Tears Rendered in Silver and Gold

November 27, 2012

By Mary Jo Gibson

The Uffizi Gallery, that cradle of Florentine art in Italy, is home to the art collection of the Medici.  As titans of Renaissance patronage they have given commissions to such storied names as Titian, Botticelli, Tintoretto and Il Parmigianino.  The Medici dynasty originally built the Uffizi to house government offices and designed the top loggia as a picture gallery – a novel innovation at the time.  It is from that space, the galleria, that art galleries around the world take their name.  A chance to see this priceless art without visiting Italy is almost unimaginable; but on a cold autumn day with blustery winds blowing across the prairie, I made my way to Madison, Wisconsin, and the Chazen Museum to see “Offering of the Angels”, an exhibition from the Uffizi Gallery.

Chazen Museum of Art November 2012

Offering of the Angels

The Chazen offers the first visit to the United States for these works, rarely seen in public and selected for a special exhibition as a gift from the citizens of Florence.  The forty-three paintings and two tapestries span three centuries, from the late 14^th to the early 18^th.  The paintings were made for a wide range of purposes, from small works meant for private devotion in a home or palace, to large altar pieces made for a chapel.  “Offering of the Angels” includes two 16^th century tapestries designed from cartoons by Francesco De’Rossi, known as Il Salviati (Florence 1510 – Rome, 1563).   Close to seven feet wide, the tapestries depict Christ’s descent from the cross and the Resurrection.

Deposition From the Cross

The tapestries on view are something of a rarity.  They don’t travel well because of their weight and fragility, making them a challenge to transport.  The ‘Deposition from the Cross’, produced in Florence around 1546, is surprisingly detailed.  Christ’s mother, Mary, Mary Magadalene and Joseph of Arimathea are shown with Christ’s body.  Tears are rendered in the tapestry with silver and gold thread.

In the early 16^th century, Flanders was the center of tapestry production.  The Medici wanted Florence to be equally well known for this art and commissioned cartoons from celebrated Florentine artists.  Two Flemish tapestry experts were hired and the results are nothing less than spectacular.

The Resurrection 1546-1549

The first painting in the exhibition, “The Miracle of the Manna”, by Fabrizio Boschi, commands immediate attention due to its epic size.  Depicting manna falling from the sky, with biblical and secular figures; the participants show the continual overlap of time, centuries apart, showcasing this enduring story.

Miracle of the Manna, Fabrizio Boschi, 1594-1597

“Pieta with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria”, by Il Cappuccino Veronese, imagines St. Catherine at the crucifixion.  The painting was commissioned by Caterina de Medici, her namesake being Catherine of Alexandria, the Saint.  The community surrounding these paintings becomes an integral part of the art, in depiction as well as creation.

Pieta with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria, Il Cappuccino Veronese, 1621

These works may long be established as treasures, but the truth of the matter is that they are continually evolving.  Titian’s Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine contrasts with photographic stages of the restoration process.  The removal of varnish allows the colors to appear with the richness and depth the artist intended.

Workshop of Tiziano Vecellio,Titian, 1490-1576 Madonna and Child with St Catherine of Alexandria, 1550-1560

The most recognized painting in the Offering of the Angels is Botticelli’s Madonna and Child, or Madonna of the Loggia.  Having undergone multiple restorations, the only parts of the painting that are considered original are the red gown of the Virgin and the distant landscape.  One restoration was so disastrous that the faces were repainted entirely.  A prize of the Uffizi gallery, the painting has never been permanently finished, and looks entirely different now than in the 16^th century.

Sandro Botticelli, Madonna with Child, 1466

The Chazen Museum is one of the best kept secrets of the Midwest’s art institutions.  Their permanent collection of Renaissance art boasts a huge altar painting by Vasari, “Adoration of the Shepherds”, among other religious art and sculpture.  Well worth the trip on a cold autumn day, I expect many more visits in the future as the Chazen continues to showcase new exhibitions, the “Golden Age of English Watercolors” being the latest arrival.  Visual arts enrich the human experience and the knowledge of art is essential to understanding diverse cultures past and present.  This glimpse into the riches of the Medici certainly underscores that enrichment.

