coor achenbach, gertrude the earliest italian representation of the coronation of the virgin

8/12/2019 COOR ACHENBACH, GERTRUDE the Earliest Italian Representation of the Coronation of the Virgin

1/6

The Earliest Italian Representation of the Coronation of the VirginAuthor(s): Gertrude Coor-AchenbachReviewed work(s):Source: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 99, No. 655 (Oct., 1957), pp. 328-332Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/872245.

Accessed: 21/09/2012 15:40

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access

to The Burlington Magazine.
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bmplhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/872245?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/872245?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bmpl


2/6

EDITORIALsketch book and the Liber Veritatisto the British Museum,where they will be more easily accessible for study, and intransporting the delicate Memling triptych to the NationalGallery's air-conditioned rooms where it will be safer thananywhere else. It has been urged that the Hunting Tapes-tries should be returned to Hardwick; but there is no roomfor them there, unless some tapestries already hanging atHardwick, whichare listed in the i6oi Inventory s hangingin theveryplaces theynow occupy,were taken down. When the Hunt-ing Scenes were at Hardwick they were in narrow strips andhung in spaces between the windows in the Long Gallery,where obviously (now that they have been pieced together)they cannot be put back. However, the rights and wrongs of

this case have become rather academic, now that thetreasures have actually been transferred, at the height of thecontroversy, to London, and it is hard to imagine that thedecision will now be reversed. One would like to think thaton future occasions, when it is proposed to take works of artof the highest value in satisfaction of estate duties, more con-sideration will be shown (than was shown this time) forpopular, local sentiment, and that the decent arguments infavour of housing treasures, which do not require specialprotection, in country houses or provincial museums, andthus stimulating an interest in art throughout the countryinstead of continuing a policy of concentrating everything inthe capital, will be given a more sympathetic hearing.

GERTRUDE COOR-ACHENBACHT h e E a r l i e s t I t a l i a n epresentationf t h

oronation o f t h V i r g i nUNTIL 1946, when Enzo Carli attributed the design of thestained glass window in the apse of the Cathedral of Siena toDuccio and connected it with documents of 1287 and 1288,1the earliest Italian Coronationof the Virgin was generallythought to be Jacopo Torriti's mosaic in the apse of S. MariaMaggiore, Rome, signed and originally dated 1295 (Fig.7).2Carli observed that despite its earlier date the Coronationnthe window is compositionally, iconographically, andstylistically more advanced than Torriti's. By comparing theSiena Coronationwith the same scene in three Duccio schoolpaintings he convincingly deduced that in the lost Coronationof the Maesta of I308-11 Duccio repeated the compositionof the crowned Virgin in the window.3 This figure is depictedin a submissive attitude, with inclined head and crossedarms, seated and turned toward Christ. The Italian scholardid not consider the source of this composition, but a studyof a large number of early Coronations suggests that it wasmost likely a Gothic miniature or coloured drawing for astained-glass window.Thirty years ago Michael Alpatoff proposed the samekind of sources for Torriti's quite different representation.4He observed that the dissecting of the composition intosymmetrical parts, the emphasis on and isolation of the mainrepresentation by means of a separate frame, the strongcontrast in size between the major and the minor figures, thegay, varied colour-scheme and, most decisive, the readingfrom the bottom to the top of the superimposed scenes arecharacteristic of Gothic miniatures and glass windows. Headduced as an example the Coronationn the mid-thirteenth-

century Psalter of St Louis and Blanche of Castille, in which,as in the mosaic, the Coronationis depicted above theDormition.5A closer analogy to Torriti's crowning scene thanthat indicated by Alpatoff is found in a very unusual,unknown, unpublished Dugento panel painting (Fig.2),which calls for detailed consideration.6The unknown painting, one of many gifts of the Viscountand Viscountess Lee of Fareham to the Courtauld Instituteof Art, is a puzzling fragment. The trapezoidal original partof the picture has been eked out to a triangle by means of arecent, gilt and painted piece of wood of 41 by I7* in.(I by 45 cm), which replaces a lost portion of the originalwork. Without this triangle and the modern outer frame thefragment measures 18 by 65? in. (45 by 164 cm). It is dis-figured by the fairly recent addition of two identical, largecoats of arms, disrespectfully placed on top of the sections ofthe mandorla flanking the Coronation.The golden leaves andmace in the coats of arms, set against a dark blue ground,proved useless as clues for the provenance of the work.7Concerning the provenance, we know only that the lateViscount Lee purchased the picture in 1923 from an Italiandealer, and that the painting was exported from Italy inAugust of that year.Apart from the additions referred to and a horizontalcrack in the lower right side, the fragment is in fair condition.Christ's and the angels' hair have been retouched, thesurface colour in His face and in the left angel's has beenabrased, His dark red mantle has suffered some minor

