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The Stained Glass Drum Oculi of Santa Maria Del Fiore

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The Stained Glass Drum Oculi of Santa Maria Del Fiore GEMS FOR HER CROWN: THE STAINED GLASS DRUM OCULI OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE ________________________________________________________________________ A Thesis Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board ________________________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts ________________________________________________________________________ by Bethany M. Farrell August 2013 Thesis Approvals: Dr. Marcia B. Hall, Thesis Advisor, Art History Department Dr. Jonathan Kline, 2nd Reader, Art History Department © Copyright 2013 by Bethany M. Farrell All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT The literature on the stained glass windows installed in the eight oculi of the drum of Santa Maria del Fiore are mainly found in the monographs of the four artists that provided the cartoons—Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Paolo Uccello, and Andrea del Castagno. Few studies have focused on the program in its entirety. This thesis will attempt to provide a more thorough understanding of the program. Analysis of the primary documents reveals how the windows functioned as part of the building and its liturgical and public life. In particular, the central argument is that Donatello’s Coronation of the Virgin was a substitute for an altarpiece and the seven other windows act as subsidiary scenes that reinforce the primary window and its political and theological agenda. iii DEDICATION For Mrs. Nancy Bassett and in memory of Dr. Andrew Bassett, thank you for introducing me to good art. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My profound thanks must be given to Dr. Marcia Hall for her support, patience, and guidance and Dr. Jonathan Kline for his enthusiasm, challenging suggestions, and advice. Equal gratitude must be given to my family and friends for their unwavering faith in me. In particular, my parents—Bruce and Susan—and my siblings—Ruth and Caleb—who have been unflagging in their encouragement during my graduate studies. I would also like to thank the entire Tyler Art History Department faculty for helping develop my scholarly acumen. Finally, my fellow graduate students have been particular supportive and helpful during this process—especially Amy Gillette, Heather Castro, and Bradley Cavallo. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….iii DEDICATION………………………………………………………………………….iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………...v LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………….viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………1 2. “LORD I HAVE LOVED THE BEAUTY OF YOUR HOUSE”: THE HISTORY OF THE OCULI OF THE DRUM AND AN INTRODUCTION TO ITS GLAZING……………………………………….4 3. HISTORIOGRAPHY OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE’S DRUM STAINED GLASS AND THE STATE OF THE STAINED GLASS……………………………………………………...16 4. QUEEN OF HEAVEN: DONATELLO’S CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN...……………………………………………..…………….27 5. GEMS FOR THE CROWN OF MARY: THE GHIBERTI, UCCELLO, AND CASTAGNO WINDOWS……..………………………..40 6. AFTERWORD...…………..…………………………………………………..62 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………...………………...63 APPENDIX A: PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ON THE WINDOWS AND THE CHOIR…………………………………………………………………….69 vi APPENDIX B: PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ON THE SALE OF THE MAIN ALTARPIECE OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE……………………….76 APPENDIX C: MARIAN ANTIPHONS….…………………………...…………..77 FIGURES………………………………………………………………………..……..78 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Donatello, Coronation of the Virgin, 1434, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy………………………………………...78 2. Paolo Uccello, Resurrection, 1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………………...…79 3. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Ascension of Christ, 1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………………...…80 4. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Presentation at the Temple, 1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy………………………………………...81 5. Paolo Uccello, Uccello, Nativity, 1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………………...…82 6. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Agony in the Garden, 1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………………...…83 7. Andrea del Castagno, Pietà, 1444, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy………………………………………...84 8. Santa Maria del Fiore, begun 1295, Florence, Italy…………………………85 9. Taddeo Gaddi, Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1332-1338, fresco, Baroncelli Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence, Italy……………………………..86 10. Schema for the Corona Oculi of Santa Maria del Fiore……………………87 11. Andrea del Castagno, Last Supper (detail), 1447, fresco, Sant’ Apollonia, Florence, Italy…………………………………………………88 12. Andrea del Castagno, Pietà (detail), 1444, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy………………………………………...88 13. Santa Maria del Fiore, interior………………………………………………..89 14. