissance (london, 1981). sabadino degli arienti, Gynevera de le Clare Donne, Corrado ricci and a. Bacchi della lega, eds (Bologna, 1969), 290. Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 69; arienti, Gynevera de le Clare Donne, 289–292. Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 30. leon Battista alberti, The Family in Renaissance Florence, trans. renée neu Watkins (Columbia sC, 1969), 208–210. luigi Michelini tocci, “Federico da Montefeltro e ottaviano ubaldini della Carda,” in Federico di Montefeltro: Lo sato, le arti, la cultura, Giorgio Cerboni Baiardi,

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44

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

54 55

56 57 58 59

60 61 62 63 64 65

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Giorgio Chittoni, and Piero Floriani, eds (3 vols, rome, 1986), vol. 1, 311–315; Janez Höfler, Il Palazzo Ducale di Urbino sotto i Montefeltro (1376–1508): Nuove ricerche sulla storia dell’edificio e delle sue decorazioni interne, trans. Franco Bevilacqua (urbino, 2006), 26, 137. asMi. Fondo sforzesco. Potenze estere. Marca. B.145 (1459–60), 6 July 1460 letter; Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 79–80; arienti, Gynevera de le Clare Donne, 292–294. aeneas sylvius Piccolomini, “the Commentaries of Pius ii,” Smith College Studies in History, trans. F.a. Gragg, 25/1–4 (october 1939–July 1940): 186, 188, 195. Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 51. tocci, “Federico da Montefeltro,” 311–315. Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza Montefeltro, 81, 101. Höfler, Il Palazzo Ducale, 177. Clough, “daughters and Wives of the Montefeltro,” 48. Mazzulupi, “la politica matrimoniale,” 341–343. Pietro luzi, Camilla Battista Da Varano (turin, 1989), 55. stephen Campbell, Cosmè Tura of Ferrara (new haven, 1997); stephen Campbell and stephen J. Milner, eds, Artistic Exchange and Cultural Translation in the Italian Renaissance City (Cambridge, 2004); thomas tuohy, Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d’Este, 1471–1505, and the Invention of a Ducal Capital (Cambridge, 1996); Welch, Art and Authority. For information on the arts of Camerino, see andrea de Marchi, ed., Pittori a camerino nel Quattrocento (Milan, 2002). edward shils, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology (Chicago, 1975), 3–16; enrico Castelnuovo and Carlo Ginzburg, “Centre and Periphery,” in History of Art, ellen Biachini and Claire dorey, trans. (2 vols, Cambridge, 1994), vol. 1, 29–112. Castelnuovo and Ginzburg, “Centre and Periphery,” 61–73. Feliciangeli, “notizie di Costanzo varano-sforza,” 42; P.J. Jones, The Malatesta of Rimini and the Papal State: A Political History (Cambridge, 1974), 192. Jones, The Malatesta of Rimini, 193. Piergiorgio Parroni, “la cultura letteraria a Pesaro sotto i Malatesta e gli sforza,” in Pesaro tra Medioevo e Rinascimento, Maria rosaria valazzi, ed. (2nd edn, venice, 1990), 211. Parroni, “la cultura letteraria a Pesaro,” 208–211. Clough, “daughters and Wives of the Montefeltro,” 47; Feliciangeli, “notizie di Costanzo varano-sforza,” 24–27. Feliciangeli, “notizie di Costanzo varano-sforza,” 32. King and rabil, Her Immaculate Hand, 54. King and rabil, Her Immaculate Hand, 42. Falaschi, “splendori di una signoria inedita,” 14–19, and “orizzonti di una dinastia: i varano di Camerino,” in Il Quattrocento a Camerino: Luce e prospettiva nel cuore della Marca, andrea de Marchi and Maria Giannatiempo lopez, eds, exh. cat. (Milan, 2002), 35–45; John easton law, “City, Court and Contado in Camerino,” in City and Countryside in Late Medieval and Renaissance Italy, trevor dean and Chris Wickham, eds (london and roncevert, 1990), 171–182.

Varano and Sforza Women of the Marche 66 67

68 69

70 71 72

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74 75 76 77 78

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Battista da varano, My Spiritual Autobiography, trans. Joseph Berrigan (saskatoon, 1986), 9–13. varano, My Spiritual Autobiography, 9. “altro accostamento a dio io non sapeva che se fosse; perché, cavatene questo poco tempo de orare che s’è ditto de sopra, tutto l’altro non lo spendeva se non in sonare, cantare, ballare, pazegiare et in vanità e in altre cose giovenile e mundane che da queste descendono. erenome in tanto fastidio le cose devote e li frati e le sore, che non posseva vedere nesuno: e facìvame beffe de chi legeva le cose devote. de ornarme e legere le cose vane poneva tutta la mia cura.” Camilla Battista da varano, Le opere spirituali, ed. Piero Bargellini (Jesi, 1958), 15. varano, My Spiritual Autobiography, 13. silvia evangelisti, “‘We do not have it, and We do not Want it’: Women, Power, and Convent reform in Florence,” The Sixteenth Century Journal, 34/3 (Fall 2003): 677. varano, Le opere spirituali, 36. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation,” 347–350. varano, My Spiritual Autobiography, 47. “et allora essi dolcemente e familiarmente parlavano co’meco como con una loro cognoscente e cara amica e dicevano: ‘donde a te se causa la pena, a nui se causa el diletto. tu hai el foco dello ardente desiderio, ma te manca in questo corpo la presenzia e copia de quelo che a me è presente e imperò senti gran pena secundo lo gran desiderio che hai. Ma nui avemo lo ardente desiderio sempre con la presenzia e copia de quello che desideramo …” varano, Le opere spirituali, 57. varano, My Spiritual Autobiography, 51–2. “allora el pozo de l’abisso della diabolica malegnità fo aperto, che per diezi anni era stato rechiuso; et ussiti for a quello avenenato drago con le fauce aperte, rugiendo contra de me con tanto impetu e furore, che pareva viva viva me volesse inguitire. e quanto alla sua maligna voluntà, me devorò e inguitti. Ma la potente mano de dio, lo quale mai abandona sperantem in se, me estrasse illesa et intatta delle sue rugiente fauze, como vui sapete, per sola sua bontà, non per mia virtù, né prudenzia. allora fui spogliata e denudate de ogni mia ricca e preziosa veste.” varano, Le opere spirituali, 61–62. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation,” 347. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation,” 347–352. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation,” 351–353. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation,” 350. hudon, “a Bridge between renaissance and Counter-reformation,” 352.

Chapter 2

Pier Maria’s legacy: (il)legitimacy, inheritance, and rule of Parma’s rossi dynasty timothy McCall

the central, even constitutive, role of illegitimate children for signorial rule in fifteenth-century Italy has long been recognized. This study contributes to our understanding of the position and utility of court bastards by exploring the gendered dynamics of the power and historical visibility of bastards of the rossi dynasty of Parma.1 as Jane Fair Bestor in particular has elucidated, inheritance could be fluid among the aristocracy of the Po region, as laws of primogeniture were here seldom strictly adhered to in the fifteenth century; dynastic continuity could be maintained through the employment of pragmatic strategies of succession and legitimation based on paternal recognition rather than legality, primogeniture, or straightforward legitimacy.2 illegitimate children served as pools of generally loyal, but often relatively disposable supporters; they expanded and consolidated social networks and political authority when needed and perpetuated the dynasty in the face of high rates of infant mortality. Bastards, moreover, were tangible political benefits of the prerogatives of sexual pleasure and mastery enjoyed by signori. they manifested the prince’s virility and potency. the historical visibility of bastards in early modern italy was contingent on constructions and expectations of gender, age, and class, and on both political necessity and opportunity. it was common, in fact, that illegitimate children became most historically visible in times of crisis, though the recognition and prestige of an illegitimate child at court often hinged on the mother’s social status.3 Bastardy and legitimacy were, moreover, never absolute or unalterable. talented, lucky, or otherwise notable bastards could be legitimated, legitimate children could be disinherited, and bastardy might even be re-invoked. legitimation functioned as a tool to control or create relationships between, typically, father and son, and this process was bound by particulars of gender, class, age, and political expediency.4 daughters were rarely legitimated, for example, even though female bastards were essential players in dynastic marital politics.5 Complications might arise from an unmanageable excess of competing offspring, and thus this study evaluates the benefits and threats presented by a

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multiplicity of illegitimate sons and investigates why certain bastards were recognized or legitimated. Of course, internecine conflict could be as devastating as that between dynasties.6 As Jacob Burckhardt long ago affirmed, the “acknowledgment or exclusion of the bastards was a fruitful source of contest; and most of these families in consequence were plagued with a crowd of discontented and vindictive kinsmen.”7 Bastards might be “potentially useful asset(s),” and indeed they were often actors in webs and networks of social relations and power when favored by the family.8 some usefully guaranteed clean succession, though others might disrupt it. For signorial dynasties, successfully maintaining dominion required the judicious exploitation of illegitimate family members. the historical visibility of the illegitimate, and in some cases legitimated, children of Pier Maria rossi of Parma is here examined within factional, dynastic and affective contexts, including the salacious case of disinheriting, and thus bastardizing, two of his legitimate sons. Pier Maria is best known to art historians for a multi-media campaign of visual imagery celebrating his mistress Bianca Pellegrini, and thus his own amatory prowess, and he carefully utilized illegitimate offspring to support his state and to shape an image of virility and chivalric authority.9 the visual representation of his mistress not only registered her feminine virtue and his masculine prowess, but simultaneously, even though the children on whom rossi eventually would rely were not Bianca’s, potently evoked the generation of bastards. Pier Maria rossi’s own situation as a single, legitimate child supported by only one illegitimate brother – who was generally absent, fighting in the eastern Mediterranean – allowed him to exercise significant political authority in and around Parma. Pier Maria’s state, however, would ultimately not survive him intact because of his many children. the study ends by investigating sixteenthcentury disputes between adversarial grandsons of Pier Maria (the offspring of one disinherited and one legitimate son) and the deployment of the legacy of their venerable grandfather through the adaptation and reinterpretation of artistic imagery, in the form of a medal reusing a portrait of Pier Maria and a devotional panel by lorenzo lotto which eventually suffered damnatio historiae. i will consider what these images, within the context of a fiercely contested political arena in which an abundance of heirs struggled for increasingly limited territory and economic rights, reveal about historical visibility and erasure. The Rossi of Parma the rossi of Parma had for centuries relied on and rewarded the political and military help of illegitimate offspring. illegitimate sons fought for the dynasty and filled in for absent brothers as podestà in the fourteenth century.10 Bastards often seem to emerge from historical invisibility during particularly troubled periods; we know about Pier Maria’s illegitimate uncle leonardo, for example, because of

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35

his role in the dynasty’s violent conflicts with Ottobuono Terzi.11 other bastards served in prominent ecclesiastical positions, wielding influence through lucrative benefices. Marsilio Rossi, the illegitimate son of Pier Maria’s uncle Giacomo, bishop of verona and naples, served as governor of the region’s Benedictine institutions and as abbot of the Badia of santa Maria della neve near the rossi castle of torrechiara.12 in his will, bishop Giacomo expressed the desire that this son be legitimated by a podestà; Marsilio was left land for ten pairs of oxen, and Giacomo promised his daughter Costanza a dowry of 400 gold ducats.13 Pier Maria rossi relied on the support of his illegitimate brother rolando, a Knight of Saint John renowned for fighting at Rhodes. Rolando returned from crusading to besiege castles and assault enemies on numerous well-timed occasions.14 Contending for benefices including the Hospitallers’ church of Santa Maria del tempio and the xenodochi of san lazzaro and san Pancrazio, rolando was a key player in Parmense politics.15 Hostility over profitable ecclesiastical resources often precipitated assaults, violent occupations, and deadly feuds among Parma’s nobility. during riots in Parma in early 1477 following the assassination of the rossi’s Milanese ally Galeazzo Maria sforza, for instance, rolando’s church of santa Maria del tempio was sacked, and he himself was forced to take refuge in San Giovanni Evangelista’s campanile, which was put to flames.16 rolando, however, was well prepared for violence and was assisted by his own illegitimate son Giannantonio and by various thugs including two known as stramazzo (Brawler) and Colombaccio (dove of evil), who were eventually hanged for their crimes.17 rolando’s adversaries were equally intimidating and nefarious. Gaspare da su, for instance, had been removed from the rectorship of the leper hospital of san lazzaro in 1471 after one patient begged for God’s mercy from this “wolf and rabid dog Gaspare da su, who destroys one’s body and soul” and who acts “as a wolf, without any respect for the calamity of the poor lepers nor for their needs nor for the gravity of their disease.”18 When he was once again granted jurisdiction following rolando’s expulsion from Parma in 1477, Gaspare abruptly returned to san lazzaro and, because he was not immediately let in, aggressively threatened the bewildered portiniere with excommunication.19 Following his death in 1481 at noceto, rolando rossi was carried in a magnificent procession to Parma and was buried alongside his father Pietro at sant’antonio abate, an honor accorded, no doubt, for the decades of support he had provided his legitimate brother.20 With only one (illegitimate) brother and one sister, Pier Maria faced little opposition from kin, at least until his sons reached maturity.21 his ascendancy and subsequent territorial expansion seem to have been facilitated not only by lack of competing siblings, but also by the crowd of legitimate males of the rossi’s major rival, the Pallavicini. the territory of the Pallavicini was divided up by Francesco sforza between seven brothers following the death of their father rolando in 1457; the cameralization and division of the Pallavicini state between the many brothers weakened their position in the

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Parmense and Piacentine contado and presented Pier Maria with opportunities for further territorial aggrandizement.22 a multitude of heirs could both potentially benefit and hinder peaceful dynastic succession. as the father of at least eight sons, Pier Maria rossi was ultimately incapable of ensuring a successfully unified state for the next generation of his dynasty. Pier Maria’s attitude toward his various legitimate and illegitimate children has been interpreted by art historians as having been dictated entirely by a supposed sentimental preference for his mistress Bianca Pellegrini (devotion to whom he advertised to many audiences in frescoes, medals, sculpted emblems, and manuscripts) over his wife antonia torelli.23 artistic imagery, in fact, has served as the primary evidence for rossi’s strategies of inheritance, which have been reductively equated to Pier Maria’s putative predilection for Bianca (and her children Francesca and ottaviano, of uncertain paternity) and to an imagined abandonment of his own wife and her children.24 this overgeneralization is based both on the representational visibility of Bianca the mistress, most famously within Torrechiara’s magnificently frescoed camera d’oro, and, likewise, on a superficial reading of two closely related documents of January 1464: the legal process undertaken to disinherit two of antonia’s sons, Giacomo and Giovanni, and Pier Maria’s will enacted the following day.25 even with this act of disinheriting, however, Pier Maria envisioned that the vast majority of his state would be governed by legitimate sons. Pier Maria and antonia’s legitimate daughters, leonora rossi scotti and donella rossi san vitale, moreover, were provided with sizable dowries and were involved in purchases of land with both parents, even long after their respective marriages into the Parmense nobility. While Bianca and her son ottaviano were promised roccabianca, torrechiara and villages, rossi’s legitimate sons Bernardo and Guido were left the majority of the dynasty’s lands and jurisdictions, including san secondo, noceto, Felino, and Berceto.26 Grants to Bianca and her children are more in line with conventional gifts of land and economic rights provided to mistresses and their families rather than a determined effort to place the state under a favored mistress’s control.27 The Case to Disinherit disinheritance was a rarely undertaken and lengthy legal process that amounted to an “embarrassing admission of failure to measure up to a cultural model of familial comportment.”28 documents from the mid-1460s chronicle the crimes of Giovanni and Giacomo rossi and their father’s legal proceedings against them, in particular that of 14 January 1464 spelling out at length the sons’ indignant and bitter testimony against the elder rossi.29 these sons could not have been disinherited, in fact, without legal intervention and, therefore, the composition of rossi’s will the following day must be understood as an obligatory second step, undertaken in order to establish the case to disinherit the two formally. the

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37

testimony of Giovanni and Giacomo against their father, some of which was given in front of subjects at Felino, is inflammatory and provocative. Indeed, the historian Francesco Campari alluded to these proceedings but refused to repeat specifics.30 Giacomo rossi swore that he would thank God if he could wet his hands and arms up to the elbows with the blood of Pier Maria. Giovanni, for his part, denied none of the charges against him and fantasized himself alone with his father in close quarters and armed with a knife, so that he could carve out Pier Maria’s heart and eat it.31 ideally, Giovanni wished that his father’s rival angelo san vitale could witness the gruesome deed so he could personally deliver the contested castle of noceto to the san vitale clan.32 he also asserted that those who served Pier Maria’s ally Francesco sforza, whom Giovanni described as the son of a ditch digger and not worthy to be signore, deserved to be hanged by the throat. art historians have attributed the sons’ transformation from trusted condottieri to aspiring patricides to their father’s love for his mistress Bianca.33 an examination of the political, historical, and erotic implications and causes of these events, however, reveals with greater specificity the sons’ motives and intentions. Following the Peace of lodi, Pier Maria transferred the dynasty’s major sforza condotta to Giacomo, and within a few years the obstinate young rossi had singlehandedly threatened to destroy the rossi–sforza alliance.34 Giacomo deserted his army following defeat at san Flaviano in 1460 and complained loudly about his commander, alessandro sforza, while “launching violent invectives” against Francesco sforza.35 alessandro requested that Giacomo be recalled to Milan for his insubordination, and Pier Maria soon asked the duke to strip the dynasty’s condotta from his son, whom he called a “plague on the entire army” (pestilentia a tuto quell exercito). Francesco sforza granted this request and, out of respect for Pier Maria, refrained from physically punishing Giacomo (from causing “dispiacere nella persona”), as he otherwise would have preferred. Pier Maria had Giacomo imprisoned first in Parma’s episcopal palace and then, following an attempt by Giovanni and others to free Giacomo by force, within the more secure cittadella.36 not long after gaining his release, Giacomo rossi further infuriated Francesco sforza by arranging the murder of a sforza condottiere, Pierpaolo Cattabriga, with the help of both Giovanni rossi and Ginevra terzi (the victim’s wife and Giacomo’s lover).37 Giacomo and Giovanni fled, while their father frantically sought the whereabouts of his two “most unworthy sons” (indignissimi figlioli).38 the hit on Pierpaolo caused considerable trouble for the rossi, and Pier Maria was called by the duke to answer for his sons’ audacious crime. Pierpaolo had long served Francesco sforza, who had recently provided the soldier with lodging and a pension and seems to have paid for his wedding, and sforza made no effort to hide his disgust with Giacomo’s “nefarious, atrocious, and wicked” (nefando, atroce et scelerato) misdeed or his fondness for the victim, whom he referred to as “our faithful and most valiant partisan and soldier” (nostro squadrero et soldato fedele et valentissimo allevato con

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noy).39 Pierpaolo’s wife and Giacomo’s mistress Ginevra terzi, moreover, was no random lover, but the granddaughter of ottobuono terzi, the arch nemesis of Pietro rossi (Pier Maria’s father and thus Giacomo’s grandfather).40 ottobuono’s severed head had been presented to the rossi and displayed at Felino castle and, according to tradition, his heart lay entombed in Pietro’s chapel in sant’antonio abate in Parma.41 as Marco Gentile has pointed out, this murder was grave in and of itself for upsetting the ranks of Francesco sforza’s condottieri but was even worse for Pier Maria, given the ancient enmity between the rossi and the terzi.42 that the reasons behind Pier Maria’s actions to disinherit were not purely sentimental is further demonstrated by the fact that these two sons had recently allied themselves with the san vitale and este against the rossi and sforza. indeed, Giovanni’s invocation of these dynasties in his testimony against his father should alert us to the factional motivation for the betrayal. though the sons’ treachery was recently labeled “imperdonabile,” Giacomo was in fact pardoned and returned to support the rossi.43 he was permitted to re-enter Parma in 1467 after making peace with antonio Cattabriga, the brother of his victim, and was before long back in the saddle as sforza condottiere.44 indeed, nadia Covini has recently argued that Pier Maria clandestinely supported both sons at the same time he publicly denounced them, to appease Francesco sforza and simultaneously protect his sons from the harsher punishments that sforza believed they deserved.45 Giacomo was sufficiently reintegrated into the Rossi dynasty by the early 1480s to fight on his father’s behalf, though Giovanni seems not to have reconciled with his father or his other brothers.46 Pier Maria in 1478 ordered a Piacentine official to imprison Giovanni after he had been advised to approach Parma no closer than Piacenza.47 immediately following his father’s death in 1482, the “exheredatus” Giovanni returned from reggio to Felino castle with, as a chronicler tells us, “still evil designs” (malo tamen animo).48 Giovanni, however, failed in this attempt to take Felino from his brother Guido and was instead briefly imprisoned. Repudiated by the rossi, Giovanni had been stripped of the dowry of his wife angela scotti and reduced to poverty. in 1479, “lacking all things human bodies need” (manchando in ogni cossa necessaria a corpi humani), Giovanni appealed to Bona of savoy for financial support and for a position at court for his eldest son; in the early 1490s Giovanni, unable “to cover the flesh of myself and my family” (coprire le carne a mi et ad li mei), again sought a stipend from Milan, while angela requested that isabella d’este assist in efforts to restore her dowry.49 all the while, Giovanni stood up for his father, whom he called “humane and pious” (humano et pio) and not “by nature like a tiger or serpent” (di natura di tigri o di serpenti), and repeatedly apologized for Pier Maria’s harsh treatment, the very cause of his dire situation.50 the vicissitudes of Giovanni and Giacomo’s experiences highlight the contingency of legitimacy in the courts of fifteenth-century Italy. Pier Maria, for instance, referred to the disinherited Giovanni as “bastardo” in a letter to ludovico Gonzaga.51 indeed, neither bastardy nor legitimacy should be considered absolute;

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39

many bastards were legitimated and illegitimacy could subsequently be reinvoked. in mid-fourteenth-century Milan, for example, the legitimization of Bernarbò visconti and donnina dei Porri’s children was revoked when Bernarbò’s nephew Giangaleazzo seized power.52 imaginary maternity or paternity could likewise be suggested. the sculptor lorenzo Ghiberti variously claimed to be the son of two different fathers to his advantage, and Giovanni Boccaccio fabricated both illegitimate origins from a royal, Parisian mother and a fictional romance with an illegitimate daughter of the King of naples for courtly, cultural cache.53 Beltrando Rossi, born in 1429 and identified as “filius spurius” in Pier Maria’s final codicil, was ignored in Gerardo rustici’s verse portrayal of the family in the early 1460s, but was listed among antonia’s children in Jacopo Caviceo’s posthumous biography of Pier Maria published in the 1490s.54 such omissions and inclusions alert us to the mutable nature of (il)legitimacy and historical visibility. Pier Maria Rossi’s Other Sons Pier Maria rossi judiciously recognized, promoted, and supported illegitimate children to expand and defend his staterello and his dynasty’s regional networks of power. subsequent to the early death of three legitimate children and the more recent loss of two disinherited sons, rossi sought to amplify his reserve of potential heirs.55 Pier Maria incorporated and provided substantial allowances for two bastards, Beltrando and ugolino, and he continued to father illegitimate children as late as 1480, when he was approaching 70 years of age.56 While Giovanni and Giacomo were disinherited for what one might be tempted to call “legitimate” reasons, Pier Maria’s other legitimate sons served their dynasty faithfully and seemed to have followed the path resolutely set for them by their father. Bernardo rossi, born in the mid-1430s, seems to have been intended for religious life from birth, in order to increase the prestige and financial wellbeing of the rossi dynasty. in a letter to Francesco sforza of 1459, Bernardo admitted to the duke that his religious vocation had been imposed by Pier Maria, forcefully, and against his will.57 The originally defiant Bernardo was granted a number of benefices in his teens, and in 1458 this student of canon law was elected bishop of Cremona, Bianca Maria visconti’s dotal city and key site of ecclesiastical patronage cementing the visconti–sforza alliance.58 in Cremona, a city particularly important to Pier Maria rossi (his mother Giovanna Cavalcabò’s dynasty was long powerful there), acts such as Bernardo’s consecration of Bianca Maria’s votive church of san sigismondo no doubt strengthened ties between the rossi and the lords of Milan.59 Bernardo was groomed for the cardinalate and was promised numerous castles in his father’s first will.60 supported by the rossiallied Pope Paul ii, Bernardo advanced quickly in rome and in september 1466 reported to Galeazzo Maria sforza that the pope “everyday” tells papal courtiers

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and prelates that he intended to elevate Bernardo to the college of cardinals.61 it was his untimely death in rome in 1467 and not his father’s neglect or preference for Bianca’s children that kept a substantial part of the rossi state from Bernardo, for whom Pier Maria claimed to suffer a sorrow “continually fixed in my heart.”62 Pier Maria’s next youngest legitimate son Guido married ambrogina Borromeo of Milan and was promised, along with Bernardo, the vast majority of their father’s jurisdictions and territories in his first will. Guido, whose beauty Rustici had compared to Ganymede and narcissus, served as condottiere under Francesco and Galeazzo Maria sforza.63 Guido devotedly followed Pier Maria throughout his rebellion against ludovico sforza in the early 1480s, was declared a rebel in Milan, and was painted in effigy hanged by the foot alongside his father.64 living in exile in venice, Guido served as general, saved the venetian army from total rout at Rovereto in 1487, and was accorded a magnificent state funeral three years later.65 the bastards Beltrando and ugolino were likewise consequential players in Rossi political conflicts and ecclesiastical networks. That we cannot identity with certainty the mother(s) of ugolino or Beltrando, born 18 years apart, likely suggests that their mother(s) were of less noble lineage than Bianca Pellegrini.66 Following the death of Bishop Bernardo, ugolino emerged as the primary focus for the immediate family’s interventions in regional ecclesiastical politics.67 ugolino shared his name both with a long-serving, fourteenth-century bishop of Parma and with a canon of Parma Cathedral, and he seems to have been guided from birth towards an ecclesiastical career, if one originally intended to be secondary to that of Bernardo, his (legitimate) brother from another mother.68 though it is commonly claimed that the Badia of santa Maria della neve near torrechiara was constructed to generate a benefice for Ugolino, Pier Maria Rossi had grander things in mind for this son.69 ugolino was proposed for prestigious posts well before the Badia was built, though opponents seized upon rossi’s tender age and the fact that he was not yet ordained. after being nominated abbot of Parma’s most important monastery, san Giovanni Evangelista, the young Rossi faced considerable difficulties from Gaspare da Su, rolando rossi’s bothersome nemesis recently elected abbot by the brothers of san Giovanni. With Pope Paul ii’s intervention, however, ugolino eventually entered the Benedictine san Giovanni.70 as abbot, ugolino remained a belligerent supporter of his dynasty, slicing off the nose of a Correggio partisan during the unrest in Parma following Galeazzo Maria sforza’s assassination.71 Ugolino was forced to flee Parma after being trapped in his monastery’s burning campanile along with his uncle rolando and rossi adherents including the humanist Jacopo Caviceo.72 never to return to Parma, ugolino remained san Giovanni’s abbot with a substantial pension for another six years and eventually governed san Zeno in verona and santo spirito in ravenna.73 ugolino conspicuously marked his dynastic identity by decorating the portico of santo spirito with the heart, medlar, and lion emblems of the rossi.74 ugolino’s elder brother Beltrando was legitimated by imperial authority and, in Pier Maria’s final codicil, was granted Berceto and other southern castles once

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promised to the deceased Bernardo.75 the mountainous south of rossi’s territory was particularly vulnerable during the rossi’s war against ludovico sforza from 1480 to 1482, and Pier Maria’s need for competent and trustworthy support here accounts for Beltrando’s increasing political authority and visibility in these years.76 By its nature, legitimation served to formalize a relationship between parent and child and, in this case, the act established additional rights and powers for the newly promoted Beltrando. Beltrando seems particularly shrewd; by making quick peace with ludovico sforza immediately following Pier Maria’s fatal illness in september 1482, Beltrando was initially the most successful of the brothers at maintaining rossi territory.77 Beltrando’s most populous holding, Berceto, is strategically situated on the Via Francigena at the Cisa pass, a heavily trafficked passage through the apennines.78 to strengthen control over the dynasty’s southern territory and access through the Apennines, Pier Maria had consolidated the benefices and resources of numerous ecclesiastical institutions into Berceto’s pieve (parish) church of san Moderanno, the site of a fervent cult frequented by pilgrims, and had begun rebuilding and outfitting the Romanesque church.79 Beltrando intensified these campaigns by ordering the translation of relics and the construction of a new altar.80 san Moderanno’s capitals decorated with rossi lions and inscriptions proclaim the patronage of both father and son (Fig. 2.1).81 Beltrando likely purchased the Muranese glass chalice discovered in 1971 in a tomb near the main altar, buried with two bodies, one of whom was possibly

2.1 Capital, Church of san Moderanno, Berceto, c. 1485

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Beltrando.82 additional furnishings commissioned by Beltrando include a walnut armadio and a bell forged by Jacopo da reggio in 1497.83 the bell’s depiction of the imago pietatis, an iconography dear to Pier Maria, visually linked father and (legitimated) son through devotion.84 The Rossi, Lorenzo Lotto, and Damnatio Memoriae like their uncle Beltrando, the next generation of rossi men deployed Pier Maria’s legacy to bolster claims to authority and dynastic territory. Bernardo and Filippo Maria rossi, two of Guido’s sons, marshaled imagery against their French-supported cousin troilo rossi, son of the disinherited Giovanni. Filippo Maria rossi reimagined their grandfather’s medals in an attempt to legitimize his authority; an early sixteenth-century medal now in the British Museum (Fig. 2.2) displays the portraits of Filippo Maria and Pier Maria with the elder rossi’s profile portrait taken from an example struck decades earlier (Fig. 2.3).85 George hill perceptively commented that this small medal was intended by Filippo Maria to be read as “a political manifesto, asserting the right to his grandfather’s dominions,” and indeed Filippo Maria strove to regain his grandfather’s territory over the course of three decades.86 a (presumably) lost painted portrait of Pier Maria, based on a medal and described in the late sixteenth century in ravenna where rossi’s son ugolino had served as abbot of santo spirito, may have served a similar purpose.87 Filippo Maria’s brother Bernardo, bishop of treviso and Belluno, is best known as one of lorenzo lotto’s earliest patrons, the blue-eyed subject of the portrait in naples (Fig. 2.4) separated from its enigmatic allegorical cover

2.2 unknown artist, Pier Maria and Filippo Maria Rossi, c. 1500, British Museum, london

2.3

Gianfrancesco enzola, Pier Maria Rossi, 1471, victoria and albert Museum, london

2.4 lorenzo lotto, Bernardo Rossi, c. 1505, Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, naples

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2.5 lorenzo lotto, Allegorical Cover for Portrait of Bernardo Rossi (pre-restoration), c. 1505, national Gallery of art, Washington dC now in Washington (Fig. 2.5).88 Bernardo rossi additionally commissioned from lotto a devotional panel which depicted saint Peter Martyr presenting the kneeling bishop to Mary and Christ (Fig. 2.6). the bishop Bernardo was eventually replaced by a young John the Baptist, however, in a remarkable

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instance of damnatio memoriae discussed by Francesca Cortesi Bosco.89 X-ray photographs reveal a dark form holding a pastoral cross in the vicinity of what is now the young Baptist (Fig 2.7), and, particularly when compared to the Christ Child, it is clear that this figure was painted by a later and markedly weaker artist.90 inscribed “1503 adi 20 septembrio” on its reverse, this votive work commemorates the disruption of a plot to assassinate the young bishop.91 the exvoto’s prominent and juxtaposed representations of torrechiara castle and Peter Martyr, Pier Maria’s namesake who is included in the lone extant polyptych commissioned by the elder rossi, associated Bernardo with the dynasty’s most revered signore and the most imposing and magnificent of his castles.92 lotto’s castle, located to the left of the saint, is remarkably convincing as seen from the northwest, with three of torrechiara’s four towers visible and the winding Parma river bending toward the viewer.93 lotto’s representation of torrechiara must be placed within the context of the fiercely contested struggle for ownership of the castle. Subsequent to ludovico sforza’s expulsion from Milan in 1499 by louis Xii, Milan’s governor Gian Giacomo trivulzio conferred torrechiara, san secondo, and Felino upon troilo rossi, son of the disinherited Giovanni and, possibly, an early patron of Parmigianino.94 ludovico re-entered lombardy the following year and, notwithstanding the fact that he had expelled their father from Parma, counted Filippo Maria and Bernardo rossi among his supporters.95 With ludovico’s backing, Filippo Maria besieged torrechiara and managed to wrest control of the castle from his cousin troilo.96 Filippo Maria and Bernardo’s hold on torrechiara would last a few short months, however. in april of 1500 ludovico was once again imprisoned by the French, and Filippo Maria was forced to flee. It was likely during or in the immediate aftermath of these events that Filippo Maria commissioned his medal; three years later, shortly after the Pallavicini were installed as the signori of torrechiara, Bernardo would be painted by lotto with this castle behind him.97 the castles in lotto’s mountainous background may have pointedly suggested, for the painting’s original audiences, other contested and lost jurisdictions and rocche in the apennines south of torrechiara, possibly – to Peter Martyr’s left – Corniglio, Bosco di Corniglio, and/or roccaferrara, all along the Parma, and – between Peter and Mary – Berceto or roccaprebalza, further west.98 no doubt a descendant of Giovanni and troilo – perhaps troilo ii who connected his rule to the rossi’s past by commissioning a frescoed room in san secondo depicting the dynasty’s res gestae, including a scene of Pier Maria acclaimed Parma’s pater patriae – later in the sixteenth century ordered that Bernardo be painted out of lotto’s ex-voto and replaced by the young John the Baptist.99 By this time, torrechiara had long since passed from the control of the rossi dynasty, having been sold to the Pallavicini by the French mareschiallo Pietro di rohan. nevertheless, or perhaps explicitly for this reason, access to Pier

2.6

lorenzo lotto, Madonna and Child with Saints Peter Martyr and John the Baptist (originally Bernardo rossi as kneeling donor), 1503, Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, naples

2.7 X-ray of lorenzo lotto, Madonna and Child with Saints Peter Martyr and John the Baptist (originally Bernardo rossi as kneeling donor), 1503

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Maria Rossi’s efficacious legacy and authority continued to be contested by heirs of diverse generations and assorted degrees of legitimacy, here evoked by the polemical depictions of torrechiara castle and Peter Martyr. historical visibility is always ever circumscribed by conventions of class and gender, and by realities of political power. the bishop Bernardo rossi is in many ways remarkably visible to historians by virtue of his elevated ecclesiastical status and his patronage of revered artists. lorenzo lotto’s votive panel, however, visualizes the threats posed by internecine conflict born of an unmanageable multitude of competing family members. here, the bishop suffered historical erasure, a victim of agonistic kinsmen and his all too potently virile grandfather. Notes i wish to extend warm thanks to Marco Gentile, liz horodowich, areli Marina, Katherine Mciver, Gregory Most, Giovanni Pagliarulo, sean roberts, Monika schmitter, Gerardo de Simone, and Alessandra Talignani. A fellowship from Villanova University’s Office of research and sponsored Projects supported the publication of these images. 1

2

3

4 5 6 7 8

helen ettlinger, “visibilis et invisibilis: the Mistress in italian renaissance Court society,” Renaissance Quarterly, 47/4 (Winter 1994): 770–792; Jane Fair Bestor, “Bastardy and legitimacy in the Formation of a regional state in italy: the estense succession,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 38/3 (1996): 549–585; thomas Kuehn, Illegitimacy in Renaissance Florence (ann arbor, 2002); Jane Fair Bestor, “Marriage and succession in the house of este: a literary Perspective,” in Phaethon’s Children: The Este Court and its Culture in Early Modern Ferrara, dennis looney and deanna shemek, eds (tempe aZ, 2005), 49–85; Marco Folin, “Bastardi e principesse nelle corti del rinascimento: spunti di ricerca,” in Olimpia Morata: Cultura umanistica e riforma protestante tra Ferrara e l’Europa (Ferrara, 2007), 167–174. Bestor, “Bastardy and legitimacy”; letizia arcangeli, Gentiluomini di Lombardia: Ricerche sull’aristocrazia padana nel Rinascimento (Milan, 2003), 78–80; Bestor, “Marriage and succession.” Ettlinger, “Visibilis et Invisibilis”; Timothy McCall, “‘Traffic in Mistresses’: sexualized Bodies and systems of exchange in the early Modern Court,” in Sex Acts: Practice, Performance, Perversion, and Punishment in Early Modern Italy, allison levy, ed. (aldershot, 2010), 125–136. Bestor, “Bastardy and legitimacy,” 553, 578. For various types and processes of legitimation, see Kuehn, Illegitimacy, 33–69, 167–205. Kuehn, Illegitimacy, 59. david Chambers and trevor dean, Clean Hands and Rough Justice: An Investigating Magistrate in Renaissance Italy (ann arbor, 1997), 172–173. Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, trans. samuel Middlemore (london, 1990), 24. Kuehn, Illegitimacy, 14, 168.

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Joanna Woods-Marsden, “Pictorial legitimation of territorial Gains in emilia: the iconography of the Camera Peregrina aurea in the Castle of torchiara,” in Renaissance Studies in Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth, andrew Morrogh, Fiorella superbi Gioffredi, Piero Morselli, and eve Borsook, eds (Florence, 1985), 553– 564; Gianni Capelli and Pier Paolo Mendogni, Il castello di Torrechiara: Storia, architettura, e dipinti (Parma, 1994); Chad Coerver, “donna/dono: Chivalry and adulterous exchange in the Quattrocento,” in Picturing Women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, Geraldine Johnson and sara Matthews-Grieco, eds (Cambridge, 1997), 196–221; timothy McCall, “networks of Power: the art Patronage of Pier Maria rossi of Parma” (Phd dissertation, university of Michigan, 2005); Jean Campbell, “Pier Maria rossi’s treasure: love, Knowledge and the invention of the source in the Camera d’oro at torrechiara,” in Emilia e Marche nel Rinascimento: L’identità visiva della ‘Periferia,’ Giancarla Periti, ed. (azzano san Paolo, 2005), 63–88; timothy McCall, “visual imagery and historical invisibility: antonia torelli, her husband, and his Mistress in Fifteenth-Century Parma,” Renaissance Studies, 23/3 (June 2009): 269–287. ireneo affò, Storia della città di Parma (4 vols, Parma, 1792–95), vol. 4, 293, 313. angelo Pezzana, Storia della città di Parma (5 vols, Parma, 1837–59), vol. 2, 72, 88, 90; Marco Gentile, “la formazione del dominio dei rossi tra Xiv e Xv secolo,” in Le signorie dei Rossi di Parma tra XIV e XVI secolo, letizia arcangeli and Marco Gentile, eds (Florence, 2007), 41. For Marsilio’s text on the education of children, instructing them about dangerous games, fleeting vanities, mortal sin, and decorous comportment, see Biblioteca Palatina, Parma (hereafter, BPP), Ms Parm. 1350, Basilii parmensis monachi de honestate vite. For Marsilio (known as Basilio after taking holy orders) and the Badia, see angelo Galletti, “erezione dell’abbazia di s. Maria della neve presso torrechiara (1473),” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 25 (1973): 107; Cipriano Carini, “Basilio de rossi, primo abate di torrechiara,” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 26 (1974): 217–233; Fabrizio tonelli and Barbara Zilocchi, L’Abbazia Benedettina di Santa Maria della Neve a Torrechiara (Parma, 2009). Pezzana, Storia, vol. 2, 353. Giacomo’s brother Pietro and nephew Pier Maria (“Petrum Parvum”) were named heirs: Gentile, “la formazione del dominio,” 48. vincenzo Carrari, Historia de’ Rossi parmigiani (ravenna, 1583), 138–139; Pezzana, Storia, vol. 2, 670–674; Guglielmo Capacchi, Castelli Parmigiani (5th edn, Parma, 1997), 351. Pezzana, Storia, vol. 3, 320–324; vol. 4, 171–172; Giovanni allodi, Serie cronologica dei vescovi di Parma (2 vols, Parma, 1856), vol. 1, 801; Marco Pellegri, “Gli xenodochi lungo le strade del contado della diocesi di Parma,” Parma nell’arte, 5/2 (1973): 17–24; Gianluca Battioni, “aspetti della politica ecclesiastica di Pier Maria rossi,” in Le signorie dei Rossi, arcangeli and Gentile, eds, 103. Cronica gestorum in partibus Lombardie (1476–1482), Giuliano Bonazzi, ed. (Città di Castello, 1904), 5–10; Marco Gentile, “Fazioni al governo. Politica e società a Parma nella secondo metà del quattrocento (1449–1484)” (tesi di dottorato, università degli studi di trento, 2003), 7–57.

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20 21

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23 24

25 26 27

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For Giannantonio, see Pezzana, Storia, vol. 5, 200. For rolando’s feuds and armed men, see Cronica gestorum, 5–6; Pezzana, Storia, vol. 4, 15–18; Gentile, “Fazioni al governo,” 33–37. “misericordia, misericordia, dio, cavane de la mane de questo lupo et can rabioso de Messer Gaspare Da Su, quale ne destruze lo corpo et anima”; “usando lo offitio … de luppo, non havendo rispecto alcuno alla calamità de epsi pauperi leprosi ni al loro bisogno et alla grave loro infirmitate”: Pezzana, Storia, vol. 3, 324. Gianluca Battioni, “la diocesi parmense durante l’episcopato di sacramoro da rimini (1476–1482),” in Gli Sforza, la chiesa lombarda, la corte di Roma: Strutture e pratiche beneficiarie nel ducato di Milano (1450–1535), Giorgio Chittolini, ed. (naples, 1989), 158–159. Cronica gestorum, 92. Pier Maria’s sister Caterina married Jacopo visconti and donated a gilded chalice to sant’antonio abate: Pezzana, Storia, vol. 4, 307; Pier Paolo Mendogni, Sant’Antonio Abate: Uno scrigno rococò (Parma, 1979), 34. Rolando’s sons were threatened with fines of 10,000 florins for disobeying Sforza: Pezzana, Storia, vol. 3, 157; Giorgio Chittolini, La formazione dello stato regionale e le istituzioni del contado (turin, 1979), 76; Marco Gentile, Terra e poteri: Parma e il Parmense nel ducato visconteo all’inizio del quattrocento (Milan, 2001), 75–93. McCall, “visual imagery and historical invisibility.” For example, Fernardo Bernini, “l’ambiente storico del castello dei conti rossi in san secondo,” Aurea Parma, 17/5–6 (1933): 188; luke syson, “Consorts, Mistresses and exemplary Women: the Female Medallic Portrait in Fifteenth-Century italy,” in The Sculpted Object 1400–1700, Stuart Currie and Peta Motture, eds (Brookfield vt, 1997), 48; Coerver, “donna/dono,” 220. For Bianca’s children, see ettlinger, “visibilis et invisibilis,” 779n, 789; McCall, “visual imagery and historical invisibility,” 273, 278. BPP, Fondo Casapini, Cass. 28, fasc. 12, cart. 6, 14 January 1464; archivio di stato di Parma (hereafter, asPr), Feudi e comunità, rossi, 206, 15 January 1464. For donella and leonora’s activities and agency, and for an expanded discussion of the inheritance, see McCall, “visual imagery and historical invisibility,” 278–286. For conventions in rewarding mistresses and their families, see Janice shell and Grazioso sironi, “Cecilia Gallerani: leonardo’s lady with an ermine,” Artibus et historiae, 13/25 (1992): 47–66; Ettlinger, “Visibilis et Invisibilis”; McCall, “‘Traffic in Mistresses.’” Kuehn, Illegitimacy, 21, 152. see, additionally, diane owen hughes, “struttura familiare e sistemi di successione ereditaria nei testamenti dell’europa medievale,” Quaderni storici, 33 (1976): 941; arcangeli, Gentiluomini di Lombardia, 78. see note 25; asPr, Fondo diplomatico, documenti Privati, 5803–5806, 29 and 30 May, 1466; Pezzana, Storia, iv, 309; Giacomo Manfredi, “Considerazioni sul testamento del conte Pietro Maria rossi di san secondo,” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 6 (1954): 87–93; Marco Pellegri, Un feudatario sotto l’insegna del leone rampante: Pier Maria Rossi 1413–1482 (Parma, 1996), 285–286. Francesco Campari, Un castello del Parmigiano attraverso i secoli (Parma, 1910), 77–78.

50 31

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39 40 41

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy For such fantasies of cannibalism, see Geraldine heng, Empire of Magic: Medieval Romance and the Politics of Cultural Fantasy (new york, 2003), 31; lauro Martines, April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici (oxford, 2003), 138–149. For the strategic importance of noceto, see McCall, “networks of Power,” 234–245. Gianni Capelli, “vicende storiche e architettoniche,” in Il castello di Torrechiara, Capelli and Mendogni, 35. Maria nadia Covini, L’esercito del duca: Organizzazione militare e istituzioni al tempo degli Sforza (1450–1480) (rome, 1998), 21n, 29, 31n, 117n; Maria nadia Covini, “Le condotte dei Rossi di Parma. Tra conflitti interstatali e ‘picciole guerre’ locali (1447–1482),” in Le signorie dei Rossi, arcangeli and Gentile, eds, 76–81, 97–99. Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 77–78. Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 78 (archivio di stato di Milano (hereafter, asMi), Famiglie 159, 1461, Pier Maria rossi to Cicco simonetta). it is not entirely clear to me if this cittadella was that built by the visconti in the 1340s on the east bank of the Parma river, close to where the Palazzo della Pilotta would eventually be built, or, more likely, a later visconti construction within Parma’s south walls labeled “cittadell” on a map of the city made in the early 1460s. asMi, archivio sforzesco ducale, Carteggio (hereafter, sforzesco) 750, antonio Cattabriga to Francesco sforza, 2 november 1463; antonio Cattabriga to Cicco simonetta, 2 november 1463; Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 79–82. Rossi believed that his sons had fled to the territory of the Pio of Carpi and then, perhaps, to Mantua: asMi, sforzesco 750, Pier Maria rossi to the duke, 25 November and 4 December 1463. For the quote, and for “indignissimi mei figliolli”: asMi, sforzesco 829, 1 March and 8 april 1466. For further attempts to locate the two throughout lombardy and the veneto, see Marco Pellegri, “Pier Maria rossi e i suoi eventi in un succinto epistolario,” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 45 (1993): 303; Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 80–81. Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 79–80 (asMi, sforzesco 351, Francesco sforza to Gerardo Colli, sforza agent in venice, 20 March 1464). Pezzana, Storia, vol. 4, 310; Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 80–81. Mendogni, Sant’Antonio Abate, 26; McCall, “networks of Power,” 129–132. ottobuono’s head may still have been displayed at Felino decades later: Francesco somaini, “una storia spezzata: la carriera ecclesiastica di Bernardo rossi tra il ‘piccolo stato,’ la corte sforzesca, la curia romana e il ‘sistema degli stati italiani,’” in Le signorie dei Rossi, arcangeli and Gentile, eds, 126. Gentile, “Fazioni al governo,” 116. Capelli, “vicende storiche e architettoniche,” 50. Pezzana, Storia, vol. 3, 285. Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 79–83. Cronica gestorum, 115–118. Giacomo was, however, left out of his father’s final codicil: letizia arcangeli, “Principi, homines, e ‘partesani’ nel ritorno dei rossi,” in Le signorie dei Rossi, arcangeli and Gentile, eds, 246–247, 251. Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 82–83. Cronica gestorum, 115.