The Original Sin, Florentine Painter from the 16th century

The Last Supper, Luca Signorelli, 1523

Francesco Mazzola, Il Parmigianino, Madonna with Child, 1525

Alessandro Tiarini, Nativity of Jesus, 17th century oil on copper

Alessandro Allori, Madonna with the Symbols of the Passion of the Christ, 1581

Want more from the Uffizi Gallery?  They are part of the Google Art Project, and have an app for the iPad.

A great post by Hyperallergic on the Secret Life of Paintings reviews this exhibition while at the James A. Michener Art Museum, comparing some great writings of Machiavelli with the art, and the times.

Thank you joining me for “Offering of the Angels”, I look forward to chatting with you about this and future museum events.

Cheers,

Mary Jo

Borgias Never Forgive

I have been neglectful of my Borgia history this year, but The Borgia Chronicles by Mary Hollingsworth has rekindled my interest.  Her book covers the years 1414-1572, and the pages are loaded with art that goes beyond the usual Google search of images.

The Borgia Chronicles, by Mary Hollingsworth

Juan (Giovanni de Candia) Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandia, (1474-June 14, 1497); born in Rome to Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia and Vannozza dei Cattanei of the House of Candia; and the brother of the famous Cesare.  According to several sources and opinions, Giovanni may be the second son from Pope Alexander VI’s relationship with Vannozza, Cesare being the first born.  These doubts arise from contradictory evidence in Papal Bulls and letters about Cesare’s birth.  Record keeping was a variable practice in the early Renaissance, not being consistent, and subject to the emotional whims of those involved.

Juan Borgia, Duke of Gandia, Pinturicchio, from the Secret Borgia Apartments in the Vatican

Juan married Maria Enriquez de Luna in September 1493, the Spanish betrothed of his deceased half-brother, Pedro Luis.  Titles he acquired were Duke of Gandia, Duke of Sessa, Grand Constable of Naples, the Papal Gonfalonier and General Captain and Governor of St. Peters.

The night of June 14, 1497, Cesare and his younger brother dined at their mother’s house.  Leaving as night fell, Juan told his brother that he wanted to go in pursuit of further pleasure before going back to the Vatican palace. He dismissed his servants, except for a footman and a mysterious man in a mask who had been his companion over the past month.  (Johannes Burchard, 1497)

Street Scene in Rome

Riding off towards the Piazza degli Ebrei, Juan told his footman to wait an hour, and if he did not return, to continue on to the Vatican.  Soon after the footman was attacked and badly wounded.  Discovered in a pool of blood, the footman died before the morning and could not report any particulars of the incident.

Juan’s body was recovered from the Tiber River, still fully dressed, with 30 gold ducats untouched in the purse on his belt.  He had been stabbed repeatedly in the body, legs and head.  To the immense grief of the Pope, this act occasioned the heartless epigram by Sannazzaro describing Alexander as a ‘fisher of men’.

Evidence on the death of Juan Borgia

“Amongst others they interrogated a certain Giorgio Schiavo who regularly unloaded his cargos of wood on the banks of the Tiber and, in order to protect his merchandise from thieves, regularly spent the night on his barge in the Tiber.  When he was asked if he had seen anything being thrown into the Tiber on Wednesday night, he replied, so it is said, that he was on his barge that night guarding his wood and, after midnight, had seen two men on foot come down the alley to the left of the Ospedale degli Schiavoni at San Girolamo.  They had walked along the road by the river, looking carefully to the right and left to see if anyone was about but, finding no one, they had returned to the alley.  Shortly afterwards, two other men came out of the same alley and made the same inspection.  Not seeing anything, they signaled to their companions.  A rider on a white horse appeared with a corpse slung over behind him, heads and arms on one side, feet on the other.  The first two men were walking beside the rider in order to keep the corpse from slipping.  The horse was ridden further along to the place where the sewer emptied into the river… the two men on foot then lifted the body, one taking the arms and the other the legs and threw it into the Tiber with as much force as they were capable.  The man on the horse asked if the operation had worked and they answered, “Yes, Lord.”  Then, watching the river intently, and seeing something on the surface, the man on the horse asked the others what was the black thing floating in the river, they replied that it was the coat, so one of them had thrown stones to make it sink.  Once that was done all five men left.