1 E. CARLI: Vetrata uccesca, lorence [I946], passim;first plate and pl.I, xIII.2Torriti's example still holds this position in the careful notes on the earlyiconography of the Coronationn R. OFFNER: Criticaland HistoricalCorpusofFlorentine Painting, New York [I930], SEC.II,vol. v [19471, pp.243-50; see alsoM.ALPATOFF:Die Entstehung des Mosaiksvon Jacobus Torriti in Santa MariaMaggiore in Rom', Jahrbuch ur Kunstwissenschaft1924-5], pp.I-I9. A thirdlate Dugento example, found in a Paduan Psalter in the Fitzwilliam Museum,Cambridge (previously Collections T. H. Riches, Shenley; H. Y. Thompson,London), is referred to in M.MEIss: aintingin Florence ndSienaaftertheBlackDeath, Princeton [I951], P-44, n.I27.3 CARLI, Op. Cit., pp.38 f.4 ALPATOFF, loc. cit., pp.8 ff., I I f., I7 ff.

5Paris, Bibl. de l'Arsenal, MS.I 186, fol.29v.; reproduced in Alpatoff's article,pl.3 (Fig.5). Alpatoff did not point out that a part of the scene sequences in thismanuscript follows the earlier tradition and reads from the top to the bottom(e.g. the Crucifixionnd Descentrom theCrosson fol.24r.)6 I am very grateful to Prof. Ellis Waterhouse for making it possible for me tostudy in the Barber Institute of Fine Arts stored pictures from the Lee of Fare-ham Collection, among which I discovered the unknown Coronation,nd forhaving this picture photographed. Also, I am much obliged to Sir AnthonyBlunt and to the Viscountess Lee of Fareham for permission to publish this noteand for some information concerning the painting's history. Fig.2 is reproducedby courtesy of the Birmingham Museum.SAccording to a modern label on the painting, the arms are those of theBrandifoglio of Arezzo, but neither the director of the Arezzo Archives nor Ihave found any information relating to a noble family with that name.

328

century Psalter of St Louis and Blanche of Castille, in which,as in the mosaic, the Coronationis depicted above theDormition.5A closer analogy to Torriti's crowning scene thanthat indicated by Alpatoff is found in a very unusual,unknown, unpublished Dugento panel painting (Fig.2),which calls for detailed consideration.6The unknown painting, one of many gifts of the Viscountand Viscountess Lee of Fareham to the Courtauld Instituteof Art, is a puzzling fragment. The trapezoidal original partof the picture has been eked out to a triangle by means of arecent, gilt and painted piece of wood of 41 by I7* in.(I by 45 cm), which replaces a lost portion of the originalwork. Without this triangle and the modern outer frame thefragment measures 18 by 65? in. (45 by 164 cm). It is dis-figured by the fairly recent addition of two identical, largecoats of arms, disrespectfully placed on top of the sections ofthe mandorla flanking the Coronation.The golden leaves andmace in the coats of arms, set against a dark blue ground,proved useless as clues for the provenance of the work.7Concerning the provenance, we know only that the lateViscount Lee purchased the picture in 1923 from an Italiandealer, and that the painting was exported from Italy inAugust of that year.Apart from the additions referred to and a horizontalcrack in the lower right side, the fragment is in fair condition.Christ's and the angels' hair have been retouched, thesurface colour in His face and in the left angel's has beenabrased, His dark red mantle has suffered some minor

this case have become rather academic, now that thetreasures have actually been transferred, at the height of thecontroversy, to London, and it is hard to imagine that thedecision will now be reversed. One would like to think thaton future occasions, when it is proposed to take works of artof the highest value in satisfaction of estate duties, more con-sideration will be shown (than was shown this time) forpopular, local sentiment, and that the decent arguments infavour of housing treasures, which do not require specialprotection, in country houses or provincial museums, andthus stimulating an interest in art throughout the countryinstead of continuing a policy of concentrating everything inthe capital, will be given a more sympathetic hearing.

1 E. CARLI: Vetrata uccesca, lorence [I946], passim;first plate and pl.I, xIII.2Torriti's example still holds this position in the careful notes on the earlyiconography of the Coronationn R. OFFNER: Criticaland HistoricalCorpusofFlorentine Painting, New York [I930], SEC.II,vol. v [19471, pp.243-50; see alsoM.ALPATOFF:Die Entstehung des Mosaiksvon Jacobus Torriti in Santa MariaMaggiore in Rom', Jahrbuch ur Kunstwissenschaft1924-5], pp.I-I9. A thirdlate Dugento example, found in a Paduan Psalter in the Fitzwilliam Museum,Cambridge (previously Collections T. H. Riches, Shenley; H. Y. Thompson,London), is referred to in M.MEIss: aintingin Florence ndSienaaftertheBlackDeath, Princeton [I951], P-44, n.I27.3 CARLI, Op. Cit., pp.38 f.4 ALPATOFF, loc. cit., pp.8 ff., I I f., I7 ff.328