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arcangeli, “Principi, homines, e ‘partesani,’” 252, 255 (asMi, sforzesco 1083, Giovanni rossi to Bona of savoy, 5 February 1479; asMi, Famiglie 159, Giovanni rossi to ludovico sforza, 1494); Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 83 (asMi, sforzesco 1103, angela scotti to isabella d’este, March 1492). Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 82: (asMi, sforzesco 871, Giovanni rossi to Bona of savoy and Giangaleazzo sforza, 15 september 1477). Pellegri, “Pier Maria rossi,” 303. ettlinger, “visibilis et invisibilis,” 778. Kuehn, Illegitimacy, 176–177; aldo scaglione, Knights at Court: Courtliness, Chivalry, and Courtesy from Ottonian Germany to the Italian Renaissance (Berkeley, 1991), 212. Jacopo Caviceo, Maximo humanae imbecilitatis simulachro fortunae bifronti vita Petrimariae de Rubeis viri illustris (venice, c. 1490), 1r; Gerardo rustici, Cantilena pro potenti. d. Petro Maria Rubeo Berceti comite magnifico et Noceti domino, BPP, Ms Parm. 1992; for the codicil, see note 74. Francesco, Maria Bianca, and roberto each died under the age of ten: Pellegri, Un feudatario, 61. Beltrando and ugolino, discussed below, were promised allowances of 100 golden ducats in Pier Maria’s will of 1464. Cesare Maria was born at vigevano in late 1480: antonia tissoni Benvenuti, “libri e letterati nelle piccole corti padane del rinascimento. la corte di Pietro Maria rossi,” in Le signorie dei Rossi, arcangeli and Gentile, eds, 217. an additional bastard might be elisabetta who lived in Milan and in 1479 came to a less than amicable agreement with her father to avoid certain unnamed persons: Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 82. For Bernardo in general, see somaini, “una storia spezzata.” For the letter, see somaini, “una storia spezzata,” 159 (asMi, Sforzesco 728, Bernardo rossi to Francesco sforza, 15 november 1459). For Cremona and the sforza, see luisa Giordano, “l’autolegittimazione di una dinastia: Gli sforza e la politica dell’immagine,” Artes, 1 (1993): 1–33. Maria luisa Ferrari, “Corollari bembeschi,” Paragone, 22/253 (1971): 54–69; Chiara Maggioni, “un episodio di cultura agostiniana alle soglie dell’osservanza: gli affreschi della Cappella Cavalcabò in s. agostino a Cremona,” Arte lombarda, 84–85 (1988): 33–46; Mario Marubbi, “una revisione delle presenze bembesche in s. agostino a Cremona sulla soglia dell’osservanza e oltre,” in Società, cultura, luoghi al tempo di Ambrogio da Calepio, erminio Gennaro and Maria Mencaroni Zoppetti, eds (Bergamo, 2005), 265–281. the poet Gerardo rustici highlighted this position and the connection to the sforza: “Quil prudente e sauio monsignor / digno pastor / di nostra antiqua ducal cremona”: Cantilena, fol. 6r. allodi, Serie cronologica de vescovi, vol. 1, 777. “tutto il dì dice ancora largamente a molti dignissimi prelate et altri, et tavolta etiam in concistoro, che ha voglia de farme bene et honorarme et exaltarmi”: somaini, “una storia spezzata,” 182 (asMi, sforzesco 60, Bernardo rossi to Bianca Maria visconti and Galeazzo Maria sforza, 21 september 1466). “la doglia … che continuamente me sta infixa nel cuore, adeo ch’io sum tuto pieno de mestitia dal canto de dentro, et dal canto de fuora tute le mie guanze de lacrime viola,

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71 72 73 74 75

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy et io cum tuta la mia famiglia vestito de bruno”: somaini, “una storia spezzata,” 184 (asMi, sforzesco 831, Pier Maria rossi to Galeazzo Maria sforza, 19 december 1467). rustici, Cantilena, fol. 5v–6r. For Guido’s condotte, see Covini, L’esercito del duca, 117–118n; Covini, “le condotte dei rossi,” 98–99. asMi, Famiglie 159, rossi, 18 January 1483; Pezzana, Storia, vol. 4, 325, 346. Jacopo Caviceo, De bello roboretano (venice, c. 1490); Pezzana, Storia, vol. 5, 10–11, 152–153; Michael Mallett and John hale, The Military Organization of a Renaissance State: Venice c. 1400 to 1617 (Cambridge, 1984), 53–54. according to Pietro Bembo, all venice mourned Guido’s death in 1490: Historia veneta (venice, 1551), fol. 10. letizia arcangeli has suggested that Beltrando’s mother may be a certain “simona d’infirma condizione”: Arcangeli, “Principi, homines, e ‘partesani,’” 251. For mistresses, nobility, and historical visibility, see ettlinger, “visibilis et invisibilis”; for Bianca’s status, see McCall, “visual imagery and historical invisibility,” 272– 275. d. angelo Micheli, “ugolino de’ rossi, abate di san Giovanni evangelista (1447– 1498),” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 22 (1922): 482–499. ugolino rossi, the brother of Pier Maria’s great-great-grandfather rolando, enlarged rossi holdings through sales of church territory as bishop of Parma from 1323 until his death (reportedly poisoned by Bernarbò visconti) in 1377: allodi, Serie cronologica dei vescovi, vol. 1, 619–662; Gentile, “la formazione del dominio,” 25–32. For ugolino the canon from the san vitale Baganza branch of the rossi, see Battioni, “aspetti della politica ecclesiastica,” 102. From its founding until 1487, the abbot was Pier Maria’s cousin Marsilio (Basilio), son of the bishop Giacomo rossi: see note 12. For the claim that the Badia was erected for ugolino, see orazio salavolti and antonio soragna, Cenni storici sugli antichi pievati e castelli della diocesi parmense (Parma, 1906), 34–35; Marco Pellegri, “la storia di torrechiara,” in Torrechiara: Rivivere un tempo antico (Parma, 1972), 80. allodi, Serie cronologica dei vescovi, vol. 1, 778–779; Micheli, “ugolino de’ rossi,” 484–490; Galletti, “erezione dell’abbazia,” 101–103; Battioni, “la diocesi parmense,” 158. Gentile, “Fazioni al governo,” 17, 21. see note 16. Micheli, “ugolino de’ rossi,” 493–499. vincenzo Carrari described these emblems and those of ugolino’s tomb: Carrari: Historia de’ Rossi, 182. Pezzana, Storia, vol. 4, 311–312. For the codicil of 1 May 1480 and emperor Frederick III’s legitimation confirmed the following day, see Rome, Biblioteca Corsiniana (hereafter, BCrm), archivio rossi, Cors. 2408, cartella 15, documents 289 and 290. For instance, BCrm, archivio rossi, Cors. 2408, cartella 15, documents 281 and 285. For Beltrando’s imperial, ducal, and episcopal investitures, see BCrm, archivio rossi, Cors. 2408, cartella 16, documents 308, 309, 310; cartella 17, documents

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324 and 335; cartella 18, document 360; cartella 19, document 368. For Beltrando’s conflicted loyalties, see Arcangeli, “Principi, homines, e ‘partesani,’” 246–247, 256– 257, 275, 279. augusta Ghidiglia Quintavalle, “Castelli diruti e scomparsi nell’alpe parmense,” Aurea Parma, 38/1 (1954): 16–18; McCall, “networks of Power,” 230–231, 255– 259; Gentile, “la formazione del dominio,” 46. For the via Francigena and Berceto, see arturo Carlo Quintavalle, La strada Romea (Milan, 1975), 120–145; Pier luigi dall’aglio, “viabilità romana e altomedievale sull’appennino parmense: dalla Parma-luni alla via francigena,” in Studi sull’Emilia occidentale nel medioevo: Società e istituzioni, roberto Greci, ed. (Bologna, 2002), 1–24. For the church, cult, and benefices, see Emilio Nasalli-Rocca, “Il monastero di Berceto nel quadro delle fondazioni monastiche longobarde nell’emilia occidentale,” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 19 (1967): 99–111; Gianluca Battioni, “un inedita fonte per la storia ecclesiastica e religiosa del basso medioevo: Gli statuti della pieve di Berceto del 1471,” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 40 (1988): 293–318; emilio Finardi, “il duomo di Berceto e la basilica dei Fieschi di lavagna: elementi per un confronto,” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 46 (1994): 517–546; luigi Canetti, “Culti e dedicazioni nel territorio parmense: il dossier bercetano dei santi Moderanno e abbondio (secoli viii–X),” in Studi sull’Emilia occidentale, Greci, ed., 65–100. Giulia Meucci, “il calice vitreo di Berceto: ipotesi su un caso ‘fortunato,’” Archivio storico per le province parmensi, 55 (2003): 157–167. P[ier] M[aria] Co[mes Berceti] and B[eltrando] r[ossi]. the inscriptions refer to Pier Maria only as count, the place name here being redundant. For rossi’s titles, see Gentile, “la formazione del dominio,” 26–27. Meucci, “il calice vitreo di Berceto.” Quintavalle, La strada Romea, 246–251. Giuseppa Zanichelli, I conti e il minio: Codici miniati dei Rossi 1325–1482 (Parma, 1996), 68; McCall, “networks of Power,” 77–79. George hill, “notes on italian Medals – XXvii,” The Burlington Magazine, 42/238 (1923): 43. Pier Maria’s portrait and the inscription are based on Gianfrancesco enzola’s medal of 1471: George hill, A Corpus of Italian Medals of the Renaissance before Cellini (london, 1930), nos 289 and 1138. hill, “notes on italian Medals,” 43. vincenzo Carrari attributed the work to luca longhi, who was born in 1507, approximately a decade after ugolino’s death. Carrari, however, could certainly have been mistaken, and it makes more sense that the painting would have dated to ugolino’s time in ravenna: Carrari, Historia de’ Rossi, 169. Giovanni-Pietro Bernini, Bernardo Rossi, Broccardo Malchiostro: Profili storici (Parma, 1969); Giuseppe liberali, “Gli inventari delle suppellettili del vescovo Bernardo de’ rossi, nell’episcopio di treviso (1506–1524),” in Lorenzo Lotto: Atti del convegno internazionale di studi per il V centenario della nascita, Pietro Zampetti and vittorio sgarbi, eds (treviso, 1981), 73–92; Michelangelo Muraro, “Giovanni antonio da Pordenone e il periodo parmense dell’episcopato trevigiano,” in Giornata di studio per il Pordenone, Paola Ceschi lavagetto, ed. (Parma, 1982), 71–85; Peter

54

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90

91

92

93

94

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy humfrey, Lorenzo Lotto (new haven, 1997), 9–20; david alan Brown and sylvia Ferino-Pagden, Bellini, Giorgione, Titian and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting (Washington dC, 2006), 246–249. Francesca Cortesi Bosco, “la Madonna col Bambino e i Santi Pietro Martire e Giovanni Battista di Capodimonte: devozione o ‘damnatio memoriae’?,” Venezia Cinquecento, 10/19 (2000): 71–132. see, further, Joseph Crowe and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century (2 vols, london, 1871), vol. 2, 500; Bernard Berenson, Lorenzo Lotto: An Essay in Constructive Art Criticism (4th rev. edn, london, 1956), plate 5. That the bishop was originally a much wider figure, moreover, is borne out by the dark form visible in the X-ray and by the awkward space between Peter Martyr’s downstretched hand and the replacement saint. Gerolamo Biscaro, “il dissidio tra Gerolamo Contarini podestà e Bernardo de rossi vescovo di treviso e la congiura contro la vita del vescovo,” Archivio veneto, 7 (1930): 1–53; Cortesi Bosco, “la Madonna col Bambino,” 71–75. For the discrepancy between the inscription’s date and that of the foiled conspiracy nine days later, see enrico Maria dal Pozzolo, “osservazioni sul catalogo di lorenzo lotto: 1503–1516,” Arte veneta, 45 (1993): 33, 45. Cortesi Bosco, “la Madonna col Bambino,” 84–85. For the polyptych, see Marco tanzi, “Benedetto Bembo: Polittico di torchiara,” in Museo d’Arte Antica del Castello Sforzesco: Pinacoteca, tomo primo, Maria teresa Fiorio, ed. (Milan, 1997), 114–121. lotto’s depiction is clearly not based on the frescoed representation of torrechiara within the castle’s camera d’oro, for which see McCall, “networks of Power,” 224– 228. troilo was recently proposed as the sitter of Parmigianino’s portrait of a collector of ancient coins and sculpture in london; the proposal, however, would require that the dating of the portrait be moved to the artist’s teenage years: Beatrice Bentivoglioravasio, “un’introduzione al codice,” in Il Libro d’Ore Durazzo, andrea de Marchi, ed. (Modena, 2008), 195–200. For the painting, see david ekserdjian, Parmigianino (new haven, 2006), 121–124. BCrm, archivio rossi, Cors. 2408, cartella 18, document 348. For the most thorough account of these alliances, see arcangeli, “Principi, homines, e ‘partesani.’” arcangeli, “Principi, homines, e ‘partesani,’” 270–273. Pellegri, “la storia di torrechiara,” 86–91; Cortesi Bosco, “la Madonna col Bambino,” 88–95. For depictions of Rossi territory, see Luciano Summer, “Considerazioni topografiche sugli affreschi della camera d’oro a torchiara,” Parma nell’arte, 11/1 (1979): 51–64; McCall, “networks of Power,” 205–271. For san secondo, see Maria Cristina Basteri, Giuseppe Cirillo, Giovanni Godi, and Patrizia rota, La rocca dei Rossi a San Secondo: Un cantiere della grande decorazione bolognese del cinquecento (Parma, 1995), 159–179.

Chapter 3

rediscovering the villa Montalto and the Patronage of Camilla Peretti Kimberly l. dennis

Marforio: “how you’ve neglected yourself, Pasquino! Your shirt is as filthy as a coal miner’s!” Pasquino: “What can I say? My laundress has become a princess!”1

Camilla Peretti (1519–1605) and the members of her nuclear family rose from very humble origins in the town of Montalto in the Marche to the highest level of the european nobility when Peretti’s brother, Felice, was elected to the papacy as Pope sixtus v in 1585. the Peretti were unusual among early modern papal families because of their modest roots and because their initial social and political ascent was catalyzed not by wealth, but by the gift for preaching that brought renown to Felice, a Franciscan friar.2 architectural patronage played a vital role in the later stages of the family’s rise to prominence, and while Felice Peretti’s accomplishments as an architectural and urban patron have been well documented, Camilla Peretti’s commitment to elevating the family’s position through patronage has been overlooked by most scholars. the pioneering work of Marilyn dunn and Carolyn valone has established a clear pattern of neglect with respect to women’s patronage of art and architecture in early modern rome.3 dunn has demonstrated that women worked individually and collectively to found, construct, and decorate convents and churches affiliated with the Catholic reform movement. and valone has unearthed evidence of 50 women patrons working in rome in the sixteenth century. these women built and decorated “hospitals, colleges, chapels, churches, … convents, and monasteries,” fully cognizant of the social, political, and religious messages carried by their patronage projects.4 although they were recognized by their contemporaries, women patrons have been gradually erased from the art historical scholarship.5 in some cases their projects were re-attributed to male members of their families, and in others, women patrons’ names simply faded from the texts. While most of the recent literature in this area has focused on women patrons of religious art and architecture, this chapter will address a secular project, bringing back to light the vital role Camilla Peretti played in

3.1

Giovanni Battista nolli, map of rome, 1748, detail showing villa Montalto

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the development of the family’s villa Montalto, the largest noble family villa within the roman city walls in the late sixteenth century (Fig. 3.1). it will trace Peretti’s accumulation of extensive land holdings on the esquiline hill over the course of 12 years (from 1576 to 1588) and then explore how her contributions to the villa complex disappeared from the historical record. More than any other of the siblings’ patronage projects, the villa Montalto enhanced the visibility of the Peretti family on the social stage of early modern rome. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, however, the villa was demolished and Camilla Peretti’s role in its creation was gradually erased from the literature. examination of the process by which this erasure occurred will reveal how the androcentric bias of traditional historians has rendered invisible important elements of Peretti family history and the urban history of early modern rome. Peretti Family History soon after the death of Camilla Peretti’s husband, Giambattista Mignucci-Peretti (d. c. 1566), Peretti and her children moved from their hometown in the Marche to rome.6 there they joined Fra Felice and began to transition from the rural working-class life they had known in the Marche to the urban lifestyle of the Eternal City. During their first few years in Rome, the family also experienced an abrupt transition in their social standing, as they became de facto members of the nobility when Felice was elevated to the cardinalate in 1570. in homage to their humble roots, Peretti took the name Cardinal Montalto. in the 1570s, the extended family lived together in a group of houses they owned in via de’ leutari, near Piazza navona.7 From this base in the heart of the centro storico, the siblings began working to elevate their family’s status through a series of architectural patronage projects. in 1573, Felice commissioned a tomb monument in the ancient basilica of s. Maria Maggiore to commemorate the papacy of Nicolas IV (Masci, r. 1288–92), the first Franciscan pope. Eight years later, he undertook a second project at S. Maria Maggiore, a magnificent chapel for the Peretti family built by domenico Fontana, the architect who later became closely associated with the Peretti papacy.8 By 1575, Camilla had begun to develop the house in via de’ leutari into a residence more suitable for the family of a cardinal by purchasing neighboring houses to expand the Peretti palazzo. Contemporaries took note of the family’s ascent, and the Peretti were subject to public scrutiny during these years. From this time on, Felice, Camilla, and her children were frequently the subject of witty commentaries voiced by rome’s “talking” statues, such as the above exchange between Pasquino and Marforio. the attention garnered by the Peretti attests to the atypical nature of their rapid rise from obscurity to great wealth and power.

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The Villa Montalto the Peretti siblings’ collaborative efforts as architectural and urban patrons began with the villa Montalto, conceived in 1576, when Camilla purchased a vigna located on the esquiline hill just northeast of s. Maria Maggiore. over the course of the next 12 years, she systematically acquired 17 additional pieces of property in the area, creating the first large-scale noble family villa inside Rome’s city walls, a compound that spanned approximately 120 acres (49 hectares) and stretched from the east side of the Baths of diocletian to the Porta s. lorenzo at the eastern edge of the city (Fig. 3.2).9 Beginning in 1578, Camilla was joined in her effort to develop her newly acquired land into a homestead for the Peretti family by her brother, who directed the construction of a palazzo designed by domenico Fontana. as the villa Montalto grew over the course of the next decade, the site was transformed into a “grande protagonista” on the esquiline hill, a sprawling compound surrounded by a high wall that also served to delineate two important new sistine roads, the strada di Porta s. lorenzo, which extended from Piazza s. antonio (just east of s. Maria Maggiore) to Porta s. lorenzo, and via del Macao, which ran along the northeastern perimeter of the villa between the Baths of diocletian and Porta s. lorenzo.10

3.2 vittorio Massimo, map of villa Montalto, 1836, showing the villa grounds with roman numerals indicating the order in which each piece of property was acquired

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3.3 Giovanni Battista Falda, villa Montalto, c. 1590, detail of Palazzetto Felice and formal gardens in its early years, the villa Montalto was “situated upon quite uncultivated land, plunged in the deepest silence which was only broken at midday and in the evening by the sound of the bells in the neighboring churches of s. Maria degli angeli and st. Mary Major’s.”11 as it developed, however, the villa evolved into a vast compound that contained several residences, service buildings, gardens, orchards, vineyards, and a portion of the aqueduct recently restored by sixtus v to provide water to the region. inside its walls, the layout of the grounds was based on a series of broad, straight paths that created dramatic views, divided the property into formal gardens and agricultural areas, and conducted visitors around the compound (Fig. 3.3).12 The first palazzo built on the grounds, the Palazzetto Felice, was oriented to face the proper northeastern side of s. Maria Maggiore (see Fig. 3.1).13 it was accessed via the main entrance to the property, the Porta esquilina, which opened onto Piazza s. Maria Maggiore opposite the north transept of s. Maria Maggiore, where the Peretti chapel is located. this grand entrance led to a trivium, the central axis of which conducted visitors to the palazzo (Fig. 3.4). its two-sided axes extended diagonally to the outer edges of the giardini secreti flanking the palazzo on either side. From there, the visitor could pass through secondary gates to access the agricultural areas beyond (see Fig. 3.3).14 Mimicking the characteristics of sixtus v’s revolutionary city plan, this trivium guided the visitor around the property while signaling important relationships among the structures within and just outside the villa complex. the apex of the triangle clearly

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3.4 villa Montalto, view from Porta esquilina toward the Palazzetto Felice articulated the connection Felice and Camilla Peretti meant to evoke between their homestead and the family chapel in s. Maria Maggiore, while the diagonal side axes created a transition between the formal gardens surrounding the Palazzetto Felice and the informal grounds beyond. to the west of the Palazzetto, formal parterres bridged the distance between Piazza delle terme and the ruins of the Baths of diocletian. to the north and east, the property was devoted to vineyards closer to the residences and orchards in the regions beyond. the inclusion of formal and informal garden elements within the grounds allowed Felice and Camilla to combine an affection for the land derived from their childhood in the countryside with an elegant residence that signified the new social status their family enjoyed in rome. Felice Peretti’s affection for working on the land was well documented, and he was said to have planted and cared for some portions of the gardens with his own hands.15 the ambitious project undertaken by the Peretti siblings on the esquiline did not go unnoticed by their peers, and the villa Montalto has been credited with inspiring several of the grand villas of Baroque rome, including the villa ludovisi and villa Borghese on the Pincian, and villa doria-Pamphili on the Janiculum.16 While villas of the sixteenth century were characterized by palazzi that dominated formalized garden elements, in these seventeenth-century properties, the architecture played a secondary role to the vast, mostly informal gardens.17 each of the later villa complexes was accessible to the public, who entered through a

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gate from which the main palazzo was not immediately visible. in the case of the villa Montalto, visitors accessed the complex via the Porta Quirinalis, a secondary entrance adjacent to the Palazzo di termini, built during the papacy of sixtus v to provide housing for the papal entourage. the Porta Quirinalis opened onto Piazza di termini and led into the orti and vineyards of the villa’s informal gardens (see Fig. 3.3). thus, most visitors passed through a considerable portion of the gardens before reaching the private residence. While renaissance villas communicated a message of power and prestige through the man-made forms they contained, the new villa type inaugurated by the Peretti complex declared the wealth of the owners through the natural abundance contained within its walls. in addition to fruit trees, grape vines, mulberry trees, and exotic plants and flowers, the Baroque villa was often stocked with fowl and fauna to provide prey for owners who enjoyed hunting as a leisure activity.18 The culmination of this type is exemplified by the Palace of versailles, where the vast gardens provided for the recreation of the thousands of noble residents while also signifying louis Xiv’s dominance over the land and people he ruled.

The Noble Family Villa in Early Modern Rome in early modern rome, the noble family villa was not a primary residence, nor was it simply a country retreat to which the wealthy could retire to escape the sweltering heat of the roman summer. By the late sixteenth century, the term “villa” was commonly understood to refer to a stately palazzo situated on a large piece of land and surrounded by extensive gardens. Most noble family villas were located on one of the higher elevations outside the densely populated regions of the city, where the air was thought to be more healthy, and cooling breezes made the summer more tolerable. the locations of villas also removed their occupants from the areas of the city closest to the Tiber, where mosquitoes flourished and malaria threatened the working classes during the warmer months. these practical concerns, however, were of only secondary importance in the eyes of early modern members of the roman nobility, for whom the physical structure of the villa was closely tied to the identity of the family.19 While the individual family members could “disappear” behind the villa walls, the building itself served as a public statement of the family’s social status, carrying an “essential representative value, giving prestige to the lineage, [and] becoming veritable proof of nobility.”20 thus, although it certainly afforded a reprieve from the rigors of city life, the more important function of the noble family villa was to mark and shape the social status of its owners. the sociopolitical function of the noble family villa in the life of early modern rome is best understood in contrast with the primary residence of most roman

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noble families, the in-town palazzo. Members of the roman nobility spent the majority of their time in their family’s city dwelling, reserving use of the country villa for periods of retreat, relaxation, and recreation. the large, often fortresslike in-town palazzo usually housed several generations of the most prominent members of the family, serving as a residence and a location where family members of both genders could receive visitors and conduct business transactions.21 thus, through its use, the building itself became closely tied to the social and political identities of the individual family members and to the collective identity of the entire extended family. Moreover, the palazzi of the oldest roman noble families were located “in clearly defined settlement nuclei,” such that entire regions of the city, “Colonna,” for example, were (sometimes formally and sometimes informally) identified by the family whose presence dominated the area. In many cases, the association of a particular region of the city with the noble family palazzo located there has lasted for centuries, with some associations dating back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and several enduring into the twenty-first.22 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the tradition of connecting a family’s collective identity with architecture and urban “territory” was so well established that for up-and-coming families seeking a place among the roman nobility, the essential first step in social legitimating was to mark out a location for the family’s in-town palazzo and build a prominent structure upon it. thus, the urban palazzo functioned as something of a prerequisite to official membership in the Roman noble class, and the country villa confirmed and reiterated that status for members of more established clans.23 Because it was located within the city walls, yet on the outskirts of town among vast gardens and orti, the villa Montalto served a dual purpose for the Peretti family, who never built a traditional grand in-town palazzo like those most papal families occupied. instead, the Peretti employed a relatively modest residence near Piazza navona for in-town business, while their villa served as a private retreat and as a statement of their family’s place in rome’s social hierarchy. in the art historical literature on italian noble family residences, particularly those in rome, scholars have traditionally associated both the in-town palazzo and the rural villa with the individual identities and political struggles of noble men, though many women, including Camilla Peretti, played active roles in the evolution of the palazzi and villas in which they, too, lived. the androcentric approach taken by most art historians to the study of early modern roman architecture is characterized by statements like the following, made as recently as 1997: architectural activity, in itself a qualifying attribute of the gentleman, of his virtue and “magnificence,” was the primary activity in every level of the oligarchy and concerned not only civil architecture, but, in a crescendo of commitment and domination, the erection and equipping of private chapels and the financing of the building or restoration of churches and monasteries.24

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Even at the turn of the twenty-first century, many scholars have difficulty imagining that women played active roles in the architectural histories of early modern cities. and their blindness to women’s engagement with the built environment in rome is supported by generations of papal biographers and art historians who have hastened to explain away evidence of women’s involvement with architecture when they encountered it.25 to recover the contributions of women like Camilla Peretti, it is necessary to return to the contemporary documentation of their legal transactions. these records, unlike the secondary sources, are filled with the names of women who, like Camilla Peretti, purchased land, hired workers, and built and renovated buildings. this documentation demonstrates the vital role early modern roman noblewomen like Camilla Peretti played in the development of renaissance rome into one of the world’s first modern cities. Camilla Peretti’s Land Purchases on the Esquiline – the Nucleus of the Villa Montalto, the Guglielmini Vigna Camilla Peretti’s first land acquisition on the Esquiline Hill is recorded in a document dated 2 June 1576.26 on that date, a Florentine merchant named Bartolomeo Bonamici purchased a vigna of 10 pezze (approximately 6.5 acres or 2.6 hectares) on the esquiline from the roman doctor Padovano Guglielmini. the contract describes the property as situated within the city walls near s. Maria Maggiore (see Fig. 3.2). Bonamici agreed to pay Guglielmini 1500 scudi, stipulating that the new owner of the vigna would be either Bonamici himself or a person to be named by him (“vende al signor Bartolommeo Bonamici, cittadino e mercante Fiorentino, o a persona da nominarsi da lui”).27 one month later, on 7 July 1576, Bonamici formally declared that he had purchased the Guglielmini vigna on behalf of Camilla Peretti. this second document, composed by tarquinio Cavallucci, the same notary who had written the contract for the sale of the property, states that: “the above-named Bartolomeo Bonamici will declare in his bank, located in rione Ponte, in the presence of two witnesses, that the person in whose name he had purchased that vigna was signora Camilla Peretti, sister of the Most illustrious Cardinal Montalto, who lived in the house purchased by the Cardinal, her brother, in the leutari neighborhood in rione Parione” (“… il sullodato Bartolomeo Bonamici dichierò nel suo Banco situato nel rione di Ponte in presenza di due testimonj, che la persona, sotto il cui nome egli aveva comprato quella Vigna, era la Signora Camilla Peretta, sorella dell’illustrissimo Card. Montalto, la quale allora abitava nella casa comprata dal Card. suo fratello ai leutari nel rione Parione”).28 the contracts for her purchase of this land indicate that Peretti bought the property of her own volition and for herself. despite the clarity of the archival

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evidence, however, a number of historians writing since the seventeenth century have re-constructed this chain of events, inaccurately assigning Felice Peretti the role of primary agent in the transaction. that the purchase of the Guglielmini property was a critical moment in the development of the villa – and more broadly, of the public identity of the Peretti family – is evidenced, in part, by the insistent denial of so many historians over the course of the last four centuries that Camilla Peretti was the agent behind the purchase. an examination of the accounts of a sampling of those historians demonstrates how Peretti’s place in the history of the villa Montalto was gradually erased from the literature and suggests how the contributions of other early modern women patrons may also have been rendered invisible by the patriarchal bias of the historical record. Nineteenth-Century Histories of the Villa Montalto in the mid-seventeenth century, the Peretti family line expired, and the villa Montalto passed into the hands of the savelli and negroni families before it was acquired by its last owners, the Massimo, in the nineteenth century.29 like the families who had owned the villa Montalto in previous centuries, the Massimo were deeply attached to the palazzi and grounds and felt a strong allegiance to the property on which their family lived for several generations. in the 1860s, however, the survival of the villa was threatened when the site was chosen to serve as the home of Rome’s new train station, Stazione Termini. The final owner of the villa complex, Prince Camillo Massimo, fought valiantly against the project, but beginning in 1867 the villa Montalto was gradually demolished to make way for the station. Massimo was said to have died of a broken heart soon after the construction work began.30 the dedication of the Massimo family to the villa Montalto is documented in an 1836 volume written on the history of the complex by Camillo Massimo’s father, vittorio Massimo. this text traces the development of the grounds, catalogues the decoration of the palazzi, and provides transcriptions of many of the documents relating to Camilla Peretti’s purchases of the land on which the villa was built. Massimo, however, consistently mis-attributed the agency behind these important acquisitions to Felice rather than Camilla Peretti. Reflecting the patriarchal bias of historians who preceded him in reporting the history of the villa, and certainly influencing the understanding of those who came after him, Massimo’s text represents a crucial moment in the construction of the history of the villa Montalto for its virtual erasure of Camilla Peretti’s role in the development of the complex. although Massimo – and many others before and since – attributed the creation of the villa Montalto solely to Felice Peretti (with occasional input from his sister), examination of the primary source material clearly indicates that, in fact, Camilla Peretti played a vital role in the

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project by strategically purchasing virtually all of the 120 acres (49 hectares) on which it was built. Moreover, this evidence reveals that the siblings regarded the complex as a joint venture, a collaborative endeavor on which they worked together for more than a decade to create a residence where they and subsequent generations could live and which would promote the standing of their family within the hierarchy of the roman nobility. Vittorio Massimo was the first modern author to report the transaction in which Camilla Peretti bought Guglielmini vigna, and although he transcribed the original documents in his text, Massimo attributed the purchase of the Guglielmini property to Cardinal Montalto rather than to his sister. in a chapter titled, “First purchase of a vigna from doctor Padovano Guglielmini acquired by Cardinal Montalto,” Massimo related that the initial piece of property for the villa was bought “in the name of the Cardinal [by] one Bartolomeo Bonamici, a merchant from Florence” (“a nome del Cardinale [da] un certo Bartolomeo Bonamici Mercante Fiorentino”).31 Curiously, however, in Massimo’s transcription of the contract (according to his own translation from the original latin), no mention is made of Felice Peretti being involved in the transaction at all. in fact, Massimo contradicted himself by explicitly stating that the 7 July 1576 document officially names Camilla Peretti, not her brother, as the buyer of the vigna.32 Massimo’s description of the chain of events thus suggests that although he was aware that the original documents explicitly named Camilla Peretti as purchaser of the property, he was reluctant to believe that a woman of her time could have executed such a transaction on her own and for herself. Massimo’s confusion about – or refusal to acknowledge – the facts of this transaction echo throughout his book, in which he repeatedly contradicted himself by transcribing evidence of Camilla Peretti’s central involvement with the development of the villa and then insistently referred to Felice as owner of the property. apparently perplexed by what must have seemed an unusual circumstance to him, Massimo attempted to explain the Guglielmini transaction by arguing that Felice Peretti provided the money for the purchase of the land, “but, with good reason, not wanting to appear to be the buyer of the land himself, he made the purchase in the name of donna Camilla, his sister, perhaps also for fear of giving Gregory Xiii, with whom he did not have a good relationship, the impression that he was too rich.”33 Massimo seems to have been influenced in this interpretation of the transaction by at least two sources, which he quotes in his text. The first was the papal biographer Guido Gualtieri, who, writing in the seventeenth century, attributed the purchase of the land to Cardinal Montalto when he reported that, “he bought vineyards and gardens on the esquiline in the cultivation of which he usually gained the greatest of pleasure. in them he built a most tasteful house, in which men say he had decided to spend the rest of his life.”34 the second source cited by Massimo is an anonymous biographer whose text is housed in the Codice ottoboniano of the vatican library. that author explains:

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Cardinal Montalto, making himself aware of the small demonstration of Gregory Xiii and of his casual way of ordering him [Montalto] around, did not worry himself, closing his eyes to that which happened in the world without taking any conceivable care: to be able to better live in peace he resolved to buy a Vigna near s. Maria Maggiore, where he lived a completely secluded life with a modest staff, never wanting to leave that place, being extremely fond of it, such that not only did he take advantage of every aspect of it every day, but even more once he became Pope, he built another palazzo there, making his vigna into a magnificent theater with gardens, fountains, groves, and rows of trees, and it was called the villa of Cardinal Montalto.35

Massimo acknowledged the importance of the purchase of this first piece of land by noting that the Guglielmini property was the “kernel” (“nocciolo”) around which the villa Montalto gradually took shape in subsequent years.36 however, although he painstakingly translated the contract from the original latin, Massimo ultimately attributed the purchase to Felice rather than to Camilla Peretti. despite his own transcription of every detail of this sale as well as each of the subsequent acquisitions of property by Camilla Peretti, vittorio Massimo concluded the section of his book devoted to the land purchased for the villa Montalto by writing: Completed as it was by sixtus v, this great work was much talked about in rome as one of the principal elements of his pontificate, and although the buildings were not yet completed, the groves were not yet planted, the palazzi, fountains and other magnificences [were not yet completed], a number of writers found cause to celebrate this, his work, in many verses and in prose.37

Massimo’s conclusion suggests that he was influenced in his misrepresentation of the facts surrounding the development of the Peretti homestead by the writings of those who had preceded him. and the voices of those authors apparently outweighed the archival evidence Massimo had before him as he wrote. Thus, by 1836, Camilla Peretti’s purchase of the first piece of property for the villa Montalto had been rendered invisible by the only published source that addressed it. taken without consultation of the primary sources, Massimo’s explanation of the transaction would seem plausible, as Felice Peretti was still receiving the “poor cardinal’s” stipend from Pope Gregory Xiii at that time, and because of his adversarial relationship with the Pope, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that Peretti would not have wanted to call attention to any resources he had in an effort to avoid losing that stipend. however, if Peretti feared revocation of the funding he received from the vatican, that concern did not prevent him from giving 1,370 scudi to the town of Montalto in 1578 for construction of a new grammar school and an additional 2,000 scudi in 1579

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to fund the appointment of a doctor to serve the town’s residents.38 Moreover, when his nephew, Francesco, married in 1573, Peretti gave him a wedding gift of 5,000 scudi.39 these were obviously very generous and public gifts, and together with the lavish sums Montalto was investing in his chapel at s. Maria Maggiore during the same period (a project on which he ultimately spent 88,501 scudi), they suggest that he was not concerned with the possibility of losing the support he enjoyed from the vatican.40 Montalto’s spending habits during the reign of his adversary therefore refute the most common explanation as to why Camilla Peretti’s name, rather than that of her brother, appears in the contracts for the purchase of the Guglielmini property. in fact, there is no evidence that Felice Peretti made any effort to hide the wealth he was accumulating during this period, thus there is no reason to believe that he used his sister’s name to conceal his role in the purchase of the first piece of land on which the Villa Montalto would be built. another nineteenth-century historian, domenico Gnoli, also addressed the purchase of the Guglielmini vigna in his 1870 biography of vittoria accoramboni, Camilla Peretti’s daughter-in-law. Gnoli’s description seems to follow Massimo’s interpretation of the events of the summer of 1576. he wrote that: … through the florentine banker Messer Bartolomeo Bonamici, whose bank was located in rione Ponte, … the cardinal [Felice Peretti] had a vigna purchased at the foot of the esquiline from the physician signore Padovano Guglielmo for a person to be named: and on July 7, the banker Bonamici declared that he had made the purchase for Camilla Peretti.41

Gnoli acknowledged that Camilla Peretti was the party on whose behalf Bonamici contracted the sale of Guglielmini’s vigna, yet in the same paragraph, he credited her brother with the purchase. Gnoli’s confused report of this series of events suggests that he may have read and been influenced by Massimo’s account of the transaction. or perhaps, like Massimo, Gnoli simply felt unable to trust what he himself had read in the original contracts: that it was Camilla, not her famous and powerful brother, who made this initial and very significant purchase of land that was to become the Peretti family homestead. Twentieth-Century Histories of the Villa Montalto as the authoritative text on the villa Montalto, vittorio Massimo’s book had a significant impact on the histories written by those who followed his account. Yet those authors, too, ignored the clear evidence of Camilla Peretti’s agency in the evolution of the villa, which appears alongside Massimo’s insistent attributions of the project to her brother in his text. Writing in the early twentieth century, papal historian Ludwig von Pastor also related the story of the first purchase of land

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for the villa Montalto. like Massimo, he offered the explanation that Cardinal Montalto purchased the property in his sister’s name, but in less certain terms, writing that he did so “perhaps in order to escape the hostile attention of members of the Curia.”42 Citing Gnoli for this information, Pastor’s slightly more tentative explanation of the purchase suggests that he may have been unconvinced by Gnoli’s report of the events. thus, as presumably he had not seen the contracts himself, Pastor simply repeated a qualified version of the story as told by his predecessor. Several decades later, David Coffin also repeated the now-standardized explanation of the Guglielmini purchase, writing in his 1979 book on roman noble-family villas that: The financial transactions by which Cardinal Montalto acquired his vigna seem rather devious, as if he might have had the problem of his “poor” stipend in mind. in June, 1576, a large plot of land, ten pezzi or more than six and one half acres, near the Cardinal’s beloved basilica of sta. Maria Maggiore on the esquiline hill was purchased for fifteen hundred scudi, but the contract in July lists the acquisition in the name of the Cardinal’s sister, Camilla Peretti …43

Like those of his predecessors, the phrasing of Coffin’s account suggests that he was perplexed by the apparent involvement of the Cardinal’s sister in this important transaction. in 1979, most scholars would have regarded as unlikely, if not impossible, the involvement of a woman in a “masculine” transaction like the purchase of an important piece of real estate, so Coffin’s reliance on the reports of his predecessors is somewhat understandable. however, even more recently, writing for the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the death of sixtus v in 1992, Gianfranco spagnesi reported that the vigna was “acquired in the name of” (“aquista a nome”) Camilla Peretti by her brother, Felice, from Padovano Guglielmini sometime after 2 april 1576.44 taken together, this series of accounts written by a group of distinguished scholars traces 150 years of the historical record on the origins of the villa Montalto. they reveal that by the twentieth century, not only had the villa disappeared from the urban landscape, but Camilla Peretti’s contributions to its development had vanished from the literature recounting its history. viewed with an eye more sympathetic to the agency women exercised in the sixteenth century and against the evidence of the contract for the Guglielmini property, this example demonstrates the need to revisit historical material with an awareness of the active role many women played in the public life of early modern rome. using such an approach, the history of the villa Montalto can be pieced back together, beginning with the acknowledgement of Camilla Peretti’s agency in the Guglielmini purchase and the collaborative effort of the Peretti siblings to develop the site into an elegant homestead for their family.

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Conclusions By the summer of 1588, after 12 years of concerted effort to strategically acquire the whole of the property situated between the Baths of diocletian, s. Maria Maggiore, and Porta s. lorenzo, the grounds of the villa Montalto were complete. For the land on which the Peretti family homestead was built, Camilla Peretti had spent approximately 12,200 scudi to purchase approximately 106 pezze of land. Felice Peretti had contributed 2,150 scudi to buy approximately 14 pezze of land. of the 18 vigne ultimately contained within the walls of the compound, 12 were acquired by Camilla Peretti, two by Felice, and the remaining four were given as gifts, two to Camilla and two to Felice.45 thus, the Peretti siblings worked together on the development of the family homestead from its very conception. their collaboration on the project has perplexed scholars not accustomed to thinking of early modern women acting as business partners with their male relatives, but the documentation is clear. tracing the development of the villa Montalto from the contracts through the secondary literature this way provides a revealing demonstration of how much of women’s history has been rendered invisible over time. the archival evidence clearly demonstrates that many early modern women, like Camilla Peretti, were active contributors to the private and public lives of both their families and their cities, but to eyes disinclined to recognizing it, the evidence of their achievements has appeared perplexing – even impossible. For the study of architectural and urban patronage in early modern rome, this blindness to the contributions made by women patrons has resulted in a conceptualization of patronage practices as grounded in “masculine” competition between male members of the city’s noble class. the case of Camilla Peretti and the villa Montalto, however, suggests that patrons’ motivations were much more complex than that model would allow. Moreover, it suggests that men and women of the highest ranks of the roman nobility enjoyed close bonds to each other and to their family identities, and it was not simply “masculine” aggression or competition that drove architectural and urban patronage in early modern rome, but a commitment shared by the male and female members of rome’s noble families to expressing one’s family identity. Notes 1

2

Giuseppe Petrai, Pasquino e Marforio, Satire e Epigrammi (rome, 1884), 32–33: “Marforio: Come ti trascuri, Pasquino mio! hai una camicia lercia che par quella d’un carbonaio! Pasquino: Che vuoi che ti dica? … La mia lavandaia è diventata principessa!” all translations are the author’s. ludwig Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, ralph Francis Kerr, trans. (london, 1938–61), vol. 21, 27–29; and Francesco Pistolesi,

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4 5 6

7 8

9

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Sixtus Quintus: XIII Decembris MDXXI–XIII Decembris MCMXXI Album (rome, 1921), 6. For more on women patrons of religious art and architecture in early modern rome, see the work of Carolyn valone and Marilyn dunn. For example: Carolyn valone, “Women on the Quirinal hill: Patronage in rome, 1560–1630,” Art Bulletin, 76/1 (March 1994): 129–146; Carolyn valone, “roman Matrons as Patrons: various views of the Cloister Wall,” in The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion, and the Arts in Early Modern Europe, Craig a. Monson, ed. (ann arbor, 1992), 49–72; Carolyn valone, “Matrons and Motives: Why Women Built in early Modern rome,” in Beyond Isabella: Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy, sheryl e. reiss and david e. Wilkins, eds (Kirksville Mo, 2001), 317–335; Marilyn dunn, “spaces shaped for spiritual Perfection: Convent architecture and nuns in early Modern rome,” in Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe, helen hills, ed. (Burlington vt, 2003), 151–176; Marilyn dunn, “spiritual Philanthropists: Women as Convent Patrons in seicento rome,” in Women and Art in Early Modern Europe: Patrons, Collectors, and Connoisseurs, Cynthia lawrence, ed. (university Park Pa, 1997), 154–188; and Marilyn dunn, “Piety and Patronage in seicento rome: two noblewomen and their Convents,” Art Bulletin, 76/4 (december 1994): 644–663. see also Kimberly l. dennis, “Camilla Peretti, sixtus v, and a locus of Peretti Family identity in Counter-reformation rome,” Sixteenth Century Journal, forthcoming. valone, “roman Matrons as Patrons,” 49–50. valone, “Women on the Quirinal hill,” 129. Because of the extreme poverty of his own family and because Felice Peretti had already begun to elevate the status of the Peretti name through his reputation as a preacher by the 1550s, Giambattista Mignucci added the Peretti name to his own. i have found no evidence that Camilla Peretti ever used the Mignucci family name. Camilla and Giambattista had two children, Francesco and Maria Felice. Camilla Peretti never remarried. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, 44. For more on Felice Peretti’s patronage projects in s. Maria Maggiore, see steven F. ostrow, Art and Spirituality in Counter-Reformation Rome: The Sistine and Pauline Chapels in S. Maria Maggiore (Cambridge, 1996). domenico Fontana, Della Trasportazione dell’Obelisco Vaticano e delle Fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto V, fatto dal Cav. Domenico Fontana, Architetto di Sua Santita (Milan, 1978), 37; David R. Coffin, The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome (Princeton, 1979), 366; David R. Coffin, Gardens and Gardening in Papal Rome (Princeton, 1991), 143; and J.a.F. orbaan, Documenti sul Barocco in Roma (rome, 1920), xlv. According to Coffin, one Roman pezza is equivalent to approximately 0.65 acres (0.26 hectares) (Coffin, Gardens, 142). Coffin also gives the size of the Villa Montalto as 240 roman pezze, presumably following domenico Fontana (Fontana, Trasportazione, 37). however, according to my calculations from the sizes of the vigne as stated in the sale contracts contained in the asr, the total number of pezze was 185, or about 120 acres (49 hectares).

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11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21

22 23 24 25

26 27 28

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stefano Borsi, Roma di Sisto V: La Pianta di Antonio Tempesta, 1593 (rome, 1986), 45. today, the via del Macao is called the via di Porta s. lorenzo from Porta s. lorenzo to Piazzale sisto v, and from that point to Piazza dei Cinquecento, it is called via Marsala. the old via di Porta s. lorenzo has been replaced by the regular grid of streets south of the termini train station and north of s. Maria Maggiore. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, 44. see also Borsi, Roma di Sisto V, 36. Borsi, Roma di Sisto V, 46. vittorio Massimo, Notizie Istoriche della Villa Massimo alle Terme Diocleziane (Rome, 1836), 42. Construction of this first palazzo was completed by 1581, when Felice Peretti (then still Cardinal Montalto) moved there. Five additional gates were eventually built to connect the villa grounds with other parts of the city. For a detailed discussion of each, see Massimo, Villa Massimo, 108–111. Coffin, Gardens, 144. Coffin, Gardens, 144. orbaan, Documenti, xlv; and Coffin, Villa, 368. Coffin, Gardens, 142. Coffin, Gardens, 148. see Katherine Mciver’s chapter in this volume, “an invisible enterprise: Women and domestic architecture in early Modern italy,” especially her section on women managing country estates as working farms. Peter van Kessel and elisja schulte van Kessel, Rome, Amsterdam: Two Growing Cities in Seventeenth-Century Europe (amsterdam, 1997), 122. For more on gender and daily life in rome’s seventeenth-century palaces, see Patricia Waddy, Seventeenth-Century Roman Palaces: Use and the Art of the Plan (Cambridge, 1990), especially Chapter 1, “the apartment,” and Chapter 3, “noblewomen.” van Kessel and schulte, Rome, Amsterdam, 109 and 116. van Kessel and schulte, Rome, Amsterdam, 107. van Kessel and schulte, Rome, Amsterdam, 122. see again Katherine Mciver’s chapter in this volume, “an invisible enterprise,” which presents an overview of women’s activity as builders, renovators, and owners of secular architecture. Archivio di Stato, Rome (hereafter, ASR), 30 Notai Capitolini, Ufficio 24, Tarquinius Caballutius, vol. 84, 1576, fol. 343. emphasis throughout is added by the author. Massimo translated key passages of the contract from the original latin into italian (Massimo, Villa Montalto, 24–25). ASR, 30 Notai Capitolini, Ufficio 24, Tarquinius Caballutius, vol. 84, 1576, fol. 405. the transaction was formally completed on 9 July 1576, when, in another document prepared by Cavallucci, Camilla Peretti named Giovanni Battista Castrucci her “agent for obtaining consent for the sale of said vigna from the Chapter of s. Maria Maggiore” (“Procuratore per ottenere dal Capitolo di s. Maria Maggiore il consenso alla vendita della suddetta vigna”). see asr, 30 notai Capitolini, Ufficio 24, Tarquinius Caballutius, vol. 84, 1576, fol. 417. In the same document, the Canons of s. Maria Maggiore granted Camilla’s request (through her agent, Giovanni Battista Castrucci) for permission to buy out their claim to a portion of the

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34

35

36 37

38 39 40

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Guglielmini property with a tribute payment of six scudi (“per laudemio scudi sei”) which Castrucci paid to “Gregorio de Calvis, Prebendary Canon.” asr, 30 notai Capitolini, Ufficio 24, Tarquinius Caballutius, vol. 84, 1576, fol. 417 and fol. 422. For more on these subsequent owners, see Massimo, Villa Montalto, 199–216. Carlo Pietrangeli, et al., Il Nodo di S. Bernardo: Una struttura urbana tra il centro antico e la Roma moderna (Milan, 1977), 124. Massimo, Villa Massimo, 23–24: “Prima compra d’una vigna del dottor Padoano Guglielmini acquistata dal Cardinal Monalto.” emphasis added. Massimo, Villa Massimo, 25. Massimo, Villa Massimo, 25: “ma non volendo egli per giusti motivi comparirne, prese il nome di d. Camilla sua sorella, forse anche per timore di essere creduto troppo ricco dal Pontefice Gregorio XIII, che egli era tanto contrario.” Pastor explained that the discord between Felice Peretti and Gregory Xiii began when the two travelled together as Cardinal representatives to spain. Pastor related that Peretti, then Cardinal Montalto, felt that he was not treated with sufficient respect during the long journey, as when there were not enough horses to carry all the members of their group, Montalto was forced to ride in the baggage wagon. to the collective impact of the insults he endured on that trip, Pastor added the explanation that “the energetic and brusque character of Montalto could hardly be sympathetic towards Gregory Xiii, who was rather pedantic” (Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, 40). Massimo, Villa Massimo, 26: “vineam, et hortos in exquiliis comparavit, quorum cultura maximoperè delectari solitus est; in illisque elegantissimas extruxit aedes, in quibus quod sibi supererat vitae illum degere decrevisse ajunt.” Massimo, Villa Massimo, 26: “il Card. Montalto accorgendosi della poca dimostratione di Gregorio Xiii e del suo lento commandargli, non se ne inquietava, chiudendo gli occhi a quanto si faceva nel mondo senza prendersi alcuna briga immaginabile: per poter meglio vivere in riposo si risolse di comprare una vigna appresso s.M. Maggiore, dove se ne viveva con una vita tutta ritirata, con una modesta famiglia, nè volle mai uscire di questo luogo, essendovisi tanto affezionato, che non solo la beneficava ogni giorno di qualche cosetta, ma di più venuto Pontefice, vi fabbricò un altro palazzo, e ridusse detta vigna in una magnificenza regia, con Giardini, Fontane, boschetti, e spalliere, e si chiamava questa la villa del Cardinal Montalto.” Massimo, Villa Massimo, 26. Massimo, Villa Massimo, 117: “terminata che fu da sisto v questa grand’opera, se ne parlò molto in Roma, come di una della principali del suo Pontificato, e quantunque non fossero ancora terminate le fabbriche, piantagioni di Boschetti, Palazzi, Fontane, ed altre magnificenze, colle quali aveva l’intenzione di abbellirla, si trovò una quantità di scrittori, che intrapresero di celebrare quella sua opera tanto in versi, quanto in prosa.” emphasis added. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, 43. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, 44. ostrow, Art and Spirituality, 299, n. 144. in fact, Gregory Xiii did revoke Peretti’s stipend in 1581, after he saw the villa Montalto during a visit to s. Maria Maggiore.

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41

42

43 44 45

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the Pope is said to have commented that “Poor Cardinals do not build palaces” and withdrawn the stipend soon thereafter (Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, 41). domenico Gnoli, Vittoria Accoramboni (Florence, 1870), 27: “… per mezzo del banchiere fiorentino messer Bartolomeo Bonamici, che tenea banco nel rione di Ponte, … per persona di nominare: e il giorno 7 di luglio il banchiere Bonamici dichiarava esser fatta la compra per Camilla Peretti.” Gnoli did not cite an archival source for this transaction. emphasis added. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 21, p. 44. Pastor’s text refers to “Gnoli, V. Accoramboni, 9 seq., 24 seqq., 34, seqq.,” clearly indicating that he was influenced by Gnoli’s interpretation of the original documents. he cited no other sources for this information. emphasis added. Coffin, Villa, 365. Coffin provided no citations for this information. Gianfranco spagnesi, La pianta di Roma al tempo di Sisto V (1585–1590) (rome, 1992), 20. Forty-two pezze of land were donated to Camilla Peretti by neighbors, while 23 pezze were donated to Felice Peretti.

