The Material Culture of Domestic Religion in Early Modern Florence, c.1480 - c.1650

266 Pages·2007·20.748 MB·English

by  Caroline Corisande Anderson

The Material Culture of Domestic Religion
in Early Modern Florence,
c.1480 - c.1650
CAROLINE CORISANDE ANDERSON
Two VOLUMES
VOLUME I
PH.D.
THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK
HISTORY OF ART
DECEMBER 2007
Dr. Amanda Lillie and Dr. Simon Ditchfield Caroline C. Anderson
The Material Culture of Domestic Religion
in Early Modern Florence,
c.1480-c.1650
ABSTRACT
The thesis argues the importance that religion, space, and material culture held in shaping
the identity of the Catholic domestic sphere and the inhabitants it housed. The significance and
value of domestic religious items (such as acquasantiere and common devotional texts) and spaces
(such as the domestic oratory) have for the most part been ignored by histories that have largely
written the Catholic home as secular and art histories whose focus has been confined to a restricted
understanding of what constitutes art. This thesis therefore seeks to redress this lack of research by
providing a sustained and more empirically based investigation into an aspect ofmaterial history
whose significance is little understood.
By charting the rising presence of devotional items, furniture, images, relics, texts, and
spaces in Florentine homes from the late-fifteenth century to the mid-seventeenth, the thesis
questions what it might mean to have religion so ubiquitous at home at a specific historical juncture
and analyses shifts in belief through the ways in which Catholicism was consumed. It posits that
everyday devotional objects and, for the Florentine elite, the architectural space of the domestic
oratory or chapel provided a fundamental role in structuring notjust access to the divine, but also
wider social and religious relationships. As such, the thesis asserts both the importance of the
religious dimension to studies of domestic life and the centrality of the concept of the holy home to
early modem Catholicism.
ii
Contents
VOLUME I
Acknowledgements v
List of Abbreviations vi
Currency, Weights and Measures viii
List of Figures x
INTRODUCTION 1
C HAP TERON E. fuRNITURE, ACCESSORIES,ANDOTHERHOLYITEMS 12
Introduction 12
Acqua Santaand acquasantieri 13
Inginocchiatoiand altarini 28
Belssed candles, candlestick holders, and blessed roses 41
Agnus Dei, paternosters and rosaries 45
Breviand brievicini 57
CHAPTER Two. RELIGIOUS ART AT HOME 62
Introduction 62
Findings 68
Prints, papier-mache and other media 70
Display, veils and frames 75
Inventory Descriptions 78
Spaces, numbers and the subject matter of works of art 79
Angels 82
Mary and Her House 84
The Madonna della Neve, the Madonna di Loreto, and the Annunciate Madonna 90
The Holy Home 94
The Humble Home and the Saintly Family 96
Christ and the Host's Role at Home 97
Household Saints 98
Mirrors of Religion 104
Saintly Selves 109
CHAPTER THREE. RELICS 111
Introduction 111
Relics at home 116
Location and containers 124
Suppliers, supplicants, and the uses of relics at home 127
Regulating relics and cults: the cloak of Savonarola 130
iii
Conclusion 137
CHAPTER FOUR. BOOKS 139
Introduction 139
Who had books and where did they keep them 140
What books were in homes 145
Libri di donne and the Office of the Virgin 154
Censorship and reading vernacular biblical literature 163
Conclusion 172
CHAPTER FIVE. DOMESTIC CHAPELS AND ORATORIES 175
Introduction 175
Owners 180
Rural and Urban Oratories 182
Oratories and Identities 187
The space, audience, and services of domestic chapels 193
Regulating Domestic Chapels 199
Architecture and decoration 206
Dedications and intercessors 216
Building and staffing oratories 221
Conclusion 223
CONCLUSION 224
ApPENDICES 228
Appendix A. Anna Maria Vitali's Denouncement 228
Appendix B. Methods and Tables/or Chapter Two 230
Appendix C. Graph 3.1 241
Appendix D. Table 4.1 242
Appendix E. Tables 5.1-5.4 243
Appendix F. 'De Celebratione Missarum' 247
VOLUME II
2
FIGURES
186
BIBLIOGRAPHY
iv
Acknowledgments
In 1561, Giulio Polverini, an aspirant and rather unfortunate Florentine soldier, wrote inhis diary
that 'in adversity one will not find friends nor family.' During the tribulations of this thesis, I can
only say that I have found the exact opposite to be true. Ihave received much support from
numerous individuals and institutions during this process, made many friends and, not least, anew
family member with Felix. Ihave been especial1y fortunate with my supervisors, Simon Ditchfield
and Amanda Lillie. I would like to thank them, albeit inadequately, for their unfailing and
immeasurable intelligence, kindness, generosity, humour, and friendship. I would also like to
acknowledge my own family, who have unstintingly and graciously given me not only much more
than the ten soldi that poor Polverini sought, but also more love than is imaginable. Idedicate this
to my mother.