sketch book and the Liber Veritatisto the British Museum,where they will be more easily accessible for study, and intransporting the delicate Memling triptych to the NationalGallery's air-conditioned rooms where it will be safer thananywhere else. It has been urged that the Hunting Tapes-tries should be returned to Hardwick; but there is no roomfor them there, unless some tapestries already hanging atHardwick, whichare listed in the i6oi Inventory s hangingin theveryplaces theynow occupy,were taken down. When the Hunt-ing Scenes were at Hardwick they were in narrow strips andhung in spaces between the windows in the Long Gallery,where obviously (now that they have been pieced together)they cannot be put back. However, the rights and wrongs of

5Paris, Bibl. de l'Arsenal, MS.I 186, fol.29v.; reproduced in Alpatoff's article,pl.3 (Fig.5). Alpatoff did not point out that a part of the scene sequences in thismanuscript follows the earlier tradition and reads from the top to the bottom(e.g. the Crucifixionnd Descentrom theCrosson fol.24r.)6 I am very grateful to Prof. Ellis Waterhouse for making it possible for me tostudy in the Barber Institute of Fine Arts stored pictures from the Lee of Fare-ham Collection, among which I discovered the unknown Coronation,nd forhaving this picture photographed. Also, I am much obliged to Sir AnthonyBlunt and to the Viscountess Lee of Fareham for permission to publish this noteand for some information concerning the painting's history. Fig.2 is reproducedby courtesy of the Birmingham Museum.SAccording to a modern label on the painting, the arms are those of theBrandifoglio of Arezzo, but neither the director of the Arezzo Archives nor Ihave found any information relating to a noble family with that name.

EDITORIAL

GERTRUDE COOR-ACHENBACHT h e E a r l i e s t I t a l i a n epresentationf t h

oronation o f t h V i r g i nUNTIL 1946, when Enzo Carli attributed the design of thestained glass window in the apse of the Cathedral of Siena toDuccio and connected it with documents of 1287 and 1288,1the earliest Italian Coronationof the Virgin was generallythought to be Jacopo Torriti's mosaic in the apse of S. MariaMaggiore, Rome, signed and originally dated 1295 (Fig.7).2Carli observed that despite its earlier date the Coronationnthe window is compositionally, iconographically, andstylistically more advanced than Torriti's. By comparing theSiena Coronationwith the same scene in three Duccio schoolpaintings he convincingly deduced that in the lost Coronationof the Maesta of I308-11 Duccio repeated the compositionof the crowned Virgin in the window.3 This figure is depictedin a submissive attitude, with inclined head and crossedarms, seated and turned toward Christ. The Italian scholardid not consider the source of this composition, but a studyof a large number of early Coronations suggests that it wasmost likely a Gothic miniature or coloured drawing for astained-glass window.Thirty years ago Michael Alpatoff proposed the samekind of sources for Torriti's quite different representation.4He observed that the dissecting of the composition intosymmetrical parts, the emphasis on and isolation of the mainrepresentation by means of a separate frame, the strongcontrast in size between the major and the minor figures, thegay, varied colour-scheme and, most decisive, the readingfrom the bottom to the top of the superimposed scenes arecharacteristic of Gothic miniatures and glass windows. Headduced as an example the Coronationn the mid-thirteenth-