Part ii Becoming visible through Portraiture

Chapter 4

rewriting lucrezia Borgia: Propriety, Magnificence, and Piety in Portraits of a renaissance duchess allyson Burgess Williams

in February 1502, lucrezia Borgia’s wedding cavalcade arrived in Ferrara. as the twice-married, illegitimate daughter of the licentious Pope alexander vi, and sister of the vicious Cesare Borgia, she was under intense scrutiny. lucrezia managed to distance herself from these powerful but suspect relatives to become the revered duchess of Ferrara, ruling alongside her husband, alfonso i d’este, from 1505 until her death in 1519 at the age of 39. she proved to be an excellent wife and a good mother to their five children. Lucrezia not only possessed the necessary social graces to charm both Ferrarese citizens and foreign dignitaries, she was devout, extremely intelligent, and had a natural talent for administration. this last quality was essential, since condottiere princes like alfonso were often away for long periods. in the centuries following her death, history obliterated the real lucrezia and replaced her with the vicious poisoner of victor hugo’s play and donizetti’s opera. the actual duchess became invisible and her identity was elided with those of her father and brother, and refabricated to serve a romantic need for a female villain. two sympathetic biographers, Ferdinand Gregorovius and Maria Bellonci, used documentary sources to sort out the truth, and the Ferrarese 2002 “anno di lucrezia Borgia” with its accompanying exhibition and catalogues did much to shed light on the real woman.1 More recently, Gabriella Zarri has investigated her spiritual life and dianne Ghirardo her building commissions and land reclamation projects.2 a more nuanced understanding of lucrezia Borgia’s historical circumstances can also be gained by examining portraits of the duchess. unlikely images such as Bartolomeo veneto’s semi-nude vienna Flora are still, unfortunately, identified as lucrezia, but such representations would have been inappropriate for the spouse of an este ruler. reputation was everything to a noblewoman, and portraits were an important means by which they could manifest and present an appropriate identity, especially since they rarely traveled outside their own territories once their childbearing duties began and were seldom seen outside their immediate courtly circles. as consorts to male rulers, italian noblewomen were integral to the

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functioning of the state, but were physically all but invisible, and their reputations depended upon the words of their peers. In the first decade of her reign, it appears that Lucrezia Borgia’s preFerrarese Borgia past was downplayed and a series of images presenting her as a virtuous, pious, and magnificent duchess were commissioned. By analyzing solidly identifiable portraits such as a medal, securely provenanced copies of a lost portrait by Bartolomeo veneto, and a reliquary panel, lucrezia Borgia can be further resituated into the courtly culture in which she lived.3 in studying the works of material culture dealing with courtly women, one must address the question of patronage. in lucrezia Borgia’s case, who was responsible for creating her visual persona, her husband, or herself? This is a difficult question to answer in light of the scanty documentary evidence. however, as recent research has shown, noblewomen at the northern italian courts were expected to commission works of art and architecture. While Lucrezia’s sister-in-law Isabella d’Este was by far the most prolific female patron in constructing and decorating her living quarters, commissioning paintings and sculptures (including many portraits of herself), and collecting antiquities, she was not alone in these endeavors.4 eleonora of aragon, isabella’s mother and lucrezia Borgia’s predecessor, caused major renovations to the Castello of Ferrara in order to build and decorate suites of rooms to her taste, as well as commissioning sacred paintings for her own use.5 Katherine Mciver’s work on laura Pallavicina-sanvitale, Giacoma Pallavicina, and Camilla Pallavicina has revealed the varied secular and sacred commissions of art and architecture of these emilian noblewomen.6 Caterina sforza’s innovative use of coins and medals and her architectural patronage would have been familiar to Lucrezia, whose first husband Giovanni sforza was a distant relation, as were the este, by marriage.7 as well as initiating and building a convent, lucrezia had two sets of quarters renovated and decorated in the Castello and Palazzo di Corte of Ferrara, employing a team of six artists for one of the more ornately frescoed rooms. there are also documents showing that she commissioned devotional paintings by Bartolomeo veneto and Fra Bartolomeo, and was in control of at least one portrait medal. lucrezia Borgia also put a great deal of thought into her dress and self-presentation as one of the most elegant women in northern italy. it is, therefore, likely that she either commissioned or was consulted about images of herself, as there was a great deal at stake in fashioning a regal and unassailably virtuous persona for this duchess. Lucrezia Borgia When lucrezia Borgia’s bridal train entered Ferrara on that cold winter morning in 1502, she created a sensation. Chroniclers and ambassadors carefully described

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her gold wedding dress decorated with brown satin stripes, and noted how her blond hair was loosely encased in a stupendous diamond- and pearl-encrusted hairnet. her sumptuous clothes, jewels and the bounteous coffers of luxury goods attested to the riches and political favor that the pope, her father, had bestowed upon her new family. duke ercole d’ este had initially been reluctant to accept the offer of the pope’s illegitimate daughter as bride for the heir to the duchy. lucrezia was 22 years old, had already had two husbands and a young son, and her reputation was clouded by salacious rumors. as was usual in this period, Pope alexander vi and his son Cesare Borgia arranged all three of lucrezia’s marriages for their own political advantage. she was first wed to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro. When an alliance with the Sforza was no longer useful, their union was annulled on the excuse of his impotence. the family of the shamed (and perfectly virile) groom circulated rumors that lucrezia had incestuous relations with her father and brother. it was also alleged that she bore an illegitimate child from a liaison with Pedro Calderon, a young courtier who was later found floating dead in the Tiber. The pope claimed this child as his own.8 lucrezia’s beloved second husband, alfonso of aragon, duke of Bisceglie, was murdered by her own brother Cesare when an alliance with naples also became a liability. the heartbroken lucrezia went to live in nepi with her infant son, rodrigo. Both families of her previous consorts had ties to the este, but this aside, the pious duke ercole might also have disapproved of the far too worldly entertainments enjoyed by the pope and his court. however, a dowry of 100,000 ducats, some territory, and the promise of a vast reduction in papal taxes proved irresistible to the cash-starved ercole. in addition, Ferrara and its environs would be safe from Cesare Borgia, who was rapidly seizing territories in the romagna and the Marche. lucrezia appears to have loved her father and brother, and it must have been heartbreaking to send her young son rodrigo to his father’s aragonese relatives in naples, but she would doubtless have appreciated the opportunity to begin a new life as part of the prestigious este family. unfortunately, in 1503, within 18 months of her wedding, alexander vi died, and lucrezia ceased to be a political asset to the Ferrarese. King louis Xii of France even suggested that the marriage be ended.9 the este did not do this, as it would have been extremely embarrassing for them, and they would have had to return her enormous dowry. even so, lucrezia might well have feared for her future. alfonso d’este and lucrezia became duke and duchess of Ferrara in 1505 after the death of ercole, but lucrezia’s position at court could still have been tenuous, as she did not produce the requisite male heir until 1508. as the illegitimate daughter of a pope from the minor spanish aristocracy, a man now reviled and denounced by his successor Julius ii, she may have felt that her background and history did not match that of most noblewomen of her rank. Contemporaries such as her sister-in-law, isabella d’este, Marchesa of Mantua, and elisabetta Gonzaga,

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duchess of urbino had led much more sheltered lives, and did not welcome the new bride into their circle. Jealousy might have also been a factor. lucrezia’s dowry contained 200 costly gowns and fabulous jewels, and her female peers might have felt unable to compete with her. Since magnificence was closely tied to status, in a world in which lack of funds could be quickly misread as political instability, this was no small consideration. lucrezia, however, naturally possessed many of the qualities that noblewomen needed to survive at court: intelligence, charm, skill at singing and dancing, and a pious nature. este women were especially known for their perspicacity; the previous duchess eleonora’s intellectual gifts had been praised in writing by the humanist Bartolomeo Goggio, and isabella also liked to be thought of in the same vein. the marchesa quickly learned that her new sister-in-law lucrezia was also intelligent. in a letter dated 19 January 1502 from urbino, just weeks before the wedding, Isabella’s confidante Il Prete wrote the following of Lucrezia, whom he met as she traveled from rome to Ferrara: “each day i get on better with her and know that she is a woman of great intelligence, astute, and [when with her] one needs to have one’s wits about one. in sum, she is a wise lady, and it is not only my opinion, but that of the entire company.”10 Coming from the very sophisticated court of urbino, this was praise indeed. those attending her wedding noted how gracious and charming lucrezia was, and this reputation only grew. she also proved herself invaluable as an administrator in alfonso’s frequent absences. When Gaston de Foix’s French troops visited Ferrara in 1512, Jacques de Mailles, biographer of Pierre trevail, lord of Bayard, was present. he described the duchess in glowing terms, as a pearl in the world, who was of great service to her husband. he stated: “i would dare to say that in her time and for long after, one would not find a more triumphant princess, because she is beautiful, good, sweet, and courteous to all.”11 lucrezia was also very popular with the Ferrarese people as a source of alms and as one to whom they could apply for assistance in legal matters. Pietro Bembo, the aristocratic venetian scholar and poet, whom she befriended in 1503 during his stay in Ferrara, described lucrezia as both virtuous and intellectual in the introduction to Gli Asolani, which he dedicated to her: … as one who, longing rather to dress out her soul with comely virtues than to cover her body with precious clothes, devotes whatever time she can to reading or writing something; so, much as your beauty surpasses that of other ladies, the attractions of your mind may eclipse those of your body, and you may become, as it were greater than yourself …12

While Bembo’s Petrarchan flattery is somewhat formulaic, it seems to have stemmed from deep admiration. since he was much respected in the courtly world and beyond, it spoke volumes.

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The Amor Bendato Medal despite such praise, early in her reign lucrezia Borgia may have felt it especially important to formulate a visual construction that secured her reputation as a virtuous woman. due to the relative invisibility of noblewomen, portrait medals were an important means of presenting both likeness and appropriate inner attributes to one’s peers.13 in 1503, lucrezia wrote to Pietro Bembo for advice about the obverse of a medal that she was planning to have struck.14 the resulting work might have been the medal dated to approximately 1505 by an unknown Mantuan artist (Fig. 4.1).15 it repeats a portrait that originally appeared on a medal produced to commemorate her marriage, an ingenious repurposing since it was recognizable and already had a marital (and therefore virtuous) context. Although it is difficult to know how much input lucrezia had in the development of the original version, 4.1 Mantuan school, Medal of it is important to analyze her profile Lucrezia Borgia and “Amor image in order to understand how it Bendato,” c. 1505, Museo functioned in terms of its new obverse. schifanoia, Ferrara the medal reveals a woman with a rounded face, a straight but rather prominent nose, and a slightly receding chin. the fullness under the chin and the small mouth were considered signs of beauty in the renaissance, as was a straight, rather than an upturned nose.16 the head, with its long thick hair is uncovered, as was customary for unmarried women or new brides. a pendant hangs from her neck on a double cord, and her dress is fastened on the left shoulder with a brochetta di spalla, a type of brooch that often adorned brides.17 distinguishing lucrezia from a typical renaissance bride is the ancient roman style drape of fabric across her chest and shoulders. this is unusual, as most female portrait medals in this period display contemporary dress, as in the 1473 marriage medal of ercole d’este and eleonora of aragon, alfonso’s parents.18

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one rare example of roman dress appears on a medal of Caterina sforza dated 1480–84, struck while her husband was still alive.19 such images emulate those seen on roman coins of the imperial era. For renaissance women, the most revered ancient roman female was empress Faustina the elder, wife of antoninus Pius, a fact ascertained by the number of times her coins were reproduced in the fifteenth century. Renaissance collectors believed her to have been devoted to her family, and medals of her together with her husband bear the legend “concord.” Faustina’s image began to symbolize wifely and maternal virtues.20 in slightly later coins, images of her daughter Faustina the younger were accompanied by similar “concord” inscriptions, but also identify her with fecundity, piety, and modesty.21 lucrezia’s depiction in an all’antica dress may reveal an attempt to liken her to these much-admired roman empresses, who were associated with piety, good moral values, dignity, and devotion to family. Faustina the elder was known for her charitable works in rome, and Faustina the younger would have been a particularly good exemplar for lucrezia (the wife of a condottiere-prince) as she was known to have accompanied her husband, Marcus aurelius, on his military campaigns.22 another roman woman suggested by the all’antica dress might be livy’s lucretia, whose sense of chastity was such that she committed suicide after being raped and threatened with blackmail by one of her husband’s detractors. ercole de’ roberti had depicted her in his series of exemplary women painted for eleonora of aragon in the 1480s.23 the connection between the ancient roman lucretia and lucrezia Borgia was noted by others. on her bridal journey from rome to Ferrara, lucrezia passed through Foligno, and ercole d’este’s envoys recorded that near the city gates the entourage had been greeted by “a figure representing the roman lucretia with a dagger in her hand. she recited some verses, saying that she would give way to her ladyship, who surpassed her in modesty, prudence and constancy.”24 lucrezia’s image suggests that, like Faustina mère et fille and ancient lucretia, she too is the loyal wife of a great man. Why was it advantageous for lucrezia Borgia to be thought of as a bride long after her actual wedding to Alfonso? Or, why might Lucrezia Borgia’s selfimage have become bound to bridal motifs? The events of Lucrezia’s wedding to alfonso could have had something to do with forming her Ferrarese identity. as Joan Laird has said, “rites of passage are important facilitators in the definition of self in relation to society.”25 this would certainly have been true of a renaissance woman’s wedding, which was probably the most important ritual event of her life. not only did the woman pass from her father’s house into the house of her husband, now becoming his possession, but she assumed a new role, that of spouse. this new identity traditionally marked the beginning of the childbearing phase of her life, and introduced her to the responsibilities of caring for a household.26 lucrezia could not claim to be a virgin: she had been twice married, had already born a child, and her reputation had been questioned. it would have

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been beneficial to fuse the identity of bride with that of wife, since brides always carried the suggestion of virginity and new beginnings in a woman’s life. indeed, poets honoring lucrezia and alfonso at their wedding wisely chose to honor this convention and diplomatically ignored her past. their epithalamia focused on the bride’s magnificence and beauty in concert with appropriate female qualities. An unpublished series of latin poems and epigrams called Borgias by nicolò Maria Panciati, described lucrezia as being more beautiful than helen because of her incomparable modesty.27 Pellegrino Prisciani also likened her to helen, but said lucrezia was more virtuous, and “the most splendid model of modesty, chastity, refinement, affability, temperance, religiosity, and clemency.”28 ariosto, in his wedding oration, completely ignored facts and described her as “pulcherissima virgo,” or most beautiful virgin.29 the body of the renaissance bride seems to be automatically inscribed, or re-inscribed in this case, with virginity. lucrezia’s perpetuation of bridal identity might also have been inspired by the large frescoes of the wedding procession and banquet of her predecessor, the beloved duchess eleonora of aragon, who had died in 1493. they were located in the Este palace of Belfiore, where the family frequently stayed, and reflected the wish, fortunately fulfilled, that unlike Ercole’s predecessor Borso d’Este, legitimate heirs would result from their union.30 Given the importance of brides and bridal imagery to the Este family, it is not surprising then to find that Lucrezia chose to re-use the portrait from her marriage medal. the medal’s reverse bears a motto and motifs, which emphasized lucrezia’s marital fidelity and chastity, instead of being paired with an image of the groom. The motto “virtuti ac formae pudicitia praecosissimum” (in virtue and beauty, modesty most precious), accompanies an image of blindfolded Cupid (amor bendato) bound to a tree, probably a laurel, on which are suspended a broken quiver, an inscribed tablet, a violin, sheet music, and a bow with a broken string. as Panofsky and Lawe have demonstrated, a bound Cupid, with the implements used to inflame passion broken around him, was a common image of chastity.31 this imagery originated with Petrarch’s Trionfi, and became popular in contemporary emblem books such as that by alciati. the laurel is another symbol of chastity originating in the myth of apollo and daphne, in which daphne is transformed into a laurel tree, rather than lose her virtue to apollo. the medal seems to represent chastity as a victory over venal love. two other contemporary women from courtly circles (Jacoba Correggio and Maddelena rossi) also placed bound, blindfolded Cupid imagery on their medals.32 even lucrezia’s sister-in-law, isabella d’este, found the image of blind Cupid meaningful; it featured prominently in one of her studiolo paintings, Perugino’s Battle between Chastity and Love, commissioned in 1503.33 lucrezia and her sister-in-law were not close, but there was constant personal and cultural interchange between the courts of Mantua and Ferrara. lucrezia could have easily discovered the details of isabella’s studiolo paintings from isabella’s husband (with whom she was on very good terms), her own husband, or from

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humanists such as Mario equicola, whose treatise on love, the Libro di Natura di Amore, was written in 1497.34 lucrezia’s medal reverse might be seen as a resonant synecdoche for isabella’s narrative painting. even though symbols of female chastity such as the blindfolded and bound Cupid were extremely popular at the beginning of the sixteenth century, lucrezia’s background might have provided a sound reason for adopting this imagery. she had considered other motifs. in 1503, when lucrezia asked Pietro Bembo’s advice about emblems and mottos for a medal on which she was planning to have a flame device, he suggested the motto “Est Animum,” in order to link the flame to the human spirit, and possibly spiritual love.35 Perhaps Bembo’s concept was rejected, and the image of the bound Cupid, potentially a more effective statement of her moral code, was substituted. it is clear that this theme was selected for its suitability to her gender and also for its cultural legibility. even as late as 1509, lucrezia took no chances with her reputation and, much to the amusement of isabella d’este, asked the courtier Pietro Giorgio da lampugnano to sleep in her antechamber in order to prove to her husband that she was chaste.36 lucrezia (perhaps in concert with alfonso, or perhaps alone) clearly felt the need to make a public statement about marital virtue, and did so by commissioning this medal. in pairing a marital portrait likening her to the virtuous and loyal empresses Faustina and the female hero lucretia who preferred death to dishonor, with the bound Cupid of chastity, the duchess provided a multivalent representation of feminine goodness, purity, and aristocratic power which she knew would circulate to good effect. after the birth of ercole ii d’este in 1508, followed by that of ippolito in 1509, Lucrezia’s position as duchess of Ferrara was firm. Later portraits of Lucrezia display not only female virtue and piety, but also magnificence, suggested by beautiful clothes and jewels. the means and ability to wear sumptuous garments and priceless gems were an essential part of the female ruler persona. they separated her not only from her own subjects, but from the wealthy patrician women of city-states such as Florence and venice, whose personal display was limited by sumptuary laws. Sartorial splendor signified more than just wealth and high social standing, it was also morally coded, symbolizing munificence. The Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia by Bartolomeo Veneto the only painted portrait which can be securely related to lucrezia Borgia is a richly colored bust-length panel, one of two copies of a lost original (Fig. 4.2). the artist has been identified as Bartolomeo Veneto. Lucrezia is the likely patron of this work, as the painter appeared on her payroll (and not her husband’s) between 1505 and 1508, and he remained in Ferrara until 1511. even if it were not commissioned by lucrezia, she would probably have chosen the clothes and jewels depicted.

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the original must have been very beautiful; it was so prized by the este family that it was copied and sent to the humanist collector Paolo Giovio when he requested her image for his portrait collection of famous people installed in a villa in Como. Giovio’s painting, which had an identifying inscription, can be traced from his descendants to the rebuschini collection where it was photographed in color just prior to World War ii, during which it vanished.37 an almost identical copy of the same work (square rather than oval) still exists in the Musée des Beaux-arts in nîmes, France.38 two other copies of the painting have also been recorded.39 since the original painting must have been considered worthy of replication 4.2 Bartolomeo veneto, Lucrezia Borgia, c. 1508–10, Musée in the same way that many of titian’s des Beaux-arts, nîmes portraits were copied, the single extant copy bears close examination. the nîmes portrait was probably done between 1508 and 1510, perhaps to commemorate the birth of one her sons, ercole ii or ippolito. lucrezia is wearing a dark gown or camora with gold stripes of brocade. on the bodice are swags of gold embroidery from which are suspended small gold rings. inventories of her guardaroba and descriptions of her trousseau show that she favored dark colors, such as black and dark brown (morello), with gold brocade stripes. the sleeves are full, slashed at the bottom to reveal the camicia, or underblouse. the white camicia, which is high enough not to reveal lucrezia’s breasts, also has gold stripes, and a necklace made up of rectangular lozengeshaped rubies and pearls suspended between two gold chains runs just above the neckline ruffle. There is an extraordinary display of wealth in the blouse alone, and the dress, of which we only catch a glimpse, must have been truly stunning. her hair is captured in a snood-like hairnet, richly encrusted with pearls and precious stones, which crosses the forehead by means of a strand of gold thread from which pearls are also suspended. lucrezia’s inventories show that she kept large numbers of loose pearls and other jewels ready to adorn clothes or hair ornaments as desired.40 the hairnet became one of lucrezia’s fashion trademarks upon her wedding day; she entered the city wearing a spectacular loose version covered in pearls and diamonds, under which her hair flowed freely as was customary for brides.41 here, in light of

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lucrezia’s status as a matron, only two thick ringlets are allowed to escape from the hairnet to frame the sitter’s face. Given the high value attached to pearls in the renaissance (their use in women’s clothing and jewelry was often proscribed in sumptuary legislation), the hairnet alone would have stunned the renaissance viewer. since pearls were so costly and likened to Christ by st. augustine, they often appeared in paintings in the hair of the virgin Mary. lucrezia may have been using pearls to connect herself to Marian purity and regality, just as Queen elizabeth i of england did later in the century.42 the use of the hairnet here must be considered as another reminder of lucrezia’s bridal virtue and chastity. together with the richly decorated camicia and camora, the significance of the portrait performance expands to suggest the great wealth and magnificentia of the duchess. Considering that the ducal coffers were often depleted by the expenses of famine or war, and Lucrezia’s jewels were often pawned for ready money in the first decade of the reign of the duke and duchess, this image would certainly suggest that the este were financially secure. Portraits had commemorative functions, and, as alberti noted, were meant to make the absent present, but achieving perfect likeness was not always the primary goal of portrait artists, especially in the italian tradition.43 the rather porous nature of identity that John Jeffries Martin has discussed in terms of the early modern self certainly comes into play in this image of lucrezia.44 While some degree of reference to the sitter must have been necessary for recognition, a “speaking likeness” was not always completely desirable. it was essential for artists to portray the status and rank of the sitter and, for noblewomen especially, to suggest exemplary morals through facial beauty, dress, and sometimes props. this painting probably idealized lucrezia’s features, giving her a generic sweetness. While the duchess was sometimes described as beautiful, most discuss her as an elegant young woman with clear eyes, a lovely smile and a graceful air, especially when dancing.45 such generalized, flattering descriptions made by guests at her wedding are of little help in identifying portraits. the impression received is that she was not a stunning beauty, but a woman whose appearance was pleasant and who had all the qualities of carriage, movement, personality, and style essential to a nobleman’s wife. the appearance of lucrezia in this painting expands upon the ideals of beauty (straight nose and rounded face) discussed in terms of her portrait medals. like many depictions of sixteenth-century italian women, she has white skin, rosy cheeks, smallish curved lips, curly hair (unfortunately, no longer the ideal blond), smooth high forehead, arched eyebrows, large clear eyes, and soft shoulders. these characteristics are derived from the Petrarchan tradition of love lyrics, in which the female beloved was described in these ideal and set terms.46 these poetic conventions suffused not only the literature

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but also the social fabric of italian courtly society, especially in Ferrara. Mario equicola’s work on the topic of love borrows heavily from this genre, as do Pietro Bembo’s Gli Asolani and Prose della lingua volgare, the most significant works in this tradition.47 the former work was dedicated to lucrezia, and the latter was begun during Bembo’s stay in Ferrara. love and feminine beauty were major themes in Boiardo’s late fifteenth-century epic Orlando Innamorato, as well as ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, first published in 1515, both of which were written in the courtly circles of Ferrara. idealizing a woman in either literary or visual terms was not mere superficial flattery; it implied that she was good. Beauty was inextricably linked to goodness in early modern gender ideology; a woman’s beauty was seen as having a direct relationship to her virtue. this explains why the virgin Mary was always depicted as a beautiful, albeit modest woman according to the cultural standards of the day; she was the most virtuous and therefore the loveliest of all females.48 in the nîmes portrait then, lucrezia’s ideal beauty is one signifier of moral integrity, and the jeweled hairnet, recalling her bridal chastity, is another. her gold-encrusted clothes would immediately have marked her as a noblewoman from courtly society, and, as shall be seen in the discussion of the following image, her magnificence would also be read as a virtue. The Reliquary Casket of St. Maurelius by Giovanni Antonio da Foligno the only extant full-length portrait of lucrezia Borgia appears on the reliquary casket of one of the oldest patron saints of the city, the seventhcentury Christian bishop-saint Maurelius (Figs 4.3 and 4.4). it is still kept in the former cathedral of Ferrara, the venerable olivetan church and monastery of san Giorgio, just outside the city walls.49 the casket was decorated on three sides with engraved silver panels by Giovanni antonio (leli) da Foligno, court jeweler and minter, and it was probably commissioned by either lucrezia or alfonso d’este, or jointly between 1513 and 1514 as a votive offering for safe deliverance from the tumultuous events of the previous year.50 not only had alfonso survived the bloody battle of ravenna, but he was also absent from the city for many months while evading papal troops after an assassination attempt in rome by Pope Julius ii. the pope threatened to invade Ferrara, and put the city under interdict, forbidding public worship and disallowing the Christian sacraments. if this were not enough, lucrezia’s 12-year-old son by the duke of Bisceglie died in naples. votive portraits on reliquaries are rare, which makes this example extraordinarily significant. Although it is impossible to determine who initiated the commission for this work, it should be noted that, unlike the increasingly

4.3

Giovanni antonio da Foligno, reliquary panels of san Maurelius, c. 1514, Church of san Giorgio fuori le mura, Ferrara

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4.4 Giovanni antonio da Foligno, detail of lucrezia Borgia, reliquary panel of san Maurelius, c. 1514, Church of san Giorgio fuori le mura, Ferrara pious lucrezia, alfonso commissioned very few works of sacred art. since her arrival in Ferrara, she had taken every opportunity to explore and develop her spirituality. as had her mother-in-law, lucrezia patronized the Clarissan convent of the Corpus domini throughout her life. Known as a center of female Franciscan learning, it had been the residence of the noted fifteenth-century humanist and spiritual authority Caterina de’ Vigri, whose influential tract, the Sette armi spirituali, was published in 1475.51 lucrezia became a Franciscan tertiary as early as 1502, and was buried in a Clarissan habit in the church, where her frequent retreats (especially after unsuccessful pregnancies) were noted by Ferrarese chroniclers.52 in 1505, during one such pregnancy, the duchess left Ferrara for Modena because of the plague. during her visit, she wrote to alfonso that although it was almost time for her confinement (“la mia persona essendo grossa”), she had been anxious to visit some noteworthy reliquaries at the Benedictine abbey of nonantola on the feast day of Beato hadrian iii, and told her anxious husband of her arrangements to stay at a house at the abbey.53 lucrezia’s interest in relics, combined with her increasing piety, may have led her to suggest a commission linking the este family to the sacred remains of an important Ferrarese saint during perilous times. like another of her estense forbears, Beata Beatrice ii d’este, she initiated her own convent, founding the Clarissan nunnery of san Bernardino in 1510.54

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The first nuns came from Corpus Domini, and included her niece Camilla, the illegitimate daughter of Cesare Borgia.55 the daughters of other noble families joined the convent, to form a highly signorile community. the duchess also developed close relationships with a number of important priests and nuns, including the Franciscan Fra Raffaele Griffi, under whose instruction she became a Franciscan tertiary, suor laura Mignani, an augustinian nun in Brescia famous for her spirituality,56 and the learned augustinian priest, antonio Meli da Crema (1449–1528), from sant’andrea in Ferrara. she commissioned a series of meditations on the gospels and the psalms from the latter priest so that she might instruct her ladies-in-waiting in their devotions. he dedicated it to lucrezia on 10 april 1513, making it contemporaneous with the reliquary.57 lucrezia’s religious devotion and alfonso’s (and indeed Ferrara’s) almost miraculous survival of the events of 1512 make the este commission of the votive reliquary casket for saint Maurelius understandable. of the three panels on the reliquary, one displays alfonso i d’este, the quintessential Christian knight in armor kneeling before saint Maurelius, guarded by two equerries. the other shows the abbot of san Giorgio, as caretaker of the relics, receiving the saint’s blessing near the church of san Giorgio with Ferrara in the background. the panel depicting lucrezia (Fig. 4.4) is by far the most detailed: the duchess is depicted with a large retinue standing before saint Maurelius, holding the hand of her young son ercole ii, who is receiving a blessing from the patron saint of the city that he will one day rule. along with alfonso d’este and the abbot, the bodies of lucrezia and her son are blessed by the saint as well as existing perpetually close to his sacred body, imbuing all with sanctity. the head and shoulders of lucrezia are copied from a medal on which the duchess appears with the same profile and fillet or ferronière around her forehead, and with her hair similarly pulled back in a jeweled hairnet that continues down her back in a braid.58 this hairstyle is suitable to a married woman, as her hair is mostly covered, and is particularly appropriate in a sacred setting. her hairnet does not appear to be quite as ornate as the one worn on her wedding day, or seen in Bartolomeo veneto’s portrait, but it is still clearly an item of luxury. Behind Lucrezia are her five elegant ladies-in-waiting, a marker of her nobility and prestige. since they are more simply dressed than she, with unadorned hair, they do not detract from her presence. the duchess’s dress is more ornate, and her camicia is not as low in the front as are those of her donzelle, setting an example of modesty. her striped gown bears a resemblance to the one described by guests at her wedding, such as that of the venetian Marino sanudo, who wrote that lucrezia wore “a dress with large French-style sleeves, in gold with dark brown satin stripes.”59 other sources note that over the course of the first six days of festivities, she seems to have worn no less than three gold dresses, with stripes of black or dark brown and large sleeves.60

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For this permanent public record of her appearance, lucrezia seems to have selected the same type of garments that she was married in; Ferrarese viewers of the casket would instantly recognize her and be eternally reminded of her bridal splendor and purity. the group is depicted under a portico, since women were rarely seen outdoors. lucrezia and two of her ladies hold zibellini, the furry skins of small animals in their hands. the furs, either marten, sable or ermine, were carried by fashionable wealthy women. on 19 January 1516, one of lucrezia’s inventories listed “a sable with a head of beaten gold, with a ring in its mouth attached to a chain of gold,” suggesting how prized these accessories were.61 the donzelle seem oblivious to the holy scene on the left of the picture plane; it is only the duchess and the official heir to the duchy who are privileged to experience the presence of the saint. saint Maurelius’s favor for young ercole suggests that he is giving his blessings for the continuation of the este dynasty at a time when this was by no means certain. the image is a clear statement of status, succession, and the right to rule, although lucrezia’s status here is partly due to the fact that she had fulfilled her prime function as a wife and produced an heir. one cannot help wondering if at least some of the impetus for this scene came from the death of her first son, Rodrigo of Bisceglie, who succumbed without his mother at his side, knowing her only through her letters and gifts. Given lucrezia’s strong commitment to Christ, and her belief in the efficacy of relics, she would have taken great solace in the fact that she and Ercole II were protected. The relief is also politically significant; here, she is publicly and permanently inscribed into Ferrarese history as a pious mother and splendid duchess. an important literary corollary to both the reliquary and the Bartolomeo veneto portraits exists, and an analysis of it elucidates the decorum of female representation at work in lucrezia’s images. it is a dialogue by Giovanni Giorgio trissino, called I Ritratti, written in 1514 and published ten years later.62 it honors isabella d’este, but given the setting and description, could just as easily have been written for lucrezia.63 the author purports to visit a Ferrarese noblewoman’s house, and recounts a conversation set in Milan of 1507 between vincenzio Macro and Pietro Bembo, the close friend and correspondent of lucrezia. in this conversation, Macro describes a Ferrarese beauty seen on her way to church, accompanied by a great retinue. Macro has been stupefied by the loveliness and grace of the lady, but does not know who she is. From Macro’s physical description, Bembo recognizes this woman as isabella d’este, and rounds out the “portrait” of the Marchesa of Mantua by listing her many nonphysical qualities: her musical skill, prudence, magnanimity, and gentleness. oddly, trissino was emulating the ancient author lucian’s Icones, in which two interlocutors describe emperor verus’ mistress Panthea.64 in discussing how isabella’s internal qualities surpass even her great external beauty, trissino’s

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fictional Bembo adheres to the Petrarchan formula discussed above as the courtly world’s template for female praise, which provided a decorous means to conflate beauty with virtue rather than lust. after describing isabella’s physical charms, trissino discusses her as having a mix of graciousness and majesty, probably very similar to the woman of proud bearing we see in the votive panel.65 likewise, the clothes that the Marchesa was described as wearing (a black velvet dress, decorated with gold ornaments, pearl necklace and gold-buckled girdle) are similar to the dress lucrezia wears in the Bartolomeo veneto portrait. isabella’s dresses, of which she was inordinately proud, often displayed her personal imprese of musical notes and knots. even more striking is the fact that isabella was said to be wearing a gold net on her head, with a ruby and pearl ornament suspended at her forehead, with her hair visibly shining through the net.66 this is interesting because lucrezia, as her likenesses have shown, favored the reticella, or hairnet, while isabella’s favorite head adornment was a puffy hat called a zazara, like the one seen in titian’s portrait of her. trissino describes isabella as holding her prayer book, about to enter church. he is not only recreating one of the few occasions in which one could actually see a noblewoman in public with her ladies-in-waiting, but also chooses this particular scene so that he could indicate isabella’s piety. in the saint Maurelius reliquary portrait, lucrezia Borgia is also at the front of her retinue, but instead of holding a prayer book, she and her son are being honored with a visit from the city’s patron saint. For women who did not move in the courtly circles of isabella and lucrezia, sumptuary laws discouraged such lavish display in female dress and jewelry, but for Trissino, beautifully made luxurious clothes are a significant marker of status and magnificentia.67 it was considered appropriate for both ideal princes and princesses to show magnificence as an indicator of moral as well as familial nobility. trissino connects isabella’s sumptuous clothes with her liberality, and in doing so turns a possible vice (that is, vanity) into a virtue.68 Giovanni sabadino degli arienti, whose 1497–99 treatise entitled De triumphis religionis, written in Ferrara for duke ercole i, also linked the two virtues, calling magnificence the sister of liberality.69 one also might read lucrezia’s portraits in the same manner; after all, she was well known for her almsgiving. therefore, the show of magnificence on Lucrezia’s reliquary casket panel and the painted image: the beautiful gowns, the jeweled hairnets, and the retinue of finely dressed donzelle, may all be read as symbols appropriate to a princess and of her liberality. For Lucrezia, such images of magnificence and piety would have been an important part of her public presentation, especially during a time when most of the este funds were being directed towards waging war and protecting the duchy. the real lucrezia Borgia was from all contemporary accounts the consummate duchess: intelligent, resourceful, gracious, pious, and fashionable. Portraits of her were used to great effect in the first tumultuous decade of her Ferrarese life, in order to obliterate her roman past, and to make sure she was perceived as a

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virtuous woman suitable as a consort to a duke, whose family was one of the oldest and most noble ruling families in the italian peninsula. the “Amor Bendato” medal, Bartolomeo veneto’s painted image, and Giovanni antonio da Foligno’s reliquary portrait are clever multivalent constructs, providing insight into the varied personae that a renaissance duchess deemed appropriate and necessary for self-presentation. Notes 1

2

3

4

5 6

Many thanks to erin Campbell and Jo-anne Berelowitz for their encouragement and comments. this chapter is based on Chapter 3 of my doctoral dissertation, “‘le donne, i cavalier, l’arme, gli amori’: artistic Patronage at the Court of alfonso i d’este, duke of Ferrara” (uCla, 2005). For scholarly biographies of lucrezia Borgia, see: Ferdinand Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia (new york, 1968 [1874]); Maria Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, sua vita e suoi tempi (rev. edn, Milan, 1960); nicolai rubinstein, Lucrezia Borgia (rome, 1971); Mario Catalano, Lucrezia Borgia (Ferrara, 1920); Michael Mallett, The Borgias, The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty (london, 1969); anna Maria Fioravanti Baraldi, Lucrezia Borgia “la beltà, la virtù, la fama onesta” (Ferrara, 2002); laura laureati, Lucrezia Borgia [Ferrara, Palazzo Bonacossi, October 5–December 15, 2002], exh. cat. (Ferrara, 2002). Gabriela Zarri, La religione di Lucrezia Borgia – le lettere inedite del confessore (rome, 2006); diane Ghirardo, “lucrezia Borgia’s Palace in renaissance Ferrara,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 44/4 (december 2005): 474–497; and “lucrezia Borgia as entrepreneur,” Renaissance Quarterly, 61/1 (spring 2008): 53–91. For the wide range of images purported to be of lucrezia Borgia, consult: a. de hevesy, “Bartolommeo veneto et les portraits de lucrezia Borgia,” Art Quarterly, 2 (1935): 233–250; Berenice vigi, “lucrezia Borgia: ricerca di un’identità,” in Cultura figurativa ferrarese tra XV e XVI secolo, ranieri varese, ed. (Ferrara, 1981), 191–223; Claudia rousseau, “lucrezia Borgia d’este, illustrious lady, dearest Wife,” in Italian Renaissance Studies in Arizona, Jean r. Brink and Pier r. Baldini, eds (river Forest il, 1989), 131–154; Fioravanti Baraldi, Lucrezia Borgia; laureati, Lucrezia Borgia. Most recently see stephen J. Campbell, The Cabinet of Eros (new haven and london, 2006); Clifford Brown, Isabella d’Este in the Ducal Palace in Mantua: An Overview of Her Rooms in the Castello di San Giorgio and the Corte Vecchia (rome, 2005); and luke syson, “reading Faces: Gian Cristoforo’s Medal of isabella d’este,” in La Corte di Mantova nell’eta di Andrea Mantegna 1450–1550, C. Mozzarelli, r. oresko, and l. ventura, eds (rome, 1997), 281–294. thomas tuohy, Herculean Ferrara; Ercole d’Este (1471–1505) and the Invention of a Ducal Capital (Cambridge, 1996). Katherine a. Mciver, Women, Art and Architecture in Northern Italy 1520–1580 (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2006).

94 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14

15

16

17 18

19 20 21

22 23 24 25

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Joyce de vries, Caterina Sforza and the Art of Appearances (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2010). Ghirardo, “lucrezia Borgia as entrepreneur,” 88. Mallett, The Borgias, 265. italian citation in alessandro luzio, “isabella d’este e i Borgia,” Archivio storico lombardo, ser. 5 (1914), pt. 1, 539. translations are mine unless otherwise noted. Le Loyal Serviteur Histoire du bon Chevalier, le Seigneur de Bayard, Ch. 45, cited in Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia, 332. english translation from Pietro Bembo, Gli Asolani, rudolf B. Gottfried, ed. and trans. (venice, 1505; new york, 1971), 3. see Joyce de vries, “Casting her Widowhood: the Contemporary and Posthumous Portraits of Caterina sforza,” in Widowhood and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe, allison levy, ed. (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2003), 77–92; Marjorie och, “Portrait Medals of vittoria Colonna: representing the learned Woman,” in Women as Sites of Culture, susan shifrin, ed. (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2002), 153–166; and Marjorie och’s chapter in this volume, “vittoria Colonna in Giorgio vasari’s ‘life of Properzia de’ rossi.’” the correspondence can be found in the following sources: B. Gatti, ed., Lettere di Lucrezia Borgia a messer Pietro Bembo (Milan 1869), 12; t. travi, ed., Pietro Bembo. Lettere (Bologna, 1987–93), vol. 1, 153. Bronze 60 mm examples in Berlin and Ferrara, Museo schifanoia. see G.F. hill, A Corpus of the Italian Medals of the Renaissance before Cellini (london, 1930), cat. no. 233. Mary rogers “the decorum of Women’s Beauty: trissino, Firenzuola, luigini and the representation of Women in sixteenth-Century Painting,” Renaissance Studies, 2 (1988): 47–88. adrian randolph, “Performing the Bridal Body in Fifteenth-Century Florence,” Art History, 21/2 (June 1998): 182–200. attributed to either sperandio or Cosmè tura. examples in the national Gallery, Washington dC, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, vienna. G.F. hill and Graham Pollard, Renaissance Medals (london, 1967), 27, cat. no. 116. British Museum. see de vries, Caterina Sforza, 32–34. The medal has a personification of Fortune on the reverse, and the motto “to you and to virtue.” see Beverly louise Brown, “the Bride’s Jewellery: lorenzo lotto’s Wedding Portrait of Marsilio and Faustina Cassotti,” Apollo, 169/561 (January 2009): 48–55. luke syson, “Consorts, Mistresses and exemplary Women: the Female Medallic Portrait in Fifteenth-Century italy,” in The Sculpted Object 1400–1700, stuart Currie and Peta Motture, eds (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 1997), 45. J.P.v.d. Baldson, Roman Women: Their History and Habits (Westport Ct, 1975), 141–144. Galleria estense, Modena. Mary rogers and Paola tinagli, eds, Women in Italy, 1350–1650, Ideals and Realities, a Sourcebook (Manchester, 1988), 90. Joan laird, “Women and ritual in Family therapy,” in Readings in Ritual Studies, ronald Grimes, ed. (upper saddle river nJ, 1996), 358.

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27

28 29 30

31

32

33 34

35 36 37 38

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nicole Belmont, “the symbolic Function of the Wedding Procession in the Popular rituals of Marriage,” in Selections from the Annales: Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations, robert Forster and orest ranum, eds (Baltimore, 1982), 2. the Mss are located in the Biblioteca ariostea: nicolai Marii Panciati ferrariensis, Borgias. Ad. Excell. D. Lucretiam Borgiam Ill. Alphonsi Estensis Sponsam celeber MDII. Cited in Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia, 246. Pellegrino Prisciani, Orazione per le nozze di Alfonso d’Este e Lucrezia Borgia, Claudia Pandolfi, ed. (Ferrara, 2004). “ludovici areosti Ferrariensis epithalamion,” in vol. 1 of ariosto’s Carmina Illustrium Poetarum Italorum (Florence, 1719–26), 342–346. the fresco was destroyed, but was described by sabadino degli arienti in 1497. Werner Gundersheimer, Art and Life at the Court of Ercole I d’Este: The “De triumphis religionis” of Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti (Geneva, 1972), 71. erwin Panofsky, Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance (new york, 1972), Ch. 4, “Blind Cupid”; Kari lawe, “la medaglia dell ‘amorino bendato,” in La corte di Ferrara e il suo mecenatismo, 1441–1598, Marianne Pade et al., eds (Copenhagen, 1987), 233–245. the medals of Jacoba Correggio and Maddelena rossi are in hill, Corpus, 59, cat. nos 234 and 235; and sylvia Ferino-Pagden, ‘La prima donna del mondo.’ Isabella d’Este Fürstin und Mäzenatin der Renaissance (vienna, 1994), 383. louvre, Paris. Maria Bellonci argued that lucrezia and Francesco Gonzaga had an affair; it probably more correct to say that they had a platonic epistolary friendship. they rarely had an opportunity to see one another, both were heavily guarded at all times, and Francesco was extremely ill with syphilis for the last years of his life. travi, Petro Bembo. Lettere, vol. 1, 153. 6 July 1509, letter of tolomeo spagnolo to Marchese Francesco Gonzaga (asMn B.2475) cited in luzio, “isabella d’este e i Borgia,” pt. 2, 737. Color reproduction in Fioravanti Baraldi, Lucrezia Borgia, 142. laura Pagnotta, Bartolomeo Veneto, l’opera completa (Florence, 1997), 56. attributed to Bartolomeo veneto by Bernard Berenson; Charles yriarte, Autour des Borgia (Paris, 1891), 103–132; Giacomo Bargellesi, “Bartolomeo veneto e il ritratto della Beata Beatrice d’este e lucrezia Borgia,” Atti e memorie della deptutazione ferrarese di storia patria, 2 (1943–44), 9, 14, n. 18; de hevesy, “Bartolommeo veneto,” 245, 250 n. 16. these are a bust-length portrait formerly in the antonelli collection in Ferrara, and a three-quarter-length version in the Guggenheim collection in venice. see vigi, “Lucrezia Borgia: Ricerca di un’identità,” 211–212, figs 6 and 7. On Lucrezia’s wardrobe see Polifilo [Luca Beltrami], Inventario della guardaroba di Lucrezia Borgia (Milan, 1903); and rosita levi-Pisetzky, Storia della cosume in Italia, vol. 3 (Milan, 1966). inventories dating between 1516 and 1518 list packets of jewels, gold or enamel beads, valuable fabrics with gold or jewels, tiaras, sacred pendants and other bejeweled gold and silver items. Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, 555–582. Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia, 242. Frances a. yates, Astraea (new york, 1999), 78.

96 43

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47 48 49

50 51 52 53 54

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56 57 58

59 60 61 62

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy leon Battista alberti, On Painting and On Sculpture: The Latin Texts of De Pictura and De Statua, Cecil Grayson, ed. and trans. (london, 1972), 61; Joanna Woods-Marsden, ‘“ritratto al naturale”: Questions of realism and idealism in early renaissance Portraits,” Art Journal, 46/3 (autumn 1987): 209–216. John Jeffries Martin, Myths of Renaissance Individualism (new york, 2004). see Ferrarese chronicler Bernardino Zambotto, in Diario Ferrarese dall’anno 1476 sino al 1504, Giuseppe Pardi, ed. (Bologna, 1937), 314–315; also Cagnolo da Parma in vigi, “lucrezia Borgia: ricerca di un’identità,” 196. elizabeth Cropper, “on Beautiful Women, Parmigianino, Petrarchismo, and the vernacular style,” Art Bulletin, 58/3 (september 1976): 374–394; rona Goffen, Titian’s Women (new haven and london, 1997), 86–106. Cropper, “on Beautiful Women,” 390. Cropper, “on Beautiful Women,” 376, 379, 390, 392–393. on the reliquary panels see Matthiesen Fine art, Da Borso a Cesare d’Este. La scuola di Ferrara 1450–1628 (london, 1984), 143–144; Fioravanti Baraldi, Lucrezia Borgia, 137–138, 155; laureati, Lucrezia Borgia, cat. entries 41a, b, c; Burgess Williams, “le donne, i cavalier,” Ch. 2. Foligno designed jewelry for lucrezia, but also cast coins for the Ferrarese mint. Fioravanti-Baraldi, Lucrezia Borgia, 67. Zambotto, “diario Ferrarese,” 314–315. “desiderosa de vedere tante belle reliquie de sancti che se trovano a nonantola …” asMo, Casa e stato, busta 141, letter dated 9 July 1505. Beata Beatrice ii d’este (1233–c. 1270), the daughter of azzo vii, lord of Ferrara, was widowed on her wedding day. she became a nun, founding the Ferrarese convent of san antonio in Polesine. see Bargellesi, “Bartolomeo veneto e il ritratto,” 1–15. on the convent building see Ghirardo, “lucrezia Borgia’s Palace.” Gabriela Zarri, “tra monache e confessori: la corte di lucrezia Borgia” in L’età di Alfonso I e la pittura del Dosso, Gianni venturi, ed. (Modena, 2004), 106. on the convent, which no longer exists, see diane Ghirardo, “strutturazione e destrutturazione del Convento di san Bernardino a Ferrara,” Analecta Pomposiana, 27 (2003): 385–392. Zarri, “tra monache e confessori,” 112. Libro de vita Contemplativa …, published 1527. Fioravanti-Baraldi, Lucrezia Borgia, 66. the one-sided medal, known as the “della reticella” is attributed to the Mantuan school; its inscription reads “lucrezia esten Borgia ducissa.” hill, Corpus, 58, cat. no. 231. sanudo, vol. 4, 224, cited in Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, 255. Polifilo, Inventario. yvonne hackenbroch, Renaissance Jewelry (london, 1979), 387. Giovan Giorgio trissino, I ritratti, in Tutte le opere de Giovan Giorgio Trissino non più raccolte (verona, 1729), vol. 2, 269–277; rogers, “the decorum of Women’s Beauty,” 47–88; sally hickson, “‘to see ourselves as others see us’: Giovanni Francesco Zaninello of Ferrara and the Portrait of isabella d’este by Francia,” Renaissance Studies, 23/3 (June 2009): 288–310.

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humanists hoping for patronage sometimes switched dedications of written works from one ruler to another as necessary. For example, ercole strozzi changed the dedication of a poem originally written about isabella d’este’s marble Cupid to suit a similar statue owned by lucrezia Borgia. see luzio, “isabella d’este e i Borgia,” 5/61, 469–553; and 5/62, 673–773, 736. rogers, “the decorum of Women’s Beauty,” 49; lucian, Icones, a.M. harmon, trans. (Cambridge Ma, 1925), vol. 4, 257–295. trissino, I ritratti, 271. trissino, I ritratti, 274–275. rogers, “the decorum of Women’s Beauty,” 58. trissino, I ritratti, 276: “questa sua liberalità si può chiaramente comprendere da le splendide sue vestimenta.” Gundersheimer, Art and Life, 50.

Chapter 5

a Face in the Crowd: identifying the dogaressa at the ospedale dei Crociferi Mary e. Frank

Cinquecento venetian women have traditionally been imagined in the role of silent domestic partner, seldom seen or heard outside of their domestic realm. the rarity of independent portraits of venetian renaissance women has reinforced this impression.1 When a woman is portrayed, it is often in the context of her family or as a pendant to her husband’s portrait; her individuality is overshadowed by the power of patrilineage in the venetian republic.2 Fortunately, the context provided by such portrayals can sometimes forge a connection to the better-documented public male world, creating an opportunity to identify women and lift the veil of invisibility that history has cast over them. these women did not think they were invisible; they were wives, mothers, and individuals, who functioned within the limits of social propriety. recent scholarship has suggested that not all venetian women led lives of seclusion and powerlessness. Monica Chojnacka argues cogently for a world in which women moved between different communities and led multi-dimensional lives.3 one of the accepted ways for a woman to make a lasting mark on the world outside of her family and the strictly domestic realm was through charitable acts. during the second half of the Cinquecento in venice instances of benevolence by women increased significantly, broadening their spheres of influence and heightening their odds of both survival and visibility in history. as we shall see, a charitable nature ensured the enduring presence of the woman standing conspicuously at the center of a world dedicated to the welfare of women but dominated by men in Palma il Giovane’s Christ in Glory with Doge Zen (Fig. 5.1). She is traditionally identified as Dogaressa Zen, the wife of the doge of venice, in this case, renier Zen, the thirteenth-century doge who gives the painting its title.4 she stands at the center of the composition, grandly dressed as a sixteenth-century dogaressa, incorporated into a group of noblemen and creating a dramatic contrast to the old women kneeling humbly at the right and gazing up at her, suggesting that there is more to this woman than meets the

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5.1 Palma Giovane, Christ in Glory with Doge Zen (The Telero Zen), 1585, oil on canvas, 152 × 136½ inches (386 × 346 cm), oratory, ospedale dei Crociferi, venice eye. this chapter will use historical and visual documents to reveal her identity and the significance of her presence. Remarkably, we can find the Dogaressa today in the same place she has stood for over four hundred years. tucked away in Cannaregio, across the campo from the church of the Gesuiti is a small, unprepossessing building. the three crosses over the door identify it as the ospedale dei Crociferi, founded during the twelfth century by an order of charitable roman monks known as the Crociferi or crossbearers.5 During the fifteenth century, the Ospedale became a home for 12 old women who had worked as servants for the nobility.6 the fabric of life at the ospedale has been suspended in time, captured by the painter Palma il Giovane, in a series of paintings made for the oratory dating to the 1580s.7 recalling the late fifteenth-century narrative cycles that decorated Venetian religious confraternities (scuole), the paintings are populated by individualized portraits of contemporary

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personalities inserted into historical scenes. they play the role of historical figures, represent the contemporary men who administered the Ospedale, or, in the case of the old female residents, observe events as credible witnesses and impart authenticity to the scenes. Five of the canvases are religious in subject, and the balance are narratives documenting the history of the order of the Crociferi and their ospedale in venice. Christ in Glory with Doge Zen, known as the Telero Zen, is the largest and by far the most powerful of Palma’s canvases. Measuring about 13 feet (4 meters) tall, the Telero Zen hangs opposite the altar. the upper half of the canvas is dominated by the powerful figure of Christ, surrounded by a radiance of clouds and putti. his gesture of blessing encompasses the various groups of people in the earthly realm below: on the left the grand secular world of the doge and dogaressa, along with their entourage of procurators, and on the right the clergy accompanied by a clutch of elderly women residents who witness the awesome scene.8 according to the title, the painting’s subject is straightforward. its protagonists are the thirteenth-century doge Zen (r. 1253–68), who was a benefactor of the ospedale, portrayed with his wife the dogaressa, alucia da Prata, who stands beside him. When Carlo Ridolfi, the biographer of Venetian artists, described the painting in the seventeenth century, he observed that doge Zen, accompanied by his wife, was handing a brief to the procurator vincenzo Morosini.9 it did not concern Ridolfi that Zen and his wife had lived three hundred years before Morosini, who was alive at the time the painting was made. this temporal disjunction is amplified by the fact that Dogaressa Zen is dressed like a sixteenthcentury dogaressa rather than one from the thirteenth century. although some scholarship has been dedicated to identifying the portraits incorporated into the groups surrounding the doge and dogaressa in the Telero Zen,10 there has been no attempt to reconcile the anachronistic presence of the sixteenth-century procurator Morosini with the thirteenth-century doge and dogaressa, or to address other inconsistencies of time and place. Where did this gathering occur? The presence of the old women witnesses implies that we are in their home at the Crociferi, but the massive columns in the background at left and right and the distant view of the Piazza san Marco at the center of the work are irreconcilable with the architecture and location of the Ospedale. What is the significance of the column at the left bearing the date 1 August 1585? And most important, what do we know about the woman at the exact center of the canvas, directly under the figure of Christ? What is her relationship to the other members of the composition? If she is the Dogaressa Zen why is she wearing sixteenth-century clothing? In order to determine the significance of the dogaressa and appreciate the full import of her presence, we must first become familiar with the protagonists, the Doge and Dogaressa Zen, as well as pictorial conventions particular to venice. another image of doge Zen and his wife, in the form of a mosaic made during his lifetime, provides a useful paradigm to begin the process.

