The Early Renaissance and Vernacular Culture

399 Pages·2012·5.56 MB·English

by  Charles Dempsey

The Early Renaissance and
Vernacular Culture
=
The Bernard Berenson Lectures
on the Ital ian Renaissance
sponsored by villa i tatti
harvard university center for
italian renaissance studies
florence, italy

The Early Renaissance and
Vernacular Culture
=
CHARLES DEMPSEY
harvard university press
cambridge, massachusetts
london, england
2012
Copyright © 2012 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Dempsey, Charles.
The early Renaissance and vernacular culture / Charles Dempsey.
p. cm.—(The Bernard Berenson lectures on the Itali an Renaissance)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0 - 674- 04952- 9 (alk. paper)
1. Arts, Itali an. 2. Arts, Renaissance—Italy.
3. Arts and society—Italy. I. Title.
NX552.A1D45 2012
709.45—dc23 2011023475
Contents
=
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Courtly Lyric I
simone martini, french courtly lyric,
and the vernacular 9
2. Courtly Lyric II
sandro botticelli and poliziano: humanist
learning and the vernacular 67
3. Civic Ritual I
cardinal orsini’s paintings and baccio baldini’s
engravings of the sibyls: humanist learning and
vernacular drama 117
4. Civic Ritual II
reconstructing the vernacular octaves with
the prophecies of the twelve sibyls 207
Appendix
cardinal orsini’s twelve sibyls and
their prophecies in vernacular octaves
reconstructed 269
Notes 317
Index 365
Illustrations
1. Benozzo Gozzoli, Horsetamer, metalpoint, gray-b lack wash, height-
ened with white, on blue prepared paper, 359 × 246 mm, British
Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British Museum) 15
2. Giotto di Bondone, The Virgin’s Wedding Procession, fresco, north wall,
Arena Chapel, Padua. (By kind permission of the Comune di
Padova—Assessorato alla Cultura) 29
3. Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, tempera on wood, 203 × 314 cm, Uffizi,
Florence. (Alinari/Art Resource, NY) 33
4. Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’ Benci (obverse), oil on panel, 42.7 ×
37 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Ailsa Mellon Bruce
Fund, image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washi ngton) 37
5. Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’ Benci (reverse), oil on panel, 42.7 × 37
cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Ailsa Mellon Bruce
Fund, image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washi ngton) 39
6. Simone Martini, Maestà (detail), fresco, 763 × 970 cm, Palazzo Pub-
blico, Siena. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) 45
7. Duccio di Buoninsegna, Maestà (detail), tempera and gold on panel,
Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana, Siena. (Alinari/Art Resource,
NY) 47
8. Unknown artist, Virgin and Child, ivory statuette, France, height 32
cm, Louvre, Paris. (Réu nion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource,
NY) 51
vii
Illustrations
9. Simone Martini, Saint Louis of Toulouse Crowning His Brother Robert of
d’Anjou, tempera and gold on panel, main panel 200 × 138 cm and
predella 56 × 138 cm, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples.
(Alinari/Art Resource, NY) 59
10. Sandro Botticelli, Madonna del Padiglione, tempera on panel, diameter
65 cm, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan. (Biblioteca Ambrosiana,
Milan) 75
11. Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, tempera on canvas, 184.5 × 285.5 cm,
Uffizi, Florence. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) 79
12. Venus de’ Medici (Roman statue), marble, height 153 cm without base,
Uffizi, Florence. (Alinari/Art Resource, NY) 81
13. Sandro Botticelli, Idealized Portrait of a Lady (so-c alled Simonetta), oil
and tempera on panel, 82 × 54 cm, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am
Main. (© U. Edelmann—Städel Museum—ARTOTHEK) 93
14. Sandro Botticelli, Mars and Venus, tempera and oil on panel, 69.2 ×
173.4 cm, National Gallery, London. (© National Gallery, London/
Art Resource, NY) 99
15. Andrea del Verrocchio, Head of a Young Woman, charcoal heightened
with white and brown ink, 325 × 272 mm, British Museum, London
(© The Trustees of the British Museum) 103
16. Leonardo da Vinci, Head of a Woman (study for Leda and the Swan),
pen and ink, 9.2 × 11.2 cm, Windsor, RL 12515. (The Royal Collec-
tion © 2010, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) 105
17. Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi, tempera on panel, 111 × 134
cm, Uffizi, Florence. (Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY) 111
18. Sandro Botticelli, Giuliano de’ Medici, tempera on panel, 75.5 × 52.5
cm, framed 105.7 × 81.3 × 11.3 cm, National Gallery of Art, Wash-
ington. (Samuel H. Kress Collection, image courtesy National Gal-
lery of Art, Washington) 115
19. Benozzo Gozzoli, Erythraean Sibyl (detail of frame of Fra Angelico’s
Crucifixion), fresco, Chapterhouse, San Marco (Museo di San
Marco), Florence. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) 127
viii
Illustrations
20. Cosimo Rosselli (school), Adoration of the Magi, tempera on panel, 101
× 217 cm, Uffizi, Florence. (Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività
culturali/Art Resource, NY) 149
21. Last Supper (detail from Processional Cross), Florentine, silver, partly
gilt, niello, copper, with traces of gilding over wood, Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York. (Image © Metropolitan Museum of
Art/Art Resource, NY) 163
22. Piero del Pollaiuolo, Prudence, oil on panel, 167 × 88 cm, Uffizi,
Florence. (Finsiel/Alinari/Art Resource, NY) 169
23. Master ES, The Evangelist John, engraving, 148 (borderline) × 99 mm,
British Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British
Museum) 175
24. Master ES, The Evangelist Mark, engraving, 146 (borderline) × 99
mm, British Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British
Museum) 177
25. Master ES, The Evangelist Matthew, engraving, 148 (borderline) × 96
mm, British Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British
Museum) 179
26. Master ES, Saint Thomas, engraving, 134 (cut) × 95 mm, British
Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British Museum) 181
27. Baccio Baldini (att rib uted), The Prophet Amos, engraving, 147 × 106
mm, British Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British
Museum) 183
28. Master ES, Saint Paul, engraving, 132 (cut) × 100 mm, British
Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British Museum) 185
29. Master ES, Lady with a Helmet and Shield, engraving, 99 (cut) × 65
mm, British Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British
Museum) 187
30. Baccio Baldini (att rib uted), The Prophet Daniel, engraving, 149 × 108
mm, British Museum, London. (© The Trustees of the British
Museum) 191
ix