Art and Politics at the Neapolitan Court of Ferrante I, 1458-1494
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: KING OF THE RENAISSANCE: ART AND POLITICS AT THE NEAPOLITAN COURT OF FERRANTE I, 1458-1494 Nicole Riesenberger, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016 Dissertation directed by: Professor Meredith J. Gill, Department of Art History and Archaeology In the second half of the fifteenth century, King Ferrante I of Naples (r. 1458-1494) dominated the political and cultural life of the Mediterranean world. His court was home to artists, writers, musicians, and ambassadors from England to Egypt and everywhere in between. Yet, despite its historical importance, Ferrante’s court has been neglected in the scholarship. This dissertation provides a long-overdue analysis of Ferrante’s artistic patronage and attempts to explicate the king’s specific role in the process of art production at the Neapolitan court, as well as the experiences of artists employed therein. By situating Ferrante and the material culture of his court within the broader discourse of Early Modern art history for the first time, my project broadens our understanding of the function of art in Early Modern Europe. I demonstrate that, contrary to traditional assumptions, King Ferrante was a sophisticated patron of the visual arts whose political circumstances and shifting alliances were the most influential factors contributing to his artistic patronage. Unlike his father, Alfonso the Magnanimous, whose court was dominated by artists and courtiers from Spain, France, and elsewhere, Ferrante differentiated himself as a truly Neapolitan king. Yet Ferrante’s court was by no means provincial. His residence, the Castel Nuovo in Naples, became the physical embodiment of his commercial and political network, revealing the accretion of local and foreign visual vocabularies that characterizes Neapolitan visual culture. KING OF THE RENAISSANCE: ART AND POLITICS AT THE NEAPOLITAN COURT OF FERRANTE I, 1458-1494 by Nicole Riesenberger Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2016 Advisory Committee: Professor Meredith J. Gill, Chair Professor Anthony Colantuono Professor Maryl B. Gensheimer Professor Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. Professor Philip Soergel Disclaimer The thesis or dissertation document that follows has had referenced material removed in respect for the owner’s copyright. A complete version of this document, which includes said referenced material, resides in the University of Maryland, College Park’s library collection. ii © Copyright by Nicole Riesenberger 2016 iii Dedication To my family, whose love and support carried me through this project. iv Acknowledgements I have many people to thank for their guidance and assistance throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. First and foremost, I must express my gratitude to my advisor, Meredith J. Gill, who has enthusiastically embraced my obsession with Naples from the beginning. She has spent countless hours reading messy prose and helping to shape this dissertation. Without her direction, this project surely would have suffered. Other members of my dissertation committee, Anthony Colantuono, Maryl B. Gensheimer, Philip Soergel, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr,. generously lent their time and thoughtful observations for the improvement of this manuscript. Professor Marjorie Venit offered intellectual and emotional support throughout my years at the University of Maryland, and she provided a crucial evaluation of this project during the early stages. I am also grateful to Quint Gregory, Director of the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture, where I worked as a Graduate Assistant while writing this manuscript. His accommodation and understanding allowed me to maximize my time and energies at a pivotal stage in this process. Generous grants from the Cosmos Club Foundation and the University of Maryland enabled me to travel to Naples to conduct research for this dissertation. The staffs of the Archivio di Stato di Napoli, the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, and the Museo Civico at Castel Nuovo provided advice and resources to facilitate my research. Giovanna Sanniola, my Neapolitan host and friend, opened her home to me for both of my research trips. Her insight, kindness, and cooking made my weeks in Naples better than I ever could have imagined. The staff of the University of v Maryland’s Interlibrary Loan Department, whom I visited weekly to retrieve resources from across the globe, has also been critical to the completion of my study. Last, but certainly not least, I must thank my family for instilling in me the grit and determination that projects of this magnitude require. My husband, Daniel Harrison, was by my side through the ups and downs of this endeavor and always looked out for my well-being when I was too preoccupied to do so myself. He endured my absence due to research trips and during late nights and long weekends of writing, and he has tolerated the enormous role that King Ferrante has played in our marriage from the beginning. To the innumerable others whose kindness and enthusiasm thrust this dissertation forward, thank you. vi Table of Contents Disclaimer ....................................................................................................................ii Dedication ....................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ..............................................................................................................ix List of Illustrations .................................................................................................. xxiii Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 State of the Scholarship .......................................................................................... 20 Scope ....................................................................................................................... 25 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 28 Chapter Organization .............................................................................................. 30 Chapter 1: King Ferrante I of Naples and his Court, 1458-1494 ............................... 32 History and Politics ................................................................................................. 32 Court Culture .......................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 2: Self-Fashioning in a Decade of Transition and Upheaval, 1455-1465..... 77 The Altarpiece of Saint Vincent Ferrer ................................................................... 77 Isabella di Chiaromonte’s Manuscript Commissions ............................................. 88 Domenico Gagini’s Tabernacle for the Cappella Palatina ...................................... 90 Pietro da Milano’s Portrait Bust of Ferrante ........................................................... 97 Ferrante’s Early Coinage ...................................................................................... 102 Chapter 3: Picturing Legitimacy, 1465-1470.............................................................106 Renovations to Castel Nuovo ................................................................................ 106 Ferrante’s Coronation Arch .................................................................................. 111 Bronze Doors of Castel Nuovo ............................................................................. 115 Chapter 4: A Decade of Consolidation, 1470s..........................................................133 Renovations to the Capella Palatina ..................................................................... 133 Francesco Laurana’s Female Portrait Busts .......................................................... 139 The Battle of Troy and Other Flemish Tapestries ................................................. 155 Coinage ................................................................................................................. 159 Chapter 5: Fortification and Introspection, 1480-1494.............................................164 Urban Renewal and Fortification .......................................................................... 164 Giuliano da Sangallo and the Reggia Napoletana ................................................ 171 Final Developments in Neapolitan Coinage ......................................................... 178 The Scriptorium Palatina ...................................................................................... 180 Ferrante’s Breviary ............................................................................................... 181 De Maiestate ......................................................................................................... 184 Conclusion.................................................................................................................189 Artists and Aesthetics at the Neapolitan Court ..................................................... 193 The Iconography