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Doge Zen and the Apparitio Sancti Marci doge renier Zen was elected in 1253 and ruled for 15 years, until his death in 1268. he was a great believer in miracles and a man of generous spirit. he used his own funds to make improvements to the san Marco area, paving the piazza for the first time and adding mosaic decorations to the basilica.11 his belief in miracles and desire to adorn the basilica led to the creation of a pair of mosaics, together entitled the Apparitio Sancti Marci. located on the west wall of the south transept of San Marco, they illustrate a story first recorded by Zen’s contemporary, the historian Martin da Canal, in his chronicle Les Estoires de Venise.12 according to da Canal, the location of the relics of st. Mark had been forgotten during the eleventh-century rebuilding of the basilica. to rectify this situation, in 1094 the community of venice joined together for three days of fasting and prayer. the relics were found when a column in the church miraculously opened to reveal the saint’s sarcophagus. The first mosaic, the Preghiera, shows the entire population of venice, in all its diversity, led by the doge and the Patriarch, praying together. in the second scene, the Apparitio, the miracle occurs, and the relics appear (Fig. 5.2). In his definitive study of the mosaics of San Marco, Otto Demus speculated that the event depicted in the Apparitio is either the miraculous opening itself, or the

5.2 Apparitio (Apparition of St. Mark’s Relics), c. 1260, mosaic, san Marco, venice

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thanksgiving ceremony that followed. he cautioned about imposing too precise and realistic an interpretation of a representation with an “ideal” character.13 demus made the important observation that venetian historical representations often had a dual nature that he called “two-fold fidelity.”14 they related not only to the historical time of the event they depicted but also to the actual “present,” that is, the time when the image was created. in the case of the Apparitio mosaics, the depicted event took place in 1094, but the ceremonies shown are ones that would have taken place in the middle of the thirteenth century, when the mosaic was made, during the dogeship of renier Zen. the “historical multivalence,” as i will call it, is further confirmed by the fact that the pulpits depicted in the mosaics were brought from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade in 1204. the concept of historical multivalence can also be applied to the people depicted in the mosaic. historically, the doge leading the prayer of thanksgiving would have been vitale Falier (r. 1084–96) who was in power when the miracle occurred. however, the doge actually portrayed is more probably renier Zen, who ruled when the mosaics were made. in all likelihood he encouraged the renewed interest in, and the promulgation and depiction of, the miracle of the apparitio, which reaffirmed the sanctity of the basilica and the existence of the saint’s relics.15 The practice of portraying a contemporary figure in the role of a historical personality, as with Zen playing the role of vitale Falier, remained an artistic convention through the sixteenth century in venice. to use a term coined by Patricia Fortini Brown, Zen fulfilled the role of “honorable proxy” for Falier.16 By giving a historical protagonist a recognizable face, that is, one of a contemporary person, the artist made his composition more accessible to his viewers. other contemporary details in the Apparitio would have resonated with a thirteenth-century viewer. to the right of doge Falier/Zen are the Patriarch and his entourage. like the doge, he raises his hands in adoration of the revealed relic. Behind the doge is a group of three men, whom demus suggests are procurators. originally the procurators’ sole job was to oversee the care of the basilica and administer bequests to it.17 during Zen’s tenure the number of procurators was increased from a mere two to three. The three figures standing immediately behind the doge are in all likelihood the procurators, one of whom is obscured except for the top of his head. at the left side of the mosaic is a group of women accompanied by two children. the little boy may well be Philip of Courtenay, the only son of the latin emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin i (r. 1237–61), who gave his son as collateral for a loan from venice.18 the woman gazing at the doge, wearing a prominent headdress and holding a little girl’s hand, is in all likelihood a portrayal of the doge’s wife.19 dogaressa alucia da Prata Zen would have been the proxy, that is, would have played the role of the historical dogaressa Falier. the little girl might have been a Zen daughter; although Zen had no surviving

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sons, we cannot rule out the possibility that he had daughters who either did not survive to adulthood or simply were not mentioned in their father’s will.20 the dogaressa Zen was born of a noble family in the terra ferma town of Pordenone and, like her husband, had a generous nature. Martin da Canal characterizes her as a charitable woman in her own right, and the driving force behind the construction of the ospedale di san Marco, a hospice for the sick, located next to the bell tower on the Piazza san Marco.21 only two surviving documents cast light on alucia da Prata as dogaressa: the ducal promissione, or oath of office, that her husband took upon election, and her husband’s last will and testament.22 the promissione is a fairly standardized document, outlining the doge’s obligations, responsibilities, and any behavior that might be unacceptable for him and his family. it established codes of conduct that maintained the appearance that the doge was always primus inter pares (first among equals). the venetian republic vigorously shunned any imperial pretension; the doge was elected from his peers by his peers and was often over 65 years old.23 one of the reasons for the strong gerontocratic impulse in venice was to avoid electing a man with sons who were young enough to aspire to inherit the throne. By extension, the doge’s wife posed a threat to the perception of equality because she suggested procreation and hence, potential dynastic tendencies. like the doge, the dogaressa led a life that was circumscribed by the limits of convention and appearances. her public function, her only true claim to visibility, was to enhance the power of her husband, and confirm the patriarchal ideology of the state. there were certain festivities at which she was expected to appear, including her introductory entrance ceremony. But for the most part, she represented the domestic realm and it was there that she was supposed to remain, setting an example for other noblewomen to follow. doge renier Zen’s promissione is the first such document to mention that the dogaressa also had an oath-taking ceremony.24 in addition to codifying the requirement for taking the oath, the promissione spells out a variety of restrictions on the dogaressa’s conduct. Many of these limit behavior that could be construed as ways of influencing her husband: accepting gifts, writing letters on someone’s behalf, or praying for them. alucia da Prata Zen was required to swear her oath in the privacy of her own home, not in a public ceremony, as her husband had. in a gesture symbolic of the realm in which women operated, the doge’s chancellors visited her palace, where she swore her obedience to the male authorities, the doge and the state.25 it was only then that she was allowed to reside in the doge’s Palace with her husband. doge Zen’s will named his wife as his executrix. When he died in 1268 she became responsible for overseeing a number of bequests to charitable institutions, including a substantial gift of land, buildings, and an endowment to the ospedale dei Crociferi.26 With this background in mind, let us return to the Crociferi of the sixteenth century to look more closely at Palma’s painting.

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The Telero Zen at the time that Palma painted the Telero Zen, the day-to-day management of the ospedale was shared by a prior and a prioress, in accord with the institution’s statutes. the prior, Priamo Balbi, took his job very seriously, and his Libro di spese (account book), is both a loving record of payments to “le povere,” as he called the old women who lived at the ospedale, and a scrupulous accounting of the disbursements he made to the workers and artists who participated in an extensive renovation to the ospedale.27 the Libro records that Palma began work for the Crociferi in 1583, painting an altarpiece of the Adoration of the Magi (now lost). in december 1584 Balbi noted the down payment to Palma for the next work, the Telero Zen.28 there is no mention of who determined the program of the composition, but as we identify the personalities in the painting, a potential candidate for this role will become apparent. it will also become clear how the historical multivalence of the Apparitio mosaic also informs the Telero Zen. this is not to say that Palma used the mosaic as a model, but rather that combining multiple personalities from different historical times was a venetian convention that Palma employed. accordingly, demus’s approach to interpreting the Apparitio will serve as a model to reveal the identities of the protagonists in the Zen painting, most importantly, that of the dogaressa, and to resolve discrepancies of time and place. two important events, one legal and the other artistic, provide the foundation necessary to fully appreciate the multiple dimensions of the Telero Zen. during the sixteenth century, the ospedale continued to depend on funding from the corpus of Zen’s testamentary gift, which was administered by the procurators de citra, responsible for the sestiere of Cannaregio. in March 1585 a protracted lawsuit over the disbursement of funds by the procurators to the order was finally settled to the satisfaction of the Crociferi.29 the documents supporting this resolution were signed by the procurators nicolò venier, Pasquale Cicogna, andrea da lezze and Paolo nani.30 the cashier for the resolution was vincenzo Morosini,31 who, as Ridolfi recognized, was a central figure in the Telero Zen. Morosini remains recognizable to this day, thanks to a portrait by tintoretto in the national Gallery, london. his pock-marked face, sunken blue eyes and thin beard are distinctive. he wears a stole of restagno d’oro (gold brocade), a fabric which was usually reserved for the doge and dogaressa’s garments. the stole (becho) was bestowed by the senate in recognition of Morosini’s special diplomatic service to the venetian republic, just one aspect of an illustrious career of public service.32 his portrait is also incorporated into numerous contemporary narrative scenes in the doge’s Palace and in subsequent works for the oratory of the Crociferi. artistically, the Telero Zen must be understood in the context of the campaign to replace the paintings in the Doge’s Palace, which had been damaged by a fire

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in 1574 and again, more catastrophically, in 1577. all told, a century’s worth of narrative paintings which documented venice’s glorious history was destroyed. the republic was eager to replace its lost heritage and quickly commissioned a variety of artists to replace and renew the lost works. By late 1577, Palma, along with tintoretto, veronese and others, had been engaged to participate in the campaign to renew the doge’s Palace. thus, when Palma began the Crociferi paintings in 1583 he was already working in the narrative mode and had the documentary tradition of venetian history paintings in the front of his mind. he would have been personally acquainted with the three procurators who were the Provveditori sopra la fabbrica del Palazzo, responsible for overseeing the restoration of the doge’s Palace: the illustrious Marc’antonio Barbaro, Pietro Foscari, and the highly respected procurator de citra, vincenzo Morosini.33 A Potential Protagonist Morosini’s leading role in the Telero Zen, his connections to the Crociferi as a procurator, and his role as a patron of the artists working in the doge’s Palace make him a likely candidate for authorship of the painting’s subject, perhaps with the assistance of Priamo Balbi and Palma.34 the preparatory drawing for the painting (accademia, venice) shows that its essential elements were in Palma’s original plan.35 although the proportions of the drawing differ from those of the final canvas, the figure of Christ in benediction over the central group of doge, dogaressa and Morosini is in the original conception. Morosini’s distinctively haggard face is recognizable as he accepts a document from the doge. The dogaressa is directly below the figure of Christ, and the groups of procurators, clergy, and old women are present. at the center of the drawing, the outlines of a cityscape are suggested, and on the left, a massive pilaster and plinth are sketched, confirming that the architectural and topographical setting were both part of the original design. as a provveditore of the restoration of the doge’s Palace, Morosini knew the architect andrea Palladio, and it is his architecture that is the source for the columns framing the Telero Zen; specifically, the Morosini chapel in Palladio’s church of san Giorgio Maggiore. in 1583 Morosini was granted a family chapel to the left of the chancel (Fig. 5.3a), in part as a result of a longstanding connection between Morosini and san Giorgio, of which his forebear, Giovanni Morosini (982–1012) had been the founding abbot.36 When the Telero Zen is digitally superimposed on the nave of san Giorgio, the painted columns and pilasters on either side of the canvas align exactly with those framing the Morosini chapel (Fig. 5.3b). Furthermore, the distant view of the Piazza san Marco is now explained: it is the view through the doors of the Morosini chapel, across the

5.3a view of the Morosini Chapel, san Giorgio Maggiore, venice

5.3b

Palma’s Telero Zen digitally superimposed on the Morosini Chapel

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5.4 view of Piazza san Marco from san Giorgio Maggiore, venice lagoon to the center of political and sacred venetian power (Fig. 5.4).37 usually explained as a historical reference to doge and dogaressa Zen’s contributions to the development of the Piazza,38 it is in fact a reference to Morosini’s connections to the civic heart of the city, another personal component of the composition. Morosini commissioned Jacopo tintoretto to paint an altarpiece for his chapel, which the artist completed in 1587 (Fig. 5.5). it represents the Resurrection of Christ with the Morosini Family. as with the Telero Zen, the upper portion is dominated by the figure of Christ who hovers above angels and members of the patron’s family.39 the composition includes portraits of Morosini, his wife, Cecilia Pisani, their son Barbone, and his younger brother, andrea, who had died in 1582 at the age of 25.40 his patron saint, andrew, is also included in the composition. in contrast to tintoretto’s altarpiece, which expresses bereavement over the death of his son, the Telero Zen, as planned and executed, is filled with anticipation and positive expectations of a bright future for the accomplished procurator. in addition to playing an important role in the welfare of the ospedale dei Crociferi, Morosini was widely acknowledged to be the leading contender to succeed nicolò da Ponte as doge. By april of 1585, da Ponte’s health was failing and his death

5.5 Jacopo tintoretto, Resurrection of Christ with the Morosini Family, 1587, oil on canvas, size unknown, Morosini Chapel, san Giorgio Maggiore, venice

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seemed imminent.41 Morosini’s place at the front of the Telero Zen, a prominent and privileged figure, signals his anticipation of dogal succession.42 Significantly, Morosini is visually linked to the doge by the golden stole prominently draped over his shoulder, contiguous with the doge and dogaressa’s elaborate restagno d’oro robes. Although Morosini is the only sixteenth-century personality whom Ridolfi recognized, it is not difficult to identify other contemporary faces in the Telero Zen, thanks in part to the widespread practice of incorporating portraits in the paintings recently made for the doge’s Palace. the bearded man who appears behind and between the doge and dogaressa is known from a portrait by tintoretto as sebastiano venier, da Ponte’s short-lived predecessor (Kunsthistorisches Museum, vienna).43 the gray-bearded, balding man behind Morosini is Pasquale Cicogna, the procurator de citra who actually succeeded da Ponte as doge and appears in three later paintings on the western wall of the oratory. his identity can also be confirmed by comparison to his ducal votive portrait, painted by Palma, in the Sala dei Pregadi in the doge’s Palace.44 To the left of Cicogna is an unidentified silver-bearded procurator. a fourth man, with a dark beard, wearing a red cloak with a white collar, stands behind Morosini and anchors the trio of procurators. he is the artist himself, playing the role of intercessor with the viewer as he makes eye contact that draws us into the world he has created. This identification is confirmed by Palma’s self-portrait of 1590 (Brera, Milan).45 a young bearded nobleman dressed in black stands behind the artist, at the edge of the Telero Zen. although his identity is unknown, he also makes an appearance, dressed in red, along with Morosini, in Palma’s Pope Alexander III and Doge Sebastiani Ziani (1585) in the Great Council hall in the doge’s Palace.46 on the right side of the canvas, the group of clergy includes Priamo Balbi, recognizable because he appears in each of Palma’s subsequent narrative scenes for the ospedale. he is the third man from the left in the group, turning away from the center as he performs his duty as prior, handing a coin to one of the old women residents, who turns to accept the gesture of beneficence. With most of the personalities in the coterie of contemporary faces identified, the honorable proxy for doge Zen falls logically into place. Zen’s role is played by the doge in power at the time the painting was made, nicolò da Ponte (r. 1578–85), as confirmed by comparison with Alessandro Vittoria’s portrait bust in the seminario Patriarchale and tintoretto’s painting of Doge Nicolò da Ponte Receiving the Laurel from Venice on the ceiling of the Great Council hall.47 to summarize, a sixteenth-century viewer of the Telero Zen would have seen the role of the historical doge and benefactor of the ospedale, renier Zen, played by the present doge, nicolò da Ponte, giving a mandate to vincenzo Morosini, his present-day presumed successor, patron of the arts, and ally of the Crociferi. the breve which doge Zen/da Ponte hands Morosini reads Initium dimidium facti, that is “once you’ve started you’re halfway there” or, in today’s

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vernacular, “Well begun is half done.” Continuing the historically multivalent reading, conflating past and present, the inscription could refer to Zen’s initial bequest, which provided a foundation of financial stability for the ospedale, or it could imply that with the resolution of the lawsuit, a new beginning had been made in relations between the state and the Crociferi and that it was Morosini’s duty to foster the new relationship. Procurators, administrators, residents, the artist, and the dogaressa witness the exchange.48 The only figure remaining to be identified is the contemporary woman, that is, the honorable proxy, playing 5.6 detail of the dogaressa the role of the dogaressa Zen (Fig. from the Telero Zen 5.6). With her prominent nose, heavy eyelids, protruding chin and fleshy face which is losing its firmness, the dogaressa is not an idealized beauty, but is an animated and engaged face, wise enough in her years to hold her own amidst the gravitas of the statesmen surrounding her. she is sufficiently individualized to have been recognizable as an important present-day figure – perhaps the wife of one of the prominent noblemen surrounding her. Palma’s dogaressa wears the same sixteenth-century restagno d’oro garments, miniature corno and veil as those worn by one of her predecessors, the dogaressa Zilia Dandola Priuli at her entry ceremony in 1557. Zilia was the first ducal consort in seventy years, and her arrival at the doge’s Palace was celebrated with a ceremony of unprecedented grandeur which included the first temporary triumphal arch ever built for venice.49 the description of her dress as “the ducal mantle of cloth of gold, a bodice of the same with wide sleeves, and a brocaded petticoat – and on her head a pure white Cretan veil, which, fastened by a cap like the doge’s, descended over her shoulders” leaves little doubt that Palma’s dogaressa is dressed in the manner of the Cinquecento.50 the fanfare surrounding Zilia’s entrance suggests that by the middle of the sixteenth century dogaresse were beginning to enjoy more visibility than their predecessors and raises the possibility that the wife of a contemporary doge could have played the role of dogaressa Zen. However, the field of candidates for this role was narrow. Nicolò da Ponte’s wife had died before he became doge. sebastiano venier’s wife, Cecilia Contarini venier, was alive when her husband became doge, but venier died before she could be ceremonially acknowledged as dogaressa.51 Pasquale Cicogna, who ultimately succeeded da Ponte as doge, had been a widower for years.52

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after the doge, the most powerful man in the painting is vincenzo Morosini, and once again, he holds the key to the painting’s multivalent meaning. he gazes at the dogaressa and holds his hand to his heart in a reflection of her gesture, suggesting a connection between the two. to test the hypothesis that the role of the dogaressa is played by his wife we need look only as far as the Morosini family chapel at san Giorgio. there, Cecilia Pisani Morosini appears in tintoretto’s nearly contemporary altarpiece. although she is shown in profile and wears black mourning garb, similarities can be seen between her face and the distinctive characteristics of the woman at the center of the Crociferi painting (Fig. 5.7). the bulbous shape of her nose, her fleshy face, heavy eyelids, and 5.7 detail of Cecilia Pisani from prominent rounded chin are notably tintoretto’s Resurrection similar. with the Morosini Family the daughter of the nobleman and procurator Zuanne di alvise Pisani, Cecilia married almoro Barbaro in 1541.53 if she married at the age of 16 or so, as was typical, she would have been born around 1525.54 almoro died at the age of 21, after just one year of marriage. in 1542, Cecilia married Vincenzo Morosini and in 1545, Barbone, their first documented child, was born. in 1557, their second son, andrea, was born. Cecilia Pisani’s last will and testament is dated 26 January 1558 and it reveals a benevolent character.55 Cecilia was pregnant at the time, and we may assume that she gave birth to a daughter as no records of the couple having had more sons can be found. her will includes bequests to charitable institutions that are generous and wide-reaching. to various convents, churches, and ospedali, including the incurabili, san Zuane Polo and the Pietà, the Convertite, santa Maria Maggiore, san sepulchro, santa Chiara da Murano, and santa Croce da la Giudecca, she left a one-time gift of four ducats each. her single most substantial bequest to an institution, of 20 ducats, went to the monastery of sant’alvise, perhaps in honor of her grandfather’s patron saint. she also provided a total of 100 ducats to dower four poor young girls, at 25 ducats each. at the time she wrote her will her husband had not yet become involved in the welfare of the Crociferi, so its omission is not remarkable. indeed, she may have supported the ospedale during her lifetime. the

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date of Cecilia’s death is not recorded. she would have been about sixty years old when tintoretto painted the altarpiece for the family chapel, consistent with her appearance there. it seems likely that she was still alive or she would have been honored through the inclusion of her patron saint, as her late son andrea had been. in her role as the dogaressa Zen, Palma has idealized Cecilia somewhat, as befits a woman who believes her husband will be the next doge. Her portrayal in the guise of the benevolent alucia da Prata Zen would have been especially resonant to contemporary viewers. during the second half of the Cinquecento, increasing numbers of venetian noblewomen supported charitable institutions like the ospedale dei Crociferi and the others that Cecilia remembered in her will. in addition to being the proxy for her historical persona, alucia da Prata Zen, she also represented her peers, whose charitable acts provided a way to widen their spheres of influence outside of the domestic realm of their immediate families. the number of ospedali, large and small, dedicated to the care of a variety of groups of needy citizens had burgeoned during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.56 this was the result of a public desire to ameliorate the problem of urban poverty and a private need to ensure salvation through munificence. The largest of these institutions, called case (houses), could accommodate over 100 residents at a time. these included the soccorso, which provided shelter for prostitutes and abused wives, and the Convertite, a convent for repentant prostitutes, which was one of Cecilia Pisani’s beneficiaries.57 in 1559, the same year that Cecilia made her testamentary bequests three noblewomen – isabetta Grimani, andriana Contarini and isabetta loredan – founded the Casa delle Zitelle, which provided shelter for unmarried poor young women who were in danger of becoming prostitutes.58 the inspiration for the Zitelle and Cecilia’s bequest to quatro povere donzelle suggests that her gift was consistent with the charitable spirit of the times.59 at the Crociferi, benevolence was bestowed on women at the other end of life’s journey. the grandly dressed dogaressa stands apart from le povere but is connected to them through bonds of gender and generosity. she sets an example for other women and, as a true contemporary of her viewers, was easily accessible to them as a role model. The figure of Cecilia Pisani Morosini/Alucia da Prata Zen represents all benevolent noblewomen while the old women residents are proxies for the grateful recipients of their munificence. Christ blesses them all. How the Dogaressa Disappeared had events unfolded as Morosini anticipated, the Telero Zen would have been a quintessential example of venetian historical multivalence: like the Apparitio mosaic, the painting looks to the past, documents the present and anticipates the future. it commemorates the charity of doge and dogaressa Zen, acknowledges

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the current doge, da Ponte, and honors his presumed predecessor, Morosini and his wife, Cecilia Pisani, whose generous nature made her an especially suitable historical proxy for alucia da Prata Zen. on 30 July 1585, vincenzo’s anticipated succession to the dogeship took another step in the right direction, as doge nicolò da Ponte died of old age.60 eighteen days later, however, Morosini’s vision for the future had gone drastically awry. after one of the most contested dogal elections in venetian history, vincenzo Morosini renounced his votes to Pasquale Cicogna who was declared doge. If Palma began the painting when he received the first payment for it in december 1584, and it was ready to be installed by october 1585, we must surmise that the Telero Zen was substantially complete by the time da Ponte died. the painting’s close adherence to the preparatory drawing supports this hypothesis. Within a span of 18 days, the contemporary aspect of the story told in the painting became inaccurate. however, the historical multivalence and documentary quality of venetian narrative painting provided a solution. the pilaster at left was dated 1 august 1585, just days after da Ponte’s death. the painting became a document of both the past, showing Zen’s greatness, and a particular moment in the present, giving it the same “ideal” quality that demus observed in the Apparitio. to a contemporary viewer, the painting’s intentions would have remained clear. however, over time, the unexpected turn of events obscured the meaning of the work and particularly the sixteenth-century identity of the dogaressa. had Morosini become doge, he would have been one of only three doges in the entire sixteenth century to have had a living wife when he was elected. With Morosini’s demonstrated penchant for portraiture, and the gradually increasing tendency for dogaresse to be celebrated, as in the case of Zilia Priuli, it seems likely that Cecilia would not have suffered a fate of invisibility. instead, with the passage of time, in a visual environment rife with the propensity for adducing historical readings to paintings, da Ponte’s identity faded from importance. Morosini’s anticipated future success was overshadowed by the election of Pasquale Cicogna. Without her husband’s identity to illuminate her, Cecilia Pisani Morosini soon faded from view. the painting’s central figures were identified only as Zen and his wife, the breve was interpreted solely as an evocation of Zen’s generosity, and the eternal theme of beneficence prevailed over the momentary one of anticipated power that did not come to pass. although political machinations deprived Cecilia Pisani of a home in the doge’s Palace and a place in written history, the Telero Zen provides the informed reader with a vivid document of her life as the wife of an ambitious man, and a woman whose charitable acts in her own right allowed her to reach beyond the domestic realm and receive Christ’s blessing.

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rona Goffen, Titian’s Women (new haven and london, 1997), 57. John Garton, Grace and Grandeur: The Portraiture of Paolo Veronese (london, 2008), 61. Monica Chojnacka, Working Women of Early Modern Venice (Baltimore and london, 2001), 138. holly hurlburt, The Dogaressa of Venice 1200–1500: Wife and Icon (new york, 2006), 117. For the Crociferi and Palma’s paintings, see Hospitale S. Mariae Cruciferorum: L’ospizio dei Crociferi a Venezia, silvia lunardon, ed. (venice, 1995), 19–42. For an introduction to the old women residents of ospedale dei Crociferi, see my contribution, “visible signs of aging: images of old Women in renaissance venice,” to Growing Old in Early Modern Europe: Cultural Representations, erin Campbell, ed. (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2006), 139–152. Portions of the chapter in the current volume are derived from my dissertation, “donne attempate: Women of a Certain age in sixteenth-Century venetian art” (Princeton university, 2006). in addition to my dissertation advisor Patricia Fortini Brown, i would like to thank diane Cole ahl for her guidance writing this chapter, and holly hurlburt for her valuable insights into dogaresse. stefania Mason rinaldi, Palma il Giovane, L’opera completa (Milan, 1984), 23–25 and 138–139; Patricia Fortini Brown, Private Lives in Renaissance Venice (new Haven, 2004), 206–208; Dennis Romano, “L’assistenza e la beneficenza,” in Storia di Venezia dalle origini alla caduta della Serenissima. V: Rinascimento: Società ed economica, alberto tenenti and ugo tucci, eds (rome, 1996), 355–405; and Michele di Monte, “vincenzo Morosini, Palma il Giovane e il ritratto di gruppo veneziano,” Venezia Cinquecento, 7/13 (1997): 159–174. staale sinding-larsen, Christ in the Council Hall: Studies in the Religious Iconography of the Venetian Republic (rome, 1974), 108–112. Carlo Ridolfi, Le meraviglie dell’arte (2 vols, venice 1648), vol. 2, 391. Francesco Mozzetti and Giovanna Sarti, “Biografia, immagine e memoria: storia di vincenzo Morosini,” Venezia Cinquecento, 7/13 (1997): 141–158. andrea da Mosto, I Dogi di Venezia (Milan, 2003), 88. Martin da Canal, Les Estoires de Venise; Cronaca veneziana in lingua francese dalle origini al 1275, alberto limentani, ed. (Florence, n.d.), 218. otto demus, The Mosaics of San Marco (4 vols, Chicago and london, 1984), Part 2, vol. 1, 28. demus, Mosaics, 2/1, 29. demus, Mosaics, 2/1, 27. Patricia Fortini Brown, Venetian Narrative Painting in the Age of Carpaccio (new haven and london, 1988), 219–224. their jobs grew more complex and their numbers increased over the centuries. david Chambers, “Merit and Money: the Procurators of st. Mark and their Commissioni 1445–1605,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 60 (1997): 27. demus, Mosaics, 2/1, 30.

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27 28 29 30 31 32 33

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35 36 37

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy see for example the headdress in the portrait medal of Giovanna Malipiero dandolo, illustrated in hurlburt, Dogaressa, cover image. da Mosto, I Dogi, 87ff. Female children can easily slip through the cracks in venetian record-keeping, only being documented if they receive testamentary bequests or get married. da Canal, Les Estoires, 128. it has been argued that she did not build the hospice but was responsible for its rededication. see Jurgen schulz, “la piazza medievale di san Marco,” Annali di architettur: Rivista del Centro Internatzionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, 4–5 (1992–93): 139. either way, it is clear that dogaressa Zen supported the hospice. Museo Civico Correr, Ms Provinenze diversi, busta 881, Antichi testamenti tratti dagli archivi della congreagzione di Carità. the will is transcribed in lunardon, L’ospizio dei Crociferi, 153–154. robert Finlay, “the venetian republic as Gerontocracy: age and Politics in the renaissance,” Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 8/2 (Fall 1978): 157–178. hurlburt, Dogaressa, 39–40. hurlburt, Dogaressa, 39. such bequests became the responsibility of the procuratori di citra who managed the corpus of the gift and periodically made the requisite disbursements to the beneficiary. reinhold C. Mueller, “the Procurators of san Marco in the thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: The Study of the Office as a Financial and Trust Institution,” Studi Veneziani, 12 (1971): 110. asv, Fondo Procuratori di san Marco, Procuratori di Citra, busta 234–235; registro 21, Libro di Spese di Priamo Balbi (hereafter asv, Libro di Spese). asv, Libro di Spese. an entry of 23 april 1585 refers to the down payment made on 4 december 1584. asv, Libro di Spese, busta 234–235, pages unmarked. lunardon, L’ospizio dei Crociferi, 53. asv, Libro di Spese, busta 234–235, pages unmarked. nicolas Penny, The Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings in the National Gallery (Great Britain) (new haven and london, 2008), 178. on Morosini’s ongoing involvement in the refurbishment of the doge’s Palace, see Mozzetti and Sarti, “Biografia,” 141–158; and Tracy E. Cooper, Palladio’s Venice (new haven and london, 2007), 197–210. di Monte, “vincenzo Morosini,” 168, recognized Morosini’s leading place in the composition and dubbed it the Telero Morosini but does not suggest Morosini’s role in authorship and focuses only on the men portrayed. the drawing is illustrated in rinaldi, Palma, fig. 88, 221. Cooper, Palladio’s Venice, 127. For the traditions and interpretations of depictions of the Piazza san Marco in narrative painting, see Francis ames-lewis, “the image of venice in renaissance narrative Painting,” in his New Interpretations of Venetian Renaissance Painting (london, 1994), 21. For the place of women in the cityscape, see dennis romano, “Gender and the urban Geography of renaissance venice,” Journal of Social History, 3/1 (Winter 1989): 339–353.

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hurlburt, Dogaressa, 117. Mozzetti and Sarti, “Biografia,” 146. asv, san Giorgio Maggiore, busta 41, Processo segnato del N.24 Mansoneria, e Capella Morosini, cited in rodolfo Palluchini and Paola rossi, Tintoretto, Le opere sacre e profane (Milan, 1982), vol. 2, 227. William archer Brown, “nicolò da Ponte: the Political Career of a sixteenth-Century venetian Patrician” (new york, 1974), 159. Penny, Paintings in the National Gallery, 184. Palma solved a sensitive problem by obscuring venier behind the doge and dogaressa, for venier lost a leg during the battle of lepanto, where his victories established the basis for his election as doge in 1577. he died in 1578. da Mosto, I Dogi, 288. rinaldi, Palma, fig. 207, 270. rinaldi, Palma, fig. 177, 233. rinaldi, Palma, fig. 75, 215. on the bust, see thomas Martin, Alessandro Vittoria and the Portrait Bust in Renaissance Venice (oxford, 1998), 122–123. The ramifications of the relationship between Morosini and the Crociferi are noted by di Monte, “Vicenzo Morosini,” 16. However, he does not extend his identification of contemporary figures to the doge. Maximilian l.s. tondro, “the First temporary triumphal arch in venice (1557),” in Court Festivals of the European Renaissance: Art, Politics and Performance, J.r. Mulryne and elizabeth Goldring, eds (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2002), 335– 362. Pompeo Molmenti, The Dogaressa, trans. Clare Brune (london, 1887), 194. Zilia Priuli’s outfit is illustrated in ASV, Cermoniali, reproduced in Il Serenissimo Doge, umberto Franzoi, ed. (treviso, 1986), 228. da Mosto, I Dogi, 292. da Mosto, I Dogi, 309. almoro was the brother of Marc’antonio Barbaro, one of the procurators who served with Vincenzo Morosini to restore the Doge’s Palace after the fires of the 1570s. Cooper, Palladio’s Venice, 208. stanley Chojnacki, “Measuring adulthood: adolescence and Gender,” in Women and Men in Renaissance Venice (Baltimore, 2000), 187–190, has identified a tendency at this time for girls to marry later in the teenage years; 16 seems a reasonable estimate. asv notarile testamenti, chiusi, angelo Canal, busta 209–211, no. 239, rosso. the year is more Veneto, that is modern 1559. i thank tracy e. Cooper for sharing the contents of this unpublished will with me, in connection with her forthcoming book, The Banker’s Daughter: Dowry Agency and Public Culture in Renaissance Venice. Brian Pullan, Rich and Poor in Renaissance Venice: The Social Institution of a Catholic State, to 1620 (Cambridge, 1971); and Franca semi, Gli “ospizi” di Venezia (venice, 1983). Bernard aikema and dulcia Meijers, Nel regno dei poveri: Arte e storia dei Grandi Ospedali Veneziani in eta moderna 1474–1797; and Le Zitelle: Architettura, arte e storia di’un istituzione veneziana, lionello Puppi, ed. (venice, 1992).

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Monica Chojnacka, “Women, Charity, and Community in early Modern venice: the Casa delle Zitelle,” Renaissance Quarterly, 51/1 (spring 1998): 70. In 1559, the Jesuit priest Benedetto Palmia gave an influential sermon, advocating special assistance for povere donzelle. Chojancka, “Women, Charity and Community,” n.1, 68. da Mosto, I Dogi, 303.

Chapter 6

vittoria Colonna in Giorgio vasari’s “life of Properzia de’ rossi” Marjorie och

one of Giorgio vasari’s primary goals in writing his Lives of the Artists was to create a memorial celebrating the histories and accomplishments of artists in life stories that are part biography, part monographic study, and part fiction. First published in 1550 and again in a much-expanded version in 1568, the Lives of the Artists comprise a three-part narrative that treats of art from Cimabue in the thirteenth century through to the author’s time. vasari presents the three parts or stages chronologically, a schema that shows art’s development and accounts for the perfection of art in his day. in his work, some “lives” focus on individual artists, while in others vasari groups together artists under a shared theme, nationality, or media. according to vasari the writer’s task was paramount – the writer not only brought fame to his subject, but ensured that the artist’s work would be “kept alive,” for it is the written account that will outlast the works themselves, as vasari tells his reader in his opening Preface.1 vasari was not alone in commemorating the lives of great men, and his sources, both ancient and contemporary, have been the subject of much study.2 One body of source material that has not received specific attention is the work of contemporary women writers. the subject of this chapter is how one woman author, vittoria Colonna (c. 1490–1547), presented herself as a creative woman to her readers, and what vasari might have used from Colonna’s self-presentations to create his “life of Properzia de’ rossi,” thus making this artist visible to his audience. the poet vittoria Colonna, referenced by vasari several times throughout the Lives of the Artists, offers an especially rich biography and body of texts that invite an examination of how she fashioned an identity for herself and how such a manufactured identity could have directed vasari’s understanding of a female-gendered genius. vasari’s accounts of women artists perhaps offer more fiction than is found in his “Lives” of male artists, in part because of the difficulty he had in gaining information about these women, but primarily because of the problems presented to vasari and his generation by the idea and fact of female genius. it was a challenge to place these women within his history of art.3 vasari found in Colonna’s literary production a structure for writing about a woman’s life

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that directed his fiction. In his “Life of Properzia de’ Rossi,” Vasari identifies the woman artist with her work and the work with autobiography, much as vittoria Colonna, the most famous of women writers among vasari’s contemporaries, demonstrated to her readers that to be a woman writer was to base one’s work on one’s life. the Bolognese sculptor Properzia de’ rossi (c. 1490–1530) is the only woman artist for whom vasari writes a distinct “life” in the 1550 edition of his work, and thus she literally stands in for all women artists. in the 1568 edition, vasari inserts “lives” of three more women in his “life of Properzia de’ rossi”: the painters suor Plautilla nelli (1524–88), lucrezia Quistelli (active c. 1560), and sofonisba anguissola (c. 1532–1625). the addition of these painters allows vasari to address the paragone between sculpture and painting by reference to Properzia. as one of the founders of the new Florentine accademia del disegno, vasari was much involved in the debate comparing sculpture and painting.4 a contrast between male and female artists in his discussion of the paragone, rather than between women artists alone, may have suggested a competition between the sexes that was not vasari’s focus. his inclusion of these women painters in Properzia’s “life” allows a further statement of the paragone in the Lives of the Artists, without involving the author in current debates on the merits of women. But why should these women, although contemporaries of vasari, merit his attention at all? In the 1550 edition, Vasari writes few “Lives” devoted to living artists. these include the “lives” of Benedetto da rovezzano, Michelagnolo da siena, Girolamo santa Croce, and the hero of his narrative, Michelangelo Buonarroti; other living artists are briefly mentioned in “Lives” dedicated to deceased artists, such as his reference to titian in the “life of Giorgione.” Many living artists are treated in the later edition, and certainly the women painters emphasize the variety within the arts of his age. Moreover, vasari could not ignore what must have seemed a dramatic increase in the number of women artists then at work, a fact that further distinguished the art of his day from earlier art. Indeed, while these women’s experiences may not have fit into any traditional studio practice that vasari encountered – one can imagine entirely distinct educations and careers for each woman – the number of women artists in vasari’s day and the respect given them by patrons could not be disregarded, certainly not by a writer with vasari’s goals. vasari praises these women not only for their artistic talents, but also for their social and professional positions. vasari provides his readers with information – true or false – that made visible the otherwise mysterious phenomenon of “the woman artist”: de’ rossi was admired by her contemporaries and was sought after by the Pope; nelli was a nun and Prioress in Florence; Quistelli was the wife of a count and a pupil of alessandro allori; and Philip ii of spain placed anguissola in his wife’s court. these “facts” are as prominent in vasari’s text as his reference to these artists’ skills in drawing.

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Moreover, in the 1560s vasari had occasion to consider the place and power of exemplary women within a larger – masculine – narrative, not unlike his Lives of the Artists. in 1561 Cosimo i de’ Medici commissioned vasari to decorate four rooms of the Palazzo vecchio in Florence. these formed part of eleonora di toledo’s apartments for which vasari created designs dedicated to the stories of the sabine women, esther, Penelope, and Gualdrada.5 these women, from ancient roman, hebrew, and Greek history as well as medieval Florentine history, offered exempla of heroic female figures. This sequence of rooms presented Vasari the challenge of envisioning a series of illustrious women distinct from – but related to – the uomini famosi tradition. nevertheless, vasari’s series was integral to his larger project for Cosimo’s Palazzo vecchio – paintings celebrating Cosimo and the Medici. Significantly, while Vasari is designing the frescoes for Eleonora’s apartments, he is developing ideas for his revised edition of the Lives of the Artists which included renowned women artists in his expanded “life of Properzia de’ rossi.” Properzia’s “life” appears in Part three of vasari’s work, where he treats the art of his own time. he writes, “[i]n no other age, for certain, has it been possible to see [the excellence of women] better than in our own, wherein women have won the highest fame not only in the study of letters … but also in every other faculty.”6 vasari describes Properzia as “a young woman excellent not only in household matters … but also in sciences … so that all the men, to say nothing of the women, were envious of her.”7 In this “Life,” Vasari first establishes what the reader of his day would want to know about a woman, that “[t]his Properzia was very beautiful in person, and played and sang in her day better than any other woman of her city,” a description that appears in both the 1550 and 1568 editions.8 Properzia’s fine physical appearance and musical accomplishment identify her for vasari’s contemporaries as a lady in the tradition of Castiglione’s court lady. But Properzia is no mere lady. in fact, the citizens of Bologna “regarded her during her lifetime as one of the greatest miracles produced by nature in our days.”9 For Vasari, her “intellect,” which was both “capricious” and “ready,” drove her first to carve peach stones, “which she executed so well and with such patience, that they were singular and marvelous to behold, not only for the subtlety of the work, but also for the grace of the little figures that she made in them and the delicacy with which they were distributed …”10 vasari here introduces parallels between the artist and her work – both are treated as miracles of nature. according to vasari, acclaim for her carved peach pits led Properzia to seek work on the portal of san Petronio in Bologna – a technically demanding project and, within the narrative of this “life” thus far, a surprising move on the artist’s part and one that must have puzzled vasari. his reference to Properzia’s “capricious” intellect may be his attempt to explain this development in her work. We learn, too, that Properzia’s husband (unnamed by vasari) facilitated her commission at san Petronio, apparently by approaching the committee responsible for hiring artists.

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6.1 Properzia de’ rossi, Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar, 1525–26, relief, san Petronio, Bologna vasari’s accuracy is important to note, especially within the context of a “life” that he otherwise seems to invent. records indicate that Properzia did indeed have a husband (she was married in 1515) and she was working at san Petronio in 1525 and 1526.11 vasari mentions several works by Properzia for san Petronio, including a panel depicting the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Fig. 6.1), as well as two angels “in very strong relief and beautiful proportions.”12 the old testament narrative of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife is from Genesis 39: 7–20 and tells the story of the wife of Potiphar (a captain in Pharaoh’s army), who desired Joseph, then Potiphar’s

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personal servant in charge of his household. Properzia shows Joseph in flight, his face in sharp profile and his back to Potiphar’s wife who grabs at his robe from her bed. even without the Biblical narrative, there can be no mistake that the woman’s intentions are physical, sexual, and hopeless. With her left hand and arm she steadies herself on the bed, with her right she pulls on Joseph to hold him back. the desperation with which Joseph attempts to escape is shown in his swirling drapery and windblown hair. the woman wears a shawl over her right shoulder and a slip that is open, exposing her breasts; the working of the stone to depict this sheer garment highlights Properzia’s skill in stone carving and illusionism. deftly leaving the room devoid of any furnishing other than the bed and its canopy, Properzia focuses the viewer’s attention on the wife’s action, thus heightening the emotional power of the narrative. the sculptor also demonstrates her understanding of human anatomy and classical precedents in her contrasting of Joseph’s muscular all’antica body with the woman’s fleshiness suggestive of an actual woman’s body. As if flaunting her skill, Properzia has carved the woman’s left hand pushing into the mattress on the bed, impressing her fist and fingers in a manner that foreshadows Bernini’s carving of Pluto’s hand pressing into the flesh of Persephone, and suggesting the force and power of the woman’s desire. this is an extraordinary depiction of the narrative, and strikingly different from representations vasari knew, such as raphael’s version in the vatican loggia (c. 1518) or Bronzino’s tapestry design for the Palazzo vecchio (c. 1548–49).13 in the works by raphael and Bronzino, as indeed in later sixteenth- and seventeenthcentury italian depictions of the scene, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife are shown in a richly decorated room (Bronzino’s work includes an elaborate iconography of sexuality and lust), and as Joseph flees he looks back at a physically idealized female both threatening and tantalizing, as if reconsidering his decision to run. Properzia’s version, with its emphasis on a realistically depicted woman in pursuit of a man, could easily have been an anomaly for vasari, and perhaps for him a disconcerting one, for its portrayal of a woman’s desire. This narrative relief clearly directs Vasari’s final assessment of the artist. He writes that de’ rossi was at this time besotted with a young man – not her husband – who cared little for her; for vasari, Properzia’s interpretation of the commission must have come from her own experience. Properzia depicts a woman – to quote vasari – “burning with love for Joseph, and almost in despair after so much persuasion, finally strips his garment from him with a womanly grace that defies description.” vasari adds, “the poor love-stricken young woman [Properzia] came to succeed most perfectly in everything, save in her unhappy passion.”14 vasari first introduced the idea of art imitating life when he described Properzia and her carved peach pits; the artist was “very beautiful in person,” and her work “singular and marvelous to behold.”15 the suggestion of the artist projecting herself into and depicting herself in her work is then fully elaborated in vasari’s account of Properzia’s Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife.

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in this “life,” vasari presents an artist who was admired by both men and women for her knowledge, skills, and beauty, qualities that stand apart from what we know today about the sculptor, whose criminal record suggests a determined individual ready and willing to engage in physical attacks against her neighbors and fellow artists in Bologna. in 1520 Properzia and an accomplice, antonio Galeazzo Malvasia, were brought to court in Bologna for destroying the garden of her neighbor, Francesco da Milano, a velvet merchant; the charges were eventually suspended. then in 1525 Properzia was again brought to court, this time with the painter domenico del Francia, and charged with assault against the artist vincenzo Miola; Properzia was specifically charged with throwing paint in his face and scratching his eyes, actions corroborated in court by the artist amico aspertini.16 it is doubtful that vasari was unaware of Properzia’s violent reputation, for he had ample opportunity to learn about the sculptor on his visits to the city. in 1530 vasari was in Bologna working on the decorations for the coronation of Charles v as holy roman emperor; he was again in Bologna in 1539 and 1540.17 in Properzia’s “life,” he tells his readers that, following the emperor’s coronation on 24 February 1530, Clement vii de’ Medici himself “made inquiries after her; but he found that the poor woman had died that very week ….”18 linking the artist to the Pope serves to alert the reader to the artist’s fame and reputation as well as to vasari’s interest in de’ rossi’s (and his own) patrons – the Medici. and since there could be no more impressive a patron for vasari than a Medici pope, the reference further underscores the centrality of Properzia’s life and work for vasari’s view of women artists in his Lives of the Artists. vasari may have ignored Properzia’s criminal history, but he did not ignore her untimely death in 1530, noting that she was “buried in the della Morte hospital.”19 indeed, Properzia is listed in april 1529 as a patient of the hospital of san Giobbe, a hospital for indigents and syphilitics, but the exact cause and date of her death are uncertain.20 in his 1550 edition, vasari concludes his “life” of Properzia with her epitaph: “if Properzia owed to fortune and to gifts of men as much as she owed to nature and to skill, she who now lies without glory, plunged in obscurity, would have equaled in honor the celebrated artists of marble; nevertheless, the marbles sculpted by her feminine hand demonstrate how much she could do with [her] vivid mind and skill.”21 the epitaph is omitted in the 1568 edition, perhaps because the addition of other women artists to this “life” made it awkward to end with Properzia’s epitaph, as one scholar has recently suggested.22 it is just as likely, however, that vasari wanted to focus his reader’s attention on Properzia as a courtly lady whose life may be seen in her art, and whose art he brings out of obscurity through inclusion in his Lives of the Artists. For all his claims to including information about his subjects from reliable sources and first-hand accounts, Vasari ignores the charges brought against Properzia in favor of presenting a woman artist much admired by the Bolognese for her art as well as her character. For vasari, the “life” of Properzia is an

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example of how closely art mimics life. vasari here sought to explain a female genius, and he did this by drawing Properzia’s “life” from her art, as he saw was done by the most famous female genius of his day, vittoria Colonna. it is vasari’s account of Properzia’s life and his reading of her work as autobiographical that connects Properzia to Colonna, for it was Colonna’s self-reflexive writing that offered vasari a model for seeing the life of a woman artist in her work. in both the 1550 and 1568 editions vasari prefaces his “life of Properzia de’ rossi” with an account of all famous women from antiquity to his day. in this list of women, some, such as sappho, are singled out for overcoming the limitations of their gender to surpass the men of their age. The first women Vasari mentions are warrior women, among them Camilla, harpalice, tomyris, Penthesilea, and then women writers of antiquity, including Corinna, sappho, and erinna, adding that women – when determined – “have always become most excellent and famous.”23 vasari draws a parallel here between the warrior and the writer, suggesting to his readers that power and authority were attainable through the act of writing. The first woman of his own day that Vasari refers to is “Signora Vittoria del vasto,” known today as vittoria Colonna, and known to vasari as a friend of Michelangelo.24 Vasari’s use of her husband’s title, del Vasto, is significant, for it was Colonna’s work celebrating her husband, Ferrante Francesco d’avalos, the Marchese del vasto, a military leader, that must have found resonance with vasari, given his own endeavor celebrating the heroes of art – for it is the writer who immortalizes her or his subject. vasari may also reference Colonna as the signora del vasto out of respect for his friend, the historian, biographer, and art collector Paolo Giovio, whom vasari credits in his own “life” with the idea of writing the Lives of the Artists.25 vasari probably met Giovio in Bologna at the coronation of Charles v as holy roman emperor in 1530, and the two remained friends until Giovio’s death in 1552, with Giovio acting as a reader and editor of the 1550 edition of the Lives.26 his interest in vasari’s endeavor was personal, for Giovio, too, was involved in a similar enterprise with his portrait collection of famous men and women begun around 1520 and housed from around 1540 in his villa Museo on the shore of lake Como. this grand villa was funded to a great degree by the Marchese alfonso d’avalos del vasto, Marquis of Pescara, vittoria Colonna’s nephew by marriage, heir to her husband’s title upon his death in 1525, commander of the imperial infantry, and Governor of the duchy of Milan under the emperor. Giovio’s villa was filled with tributes to del Vasto’s generosity and military exploits, the villa’s Camera della vittoria was reserved for his extended visits, and a seventeenth-century painting of the estate shows a portrait of del vasto on the exterior wall of the villa.27 Moreover, it was to alfonso del vasto that Giovio wrote requesting a portrait of his aunt, vittoria Colonna, in 1544 for this collection.28 Giovio, who was so critical to the creation and writing of the Lives, could easily have urged vasari to consider Colonna as an exemplum of a woman writer.

