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ARCHIVIO STORICO CIVICO E BIBLIOTECA TRIVULZIANA CASTELLO SFORZESCO MILANO Rivista annuale Direzione, redazione e amministrazione Archivio Storico Civico e Biblioteca Trivulziana Castello Sforzesco 20121 Milano Tel. 02 88463814 Fax 02 88463698 Autorizzazione del Tribunale di Milano n. 374 del 20 novembre 1974 Direttore responsabile · Claudio Salsi Coordinatore editoriale · Isabella Fiorentini Redazione · Loredana Minenna e Marzia Pontone Traduzioni e revisione degli abstract · Simon Turner Tipografia · Arti Grafiche Color Black Via Polveriera 44 20026 Novate Milanese ISSN 0390-1009 Per garantire una buona riuscita della pubblicazione la redazione di Libri&Documenti chiede agli autori di attenersi alle Norme pubblicate al termine del fascicolo. Degli articoli firmati sono responsabili gli autori. I testi non pubblicati non saranno restituiti. Gli articoli relativi ai manoscritti medievali sono recensiti nel Bulletin codicologique di Scriptorium. SOMMARIO ROBIN L. O’BRYAN, Virtue, Vice, and princely Pleasure: 7 the Dwarfs in a Sforza Grammatica MICHELA FIOR, MARINO VIGANÒ, Disegni manoscritti di fortificazione alla Civica Raccolta delle Stampe “Achille Bertarelli” 25 GIORDANO CASTELLANI, Per Girolamo Bordoni e Pietro Martire Locarni: conclusioni provvisorie 83 PAOLO PEDRETTI, Spigolature da un carteggio ottocentesco: lettere di Giulio Bernardino Tomitano a Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (Triv. 2032) 121 LAURA BASSO, Inventari della famiglia Sormani. Terza e ultima parte 159 ANDREA BOLOGNESI, Un nuovo inventario nell’Archivio Storico Civico: l’Archivio dell’Alleanza Familiare per i Dispersi e Prigionieri in Russia – Sezione di Milano 193 Abstracts 201 Indice dei manoscritti e dei documenti d’archivio 205 Norme per gli autori 209 ROBIN L. O’BRYAN VIRTUE, VICE, AND PRINCELY PLEASURE: THE DWARFS IN A SFORZA GRAMMATICA1 The Grammatica del Donato (Milano, Archivio Storico Civico e Biblioteca Tri- vulziana, Triv. 2167) presents us with a delightful example of the kind of luxury manu- scripts produced for aristocratic patrons in the fifteenth century. Completed in 1499, the work was commissioned by Ludovico il Moro Sforza as an instructional treatise for his son, Massimiliano, born six years earlier2. The text was based on an adaptation of Aelius Donatus’ fourth-century Ars minor, which was commonly used by medieval scholars and Renaissance humanists for teaching Latin grammar3. With its charming miniatures rendered in jewel-tone colors by the renowned illuminator Giovan Pietro Birago, the Grammatica attested to Ludovico’s taste and refinement, while also serving as an indication of the importance he accorded classical learning4. Given that illustrations were typically made to complement the manuscript’s text, however, we might wonder what role they play in a treatise devoted to parts of speech – particularly since two of the illuminations feature the unexpected presence of a dwarf. In fact, the bulk of the images contained in the body of the Grammatica were designed to provide moral guidance for Massimiliano, with several illustrations ac- companied by inscriptions in volgare that alluded to his princely merits5. To that 1. This article is part of a larger study I am currently preparing on dwarfs in Italian Renaissance art. For their insightful comments, observations, and other help, I am indebted to Anna Maria Bertini- Jones, Peggy Maats, Casey O’Bryan, Erin Stalberg, and Dr. William Wolf. I would also like to thank Marzia Pontone, Isabella Fiorentini and Paola Rucci of the Biblioteca Trivulziana for facilitating my research and for their assistance in seeing this essay published. 2. The dates for this manuscript are generally given as 1496-1499. An extensive analysis of the Gram- matica is treated by G. BOLOGNA, Libri per una educazione rinascimentale: Grammatica del Donato, Liber Jesus, Milano, Comune di Milano, 1980. Also see P.L. MULAS, I libri per l’educazione di Massimiliano, in Ludovicus Dux, a cura di L. Giordano, Vigevano, Società Storica Vigevanese-Diakronia, 1995, pp. 58-63. 3. The Ars minor that served these scholars was a late medieval rendition by an Italian author, which most people believed to have been the original. See P.F. GRENDLER, Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Litera- cy and Learning 1300-1600, Baltimore-London, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, pp. 175-176. 4. For a discussion of Ludovico’s role in advancing education during his reign, see L. BANFI, Scuola ed educazione nella Milano dell’ultimo Quattrocento, in Milano nell’età di Ludovico il Moro. Atti del convegno internazionale (28 febbraio – 4 marzo 1983), II, Milano, Archivio Storico Civico e Biblioteca Trivulziana, 1983, pp. 387-395. 