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Assumption of the Virgin, 1405-1415, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy........................................................90 viii 15. Bertoldo di Giovanni, Pazzi Conspiracy Medallion, 1478, cast bronze………………………………………………………………….…..…91 16. Franco Francolini, print by Giuseppe Carocci, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, central nave, ca. 1840, etching, (from Marica Tacconi. Cathedral and Civic Ritual in Late Medieval and Renaissance Florence: The Service Books of Santa Maria Del Fiore, 332.)…………………………………………………...…………...……….92 17. Filippo Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel, 1430-32, Santa Croce, Florence, Italy……………………………………….……………93 18. Filippo Brunelleschi, interior of the Old Sacristy, 1418-1428, San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy…………………………………………………….94 19. Bernardo Daddi, San Pancrazio Polyptych, c. 1342, tempera on panel, Uffizi, Florence, Italy.………………………..…95 20. Fra Angelico, The Coronation of the Virgin, c. 1427, tempera on panel, Musée du Louvre……………………………….………….96 21. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Tribune Saints and Prophets, 1434-1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………….………97 22. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Tribune Saints and Prophets, 1434-1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy………….……….…..98 23. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Assumption of the Virgin (detail), 1405-1415, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy..............................................99 24. Donatello, Coronation of the Virgin (detail), 1434, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………………….100 25. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Agony in the Garden, 1403-1424, North Door, gilt bronze, Baptistery of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy…………….101 26. Paolo Uccello, Resurrection (detail), 1443, stained glass, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………………….102 27. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Shrine of Saint Zenobius (detail), completed by 1443, bronze, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy……………………………..103 ix 28. Plutarch’s Lives, fol. 001r, ca. 1440, parchment, Florence, Italy, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford……………………………………...104 29. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Pentecost, North Doors, 1403-1424, gilt bronze, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy………………………………...105 30. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Isaac and his Sons, Gates of Paradise, 1425-1452, gilt bronze, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy……………………….106 31. Duccio di Bouninsegna, Maestà (reconstruction with predella), 1308-1311, tempera, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy………...107 x CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION For the prominent position in the drum of Santa Maria del Fiore’s cupola, the Arte della Lana commissioned four artists—Donatello, Paolo Uccello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Andrea del Castagno—to design cartoons for eight stained glass oculi between 1434 and 1444.1 (Figs. 1-7) Despite the important patron and illustrious artists, the windows have rarely received more than perfunctory studies as a whole. Instead, they have been relegated to the artists’ monographs. The question of why the windows have been ignored by scholars seems to be due to two interrelated problems that are exemplary of all fifteenth-century Italian glass. First, these windows are badly damaged: (see Chapter 3) much of the original paint has been obliterated (as well as repainted) and the original panes of glass cracked and awkwardly re-leaded. Consequently, it is a difficult process to discern the original image through the mismanagement of the works. Second, the lack of care for these windows leads to the more insidious issue that Italian Renaissance stained glass is not painting or sculpture. Although stained glass windows have been rigorously studied in 1 The term stained glass has, in the twentieth century, extended itself to envelop all types of colored glass. Technically, stained glass refers to the process where silver stain is incorporated into the glass. However, the colored glass I am referring to is pot-metal, crown glass. For this thesis, stained glass will refer to colored glass in general. the Gothic period, in particular, and in the Middle Ages and Northern Europe as a whole, Italian glazing has been viewed as lesser in quality. Its position within the medium hierarchy is especially low in the Early Renaissance where painting and sculpture dominated twentieth-century academic scholarship. The focus on the two top media have, perhaps, led other media to be ignored physically and in scholarship. Nevertheless, when studied stained glass is revealed as a very important material that was still highly prized and participated fully in Italian Renaissance religious, political, and social life (see Chapter 2). This study articulates the role of the windows and shows that the patrons desired to gloss Mary as Queen of Heaven and Florence through them. The argument will begin in Chapter 2 by introducing
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