DOCSLIB.ORG

Julius II | Michelangelo

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Julius II | Michelangelo 11 Patrick Yeung Havc 168 Pf. Langdale February 3, 2010 A Life Time Carved in Marble The tomb of Julius II remains one of the most interesting artworks by Michelangelo, because of the evolution it had gone through, and also the ambition expressed by both the artist and his patron, Giuliano della Rovere, more commonly known as Pope Julius II. This paper will focus on the tomb commissioned by Pope Julius II (Fig. 1) by Michelangelo in March 1505.11 The tomb, in the beginning, served as an opportunity for great expression of power and status. While this purpose stayed the same for Julius II and the Rovere family as time passed by, the tomb took on a different meaning for the artist. Through an analysis of the project’s background and its sculptures, along with the possible symbolism and mythical allusions, we shall understand its political and spiritual meanings to both Michelangelo and Julius II. The work is a result of the relationship between the patron and the artist; it is much more than just an immense monument. By studying the tomb’s many aspects mentioned above, we will be able to grasp the pope’s original intent for a glorious demonstration of power, and how time truncated it and made it Michelangelo’s burden. Figure1-Michelangeloandassistants,TombofPopeJuliusII(S.PietroinVincoli,Rome),1545. 11HerbertvonEinem.Michelangelo,trans.RonaldTaylor(London:Methuen&COLTD,1973),39. 22 The tomb began as an extremely ambitious project, but as time went on with one misfortune after another, the result turned out to be a much-reduced version. Michelangelo himself referred to the piece as the “Tragedy of the Sepulchre.”22 The tomb took over 40 years to complete, during which exhaustion and malicious schemes by Bramante and Raphael plagued Michelangelo.33 However, from 1508 to 1532, Michelangelo completed one of his most extraordinary aesthetic achievements: the Ceiling of the Sistine chapel . He made numerous attempts to return to and work on the tomb, but in the end it remained unfinished. His creative effort was not wasted, because he did manage to complete one of the compelling examples of renaissance sculpture, the 10-foot tall Moses (Fig. 2), and a series of sculptures depicting captives. We shall begin by tracing the inception of the project, the motives behind it, and carefully study the sculptures, especially the Moses and the captive figures. Figure 1—Michelangelo, The Moses, 1515 22SestoPrete,TheOriginalContractwithMichelangelofortheTombofPopeJuliusII(NewYork:JohnF. Fleming,1963),7. 33Prete,7. 33 One of Michelangelo’s most important patrons, Julius II was from a powerful papal family. His uncle, Francesco, who was a theologian and General of the Order before becoming pope in 1471, is the main reason behind della Rovere’s rise to power.44 Francesco took the name Sixtus IV and helped make his nephew Giuliano a cardinal. Sixtus IV was an enthusiastic patron of the arts and sponsored the construction of the Sistine Chapel. Giuliano later took the name Julius II when he became pope. He strived to match his uncle’s accomplishment by hiring artists such as Giuliano da Sangallo, Michelangelo, Bramante and Raphael to help build many of his ambitious projects including the new St. Peter’s façade of St. Lorenzo, and the painting of the Sistine Ceiling. All these efforts were made to demonstrate the virtue of Magnificenza, which was a public phenomenon relating to institutions, political power and Roman state. It had nothing to do with luxury. The term came from the Latin expression “magnum facere”, which means “to do something great”55 and to impress without causing fear or indignation.66 Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere was elected pope on 30 October 1503 during one of the shortest conclaves ever held.55 The papacy was gained through manipulation and bribery.66 He was often described as a “large man with an overbearing manner who spoke plainly and quickly lost his temper.”77 Compared to Michelangelo’s character, this presents quite a contrast. Anthony Hughes described Michelangelo as a temperamental man.88 Their personalities complemented each other. One took action while negating views of the masses; the other worked meticulously to please others. Their characters, even though contrasting with each other, both seem to be forceful in their pursuing of their “superpersonal” goals.99 The pope wished to be remembered as a great and powerful ruler, while Michelangelo desired to 4.4. James H. Beck, Three Worlds of Michelangelo (NewYork: WW Norton & Company, 1999), 154. 5.5. Sara F. Maclaren. Lusso, spreco, magnifienza. (Italy, Meltci, 1995), 45. 6.6. Maclaren, 50. 7.7. Beck, 155. 8.8. Anthony Hughes, Michelangelo (London: Phaidon Press, 1997), 105. 9.9. Hughes, 105. 10.10. Hughes, 107. 11.11. Charles De Tolnay, The Tomb of Julius II (Princeton: Princeton University, 1954), 5. 