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Giovio, who had written biographies of Colonna’s uncle (Cardinal Pompeo Colonna) and husband, was well aware of Colonna’s accomplishments as a writer, and encouraged her in her work.29 Giovio may have visited Colonna in rome or the Colonna stronghold of Marino in the early 1520s.30 their friendship was secure by the time of the sack of rome in 1527, for it was to Colonna’s literary salon on the island of ischia to which Giovio retreated when he was released from the Castel sant’angelo and the company of Clement vii de’ Medici shortly after the sack.31 Giovio also served as the initial conduit, as decorum required, for correspondence between Colonna and Pietro Bembo at the start of their friendship in 1530, and letters between Giovio and Bembo speak with high regard of Colonna as a writer.32 Colonna’s reputation and fame as a writer can be appreciated from the publication history of her works.33 in 1535 Pietro Bembo, the most important of sixteenth-century Petrarchan poets and the writer responsible for solidifying the italian vernacular, praised her work and included an epistolary sonnet exchange between himself and Colonna in his Rime.34 Bembo’s inclusion of Colonna’s work brought Colonna to the attention of writers and readers across europe. it was only three years later that the first edition of Colonna’s work was issued; between 1538 and her death in 1547, 12 editions of her poetry were published. this is in contrast to the next woman on vasari’s list in his “life of Properzia de’ rossi,” veronica Gambara (1485–1550), considered second only to Colonna in the sixteenth century as a female Petrarchist. Gambara, who, like Colonna, was a widow who praised her husband in poetry, had only a limited amount of work appear in anthologies, never editions of her work alone, in the sixteenth century.35 Colonna’s accomplishments as a poet are recognized today as significant, particularly for the manner in which she brought issues of Catholic reform into her self-reflexive poetry, self-reflexivity being a hallmark of the Petrarchan style. indeed, Colonna is recognized as an exemplar of the Petrarchan poet whose poetry and autobiography are presented as parallels. similar parallels are present in the work of her male contemporaries, but are considered more contrived or artificial.36 an autobiographical reading of Petrarch’s lyrics on laura dominated Petrarch’s reception in the sixteenth century, and doubtless further directed the public’s understanding of Colonna’s literary production as autobiographical.37 it is, after all, the sixteenth-century reception of Colonna that is our focus. the themes of Colonna’s literary production were drawn from her life. it was her position as a daughter born to a military leader that determined her upbringing and future. to consolidate Colonna family support of imperial and aragonese interests in naples, King Ferdinand of naples arranged a marriage between the Colonna, one of the strongest and most ancient families in rome, and the d’avalos, a renowned family of spanish origin. in 1495 the young vittoria Colonna (she was no more than six) was betrothed to the six-year-old Ferrante Francesco d’avalos, the future Marchese del vasto. the two grew up together at the court of Ferrante’s aunt, Costanza d’avalos, the duchess of Francavilla, on the island of ischia off

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the coast of naples, a court known for its cultivation of literature and the arts.38 Colonna imbibed this cultural atmosphere, while Ferrante was destined for a military career, and from 1511 he served under Colonna’s father, Fabrizio, for the holy roman empire.39 the capture and imprisonment of Colonna’s husband, father, and her husband’s cousin and heir, alfonso d’avalos, after the Battle of ravenna in 1512 resulted in the first known literary work by Colonna, the Epistola a Ferrante Francesco d’Avalos suo consorte nella rota di Ravenna of 1512, a work dedicated to her husband.40 Colonna presents herself as a Petrarchan poet in this work, which begins as a lament and develops into a dialogue between Colonna and her absent lover; this inaugurates the theme that will be reiterated in her poetry and prose for many years – the glorification of her husband. In the years immediately following her husband’s death in 1525 after the Battle of Pavia, Colonna wrote a body of work known today as her secular sonnets. here, Colonna presents herself as a lover separated from her beloved by death. this separation is the cause of her suffering, but through her suffering she claims she will ultimately be reunited with her beloved, a theme initially explored in the work of 1512. throughout her poetry, Colonna casts herself in the role of a suffering woman – wife, daughter, sister, and later disciple of Christ. thus her suffering is due to her separation from her beloved husband in the early work (the secular sonnets), and from Christ in her later poetry dating from the 1530s and 1540s (the spiritual sonnets). in one poem from her spiritual sonnets, Colonna writes about the focus of her earlier concerns – her “chaste love” for her husband and her own desire for fame – and how these experiences have been transformed by the love of Christ, from this point on the center of her life. although my chaste love for a long time held my soul desirous of fame, living like a serpent in my breast, now, weeping, my soul languishes, turned toward the lord from whom comes its cure. May those holy nails henceforth be my quills, may the precious blood be my undiluted ink, the sacred, bloodless body be my writing paper, so that i may inscribe, within, what he suffered. it is useless to invoke Parnassus or delos here, for i aspire to other water, to other mountains tend, where human foot does not climb by itself. the sun who illuminates the elements and the sky, i pray that, when he reveals his clear fountain, he offers me drink equal to my great thirst.41

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the year 1525 marked a dramatic shift in Colonna’s life, one that Colonna mined for her poetry. at the age of 35 she became a widow, and a widow she remained until her death 22 years later. From around 1526 until around 1534 Colonna spent most of her time in naples or ischia. letters indicate she was an active member of the neapolitan court, and was one of several women connected to the court who were known for their views on Catholic reform and involvement in charitable institutions. these included isabella Breseña, roberta Carafa, Clarissa ursina, dorotea Gonzaga, Costanza d’avalos Piccolomini, Maria d’aragona, and Giovanna d’aragona.42 Colonna’s focus on matters of Catholic reform was in part a way of positioning herself within her family and strengthening the Colonna in rome. although her desire to take the veil was refused by Clement vii de’ Medici, Colonna resided in convents in rome, viterbo, and orvieto from 1534 until her death in 1547.43 In her final years she devoted her life almost entirely to religion, and she was actively engaged in the development of the Capuchin order from around 1535.44 While Colonna’s Epistola of 1512 was not published until 1536, her early verse, in which she presents herself as a poet and wife of an illustrious military leader, was known within the humanist courts of ischia, naples, and rome in manuscript form.45 indeed, Colonna’s reputation as a poet and literary patron were well established by 1519 when the poet Girolamo Britonio (before 1491 to c. 1549) praised her style and claimed her poetry had come “from Parnassus.”46 around the same time, the poet Pietro Gravina (c. 1453–1528) referred to Colonna’s court at ischia as a new Parnassus.47 and the image of Colonna consorting with the poets and muses on Parnassus was one she, herself, created through her use of apollonian imagery in her early secular sonnets treating amorous themes. Moreover, from at least the early 1520s, Colonna began a correspondence with many of the writers, humanists, and theologians with whom she later became so closely associated, including Paolo Giovio, Pietro Bembo, Jacopo sadoleto, Gian Matteo Giberti, and Baldassare Castiglione.48 in a letter of 20 september 1524 to Castiglione regarding the manuscript of his Il Cortigiano, which he had lent to Colonna, she offers her criticism of his style of writing and demonstrates her intimate knowledge of court life, the subject of Castigilone’s work.49 Giorgio vasari, a courtier himself, doubtless knew her reputation and recognized that Colonna had established herself as a highly visible exemplar of female-gendered genius. a series of six portrait medals of Colonna illuminates the writer’s persona within the humanist and reform environments of sixteenth-century rome, and offers an additional avenue by which vasari came to understand a woman’s genius as one grounded in autobiography.50 although there are questions regarding attribution and dating of Colonna’s medals, the portrait-medal imagery is here identified as a manifestation of Colonna’s carefully controlled public persona through a close study of her biography, interests in the visual arts,

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6.2 italian, Medal of Vittoria Colonna, sixteenth century, samuel h. Kress Collection, national Gallery of art, Washington dC and poetry. the portrait medals suggest Colonna’s interest in self-representation; they certainly defined Colonna’s visual appearance for her sixteenth-century audience. What is important here, and what was important for vasari, is that there were recognizable parallels between Colonna’s biography and poetry, and that these were echoed in her portrait images; these parallels suggest a controlled fashioning of Colonna’s image to her public, and a foundation upon which vasari could structure the life of a woman artist. like vasari’s Lives of the Artists, the portrait medals draw from established literary and visual idioms but reflect Colonna’s attempt to create a visual autobiography. The medals reflect two distinct periods in Colonna’s life. The first period covers the years from around 1510 until 1525, the years of Colonna’s marriage; the second begins after the death of her husband in 1525 and ends with her

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own death in 1547. in what is perhaps the earliest of the medals, Colonna and her husband are depicted on the obverse and reverse. Colonna is draped in a classicizing dress; Ferrante appears as a warrior. a second medal carries a similar profile of Colonna paired with classicizing elements doubtless referring to her husband’s military exploits – a laurel wreath surrounding a trophy, a crowned female figure, and a winged Victory holding a shield and cross. This medal is a visual analogue to Colonna’s poetry, that is, a celebration of her husband’s heroism – it is through Colonna, whose face we see, that his fame will be assured. as ariosto wrote of Colonna in Orlando Furioso, “she gives her spouse not burial but life.”51 A third medal carries an almost identical profile; the verso is blank (Fig. 6.2). These early medals represent the first stage of Colonna’s public self and an iconography that symbolizes her as she was known to her contemporaries through her poetry prior to her husband’s death, that is, as a poet and wife of a military leader. the unknown artist of the medals seems to have turned to the most famous painting of poets of the early sixteenth century for the portrait image of Colonna, raphael’s Parnassus (1509–11), specifically the figure of Sappho immediately to the left of the window opening in the stanza della segnatura (Fig. 6.3). the poet Sappho is the only female figure on Parnassus crowned with laurel; to secure her identity, however, raphael has painted her holding a scroll in her left hand on which is inscribed her name, the only poet with such a name card, as though it had been difficult, even for Raphael, to visualize a female poet, and for his audience to recognize one. Both Sappho and Colonna are shown in profile with bodies turned toward the viewer, and both are depicted wearing a topknot of hair. sappho’s laurel crown appears behind this topknot; Colonna wears either a laurel wreath or a braid behind her topknot. this reference to raphael’s sappho on Colonna’s medals would have been an accepted strategy in courtly circles and an appropriate acknowledgment of Colonna’s stature within the literary worlds of rome and naples under the papacy of leo X de’ Medici. these early medals of Colonna firmly place her within the context of humanists’ desire to see the arts cultivated under leo X.52 there are at least three medals that refer to the years after her husband’s death, each depicting Colonna as a widow. in one, Colonna wears a simple dress and veil; the reverse depicts the star-crossed lovers, Pyramus and thisbe, whose union was possible only through the death of both, an allusion to Colonna’s longed-for reunion with her husband. a similarly clothed Colonna appears on the second medal; the verso shows a column – symbol of the Colonna family – superimposed over a tree with the latin inscription, “a soul similar to this one” (Fig. 6.4). a third shows an older Colonna; on the verso and surrounded by a laurel wreath is a phoenix rising from flames toward the sun. This group of medals marks a second stage in the creation of Colonna’s public self. upon her husband’s death, Colonna’s iconography shifted from apollonian poet to pious

6.3

raphael, Parnassus (detail), 1511, fresco, stanza della segnatura, vatican Palace, vatican state

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6.4 italian, Medal of Vittoria Colonna with Column and Tree, sixteenth century, Kunsthistorisches Museum, vienna widow, mirroring the direction of her poetry. the medal depicting Pyramus and thisbe echoes the desire Colonna expressed in her poetry for her own death and her longing to be reunited with Ferrante. her relationship to her natal family is highlighted in the medal depicting the emblematic column – Colonna’s refusal to remarry is recalled here as a blend of devoted widow and faithful daughter. the third of these later medals refers to her salvation through the image of the phoenix, a metaphor for Colonna’s transcendence of the mortal world of suffering. the iconographic parallels between Colonna’s portrait imagery, her life, and her poetry suggest that the portraits could be considered as much a product of her thought as was her poetry. Whether the medals were produced with Colonna’s direct or indirect involvement, they mark a first for a woman poet in the early modern period. underscored by her own literary self-fashioning, these portrait images cemented a public persona of vittoria Colonna that vasari would find a compelling model for his treatment of women artists. vasari’s Properzia de’ rossi, based as she is on Colonna’s presentation of herself as a creative woman producing art from her own experience, continued to influence perceptions of the sculptor. A seventeenth-century medal of Properzia shows her in profile as a young woman, veiled as if a nun or widow (Fig. 6.5), a portrait similar to Colonna’s widow-medals and one that could very well have been inspired by vasari’s account of this woman’s life, as well as by the woodcut portrait of Properzia included in his Lives of the Artists.53 Both the woodcut and portrait medal of Properzia echo vasari’s account of the sculptor as an exemplary woman of his day.

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When vasari came to consider women artists, he relied on the model offered him by Colonna’s self-constructed life as it was expressed in her poetry and depicted in her portrait images. that Properzia’s work is treated by vasari as autobiography is based, in part, on the parallels between Colonna’s autobiography and poetry, for these made visible to vasari how a “life” of a woman artist might be inserted into his history of art. While Colonna was one of several contemporary women who “won the highest fame … in the study of letters,” there could be no better model than vittoria Colonna – no one more virtuous, no one more talented, and no one more familiar to vasari’s public – for writing the “life” of a creative woman.54 vasari’s reference to Colonna in his “life of Properzia de’ rossi” is important for a number of reasons. of course, Colonna was praised for her virtue, beauty, chastity, modesty, and grace – all qualities Vasari identified in notable women artists of his day. More importantly, Colonna was a renowned writer who celebrated her husband, a famed military leader, in her verse – in this, Colonna was a model for vasari of a writer whose subject became immortal through the author’s words, what vasari aimed to accomplish for artists. Moreover, Colonna was much praised by her contemporaries in a manner that must have made vasari envious. Colonna was described by one contemporary, Benedetto lampridio, a humanist at the court of leo X, as a goddess, a companion to the Graces, and as the tenth Muse.55 such an elevation of a contemporary writer would not go unnoticed by vasari. For vasari, the tenth muse was the muse of artistic autobiography.

6.5 italian, Medal of Properzia de’ Rossi, seventeenth century, British Museum, london

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Notes 1

2

3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

11

12 13

14 15

Giorgio vasari, Le opere di Giorgio Vasari, con nuove annotazioni e commenti di Gaetano Milanesi (9 vols, Florence, 1998) (hereafter vasari-Milanesi), vol. 1, 91; Giorgio vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nella redazioni del 1550 e 1568, rosana Bettarini and Paola Barocchi, eds (9 vols, Florence, 1966–87) (hereafter vasari-Barocchi), vol. 1, 9; Giorgio vasari, Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Gaston C. de vere, trans. david ekserdjian (new york, 1996), vol. 1, 13. see especially the work of Patricia rubin, Giorgio Vasari: Art and History (new haven, 1995); and david Cast, The Delight of Art: Giorgio Vasari and the Traditions of Humanist Discourse (university Park Pa, 2009). Katherine Mciver, “vasari’s Women,” in Reading Vasari, anne Barriault, andrew ladis, norman e. land, and Jeryldene M. Wood, eds. (athens Ga, 2005), 179–188. rubin, Giorgio Vasari, 165–166, 192. Pamela J. Benson, “transformations of the ‘Buona Gualdrada’ legend from Boccaccio to vasari: a study in the Politics of Florentine narrative,” in Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society, letizia Panizza, ed. (oxford, 2000), 403– 404. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 74; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 400; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 75; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 401; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 75; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 401; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 78; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 403–404; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 858. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 75; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 401; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857; Mark Gregory d’apuzzo, “Properzia de’ rossi,” in Italian Women Artists from Renaissance to Baroque, exh. cat. (Milan and Washington dC, 2007), 92–95. Frederika h. Jacobs, “the Construction of a life: Madonna Properzia de’ rossi ‘schultrice’ Bolognese,” Word & Image, 9 (1993): 129–130; and her Defining the Renaissance Virtuosa: Women Artists and the Language of Art History and Criticism (Cambridge, 1997), 68. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 77; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 403; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 858. Candace adelson, “the decoration of the Palazzo vecchio in tapestry: the ‘Joseph’ Cycle and other Precedents for vasari’s decorative Campaigns,” in Giorgio Vasari: Tra decorazione ambientale e storiografia artistica, Gian Carlo Garfagnini, ed. (Florence 1985), 145–177. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 77; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 402–403; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 858. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 75; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 401; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857.

Vittoria Colonna in Vasari’s “Life of Properzia de’ Rossi” 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

32 33

34 35 36 37

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Jacobs, “the Construction of a life,” 124–125. rubin, Giorgio Vasari, 10–11, 89, 124. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 78; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 403; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 858. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 78; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 403; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 858. Jacobs, Defining the Renaissance Virtuosa, 82; d’apuzzo, “Properzia de’ rossi,” 91. “SI QUANTUM NATURAE ARTIQUE PROPERTIA TANTUM / FORTUNAE DEBEAT MUNERIBUSQUE VIRUM, / QUAE NUNc MERSA IAcET TENEBRIS INGLORIA LAUDE / AEQUASSET cELEBRES MARMORIS ARTIFIcES, / ATTAMEN INGENIO VIVIDO QUOD POSSET ET ARTE / FOEMINEA OSTENDUNT MARMORA ScULPTA MANU.” vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 78, n. 3; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 404. For translation see Julia K. dabbs, Life Stories of Women Artists, 1550–1800, An Anthology (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2009), 58. dabbs, Life Stories of Women Artists, 58. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 73; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 403; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 856. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 74; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 400; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 7, 682; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 6, 389–390; vasari, Lives, vol. 2, 1042–1044. Karl Frey, Der literarische Nachlass Giorgio Vasaris (Munich, 1923), vol. 1, no. lxxxvii, 175; rubin, Giorgio Vasari, 107; t.C. Price Zimmerman, Paolo Giovio: The Historian and the Crisis of Sixteenth-Century Italy (Princeton, 1995), 214. linda s. Klinger, “the Portrait Collection of Paolo Giovio” (2 vols, dissertation, Princeton university, 1991), vol. 1, 70–71. Klinger, the Portrait Collection,” vol. 2, 57. Carlo vecce, “vittoria Colonna und Paolo Giovio,” in Vittoria Colonna: Dichterin und Muse Michelangelos, sylvia Ferino-Pagden, ed. (vienna, 1997), 172–176. Zimmerman, Paolo Giovio, 87. Zimmerman, Paolo Giovio, 86–105; vittoria Colonna, Carteggio raccolto e pubblicato da Ermanno Ferrero e Giuseppe Müller. Seconda edizione con supplemento raccolto ed annotato da Domenico Tordi (turin, 1892), no. XXXvi, p. 55; no. Xlviii, p. 74. abigail Brundin, Vittoria Colonna and the Spiritual Poetics of the Italian Reformation (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2008), 26, 104. virginia Cox, “Women Writers and the Canon in sixteenth-Century italy: the Case of vittoria Colonna,” in Strong Voices, Weak History: Early Women Writers and Canons in England, France, and Italy, Pamela Joseph Benson and victoria Kirkham, eds (ann arbor, 2005), 14–31. Pietro Bembo, Delle Rime di M. Pietro Bembo, Seconda Impressione (venice, 1535); see also Brundin, Vittoria Colonna, 27. Brundin, Vittoria Colonna, 30–31. Brundin, Vittoria Colonna, 15–17. Brundin, Vittoria Colonna, 15–16.

136 38 39

40 41

42

43

44 45

46 47 48 49 50

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy diana robin, Publishing Women: Salons, the Presses, and the Counter-Reformation in Sixteenth-Century Italy (Chicago, 2007), 1–40. For a biography of Colonna, see Maude Jerrold, Vittoria Colonna, Her Friends and Her Times (new york, 1906); see also Marjorie och, “vittoria Colonna: art Patronage and religious reform in sixteenth-Century rome” (Phd dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, 1993), 8–20. vittoria Colonna, Rime, ed. Alan Bullock (Rome, 1982), 53–56; first published in Fabricio luna’s Vocabulario di cinque mila vocabuli toschi (naples, 1536). translation by Joseph Gibaldi, “Child, Woman, and Poet: vittoria Colonna,” in Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation, Katharina M. Wilson, ed. (athens Ga and london, 1987), 39. “Poi che ‘l mio casto amor gran tempo tenne / l’alma di fama accesa, ed ella un angue / in sen nudrio, per cui dolente or langue / volta al signor, onde il rimedio venne, / i santi chiodi omai sieno mie penne, / e puro inchiostro il prezioso sangue, / vergata carta il sacro corpo exangue, / si ch’io scriva per me quell ch’ei sostenne. / Chiamar qui non convien Parnaso o delo, / ch’ad altra acqua a’aspira, ad altro monte / si poggia, u’ piede uman per sé non sale; / quel sol ch’alluma gli elementi e ‘l Cielo / prego, ch’aprendo il suo lucido fonte / mi porga umor a la gran sete equale.” Colonna, Rime, 85, s1. For the Catholic reform interests of the neapolitan courts, see Pierre imbart de la tour, L’évangelisme (1521–1538) (Paris, 1914); edmondo Cione, Juan de Valdés: La sua vita e il suo pensiero religioso (Bari, 1938); and suzanne thérault, Un cénacle humaniste de la Renaissance autour Vittoria Colonna, châtelaine d’Ischia (Florence, 1968). For the Pope’s letter to the abbess of san silvestro in rome, see alfred reumont, Vittoria Colonna, fede, vita e poesia nel secolo XVI, Giuseppe Müller and ermanno Ferrero, eds (turin, 1892); and och, “vittoria Colonna,” 17. och, “vittoria Colonna,” 110–146. Pierluigi leone de Castris, “Kultur und Mäzenatentum am hof der d’avalos in ischia,” in Vittoria Colonna: Dichterin und Muse Michelangelos, exh. cat., sylvia Ferino-Pagden, ed. (vienna, 1997), 66–107; see also Brundin, Vittoria Colonna, 21. Girolamo Britonio di sicignano, Opera Volgare, intitolata Gelosia del Sole (naples, 1519). Gravina wrote this in a sonnet at the invitation of Britonio for Britonio’s publication, Opera (venice, 1531); see also och, “vittoria Colonna,” 34. Colonna, Carteggio. Colonna, Carteggio, Xviii, 23–26. Marjorie och, “Portrait Medals of vittoria Colonna: representing the learned Woman,” in Women as Sites of Culture: Women’s Roles in Cultural Formation from the Renaissance to the 20th Century, susan shifrin, ed. (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2002), 153–166; and och, “vittoria Colonna,” 27–55. see also sylvia FerinoPagden, “vittoria Colonna im Portrait,” in Vittoria Colonna: Dichterin und Muse Michelangelos, exh. cat., sylvia Ferino-Pagden, ed. (vienna, 1997), 108–47. see Allyson Burgess Williams, “Rewriting Lucrezia Borgia: Propriety, Magnificence, and Piety in Portraits of a renaissance duchess,” in this volume, for lucrezia’s medals.

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52 53

54 55

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ludovico ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Marcello turchi, ed. (Milan, 2002), XXXvii; and laura anna stortoni, ed., Women Poets of the Italian Renaissance. Courtly Ladies and Courtesans, laura anna stortoni and Mary Prentice lillie, trans. (new york, 1997), 50. ingrid d. rowland, The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in Sixteenth-Century Rome (Cambridge, 1998). the reverse shows a wreath with the inscription “OBIIT / MDXXXIII / V T.” George F. hill, Portrait Medals of Italian Artists of the Renaissance (london, 1912), x. on portraits of artists in the Lives, see t.s.r. Boase, Giorgio Vasari, the Man and the Book (Princeton, 1979), 68. vasari-Milanesi, Le opere, vol. 5, 74; vasari-Barocchi, Le vite, vol. 4, 400; vasari, Lives, vol. 1, 857. Benedetto lampridio, Carmina Illustrium Poetarum Italorum, J.M. toscanus, ed. (Paris, 1576). see stella revard, “lampridio and the Poetic sodalities in rome in the 1510s and 1520s,” Acta Conventus Neo-Latin Bariensis: Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies (tempe aZ, 1998), 499–507.

Part iii spatial visibility reconstructed

Chapter 7

revisiting the renaissance household, in theory and in Practice: locating Wealthy Women in sixteenth-Century verona alison a. smith

this chapter will revisit some of the issues facing historians wishing to locate actual women in the physical spaces and property systems of renaissance Italy, the physical as well as the fiscal presence of women in elite households. recent scholarship on the material culture of palaces has vastly enriched the historiography of domestic life in renaissance italy, deepening and complicating our understanding of what renaissance palaces looked like and how the objects in them were used. these studies have focused our attention on the practical concerns of household management that faced renaissance men and women, and have begun to assess more critically the ideal models for household management and organization articulated in contemporary treatises.1 in this ideal model, a noble family’s identity and honor were expressed and upheld by the twin pillars of the family palace and the chastity of the women who lived there. Writers on architectural design as well as family management recommended that the patrilineal identity of the palace be reinforced by consigning women to domestic spaces that were gendered female and protected from the ever-present risk of violation by elements from the non-domestic world of the street, invariably gendered male. in recent important studies of venetian and Florentine family palaces, however, Patricia Fortini Brown and Jacqueline Musacchio both argue that these domestic spaces were designed to be highly flexible and suggest that the gendered ideals regarding the organization of domestic space recommended by contemporaries may have been implemented only rarely.2 By casting a critical eye on the material evidence of elite domestic life, Fortini Brown, Musacchio and others have also contributed to launching scholarly discussions about how spaces dedicated to domestic sociability and entertainment in these palaces were actually used by men and women. investigating issues of gendered space and domestic sociability in renaissance palaces focuses our attention on the elite women at their center.

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this discussion, based on a re-examination of the richly detailed census data from the provincial city of verona, will focus on the organization of renaissance elite households, the use of domestic space, and the lived experience of the wealthy women they sheltered. the local nobility in verona had not lived in a city dominated by a princely court since 1404, when, after nearly two centuries as the capital of an independent state controlled by the della scala family, verona surrendered to venice and became the largest and wealthiest city on the venetian mainland state, the terra ferma. the local elite remained highly porous throughout the fifteenth century, consisting of some families who had been elevated to noble status during the fourteenth century under the della scala lords, and newer families who made fortunes in textile manufacture and long-distance trade. The fifteenth century in Verona was also characterized by extraordinary economic and demographic growth. the population more than doubled, and this growth was sustained by a remarkably prosperous manufacturing sector. Partly as a result of this urban expansion, the lives of many elite women were conditioned by a high degree of residential mobility. the history of the city in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is also characterized by a remarkably strong building sector, caused in part by venice’s intensive efforts to fortify and maintain the walls, but primarily by the gentrification of the old Roman center of the city. ambitious, upwardly mobile families built and rebuilt imposing palaces hoping to establish a strong and long-lasting branch that would enjoy stability and patrilineal continuity. in their focus on building and decorating family palaces, the veronese elite conformed to the pattern followed by renaissance urban elites throughout italy, fully subscribing to the general consensus among italian elites during the sixteenth century that promoted genteel living and the vita civile. Membership in the increasingly self-defined Veronese nobility was determined by a family’s eligibility to serve in the City Council, and although some new families were admitted to its ranks and others left the city, the local nobility became increasingly hierarchical and fixed. In the early sixteenth century, after the war of the league of Cambrai, and changes in venetian policy toward its terra ferma, the political autonomy of verona’s elite diminished, and the economy lost some of its momentum. venice did not permit local elites on the terra ferma to participate in the political life of the capital, but nobles who longed for life outside verona’s walls could join the service of foreign princes. the strong imperial orientation of the veronese elite in the renaissance recalled their traditional allegiance to the holy roman emperor that had developed during the della scala period. verona’s elite did not readily yield to the authority of their venetian overlords, however, and there are clear indications that the city’s ruling families carefully cultivated an independent civic identity throughout this period. Many of the families also maintained close economic and family ties to the court at Mantua and to elite families in neighboring vicenza and Brescia. thus verona’s elite self-consciously negotiated a local aristocratic identity, based on the intersection of theory (as

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revealed in contemporary treatises), and the emulation of venetian and local courtly models. although the law courts, municipal buildings and palaces of the venetian governors at the center of the city were the focus of public and political life, and were gendered male, informal political and social relationships were not organized or controlled by courtly protocol. in the absence of a court, family palaces became even more important sites for elite political and social life. it is possible that the particular political organization of the local elite promoted the use of private palaces for more explicitly political activities than in other cities, but these activities would have been in addition to the range of other more sociable uses for their homes developed by all italian elites in this period.3 investigating the informal political uses of noble palaces in verona is complicated by the fact that there appear to have been two different models of household organization available to the families in the city. at any given time, 10 to 15 noble families lived in highly complex households employing as many as 30 or 40 servants whereas most other noble families lived in simpler, smaller households supported by staffs of about 8 to 12 servants. This significant stratification in the size of noble households may be related to the fact that the City Council was dominated by two large factions during the sixteenth century. this was continually reported by contemporary observers and has been confirmed by recent studies of the political structure of the nobility.4 the factions were led by the Bevilacqua and nogarola families, and the central branches of both of these families lived in two of the largest, most elaborate households in the city.5 howard Burns has suggested that the Bevilacqua family’s decision to hire Michele sanmicheli to design such an expensive, imposing palace for them near the ceremonial entrance to the city may well have been motivated by a political strategy designed to enhance their visibility.6 in recreating sanmicheli’s patronage network in his native city of verona, Burns has established that all the families he worked for were affiliated with the Bevilacqua faction. Burns further asserts that these architecturally imposing and expensive palaces were explicitly used to support and strengthen the faction.7 although there is little direct evidence for formal political meetings in these or any of the palaces in verona, over the course of the sixteenth century their size and internal organization did meet the changing expectations of the vita civile.8 some of these changes included an increasing need to support elaborate dining rituals, and to support the decoration and organization of spaces within the palace for a more complex range of social activities with more guests. in the absence of a court, private palaces in verona, both large and small, almost certainly became more important centers not only for the domestic performance of sociability but also for other kinds of political association that were theoretically gendered male. as Marta ajmar-Wollheim has pointed out, sociability “resists the categories of ‘public’ and ‘private,’ for its very function is to integrate the two.”9

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the vast prescriptive literature on household management published in the sixteenth century was largely addressed to the husbands and fathers who were charged with the responsibility of teaching their wives and daughters to be virtuous, thereby ensuring that the honor of the family would not be compromised.10 According to these treatises, chaste, elite women were confined to the domestic spaces of their households and entered the non-domestic space outside of the private palace only at great risk to their and their family’s honor. Within this system of spatial division, however, treatise writers entrusted the wives and widows of the “paterfamilias” with the management of households that were often large, complex stages for the display of material culture and the articulation of status. this set up a fundamental paradox – silencing and restraining women while at the same time charging them with management responsibilities of central importance to the survival of the family – that pitted male fantasies about women, family honor, and noble status against the practical demands and opportunities offered to women in charge of running a household. studying the families and domestic personnel who actually lived in these aristocratic establishments leads to a range of questions about how the spaces may have been used by the men and women who lived in them. Patriarchal structures and ideas hide women from the eyes of historians perhaps more than they ever succeeded in hiding them from the eyes of contemporaries. in recent studies of gender and urban space in venice and rome, historians have begun to question and to complicate our binary understanding of the distinction between public and private as presented in contemporary domestic treatises.11 in her useful exploration of the politics of space in early modern rome, laurie Nussdorfer points out that both men and women were involved in conflicts that spilled out from the domestic spaces of the home and onto the street, creating a contested terrain at doorways and windows.12 even at the highest level of wealth and nobility in rome, where palaces were powerful institutional statements imposed on the cityscape, there was an interpenetration of public and private space. elizabeth Cohen has developed these ideas further to suggest that we entertain a third category between explicitly male, governmental, public space and private, domestic space. this third, or intermediary, spatial category embraces “many individual affiliations and transactions – commercial, social, recreational, religious, cultural – involving both men and women outside as well as inside their homes.”13 Wishing to challenge the “persistent, if not universal, scholarly presumption that in early modern italian cities the husbanding of honor routinely banished women from public spaces,” Cohen recommends that we imagine a much greater variety of ways in which women from all levels of society might have interacted with the world beyond the walls of their homes.14 renaissance verona is a particularly fruitful place to examine this intersection of public and private spheres, and to suggest ways in which elite women were able to negotiate influential roles for themselves and claim a greater public

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presence. verona’s census documents themselves represent the interpenetration of public authority and private space in that they were created by government officials required to map the internal organization of each household in some detail by visiting the neighborhood and extracting information – their name, age, and relationship to each other – about everyone who lived in each household. Verona’s census and fiscal records have been studied extensively by demographic and economic historians because they offer a detailed, relatively complete, picture of the city’s population ranging from the poorest unskilled laborer to the wealthiest noblewoman.15 the estimo, or tax survey, was redone about every ten years during the sixteenth century. it was based, in part, on surveys of households, organized by contrada or neighborhood, and administered by local notaries. the volumes of tax assessments of household heads are complete, and most of the accompanying household surveys, or anagrafi, survive as well. some of these anagrafi are more detailed than others, but most of them list the names, ages, and relationships of the family members and domestic servants living in each fiscally independent household. The picture of the aristocratic home in verona’s census documents puts women – especially wives and widows – at the center of our attention, rather than at the margins. Marzio Barbagli’s comparative statistical study of this demographic data confirms that Verona’s wealthiest noble families were more likely to live in vertically or horizontally extended groups than equivalent families in siena or Parma.16 Barbagli provided a useful chart of the aggregate data for verona from the 1545 estimo correlating the number of domestic servants with the level of taxable wealth.17 this chart reveals that there were 13 households in 1545 with 21 or more servants. Barbagli’s statistical approach, however, counting the number of households above a certain level of wealth and calculating the average number of servants at each level, obscures the significant bimodal stratification in the size and complexity of households in Verona. My closer examination of the configuration of wealthy households in the anagrafi, based on my survey of all the wealthier households in all the surviving anagrafi for the years 1545, 1583, and 1603 reveals that essentially two models or types of aristocratic households coexisted in the city. By far the most prevalent model consisted of a family unit (parents and children) with perhaps an elderly relative and unmarried sibling, supported by a household staff of 10 to 15 servants. the other model, which was far less common, consisted of an extended family (usually more than one married sibling living with older parents) and supported by elaborate household staffs of at least 20 or more. never more than 8 to 10 in a given survey year, these exceptional households included a range of close relatives (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins) who had decided to continue to live together in an ancestral palace rather than to split up and move away from their family to establish a new household. Presumably, one of the most important reasons for choosing to live in these very large households is that

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the complex domestic staff supported the family’s increasingly more elaborate ceremonial needs and expectations. More importantly, however, and in contrast to these sprawling households, most of the noble families in verona – that is, those whose adult men were eligible for election to the City Council – lived in significantly smaller and simpler establishments. these smaller homes had domestic staffs of about eight to twelve servants, and many noble families managed to get by with as few as five or six. Barbagli suggests that this stratification in household size and complexity developed solely as a function of wealth, but in fact some of the wealthiest families and some of the most prominent men in the city lived in simpler, smaller households.18 Why did many politically and socially prominent families choose not to emulate their neighbors with extremely large and elaborate households? And why did a small minority of families at the apex of veronese society go to such great lengths to maintain such exceptionally large and complex households? Certainly in Verona, as elsewhere in northern Italian cities, a great majority of noble families could afford some of the personnel required to maintain the lifestyle and sociability of the vita civile but did not live in a particularly grand establishment.19 it is not clear why this bimodal distribution of household size appears to have been so pronounced in verona, and certainly the size of one’s household staff was not the only indicator of status within the hierarchy of verona’s political and social elite. indeed, access to elite social, cultural and political circles was only available to those who had learned the arts of conversation and hence internalized the behavior expected of men and women who claimed noble status.20 in order to consider this domestic performance of sociability, we will begin by visiting some of the largest households at the top of the social pyramid, looking at some examples of widows and considering how they negotiated the sudden disruption to the household that they had set up when they married their husband. in 1541, the widow of Count alberto serego was living in the contrada of s. andrea with her seven children, aged 15 and younger, and 18 servants.21 as the head of this large and imposing household, Camilla was responsible for raising her daughters and sons and training them in the arts of the vita civile so that they could maintain the position they were born into at the apex of the veronese society. she accomplished this task after she was widowed in her mid-thirties by taking on the management of her dead husband’s household and hiring even more servants over the next decade to create an extremely elaborate establishment, one of the largest in the city at the time. By 1553, there were 52 people living in the serego palace, a household created and presided over by the widow Camilla. the anagrafe list that follows indicates that there were some servants who worked directly for Camilla’s sons and others who served the establishment as a whole. this list is remarkable not only for the sheer number of servants but also for the diversity of terminology used to describe them. the fact

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that several servants were assigned specific roles suggests that they supported an elaborate system of social relationships designed to support extravagant entertaining. the terms used to describe some of the servants, particularly the credenzerius (in charge of orchestrating many of the elements of an elaborate meal), the resident musician, the gardener and the cavalarius, or horseman, are very rare in other lists of domestic servants in the veronese anagrafi and only found in the largest households. the use of such terms suggests that these households were aspiring to the elaborate, hierarchical structures described for more princely households in manuals of the time.22 Co. Camilla, widow of alberto serego 6 children (4 sons, 2 daughters), all under the age of 27 wife and two children of the oldest son 1 factor generalis 1 subfactor 1 musician (leo musicus da Monteforte) 1 major domo (minister domus), his wife and 3 children 2 or 3 servants for each of the 4 sons 1 credenzerius 2 coachmen (1 caraterius, 1 cochierius) 1 boy (ragazius) 1 cook 1 stable master and 2 stable boys 1 gardener, his wife and child 1 horseman (cavalarius) and his assistant 7 maids 1 laundress 2 cooks 1 wetnurse

The fact that Camilla decided to devote a significant portion of her family’s resources to hiring highly skilled personnel and managing such an elaborate establishment indicates that she used her husband’s family palace as a place to stage the launching of her children’s careers. Both her sons and daughters would have to learn how to socialize with their peers, so that they could find a suitable marriage partner and make their way in a world that increasingly took them beyond verona’s walls. she must have played a highly visible and powerful role in the social lives of her growing children as they learned strategies for success in the world of the veronese elite.23 although most of the largest households in verona name a middle-aged or older man at the beginning of the list as the head of the family, the Canossa household in the neighborhood of s. Martino acquaro offers another example in which – for two generations in a row – widows stepped in to run one of the most imposing aristocratic establishments in the city as they raised their children. in 1545, the

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widow isabella Canossa, aged 35, lived in the house with her elderly mother and six young children. they had 20 servants, including a tutor, a coachman, a gardener, and a wetnurse.24 twelve years later isabella was still at the head of the household, living with her 90-year-old mother, her five sons aged 16 to 23, and about 30 servants.25 the list included a credenziero, two butlers (stafferi), a cook, and at least five people running what must have been a large stable with a mule, horses and a coach.26 no anagrafi survive for this neighborhood until almost fifty years later, when we find the same Canossa palace inhabited by Creusa, the middleaged widow of Gerolamo Canossa, five of her unmarried young adult children, her recently widowed daughter-in-law, and two young grandchildren. the domestic staff of 27, including a clerical tutor, a cook, a cellarer, and a coachman, reflects the same pattern of near-princely complexity.27 these wealthy women with young children who were widowed unexpectedly appear in these fiscal documents at the center of an imposing and complex social and economic operation with links to the neighborhood, the city, the capital and beyond. the sixteenth-century notaries in charge of collecting the information included in the anagrafi that list the domestic personnel of these large establishments used far more generic terms to identify the servants in smaller aristocratic households. Given the smaller number of servants, their functions would have been less specialized. the typical household of a member of the veronese City Council, and hence someone who could legitimately claim noble status, usually included his wife, children and between 8 and 12 servants, divided somewhat evenly between male and female. one might conclude that the women living in these smaller palaces, or the widows who took charge of them after their husbands died, were less “visible” because their daily lives were less grand. But we can find several examples of these smaller households supporting significant cultural ambitions as well as remarkable political success of the male household head. For example, the careers of Michele verità and alessandro da lisca, two of the most distinguished and prominent politicians in verona in the 1580s, were supported by households with relatively small domestic staffs. When Michele verità was at the apex of his political career, he and his wife aurelia Pellegrini lived in the prestigious neighborhood of S. Fermo with their five young adult children, supported by five male servants and four maids in 1583.28 in the same year, in the neighborhood of s. vitale, alessandro da lisca was living with his wife, several unmarried children, a married son with three youngsters and only six servants.29 this was the period in which da lisca was also elected to the prestigious position of capo muda of the veronese City Council and deeply involved in the remodeling and redecoration of his family palace by Bernardino India and Paolo Farinati, two of the finest artists in verona.30 although the number of domestic servants he employed was unimpressive, he nonetheless recognized the strategic importance of a wife to his ambitions and married a succession of women from the top noble families of the city: leonora Miniscalchi, eleonora Giusti and Paola spolverini.31

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the wife of Camillo Cappella, another prominent and very wealthy member of verona’s intellectual elite, made her visibility explicit when she erected a portrait bust of herself in full middle age, overlooking the internal courtyard of their newly renovated palace in the neighborhood of s. Quirico. she included an inscription explaining that she, elena sansebastiani, had been in charge of overseeing the final stages of construction of the palace.32 Because her portrait bust looked down over the inner courtyard, visitors of all kinds would engage with her likeness and be reminded that she was in charge of the domestic spaces that they were about to enter. she chose to display herself as a middle-aged woman, perhaps because by the time that women reached that age they had achieved even greater, more explicit authority over their households, and thus her decision to do so would have been less contested. By including an inscription that claimed she supervised the final construction of the palace, she announced to all that her control and authority far exceeded mere household management. she did not display her likeness in a public place, overlooking the street, but she planned to be visible to all visitors to the family palace for generations to come.33 the lives of noblewomen in these smaller aristocratic households were shaped by the size and organization of their domestic staffs, the number and size of the rooms in their palaces, and the financial resources available to them for staging the various forms of sociability deemed necessary for achieving social, cultural and political success in the city. Managing these households required these elite wives and widows to engage directly with their neighbors and local suppliers. Perhaps even more importantly, these women lived at the physical center of the wide range of social relationships needed by their husbands, sons, and daughters to promote their own and their family’s interests. they could not have fulfilled these crucial roles behind the closed doors recommended by contemporary treatises, either literally or figuratively. This may have been especially true for women living in smaller establishments with fewer rooms and less specialization among the staff. Historians have mined the fiscal and demographic records in Verona to reconstruct individual family histories and most have focused their attention on families that built significant palaces that survive. As these detailed studies accumulate, a general consensus is emerging about the pattern of palace building and urban development in verona over the course of the sixteenth century.34 Just as in many other italian cities in this period, the building and remodeling of private homes resulted in the rebuilding of the old roman center of the city to conform to new ideals of civic decorum and aristocratic identity. the building boom responded to economic prosperity and created important stimuli of its own. Workers in the textile industries moved to more peripheral areas and were replaced by workers in the service sectors created by the increased demands of wealthy families.35 This gentrification of the city’s center was driven by the dynastic ambitions of the wealthiest noble families such as the Bevilacqua and sanmicheli’s other patrons

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who commanded the resources to build imposing monuments to themselves and their dynasties. What is less obvious, but may be even more important for the study of residential behavior in the long run, is the tendency among many branches of these and other wealthy families to move away from the palace and neighborhood of their birth in order to establish a new, independent branch in a different part of the city. Tracing this residential mobility, or “neolocalism,” through the fiscal records leads to the discovery of significant upward and downward economic mobility within the nobility as branches of the same family responded to the vagaries of economic and demographic fortune. at least until the middle of the sixteenth century, it appears that the practice of dividing the family estate and moving to a new neighborhood did not, in itself, weaken a family’s established position within the local nobility. the verità family provides a clear example of this residential mobility linked to the successful establishment of new branches in new palaces in new neighborhoods. they entered this expansive period with more branches and less overall wealth than the top families in the city, yet grew from four separate branches, or fiscally separate households, in 1409, to sixteen in 1502 and then contracted gradually to nine branches by 1635. this later contraction occurred as wealthier branches tried to protect their increasingly elaborate and expensive palaces by limiting marriages and consequent estate divisions.36 one of the most striking examples of residential mobility linked to prosperity and longevity is offered by the sons of Gerolamo verità, a famous and powerful man who lived with his family in their ancestral home on the border between the neighborhoods of Ferraboi and Falsorgo until his death in 1552. two of Gerolamo’s four sons married and had children, and the eldest, Michele, moved across town to the contrada of s. Fermo to establish a new household near several other of the wealthiest families in the city. he succeeded spectacularly well, yet only in the last decade of his life did the size and complexity of his palace grow to resemble those of other families at the apex of the social scale.37 What might have been the effect of this residential and social mobility on the organization of domestic space in noble establishments? The ownership of a large, aristocratic residence grew in importance through the sixteenth century. When men married and moved out of their father’s or brother’s house the social cost of abandoning the family residence as well as the economic cost of patrimonial division increasingly had to be taken into account. nonetheless, the evidence from verona also reveals that residential continuity remained elusive for many of its families and that very successful households could be established by young men who married, left their ancestral homes and set off on their own. this residential mobility of branches in general shows that there was considerable flexibility available to noble men and women as their households were transformed by births, deaths, marriages, good and bad economic fortune, and other family crises and opportunities. noble households were regularly being formed and reformed;

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husbands, wives, widows, and widowers lived through frequent changes in the configuration of the personnel in their homes. The aggregate impact of the mobility and flexibility that emerge from the anagrafi is very difficult to quantify or to capture in a narrative, but clearly many women could reasonably expect to live in more than one house over the course of their married lives. this demographic record has been read, however, using a patriarchal lens that favors the branches of a family that were particularly long-lived and stable. Families that stayed put, built a palace and preserved the family records that pertained to the transmission of property down the male line are the ones most likely to be studied by historians today. the longevity of a branch created the conditions that favored the survival of its family papers, but that does not necessarily mean that the branch was more socially or economically successful by sixteenth-century standards. this is particularly important when making assumptions about the patrilineal identity of households and palaces. We know, for example, that many wealthy noble families rented the homes that they lived in.38 others inherited and moved into palaces that originally belonged to the wife’s family.39 Even the decorative objects that filled these homes were subject to dispersal and resale, as anne Matchette has shown for Florence. she concludes that “furnishings themselves, like the rooms that contained them, might also be deconstructed and reconfigured, pointing to a contemporary awareness of material goods as ultimately changeable.” she has discovered “a culture that not only embraced selling off belongings, but one where continuous possession of them was not a given.”40 Even though the political life of Verona and the fiscal record of the city were organized around the principle of male dynastic succession, the anagrafi tell a somewhat different story about the women in charge of the households of the political class. demographic instability frequently put women in charge, and residential mobility led to flexible associations between palace and patriline. if noblewomen in verona could not hide from the census takers, could they be effectively sequestered in their homes? The logical link between these two ideas – social mobility and the visibility of women – is the system of the vita civile, an alternative theoretical model for gendered behavior in the household discussed at length in treatises toward the end of the sixteenth century that begrudgingly recognizes the greater visibility of aristocratic women. the foremost among these treatises was Stefano Guazzo’s extremely influential Civil Conversazione, published in Brescia and venice in 1574 and based on his own experience of sociability in Pavia, Brescia, and Casale Monferrato, other provincial towns and cities in northern italy, smaller but comparable to verona. Guazzo’s book is addressed to urban elites living on the fringes of courtly society. his gentleman is most comfortable conversing with his peers in the academies and private homes of the city rather than dissembling and flattering princes and other courtiers. Guazzo’s entire treatise is an exploration of the problems and opportunities

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presented by the considerable social mobility within elites that characterized the later renaissance in northern italy.41 such mobility created deep anxiety about pedigree and family honor, but at the same time it relocated the arena in which the mobility was expressed away from the City Council and into the private homes of noble families. Guazzo conforms to the general view that knowing how to govern a household was an important attribute of elite status, for the uomo civile, but he limits himself to instructions on how the man should converse with his wife, his children and his servants. he asserts that the art of conversation can be learned at home and should indeed be practised there, and that sociability starts in the domestic realm.42 He also gives various examples of women in conversation and reveals a flexible understanding of women’s participation in the vita civile, both inside and outside the home. Guazzo describes the constant visiting of elite women in Casale, and their eagerness to gossip with each other on the slightest pretext.43 his description supports elizabeth Cohen’s recommendation that we look for women in an intermediary space between the enclosed, domestic realm and the male world of public affairs. in his discussion of female education he recommends that fathers train their daughters for the specific future that awaits them and acknowledges that they are likely to need instruction in reading and writing, music, dancing, and other accomplishments of a courtly lady. Guazzo’s interlocutors betray a deep suspicion of women using these skills to transgress the boundaries of chaste behavior, but they also acknowledge that a girl must be brought up to behave fashionably, according to the customs of the city she lives in, if she does not want to appear awkward and incivile.44 the only general rule is to raise daughters so that they do not run too great a risk of compromising their chastity, the greatest virtue of all, and the more liberty they are given to enjoy the pleasures of “civil conversation,” the greater the risk to their own and their family’s honor. the place of the gentildonna in the civil conversation described by Guazzo and emulated by nobles throughout northern italian cities was deeply contested, but they certainly expected women to be present and to participate in the conversation. For example, in Book ii of the Civil Conversatione, Guazzo’s interlocutor (annibale) declares: “it is true that if you consider the form of parties, games and dinner parties, you would say that all of these gatherings would be cold and insipid without the participation of women.”45 in verona the status of “noble” – and all the expectations about manners, clothing, and education in the arts of conversation that were embedded in the term – extended far down the scale of opulence and grandeur associated with nobles in other renaissance cities. these “lesser” nobles were poorer, both in the value of their patrimony and in the size and grandeur of their household; yet their status as “nobles” gave them access to the City Council, and their education and social training gave them access to the system of sociability that organized aristocratic life. in a city like verona, where the nobility was not technically a closed group,

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a family’s upward or downward social mobility was associated increasingly with their success or failure to conform to the expectations of the vita civile. Money was essential to maintaining status, but there were many examples of men and women with less money than pedigree in verona – such as alessandro da lisca, Camillo Cappella and elena sansebastiani discussed above – who traveled in exalted social and political circles. this chapter sets out to link what we know about the demographic and residential characteristics of the veronese nobility – residential mobility of some branches and significant stratification in household size and complexity – to what other sources tell us about women’s participation in the performance of domestic sociability. Given the imperatives of household management, the configuration of the homes and the likelihood of widowhood, it would have been very difficult indeed to sequester female family members into separate, private spaces. therefore in the case of verona, this very impossibility of sequestration may have rendered noblewomen more visible and given them more direct access to the social and political life of the city. Provincial noblewomen who may not have drawn the attention of their contemporaries because they did not command enough resources to impress people with their opulent lifestyle nonetheless could find ways to subvert the prevailing ideology of chastity and enclosure by embracing the system of sociability embodied in Guazzo’s vita civile. if we wish to restore noblewomen to greater visibility in the historiography of the italian renaissance, then it is useful to consider whether and to what degree the theoretical invisibility imposed upon them by their contemporaries – and by modern historians reading documents produced in support of patrilineal identity – could be implemented in practice. Notes 1

2

3

4 5

The most important recent contribution in the field is Marta Ajmar-Wollheim and Flora dennis, eds, At Home in Renaissance Italy (london, 2006), which contains a wide range of essays by scholars in the field and a comprehensive bibliography. Patricia Fortini Brown, Private Lives in Renaissance Venice, Art, Architecture, and the Family (new haven, 2004); Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, Art, Marriage, and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace (new haven, 2008). on venetian efforts to regulate the use of private palaces on the subject cities of the mainland for political activities, see alison a. smith, “Women and Political sociability in late renaissance verona: ersilia spolverini’s elogio of Chiara Cornaro,” in Donne di potere del Rinascimento, letizia arcangeli and susanna Peyronel, eds (rome, 2008), 405–416. Paola lanaro, Un’oligarchia urbana nel Cinquecento Veneto (turin, 1992), 202–203. Marzio Barbagli, Sotto lo stesso tetto: Mutamenti della famiglia in Italia dal XV al XX secolo (Bologna, 1984), 218. he names the three largest households in 1545: Giusti in

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9 10 11

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Porta Pietra with 47 servants; nogarola in s. sebastiano with 34 servants; Bevilacqua in s. Michele alla Porta with 37 servants. howard Burns, “‘vasti desideri e gran pensieri’: i palazzzi veronesi di Michele sanmicheli,” in Michele Sanmicheli. Architettura, linguaggio e cultura artistica nel Cinquecento, howard Burns et al., eds (Milan, 1995), 68. Burns, “vasti desideri,” 70–71. see also Paul davies and david hemsoll, “Palazzo Bevilacqua e la tipologia del palazzo veronese,” Annali di architettura, 3 (1991): 57– 71; and Paul davies and david hemsoll, Michele Sanmicheli (Milan, 2004), passim. on the increasing importance of conforming to the ideals of the vita civile among nobles on the venetian terra ferma, see ajmar-Wollheim, “sociability,” in At Home in Renaissance Italy, 206–221, and the rest of Part iv of the same volume; and Brown, Private Lives, Chs 5 and 6. ajmar-Wollheim, “sociability,” 207. daniela Frigo, Il padre di famiglia: governo della casa e governo civile nella tradizione dell’“economica” tra Cinque e Seicento (rome, 1985). dennis romano, “Gender and the urban Geography of renaissance venice,” Journal of Social History 23/2 (1989): 339–353; robert C. davis, “the Geography of Gender in the renaissance,” in Gender and Society in Renaissance Italy, Judith C. Brown and robert C. davis, eds (london, 1998): 19–38; Monica Chojnacka, Working Women of Early Modern Venice (Baltimore, 2001), 50–81. laurie nussdorfer, “the Politics of space in early Modern rome,” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, 42 (1997): 164. nussdorfer bases many of her remarks on evidence provided by elizabeth Cohen, especially her “honor and Gender in the streets of early Modern rome,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 22 (1992): 597–626. More recently, see elizabeth Cohen and thomas Cohen, “open and shut: the social Meanings of the Cinquecento roman house,” Studies in the Decorative Arts, 9 (2001–02): 61–84. elizabeth Cohen, “to Pray, to Work, to hear, to speak: Women in roman streets c. 1600,” Journal of Early Modern History, 12 (2008): 291. Cohen, “to Pray, to Work,” 290. see also Musacchio, Art, Marriage, and Family, 79–85, on the visibility of women at the windows in Florence. some of the more important studies of the veronese estimo and accompanying anagrafi include amelio tagliaferri, L’economia veronese secondo gli estimi dal 1409 al 1635 (Milan, 1966); Paola Lanaro, “Radiografia della soglia di povertà in una città della terraferma veneta: verona alla metà del Xvi secolo,” Studi veneziani, n.s. 6 (1982): 45–85; Giulio sancassani, “Come era amministrata una contrada di verona alla meta’ del sec. Xvi,” Nova Historia (1971): 13–27; stefano lodi, “la contrada del Capitolo: Mercatonovo nei primi centocinquant’anni della dominazione veneziana,” in Per Alberto Piazzi: Scritti offerti nel 50 di sacerdozio (verona, 1998): 205–225; and stefano lodi, “la città per ‘parti:’ due contrade da vicino,” in Edilizia privata nella Verona rinascimentale, Paola lanaro, Paola Marini, Gian Maria varanini, eds (Milan, 2000), 154–170. Barbagli, Sotto lo stesso tetto, 194, on vertically and horizontally extended families, and 217 for a chart on the number of domestic servants in verona according to level of wealth (established by the tax assessment). Barbagli has done the most in-depth

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comparative work on this, comparing the veronese estimo and anagrafi for 1545 with contemporary data from siena and Parma. dennis romano noted a similar phenomenon for the fifteenth century when comparing Venetian elite households to verona: dennis romano, Housecraft and Statecraft: Domestic Service in Renaissance Venice, 1400–1600 (Baltimore, 1996), 232–233. Barbagli, Sotto lo stesso tetto, 217. Barbagli’s chart, cited above, shows, for example, that whereas only 25 of the wealthiest households had 16 servants or more, the other 57 had 10 or fewer. his discussion of the data does not make this stratification clear. see alexander Cowan, Marriage, Manners and Mobility in Early Modern Venice (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2007), esp. Ch. 4, on the emerging consensus about how to identify “uomini civili” that developed among italian elites in this period. it was based, to a large extent, on education, lifestyle, and social behavior. see the interesting discussion of the art of conversation developed by Castiglione, della Casa and Guazzo over the course of the sixteenth century in elizabeth horodowich, Language and Statecraft in Early Modern Venice (new york, 2008), esp. Ch. 1. archivio di stato, verona (hereafter, asvr), Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Comune no. 20 (s. andrea 1541). on the importance of the food ideology expressed by the increasingly elaborate dining rituals in renaissance courts, in which “one becomes a courtier only by eating like one,” see Ken albala, The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Renaissance Europe (urbana il and Chicago, 2007), 2 for the increasing hierarchical organization and bureaucratization of servants in courtly households, and 147 on the credenziero. see also the description of servants in terence scully, The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570) (toronto, 2008), 663–668; on the organization of domestic labor in the home see Guido Guerzoni, “servicing the Casa,” in At Home in Renaissance Italy, ajmar-Wollheim and dennis, eds, 146–151. Note that fifty years later, in 1603, another Serego widow is living in the same palace with her clerical brother-in-law, six young children (five daughters and a son), and 19 servants, most designated by specific titles such as cook, wardrobe mistress, coachman, tutor, etc: asvr, Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Comune no. 25. asvr, Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Comune no. 676. asvr, Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Comune no. 686. note that some of the servants at the end of the household lists in many of these anagrafi are clearly staff who lived in the family’s villa. in this case, the factor and his family, the shepherd (pecorar), one or both gardeners (hortolano) probably did not live with the family in verona. on “stafferi” and the self-definition of male servants, see Raffaella Sarti, “The True Servant: Self-Definition of Male Domestics in an Italian City (Bologna, 17th–19th centuries),” The History of the Family, 10/4 (2000): 407–433. Also listed in this household are nine men identified as miles, probably attached as bravi, or bodyguards, to the three unmarried sons. indeed, three sons (including Cirio, whose widow isabella moved in with her mother-in-law Creusa) were murdered in a brawl in verona in June of 1600. archivio di stato di venezia, Capi del Consiglio X, Lettere dai Rettori, b. 197, c. 8.

