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The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Image and Text in a Renaissance Romance

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The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Image and Text in a Renaissance Romance The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Image and Text in a Renaissance Romance April Oettinger Winston-Salem, North Carolina B.A., Colgate University, 1994 M.A., University of Virginia, 1996 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy McIntire Department of Art University of Virginia May2000 To my parents, ever supportive guides in my ongoing discovery of the forestand the trees; To Carrie, my companionon those early journeys through the Dark Forest; and To Max, my Poliphilo. 11 © Copyright by April Oettinger AllRights Reserved May2000 ill Acknowledgments I am indebted to numerous friendsand colleagues who have guided and enriched my journey at every turn. My advisors Paul Barolskyand David Summers first encouraged me to pursue my studies of the Polifilo; their unflagging support sustained me throughout, and their example continues to inspire me to follow in Poliphilo's path. My other readers, Francesca Fiorani and David Van Der Muelen provided valuable suggestions andadvice on patronage, dedications, and incunabula. I also wish to expressmy gratitude to Anne Schutte, Alistair Fowler, Deborah Parker, Martin Colker, and Terry Bellanger for stimulating conversations and generous advice, and Martin Colker and Thomas Govero for their assistance with the translations of Leonardo Grassi's dedication of the Polifiloand Ludovico Odassio's dedication of the Comucopiae. I am also grateful to Linda Carroll, Wendy Steadman Sheard, Patricia Fortini Brown, Wolfgang Wolters, Louisa Matthews, Anne Barriault,Norman Land, Ralph Lieberman, DeborahHoward, Jurgen Schultz, Ann Markam Schultz, and Mark SamuelsLasner forthought-provoking conversations at home and abroad. A Dupont Fellowship fromthe University of Virginia in 1998-1999 and a Fulbright Fellowship in 1999-2000 enabled me to continue my research in Italy, where I was fortunate to explore the holdings of several marvelous libraries. I wish to thank the staffof the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice for their help and generosity. I am particularly grateful to Alessandro Scarsella, who shared with me his knowledge and passion forthe Polifilo and encouraged me to participate in the events surrounding the 500th anniversary of the first edition. I am also indebted to the helpful staff and patient photographers at the Cini IV Foundation and the Biblioteca Correr. I completed my dissertation in Rome, where my research benefitted from the collections of the Library of the American Academy, the Biblioteca Herziana, and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. During my years abroad, I traveled on several occassions to the Warburg Institute and the British Library. I wish to express a special thanks to the kind and welcoming staffat the Warburg Institute, and to Dorothea McEwanfor assisting me in the Warburg Archives. My peregrinations would never have been possible were it not for the support of friends from America and Europe. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Blake di Maria, Holly Hurlburt, Hillary Porris, Frederick Ilchman, Katelijne Schiltz, Livio Pestilli, Ignazio Tantillo, Guido Rebecchini, and Carla Recchi for their friendship and advice. I am also grateful to Johanna Bauman and Karen Goodchild for many memorable walks and talks. Finally, I owe the greatest debt to my family, to Carrie, and to my husband, Max, without whose love, support, and patience, I would not have dreamed of embarking on such a journey. V Abstract This dissertation explores the genesis of and relationship among the woodcut illustrations and the text of the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. "Poliphilo's struggle for love in a dream," written in a florid Latinate prose and illustrated by 172 woodcuts, tells the tale of the hero's dream-quest for his beloved Polia across a dreamscape of classicizing ruins, artificial gardens, and marvelous edifices. A major work of Renaissance art and literature whose authorship remains a mystery, the Polifilo was first published in Venice at the Aldine Press in 1499, and subsequent editions of the book appeared over the followingfour centuries in Italy, France, and England. The first chapter addresses Leonardo Grassi's dedication of the Polifiloto Guidobaldo de Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and considers the book in light of the culture of his famed court, which was typified by Castiglione' s portrait of Guido baldo' s court in Il Cortegiano. The second and third chapter analyze the language, the prose, and the woodcuts in the Hypnerotomachia in relation to Grassi's observations on the book's "abundant knowledge" and its "hidden," abstract nature. The final chapter explores, through two selected examples, the genesis and relationship of the images and text. The present study provides an introduction to the ways in which the images and text functiontogether to render Poliphilo's dream vision, an analysis of the literary and visual traditions that shaped this relationship, a consideration of the book in light of Renaissance