3/6

THE EARLIEST ITALIAN REPRESENTATION OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGINdamage, and the beauty of the light blue colour of His dresshas been diminished by dirt; but all the other representationsand the warm gold of the haloes and background are wellpreserved. The colours are gay and include much red, blue,and green. The Virgin is depicted in a dark red dress, darkgreen mantle, and deep red slippers. Like Christ's, her.garments are striated with gold. The left angel wears a reddress and light blue mantle, his companion a green dressand rose mantle. The wooden throne has a light brownbottom part, green seat, lower posts, and arched top, blueupper posts, and a red hanging with black and gold orna-ment. The footstools are brown with red surfaces, and themandorla is rendered in three gradated shades of blue.Study of the work establishes that it was composed andprobably executed by Guido da Siena, the leading Sienesepainter in the seventh and eighth decades of the thirteenthcentury and the head of a large shop, in which the master'sart was at times very well imitated. Stylistically the paintingis closely connected with Guido's altarpiece No. 7 in thePinacoteca, Siena, according to the original inscriptionproduced in the I270's (Fig.4).8 Compare especially theheads of Mary, and compare the Evangelist John's headwith that of the left angel. Even the delicately engraved andstamped haloes of these figures, decorated with floral orna-ment, are closely analogous, as is the round trefoil arch overthe main representation. All these ornamental shapes andtechniques are known to have been employed frequently inGuido's circle during the I270's and I280's, and the man-dorla parts are closely matched in a LastJudgementpanel fromGuido's shop at Grosseto.9 Also the broad wooden thronewith an arched back and a hanging decorated with roundelsis characteristic of this ambiente.Guido painted a similarthrone as early as 1262,10 but in all intact examples from thisartist's shop the lower part of the throne is shown from theside, while in the Lee Coronation oth parts are shown fromthe front. This completely frontal view of the arched furni-ture is characteristic of Florentine painted thrones from thetime of Coppo di Marcovaldo and the youthful Cimabue,beginning with Coppo's Madonna del Bordoneof 126I in S.Maria dei Servi, Siena, 1 which probably influenced Guido.The Lee Coronationrecalls especially Cimabue's fresco ofChrist and the Virgin Enthroned n Paradise in S. Francesco,Assisi, and one is led to wonder if Guido could have receivedinspiration from this fresco, which, on stylistic grounds,cannot be dated much before I28O.12In addition to Guido's dated Madonna and Child withSaints, the Lee Coronation as important stylistic connexionswith this artist's ThreeScenesrom theLife of Christ,No.8 in the

Pinacoteca, Siena,13 and with the finest of the TwelveChristologicalScenes which Guido produced in part with thehelp of assistants, and which have frequently been connectedwith the master's huge Madonna in the Palazzo Pubblico,Siena. 1 The stylistic relations lead one to ask if the Coronationmight have belonged to the same work as the Twelve Scenes,which appears best placed close to 1280. The decoration ofthe haloes speaks against such a combination, as do theprobable shape and approximate size of the painting of whichthe fragment formed a part.How did this painting look originally? A hypotheticalcompletion of the mandorla and figures of the angels on thebasis of the surviving portions and related intact repre-sentations, points to an original work of approximately70-80 by 90-Ioo in. (175-200 by 225-250 cm), of lowrectangular format, possibly with a gabled top, like thethirteenth-century Ascension mosaic on the fagade of S.Frediano, Lucca. The placing of the Coronation in theupper part of a large mandorla supported by flying angelssuggests that the lower part of the almond-shaped lightsymbol contained an illustration of the Assumption. Com-positional and spatial considerations point to a representationof the Assunta seated on an arc, as in Cimabue's fresco inAssisi, and as in the centre of the stained-glass window de-signed by Duccio.15 In most early representations of the As-sumption Mary is depicted alone in the mandorla, but thetwo-figure composition and the frontal throne in the sceneabove the hypothetical one favour the possibility that Guidoemployed the rare iconography seen in Cimabue's Assumption,in which Christ's mother is shown ascending to heaven inthe company of her son. 16Where did Guido derive his main inspiration for hissolemn Coronation?The unusual placing of this repre-sentation within a raised, round trefoil frame, within theupper part of a large mandorla, and the monumental charac-ter bring to mind the early Gothic reliefs in the tympanumand lintel of the central north portal of Notre-Dame,Chartres (Fig.3). In that decoration of the early thirteenth-century, Christ and the crowned Virgin are shown seatedunder a round trefoil-arch canopy. There, too, the repre-sentation of the enthroned Saviour and his mother sur-mounts representations of earlier events in the Virgin's life,in that case her Dormition and Resurrection,and all theseillustrations are framed by mandorla-related, concentricpointed arches. It seems quite possible that a representationsuch as this, which he may have known from some earlyreproduction, inspired Guido when he composed the paint-ing of which the Lee Coronationormed a part. However, incontrast to the anonymous French sculptor and to Torriti,8 For concise information on this work consult E. GARRISON: ItalianRomanesquePanelPainting;an Illustratedndex,Florence [19491],No.430.l Ibid., No. i59.10Ibid., No.175.11xxbid., No.I.

12 A. NICHOLSON:Cimabue,rinceton i931], PP.4 f. (Fig.2o), and severalotherstudents date Cimabue's frescoes in the upper church of S. Francesco, Assisi,about I29, but a date toward 1280 is suggested not only by the Orsini arms inthe Evangelist vault (cf. NICHOLSON,p. cit., p.4, and B. KLEINSCHMIDT: ieBasilika S. Francescon Assisi, Berlin [1915-28], I1, pp.56-6I), but also by therelation of the architecture in Cimabue's north transept fresco of St PeterHealingtheLameMan to that in the Flagellation f the early I28o's in the Frick Collection(NICHOLSON, op. cit., Fig.23; and Art Bulletin,xxximi [951], Fig.i opp. p.95).Reminiscent of Cimabue's representation of Christ and the VirginEnthroned nParadise,as well as of Guido's Coronation,s a panel painting of Christand theVirginEnthronedn Paradiseof about 1290 by a Guido follower in the Conventodelle Clarisse, Siena (GARRISON, p. cit., No.I6I).