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy asvr, Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Comune no. 307. For the career of Michele verità see alison a smith, “il successo sociale e culturale di una famiglia veronese del ‘500,” in CIVIS: Studi e testi, vol. 24, Dentro lo “stado italico” (trent, 1984): 299– 317. asvr, Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Provincia no. 795. on the political career and cultural ambitions of alessandro da lisca, see stefano lodi, ed., Domus Illorum da Lischa: Una famiglia e un palazzo del Rinascimento a Verona (vicenza, 2002), esp. the essays by Paola lanaro, “da grande nobiltà a nobiltà di provincia: i da lisca a verona nella prima età moderna tra ascesa politica e interessi fondiari,” 43–62; and stefano lodi, “la contrada di san vitale: spazio urbano e insediamenti residenziali,” 63–82. For a chart outlining da lisca’s political career, see 46. on the position of capo muda in verona’s City Council see lanaro, Un’oligarchia, 127–129. lanaro, “da grande nobiltà,” 51. stefano lodi, Palazzo Capella dei Diamanti: Classicismo e maniera a Verona dopo Sanmicheli (verona, 2004), 62: the inscription is dated 1582 and reads: HELENA SANSEBASTIANA HANc DOMUS PARTEM cONIUGE EXcELLENTISS. ABSENTE TESTIS SIT IMAGO MEA F.F. MDLXXXII. lodi (92) further speculates that four portrait busts of members of her family (the sansebastiani) that were placed in the Capella palace were commissioned by elena in order to celebrate her own family, because she was the sole heir to the sansebastiani patrimony and had inherited from her father Giacomo the castle in torri, which thus became part of the patrimony of the Capella family. see Katherine a. Mciver’s chapter (“an invisible enterprise: Women and domestic architecture in early Modern italy”) in this volume for examples of other women involved with building. Given the erudition of elena’s husband, Camillo Cappella, this may also have been an explicit reference to classical roman ideas about the domestic display of femininity explored by Kristina Milnor, Gender, Domesticity, and the Age of Augustus (new york, 2005), 108: she points to the “role of the central courtyard of the house as a place where virtuous femininity encountered civic life, as part of the public display of the roman house.” see the many useful essays and studies of particular buildings in Paola lanaro, Paola Marini, and Gian Maria varanini, eds, Edilizia privata nella Verona rinascimentale (Milan, 2000). Lanaro, “Radiografia,” 45–85. asvr Archivio Comune, reg. 281, 282. In this list of estate divisions kept by the fiscal authorities in verona between 1409 and 1688, the verità family was only surpassed by the Maffei and Pellegrini families until 1536, but between 1536 and 1688 twelve other families listed more estate divisions than the verità. in verona, most of the families with a high number of estate divisions registered with the tax authorities between 1409 and 1688 were among the wealthiest and most prominent in the city. asvr, Archivio Comune, Anagrafi-Comune, no. 309. the anagrafi of 1583 includes the information about whether a family owned or rented its home. that information is not included consistently in the anagrafi recorded before or after 1583. living in rented space was a common practice among venetian

The Renaissance Household in Sixteenth-Century Verona

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40 41 42 43 44 45

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noble families according to laura Megna, “Comportamenti abitativi del patriziato veneziano (1582–1740),” Studi veneziani, 22 (1991): 253–323. lodi, “la contrada di san vitale,” 74, on lelio Giusti’s move into his wife’s palace in s. Quirico; also Giulo della torre’s move into his wife’s palace is discussed in Gian Paolo Marchi, “il dottore, l’ignorante,” in Palladio e Verona, Paola Marini, ed. (vicenze, 1980), 10. anne Matchette, “to have and have not: the disposal of household Furnishings in Florence,” Renaissance Studies, 20/5 (2006): 716. amedeo Quondam, “introduzione,” to stefano Guazzo, La civil conversazione, amedeo Quondam, ed. (Modena, 1993), li–lv. daniela Frigo, “‘Civil conversatione’ e pratica del mondo: le relazioni domestiche,” in Stefano Guazzo e la civil conversazione, Giorgio Patrizi, ed. (rome, 1990), 126. Guazzo, La civil conversazione, 48–9. Guazzo, La civil conversazione, 236. Guazzo, La civil conversazione, 166: “e nel vero se voi considerate la forma delle feste, de’giuochi e de’ conviti, voi direte che tutte queste raunanze e questi spettacoli sarebbono freddi e insipidi senza l’intervenimento delle donne.”

Chapter 8

an invisible enterprise: Women and domestic architecture in early Modern italy* Katherine a. Mciver

architectural patronage has always been understood to be a powerful tool for shaping both the physical and cultural environment, allowing the patron an opportunity for self-fashioning and the expression of public ideology. as Carolyn valone has noted, “in rome, both women and men were aware of this tradition, and aristocratic matrons for more than 1500 years used their own money to adorn the city with buildings which spoke about the issues that concerned them.”1 and women throughout italy did the same. it was common practice for women with the financial means to commission religious or charitable structures: chapels, churches, convents, hospitals, housing for orphans, the poor, or prostitutes. not so the family palace; it had long been associated with the male self-image of power and prestige. the palace spoke for the family or the husband, even if he was long dead. as well, the exterior of the palazzo was visible to anyone who walked by it; the materials used for its construction, the decoration of its facade, and its size and prominence in the city spoke of the inhabitants’ social, political, and economic position. a similar view holds true for the country estate and suburban villa or any other form of secular architecture thought to be a man’s domain. in terms of secular architecture, women not only constructed or reconstructed palaces or less ostentatious residences, they built country houses and villas, hunting lodges with gardens or parks, and bath houses as well. some worked in conjunction with their husbands, brothers, or sons; others built structures as retreats for their husbands or for themselves, still others took on the male model and built private residences.2 yet in modern literature, women’s impact as patrons of secular architecture has been largely ignored, erased from the historical record,3 in part because their buildings no longer exist, thus they are invisible or “women just didn’t do that”4 or their patronage was overshadowed by that of a father, husband, brother or son. however, historical documents (notarial records, account books, contracts, letters, etc.) tell us quite clearly that women all over italy were involved in a variety of architectural enterprises (secular as well as religious) and were active as purchasers

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of real estate investing their money in farms, houses and other property; and they acted on their own initiative. not only women who were rulers or widows who were heads of households, financially responsible for the family’s property, but any woman with money and a motive could be involved in architectural projects. this study presents an overview of what women were capable of as builders, renovators, and owners of secular architecture, and thus will make visible that which was invisible. For some women, substantial documentation exists and their achievements are outlined here in brief case studies; while for others, only hints of their activities remain. therefore, i have chosen to include a large number of them, as well, in an effort to demonstrate just how common it was for women to be involved in a variety of architectural enterprises. early modern sources often suggest that it was acceptable for women of power to demonstrate masculine qualities – especially if they were rulers. From Boccaccio to tasso, authors of treatises on famous women spoke of the virtue of performing as a man, taking on the masculine role, even that of a palace builder, and female rulers did build. the two queens of naples, Giovanna i and ii who ruled in the mid-fourteenth and early fifteenth century respectively, both built palaces and fortresses. As Joyce de Vries has found, in the late fifteenth century, Caterina sforza, regent of Forli and imola, refurbished the residence adjacent to the rocca at Forli with new decorative elements and improved the land around it, adding a walled garden, a working farm, and an extensive hunting lodge.5 Margarita of austria (1522–86), duchess of Parma and Piacenza6 and the illegitimate daughter of emperor Charles v, initiated the building of the Palazzo Farnese (Fig. 8.1) in Piacenza, though her husband, ottavio Farnese, is generally given the credit (a case of a woman overshadowed by her husband). in 1556 Margarita paid 15,000 scudi to acquire property to build her palace, originally to be located on what is now called the stradone Farnese.7 a wooden model of the palazzo was put on display in the convent of s. sisto in Piacenza from 1557 to 1560.8 Margarita was involved with hiring the architects, and her correspondence shows how active she was in the entire process. the courtier-architect Francesco de Marchi (1504–75) noted that Margarita wanted the best architects for the project and the best builders as well.9 she expected to see every drawing, requesting them from her architects, Francesco Paciotto in 1558 and 1559 and Jacopo vignola during the early 1560s.10 her architects’ letters to her are frequently full of descriptive details concerning various issues related to the layout of the rooms and to the overall set of plans for the project. Margarita was particularly concerned with the design of her own apartments, as well as the theater and garden. in 1572, her half-brother, Philip ii of spain, made her the governor of aquila for life;11 the city had been under spanish control since 1534. Margarita built a palace (Fig. 8.2) there between 1572 and 1577 (and another at ortona on the adriatic coast), locating it in a pre-eminent and central position on an axis with the via roma and the Piazza s. Margarita.12 Francesco de Marchi described Margarita of

8.1 Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza, 1560s, architect: Jacopo vignola

8.2

diagram of Margaret of austria’s palace in aquila, 1572–77

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austria’s palace as an island with two piazze with fountains, two grand streets and two churches at either end. it had three principal portals, two staircases and 134 windows for illumination. Pico Fonticulano went even further in his description giving specific measurements of the building, the rooms, the courtyard, and the columns; he noted that there were 100 windows on the outside and 30 facing the courtyard. There were five principal apartments, each with several rooms.13 Eleonora of Toledo, duchess of Florence, born of Spanish nobility, financed the purchase and likely the renovations of the Palazzo Pitti, a suburban villa at the time;14 and there were others, of course. What of women who were from republics like Florence? Natalie Tomas in her discussion of alfonsina orsini de’ Medici (1472–1520) and the palace she built in rome suggests that alfonsina was able to do so because of her Medici connections to the pope and her own noble birth.15 alfonsina was brought up at the court of naples; her mother, the noble, wealthy widow Caterina sanseverina, educated her daughter in court tradition. tomas goes on to say that alfonsina, who was solely responsible for the construction of the Palazzo Medici-lante (begun 1514) in rome, could not have done so in Florence because of “the prevailing attitudes of Florentines to the building of both villas and palaces as a significant expression of the virtue of male magnificence … Rome was a more appropriate site for palace building because it provided alfonsina with the opportunity to build magnificently in a more courtly environment which was home to the orsini”16 and of Pope leo X de’ Medici. But is this really so? Moreover, Tomas cites a similar case for Caterina Piccolomini, sister of Pope Pius ii. as a widow, Caterina built a palace in siena during the 1460s, the Palazzo delle Papese or papal palace (Fig. 8.3). “this building,” tomas states, “was designed as an act of dynastic matronage intended to glorify her

8.3 Palazzo delle Papese, siena, 1460s

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natal family.”17 and her connection to the pope made it possible. a. lawrence Jenkins, in his discussion of Caterina’s palace, suggests that hers was not a unique example of patronage of secular architecture and that Pope Pius’s and Caterina’s buildings represented a shared dynastic strategy.18 his view, then, is more flexible than that of Tomas. of interest here as well is venice. the tax declaration records show us that women in venice owned a substantial number of houses and shops, some of which they rented, and land on the terra ferma from which they gained an income.19 From this we might assume that some renovation and even reconstruction of the buildings took place.20 in the tax records of 1534, for example, agnesina Badoer-Gustinian noted that two apartments were added to the Ca’ Giustinian which she rented.21 immigrant women (that is women not born on the island of venice) were builders as well. Camilla ragazzini Minotto, who inherited property from her husband adjacent to the Jewish Ghetto, attempted to build an apartment complex for Jews, but the venetian government vetoed the project.22 other women, like ippolita Pallavicina-sanseverina (d. 1563), managed to build palaces without connections to popes or high officials. Ippolita built her palazzo in Piacenza between 1547 and 1558; today, all that remains of the house is the main entrance portal, the rest has been subsumed into a much larger structure (thus, her house is virtually invisible today). Widowed in 1532, she had married into the noble sanseverini family in 1517.23 ippolita was neither regent nor head of household, though she did live on her own with only female relatives once the palazzo was finished. Documents show that ippolita was completely involved with all aspects of this commission, taking a hands-on approach. in a similar case, Francesca of Brandenburg (d. 1512) of Correggio used her dowry and some of her own funds to construct the Palazzo dei Principi (1507; Fig. 8.4). like ippolita Pallavicina-sanseverina, Francesca was neither a ruler nor head of household; after her husband’s death, Francesca’s brother-in-law took over the rule of Correggio.24 some women, like ippolita Pallavicina-sanseverina and Francesca of Brandenburg, chose to build their own palaces simply because they had the money and power to do so. My research suggests that women who had their own wealth beyond their dowries could be active patrons of architecture for the very same reasons as men commissioned buildings. Women with money (and it always comes down to money) could act like men – i do not mean by this that women like ippolita or Francesca took on the male model, rather that they were capable of building simply because, like men, they had the means to do so. Widows, of course, were not the only ones who built secular architecture. some married women acted as patrons of architecture separately from their husbands. We have already seen this in the case with Margarita of austria,

8.4

Palazzo dei Principi, Correggio, 1507

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who initiated the building campaign in Piacenza and then later in both aquila and ortona. like Margarita, lucrezia tornabuoni, wife of Piero the Gouty de’ Medici, was actively involved in building; her letters concerning the baths at Bagno a Morbo, near volterra, detail her building activities there.25 those of her overseer indicate that lucrezia possessed a remarkable degree of hands-on understanding of architectural practice. her apparent wish to be apprised of the smallest details of construction could be considered exceptional compared with many male patrons of the period. lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara, built a palace (1515–19) adjacent to the convent of s. Bernardino, which she founded in 1509; the palace was not intended as a suburban residence nor as a retreat, rather it served as a headquarters for her growing agricultural enterprises and for spiritual activities.26 and ricciarda Malaspina, Marchesa of Massa and Carrara, wife of lorenzo Cibo and mistress to Cardinal innocenzo Cibo, built a palace (1540s) within the walls of the Castello at Massa.27 it was decorated with sculptures, paintings, and frescoes; the lavish garden had a marble fountain. she also maintained a residence in rome just off the Piazza navona. like tomas, Catherine King suggests that married women who built worked within the constraints of female decorum proper to their rank within a maledominated society. she argues that when leonora Gonzaga (1492–1548), duchess of urbino, decided to build a villa in Pesaro, she had to maintain a modest, feminine approach to the structure.28 thus the villa imperiale (1529; Fig. 8.5) had no access from the main façade for noble visitors; a doorway at the back in the garden wall allowed them into the courtyard and then into the villa. the main façade had minimal fenestration. Windows normally perforated walls as membranes between the world within and without, and they reflect actual behavior and attitudes of the occupants – in paintings of the period, women were frequently shown looking out of windows.29 at the villa imperiale, it would have been difficult for women to look out at the world. they could only look within; even the courtyard façade had few windows. leonora was the daughter of isabella d’este and, 8.5 villa imperiale, Pesaro, 1529, architect: Girolamo Genga like her mother, ruled in her husband’s

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stead when he was away defending the venetians, and it was at this time that she built the villa. King states that this is a “rare case of a wife’s ability to take charge of a building enterprise.”30 it was made possible because the architect, Girolamo Genga, a salaried court servant, was appointed to execute enterprises ordered by the duke or duchess. Following the feminine, negotiative model, a noble woman might exercise a degree of architectural control unusual for a woman, according to King, whilst at the same time serving the political interests of her husband and affirming her own propriety.31 But is this really so? Shouldn’t we question such limited models? one roman matron, who was her father’s only heir, Portia anguillara-Cesi, duchess of Cere (near Cervetari), presents quite the opposite impression. Carolyn valone has noted that in 1582, Portia bought the adjoining house so that she could enlarge and expand her own palazzo in rome. in her will she made it clear that she expected to receive credit for the Cesi palace and was extremely displeased when her husband was given credit. to be sure, there was nothing demure and feminine in her attitude toward her palace,32 nor was there in the case of ippolita Pallavicina-sanseverina who surely intended her palace to be called the Palazzo Pallavicino, not the Palazzo sanseverino as it was in contemporary literature. other roman matrons commissioned architectural projects: both Pope Julius ii’s daughter Felice della rovere33 and Pope Paul iii’s daughter Costanza Farnese ordered extensive renovations to the palaces they owned in rome. While Felice’s role is not easily defined, Costanza’s is. In fact, I have found notarial documents outlining Costanza’s (not her father’s) role in the purchase of extensive property, which included a palace along the via Giulia between the Palazzo Farnese (built by her father) and her son’s palace, now known as the Palazzo sforza-Cesarini.34 usually overshadowed by her father, who is assumed to have purchased the property for her, the documents clearly show that Costanza bought up a number of pieces of property, including the one with this palace – and she renovated it. the confusion may lay in the fact that her father provided the funds for the purchase of the residence of her son, Guido ascanio sforza, in 1535, establishing the new Cardinal in rome as was customary.35 Furthermore, Pope Paul iii gave his daughter a monthly allowance of 300 scudi and numerous pieces of property outside of rome from which she could draw an income allowing her to purchase the properties in rome and transform them into her own private residence.36 Costanza began, in 1538–39, negotiating for property adjacent to the church of s. Giovanni in ayno (today, located between via Giulia and via Monserato). Between 1540 and 1543, she purchased more property in this area including a large palazzo (identified today as the Palazzo Ricci – Fig. 8.6), as well as property across the via Giulia close to the tiber river; it had fountains, a small structure, perhaps a house, and a walled garden. the large palazzo, whose façade was decorated with stonework, had courtyards with marble statues and fountains, a walled garden, a stable, and a cantina. subsequent renovations of the property were undertaken

8.6

Palazzo ricci, rome

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during this period. as well, Costanza is credited with building another palace at Castell’arquato between 1535 and 1540, following the death of her husband, Bosio ii sforza di sta. Fiore.37 and Costanza was not the only property owner/builder/renovator working in rome. Maddalena strozzi anguillara, granddaughter of alfonsina orsini de’ Medici and widow of Flaminio anguillara (d. 1560) of stabia, was even more active in the real estate market in rome.38 in the mid-1560s, Maddalena purchased extensive property adjacent to the monastery of sta. lucia in selci, which included the house in which she lived for the next thirty years. its large, walled garden with fruit trees bordered the monastery of s. Marino nella Monte and the strada s. Pietro in vincoli. the property was renovated on numerous occasions.39 ultimately, Maddalena sold the property to the nuns and moved into sta. susanna, where she died in 1596. this was not her only real estate purchase; during the same period, Maddalena purchased multiple properties around Campo Marzio and established a suburban villa, to which we will return later in this chapter. she built a house on this property40 and it was referred to as “il Palazzetto;” and, in 1577, she bought a vigna outside the Porta of san Giovanni laterno.41 Moreover, Maddalena was responsible for renovation at the Castello at stabia (now Faleria), which included a new façade, a grand, covered loggia and other improvements.42 In addition to the women already mentioned, sufficient documentation remains for other women who built secular architecture in early modern italy. several women from the courts around Parma and Piacenza were builders. Clarice Malaspina (d. 1516), wife of Federico Pallavicino, marchese of Zibello, ordered the reconstruction of the family palace shortly after her husband’s death in 1502. Known as the Palazzo nuovo in the sixteenth century to distinguish it from the existing palace, it was most likely primarily a new structure. her daughter laura Pallavicina-sanvitale (c. 1495–1576) was responsible for the renovating and reconstructing of at least two residences in Parma: the Palazzo Claudia for her son and her own palazzo nearby.43 after her husband’s death in 1519,44 laura took on the role as the head of her household; she looked after the family’s extensive properties, both natal and marital, and managed the family finances. She was active politically in Parma and took on inheritance disputes over her natal family properties and those of her son as well. laura operated just as a man of her social status would have – a matriarch always with an eye out for her heirs.45 in 1533, laura purchased two adjoining houses, one much larger than the other. located in the neighborhood of the church of s. Giovanni evangelista in Borgo Medio, laura was within a few blocks of the Palazzo Claudia where her son and his family lived. her choice of location must have been motivated by the desire to stay within the ancestral neighborhood close to family and friends. documents inform us that laura Pallavicina-sanvitale refashioned the two buildings, adding enough to the larger structure for the notary writing the document to call it the “Casa nuova.” she extensively renovated the remaining parts of the

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other structure. What she created out of the older structures were two entirely new buildings.46 While only a few notarial records exist for the project, we know that the reconstruction and renovation began shortly after the purchase process was completed. one document laid out exactly what laura wanted done and that her agent, Cornazzano, was responsible for carrying it out. Work must have been completed by mid-1540 for a document dated 4 June tells us what had been built, and from this we know that it was a two-storey structure with a courtyard, upper and lower loggia, and a garden. the overall palazzo must have been rather grand considering the number of rooms constructed – at least 15 in the new part alone. the household listed in the 1545 tax records notes 20 people living in the house including laura and her notary and personal secretary. laura rented out the second structure.47 laura Pallavicina-sanvitale purchased the Palazzo Claudia for her son in 1537, and shortly thereafter began renovations which were completed in 1539 in time for alfonso’s marriage to Gerolama Farnese; like her own palazzo, laura wanted this one to represent the family power, wealth and prestige. in turn, Gerolama (widowed in 1560) renovated the Palazzo Claudia once again on the occasion of her own son’s marriage.48 The Country Estate as noted earlier, women not only built, reconstructed, and renovated their personal residences, but they also built and maintained houses and other structures, such as barns and service buildings on the various properties they owned and from which they derived a substantial part of their income. it was, therefore, in their best interest to maintain the property. these country estates or villas were working farms that also functioned as retreats from the city for their owners. in this period, the term “villa” referred to a country estate encompassing the landowner’s house, any related farmhouses and outbuildings, together with gardens and farmland.49 suburban villas like the villa imperiale at Pesaro discussed earlier also served as retreats and often had gardens, but were usually either within or near the city walls.50 While women were actively involved in the management of the estates which they inherited, it was quite common for them to invest more of their money in other properties and transform them into working farms or country estates – a sensible maneuver on their part. as well, they often determined what crops were cultivated, how much would be planted, and to whom it would be sold. Maddalena strozzi anguillara, for example, looked into the prospect of growing wheat on her estates at Camp Marzio and then invested in its production, which proved to be quite a lucrative enterprise for her.51 Giacoma Pallavicina (c. 1509–75) not only renovated her house in Parma, but also took an active role in the management of her country estates. her husband

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named her as his heir and gave her five different properties near Parma. Widowed in 1534, Giacoma first sought refuge in the convent of S. Agostino in Parma for several years, and then, after hearing about ignatius of loyola, wanted to become a Jesuit, and she corresponded frequently with ignatius about the matter; when this attempt failed, she founded the Compagnia delle donne spirituale (1549). she used the income from her properties to provide dowries and living accommodation for young, unmarried women.52 it is from her hands-on approach and her extensive record-keeping that we learn exactly what her farm manager did and what it cost. He was responsible for building, remodeling, and repairing five different houses for her workers and other structures. at her property near Casteletto, Giacoma commissioned her builder Giovanni dordano to rebuild a house for her – the “Casa della Patrona,” which became her retreat from the city. the renovated casa compound included a portico, courtyard, a smaller, second courtyard, a well, dovecote, oven, stables, and gardens – a kitchen garden, a formal garden, and woods that included a variety of fruit trees such as cherry and apple as well as elms, poplars, and other varieties.53 laura Pallavicina-sanvitale, too, had a country retreat built for herself on her property at Castellana, which was near a river. an inventory of the house lists not only the contents of the rooms, but gives a general layout of the structure as well. though called the “casa grande” in the inventory, this house was clearly a more modest residence than her city palace, and was comprised of service rooms, her apartments, several other rooms, but no grand sala for entertaining; a “domus piccolo” was connected to the larger house by a covered portico, and they shared a kitchen garden and were surrounded by other gardens and woods with a variety of trees.54 and there were several other women as well, including lucrezia Borgia who acquired substantial farm properties over a few years, investing first in wheat production and then in water buffalo for the making and marketing of mozzarella cheese, both as a means to increase her income;55 eleonora of toledo who supervised her own farm; and isabella d’ este who owned a small country estate, the resulting income allowing her to purchase two more farms.56 as well, women in rome were also involved in similar enterprises. in the 1560s, Maddalena strozzi anguillara purchased multiple properties around Campo Marzio to establish not just a suburban villa, but a working farm.57 all combined, the property included a house, more housing for tenant farmers, outbuildings, a vigna, gardens, meadows, and reed thickets. not only did she invest in wheat, but also in orzo (barley) among other things; as well, Maddalena kept extensive account books which attest to her hands-on approach to the management of her property. Maddalena’s approach to her farming enterprise was much like that of lucrezia Borgia (discussed earlier in this chapter); and, like Giacoma Pallavacina, she established a Compagna – in this case for widows and young, unmarried women.58 it was funded by the income from her property. Maddalena was an entrepreneur

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who invested her funds in money-making opportunities. similarly, Camilla Peretti collaborated with her brother, Felice (Pope sixtus v), in the development of the villa Montalto (1576–88) on the esquiline hill in rome, purchasing numerous pieces of property; the villa sat on 160 acres (65 hectares) and consisted of two palaces, gardens, and service buildings. It was the first large-scale noble family villa inside rome’s city walls.59 and they are not alone; Giacoma Pallavicina is a similar example and, surely, eleonora of toledo, isabella d’este, and others had similar ideas in mind as country estate owners.60 outside venice at roncade near treviso, agnesina Badoer-Giustinian built a villa (begun 1511), usually thought to be a joint project with her second husband, Gerolamo Giustinian, whom she married in 1497.61 yet according to Margherita azzi visentini, it was agnesina who commissioned the structure from tullio lombardo to replace an older and more modest house.62 agnesina was her father’s only surviving heir and when he died in 1495, he left her his entire estate including the property on which the villa Giustinian was built. Kolb lewis noted that in all the tax records following her second marriage everything that agnesina received from her father was always listed separately from her husband’s and as hers.63 in the 1534 tax declaration, agnesina and her husband stated that the villa was located in the village of roncade and had a house for their use with a large court, gardens and orchards, several mills, and 12 one-story houses.64 Conclusion Women did not have to be rulers or heads of households to build – they simply had to have the power, the money, and a motive to do so. equally important is the fact that the majority of women throughout italy owned a substantial amount of property – real estate both in the city and the countryside, which gave them a certain financial security – not only upper-class, noble women like those discussed in this paper, but also, at least in rome, well-off, middle-class women like sigismonda theobaldi and Bernarda Capodiferro, who both owned and managed numerous properties;65 sigismonda, in particular, was active not only in purchasing real estate, but also in the management of her farm properties. Moreover, a large percentage of women owned the houses they lived in and other structures (houses, shops, and so on), some of which they rented66 – yet another source of income, which in some cases allowed women the financial means to undertake new architectural projects. But many women remain invisible in modern literature and thinking, especially if we consider approaches like that of Catherine King and natalie tomas. Without a doubt their work cited in this chapter has contributed to the expanding discourse on women and secular architecture; however, both authors suggest that leonora Gonzaga (King) and alfonsina d’ Medici (tomas) were exceptions due to their status or the location of their

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architectural patronage. This view undermines the significance of what women could and did actually do as architectural patrons; their reading contributes to the invisibility of women as active participants in architectural projects in modern literature, something this author has tried to correct by presenting a wide range of examples of women whose patronage contradicts traditional views and thus, here, they are made visible. Notes * an earlier version of this paper was given at the symposium Women as Subject and Object at the norwegian institute, rome, June 2007 (paper title: “Women of Power: What Women say as Builders of secular architecture in early Modern italy”); and at the Renaissance Studies Conference, trinity College, dublin, ireland, July 2008 (paper title: “exceptional Women? Homebuilders in Early Modern Italy”). 1 2

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“architecture as a Public voice for Women in sixteenth-Century rome,” Renaissance Studies, 15/3 (september 2001): 301. What follows is a partial list of examples: alfonsina orsini with her son; lucrezia tornabuoni with her husband; silvia sanvitale Boiardo with her husband; leonora Gonzaga’s retreat for her husband; Camilla Peretti with her brother; Giacoma Pallavicina, laura Pallavicina sanvitale, and Maddalena strozzi anguillara – retreats for themselves. For a discussion of women and invisibility, see timothy McCall, “visual imagery and historical invisibility: antonia torelli, her husband, and his Mistress in FifteenthCentury Parma,” Renaissance Studies, 23/3 (June 2009): 269–287. this phrase is based on the modern assumption that women just did not build or renovate their palaces. as Kimberly dennis states in her contribution to this volume, “Even at the turn of the twenty-first century, many scholars have difficulty imagining that women played active roles in the architectural histories of early modern cities” (“rediscovering the villa Montalto and the Patronage of Camilla Peretti”). With ongoing research, this view is changing. Joyce de Vries, “Building Magnificence,” in Caterina Sforza: Gender and Culture in Renaissance Italy (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2010). she also governed Piacenza from 1557 when her husband, duke ottavio Farnese, was in Parma. Margarita was first married to Alessandro de’ Medici, who was later assassinated. she inherited the Palazzo Medici in Florence and may have renovated it; we do know that she charged Cosimo de’ Medici rent until he moved into the Palazzo vecchio; see renato leFevre, Madonna Margarita d’Austria, 1522–1586 (rome, 1986), 104–106. Bruno adorni, “Palazzo Farnese in Piacenza,” in Jacopo da Barozzi da Vignola, r.J. tuttle, B. adorni, C.l. Frommel, and C. thoenes, eds (Milan, 2002), 308. apparently around 1560, duke ottavio and his brother Cardinal alessandro Farnese became involved with the project and the site was changed to its present location. Margarita’s initiation of the construction of the palace in Piacenza coincided with the restitution

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of the city to the duke and duchess in 1556 by her half-brother Philip ii of spain, but Philip maintained a garrison of spanish soldiers at the fortress within the city. thus the palace reflected Margarita’s role as the daughter of Emperor Charles V and her ties to spain. valeria Poli, “urbanistica, storia urban, architettura,” in Storia di Piacenza, P. Castignola, ed. (Piacenza, 1997), 359–360. richard J. tuttle, “la vita,” in Jacopo da Barozzi da Vignola, tuttle et al., eds (Milan, 2002), 34–35. the Piacenza project was abandoned around 1566/67 and not taken up again until 1588. Bruno adorni, “il ruolo di Margarita d’austria nella costruzione del Palazzo Farnese di Piacenza,” in Margarita d’Austria (1522–1586), costruzioni politiche e diplomazia, tra corte Farnese e Monarchia spagnola, silvia Mantini, ed. (rome, 2003), 107–108. Mario Centofanti, “il palazzo di Margarita d’austria all’aquila e l’immagine della citta nel Cinquecento,” in Margarita d’Austria (1522–1586), costruzioni politiche e diplomazia, tra corte Farnese e Monarchia spagnola, silvia Mantini, ed. (rome, 2003), 202–203. Both of these cities are in the abruzzi region. Centofanti, “il palazzo di Margarita d’austria,” 202–203. the present structure reflects restorations done after the 1703 earthquake. Centofanti, “il palazzo di Margarita d’austria,” 206–208. Bruce edelstein, “la Fecundissima signora duchessa: the Courtly Persona of eleonora di toledo and the iconography of abundance,” in The Cultural World of Eleonora di Toledo, Duchess of Florence and Siena, Konrad eisenbichler, ed. (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2004), 72, note 7; and Marco Chiarini, Palazzo Pitti, l’arte e la storia (Florence, 2000), 24–25. natalie tomas, The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2003), 90–92. tomas, Medici Women, 92. tomas, Medici Women, 92. “Caterina Piccolomini and the Palazzo delle Papesse in siena,” in Beyond Isabella: Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy, sheryl reiss and david Wilkins, eds (Kirkville Mo, 2001), 82–83. archivio di stato, venice (asv), dieci savi sopra le decime, bb. 48, 57, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105. Patricia Fortini Brown in an email communication (27 april 2007) noted that there was little evidence to suggest that women built or substantially renovated palaces. see her Private Lives in Renaissance Venice (new haven and london, 2004), 197– 198. asv, dieci savi sopra le decime, b. 90, #690. she also owned and rented stores and houses next to the Ca’ Foscari and elsewhere in venice. Blake de Maria, “like Father, like daughter: Camilla ragazzini Minotto and the Construction of the venetian Ghetto,” paper presented at the 2006 Renaissance Society of America Conference, san Francisco. in an email communication (1 august 2007), Blake stated that she had found several other women in venice involved with domestic architecture.

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Katherine a. Mciver, Women, Art, and Architecture in Northern Italy, 1520–1580: Negotiating Power (aldershot uK and Burlington vt, 2006), Ch. 2 and p. 45; her husband was Giulio sanseverino of aragon. Katherine a. Mciver, “‘the ladies of Correggio’: veronica Gambara and her Matriarchal heritage,” Explorations in Renaissance Culture, 26/1 (2000): 32–34; and “two emilian noblewomen and Patronage networks in the Cinquecento,” in Beyond Isabella, 161. see alison smith’s contribution (“revisiting the renaissance household, in theory and Practice: locating Wealthy Women in sixteenthCentury verona”) in this volume; and notes 32 and 33 in smith’s chapter for elena sansebastiani, who built the family palace in verona and is reminiscent of both ippolita and Francesca in her attitude toward the project. Charles r. Mack, “the Wanton habits of venus: Pleasure and Pain at the renaissance spa,” Explorations in Renaissance Culture, 26/2 (2000): 263; also his “Just What the Medici ordered: Gout, spas and Quattrocento Building,” ARRIS, 13 (2002): 12, 15–19; and sheryl reiss, “Widows, Mothers, Patrons of art: alfonsina orsini de’ Medici,” in Beyond Isabella, p. 141, note 2. diane yvonne Ghirardo, “lucrezia Borgia as entrepreneur,” Renaissance Quarterly, 61/1 (spring 2008): 76, 82; and her “lucrezia Borgia’s Palace in renaissance Ferrara,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 64/4 (2005): 474, 476, 479, 483, 486–491. Ghirardo suggests that the building was a commercial facility and distribution center for goods produced on her various properties; annexed structures were used for the storage of grain and produce. Maria Giovanna Maestrelli, “le architetture dei Cibo Malaspina: Palazzi, ville, castelli,” in Ricciarda Malaspina Cibo, Marchesa di Massa e Signora di Carrara (1497–1553), Paolo Pelu and olga raffo, eds (Modena, 2007), 155, 158. Married women who were also mistresses were not all that unusual and it was often done for political purpose or for personal gain as tim McCall has argued (“visual imagery and historical invisibility,” 268–287). two of ricciarda children were likely fathered by the Cardinal; she also bore her husband a daughter and a son. another example was Silvia Ruffini, the mistress of Alessandro Farnese prior to his rise to the papacy; she was a married woman who had a son by her husband, as well as children fathered by alessandro, including Costanza. Catherine King, “architecture, Gender and Politics: the villa imperiale at Pesaro,” Art History, 29/5 (november 2006): 797–800. For a couple of examples see andrea Mantegna’s Martyrdom of St. James (Church of the ermitani, Padua) where he shows women peering out of the windows of the palaces in the background, and similarly, Gentile Bellini’s Procession in St. Mark’s Square (Galleria dell’accademia, venice); there are numerous other examples. King, “architecture, Gender, and Politics,” 797. King, “architecture, Gender, and Politics,” 798. Carolyn valone, “Mothers and sons,” Renaissance Quarterly, 53/1 (spring 2000): 112–113, 121. as duchess of Cere, Portia inherited her father’s lands and, in an attempt to keep the patrimony within the family, she was first married to Giovanni orsini (1553), and then to Paolo emilio Cesi (1572).

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Kristin a. triff notes that Felice was involved with art and architectural patronage at Monte Giordano, rome (1506–18) and at Bracciano, but that there is a lack of concrete documentation as to her role in the projects (“Patronage and Public image in renaissance rome: three orsini Palaces,” Phd dissertation, Brown university, 2000, vol. 2, 290–302). Caroline Murphy notes as well that Felice oversaw the renovations of the medieval palace of Monte Giordano and commissioned an up-to-date façade by Peruzzi following the damage caused by the sack of rome in 1527, but without citing specific documentation (The Pope’s Daughter (london, 2004), plate 28 and p. 258). in modern literature, her father, Pope Paul iii, is generally credited with purchasing the property. archivio di stato, rome (asr), Collegio notarile capitolino, bb. 97, 99: 11 august, 25 august, 29 november 1539; b. 100: 11 March, 12 March 1450; b. 102: 12 december, 16 december 1542; bb. 105, 107: 2 January, 20 april, 22 november 1543. Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (rome, 2006), vol. 45, 81–82. Guido ascanio sforza was made Cardinal in 1534 at age 14. Dizionario biografico, vol. 45, 81. it is the documents related to this allowance that confuses scholars, who maintain that the pope bought her the house. eugenio Caldiere, “i luoghi dei Farnese: immagini di un impero mai nato,” in I Farnese: Arte e collezionismo, studi, lucia Fornari-schanchi, ed. (Milan, 1995), 22, 26. Maddalena, a noblewoman and widow, was the head of her household, without a son, but with two daughters. since her properties went to either sta. lucia in selci or to sta. susanna after her death, her motivation cannot be seen as dynastic. her motherin-law lucrezia orsini anguillara was also a property owner as was Maddalena’s own daughter lucrezia anguillara savelli. indeed, several of Maddalena’s female relatives were active as property owners, managers, and builders; for example, her paternal great-grandmother, alessandra Macinghi strozzi, and her grandmother, Selvaggia Gianfigliazzi Strozzi (see Amanda Lille, Florentine Villas in the FifteenthCentury: An Architectural and Social History (Cambridge, 2005), 9, 15. ASR, Trenta notai capitolino, ufficio 4, bb. 45, 62; Congregazione religiose feminile Cistercensi, sta. susanna, bb. 4442, 4443. asr, Congregazione religiose feminile Cistercensi, sta. susanna, b. 4444; Collegio notai capitolino, b. 1539, 17 May 1573, b. 1548, 15 July 1577. asr, Collegio notai capitolino, b. 1547, 18 March 1577. G. agnensi, Storia di Stabbia e dei suoi castelli (Faleria, 1980), n.p. Carlo soliani, Nelle terre dei Pallavicino: Il feudi di Zibello (Busseto, 1990), 30, note 15 and document 67. her husband was Gianfrancesco sanvitale, marchese of Fontanellato. Mciver, Women, Art, and Architecture, 22–31. Mss Parm. 3768, 21, Delle memoria de la illustra famiglia Sanvitale, Biblioteca Palatina, Parma. archivio di stato, Parma (asP), notai G.d. Criminali, bb. 1247, 1248, 1250. laura Pallavicina-sanvitale owned a number of other houses that she rented out, not just in Parma, but in Modena, Fontenellato and elsewhere in the emilia romagna. asP, Carteggio Farnesiano interno, b. 9.

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy lille, Florentine Villas, 2. the term “villa” could also mean the countryside in general and was also applied to a hamlet, unfortified village or small town in the open country. veronica Gambara also had a suburban villa, the Casino delizie, built just outside the city walls of Correggio; see Mciver, “‘the ladies of Correggio,’” 32–34. see Kimberly dennis’s chapter in this volume (“rediscovering the villa Montalto and the Patronage of Camilla Peretti”) for a detailed definition of the suburban villa in late sixteenth-century rome. her account books and other related documents are found in asr, Congregazione religiose feminile Cistercensi, sta. susanna, bb. 4443, 4444. as well, ricciarda Malaspina Cibo owned a vigna outside the Porta del Popolo in rome. While some women did buy their own country estates, others inherited them from their husbands (for example, Bernardino savelli who left his property to his wife, lucrezia anguillara) or fathers as their only heir rather than to a male relative; still others were given property as part of their dowry, which initially came under their husband’s control. evidence suggests, however, that in a number of cases the woman kept control of the property and managed it; and they reinvested the income or used it as they saw fit. archivio Pallavicino, Biblioteca, Busseto (aPBB), b. 41, and Monumenta Historia Societatis Jesu: Monumenta Ignatiana, vol. 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and Epistolae Mixtae, vol. 2, 3, 5 (Madrid, 1906); aPBB, bb. 39–40 and asP, Famiglia Pallavicini, b. 77. aPBB, bb. 39, 40, 42 and asP, notai, P.M. Garbazzi, b. 2489. asP Fondo sanvitale, b. 16 Bii 433, b. 17, Ci 456. evelyn Welch, “art on the edge: hair and hands in renaissance italy,” Renaissance Studies, 23/3 (June 2009): 263. Ghirardo, “lucrezia Borgia as entrepreneur,” 84–85; edelstein, “la Fecundissima signora duchessa,” 72 and note 6. see earlier in this chapter for a discussion of Maddalena’s building enterprises. asr, Congregazione religiose feminile Cistercensi, sta. susanna, bb. 4443, 4444. Maddalena also managed the farms that she inherited. asr, Congregazione religiose feminile Cistercensi, sta. susanna, b. 4373, 17 december 1586; Pergamene Cistercensi di sta. susanna, Cass. 42, #12. see Kimberly dennis’s chapter in this volume: “rediscovering the villa Montalto.” it is likely that further research will uncover more women throughout italy who wisely invested their own money in similar enterprises and who were actively involved in farm management. in addition to the women discussed here, i have found documents for other women who were actively involved in similar enterprises: virginia orsini of Pitigliano, Maddalena de’ Medici strozzi (Maddalena strozzi’s sister-in-law), Clarice de’ Medici, lucrezia anguillara savelli, sigismonda theobaldi, and Bernarda Capodiferro. Mary Frank, “Women of a Certain age in sixteenth Century venice,” Phd dissertation, Princeton university, 2006, 122–123; and Carolyn Kolb lewis, “the villa Giustinian at roncade,” Phd dissertation, harvard university, 1973, 12–13, 20–23. agnesina had extensive income-producing property left to her by her father. Margherita azzi visentini, La villa in Italia, Quattro e Cinquecento (Milan, 1995), 231. of course, one of the best-known women to build a country estate (il Barco

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at altivole) was Caterina Cornaro; see visentini, La villa, 231; Kolb lewis, “the villa Giustinian,” 157–166; and lionello Puppi, “il Barco di Caterina Cornaro ad altivole,” Prospettive, 25 (1962): 52–64. Kolb lewis (165) noted that agnesina’s villa complex, in plan, echoes that of Caterina Cornaro’s Barco, begun 1491; both are of the Castello-villa type. Kolb lewis, “the villa Giustinian,” 13. asv, dieci savi sopra le decime, b. 90, #690; see Kolb lewis, “the villa Giustinian,” 21, for a partial translation of this document; and visentini, La villa, 231–232. i have found several other cases in the venetian tax records of women whose property was listed separately from that of their husbands: Chiara Morosini, Marietta Foscarini, and Marietta dandalo, to name only a few; the list could go on. as well, the decime records also list numerous women who rented out shops, houses, etc. i have found that the evidence of actual ownership of property is much greater in venice (and in rome) than in Parma; yet, at least for venice, evidence on actual building and reconstruction of house is harder to document. asr, Collegio notai capitolino, saccio, bb. 1507, 1511, 1512, 1513, 1514, 1515, 1519, 1520, 1521, 1524, 1535; Bulius, bb. 311, 313. in addition to these two women, there is also ippolita de Maddalena Mellini, lavinia Mathea di Cinci and Camilla alberoni. none of them are referred to as “illustrious nobile donna,” but simply as “Madonna” or “donna honesta.” in addition to the women discussed in this paper, other women who owned houses include: Caterina de’ nobili sforza, Caterina sanseverina, Costanza Caretta sanseverina, eleonora virtelli Pallavicina, Gerolama Farnese sanvitale, vittoria Pallavicina Gambara, veronica Gambara, elena rangone Bentivoglio, Caterina Cornaro (on Murano), elisabetta Condulmer, Chiara Morosini, Gaspara stampa, Marietta Foscarini Barbarigo, Marietta dandalo, virginia orsini savelli, elena anguillara savelli, Francesca savelli, Faustina Muti, roberta Carafa, anna Carafa, Giulia Caracciolo, ippolita Filomarina, and elena sansebastiani, to name only a few – the list continues to grow as i pursue further research.

Part iv sacred invisibility unveiled

Chapter 9

Invisibilia per visibilia: roman nuns, art Patronage, and the Construction of identity Marilyn dunn

in its reform of the Catholic Church, the Council of trent (1545–63) reestablished the strict enclosure of female convents, which both prohibited nuns from leaving the cloister and visitors from entering it, in order to protect the chastity of religious women and enable them to fulfill their role as prayerful intercessors in Christian society.1 Convent architecture was designed to physically enforce clausura (enclosure) and to shape an environment conducive to the attainment of spiritual perfection. attached to the convent complex was a church accessible to the laity but not to the nuns, who worshiped and recited the Divine Office in a separate nuns’ choir or chiesa interiore frequently located behind the tribune wall in which a grated window above the high altar provided the nuns with audio and visual access to the mass, but prevented them from being seen by the public or even the priest. nuns received Communion and confessed at other, smaller grated windows. Choirs were also sometimes located on the upper level of the convent above the entrance of the church or in a transept, but always covered by obscuring grilles that rendered the nuns invisible to the public (Fig. 9.1).2 these enclosures maintained the separation of nuns from secular society and fostered a sense of their holy mystique.3 although nuns could obtain views of the celebration of the eucharist and portions of the church interior filtered through the grilles of their choirs or from behind gelosie above the cornice, they did not physically enter the space of their public churches.4 yet in spite of this lack of physical access, nuns frequently lavished considerable attention on this public space, embellishing it with architecture, paintings, sculpture, and liturgical furnishings. this chapter examines how nuns in post-tridentine rome engaged in the art patronage of their public churches and how through their patronage they constructed multifaceted identities which both subscribed to ideals of female monasticism and asserted an agency that subtly challenged the constrictions of enclosure. in the public church’s liminal space between the cloister and the secular world,

9.1 view toward choir gallery, c. 1638–39, santa lucia in selci, rome

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art and architecture served to present the public face of the convent and to represent metaphorically the invisible nuns’ living presence and social role in a way that simultaneously highlighted their spiritual separateness and maintained their connection to the social fabric of the city. Convent Patronage Mechanisms acting as a corporate body, small groups, or individuals, nuns were often the principal patrons of the decoration of their public churches in seventeenth-century rome. Convents could undertake projects by drawing on their communal patrimony consisting of interest-bearing papal bonds (luoghi di monti), investments in longterm loans (censi), real estate, donations, inheritances, and especially the dowries which all nuns paid for their maintenance in the community.5 this corporate patronage was augmented to a significant extent by nuns who, either individually or banding together in small groups, assumed sponsorship of embellishments in their convent’s public church. the aristocratic and upper-class nuns who populated roman convents typically received livelli (allowances) from their families6 that enabled them to participate in the tradition of female ecclesiastic patronage engaged in by secular women of the same privileged social classes and that empowered the nuns with at least some measure of autonomy in shaping the character of their churches.7 Constructing Identity in the intensely image-conscious society of seventeenth-century rome, art and architecture served as crucial vehicles in the fabrication of identity for their patrons. Papal patronage intertwined individual family identity with the promotion of the historical institutions of the papacy and the Church.8 Cardinals, papal relatives, and other noble families employed decorative projects as a means of establishing and maintaining social status and prestige.9 likewise, religious orders and congregations engaged in self-promotion, utilizing the architecture and decorations of their churches to construct the identity of their community and celebrate its particular mission within the Catholic Church. the spirit of Catholic reform had given rise to new male orders and congregations like the Jesuits, Oratorians, Piarists, Ministers of the Infirm, and Congregation of the Christian doctrine among others which, along with older mendicant orders, engaged in an active apostolate of preaching, teaching, missionary work, care of the poor and sick, and instruction of the populace in Christian doctrine. these male religious performed a role of miles Christi promoting the Catholic faith through their work in the world.10

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Celebration of this role is evident, for example, in the ceilings of two Jesuit churches in rome which exalt the identity of the society of Jesus and its missionary activities in propagating the Catholic faith. in Giovanni Battista Gaulli’s Triumph of the Name of Jesus (1676–79) in the Gesù, the ihs monogram of Jesus and insignia of the Jesuits glows in a sunburst of light as a beacon to the saved ascending toward heaven while below heretics are cast down, tumbling dramatically out of the fresco. Stucco figures flanking the surrounding windows represent the geographical areas of the Jesuits’ mission. an even more emphatic celebration of Jesuit missionary activity, Fra andrea Pozzo’s Allegory of the Missionary Work of the Society of Jesus (1691–94) in s. ignazio represents divine light, emanating from God the Father and Christ with his Cross, striking Jesuit-founder st. ignatius Loyola and spreading out to other Jesuit saints and to allegorical figures of the four continents.11 the imagery triumphantly projects the Jesuits’ divinely ordained role in bringing about Christ’s mission on earth. the mission of male and female religious in the post-tridentine era was distinctly different, however. As brides of Christ, nuns fulfilled their role enclosed behind the cloister walls, segregated from the secular world. Convents were places dedicated to prayer, where nuns functioned as intercessors for humanity’s salvation and the spiritual needs of Christians. it was nuns’ virginal purity and spiritual devotion, protected by clausura, that rendered their prayers particularly efficacious. While in general ways both male and female religious embraced similar decorative themes relating to their church’s titular saint, religious order, and tenets of the post-tridentine Church, within this context the decorations of many convent churches established the female identity of their community and called attention to women’s role in the Church. this is not to claim that church decorations sponsored by religious communities were wholly gender-specific or that some similar iconographic themes did not appear in churches of both male and female communities. religious orders honored and celebrated both their male and female saints, and devotion extended to saints beyond one’s order. But through an emphasis on images of the virgin Mary, female saints, and virtues, the imagery of female convent churches associated the invisible nuns with these holy models of behavior and testified to the power of the virgin nuns to perform their crucial intercessory role. Prayer and Intercession traditionally, monastics were charged with the duty of the communal recitation of the Divine Office, a set of prayers consisting of psalms, hymns, and readings, at eight canonical hours throughout the day and night. it was through these communal prayers of praise and petition that the divine grace believed so necessary for the needs of the universal Church was received. By the

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seventeenth century, the emphasis on an active apostolate had made private recitation of the Office common for male religious,12 but the communal recitation of the prayers of liturgical hours remained the principal task of cloistered nuns, a role emphasized in a plethora of advice manuals for nuns published in the post-tridentine period. in La monaca perfetta, Carlo andrea Basso reminded nuns that the Divine Office was a public prayer which, when made in the name of the whole Church by persons particularly deputized, penetrates heaven and that in its recitation nuns imitated a choir of angels. as virgins and brides of Christ, nuns were especially empowered as intercessors. their relation to their 9.2 Giuseppe Passeri, St. Catherine divine spouse imparted them with of Siena in Prayer, c. early a status and influence even greater 1700s, santa Caterina a than that gained by a woman married Magnanapoli, rome to a secular ruler.13 in addition to traditional oral prayers, each nun was to engage in silent mental prayer in which she established a genuine dialogue with God. For instance the Constitutions of the dominican nuns at s. Maria Maddalena in Monte Cavallo prescribed at least an hour of mental prayer twice daily.14 devotional guides such as luis de la Puente’s Compendio delle Meditationi (rome, 1620) offered instruction and helped spread this practice in female convents. regarded as crucial, honorable, and special, their mission as prayerful virgin intercessors bestowed status on cloistered nuns, and decorations within their churches celebrated this role. oval medallions on the lateral walls at the entrance to the tribune in the dominican church of s. Caterina a Magnanapoli frescoed by Giuseppe Passeri, an artist favored by the nuns in their redecoration of the church’s chapels at the beginning of the eighteenth century, offered visual testament to the vocation of the nuns hidden from the public in their choir behind the tribune wall. St. Catherine of Siena in Prayer (Fig. 9.2) represents a pivotal moment in the life of st. Catherine, titular of the church, as related in raymond of Capua’s Legenda maior. the appearance of a snow-white dove above her head, seen by her father while she was praying, had confirmed Catherine’s vow of virginity and overcame her family’s opposition to her spiritual vocation.15

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on the opposite wall, the scene of Christ Offering St. Catherine the Choice of a Crown of Gold or of Thorns depicts another episode in the saint’s life when Christ appeared to her while she prayed. holding out to her a golden crown studded with pearls and precious stones and a crown of thorns, he offered her the choice of which one to wear in her lifetime and which to wear after death. Catherine “seized the crown of thorns with both hands” and pressed it onto her head, resolving to follow Christ’s own passion and take suffering to herself.16 Catherine saw herself as an intercessor suffering vicariously for the sins of others. through her tearful prayers and sinless suffering, she could win salvation for souls and alter the world.17 the public was reminded through these images of the nuns’ own vows of chastity, their lives of sacrifice in imitation of Christ, and the power of their prayers. nuns’ identity as virginal intercessors was also asserted in the nave vault frescoes of the augustinian church of s. Marta al Collegio romano (1671), painted by Giovanni Battista Gaulli and his assistants on the commission of one of the convent’s nuns, Maria scholastica Colleoni. three tondi celebrate the church’s titular, st. Martha, depicting her Apotheosis (center) flanked by scenes of St. Martha Subduing the Ferocious Dragon of Tarascon and St. Martha Resuscitating a Drowned Youth (Fig. 9.3). according to her legend, she had accompanied her sister Mary Magdalene to the south of France where they both preached and won converts. Plagued by a terrible dragon, the people of tarascon begged Martha to prove the power of Christ by ridding them of the beast. this she fearlessly proceeded to do by subduing it with the sign of the cross and binding it with her girdle. in another incident, a youth who had drowned while swimming across the rhône river to hear Martha preach was restored to life and converted by her tearful prayers. Beyond their simple appropriateness as stories of the church’s titular saint, these scenes had particular relevance in the church of this female convent. st. Martha was a virgin who had dedicated herself to the service of the lord and, according to legend, had founded the first convent for women in Gaul to which she withdrew, devoting herself to prayer and fasting.18 like Martha’s conquest of the dragon (a symbol of satan) and her restoration of the youth through her prayers, the power of the virginal nuns’ prayers won spiritual protection and salvation. although the active, public apostolate of the early Christian st. Martha was denied to cloistered nuns, their prayers were regarded as a form of action by the posttridentine Church. st. teresa of avila (1515–82), considered a model for posttridentine nuns, had asserted that nuns’ prayers to sustain priests in their struggles in the world served as a powerful weapon against heresy. this military imagery appears in other treatises for nuns that compare convents to fortifications that protect Christians from the devil and nuns’ prayers to guards defending a piazza. through their prayers nuns could be soldiers for Christ, albeit in the cloister.19 these hidden prayers of the s. Marta nuns were visibly proclaimed in the images of their titular saint on the church’s vault.