courtly culture, and, finally, a discussion of the book'slegacy in art and literature. Vl Table of Contents Acknowledgements ill Abstract V List of Figures IX Abbreviations XVI Note on Pagination XVll Introduction: Images and Text in a Renaissance Romance 1 The Romantic Origins of the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 2 Aldo Manuzio'sHypnerotomachia Poliphili 6 Romance, Design, and the Designer of the Woodcuts 8 The Hypnerotomachia Poliphiliand Renaissance Studies 10 Images and Text in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili 12 Chapter I: TheMyth of Guidobaldo de Montefeltro 15 Guidobaldo de Montefeltro and Venice: 1498-1503 16 June 1499: Guidobaldo's TriumphalEntry into Venice 18 Book Dedications to Guidobaldo, 1499-1503 22 Book Dedications as a Literary Topos 26 Aldus' "Modesty" 29 Guidobaldo as Xenophon and Ptolemy 30 Virtue, Arms, and Letters 31 Guidobaldo 's Inheritance 3 5 The Myth and its Legacy 38 Leonardo Crasso, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, and Guidobaldo de Montefeltro 42 Chapter II: The Poliphilian Language 47 Macaronicsand the 16th century LanguageDebate 48 Poliphilo's Hybrid Language 53 The 1499 Dedication andthe Language of the Hypnerotomachia 55 The Portentosa Pyramide 58 Poliphilo'sLanguage of Art 63 Vll The Fantasy of Poliphilo 's Poetry 73 Chapter III: PoliphilianWoodcuts 76 The Woodcuts of the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 77 Narrative and Descriptive Images 79 A Cabinet of Curiosities 84 Aldus Manutius as Poliphilo: The Production of the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 87 The Poetry of Poliphilian Woodcuts 96 The Viewer asPoliphilo 100 Chapter IV: Image and Text Part 1: Triumphs in the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 102 Six Processions 102 The PoliphilianViewer and the Idea of the Triumphal Processions 104 Petrarch's Trionfi 106 Trionfi in the Visual Arts 111 Poliphilo's Trionfias Montage 115 Petrarchan and Ovidian Triumphs 118 The Triumph of the Goddess Natura 124 Part 2: The Dreamer and the Dream in the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 128 The Dream Vision in Medieval Literature 130 From the Roman de la Rose to the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 132 The Dreamer's Progress into Nature 134 The Visionary and the VitaSolitaria 138 The Sleeping Dreamer 140 The Sleeping Poliphilo asVisionary 141 The Viewer as Visionary 144 Conclusion: The Afterlife of the HypnerotomachiaPoliphili 146 Vlll Appendix I a. "Leonardus Crassus Veronensis Guido illustrissimo duci Urbini S.P.D." 154 b. "Lodovicus Odaxius PatavinusIllustrissimo principi Guido Urbini duci.S." 158 c. "Aldus Manutius Romanus Guido Pheretrio Urbini duci S.P.D." 168 d. "A.A�oc; o 'Pwµ,£i:oc; rout�ep -re";> «l>i::pi::-rplep Oop�Lvewv �yi::µ6vt' EO 1tp&ni::Lv 172 Appendix II: Marin Sanudo, Diarii.Volume II. (June-July, 1499). 177 Appendix III: The ModernHistory of the Woodcuts 182 The Legacy of the Woodcuts 183 The Origins of the Woodcuts I: An Artist or a Workshop? 188 The Origins of the Woodcuts II: Venice or Rome? 193 Conclusion 198 Bibliography 200 Illustrations 227 IX Illustrations **Chapter 1 ** Fig. 1 Attr. Ambrogio Barocci. Lion of St. Mark Stucco. (late 15th c.). Palazzo Ducale, Urbino Fig. 2 Attr. Pedro Berruguete. Portrait of Dukes Federico and Guidobaldo of Urbino. (1476-77). Formerly in Studiolo. PalazzoDucale, Urbino. Fig. 3 Studio/a at Urbino. ( c.14 72-76). Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. **Chapter 2** Fig. 1 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Pyramid (bl). **Chapter 3** Fig. la-i HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Ritual Cycle (ol,ol', o2', o4, o7, 08, 08'). Fig. lj HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Altar (o3') Fig. 2a Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Wall fromEleuterylida's Court (5'). Fig. 2b HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Frieze fromEleuterylida's Court (5). Fig. 2c Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Poliphilo at Eleuterylida's Court (f6') Fig. 3 HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Equestrian Monument (b4'). Fig. 4 HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Monumental Portal ( c8). Fig. 5 HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Nymphand Satyr ( c 1 ). Fig. 5a HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Pissing Boy (c7). Fig. 5b Le Songe de Poliphile. (Paris: JaquesKerver, 1546). Bath of the Five Senses. X Fig. 6 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Tabellae fromFirst Triumphal Procession (k7). Fig. 7 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Hieroglyphs (p6'). Fig. 8 HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Monument of Quintus Sertullius and Caia Rancilia (r3). Fig. 9 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Incipit letter (a2). Fig. 10 HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Calligram (y2'). Fig. 11 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Pyramid(bl). Fig. 12 HypnerotomachiaPoliphili. Topiary fromthe Garden ofCytherea (t4'). Fig. 13 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Vase from Triumph ofLove (x5'). Fig. 14 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Spoglia from Triumph
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