13Ibid., No.414.14 Ibid., Nos.297; 660-2; 671, 672, 687; 696-700, and 702.15 NICHOLSON: imabue, ig. 19; and CARLI: Vetrata uccesca,irstplate.16NICHOLSON,P.cit., p.15, did not know an earlier example in art or literatureof the iconography employed by Cimabue. Perhaps a Syriac version of theapocryphal account of the Assumption, according to which Christ and Marywere sitting together in a 'chariot of light' (as translated by w. WRIGHT in theJournal of SacredLiterature,n.s., vII [1865, p.-157) and in this ascending toheaven inspired earlierEast Christian representations. In addition to Cimabue's,two early examples of this iconography can be pointed out in Umbrian painting:one of them, a fresco of about 30oo by an artist influenced by Cimabue andGuido, is in the former convent of S. Giuliana, Perugia (L'Arte,xxiv [1921],Figs.5-8, pp.I58 f.); the other, an early fourteenth-century wall painting by afollower of Meo da Siena, is in the Sacro Speco at Subiaco (VANMARLE:TheDevelopment f theItalianSchoolsof Painting,The Hague [1923-8], v, Fig.28).

329


4/6

THE EARLIEST ITALIAN REPRESENTATION OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGINwho depicted Mary pointing with both hands towards Christ,the Sienese painter chose the archaic orant gesture withexposed palms.A detailed comparison between the Coronations y Guidoand Torriti makes it evident that not only such details as theshape of the crown and the inscription in Christ's Book:VENI ELECTA MEA ET PONAM IN TE THRONUMMEUM17 are very similar, respectively identical, in the twoworks, but also the general colour scheme, the relation of thefigures to the throne, and the figure composition. Thesesimilarities suggest that Torriti might have known Guido'spainting. Perhaps he saw it during his Umbrian sojourn,because certain vault frescoes in the nave of S. Francesco,Assisi, indicate that Torriti was active in this church during

the I280's,18 and certain Umbrian paintings in Perugia andAssisi suggest that at the beginning of the last quarter of thethirteenth century Guido da Siena produced an importantwork for this region.19It is much hoped that the Lee Coronationwill be restoredbefore long because this painting is important as an icono-graphically closely related earlier example and possiblesource ofJacopo Torriti's famous mosaic, and as the earliestknown Italian representation of the Coronation.Furthermore,it is of great interest as a part of a compositionally andiconographically very unusual work by Guido da Siena,which has relations to Cimabue's art as well as to Torriti's,and which points to Assisi-Perugia as a possible region of itsoriginal location.

17 These words, related to certain passages in the Song of Songs, are derivedfrom the Office of the Feast of the Assumption. They had been used in anequally conspicuous manner already about 1143, in the apse mosaic of theEnthronedChristand CrownedVirginin S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome, icono-graphically a preliminary step for Torriti's representation.

18 Cf. KLEINSCHMIDT, op. Cit., II, pp.90-2.1' In addition to the Assumptionn the former convent of S. Giuliana, Perugia,adduced in note 16, and other wall paintings by the same hand there and inS. Matteo, influenced by Guido's art is a Madonna abernacle from the conventof S. Agnese in the Perugia Gallery (GARRISON,p. cit., No.348) and a Madonnapanel in S. Chiara, Assisi (ibid., No.5).

PETER MURRAY

r t Historians a n d r t Critics-IvXIV Uomini Singhularii in Firenze

IN the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence there is a miscel-laneous codex (MS. 1501. G. 2) which is written in the hand-writing of Antonio Manetti (1423-1497); because it is inManetti's hand the actual authorship of the entire codex issometimes attributed to him.' It is quite certain that he didindeed write some of the contents of this codex, for there aretwo signed colophons, and at least one other essay is knownto be his on other grounds. The handwriting is undeniablyhis, and is consistent all through the manuscript, so that theportion of the codex known to art historians as the XIVUomini must either be an original composition by Manettior merely a copy made by him, for reasons of his own, fromsome other manuscript which is now lost and of which noother copy has survived.Almost exactly the same can be said of another anonymouscomposition of the late Quattrocento, the AnonymousLife ofBrunelleschi, o we may now ask whether the XIV Uominiandthe AnonymousVita are both by Manetti, or neither, or onlyone - and if only one, then which? It is often argued that thetwo compositions cannot be by the same author, since theAnonymousVita omits all mention of the Pazzi Chapel whileit is recorded in the XIV Uomini. The AnonymousVita is alsofar more polemical in its general tone. However, the lastpart of the AnonymousVitais still lost and we have no right toassume that this missing section did not contain a passage onthe Pazzi Chapel: further, it is quite possible that the Chapel