v
List of Abbreviations
AAF =Archivio Arcivescovile di Firenze
=
CCR Cause Criminale Religiose
=
IBE Inventari dei Beni Ecclesiastici
=
Oratori FUzedegJi Oratori
=
TIN Tribunale dell'Inquisizione
=
AAntF Archivio Antinori di Firenze
=
ACDF Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, Rome
Index = Congregazione dell'Indice
SO =Sant'Officio
=
St.St. Fondo Sant'Officio, Stanza Storica
ACRF = Archivio Capponi Riccio di Firenze
Acta SS .=Acta Sanctorum
APF =Archivio Pucci di Firenze
ASI =Archivio Storico Italiano
ASF = Archivio di Stato di Firenze
AGeS = Archivio Guicciardini Corsi Salviati
AMM = Archivio Marzi-Medici
AQ =Archivio Quaratesi
CR = Carte Riccardi
CSI = Carte Strozziane Serie Prima
CSV = Carte Strozziane Serie Quinta
LCF = Libri di Commercio eFamiglia
MP = Medicea del Principato
MPAP = Magistrato dei Pupilli avanti ilPrincipato
MPP = Magistrato dei Pupilli del Principato
Not.Mod.= Notarile Modema
Nunz. = Tribunale della Nunziatura di Firenze
ASV = Archivio Segreto di Vaticano
Riti = Congregazioni dei Riti
SS = Segretari di Stato, Firenze
Battaglia = Salvatore Battaglia, Grande dizionario della lingua italiana.
=
Bib.Sanct. Bibliotheca Sanctorum
BL = British Library
MC = Medici Collection
BNCF = Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze
= t
CE Catholic Encyclopedia.
Florio =John Florio, Queen Anna's New World ofWords.t
vi
=
JWCI Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes
Le VUe =Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite ['..J,Milanesi edition.
Le Vite Giuntina =Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite [...J,Giuntina edition.t
=
Litta Pompeo Litta, Famiglie eelebri italiane.
=
MKIF Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisehen Instituts in Florenz
=
Moroni G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storieo-eeclesiastiea.
= t
Repetti E. Repetti, Dizionario geografieo, fisico estorico della Toscana.
=
VAC Vocabulario degli Accademia della Crusca.t
VTAD =Filippo Baldinucci, Vocabulario del/'arte del disegno.t
t
All references noted from these sources have been taken from electronic reproductions, checked as of 1
August 2007 (for the printed editions originally consulted please refer to the bibliography). For ease of
reference and limitations of space, references have simply been referred toad vocem. The electronic sources
consulted were:
Catholic Encyclopedia: http://newadvent.orglcathen/index.html(1913 edition).
Florio: http://pbm.com/-lindahllflorio/ (1611 edition).
Le Vite Giuntina: http://biblio.cribecu.sns.itlvasari/consultazione/index.html
Repetti: http://archeogr.unisLitlrepetti (1963 edition).
VAC: http://vocabulario.biblio.cribecu.sns.itlVocabulario/htmllindex.html( 1612edition).
VTAD: http://baldinucci.biblio.cribecu.sns.itlba1dinuccilhtmll_s_index2.html(1681 edition).