Johannes Burchard, Liber notarum, pg 234-5

Anonymous engraving at the height of Cesare’s power

Who Killed the Duke of Gandia?

Juan Borgia, Duke of Gandia, was not much liked either in Spain – where he struck one contemporary as ‘an avaricious youth, self-important, proud, vicious and irrational’ –  or in Rome, where he had made many enemies, not least among the husbands of his many mistresses.

One of his conquests was reputed to be his sister-in-law, Sancia of Aragon.  A letter was found in his apartments warning him that a Roman friend was actually his enemy.  One of the most obvious suspects in his murder was Giovanni Sforza, whose fury at the pope’s decision to annul his marriage to Lucrezia Borgia was widely known; but he was fortunately in Milan at the time, and his brother, Galeazzo – another suspect – could prove he had never left Pesaro.  Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, who had had a violent argument with the Duke a few days before his death, was also suspected, but Alexander VI insisted ‘God forbid that I should have such terrible suspicions of someone I have always loved as a brother’ and continued to behave in a friendly manner towards his old ally.  Another man with a grudge against the Duke was Guidobaldo della Rovere, whom the pope had refused to ransom after the Battle of Soriano.

Two days later, it was being openly said that the brother of the Lord of Pesar/Galeazzo Sforza was guilty of the murder, but nobody now believes that.  There are so many different rumors but as every conversation about this matter is dangerous, I would leave it to those to whom it concerns.  The pope understandably is most distressed and plans to change his life and become quite a different man… yesterday in consistory he said he intended to reform the Church and has appointed cardinals to oversee this…  Moreover he also announced at the said consistory that he wanted to equip 40 squadrons of soldiers and won’t include a single Roman baron.  It is thought he wants Gonsalvo de Cordoba as Captain-General of the Church who is a brave and noble man, and he promises to do other praiseworthy and virtuous things; we shall see whether he is lying or really inspired.

An anonymous correspondent to Giovanni Bentivoglio, 20 June 1497 (L. von Pastor, History of the Popes, Vol. V, p. 554, Doc. 38).

Miramare Museum, presumed to be Cesare Borgia, unknown artist

Although not proven, there is the possibility that Juan died at the hands of one Antonio Pico della Mirandola whose “house was near the Tiber” and “who also had a young daughter”-which could explain Juan’s remark that he was going to “amuse himself” on his mysterious ride.

Despite the lack of hard evidence, popular history has ascribed the murder to Cesare, the duke’s brother, though he was not among the immediate suspects.  The rumor seems to have emerged somewhat later in the circle around Giovanni Sforza, after he had been forced by Alexander VI to state  publicly that he was impotent – a patent falsehood in order to enable the dissolution of the marriage with Lucrezia.  The Duke of Gandia’s widow, Maria, certainly thought Cesare guilty, and she even commissioned an altarpiece to record this terrible fratricide.

Virgin de los Caballeros Pablo de San Leocadio

Detail of Virgin de los CaballerosCesare Borgia shown stabbing Juan Borgia

Juan’s legacy

Juan and Maria had two children:  Juan Borja y Enriquez (also known as Juan Borgia), who became the 3rd Duke of Gandia, and Francisca de Jesus Borja, who became a nun at a convent in Valladolid.  This Juan was the father of Saint Francis Borgia.

Study of Cesare Borgia, Leonardo da Vinci

An earlier post discussing the Secret Borgia Apartments at the Vatican is available here. Further reading on The Borgias can be found at Three Pipe Problem, with great comparisons of the show against the historical record.  The Showtime link to The Borgias has lots of great items on the history and life of the times with a social media game connected to Facebook.

Thank you for joining me for this post on the death of Juan Borgia.  A review of this season’s show and some minor characters,  Botticelli and Machiavelli, will be forthcoming.