was deliberately omitted on account of the execration of thePazzi family for many years after the failure of their Con-spiracy against the Medici (Easter 1478). The failure of thePazzi Conspiracy might provide a reason for silence had theAnonymousVita been composed in I478 or slightly later; butthis necessarily implies that the XIV Uomini, which doesrecord the Chapel, must have been written before Easter1478, or else considerably later. The disastrous fire of 147Iin Sto Spirito is recorded in the AnonymousVita,but not in theXIV Uomini, so that the AnonymousVita was demonstrablycomposed after 147I. Nevertheless, the XIV Uomini wasequally certainly written after I47I.The XIV Uomini was written as a continuation to the Defimosis civibus by Filippo Villani, written at the end of theTrecento. Not only did Manetti translate Villani intoItalian, but the actual MS. of the XIV Uominifollows a MS.of the Famosis civibus n the Biblioteca Nazionale codex. Thefourteen men chosen to continue the series of illustriousFlorentines are writers and artists rather than soldiers,prelates, and statesmen: indeed, the author was over-whelmingly interested in the arts for no fewer than eight ofthe fourteen were painters or sculptors. Even more significantis the relative amount of space allotted to them, for sixty-nineof the total of seventy-nine lines in the MS. are devoted tothem, leaving only ten lines to be shared out between fourhumanists and two theologians. Of the six who were notartists only three can be said to be well known now -Lionardo Bruni, Giannozzo Manetti, and Poggio - while theothers - Fra Luigi del Sala Marsili, Jacopo d'Agniolo, andBartolommeo Lapacci - are known only to specialists.Presumably the choice of famous men reflects the sympathiesof the author and gives us the first clue to his identity.The mention of Bruni, Giannozzo Manetti, and Poggiorecalls the fact that the XIV Uominiwas not alone in the field,

* Thisarticle sbasedonmaterial ontained n a thesisonearlyItaliansources,submittedo theUniversityof London orthedegreeof Ph.Din 1956.1E.g. by MILANESI,who publishedthe XIV Uominin his OperettestoricheiAntonioManetti1887], pp.159ff.:cf. alsopp.vii if. The text was alsopublishedin 1887 by C. FREY n his Vasari/Brunelleschi,v,pp.II9-2o and205--6,andwasdiscussedby FABRICZYn Archiviotorico ell'arte1892], pp.56 ff. The caseagainstManetti'sauthorship f theAnonymousitaor the XIV Uominis arguedby A.CHIAPPELLIn his publicationof the Pistoia ragmentof the Anon.Vita'DellaVita di FilippoBrunelleschi ttribuitaad AntonioManetti.. .' Archiviostoricotaliano[1896], xvn, pp.241 ff.330

PETER MURRAY

r t Historians a n d r t Critics-IvXIV Uomini Singhularii in Firenze

the I280's,18 and certain Umbrian paintings in Perugia andAssisi suggest that at the beginning of the last quarter of thethirteenth century Guido da Siena produced an importantwork for this region.19It is much hoped that the Lee Coronationwill be restoredbefore long because this painting is important as an icono-graphically closely related earlier example and possiblesource ofJacopo Torriti's famous mosaic, and as the earliestknown Italian representation of the Coronation.Furthermore,it is of great interest as a part of a compositionally andiconographically very unusual work by Guido da Siena,which has relations to Cimabue's art as well as to Torriti's,and which points to Assisi-Perugia as a possible region of itsoriginal location.

IN the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence there is a miscel-laneous codex (MS. 1501. G. 2) which is written in the hand-writing of Antonio Manetti (1423-1497); because it is inManetti's hand the actual authorship of the entire codex issometimes attributed to him.' It is quite certain that he didindeed write some of the contents of this codex, for there aretwo signed colophons, and at least one other essay is knownto be his on other grounds. The handwriting is undeniablyhis, and is consistent all through the manuscript, so that theportion of the codex known to art historians as the XIVUomini must either be an original composition by Manettior merely a copy made by him, for reasons of his own, fromsome other manuscript which is now lost and of which noother copy has survived.Almost exactly the same can be said of another anonymouscomposition of the late Quattrocento, the AnonymousLife ofBrunelleschi, o we may now ask whether the XIV Uominiandthe AnonymousVita are both by Manetti, or neither, or onlyone - and if only one, then which? It is often argued that thetwo compositions cannot be by the same author, since theAnonymousVita omits all mention of the Pazzi Chapel whileit is recorded in the XIV Uomini. The AnonymousVita is alsofar more polemical in its general tone. However, the lastpart of the AnonymousVitais still lost and we have no right toassume that this missing section did not contain a passage onthe Pazzi Chapel: further, it is quite possible that the Chapel* Thisarticle sbasedonmaterial ontained n a thesisonearlyItaliansources,submittedo theUniversityof London orthedegreeof Ph.Din 1956.1E.g. by MILANESI,who publishedthe XIV Uominin his OperettestoricheiAntonioManetti1887], pp.159ff.:cf. alsopp.vii if. The text was alsopublishedin 1887 by C. FREY n his Vasari/Brunelleschi,v,pp.II9-2o and205--6,andwasdiscussedby FABRICZYn Archiviotorico ell'arte1892], pp.56 ff. The caseagainstManetti'sauthorship f theAnonymousitaor the XIV Uominis arguedby A.CHIAPPELLIn his publicationof the Pistoia ragmentof the Anon.Vita'DellaVita di FilippoBrunelleschi ttribuitaad AntonioManetti.. .' Archiviostoricotaliano[1896], xvn, pp.241 ff.