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9.3 Girolamo troppa (after the design of Giovanni Battista Gaulli), St. Martha Resuscitating a Drowned Youth, c. 1671–72, santa Marta al Collegio romano, rome When the tribune of s. Marta was embellished with paintings, marbles, and stuccoes, under the patronage of abbess Maria eleonora Boncompagni in 1672– 73, a painting of Christ in the House of Mary and Martha by Guglielmo Cortese was placed on the high altar above the grate that communicated to the nuns’ choir behind the tribune wall. in the painting Christ gently admonishes Martha for her criticism of her sister Mary, who had been intently listening to Christ’s teaching instead of assisting with dinner preparations. While traditionally this theme (luke

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10: 39–42) represented the active and contemplative life and suggested the superior virtue of the latter, post-tridentine theology favored a mixed life that combined charitable good works and contemplation. though the possibility for this might seem more available to male religious or lay persons, it was also relevant to the augustinian nuns of s. Marta who engaged in contemplative meditation and an active role of educating young female boarders as was common in many convents.20 st. teresa of avila drew a more direct connection between mental prayer and service to God, asserting that in active work, the soul is working interiorly and that “Martha and Mary never fail to work almost together when the soul is in this state.”21 treatises addressed to nuns in this era also referred to the theme of Mary and Martha in recognizing the varied legitimate roles that nuns, possessed more of one nature or the other, could play within their convent community.22 thus the high altar painting at S. Marta al Collegio Romano both reflected contemporary spiritual ideals and acknowledged the diverse contributions of the convent’s cloistered nuns. Female Exemplars: Institutional and Spiritual Identity When the augustinian nuns at s. lucia in selci decorated their public church in the mid-seventeenth century, they established their corporate identity with subjects related to their titular saint and religious order within a context of female exemplars and spirituality.23 the convent’s titular, the early Christian virgin martyr st. lucy, was depicted on the nave vault, commissioned by antonio Cerri, whose daughters were nuns in the convent, and in a scene of her martyrdom painted by Giovanni lanfranco in a lateral chapel under the patronage of two nuns from the vanini family. st. lucy’s renunciation of marriage and distribution of her wealth to the poor paralleled the nuns’ vows of chastity and poverty. virgin martyrs like st. lucy were held up as models of Christian perfection for women. although both male and female religious made a vow of chastity, the virginal state became most emphatically required for female monastics to attain Christian perfection. through virginity women transcended their bodily nature and perceived female weakness and achieved spiritual power. But virginity was a fragile treasure to be zealously guarded, and virgin martyr saints who had heroically defended their chastity and faith served as the ultimate exemplars.24 this theme of empowered virginity appears again in anastasio Fontebuoni’s high altar painting of the Annunciation (1606) commissioned by the convent. according to st. augustine in De Virginitate, Mary’s role in the incarnation demonstrated Christ’s approval of her dedication to virginity, and by extension all holy virgins were associated with Mary as mothers of Christ.25 nuns were urged to imitate Mary, the true mother of good nuns, whose virtues of virginity, humility, and obedience made her the ideal model of female piety.26 the high

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9.4 andrea Camassei, St. John the Evangelist Giving Communion to the Virgin, c. 1636–39, santa lucia in selci, rome altarpiece thus celebrated the convent’s virgin nuns and reminded the public of their special relationship with Mary and Christ. it was in the eucharist that nuns achieved their most complete union with Christ, and they ardently desired to partake of the body of Christ in this sacrament.27 in the Chapel of the sacrament, decorated under the patronage of sister isabella Melchiorri, the virgin receives Communion from st. John the evangelist in andrea Camassei’s altarpiece (Fig. 9.4). the Counter-reformation

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Church reaffirmed the doctrine of transubstantiation and promoted Eucharistic devotion as a means of Catholic reform. to partake frequently of the eucharist was to participate more fully in this reform.28 the Council of trent decreed that nuns should confess and receive Communion at least once a month, but greater frequency was more common, and the nuns at s. lucia took Communion at least twice a week.29 the eucharist was a potent weapon against sin and a preserver of the chastity that made nuns efficacious intercessors between the human and divine, and prayers made during mass or holy Communion were considered to have a particular divine energy that filled the soul with a sanctified spirit.30 Painted depictions of the last Communion of saints, like Camassei’s teacher domenichino’s Last Communion of St. Jerome (1614), helped foster devotion to the sacrament in the seventeenth century. Significantly, in the context of the female convent at s. lucia in selci, it is the virgin who receives Communion from st. John who, dressed in priestly vestments, holds up the host centered between the gazes of the two figures. A white cloth held in Mary’s outstretched arms recalls Christ’s swaddling cloth and funeral shroud, and as Mary is about to receive her son’s body in the form of the consecrated host, she seems about to take his physical body again into her arms reminding the viewer of her privileged relationship to Christ. the nuns’ own sacramental act of course would never have been visible to the public since they received Communion inside the cloister via a small window located to the side of the high altar, but the virgin represents the convent’s nuns who partook of the Communion hosts conserved within the sumptuous ciborium on the altar below. images like this one or Benedetto luti’s Communion of Mary Magdalene in the dominican church of s. Caterina a Magnanapoli, in which a tearful penitent Magdalene, supported by angels, receives her last Communion from st. Maximin, served to highlight the nuns’ special relationship to the divine.31 But in both paintings the reception of the host is mediated and controlled by male priests. the subordinate positions of Mary and the Magdalene in relation respectively to John and Maximin (who administer the sacrament) reinforce the hierarchical authority of the priest in making the miracle of the transubstantiation. in fact, the post-tridentine Church’s emphasis on frequent Communion was one means of reasserting priestly authority.32 although such images celebrate a female spirituality, the distinction between male and female roles in the official Church is clearly maintained. even in the chapel dedicated to st. augustine, author of the monastic rule followed by the order named for him, female spirituality and intercessory mission is incorporated into the iconography. under the patronage of two nuns from the Cerri family, the chapel was adorned with Camassei’s painting of a Vision of St. Augustine in which the saint kneels in adoration of the virgin and Christ as conurturers of the church. the theme of the double intercession through the blood of Christ and the milk of the virgin expressed in this vision was one closely associated with female piety. Medieval female mystics associated female lactation

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with Christ’s nurture through the blood of his wounds, and the concept of the double intercession remained a devotional focus in the seventeenth century.33 in the Chapel of the trinity (1637–39), decorated on the commission of sister Clarice vittoria landi, stuccoed scenes on the framing arch refer to the virgin’s relation to the trinity in her role as the vehicle of the incarnation, expressed in scenes of abraham and the angels, an old testament prototype for the annunciation and the trinity, and of Jacob’s ladder, which represented the union of heaven and earth accomplished through Mary. Jacob’s ladder was also closely associated with prayer as a means by which angels continually ascend and descend to carry Christians’ petitions to God. regarded as the companions of angels, virgin nuns also served as conduits of prayer uniting heaven and earth.34 in Giuseppe Cesari d’arpino’s altarpiece, st. Monica shares a vision of the trinity with the Augustinian saint Nicholas of Tolentino. This latter figure originally may have represented st. augustine, Monica’s son and author of a treatise on the trinity.35 the presence of the fons vitae (fountain of life) in a cartouche on the chapel arch and a view of water and the rising sun in the background of the painting allude to a mystical experience shared by Monica and augustine at ostia toward the end of her life.36 augustine’s early spiritual mentor Monica had helped win her son’s conversion through her abundant tearful prayers. nuns were reminded by writers like Cardinal agostino valerio that God washed away the sins of the world with their own tears shed in prayer.37 in both the Chapels of st. augustine and the trinity, female figures as spiritual intercessors paralleled this role of the cloistered nuns. the female exemplars in the church of s. lucia, however, were not presented as an inspiration to the nuns, who were not their audience, but as public representatives of the piety of the invisible women enclosed behind the walls. Female imagery also dominates the dominican church of s. Maria dell’umiltà. Founded in 1601 by noblewoman Francesca Baglione orsini, this austere dominican convent was esteemed for its strict observance and devotion to spiritual perfection.38 stucco statues depicting virgin martyr saints agnes, ursula, agatha, Cecilia, Catherine of alexandria, and Barbara, whose lives and martyrdoms attested to virtues of chastity, piety, humility, intellect, heroic fortitude, and faith, are placed in niches lining the nave.39 above are paintings of other holy women, Mary Magdalene, st. anne, st. helen, and st. Catherine of siena, who had attained the heights of Christian perfection to which the nuns in the cloister at s. Maria dell umiltà dedicated their lives. among the saints depicted, Catherine of siena, Cecilia, agnes, Catherine of alexandria, and Mary Magdalene held special relevance for the dominican order, further connecting the nuns of this convent to these particular female saints. Catherine of siena, a dominican tertiary, was considered a model of female spirituality. st. Cecilia was regarded as a special protector of the dominican order, having appeared in various visions to st. dominic and other dominican saints, while agnes, Mary Magdalene, and Catherine of alexandria had also bestowed divine favor on

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several members of the order.40 these latter two saints appear again in stucco reliefs flanking the high altar. since its origins the dominican order had particularly venerated sts. Mary Magdalene and Catherine of alexandria as protectors due to their association with the preaching and erudition fundamental to the friars’ apostolate.41 Apostolorum apostola, Mary Magdalene announced Christ’s resurrection to the apostles (John 20: 1–18) and, according to her legend, developed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and related in Jacobus de voragine’s widely read Legenda aurea (c. 1255–66), after Christ’s ascension she traveled to Marseilles where she preached and converted the pagan population prior to retiring to the wilderness to live a hermitic life in contemplation. the erudite Catherine of alexandria adroitly defended the Christian faith against fifty pagan philosophers assembled by emperor Maxentius, converting them and instructing them in the faith before their martyrdom.42 though these female saints were highly esteemed by the Church and their evangelizing accepted as part of their legend, their active apostolate of preaching presented an uncomfortable paradox since it contradicted the teachings of st. Paul who had forbidden women to teach or exercise authority over men (1 timothy 2: 12). theologians struggled to rationalize the activities of women like Catherine, Mary Magdalene, or Martha with Pauline prohibition and sought to neutralize the implications of their preaching by declaring that the holy spirit had granted this singular privilege to these exceptional holy women.43 it is not as erudite preachers but in the guise of intercessors that sts. Mary Magdalene and Catherine of alexandria appear in the Chapel of st. dominic decorated through the patronage of a devout nun in the convent of s. Maria dell’umiltà, angela ottini (c. 1613–99). in the altarpiece, attributed to the school of Francesco Allegrini, the two saints flank the Virgin holding an image of St. dominic (Fig. 9.5). the subject refers to a much-venerated miraculous image of st. dominic, popularly believed to be an acheiropoieta, in the church of s. domenico in soriano (Calabria). according to tradition, in 1530 Fra lorenzo da Grotteria, a lay brother in the dominican community of soriano, experienced a vision in which the three holy women presented him with the image of st. dominic for the church. Placed according to the virgin’s instructions on the high altar, the image soon became the object of a cult due to its purported miraculous powers, among which was its special efficacy for female fertility and safe childbirth. Demonstrating divine favor to the order, the image was an extremely popular subject in dominican churches of both male and female communities.44 in the altarpiece in s. Maria dell’umiltà, the three holy women present an image of st. dominic that retains the late fifteenth- to early sixteenth-century style and iconic character of the original. here the position of the monk of soriano is assumed by the viewer of the altarpiece to whom the image is presented. the relatively static poses of the saintly women reinforce the contemplative, iconic character of the altarpiece. suor angela ottini, who according to her convent’s necrology, covered the walls of her

9.5 attributed to the school of Francesco allegrini, Virgin and Sts. Mary Magdalene and Catherine of Alexandria with the Image of St. Dominic of Soriano, santa Maria dell’umiltà, rome

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cell with printed images of saints, to which she continually appealed for spiritual aid,45 may well have favored this rather conservative iconic representation of the subject. a more dramatic narrative interpretation of the same subject was depicted in Pier Francesco Mola’s altarpiece for the Chapel of st. dominic decorated by several dominican nuns from the Costaguti family in ss. domenico e sisto.46 Here the Virgin, flanked by Sts. Catherine and Mary Magdalene, appears seated on clouds in a hazy, golden light and presents the image of st. dominic to the dominican friar kneeling in rapt adoration. although the subject of the Vision of a Friar at Soriano honors st. dominic, founder of the dominican order, and in both these churches was placed in chapels dedicated to him, it is female saints who play the principal role, functioning as vehicles to bestow divine favor. this particular subject of st. dominic would have borne special resonance in the context of a female convent where nuns through their prayers also served as intercessors to win divine favor for humanity. Furthermore in their own patronage of chapel decorations, nuns emulated the divine patronage of the holy women who donated the image of st. dominic to the church in soriano. St. Catherine of Siena, Dominican Exemplar While devotional guides and manuals for nuns evoked the lives of female martyrs and holy women as exemplars, nuns were especially advised to model themselves on saints of their order.47 representative of how these saintly models were utilized to construct a public identity for enclosed nuns is the prevalence of images of the fourteenth-century dominican tertiary st. Catherine of siena in the dominican convent churches of s. Maria dell’umiltà, ss. domenico e sisto, and s. Caterina a Magnanapoli. Her imagery in these churches reflects how female spirituality was characterized by the post-tridentine Church. although Catherine had engaged in a public apostolate of charitable works and had played a role in significant political and ecclesiastical events of her day, influencing Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from avignon and working for peace and the reform of the Church, her principal biographer, raymond of Capua in the Legenda maior (1385–95), emphasized the mystic and ascetic aspects of her life, presenting her as a “suffering vessel of supernatural power” in a manner that conformed with late medieval attitudes toward female sanctity. she endured this great suffering as an “offering of prayer to God for the salvation of souls.” the Legenda maior established st. Catherine of siena as a popular model for post-tridentine nuns, but, as Karen scott has noted, within the religious context of the period that emphasized inner spiritual life and enclosure for religious women, the only relevant aspects of Catherine’s life for nuns were the ascetic and mystical ones, not her public apostolate.48 it was her ardent prayers for intercession, mystical experiences, and fervent practice of the sacraments of Penance and Communion that offered ideal examples of religious

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values privileged by the post-tridentine Church.49 Catherine’s imitation of Christ and divine union had empowered her apostolate of attaining salvation for souls. While she effected this mission both in her cell and in the public world, literature directed to post-tridentine nuns promoted the idea that they could accomplish a similar mission of salvation from within the cloister through their attainment of spiritual perfection and the power of their prayers. Catherinian iconography was transformed from late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century images that present her as an active and heroic model of sanctity to images in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which emphasize her visionary or contemplative experiences.50 it is in the guise of these images depicting her special union with Christ and her divine rewards that she appears in dominican convent churches in rome. on the altar of the Chapel of st. Catherine decorated with marbles, stuccoes, and paintings in 1632 at the expense of innocentia Giustini, a nun in the convent at ss. domenico e sisto, is a painting of the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena, attributed to Francesco allegrini.51 during the formative phase of her spiritual development, Catherine, who had dedicated her virginity to Christ, sought his aid in perfecting her faith to confirm her surrender to him. His promise, “I will espouse you to me in faith,” is recalled in the inscription over the chapel arch. the altarpiece relates to raymond of Capua’s description of the mystical espousal that occurred on shrove tuesday, when Christ appeared to Catherine praising her for turning her back on the worldly delights enjoyed by others and setting her heart on him as the only object of her desire. While he spoke, the virgin Mary, st. John the evangelist, st. Paul, st. dominic, and david with his harp appeared with him. taking Catherine’s right hand, the virgin held it toward Christ who placed a gold ring set with four pearls and surmounted with a diamond on her finger. In the altarpiece, however, it is st. dominic, rather than the virgin, who supports Catherine’s outstretched arm.52 this departure from raymond’s account may reflect a desire on the part of Sister Innocentia Giustini to highlight the founder of her order and the co-titular of her church. her particular devotion to both sts. Dominic and Catherine, noted in the chronicles of the convent, is reflected in her patronage.53 derived from the biblical song of songs, the concept of mystical marriage, originally interpreted as a marriage between God and the Church or the soul, evolved into the idea of the Christian virgin as the bride of Christ, and by the late medieval period the sponsa Christi metaphor had become particularly associated with female monasticism.54 the song of songs was a central text in seicento nuns’ spiritual lives, and its espousal imagery filled the devotional literature they read. Its prevalence extended as well to the seventeenth-century musical repertoire that was sometimes performed by or written by cloistered women.55 nuns were considered the brides of Christ in the mode of st. Catherine of siena or her prototype st. Catherine of alexandria. like st. Catherine, the ideal virginal nun turned her back

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on worldly pleasures and focused her desire solely on Christ. as Christ’s bride, the nun, like st. Catherine, was empowered as an intercessor for salvation. the theme was a means of affirming a relative autonomy for cloistered women in the Church by embracing the authority of their divine spouse. Another visionary episode that represented an intensification of Catherine’s union with Christ was the mystical exchange of hearts, a subject represented on one of the lateral walls of the Chapel of st. Catherine in ss. domenico e sisto and in one of the paintings on the upper wall of the nave in s. Maria dell’umiltà. in response to Catherine’s plea for a clean heart and renewed spirit so that she might more completely submit her will to Christ, he appeared and took her heart, replacing it with his own glowing heart a few days later after she had been absorbed in prayer. From this time on her visionary experiences at Communion increased.56 implicit within this episode are themes of prayer, desire for spiritual perfection, and eucharistic devotion promoted by the post-tridentine Church and particularly expressive of the ideal life of nuns. st. Catherine appears in the altarpieces of chapels dedicated to the Madonna of the rosary in both ss. domenico e sisto and s. Caterina a Magnanapoli. according to tradition, the rosary, a chaplet of beads forming the basis of three cycles of meditations on the mysteries of the virgin Mary, had been given to st. dominic (1208) as an aid to counter the albigensian heresy, and since the fifteenth century it had been promoted as a form of prayer by the Dominicans. For their devotion to the virgin, two sisters, suor ortensia and suor Maria Caterina Celsi, in 1652 decorated the Chapel of the virgin of the rosary in ss. domenico e sisto.57 in order to render more effective the individual daily recitation of the rosary observed by dominican nuns, suor innocentia Giustini while she was prioress (elected 1624) had instituted the practice of a communal recitation in the nuns’ choir by both the professed choir nuns and the lay nuns (converse) of the community at ss. domenico e sisto.58 in Giovan Francesco romanelli’s altarpiece of the Madonna of the Rosary the virgin seated on clouds hands a string of rosary beads to st. dominic while the Christ Child, holding a second chaplet of beads, directs his attention toward st. Catherine, kneeling on the right of the composition. although a tertiary, Catherine is garbed in the black veil of a dominican nun as she was often shown in the seventeenth century. When the dominican nuns of s. Caterina a Magnanapoli undertook the redecoration of their church’s lateral chapels at the beginning of the eighteenth century, they furnished the Chapel of the rosary with a new painting of the Madonna of the Rosary by Giuseppe Passeri (c. 1705). here st. dominic receives the rosary from the Madonna with humble gratitude while the infant Christ gazes down to st. Catherine, kneeling in prayerful adoration and dressed like the convent’s dominican nuns. a contemplative spirit of devotion pervades the picture. this popular subject celebrated the divine favor shown to the dominican order and to st. Catherine of siena as well as highlighting the devotional practices of the nuns who daily recited the rosary.

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Comprising part of the early eighteenth-century campaign of embellishments at s. Caterina a Magnanapoli, two other paintings, by luigi Garzi, exalt st. Catherine’s divine reward for her spiritual perfection. in the Chapel of all saints (c. 1701–02), she appears as principal protagonist in the altarpiece of St. Catherine and the Glory of All Saints (Fig. 9.6). attired as a dominican nun and wearing her

9.6 luigi Garzi, St. Catherine and the Glory of All Saints, c. 1701–02, santa Caterina a Magnanapoli, rome

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crown of thorns, she is received into heaven by the virgin Mary who recommends her to the trinity above while indicating other saints below. occupying the foreground are sts. Peter, John the evangelist, and Paul, saints who had appeared to Catherine in a pivotal childhood vision and were especially venerated by her.59 an analogous theme is depicted in Garzi’s nave vault fresco of the Glory of St. Catherine (c. 1700–12) where, amidst the heavenly hosts, angels hold the three crowns of sainthood over st. Catherine who kneels before a welcoming virgin Mary, while Christ above bestows his blessing. a sculpted relief of St. Catherine of Siena in Ecstasy above the high altar provides a highly dramatic focal point in s. Caterina a Magnanapoli. designed in the late 1660s by Melchiorre Caffà at the expense of suor Camilla Peretti, grandniece of Sixtus V, the white marble figure of the saint stands out against a warmly colored polychrome marble background framed by black and white Corinthian columns.60 Half-kneeling on angel-filled clouds, her deeply carved drapery aflutter, she is swept upward in ecstasy. Wearing her crown of thorns she gazes up in rapture to the glory of God the Father in the dome over the presbytery. in the intermediate levels of the altar, the dove of the holy spirit in an aureole and a shining cross held by a group of stucco angles complete the allusion to the trinity. Catherine’s intense eucharistic devotion is evoked in the placement of her image directly above the ciborium that conserves the Communion host (body of Christ) on the high altar (the sumptuous eighteenth-century ciborium now on the altar replaced a similarly rich one present in the seventeenth century).61 her reception of the sacrament of Communion precipitated many of her mystical experiences in which her soul was totally unified with God. In Catherine’s Dialogue, dictated during her mystical experiences, levitation is described as characteristic of the unitive stage of spiritual development in which the perfect union of the soul with God through love causes the body to be lifted from the earth, and in this state God gives knowledge of himself and the trinity.62 here in the image above the high altar, we witness Catherine’s ecstatic levitation through her eucharistic union and contemplation of the trinity. as a saint who had achieved spiritual perfection, Catherine was a model for nuns, but she also was an ideal representative of the spiritual work in which nuns were engaged for Christian society and stood for them as well. Noble Virgins and Family Identity one of the primary motives of the enforcement of enclosure was to separate nuns from the influence of their families, regarded as detrimental to the good governance of convents and to the nuns’ attainment of spiritual perfection. however, roman nuns steadfastly maintained their family ties which were of crucial financial and social value to their convents. the population of roman convents was drawn

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from the noble and upper classes, and the esteemed social status of its nuns enhanced a convent’s reputation.63 even when she became a bride of Christ and entered into her new convent “family” into whose institutional identity she was inscribed,64 a nun still retained her familial identity that gave her status and empowered her to act as a patron in her monastic community. although Charles Borromeo had declared that heraldic devices which conveyed a worldly magnificence should be avoided in churches,65 many roman nuns, like secular patrons, paid little heed to this advice. at the ancient, noble Benedictine convent of s. 9.7 de torres family stemma on ambrogio della Massima, nuns acted the high altar, san ambrogio as the principal patrons of their public della Massima, rome church in which they acknowledged their institutional identity through saints and images particularly associated with their venerable convent. But at the same time, by displaying their family stemmi (coats of arms) (Fig. 9.7) on the dome, high altar, chapels, and choir gallery, they proclaimed their natal lineage, honored their families, and asserted their enduring familial identity. While not all nuns marked their patronage with stemmi, this same commemoration of family identity can be found in many other convent churches including s. lucia in selci, ss. domenico e sisto, and s. Maria dell’umiltà. Conclusion in keeping with the mentality of their time, nuns were intensely concerned with providing for the spiritual decorum of their public churches through decorations and liturgical furnishings, viewing this as a way to honor God and the saints, stimulate public devotion, and gain spiritual merit. sequestered behind walls and grates, nuns’ bodies were invisible, physically absent from this public space, yet the decoration of their churches, of which nuns were the principal patrons, imbued these enclosed women with a presence and visibility. these decorations functioned to construct and celebrate nuns’ identities as female religious, members of particular monastic communities, and daughters of prestigious families.

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the decorations in the public church presented an ideal image of the nuns and their religious communities. in spite of the Council of trent’s effort to ensure sincere vocations and the fervid dedication to a life of spiritual perfection evidenced by many nuns, certainly not all had freely chosen their monastic vocation, and others were tepid in their devotion. But their churches represented their communities within the guise of Church-sanctioned models of female virtues and monastic spirituality. Many of the themes in their decorations – nuns as brides of Christ, the double intercession, eucharistic devotion, devout tears, holy female models – also pervade the musical repertoire of early modern female convents, as recent scholarship by music historians has demonstrated.66 By embracing these ideals, nuns and their convents gained authority and honor. they in a sense “played to their strengths,” accepting and valuing their ordained role as chaste brides of Christ and prayerful intercessors. their churches celebrated this special mission that empowered them and gave them validity within the Catholic Church that restricted women in so many other ways. the metal grates separating their inner spaces from the public church or the grillecovered upper-level choir galleries projecting into naves or transepts called attention to the enclosure that ensured their purity and fostered the spiritual perfection that rendered their prayers efficacious. While imagery inside the cloister displayed a wider range of personal devotional preferences, subjects of paintings and sculptures in the public church established the corporate, female, and spiritual identity of the nuns within a convent.67 Promoted as models for nuns, the saintly female exemplars that dominated many decorations became models of the nuns, representing their spiritual merit and service to the public. While, to a great extent, post-tridentine nuns in rome absorbed and subscribed to the dominant ideals of female spirituality conveyed by the male hierarchy of the Church, they also subtly contested enclosure by claiming a more active and visible role as patrons of their churches and by perpetuating their family identity in some of their decorations. through an active agency as art patrons of their churches, the invisible nuns manifested a visible presence that connected them to the social fabric of rome and commemorated the identities of these religious women.68 Notes 1 2

h.J. schroeder, trans. and ed., Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (st. louis, 1941), 220–221. evelyn Carole voelker, “Charles Borromeo’s Instructiones fabricae et supellectilis ecclesiasticae, 1577. a translation with Commentary and analysis” (Phd dissertation, syracuse university, 1977); Marilyn dunn, “spaces shaped for spiritual Perfection: Convent architecture and nuns in early Modern rome,” in Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe, helen hills, ed. (aldershot uK and

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4 5 6 7

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9 10

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Burlington vt, 2003), 151–176; and helen hills, Invisible City: The Architecture of Devotion in Seventeenth-Century Neapolitan Convents (new york, 2004), esp. Ch. 6. hills (Invisible City, 147, 159–160) notes how the gilded ornamental grille-work that screened choirs drew attention to the invisible virginal bodies of the nuns. the fact that these enclosures hid the nuns’ bodies, while their voices could be heard reciting or singing liturgical services, emphasized their symbolic resemblance to angels; see silvia evangelisti, Nuns. A History of Convent Life 1450–1700 (new york, 2007), 113. dunn, “spaces,” 153. thomas M. Kealy, Dowry of Women Religious. A Historical Synopsis and Commentary (Washington dC, 1941), 1. Giovanni Battista de luca, Il religioso pratico dell’uno e dell’altro sesso (rome, 1679), 168. among Carolyn valone’s numerous publications on secular women as patrons of ecclesiastical art and architecture in rome, see “Women on the Quirinal hill: Patronage in early Modern rome,” Art Bulletin, 76/1 (1994): 129–146; and “Piety and Patronage: Women and the early Jesuits,” in Creative Women in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, e. ann Matter and John Coakley, eds (Philadelphia, 1994), 157– 184. also see Marilyn dunn, “spiritual Philanthropists: Women as Convent Patrons in seicento rome,” in Women and Art in Early Modern Europe, Cynthia lawrence, ed. (university Park Pa, 1997), 154–188. Maarten delbeke, “individual and institutional identity: Galleries of Barberini Projects,” in Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome, Jill Burke and Michael Bury, eds (aldershot, 2008), 231–246; and stephanie C. leone, The Palazzo Pamphili in Piazza Navona: Constructing Identity in Early Modern Rome (london, 2008). John Beldon scott, Images of Nepotism: The Painted Ceilings of Palazzo Barberini (Princeton, 1991). Gabriella Zarri, “Gender, religious institutions and social discipline: the reform of the regulars,” in Gender and Society in Renaissance Italy, Judith C. Brown and robert C. davis, eds (london, 1998), 208, 212. Gauvin alexander Bailey, “italian renaissance and Baroque Painting under the Jesuits and its legacy throughout Catholic europe, 1565–1773,” in The Jesuits and the Arts 1540–1773, John W. o’Malley sJ and Gauvin alexander Bailey, eds (Philadelphia, 2005), 188–195. Pierre salmon, The Breviary Through the Centuries, trans. sister david Mary (Collegeville Mn, 1962), 1–26. Carlo andrea Basso, La monaca perfetta (venice, 1674), 27–29, 99–112. alberto Zucchi, Roma domenicana. Note storiche (4 vols, Florence, 1938–43), vol. 1, 206–208. raymond of Capua, The Life of Catherine of Siena, Conleth Kearns oP, ed. (Wilmington de, 1980), 48–49. raymond of Capua, Life, 151–152. Karen scott, Not Only with Words, but with Deeds: The Role of Speech in Catherine of Siena’s Understanding of her Mission (ann arbor, 1989), 352–354. Jacobus de voragine, The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, William Granger ryan, trans. (2 vols, Princeton, 1993), vol. 2, 23–26; david Mycoff, ed., The Life of

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20

21

22 23 24

25

26 27

28 29 30 31

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Mary Magdalene and of her Sister Saint Martha. A Medieval Biography (Kalamazoo, 1989); anna Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art (2 vols, n.p., 1896), vol. 1, 381– 383. st. theresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection, trans. alice alexander (Westminster Md, 1946), 15; Jodi Bilinkoff, The Avila of St. Teresa: Religious Reform in a SixteenthCentury City (ithaca ny, 1989), 134–136; agostino valerio, Ricordi di Monsignor Agost. Valerio, vesc. Di Verona Lasciati alle Monache nella sua visitatione fatta l’Anno del Santis. Giubileo MDLXXV (venice, 1575), 8; and Francesco Beretta, Lettera d’istruzioni ad una monaca novizia (Padua, 1724), 75–76. Marilyn r. dunn, “nuns as art Patrons: the decoration of s. Marta al Collegio romano,” Art Bulletin, 70 (1988): 451–477, esp. 458–461; and tanya J. tiffany, “visualizing devotion in early Modern seville: velázquez’s Christ in the House of Martha and Mary,” Sixteenth Century Journal, 76 (2005): 433–453, esp. 439–442. as discussed and quoted in Jodi Bilinkoff, “Woman with a Mission: teresa of avila and the apostolic Model,” in Modelli di santità e modelli di comportamento: Contrasti, intersezioni, complementarità, Giulia Barone, Marina Caffiero, and Francesco Scorza Barcellona, eds (turin, 1994), 299. valerio, Ricordi, 37–38; and Beretta, Lettera, 70–71. see Marilyn dunn, “Piety and agency: Patronage at the Convent of s. lucia in selci,” Aurora, 1 (2000): 29–59. Beretta, Lettera, 50; Jane tibbetts schulenburg, “the heroics of virginity: Brides of Christ and Sacrificial Mutilation,” in Women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Literary and Historical Perspectives, Mary Beth rose, ed. (syracuse ny, 1986), 29–71; and John Bugge, Virginitas: An Essay in the History of a Medieval Idea (the hague, 1975). Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 3, Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises, P. schaff, ed. (Peabody Ma, 1994), 418; and Bugge, Virginitas, 148. Basso, La monaca, 113–125. Carolyn Walker Bynum, “Women Mystics and eucharistic devotion in the thirteenth Century,” in Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion (new york, 1991), 119–150; e. ann Matter, “interior Maps of an eternal external: the spiritual rhetoric of Maria domitilla Galluzzi d’acqui,” in The Religious Experience of Medieval Women Mystics, ulrike Wiethaus, ed. (syracuse ny, 1993), 60–73; and Jodi Bilinkoff, Related Lives: Confessors and Their Female Penitents 1450–1750 (ithaca ny, 2005), 92–94. Frederick J. McGinness, “Roma Sancta and the saint: eucharist, Chastity, and the logic of Catholic reform,” Historical Reflections, 15/1 (1988): 99–116. schroeder, Canons and Decrees, 224; and archivio segreto vaticano (asv), visita apostolica, n. 114, fasc. 1. Beretta, Lettera, 73–74; and alphonsus rodriguez, The Practice of Christian and Religious Perfection (3 vols, new york, 1855), vol. 2, 433–445. Nuns’ devotion to the Eucharist is also reflected in the Eucharistic theme of motets performed by italian nuns in some convents during the elevation of the host, in which music expressed the emotional elation of the communicant. see robert Kendrick,

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32

33

34

35 36 37 38 39 40 41

42 43 44 45

46 47 48

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Celestial Sirens: Nuns and Their Music in Early Modern Milan (oxford, 1996), 368– 369; and Colleen reardon, Holy Concord Within Sacred Walls: Nuns and Music in Siena, 1575–1700 (oxford, 2002), 170–171. McGinness, “Roma Sancta,” 106–107; and sara F. Matthews Grieco, “Models of Female sanctity in renaissance and Counter-reformation italy,” in Women and Faith: Catholic Religious Life in Italy from Late Antiquity to the Present, lucretta Scaraffia and Gabriella Zarri, eds (Cambridge MA, 1999), 168–169. Carolyn Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women (Berkeley, 1987), 27–74; and Kendrick, Celestial Sirens, 175–176, 358–361. He notes that the Double Intercession figured as the theme of music composed by the seventeenth-century Milanese nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. rodriguez, The Practice, vol. 1, 236–237; Basso, La monaca, 307; valerio, Ricordi, 36–37; and Gabriella Zarri, “ursula and Catherine: the Marriage of virgins in the sixteenth Century,” in Creative Women in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, e. ann Matter and John Coakley, eds (Philadelphia, 1994), 238–239. herwarth röttgen, Il Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d’Arpino: Un grande pittore nello splendore della fama e nell’incostanza della fortuna (rome, 2002), 493. augustine, Confessions, trans. henry Chadwick (oxford, 1991), 170–171, iX. x (23– 24). valerio, Ricordi, 15. domenico Bertucci, Istoria della vita ed azioni di Francesca Baglioni Orsini fondatrice del monastero di S. Maria dell’Umiltà di Roma (rome, 1753), 204. Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art, vol. 2. Zucchi, Roma Domenicana, vol. 1, 52; and F.C. lehner, Saint Dominic: Biographical Documents (Washington dC, 1964), 174–176. antonino Barilaro, San Domenico in Soriano (soriano Calabro, 1967), 20; and Katherine ludwig Jansen, “Maria Magdalena: apostolorum apostola,” in Women Preachers and Prophets Through Two Millennia of Christianity, Beverly Mayne Kienzle and Pamela J. Walker, eds (Berkeley, 1998), 73. Jansen, “apostolorum apostola,” 57–96; and Jacobus de voragine, The Golden Legend, vol. 1, 374–383, and vol. 2, 334–341. alcuin Blamires, “Women and Preaching in Medieval orthodoxy, heresy, and saints’ lives,” Viator, 26 (1995): 135–152. see Barilaro, San Domenico in Soriano. archivum Generale ordinis Praedicatorum (aGoP) Xii. 8000 Mon. ab humilitate, “libro delle memorie delle nostre monache defonte di questo monastero di s. M. del hum.ta.” virginia Bernardini, andreina draghi, and Guia verdesi, SS. Domenico e Sisto (rome, 1991), 84–86. valerio, Ricordi, 42; and Beretta, Lettera, 42, 79. observations and quoted passages are from Karen scott, “st. Catherine of siena, ‘apostola’,” Church History, 61/1 (1992): 34–46, esp. 34–36. also see Karen scott, “Mystical death, Bodily death: Catherine of siena and raymond of Capua on the Mystic’s encounter with God,” in Gendered Voices: Medieval Saints and Their

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52 53 54

55

56 57

58 59 60 61 62

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64 65 66 67

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy Interpreters, Catherine M. Mooney, ed. (Philadelphia, 1999), 136–167; and John W. Coakley, Women, Men, and Spiritual Power: Female Saints and Their Male Collaborators (new york, 2006), Ch. 9. lidia Bianchi and diega Giunta, Iconografia di S. Caterina da Siena. vol. 1, Immagine (rome, 1988), 107. Grieco, “Models of Female sanctity,” 169–172. Bernardini et al., SS. Domenico e Sisto, 63–64; and archivio del Monastero del ss. rosario (aMr), suor domenica salamonia, “Memorie del Monastero di ss. domenico e sisto,” 5:72. also see röttgen (Il Cavalier, 534–536) who attributes the painting to Flaminio allegrini. raymond of Capua, Life, 106–108. raimondo spiazzi, Cronache e fioretti del monastero di San Sisto all’Appia (Bologna, 1993), 409–410. Bugge, Virginitas, esp. Chs 3 and 4; e. ann Matter, “Mystical Marriage,” in Women and Faith: Catholic Religious Life in Italy from Late Antiquity to the Present, lucretta Scaraffia and Gabriella Zarri, eds (Cambridge, 1999), 31–41. Kendrick, Celestial Sirens, 166–169, 244–245, 255; and Kimberlyn Montford, “Music in the Convents of Counter-reformation rome” (Phd dissertation, rutgers university, 1999), 148–149, 157. raymond of Capua, Life, 174–175; and thomas Mcdermott oP, Catherine of Siena. Spiritual Development in Her Life and Teaching (new york, 1989), 49–50. archivio del Monastero del ss. rosario, domenica salamonia, “Memorie del Monastero di ss. domenico e sisto,” 5:72v; Bernardini et al., SS. Domenico e Sisto, 51–61. spiazzi, Cronache, 409–410. raymond of Capua, Life, 29–31. Mario Bevilacqua, Santa Caterina da Siena a Magnanapoli (rome, 1993), 97–99. Bevilacqua, Santa Caterina, 104–105. raymond of Capua, Life, 181–186, 288–297; and Mcdermott, Catherine of Siena, 38, 41–43, 50–51, 61–64, 211–212. also see Bevilacqua, Santa Caterina, 98–99, for his relation of the altar’s imagery to Catherine’s writings on divine light. helen hills, “‘enamelled with the Blood of a noble lineage’: tracing noble Blood and Female holiness in early Modern neapolitan Convents and their architecture,” Church History, 73/1 (March 2004): 1–40, esp. 1–2. see K.J.P. lowe, Nuns’ Chronicles and Convent Culture in Renaissance and CounterReformation Italy (Cambridge, 2003). voelker, Instructiones fabricae, 450. Kendrick, Celestial Sirens, 166–169, 175–176, 358–361, 369, 427; Montford, “Music,” 177; reardon, Holy Concord, 170–171. Craig Monson, Disembodied Voices: Music and Culture in an Early Modern Italian Convent (Berkeley, 1995), 32, 103–104, notes a similar pattern in Bologna. also see dunn, “spaces,” 155; and helen hills, “the housing of institutional architecture: searching for a domestic holy in Post-tridentine italian Convents,” in Domestic Institutional Interiors in Early Modern Europe, sandra Cavallo and silvia evangelisti, eds (aldershot, 2009), 135–141.

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scholars of music history have noted how the disembodied voices of music-making nuns could render the presence of these invisible women in their public churches and re-project their status into the life of the city. Both visual imagery and music in the public church were important vehicles of communication of convent values and identity to the outside world. see Monson, Disembodied Voices; Kendrick, Celestial Sirens, 421; reardon, Holy Concord, 47–48; and Kelley harness, Echoes of Women’s Voices: Music, Art, and Female Patronage in Early Modern Florence (Chicago, 2006), 216–224. on the musical cultural of female convents in rome see Kimberlyn Montford, “Music” and “holy restraint: religious reform and nuns’ Music in early Modern rome,” Sixteenth Century Journal, 37 (2006): 1007–1026.

Chapter 10

the Convent of santa Maria della sapienza: visual Culture and Women’s religious experience in early Modern naples aislinn loconte

in 1531, Gian Pietro Carafa (1476–1559), bishop of Chieti and future Pope Paul iv, wrote to his sister Maria Carafa (1468–1552) concerning the strategy she had adopted for expanding and developing the newly founded neapolitan convent of santa Maria della sapienza where she was the prioress: some letters have been written to me in which i saw little light of God and little Christian truth … because all the letters were full of nothing but your poverty, the necessity of building the convent, and of the need to receive many daughters so that they might bring money to spend on the building … and i protest that if you search for something other than only the Crucified Christ, I shall no longer want you as my sister. and if you want to make the convent large, and gather there a great number of young women in the way of today’s world, i promise you, that within a short time, you will regret it.1

the words of Gian Pietro Carafa underscore central concerns of church reformers of the sixteenth century, namely the maintenance of institutional poverty and a devout and austere life in female religious communities. these concerns were codified in the reforms issued by the 1563 Council of Trent which changed dramatically the lives of many early modern religious women throughout the Catholic world.2 the tridentine Council approved a program of reforms which profoundly altered the experience of female religious communities, in particular through the institution of clausura (strict enclosure) and institutional poverty. in theory the regulations rendered nuns invisible to those beyond their cloistered walls and gave them little opportunity to assert a public presence for themselves, or to participate in material and economic life outside their convent. however, the prescribed female religious experience often remained solely an ideal model as nuns actively sought to negotiate the many diverse concerns which shaped their

10.1

santa Maria della sapienza, naples

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lives. In early modern Naples, in particular, convents assumed significant roles as sites fundamentally shaped by aristocratic and dynastic interests, where multiple political, social, and religious concerns intersected and overlapped.3 at the center of this dynamic tension between the post-tridentine regulations governing their lives and the familial and societal ties which, even after taking the veil, bound them to the secular world, early modern religious women in naples found novel roles for themselves. after being permanently closed to the public for over 45 years, the church of santa Maria della sapienza in naples (Fig. 10.1) has recently undergone extensive restoration, thus presenting a timely opportunity for study of its decorative program.4 this chapter considers how, through their extensive artistic patronage, the nuns of the sapienza bridged the public and private spaces of their convent, challenged the boundaries of absolute poverty and the rules of enclosure intended to render them invisible, and used visual language to address some of the central issues surrounding the experience of early modern religious women in naples. With an illustrious history linking it to influential church reformers such as Gian Pietro Carafa, the powerful and wealthy convent of santa Maria della sapienza in naples presents a particularly interesting case of a female institution intimately related to dominant and influential church reformers, yet which carved a path for itself at times at odds with its most powerful backers. Gian Pietro Carafa may have been outraged that the founder and first prioress of the convent, Maria Carafa, who was also his own sister, had actively sought to increase the wealth of the foundation by insuring that affluent women took the veil within its walls. However, the actions of Maria Carafa became an influential model for later nuns of the convent, their families, and private donors who also demonstrated concern for the financial well-being of the foundation by giving generously to expand and enrich its building and property. the convent’s acquisition of goods, property, and works of art challenged ecclesiastical regulations and linked the nuns of the sapienza to the city beyond their heavily guarded walls. during the course of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, the sisters of santa Maria della sapienza themselves commissioned and paid for art and architecture for their convent. yet as patrons, the nuns’ most significant project was the construction and decoration of a new church for the sapienza during the seventeenth century. this enterprising venture involved some of the most well-known and sought-after seicento artists and architects in naples. While recent studies of the architecture of the church have proved particularly productive, little specific attention has been given to the rich decorative program of the interior spaces of the church and the roles of the nuns in commissioning the works of art which defined their private spaces and helped to shape their relationships to the secular community beyond their cloister.5

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Building a Legacy both Pious and Powerful: Maria Carafa, Founder and First Prioress the story of the sapienza begins with Maria Carafa (Fig. 10.2), whose formative role in the establishment of the convent greatly influenced its immediate success while also creating a commanding legacy that would prove critical in its subsequent expansion. Born in 1468, the daughter of antonio Carafa and vittoria Camponeschi, Maria was from a noble neapolitan family with a long-established reputation in the city.6 Maria spent almost forty years as a dominican nun in san sebastiano in naples before founding the convent of santa Maria della sapienza.7 in this endeavor Maria depended heavily on the influence of her brother and founder of the Theatines, Gian Pietro Carafa,

10.2 detail of Maria Carafa from the façade of santa Maria della sapienza, naples

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with whose backing the convent gained papal support, was transferred to the Dominican order and Maria was named the first prioress.8 Following its foundation, Gian Pietro tried to shape the sapienza into an instructive model for convent reform. although Gian Pietro Carafa often wrote to Maria that the sisters of the sapienza, in their roles as virtuous brides of Christ, should observe absolute poverty and maintain strict clausura, the enforcement of these rules at times seemed contrary to the objectives of the nuns and their families. the construction and decoration of an expansive and lavish home for the nuns symbolically reinforced their status as noble and holy women. Female holiness in early modern naples was understood to be enhanced by noble blood and socially exclusive convents such as the sapienza used art and architecture to emphasize this relationship.9 thus the enrichment and building of the convent may not have been initially acceptable to strict reformers such as Gian Pietro Carafa, nevertheless its monumental architecture and rich program of decoration served to enhance its reputation as one of the most grand and noble, yet also pious and virtuous, convents in the city. From the foundation of santa Maria della sapienza until her death in 1552, Maria Carafa was actively engaged in expanding the size of the convent through the acquisition of new property and the generous donations of rich noble benefactors.10 she immediately began restoring the existing buildings to make them comfortable for the nuns as well as renovating adjacent properties she had acquired to expand the site of the convent. her success came not just from donations and astute investments in land and property, but also from the fact that many nuns from well-to-do noble families who took the veil within its walls also brought with them much of the initial wealth of the convent. indeed upon taking the veil, neither Maria nor the other noble women of the sapienza seem to have been keen to forego the comforts that their personal wealth and social status afforded them and they actively sought to maintain a high standard of living at their new home. the legacy that Maria developed at the sapienza became the foundation upon which much of the later enhancement of the convent was based. her role as an active patron of the foundation, able to combine female agency with a strong reputation for piety, became a potent model for later nuns who sought to emulate her example. the representation of her on the façade of the church, depicting her holding a model of the church of the sapienza (Fig. 10.2), publicly confirmed her role in establishing the foundation as well as her pious nature. it also helped to exert a carefully crafted image of her beyond the walls of the convent, a process which was further acknowledged by the opening of the case for her beatification in Rome in 1652 and the subsequent publication of her biography written by Francesco Maria Maggio and the prioress angelica Caterina Carafa in 1670.11

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En-Gendering Female Spaces: Art and Patronage within the Cloister representative of the elevated social status and virtuous nature of the community of women it housed, the art and architecture of the convent of santa Maria della sapienza came to underscore many of the religious concerns and social interests of the nuns as well as their noble families and spiritual directors, the theatines. By the early seventeenth century, it had become standard practice to accept women into the convent who were able to give substantial contributions to the building and decoration of the foundation, in addition to their dowry of 1,500 ducats. these additional payments, which ranged from a typical 1,500 ducats to as much as the 30,000 ducats made by Maria Costanza Gesualdo when she entered the convent in 1630, could be paid in cash, investments or property.12 in Gesualdo’s case the purpose of her bequest was specific, as she asked that 28,000 ducats of her donation “should be spent on the building and decoration of the church” and another 2,000 should go toward a suitable apparato for the church.13 While Maria Costanza’s donation was extraordinary, the Platea of the sapienza contains many other records of smaller, yet still substantial donations, such as the contribution by the widow isabella Carafa in 1614 of 10,000 ducats, also given to support the building project.14 While their dowries were often used toward the maintenance of the convent and the support of the community, the aristocratic women who lived at the sapienza also had access to personal sources of income which they could use to fund individual patronage projects. When they came to live at the convent, the professed nuns of the sapienza brought with them a variety of material goods and the promise of continuing financial support from their families in the form of vitalizi or personal allowances. the substantial income that many of the sisters of the Sapienza received in the form of property, gifts, and cash gave them financial security and enabled them to become active artistic patrons. the wealth of the convent of the sapienza and the women it housed funded an expansive building campaign which developed primarily over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, augmented by generous donations, the skilful acquisition of property and goods, and the active artistic and architectural patronage of the nuns. the decorative program of the church was intimately related to the use of the site by the nuns of the convent as its patrons and primary beholders, yet the church also functioned as a place of religious ceremony and worship accessible to the laity. the relationship between these two communities, the religious and the lay, played a central role in the development of visual culture at the sapienza. Following the initial expansion of the original site of the convent founded by Maria Carafa in 1530, the nuns, by 1614, had turned their attention to the church and they decided to rebuild it and change the position of the façade so that it would face via di santa Maria di Constantinopoli.15 this project included not only the building of a new church, but also multiple commissions for painted, sculptural, and decorative works for the interior.

