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Copyright by Claire I. Sumner 2020 The Thesis Committee for Claire I. Sumner Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Thesis: Canonizing Zuccaro: The Early Life of Taddeo Series and the Building of an Artistic Legacy APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Louis Alexander Waldman, Supervisor Miroslava Benes Canonizing Zuccaro: The Early Life of Taddeo Series and the Building of an Artistic Legacy by Claire I. Sumner Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin August 2020 Dedication For my parents, without whom I could never have found my passion for art or finished this thesis. Thank you for all your encouragement and support. Acknowledgements This thesis could never have been completed without the generosity and encouragement of generations of historians. Most directly my advisor Dr. Louis Alexander Waldman and my second reader Dr. Miroslava Benes. Their support and advice were invaluable. I must also thank the scholars who generously donated their time and expertise to attend my colloquium: Dr. Jefferey Chipps Smith, Dr. Douglas Biow, Dr. John Clarke, and Christine Zappella. Special thanks to my friend, peer, and roommate Ingrid Kottke who donated her time to act as my scribe during the proceedings and talked me down from numerous intellectual cliffs in the months following. I would also like to acknowledge the importance of the scholars who guided me through my undergraduate years at Randolph College. Dr. Andrea Campbell and Dr. Susan Stevens, I could never have done this without you. v Abstract Canonizing Zuccaro: The Early Life of Taddeo Series and the Building of an Artistic Legacy Claire I. Sumner, MA The University of Texas at Austin, 2020 Supervisor: Louis Alexander Waldman The Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro is a series of twenty-four highly finished drawings in pencil, ink, and wash executed by Federico Zuccaro (1541c-1609) in the mid-1590s depicting scenes from the life of Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-66) during his apprenticeship and early career. Each drawing is paired with a tercet of poetry also by Federico meant to complement the scene being depicted. The drawings and accompanying verse are a tribute to Taddeo, whose career was cut short by his death in 1566, from his younger brother and apprentice. The choice of Taddeo’s early life as the subject almost thirty years after his death was part of Federico’s attempt to depict a family legacy in his Palazzo in Rome that highlighted his artistic pedigree and innovative compositions. While the lives of artists is now a common subject of both visual and literary depictions, the subject was almost unique in the seicento, only the funerary banners painted by the members of the Accademia del Disegno for Michelangelo’s funeral in 1564 precede The Early Life of Taddeo series. vi This paper investigates how Federico Zuccaro through The Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro series turns his brother into an exemplum for the students of the newly founded Accademia di San Luca of which Federico was the first principe, principal. Federico uses hagiographic imagery, which had previously only been used in relation to Michelangelo, to place his brother among the canon of great artist and by doing so elevated his brother, himself, and his newly founded academy. The Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro is an ambitious attempt to control Taddeo’s narrative and establish a familial legacy that highlights many of the changing elements, both positive and negative, that will have long-lasting effect on how artists are viewed and operate. The drawings demonstrate just how aware the savvy artist was of their changing circumstances and the active role that artists could play in manipulating and responding to their evolving role in the social fabric of Italian cities at the end of the sixteenth century. vii Table of Contents List of Illustrations .............................................................................................................x Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Drawings as Objects, The Drawings as Biography ...........................12 THE DRAWINGS AS OBJECTS ...................................................................................12 TADDEO’S LIFE, THE BIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................16 The Arrival in Rome ...................................................................................18 The Changing Role of the Apprentice .......................................................27 The Return Home and Triumph ...............................................................30 THE EARLY LIFE OF FEDERICO ...............................................................................40 Chapter 2: Precursors and Premonitions: Federico’s Path to the Founding of the Accademia di San Luca and the creation of the Early Life of Taddeo ..................46 THE RETRIBUTION DRAWINGS ................................................................................47 THE DANTE HISTORIATO AND FEDERICO’S ROLE AS EDUCATOR ...........................61 FEDERICO AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ARTIST ACADEMY IN ITALY ..........64 Chapter 3: Canonizing Taddeo.......................................................................................72 FEDERICO ON ART ....................................................................................................73 TADDEO AS AN EXEMPLUM ......................................................................................75 THE AFTERLIFE OF AN ARTIST: THE CANONIZING OF MICHELANGELO ..............80 TADDEO AS A FIGUREHEAD ......................................................................................91 CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................100 viii Appendix ..........................................................................................................................154 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................175 Vita ..................................................................................................................................181 ix List of Illustrations Fig. 1 Federico Zuccaro, Allegories of Faith and Hope, Flanking the Zuccaro Emblem, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk underdrawing, 18.1 × 41.7 cm (7 1/8 × 16 7/16 in.), 99.GA.6.1. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles ...........................102 Fig. 2 Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo Leaving Home Escorted by Two Guardian Angels, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk and touches of red chalk 27.4 × 26 cm (10 13/16 × 10 1/4 in.), 99.GA.6.2. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles ...........................103 Fig. 3 Federico Zuccaro, Pallas Athena Shows Taddeo the Prospect of Rome, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over red chalk, 42 × 16.2 cm (16 9/16 × 6 3/8 in.), 99.GA.6.3. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. .........................................................................104 Fig. 4 Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo at the Entrance to Rome Greeted by Toil, Servitude, and Hardship, and by Obedience and Patience (the Ass and Ox), about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk, 40.9 × 17.4 cm (16 1/8 × 6 7/8 in.), 99.GA.6.4. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ................................................................105 Fig. 5 Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo Rebuffed by Francesco Il Sant'Angelo, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk, 17.9 × 41.5 cm (7 1/16 × 16 5/16 in.), 99.GA.6.5. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. .........................................................................106 x Fig. 6 Federico Zuccaro, Allegories of Fortitude and Patience, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk, 17.3 × 42 cm (6 13/16 × 16 9/16 in.), 99.GA.6.6. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ................................................................................................107 Fig. 7 Federico Zuccaro, Twenty Drawings Depicting the Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro, about 1595, Pen and brown ink and brown wash over black chalk, 99.GA.6. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ..................108 Fig. 8 Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo Sent on an Errand by Calabrese's Wife, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk, 42 × 17.1 cm (16 9/16 × 6 3/4 in.), 99.GA.6.8. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. .........................................................................................109 Fig. 9 Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo Drawing by Moonlight in Calabrese's House, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk, 42.1 × 17.7 cm (16 9/16 × 6 15/16 in.), 99.GA.6.9. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. .........................................................................110 Fig. 10 Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo Employed on Menial Tasks at Calabrese's House, about 1595, Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk, 17.6 × 41.9 cm (6 15/16 × 16 1/2 in.), 99.GA.6.10. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ................................................................111 Fig. 11 Federico Zuccaro, Two Child Angels, Symbolizing Patience