5. Some twelve miniatures are contained within the treatise, with a few pages containing smaller illustrations interspersed with text. Most of these were by Birago, with others (of lesser quality) by Ambrogio de Predis and his workshop. « », XXXIV-XXXV (2008-2009) 8 ROBIN L. O’BRYAN end, the young prince (his official title was Count of Pavia) was portrayed in a va- riety of situations that showed him to be the very model of virtù. In an opening scene, Massimiliano is viewed through a triumphal arch, shown breaking up a scuffle among his schoolmates6. In another tableau, he presides over an outdoor banquet attended by his youthful charges, looking every bit the beneficent ruler entertaining his subjects (fol. 26r). More overt in its declaration of his exemplary moral fiber is the image of little Massimiliano standing between two lovely women: turning his back on the figure representing Vice, the princeling sagely chooses Virtue (fol. 42v)7. These pictorial displays of noble conduct were given verbal reinforcement in the dedicatory sonnet which upheld virtue as a hallmark of princely rule8. Closely related to the virtuous comportment expected of a prince – as the in- troductory and other passages make clear – was the importance of intellectual re- finement9. Two miniatures portray Massimiliano holding an open book, actively engaged in learning. While it would certainly have been appropriate to see such depictions in a treatise devoted to his own education, this thematic sub-text had more specific applications for the study of grammar. Ancient philosophers and rheto- ricians had taught that grammatical knowledge was a fundamental in the building of a man’s character, intellect, and abilities – qualities that were seen to reflect hisvir - tù. The topos linking grammar and virtue was absorbed into subsequent systems of thought, so that by the late Trecento when the city council of Lucca wanted to hire three communal grammarians, they justified the expense by asserting that «gram- mar is the origin and foundation of all virtues and sciences»10. A century later, this relationship was given concrete expression in the Sforza Grammatica, its moralistic and didactic content implicitly paying homage to the ancient corollary. The illustra- tions thus served as a fitting – and logical – complement to the grammatical text11. 6. This illustration is missing from the original manuscript, but a facsimile appears in BOLOGNA, Libri per una educazione rinascimentale, cit. n. 2. 7. This dialectic between Virtue and Vice was a common theme in princely education. The moralistic thrust of the Sforza Grammatica parallels the content of De ingenius moribus et liberalibus studiis adu- lescentiae of Piero Paolo Vergerio (1368-1444), one of the most popular of pedagogical treatises of the Quattrocento. In the first part of his manuscript, the author asserts the importance of building strong character in the son of a prince, who should be free of vice; the second part of the treatise extols the importance of the liberal arts as leading to wisdom and virtue. See GRENDLER, Schooling in Renaissance Italy, cit. n. 3, p. 118. 8. Late medieval symbolism often employed depictions of Virtues as attributes of the prince, a topos that is reflected in the Grammatica’s inscription which equates virtù with good rulership: «La virtù sola è che governa un regno», and in asking why Caesar was so sublime, answering «for virtue and letters» («Per qual cosa fu Cesar si sublime? Per la virtute e letre»). 9. Addressed to the most illustrious Count of Pavia («Al illustrissimo signor conte de Pavia»), the text asserts that it is not enough for a man to rule by force and wits, but he must also be educated («Non basta al homo sol forza e lo ingegno […] a governare un stato Ma ancor convien sii docto e litterato»); he must also study willingly («leggi voluntier»). 10. «Verum quod gramaticalis scientia est origo et fundamentum omnium virtutum et scientiarum», cited in GRENDLER, Schooling in Renaissance Italy, cit. n. 3, p. 162. Grammar was also part of the medie- val Trivium (the other two components being rhetoric and logic). 11. The placement of some of the illustrations in conjunction with the Latin instructional text was also carefully considered. The text on «gaudeo» («rejoice») immediately follows the scene of Massimilia- VIRTUE, VICE, AND PRINCELY PLEASURE: THE DWARFS IN A SFORZA GRAMMATICA 9 But while the edifying thrust of the treatise was meant to make a serious impres- sion upon the ducal heir, the miniatures themselves must have provided him with a welcome diversion from the rigors of studying his Latin preterit. And what little boy wouldn’t be amused at seeing himself cast in the role of princely protagonist, the key player in a series of entertaining vignettes where puppies, horses, birds, a monkey (and pretty ladies) also make an appearance? Enjoying the convivial