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By 1638, the church of the sapienza had been constructed under the direction of the architect, Giovan Giacomo di Conforto.16 however, at this point the building lacked a monumental façade which would function to create a public presence for the church and the convent hidden behind it and thus the nuns commissioned Cosimo Fanzago to create an architectural solution to solve this shortcoming.17 With this commission, the sisters of the sapienza demonstrated that they recognized the potential power of the architectural language of their church façade to bridge the space between the concealed and cloistered areas of their convent and the civic sphere over which it towered in via Constantinopoli. in her analysis of neapolitan female religious architecture, helen hills has pointed to the dynamic tension between accessibility and enclosure captured in the architectural vocabulary adopted by many sixteenth-and seventeenth-century convents and its particular compatibility with the practical and devotional demands of a community of cloistered women.18 this analysis is paramount in understanding the architecture of santa Maria della sapienza and furthermore provides a framework for considering the decorative program of the interior spaces of the church. the relationship between the cloistered and public spaces of the convent and the roles assumed by their respective beholders undoubtedly shaped the artistic program commissioned by the nuns of the sapienza. Religious Imagery and Devotional Themes the interior of the church is formed from a single nave framed on either side by three large vaulted chapels with two smaller chapels between them (Fig. 10.3). Within the vast interior, the eye is drawn toward the high altar in the apse end and upward to the richly decorated large dome. Particularly important in the architectural design is the space of the nuns’ choir, which is raised and placed immediately behind the high altar. the choir gives the illusion of being linked to the area of the nave through the use of a continuous entablature, and the vaulted opening positioned above the high altar creates a sense of architectural unity between the choir and space of the church below. the location of the nuns’ choir elevated behind the altar wall was an important architectural development first seen in Naples at Santa Maria della Sapienza and would later become a well-known feature in other neapolitan convent churches such as san Gregorio armeno and santa Maria regina Coeli.19 the position of the choir solved a practical dilemma encountered by the nuns of the convent as a result of the demands of clausura. enclosure challenged their visibility and aspirations for greater religious roles by stipulating that they always remain unseen by the lay community in the church. thus the use of architectural divisions was necessary to separate these two communities, one secular and one religious, both worshipping in a single church, in order to prevent, or at least

10.3 interior view toward the high altar, santa Maria della sapienza, naples

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limit visual contact with each other. the spatial arrangement of the church and, in particular, the placement of the nuns’ choir, held significant implications for the liturgical experience of religious women as it determined their physical proximity and visual access to the high altar. earlier convent models had usually placed the nuns’ private space of worship behind a heavy wall to the right of the high altar or, as in the innovative design of the fourteenth-century convent of santa Chiara in naples, immediately behind the high altar with small grilled openings giving the nuns visual access to the altar while at the same time keeping them hidden from the view of the lay community.20 indeed, the novel architectural solutions conceived at santa Chiara were subsequently refined by the architect of Santa Maria della Sapienza. The choir of the nuns is also placed at the rear of the high altar, yet instead of being located on the ground level, it is elevated at clerestory level giving it a privileged place behind the high altar wall. in their choir, from their raised vantage point, the nuns of the sapienza commanded views through the decorative grates set into the altar wall of not only the interior of the church and its community but, most significantly, of the religious services conducted on the high altar below them. during the Mass, with his back to the lay community, the priest would raise the holy eucharist toward the east end giving the nuns not only a privileged view of the precious sacrament, but also symbolically emphasizing their religious roles as the brides of Christ.21 the spiritual marriage of religious women and Christ had a long-established tradition traceable as far back as the fourth century, and by the early modern period this model had become a fundamental part of women’s monastic life. upon taking the veil, both religious women and the community beyond their cloister regarded the nuns as women consecrated to a celestial spouse. through their intimate knowledge of their spiritual bridegroom, they were granted protective and intercessory roles, thus enabling them to mediate with Christ himself on behalf of the secular community. The identification of the nuns of the Sapienza as virginal brides of Christ was enhanced by the architectural placement of their choir elevated behind the high altar of the church. raised above the priest and the community below, they symbolically hover between the earthly and heavenly realm fulfilling their roles as virgins whose perfect and angelic chastity has granted them divine grace. indeed, the model of spiritual marriage adopted by the nuns of the sapienza elevated their status and presented them as holding a privileged relationship to God. e. ann Matter has argued that through their position as brides of Christ, early modern women exercised resistance against the intellectual and spiritual restrictions attendant upon their increasingly strictly cloistered life.22 in the case of the sapienza through emphasis on their spiritual marriage to Christ, the nuns endeavored to subvert prescribed limitations upon their freedom and fashioned positions for themselves which challenged the tightly controlled boundaries of clausura.

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the themes of spiritual marriage, virginity, and devotion to the eucharist are formative elements not only in the architecture of santa Maria della sapienza, but they also play prominent roles in both the artistic decoration of the church and the devotional practices of the nuns. in order to gain a deeper relationship with their bridegroom, religious women were encouraged to contemplate Christ in prayer and meditation as well as to gaze upon images and relics of his Passion. yet their fullest knowledge of Christ came through the eucharist, when he was made corporally present to them, an experience which culminated during communion when their bodies became fused with his. devotion to the body of Christ was a fundamental part of the experience of female saints such as the late fourteenth-century dominican tertiary, Catherine of Siena, whose marriage to Christ was fulfilled in a mystical experience and thus became a potent example for early modern women. in her own words, describing her mystical marriage to Christ, Catherine described the ring she received from her spiritual bridegroom as a “ring of his flesh,” emphasizing the bodily nature of their union.23 the bonds between female saints and Christ through mystical marriage held a certain parallel to the virgin Mary and her privileged relationship with Christ. as the mother of Jesus, she had carried him in her womb and that experience gave her a privileged bond with Christ. like the virgin, female saints such as Catherine of siena were granted a greater knowledge of Christ through their union with him, a union which, while at times portrayed in physical terms, nonetheless never challenged their virginal state. the example of the virgin Mary and the model of female saints who had undergone a mystical marriage with Christ held particular significance for the nuns of the sapienza, both in their own religious experiences as well as in their construction of a public image of themselves as devout and chaste cloistered women through the art and architecture of their convent. the spiritual partnership of Christ and the virgin Mary is fundamental to the image of The Assumption of the Virgin commissioned in 1640 by the prioress of the convent, angiola Giovanna Carafa, from the artist Cesare Fracanzano and located in the vault above the nuns’ choir24 (Fig. 10.4). the massive fresco represents the central image of the virgin dressed in a luxurious white gown, surrounded by flowing drapery and supported by angels as she ascends toward heaven. standing above her, Christ supports the Cross with his left arm while he reaches to Mary with his right hand and receives her into paradise. the scene closely recalls the well-known iconography of mystical marriages of female saints and their spiritual unification with Christ. God the Father and the two saints below Mary gaze upon the union of the virgin and her Son while Christ holds the fourth finger of Mary’s right hand. The joining of their hands, in a similar manner to the iconography of mystical marriage scenes and representing their symbolic union, is positioned immediately in front of the Cross, the symbol of Christ’s Passion. through the iconography of the fresco decoration of their choir vault, the nuns of the sapienza, as pious virgins, emphasized their

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Cesare Fracanzano, The Assumption of the Virgin, 1640, santa Maria della sapienza, naples

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resemblance to both Mary and to the brides of Christ with a profound devotion to their bridegroom. the fresco represents Mary as a model for the nuns in her role as an earthly virgin who was blessed with an intimate relationship to the son of God. As a vessel for Christ, her body had been filled with the Holy Spirit and upon her death in a state of grace her son had welcomed her into the Kingdom of heaven. through her privileged knowledge of Christ, the virgin held a powerful position as one able to grant the nuns a fuller knowledge of their spiritual bridegroom. the founder of santa Maria della sapienza, Maria Carafa, held particular devotion for her namesake, the virgin Mary, and the fresco decoration in the choir must also have called to mind for the nuns the first prioress’s powerful example. one Christmas morning, after Maria Carafa had spent the previous night praying in the choir of the church, the virgin Mary appeared to her in a vision holding the new-born Christ.25 the virgin held out the baby Jesus to Maria saying “this is my son and your bridegroom,” and Maria reached out to Christ and embraced him in her arms.26 in this episode from her life, which must have been well-known to the nuns of the sapienza, the union of Maria Carafa with the Christ Child is made possible through the generous intervention of the virgin Mary. in their choir, the same religious space in which this miraculous event had occurred in their former church, the nuns of the sapienza positioned themselves directly below the image of the virgin as she is received into paradise by Christ, thus symbolically emphasizing her ability to bring them to a closer understanding of her son as she had done for their founder. While the secular community worshiped in the nave of santa Maria della sapienza, they were unable to see the nuns concealed in their elevated choir, yet as they looked up beyond the high altar and heard the sisters’ voices singing, their gaze too would have been drawn upward to the fresco of the Assumption and fallen upon the image of the virgin Mary, the church’s namesake and the decisive female role model to whom the nuns could claim particular affinity. As the mother of the savior, Mary had a powerful role in being able to intercede with Christ on behalf of humanity. the presence of the nuns in their choir, heard but not seen, reinforced their role as angelic virgins who, through their devout and contemplative life, held an intimate relationship with Christ that enabled them, like the virgin, to intercede on behalf of the lay community. the nuns’ decoration of the interior spaces of the church was not limited to the choir vault. they conceived of an extensive program of decoration which, in its lavish nature, alluded to their social and spiritual nobility. indeed, four years earlier, in 1636, the prioress of the convent, angiola d’alessandro, had commissioned the painter Belisario Corenzio to paint the ceiling of the nave and the massive dome over the high altar27 (Fig. 10.5). Corenzio was one of the best-known artists working in early seventeenth-century naples and had a long-established reputation in the city based on his work at the Certosa di san Martino, Gesù nuovo and Monte di Pietà.28 the extensive fresco cycle painted by Corenzio between 1636

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10.5 Belisario Corenzio, Scenes from the Life of Christ, 1636, nave vault, santa Maria della sapienza, naples and 1640 included scenes from the life of Christ, thus further highlighting the nuns’ devotion to Christ. the fresco program begins adjacent to the entrance wall with the scene of the creation of the world and moves through the life of Christ, with representations of Jesus delivering the sermon on the Mount, his ascension into heaven, his appearance to his followers at Pentecost, and, finally, the Holy

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trinity receiving souls into heaven.29 although the cycle must have been intended to be read beginning with the creation of the world and then progressing visually toward the high altar, the internal orientation of the scenes changes in the middle of the cycle with the vantage point adjusted to privilege a reading of the paintings from the apse end looking west (that is, from the nuns’ choir). the placement of the scenes of the ascension, Pentecost and the holy trinity is designed so that they can be clearly viewed from the high altar and best seen from the area of the raised choir of the nuns. From their private space of worship, the sisters of the Sapienza could claim an advantaged view of the final scenes of the fresco cycle of the nave as well as the image of paradise painted underneath the dome, both of which had been clearly designed with consideration of their specific point of observation in mind. the scene of the ascension of Christ into heaven, like the assumption of the virgin above the nuns’ choir, would have been associated by the nuns of the convent with the memory of Maria Carafa. the sisters of the sapienza celebrated the feast of the ascension with great solemnity in honor of the vision their founder had had while contemplating Christ’s triumphant entry into heaven.30 after she had spent many hours in prayer, Christ had appeared to Maria Carafa and extended a special blessing upon her and the convent of santa Maria della sapienza. thus every year on the feast of the ascension, at the hour of none, after the nuns of the sapienza had spent much time praying and singing, the prioress of the sapienza would bless the sisters in memory of the blessing which Christ had placed upon their founder and their convent. therefore the placement of the image of the ascension amongst the frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Christ would have held particular significance for the nuns. The subject matter would have been clearly associated by the nuns of the convent, and perhaps by many of the lay beholders as well, with the vision of Maria Carafa. While Belisario Corenzio’s fresco cycle depicted some of the central scenes from Christ’s life, the importance of this subject matter for the church continued to be emphasized in the nuns’ later artistic commissions. in 1641, the prioress, angiola Giovanna Carafa, asked some of the best-known artists in naples to paint large-scale canvases of additional scenes from the life of Christ to be placed around the nave of the church31 (Figs 10.6–10.11). archival evidence indicates that the commissions were given in the first few months of 1641 and that the contracts were quite specific, indicating the size and subject matter of the paintings and that they were to be completed to the satisfaction of the nuns and the padre ordinario and then installed in santa Maria della sapienza in time for holy Week.32 the wishes of angiola Giovanna Carafa were carried out, and by easter sunday of 1641 the nuns of the sapienza had added six monumental paintings to the program of decoration in their church. The Crucifixion (Fig. 10.6) and Christ Healing an Epileptic (Fig. 10.7) by Carlo rosa were positioned on the left nave wall between the side chapels.33 domenico Gargiulo’s Last Supper (Fig. 10.8)

10.6 Carlo rosa, The Crucifixion, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia

10.7 Carlo rosa, Christ Healing an Epileptic, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia

10.8 domenico Gargiulo, Last Supper, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia

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and the Transfiguration of Christ (Fig. 10.9) by Giovanni ricca were positioned opposite them on the right wall, while the paintings of the Temptation of Christ by andrea vaccaro (Fig. 10.10) and hendrick van somer’s Baptism of Christ (Fig. 10.11) were hung on the upper part of the entrance wall on either side of the door.34 the location of these paintings, on the entrance wall and the sides of the nave between the chapels, raises the question of the visual access of the patrons to these works of art. Placed in the public space of the church, beyond their restricted spaces of the choir and convent, these works were situated in an uncloistered area which the nuns were forbidden to enter. looking solely through the grills built into the altar wall enabled the nuns’ westward view from their choir into the nave of the church, but they would not have had a particularly clear view of the side walls of the nave. however, considering the monumental nature of these images and their subject matter of the life of Christ, with its particular significance to the religious experience of the nuns, it appears implausible that as patrons of these paintings the sisters of the sapienza would have been willing to position them in a space where they were unable to interact with them. in fact, closer consideration of the location of these paintings in relation to the design of private and public spaces in the church reveals that the nuns did indeed ensure that they would have visual contact with these works of art. From inside the space of their choir, the nuns were able to access a long corridor running around three sides of the church and positioned below the entablature. this passageway, known as the matroneo, enabled the nuns to travel easily between the cloistered spaces of the convent and the choir yet also functioned as a significant devotional space (Fig. 10.12). Designed to accommodate the needs of the nuns, the walls which separate the choir and matroneo from the interior space of the church are punctuated with 17 large openings covered with gelosie or decorative wooden grates. the heavy decorative patterning of the wooden gelosie concealed the space of the matroneo from the nave below, yet also provided a potential opening from which the nuns could obtain views of the entire church. the design of the gelosie, and the wooden kneelers placed in front of them, indicates that the nuns could have knelt before them, gaining not only views of the series of large-scale paintings they had commissioned of the life of Christ but, furthermore, of much of the interior space of the church. this view was by no means unobstructed and would have been limited to what could been seen through the holes in the gelosie. however, interestingly, the gelosie are not flat, but rather are convex and project into the space of the nave and, as such, must have provided the nuns with a larger potential surface area to see through. even if their views from the matroneo were not entirely unhindered, the potential that the gelosie provided for the nuns’ enhanced participation in the mass and visual access to

10.9 Giovanni ricca, Transfiguration of Christ, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia

10.10 andrea vaccaro, Temptation of Christ, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia

10.11 hendrick van somer, Baptism of Christ, 1641, santa Maria della sapienza, naples; currently held in storage by the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia

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10.12

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Matroneo, santa Maria della sapienza, naples

the devotional spaces and decorative program of the church would have given them a privileged viewing position into the church. indeed, from such a vantage point the positioning of the six paintings commissioned by the prioress, angiola Giovanna Carafa, around the walls of the nave seem particularly well suited to the nuns as beholders of the images. since the paintings were located immediately below the level of the matroneo, from their vantage points on either side of the nave, the nuns could easily gaze upon them from above. While lay beholders had to look upward at these paintings hung between the chapels, the sightlines of the nuns through the gelosie gave them more intimate and privileged views of the images. From their private space of the matroneo, the nuns of the sapienza were thus able freely to contemplate and meditate upon this series of images representing scenes from the life of Christ. the nuns’ visual access to the paintings would have been enhanced by their large scale, unified compositions and use of monumental figures.35 While each was painted by a different artist, there is a unity in size and design between the works appropriate to their intended location around the nave of the church and the need for them to be visible to the patrons who commissioned them. the paintings have bright colors and strong tonal contrasts which would have been ideal for beholders looking down at them from the matroneo. Carlo rosa’s Crucifixion,

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andrea vaccaro’s Temptation of Christ and hendrick van somer’s Baptism of Christ all feature life-size figures and simplified compositions without extraneous detail. The figures fill the foreground of the paintings and push up against the picture plane. Indeed, the use of monumental figures by Domenico Gargiulo in his Last Supper is particularly notable since within his oeuvre this work is the only securely identified painting by the artist which includes large-scale figures.36 the formal similarities between the paintings may have arisen in part because the artists were working alongside each other to fulfill the commission or they may have been the result of a more explicit directive given by the prioress and patron Angiola Giovanna Carafa. The patron’s specific choice of the life of Christ as the subject for the works demonstrates the importance of this particular religious subject for the nuns which, like the iconography of the fresco decoration of their choir vault, can be linked to the religious experience of their founder Maria Carafa. in the post-tridentine era, the ability of images to promote devotion and reception of the word of God was entrenched in church teaching. For the nuns of the sapienza the power of visual images, particularly those with a Christological subject matter, was tied to the miraculous experience of their founder Maria Carafa who had received a vision of Christ while praying before an image of the Crucifixion.37 While Maria was suffering from serious illness, Christ appeared before her calling to her. although he was covered with blood dripping from his wounds and his Cross was upon his back, Maria reached out and, overwhelmed with joy, embraced him. through her vision of an image of his Passion, Maria was brought to a closer and more intimate knowledge of Christ. his body was made physically present to her, and she experienced his human suffering as she embraced him and touched his wounds. the intimate knowledge Maria received of the Passion of Christ signified for the nuns of the Sapienza the power visual images had to enrich their relationship with their spiritual bridegroom. through meditation upon and contemplation of the images they had commissioned of the life of Christ, the nuns undertook a form of visual communication in which they were able to experience a powerful and privileged connection to Christ, one that echoed the experience of their founder. the tension between enclosure and accessibility captured in the relationship of the architecture of the choir to the public spaces of the church and its decorative program is heightened in the space of the matroneo. From their matroneo the nuns could view those to whom they remained invisible. in such a manner, the potential power of their hidden gaze placed them in a dominant position within the church and in relationship to the secular community beyond their cloister. although the community would not have seen them, they would have recognized the potential presence and the gaze of the nuns from their matroneo since the wooden gelosie form a prominent part of the design of the walls surrounding the nave and apse of the church. indeed, as ornately carved and lavishly gilded architectural features surrounded with sculptural decoration, the gelosie at once concealed the cloistered

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female community in the convent while also emphatically emphasizing their presence.38 in their privileged glimpses of the public spaces of their church, the nuns of the sapienza challenged the boundaries of enclosure by assuming optical control of visual relations in their church. From such a position, they were able to negotiate sight’s potential to lead to dangerous transgressions by taking control of the design and decoration of their convent and privileging the balance of visual control of their space to favor their own religious experiences. their visual access to the space of the nave enhanced their experience of devotional works of art, such as the six monumental paintings of the life of Christ, which they commissioned not only for themselves but also for a larger public audience. in doing so, they took control of the subject matter of their own pious devotions while at the same time assumed active responsibility for the creation of a public reputation of themselves and their religious roles. Considered within the extensive artistic and architectural program of the church and convent of santa Maria della sapienza, the conception of the hidden space of the matroneo seems a fitting conclusion to the creation of a place for female worship first begun by the founder of the convent, Maria Carafa. Like their first prioress, over the course of two centuries, the nuns of the Sapienza used their wealth and influence to build an image of themselves as particularly devout and pious nuns and patrons.39 Through their close association with the figure of the virgin Mary and their religious identities as the brides of Christ, the nuns built a strong foundation upon which to construct a reputation for themselves as chaste and virtuous women. By commissioning an extensive decorative program for their church, including works by well-known artists in naples such as Belisario Corenzio, Cesare Fracanzano, and domenico Gargiulo among others, they asserted control and influence over the design and use of their own religious spaces and the choice of subject matter and iconography of the works which decorated them. in spite of tridentine reforms intended to limit their freedom and curtail their contact with the secular world, the sisters of the sapienza sought out novel solutions which enabled them to maintain their honorable reputation while also exercising their powerful roles as artistic patrons engaged with the fashions and tastes of naples’ secular elites. looking outward from behind the grates and grills in the walls of their convent church, the nuns of santa Maria della sapienza kept their window on the world from ever closing. Notes the following abbreviations have been used throughout the text: asn (archivio di stato di napoli); Crd (Congregazioni religiose soppresse) and ASPN (Archivio storico per le province napoletane). All translations, unless otherwise specified, are my own. I would like to thank Paola d’agostino, Bianca de divitiis, Julian Gardner, Geraldine Johnson, and

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helen hills for their helpful insights and generous comments on this contribution. i am very grateful to elisabetta scirocco for her assistance with archival material and photography. i would like to extend particular thanks to Fernanda Capobianco, Giovanni Barrella, Maria Teresa Minervini, and Flavia Petrelli of the Office of the Soprintendenza in Naples. 1

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Gennaro Maria Monti, Ricerche su Papa Paolo IV Carafa (turin, 1980), 196–197; and helen hills, Invisible City. The Architecture of Devotion in Seventeenth-Century Neapolitan Convents (oxford, 2004), 97–98. raimondo Creytens, “la riforma dei monisteri femminili dopo i decreti tridentini,” in Il Concilio di Trento e la riforma tridentina: Atti del Convegno Storico Internazionale Trento (rome, 1965), vol. 1, 45–84; Francesca Medioli, “an unequal law: the enforcement of Clausura before and after the Council of trent,” in Women in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, Christine Meek, ed. (dublin, 2000), 136– 152; silvia evangelisti, “‘We do not have it and We do not Want it’: Women, Power and Convent reform in Florence,” Sixteenth Century Journal, 34/3 (Fall 2003): 677–700; and silvia evangelisti, Nuns: A History of Convent Life (oxford, 2007). For the particular situation in naples, see Giuliana Boccadamo, “una riforma impossibile? I papi e i primi tentative di riforma dei monasteri femminili di napoli nel ’500,” Campania Sacra 21 (1990): 96–122; elisa novi Chavarria, “Monasteri femminile nel Mezzogiorno nei secoli Xvi–Xvii,” in Il monachesimo femminile in Italia dall’alto medioevo al secolo XVII a confronto con l’oggi (verona), 1997), 339–367; Michele Miele, “sisto v e la riforma dei monasteri femminili di napoli,” Campania Sacra, 21 (1990): 123–209; and Carla russo, I monasteri di clausura a Napoli nel secolo XVII (naples, 1970). elisa novi Chavarria, “nobilità di seggio, nobilità nuova e monasteri femminili a napoli in Èta moderna,” Dimensioni e problemi della ricerca storica, 2 (1993): 84–111; elisa novi Chavarria, Monache e gentiledonne. Un labile confine. Poteri, politici e identità religiose nei monasteri napoletani secoli XVI–XVII (Milan, 2001); and helen hills, “Cities and virgins: Female aristocratic Convents in early Modern naples and Palermo,” Oxford Art Journal, 22/1 (spring 1999): 29–54; hills, Invisible City; helen hills, “‘enamelled with the Blood of a noble lineage’: tracing noble Blood and Female holiness in early Modern neapolitan Convents and their architecture,” Church History, 73/1 (March 2004): 1–40. the conservation project is supervised by arch. Maria teresa Minervini of the soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici per napoli e provincia whom i would like to thank for her generosity in assisting me with access to the church and convent. the previous unfortunate state of conservation of the paintings in situ, combined with limited access to the interior spaces of the church and the fact that many of the original works of art have been put into temporary storage facilities, may in part explain why the program of decoration has not received the scholarly attention it is due. helen hills has studied extensively the architecture of early modern neapolitan convents. see hills, Invisible City. on the decorative program, see luigi stabile, Le opere di arti belle esistenti nella chiesa di S. Maria della Sapienza (naples, 1888); Francesco Bonazzi, “dei veri autori di alcuni dipinti della chiesa di s. Maria della

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Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy sapienza in napoli,” Archivio storico per le province napoletane, 13 (1888): 119– 127; and antonio Colombo, “il monastero e la chiesa di santa Maria della sapienza,” Napoli nobilissima, 10 (1901): 145–148, 167–170, 183–188; 11 (1902): 59–63, 67– 73. Francesco Maria Maggio and angelica Caterina Carafa, Vita della venerabile Madre d. Maria Carafa napoletana sorella del Santiss. Pontefice Paolo IV e fondatrice del Sacro Monistero di S. Maria della Sapienza di Suore Domenicane (naples, 1670); and Biagio aldimari, Historia della famiglia Carafa (naples, 1691), vol. 2, 100. Pietro de stefano, Descrittione dei luoghi sacri della città di Napoli, con li fondatori di essi reliquie, sepolture, et epitaphii scelti che in quelle si ritrovano (naples, 1560), 179. in 1533, Gian Pietro Carafa sent his own order’s co-founder Gaetano di thiene and Giovanni Marinoni to naples to act as spiritual advisors to the nuns of the sapienza. For Gian Pietro and the theatines, see Pio Paschini, S. Gaetano Thiene, Gian Pietro Carafa e le origine dei Chierici Regolari Teatini (rome, 1926); d.s. Chambers, “Paul iv,” in Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reform, Peter Bietenholz, ed. (toronto, 1985–87), 56–57; Kenneth J. Jorgensen, “the theatines,” in Religious Orders of the Catholic Reformation, richard l. deMolen, ed. (new york, 1994), 1–29; alberto aubert, Paolo IV: Politica, inquisizione e storiografica (Florence, 1999). hills, “enamelled with the Blood,” 35–37. By 1531, the convent had been given an annual donation of 16 ducats from Giovanni tommaso Branceleone. see asn, Crs, vol. 3170, fol. 943. in the same year the foundation underwent new construction. By 1548, the convent had expanded to include other adjacent properties including two houses bought in that year by “the prioress, Maria Carafa and the nuns of the sapienza.” see asn, Crs, vol. 3170, fol. 7. Maggio and Carafa, Vita della venerabile Madre d. Maria Carafa. her brother Gian Pietro Carafa also appears in a roundel on the façade. asn, Crs, vol. 3170, fol. 1023; and hills, Invisible City, 113. asn, Crs, vol. 3170, fol. 1023. asn, Crs, vol. 3170, fol. 1017. the façade of the sixteenth-century church faced northeast and the entrance was located in via sapienza. see niccolò Carletti, Topografia Universale della città di Napoli (naples, 1776), 246–247. eduardo nappi, “Giovan Giacomo Conforto e la chiesa di s.M. della sapienza di napoli,” Ricerche sul ’600 Napoletano (Milan, 1989), 113–134. the work on the façade is documented between 1638 and 1641. see Bonazzi, “dei veri autori,” 123; and Stanislao d’Aloe, “Catalogo di tutti gli edifici sacri della città di napoli e sobborghi,” ASPN, 8 (1883): 525; silvana saverese, Francesco Grimaldi e l’architettura della controriforma a Napoli (rome, 1986); anthony Blunt, Neapolitan Baroque and Rococo Architecture (london, 1975), 71–72; Gaetana Cantone, Napoli Barocca e Cosimo Fanzago (naples, 1984), 200–202; nappi, “Giovan Giacomo Conforto,” 113–134.

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hills, Invisible City, see in particular 139–160. hills, Invisible City, 147–160. Caroline Bruzelius, “hearing is Believing: Clarissan architecture, ca. 1213–1340,” Gesta, 31/2 (Fall 1992): 83–91. hills, Invisible City, 153–154. e. ann Matter, “Mystical Marriage,” in Women and Faith. Catholic Religious Life in Italy from Late Antiquity to the Present, Lucetta Scaraffia and Gabriella Zarri, eds (Cambridge Ma, 1999), 31–41. Le Lettere de S. Caterina da Siena, ridotte a miglior lezione, e in ordine nuovo disposte, Piero Misciatelli, ed. (siena, 1913–22), vol. 3, 337. see also Matter, “Mystical Marriage,” 38. the artist received 500 ducats for the fresco. nappi, “Giovan Giacomo Conforto,” 113–134, docs 73–76. Cesare Fracanzano (1605–51) worked on large-scale ecclesiastical fresco programs in naples and his native Puglia. see silvia Cassani, Civiltà del seicento a Napoli (naples, 1984), 283–284. domenico Maria Marchese, Sagro Diario Domenicano (naples, 1668), vol. 1, 27. the miraculous experience of seeing and holding the infant Christ, particularly at Christmas, was common amongst female mystics. see ulinka rublack, “Female spirituality and the infant Jesus in late Medieval dominican Convents,” Gender and History, 6 (1994): 37–57; and Christine Klapisch-Zuber, “holy-dolls: Play and devotion in Florence in the Quattrocento,” in Women, Family and Ritual in Renaissance Italy (Chicago, 1985), 310–331. nappi, “Giovan Giacomo Conforto,” 113–134, docs 66–72. Pierluigi leone de Castris, “Belisario Corenzio, luigi rodriguez e la grande decorazione affresco nella napoli a cavallo tra Cinque e seicento,” in Pittura del Cinquecento a Napoli, 1573–1606 l’ultima maniera (naples, 1991). around the central scenes are depictions of old testament prophets and the doctors of the Church appropriate for the dedication of the church and convent to holy Mary of Wisdom. in the cupola, Corenzio painted a heavenly paradise with the evangelists in the pendentives, the doctors of the latin Church around the windows of the dome, and the doctors of the Greek Church under the arches of the dome. Marchese, Sagro Diario, 27. nappi, “Giovan Giacomo Conforto,” 113–134, docs 66–72. nappi, “Giovan Giacomo Conforto,” 113–134, docs 66–72. The commission for the Crucifixion remains undocumented. It was attributed by sigismondo, Catalani, and Galante to Massimo stanzione but Bonazzi’s attribution to Carlo rosa has now been largely accepted. see Giuseppe sigismondo, Descrizione della citta di Napoli e suoi borghi (naples, 1788–89): vol. 1, 168; luigi Catalani, Le Chiese di Napoli, Descrizione Storica ed Artistica (naples, 1845), vol. 2, 5; Gennaro Galante, Guida sacra della citta di Napoli (naples, 1872), 57; Bonazzi, “dei veri autori.” For these artists, see Micco Spadaro. Napoli ai tempi di masaniello, exh. cat., Brigitte Daprà, ed. (Naples, 2002); Clovis Whitfield and Jane Martineau, Painting in Naples, 1606–1705; From Caravaggio to Giordano (london, 1982), 219–220, 248–254, 261–262, 278.

234 35

36 37 38 39

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy For example, the Last Supper by domenico Gargiulo measures 200 × 330 cm and although the dimensions of the other paintings differ slightly, this canvas can be assumed to be roughly representative of the size of the other works. Giancarlo sesteri and Brigitte daprà, Domenico Gargiulo detto Micco Spadero. Paesaggista e “cronista” napoletano (rome, 1994), 191. Marchese, Sagro Diario, 23. helen hills, “the veiled Body: Within the Folds of early Modern neapolitan Convent architecture,” Oxford Art Journal, 27/3 (2004): 269–290. in the late seventeenth century and the eighteenth century the nuns continued to commission works of art. Particularly notable, in 1667, Maria Giacinta spinelli funded the artists Giacinto de Popoli, Marco di notaricola, and Giuseppe Marullo to complete the decoration of the chapels dedicated to the nativity, the immaculate Conception and saints Gaetano and andrew, and in 1707, the siblings agata Maria and Maria agnese Carafa paid 1,500 ducats for an embroidered cloth for the convent’s high altar.

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index accademia del disegno, Florence 120 accoramboni, vittoria 67, 73, 73n41 ajmar-Wollheim, Marta 143, 171n1 allegrini, Francesco 192, 193, 195 Amor Bendato medal 81, 83, 93 anagrafi 145, 147, 148, 151, 154n15 anguillara-Cesi, Portia, duchess of Cere 166 anguissola, sofonisba 120 antonio da strullis da Cordazzo 24 Apostolorum apostola 192, 203n41 ariosto, ludovico 83, 87, 95n29, 130, 137n51 assassination 19, 24, 25, 35, 40, 45, 87 Badoer-Giustinian, agnesina 171 Balbi, Priamo 105, 106, 110, 116n27 Barbagli, Marzio 145, 153n5 Barbaro, almoro 112 Barbaro, Marc’antonio 106, 117n53 Basso, Carlo andrea 185, 201n13 La monaca perfetta 185 Baths of diocletian, rome 58, 60, 69 Bembo, Pietro 52n65, 80, 81, 84, 87, 91, 94n12, 126, 128 Gli Asolani 87, 94n12 Berceto 36, 40, 41, 45 Bevilacqua family 143 Boccaccio, Giovanni 39 Bonamici, Bartolomeo 63, 65, 67, 73n41 Boncompagni, abbess Maria eleonora 187 Borgia, lucrezia 77, 78, 81, 82, 84, 87, 92, 93n1, 96n49, 165, 170, 174n26, 176n56 Borromeo, ambrogina 40 Borromeo, Charles 199, 200n2 Brescia 89, 90, 142, 151

bride/s of Christ (Sponsa Christi) 184, 185, 195, 199, 200, 202n24, 211, 215, 218, 230 Bronzino, agnolo 123 Brown, Patricia Fortini 103, 115n6, 141 Bruni, leonardo 15, 18, 28n9 Burns, howard 143 Caffà, Melchiorre 198 Camassei, andrea 189 Camerino 22, 23, 24, 25 Canossa family 147, 148 Canossa, Co. Creusa 148 Canossa, Co. Gerolamo 148 Canossa, Co. isabella 148 Ca Giustinia, venice 163 capo muda 148, 156n30 Cappella, Camillo 149, 153, 156n33 Capuchin 128 Carafa, Gian Pietro 207, 209–211, 232n8 Carafa, Maria 207, 209–212, 218, 220, 229, 230, 232n6 Carbone, ludovico 13 Cardinal Montalto 57, 63, 65, 66, 68, 71n13 Casa delle Zitelle, venice 113, 118n58 Casale Monferrato, rome 151 Castiglione, Baldassare 20, 22, 128 Cattabriga, Pierpaolo 37 Cavalcabò, Giovanna 39 Cavallucci, tarquinio 63 Caviceo, Jacopo 39, 40, 51n54 Celsi, sisters ortensia and Maria Caterina 196 censi 183 Cerri, antonio 188 Cesari, Giuseppe 191, 203n35 Chapel of all saints (s. Caterina a Magnanapoli) 197

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Chapel of st. augustine (s. lucia in selci) 190, 191 Chapel of st. Catherine (s. Caterina a Magnanapoli) 196 Chapel of st. Catherine (ss. domenico e sisto) 195, 196 Chapel of st. dominic (s. Maria dell’umiltà) 192 Chapel of st. dominic (ss. domenico e sisto) 194 Chapel of the sacrament (s. lucia in selci) 189 Chapel of the trinity (s. lucia in selci) 191 chiesa interiore 181 Cicogna, Pasquale 105, 110, 111, 114 clausura 13, 16, 26, 181, 207, 211, 213, 215, 231n2 coachmen 147 Codice Ottoboniano 65 Coffin, David 68 Cohen, elizabeth 144, 152, 154n12 Colleoni, sister Maria scholastica 186 Colonna, vittoria 14, 15, 119, 120, 125, 126, 132, 133, 136n41 Contarini, andriana 113 contrada 145, 146, 150, 154n15 Corenzio, Belisario 218, 220, 221, 233n28 Cortese, Guglielmo 187 Costaguti family 194 Council of trent 26, 181, 190, 200, 200n1, 207, 231n2 credenzerius 147 Cremona 39 Damnatio Memoriae 42, 45, 54n89 d’avalos, alfonso, marchese del vasto 125, 127 d’avalos, Costanza 126, 128 d’avalos, Ferrante Francesco, marchese del vasto 125–27 della rovere, Felice 166 della scala family 142 d’este, alfonso 79, 87, 90, 95n28 d’ este, isabella 14, 38, 78, 79, 83, 84, 91, 165, 171

demus, otto 102 disinheriting 34, 36 divine office 181, 184, 185 doge’s Palace, venice 104–106, 110, 111, 114, 116n33 fire of 1577 106 Provedditore sopra la Fabbrica 106 I dolori mentali de Gesu 27 dominican nuns 185, 194, 196 double intercession 190, 191, 200, 203n33 eleonora of aragon 78, 81, 82, 83 eleonora of toledo 162, 170, 171 emperor Charles v 160, 173n7 esquiline hill, rome 57, 58, 63, 68, 171 estimo 145, 154n15 eucharist 181, 189, 190, 196, 198, 200, 215, 216 Fanzago, Cosimo 213, 232n17 Farinati, Paolo 148 Farnese, Costanza 166 Farnese, ottavio 160, 172n6 Farnese-sanvitale, Gerolama 169, 177n66 Felino 36, 37, 38, 45 Ferrara 15, 23, 77–80, 82, 83, 84, 87, 89, 90, 92, 165, 174n26 Foligno 18, 19, 82 Fontana, domenico 57, 58, 70n9 Fontebuoni, anastasio 188 Foscari, Pietro 106 Fracanzano, Cesare 216, 230, 233n24 Francesca of Brandenburg 163 Francesco da urbino 25 Franciscan 16, 27, 55, 57, 89, 90 Gambara, veronica 126, 174n24, 177n66 Gargiulo, domenico 220, 229, 230, 234n35 Garzi, luigi 197 Gaulli, Giovanni Battista 184, 186 gelosie 181, 224, 228, 229 Ghiberti, lorenzo 39 Giacomo da Pesaro 24 Giovan Giacomo di Conforto 213

Index Giovanni antonio da Foligno 87, 93 reliquary Casket of saint Maurelius 88, 89 Giovio, Paolo 85, 125, 128 Giusti, eleonora 148 Giustini, sister innocentia 195, 196 Gnoli, domenico 67 Gonzaga, Cecilia 25 Gonzaga, elisabetta 20, 22, 79 Gonzaga, leonara, duchess of urbino 165, 171 Gonzaga, ludovico 38 Grimani, isabetta 113 Gualtieri, Guido 65 Guazzo, stefano 151 Civil Conversatione 151 Gubbio 21 Guglielmini, Padovano 63, 65, 67, 68 holy roman emperor, the 18, 124, 125, 142 households 141–51, 160, 171 illegitimacy 39, 47n1 bastardy 33, 38, 47n1 bastards 34, 35, 38, 39, 50, 47n1 india, Bernardino 148 ischia 126, 128 Janiculum, rome 60 Jesuits (society of Jesus) 183, 184 Joseph and Potiphar’s wife 122, 123 landi, sister Clarice vittoria 191 lanfranco, Giovanni 188 laurana, luciano 21 league of Cambrai, war of 142 legitimacy 47 legitimation 3, 41, 47n4 leo, musicus da Monteforte 147 lezze, andrea da 115 lisca, alessandro da 148, 153, 156n30 livelli 183 loredan, isabetta 113 lotto, lorenzo 34, 42, 47 louis Xiv, king of France 61

263

Luoghi di Monti 183 luti, Benedetto 190 Madonna of the rosary 196 Malaspina, Clarice 168 Malaspina, ricciarda 165, 174n27, 176n51 Malatesta, Battista Montefeltro 13–16, 18, 24, 27 Malatesta, Galeazzo 15, 16, 18, 19 Malatesta, sigismondo 21, 29n38 Malatesta varano, elisabetta 15, 19, 24 Mantua 23, 79, 83, 91, 142 Marforio 55, 57, 69n1 Margarita of austria, duchess of Parma and Piacenza 160, 163 Martin da Canal 102, 104 Massimo, Prince Camillo 64 Massimo, vittorio 64, 65–67 Matchette, anne 151 matroneo 224, 228–30 medals 129, 130, 132 portrait medals 129, 136n50 Medici, Cosimo i de’ 121 Melchiorri, sister isabella 189 Mignucci-Peretti, Giambattista 57 miles Christi 183, 165 Miniscalchi, leonora 148 Mistress 155n23, 172n3, 174n27 Mola, Pier Francesco 194 Montefeltro, antonio da 16 Montefeltro, Federico da 13, 15, 20, 23, 24, 29n38 Montefeltro, Guidantonio da 25 Montefeltro, Guidobaldo da 16 Montefeltro, oddantino da 25 Morosini, andrea 108, 112, 113 Morosini, Barbone 108, 112 Morosini, Cecilia Pisani 108, 112–114 last will and testament 112 as dogaressa Zen 99, 101, 104, 108, 111, 114, 116n21 Morosini, vincenzo 101, 105, 106, 112, 114 Musacchio, Jacqueline 141 mystical marriage 195, 216

264

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

nani, Paolo 105 naples 23, 35, 39, 42, 79, 87, 126–28, 130, 160, 162, 209–11, 213, 215, 218, 220, 230 nelli, suor Plautilla 120 neolocalism (residential mobility) 150 negroni 64 nicolò da Ponte 108, 110, 111 death of 114 Portraits 110 noceto 35, 36, 37 nogarola family 143, 154n5 nogarola, isotta 25, 28n16 nussdorfer, laurie 144 De octo partibus orationes 24 orsini de’ Medici, alfonsina 162, 168, 174n25 orsini, Francesca Baglione 191 ospedale dei Crociferi, venice 100, 104, 108, 113, 115n6 Libro di Spese 105, 116n27 Paintings 101, 105–106 Prior Balbi 105, 106, 110, 116n27 old women residents 100–101, 115n6 ottini, sister angela 192 Palazzetto Felice, rome 59, 60 palazzo/i 57–59, 61, 62, 66, 159, 160, 163, 166, 168, 169 Palazzo Claudia, Parma 168–69 Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza 160, 166, 172n7, 173n10 Palazzo dei Prinicipi, Correggio 163 Palazzo delle Papesse, siena 162 Palazzo Medici-lante, rome 162 Palazzo ricci, rome 166 Palazzo sanseverino, Piacenza 166 Palazzo sforza-Cesarini, rome 166 Palazzo di termini, rome 61 Palazzo vecchio, Florence 121, 123 Palladio, andrea 106 Pallavicina, Giacoma 78, 169, 171, 172n2 Pallavicina-sanseverina, ippolita 163, 166 Pallavicina-sanvitale, laura 78, 168, 169, 170, 175n47

Pallavicini, rolando 35 Palma il Giovane 99, 100, 115n7 Christ in Glory with Doge Zen (Telero Zen), ospedale dei Crociferi, venice 99 Preparatory drawing for Telero Zen, accademia Museum, venice 106, 114 Self Portrait, Brera, Milan 110 Pope Alexander III and Doge Sebastiani Ziani, doge’s Palace, venice 110 paragone 120 Parma 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 45, 145, 160, 168, 169, 170 Parmigianino 45, 54n94 Pasquino 55, 57, 69n1 Passeri, Giuseppe 185, 196 Pastor, ludwig von 67 Pavia 19, 127, 151 Pellegrini, aurelia 148 Pellegrini, Bianca 34, 36, 40 Peretti, Camilla 55, 57, 60, 62–69, 70n3, 171 Peretti, Felice 55, 60, 64–67, 69, 70n6 Peretti, Francesco 67, 70n6 Peretti, sister Camilla 198 Peretti/sistine Chapel, rome 59 Pesaro 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 79, 165, 169, 174n28 Petrarch, Francesco 83, 126 pezze 63, 69, 70n9, 73n45 Piacenza 38, 160, 163, 165, 168, 172n6 Piazza delle terme, rome 60 Piazza navona, rome 57, 62, 165 Piazza s. antonio, rome 58 Piazza san Marco, venice 101, 104, 106 ospedale di san Marco 104 san Marco, Apparitio Sancti Marci Mosaics 102, 115n13 Piccolomini, Caterina 162 Pienza 21 Pietro da tolentino 24 Pisani, Zuanne di alvise 112 Pope alexander vi 77, 79 Pope Clement vii 124, 126, 128 Pope Gregory Xiii 65, 66, 72n33 Pope leo X 130, 133, 162

Index Pope nicolas iv 57 Pope Paul ii 39, 40 Pope Paul iii 166, 175n34 Pope Pius ii 21, 30n45, 162, 163 Pope sixtus v 55, 59, 61, 66, 68, 70n3, 171, 198 Porta esquilina, rome 59 Porta s. lorenzo, rome 58, 69, 71n10 Porta Quirinalis, rome 61 Pozzo, andrea 184 Priuli, Zilia dandola 11, 114, 117n50 Properzia de’ rossi 119, 120, 121, 125, 126, 132, 133 Puente, luis de la 185 Compendio delle Meditationi 185 Quistelli, lucrezia 120 ragazzini-Minotto, Camilla 163, 173n22 raphael 123, 130 ravenna 40, 42, 53n87, 87, 127 raymond of Capua 185, 194, 195, 203n48 Legenda maior 185, 194 ricca, Giovanni 224 Ridolfi, Carlo 101, 115n9 rione Ponte, rome 63, 67 roccabianca 36 romanelli, Giovan Francesco 196 rome 23, 24, 39, 40, 55, 57, 60, 61–64, 66, 68, 69, 80, 82, 87, 126, 128, 130, 144, 159, 162, 165, 166, 168, 170, 171, 181, 183, 184, 194, 195, 200, 211 rosa, Carlo 220, 228, 233n33 rossi, Beltrando 39, 41 rossi, Bernardo (di Pier Maria) 36, 39, 40, 44, 45, 47, 50n41 rossi, Bernardo (di Guido) 38, 41, 42, 45 rossi, Costanza 35 rossi, Filippo Maria 42, 45 rossi, Giacomo (bishop) 35 rossi, Giacomo (di Pier Maria) 36–38 rossi, Giovanni 36–38 rossi, Guido 36, 38, 40, 42 rossi, leonardo 34 rossi, Marsilio 35

265

rossi, Pier Maria 34–36, 39, 40, 48n9 rossi, Pietro 38 rossi, rolando 35, 40 rossi, troilo 42, 45 rossi, ugolino 39, 40, 42, 51n56 rustici, Gerardo 39, 51n54 sabadino degli arienti, Giovanni 20, 92, 95n30 De triumphis religionis 92 sack of rome, the 126, 175n33 st. agatha 191 st. agnes 191 st. anne 191 st. augustine 86, 190, 191, 202n25 De Virginitate 188 st. Barbara 191 st. Catherine of alexandria 191, 192, 195 st. Catherine of siena 191, 194–96, 198, 201n15, 216 st. Cecilia 191 st. helen 191 st. ignatius loyola 184 st. lucy 188 st. Martha 186 st. Mary Magdalene 186, 190, 191, 192, 194, 202n18 st. teresa of avila 186, 188, 202n20 st. ursula 191, 203n34 sanmicheli, Michele 143, 154n6 sansebastiani, elena 149, 153, 174n24 san secondo 36, 45 san vitale, angelo 37 san vitale, donella rossi 36, 49n26 s. ambrogio della Massima, rome 199 s. antonio abate, Parma 35, 38, 49n21 s. Caterina a Magnanapoli, rome 185, 190, 194, 196–98 s. domenico in soriano, Calabria 192 s. Giorgio Maggiore,venice 117n40 s. Giovanni evangelista, Parma 35, 40, 168 s. lazzaro, Parma 35 s. lucia in selci, rome 188, 190, 202n23 s. Maria degli angeli, rome 59

266

Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy

s. Maria della neve, torrechiara 35, 40 s. Maria della sapienza, naples 207, 209–16, 218, 220, 230 s. Maria del tempio, Parma 35 s. Maria dell’umiltà, rome 191, 192, 194, 196, 199 s. Maria Maddalena in Monte Cavallo, rome 184 s. Maria Maggiore, rome 59, 60, 63, 66–69, 112 s. Marta al Collegio romano, rome 186, 188 s. Pancrazio, Parma 35 s. Petronio, Bologna 121, 122 s. Zeno, verona 40 ss. domenico e sisto, rome 194–96, 199 scudi 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 160, 166 sappho 17, 125, 130 savelli 64, 175n38, 176n51, 60 scotti, angela 38 scotti, leonora rossi 36 seconda maniera 20 serego, Co. Camilla 146, 147 serego, Co. alberto 146, 147 sforza, alessandro 15, 18, 19, 37 sforza, Battista 13–16, 19–23, 27 sforza, Caterina 78, 82, 160 sforza, Costanzo 21 sforza, Costanza 24–25 sforza, Francesco 19, 24, 35, 37–39 sforza, Galeazzo Maria 35, 39, 40 sforza, ippolita 19, 20, 21 sforza, ludovico il Moro 40, 41, 45 siena 120, 145, 162 sociability 141, 143, 146, 149, 151–53 somer, hendrick van 224, 229 song of songs 195 spagnesi, Gianfranco 68 spolverini, Paola 148 stafferi 148 stazione termini, rome 64 strozzi-anquillara, Maddalena 168–70 studia humanitatis 16 studiolo 83 su, Gaspare da 35, 40

terra ferma 104, 142, 163 terzi, Ginevra 37, 38 terzi, ottobuono 35, 38 theatines 210, 212 tiber river 61, 79, 166 tintoretto, Jacopo 105, 106, 108, 110, 112, 113 Doge Nicolò da Ponte receiving the Laurel from Venice doges Palace, venice 110 Portrait of Sebastiano Venier Kunsthitorisches Museum, vienna 110 Portrait of Vincenzo Morosini, national Gallery, london 105 Resurrection of Christ with the Morosini Family Morosini Chapel, san Giorgio Maggiore, venice 108, 109, 112 tornabuoni, lucrezia 165, 172n2 torelli, antonia 36, 172n3 torrechiara 35, 36, 40, 45, 47 trissino, Giovanni Giorgio 91, 92 I Ritratti 91 trivium 59 trivulzio, Gian Giacomo 45 ubaldini, ottaviano 21 uomo civile 152 uomini famosi 121 urbino 21–26, 80, 168 vaccaro, andrea 224, 229 valerio, Cardinal agostino 191 vanini family 188 varano, Beata Camilla Battista da 13, 15, 19, 22, 25, 27 varano, Costanzo da 24 varano, Costanza da 13, 15, 17–19, 22, 24, 25, 27 varano, Giulio Cesare da 13, 15, 19, 25 varano, rodolfo iv da 19, 25 vasari, Giorgio 20, 119–26, 128, 129, 132–33 veneto, Bartolomeo 77, 78, 84, 90, 91, 93 Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia 84, 85, 90–92

Index venice 23, 40, 84, 99, 101–104, 106, 111, 142, 144, 151, 163, 171 venier, nicolò 105 venier, sebastiano 110, 111 verità, Co. Michele 148 verità, Gerolamo 150 verona 35, 40, 142–53 versailles 61 via de’ leutari, rome 57, 63 via del Macao, rome 58 vicenza 142 vittoria del vasto 125 villa 57, 58, 60–62, 68, 85, 125, 159, 162, 165, 168, 169, 170, 176n49 villa Borghese, rome 60 villa doria-Pamphili, rome 60 villa Giustinian, roncade 171, 176n61, 177n62 villa imperiale, urbino 165–66, 169 villa ludovisi, rome 60 villa Montalto, rome 57–69, 171

267

virgin Mary 86, 87, 184, 195, 196, 198, 216, 218, 230 visibility (historical) 19, 33, 34, 39, 47, 99, 104 visconti, Bianca Maria 19, 24, 39 visconti, Filippo Maria 25 vita activa 15, 16 vita civile 142, 143, 146, 151–53 vita contemplativa 15, 17 La Vita Spirituale 26 vittoria, alessandro 110 voragine, Jacobus de 192 Legenda aurea 192 widows 144, 145–49, 151, 160, 161, 170 Zen, dogaressa alucia da Prata 101, 103, 104, 108, 113, 114 Zen, doge renier 99, 101–104, 108, 110, 114