who depicted Mary pointing with both hands towards Christ,the Sienese painter chose the archaic orant gesture withexposed palms.A detailed comparison between the Coronations y Guidoand Torriti makes it evident that not only such details as theshape of the crown and the inscription in Christ's Book:VENI ELECTA MEA ET PONAM IN TE THRONUMMEUM17 are very similar, respectively identical, in the twoworks, but also the general colour scheme, the relation of thefigures to the throne, and the figure composition. Thesesimilarities suggest that Torriti might have known Guido'spainting. Perhaps he saw it during his Umbrian sojourn,because certain vault frescoes in the nave of S. Francesco,Assisi, indicate that Torriti was active in this church during

was deliberately omitted on account of the execration of thePazzi family for many years after the failure of their Con-spiracy against the Medici (Easter 1478). The failure of thePazzi Conspiracy might provide a reason for silence had theAnonymousVita been composed in I478 or slightly later; butthis necessarily implies that the XIV Uomini, which doesrecord the Chapel, must have been written before Easter1478, or else considerably later. The disastrous fire of 147Iin Sto Spirito is recorded in the AnonymousVita,but not in theXIV Uomini, so that the AnonymousVita was demonstrablycomposed after 147I. Nevertheless, the XIV Uomini wasequally certainly written after I47I.The XIV Uomini was written as a continuation to the Defimosis civibus by Filippo Villani, written at the end of theTrecento. Not only did Manetti translate Villani intoItalian, but the actual MS. of the XIV Uominifollows a MS.of the Famosis civibus n the Biblioteca Nazionale codex. Thefourteen men chosen to continue the series of illustriousFlorentines are writers and artists rather than soldiers,prelates, and statesmen: indeed, the author was over-whelmingly interested in the arts for no fewer than eight ofthe fourteen were painters or sculptors. Even more significantis the relative amount of space allotted to them, for sixty-nineof the total of seventy-nine lines in the MS. are devoted tothem, leaving only ten lines to be shared out between fourhumanists and two theologians. Of the six who were notartists only three can be said to be well known now -Lionardo Bruni, Giannozzo Manetti, and Poggio - while theothers - Fra Luigi del Sala Marsili, Jacopo d'Agniolo, andBartolommeo Lapacci - are known only to specialists.Presumably the choice of famous men reflects the sympathiesof the author and gives us the first clue to his identity.The mention of Bruni, Giannozzo Manetti, and Poggiorecalls the fact that the XIV Uominiwas not alone in the field,

THE EARLIEST ITALIAN REPRESENTATION OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN

17 These words, related to certain passages in the Song of Songs, are derivedfrom the Office of the Feast of the Assumption. They had been used in anequally conspicuous manner already about 1143, in the apse mosaic of theEnthronedChristand CrownedVirginin S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome, icono-graphically a preliminary step for Torriti's representation.

330

18 Cf. KLEINSCHMIDT, op. Cit., II, pp.90-2.1' In addition to the Assumptionn the former convent of S. Giuliana, Perugia,adduced in note 16, and other wall paintings by the same hand there and inS. Matteo, influenced by Guido's art is a Madonna abernacle from the conventof S. Agnese in the Perugia Gallery (GARRISON,p. cit., No.348) and a Madonnapanel in S. Chiara, Assisi (ibid., No.5).


5/6

2. The Coronationf the Virgin,here attributed to Guido da Siena. Panel, 56 by 164 cm. (Lee of Fareham Collection.)

3. Christ and the Crowned Virgin enthroned nParadise. French, early thirteenth century.Tympanum relief, detail. (Notre-Dame,Chartres.)