vii
Currency, Weights, and Measures
Sources: Florio 1611; Spini, ed. 1976; Zupko 1981; Cipolla 1987; Origo 1992; Weinstein 2000; Jacks and
Caffero 2001; Frick 2002
WEIGHT
libbra =approx. 0.71 of apound (UK), or 323.5 grams
oncia = 1112of a libbra, or 30 grams
denaro = 1124of an ounce
LENGTH
alia =cloth measurement, approx. 45 cm
braccio (pI. braccia) =2 feet or between 58.4 to 61.3 em (longer when measuring distances)
=
canna 3- 4braccia
pezza = 12-14 canna
palma = 119- 1/8 canna
DRY MEASURES
Staio (pI. staia) =0.73 bushels, or 25.92litres
=
moggio 24 bushels
LIQUID MEASURES
metadella =Y2 of afiasco
fiasco = 1120of a barile or approx. 1.9litres
barile =20fiaschi or approx. 37 litres
= =
cogno 10barili 370 litres (approx. 97 gallons)
botte = 1Florentine cogno
orcio =approx. 30 litres or 32 metadelle
DISTANCE
canna =2.92 metres
=
miglio (pI.miglia) according to Florio, 2,000 paces, although Weinstein estimates one miglio as
equivalent to 1,480 metres (Weinstein 2000, xviii). However, in the Orator; files of the AAF, the
viii
standard distances estimated by priests varied greatly, with, for example, 200 paces or 500 braccia
often understood as Y2amiglio despite the fact that one migliofiorentino technically equalled
2,833.33 braccia.
SURFACE AREA
staioro =0.313 acres (or the amount of land needed to produce one staio of wheat)
=
coltra 4 staiori
MONEY
By the end of the sixteen hundreds, the scudo or the ducato had replaced thefiorino and contained
approximately 32 grams of gold or the equivalent in silver.
=
4denari 1quattrino
=
12denari 1soldo
20 sold; = 1lira
7lire = 1scudo
WAGES
Taken from Weinstein 2000, xviii-xix, and reflecting wages at the mid-sixteenth century in
Tuscany. All wages are approximate, the average, and on aper annum basis unless otherwise noted.
Goldthwaite (1980, 483) estimates that the average daily wage for a skilled labourer was 22.6 soldi
di piccioli in 1557 & 37.5 in 1590.
Tuscan peasant family =5-6 scud;
=
Imperial army infantry pikeman 25 scudi
Chaplain of the Church of the Madonna dell'Umilta =240 lire/ 35 scud;
=
Female domestic servant 24 lire plus two pairs of shoes
Commissioner of Pistoia, salary per semester (six months) =3,000 lire/ 429 scudi
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1.1. 'Certaine of the Pope's Merchandize lately sent over into Englande', 1579.
1.2. Vittore Carpaccio, Dream of St. Ursula, 1500.
1.3. Lorenzo Lotto, An Ecclesiastic in his Study, c.l530.
l.4a. Detail of wooden headboard, late-sixteenth century.
l.4b. The 'Camera da letto di Fausto', Bagatti Valsecchi Museum.
1.5. The miraculous bed of the Oratory of the Madonna del Letto.
1.6. Urbino Bartelesi, Holy Water Stoup, 1670s.
1.7. Jan Brueghal the Elder, Girolamo Marchesini, and unknown Italian silversmith, Miniatures in Holy
Water Stoup, first quarter of the seventeenth century.
1.8. Selection ofItalian ceramic acquasantiere.
1.9. Selection of Italian ceramic acquasantiere.
1.10. Italian maiolica acquasantiera, 1620.
1.11. Italian maiolica acquasantiera, second-half of the sixteenth century
1.12. Pierre Raymond (attrib.), Holy Water Stoup, sixteenth century.
1.13. French, Oval Holy Water Stoup, seventeenth century.
1.14. Tuscan, Holy Water Bucket, first-half of the sixteenth century.
1.15. Tuscan, Holy Water Bucket, second-half of the seventeenth century
1.16. Venetian, Holy Water Bucket, late-fifteenth century.
1.17. Venetian, Holy Water Bucket, mid-sixteenth century.
1.18. Sardinian, Holy Water Bucket, sixteenth century.
1.19. Neapolitan, Holy Water Bucket, 1693.
1.20. Circle of Artemisia Gentileschi, Portrait of aNoblewoman, first-half of the seventeenth century.
1.21. Italian, Portrait oj aNoblewoman, late-sixteenth or early-seventeenth century.
1.22. Circle of Agnolo Gaddi, Annunciation. early-fifteenth century.
1.23. Filippo Lippi, Annunciation, c.I440.
1.24. Bernardino Luini, Annunciation, early-sixteenth century.
1.25. Vittore Carpaccio, Annunciation, 1504.
1.26. Jacopo da Empoli, Annunciation. 1599.
1.27. Guido Reni, Annunciation, 1628-29.
1.28a. Pietro Cantore (?). 'Ways of Praying' from De oratione etpartibus eius, thirteenth century.
1.28b. South German. The Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic, 1450-1470.
x