4. Madonnaand ChildwithSaints,by Guido da Siena. Signed and dated 127 . . . Panel, 85 by 186 cm. (Pinacoteca, Siena.)


6/6

'Pr ::,i:iia-iiIiii--: i--iiiii~~-~iii??--:iii-i:?iii:~ii-~i:-' -'~i?i~-r-ii-.i_-:-ii-ii:-:--iiii;;:ciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-:-:-ii-i POW,::i :: :''' '';-'t 4,t:...-.:il--i:iii:-ka~~ii:----:::--i~::,:i;ii~~~ji~_jiij-~~j-;__;~~-~i:-y--iir4i--ii W i n

i r i i : ~ : : ~ : : ? r : ; - ' ~ i i i : ii i--~~:-rfii?~d:--f4 j+ -i::::e;:: .i::.4o , 01 41--:i:-::_:---rVz---ii:- :_-:--i--:-:-:--'--~-::--'::-::-:--'--::'0'14-: ----i ::ii-i:--?-:-.~:_-,:i-:-i~-:-'-:-''::two,A'_?I;~~ii-iii_-iva %weanaWi-;iiii~i~,~r;~i ~ ::: ~::i~ti--i-? i-~-iii,--ii?-ii:-Pw4-L~~i - i i ~ i i : - : :YAW;~iiii:ii~iit4 mr'Akt ww:: fu ', y*k.-::I-4- _-_i-~iaiiiiiiiii-~i~iSylvaeal:i::~ -i~iii~lti:Li-~~i ..:::i::-_:-:-i---iii-.-__i,~-i:?-iiiii:ai.~iiltooi0~i~_iiiciiii~~iii ~s k i i i i ~ i i i i F i :

oiQ i~?-::i iii:_ii:ijijbyiiiiZ ; : : : - : : : i- l i : : ~ ~ ~ : i ~ i i i - ~ i i : i i i ~ : ~ i : i --1W~i--:~ iii~-~iii,-:si~~i--i-:4?on

~ - i - k rxliIt:-iiil.---- ~ _ ~ ~ ~ i ~ i i . i ~ ; _ : : - Z : - 1 _ - ~ : ~

5. The first page of the XIV Uomini.(Florence, Bib. Naz. MS.1501. G.2.)

6. MS. of theXIV Uomini, howin(Florence, Bib. Naz. MS.15oi

AVAvoAM

1v ?RWAVMM

i?vvy

lo.

..lly ?01..Rnfl

7. The Coronationf the Virgin,bgiore, Rome.)7. The Coronationf the Virgin,bgiore, Rome.)

6. MS. of theXIV Uomini, howin(Florence, Bib. Naz. MS.15oi

'Pr ::,i:iia-iiIiii--: i--iiiii~~-~iii??--:iii-i:?iii:~ii-~i:-' -'~i?i~-r-ii-.i_-:-ii-ii:-:--iiii;;:ciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-:-:-ii-i POW,::i :: :''' '';-'t 4,t:...-.:il--i:iii:-ka~~ii:----:::--i~::,:i;ii~~~ji~_jiij-~~j-;__;~~-~i:-y--iir4i--ii W i n

i r i i : ~ : : ~ : : ? r : ; - ' ~ i i i : ii i--~~:-rfii?~d:--f4 j+ -i::::e;:: .i::.4o , 01 41--:i:-::_:---rVz---ii:- :_-:--i--:-:-:--'--~-::--'::-::-:--'--::'0'14-: ----i ::ii-i:--?-:-.~:_-,:i-:-i~-:-'-:-''::two,A'_?I;~~ii-iii_-iva %weanaWi-;iiii~i~,~r;~i ~ ::: ~::i~ti--i-? i-~-iii,--ii?-ii:-Pw4-L~~i - i i ~ i i : - : :YAW;~iiii:ii~iit4 mr'Akt ww:: fu ', y*k.-::I-4- _-_i-~iaiiiiiiiii-~i~iSylvaeal:i::~ -i~iii~lti:Li-~~i ..:::i::-_:-:-i---iii-.-__i,~-i:?-iiiii:ai.~iiltooi0~i~_iiiciiii~~iii ~s k i i i i ~ i i i i F i :

oiQ i~?-::i iii:_ii:ijijbyiiiiZ ; : : : - : : : i- l i : : ~ ~ ~ : i ~ i i i - ~ i i : i i i ~ : ~ i : i --1W~i--:~ iii~-~iii,-:si~~i--i-:4?on

~ - i - k rxliIt:-iiil.---- ~ _ ~ ~ ~ i ~ i i . i ~ ; _ : : - Z : - 1 _ - ~ : ~

5. The first page of the XIV Uomini.(Florence, Bib. Naz. MS.1501. G.2.)

AVAvoAM

1v ?RWAVMM

i?vvy

lo.

..lly ?01..Rnfl

coor achenbach, gertrude the earliest italian representation of the coronation of the virgin

Documents