44 produce works that would be revered for eternity. It is as if they were destined to aid each other in materializing their dreams through the planning of this larger than life tomb. Michelangelo was sent for to Rome in March 1505. It is speculated by De Tolnay that Giuliano da Sangallo, who was a friend of Michelangelo’s, recommended him to the pope, and later became the primary contractual negotiator between the two. During the time of the pontificate of Julius II, Rome was the center of aesthetic style movement in Italy. During these years that Rome and Florence saw the birth of what we call the ‘Grand Style’ or the ‘Classical Style’, that is to say the purification of the language of art by the excision of regional idioms, the development of a universal language by the assimilation of the Greco-Roman ideal of beauty. 1010 It is very important to note that it is during this time that the Greco-Roman idea of beauty and style was flourishing, because one of the main purposes of the first design of Julius II’s tomb was to, according to Vasari, Surpass by its beauty and its opulence, its richness of ornamentation and abundance of statues, all the old imperial tombs: “…di bellezza e di superbia e di grande ornamento e ricchezza di statue passava ogni antica et imperiale sepoltura.”1111 Pope Julius II saw himself as an emperor; more importantly, the “Warrior Pope” who was determined to free the Italy from subjection to foreign powers; therefore, the tomb was an imperative attempt to leave an imagery grander than “all the old imperial tombs”. He was determined to regain papal authority and recover papal estates. In 1506, Julius tried to recapture Perugia and Bologna, and in 1511 to 1512, his famous warcry ‘Out with the Barbarians!’ marks his ongoing project of trying to drive the French out of Italy.1212 The political climate during 1505 to 1513 was very complex. On the surface, there was an uneasy relationship between France and Spain on Italian soil; inside, Papal States and city-states 10.10. Einem, 39. 11.11. De Tolnay, 6. 12.12. De Tolnay, 7. 55 conflicted with each other.1313 By demanding the grandeur of the tomb to surpass all “old imperial tombs”, Julius II strived to re-enforce the magnificent persona as great as, if not greater than, the ancient Roman Emperor he saw in himself, because during his reign, Protestant Reformation produced much hostility in Christianity.1414 The Catholic Church was beginning to lose influence and power; moreover, Julius II’s predecessors were poor, impious and unpopular.1515 The commission of the tomb was deemed quite crucial to render Julius II an impressive ruler in history. Michelangelo made many of drawings in planning for the tomb, and Julius created a contract based on the one he selected. Michelangelo was to be paid 10,000 ducats for completing the tomb in five years.1616 Little did he know that he took on a project of a lifetime. He immediately went to Carrara to purchase marble for construction.1717 The original design for the project of 1505 remains a mystery; however, reconstructions of the plan were produced based on Condivi’s description of the first project.1818 It was to be completely isolated so that it can be viewed from all sides. All around were niches, where statues would be placed, and herms placed between niches, on which, certain plinths rising from the ground and projecting forward. There would be statues of bound figure representing the Liberal Arts, along with sculptures personifying Virtues. Forty statues were planned for the project (Fig. 3). Figure 3-Reconstruction of the 1505 Tomb of Julius II project 13.13. Hughes,106. 14.14. Edith Simon. The Reformation(New York, Time-Life Books, 1966), 120. 15.15. Simon, 122. 16.16. De Tolnay, 7. 17.17. George Bull. Michelangelo: A Biography (New York: The Penguin Books LTD, 1995), 65. 18.18. Hughes, 110. 66 After the pope had written the contract of March 1505, Michelangelo set up his studio by the piazza of St Peter’s.1717 The pope even built a bridge to the workshop so that he could observe the work in progress.1818 The first misfortune happened when the arrival of marble blocks was delayed because the Tiber had flooded. Not long after the work had started, Julius ordered the project to be suspended, and on a few occasion refused to receive Michelangelo. This was the inception of what Condivi called “the tragedy of the papal tomb”. 1919 The artist’s pride wounded, Michelangelo left Rome for Florence on August 17, 1506. He later stated in a letter that the reason behind his flight was because the pope’s choosing of Bramante’s plan for St. Peter’s. The conflict between himself and Bramante was summarized by Michelangelo: All the differences that arose between Pope Julius and me were caused by the jealousy of Bramante and Raphael, and this was why Pope’s tomb was never completed – just to ruin me.’2020 At the end of November, the artist and the pope reconciled.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • An Annotated List of Italian Renaissance Humanists, Their Writings About Jews, and Involvement in Hebrew Studies, Ca
    An annotated list of Italian Renaissance humanists, their writings about Jews, and involvement in Hebrew studies, ca. 1440-ca.1540 This list, arranged in chronological order by author’s date of birth, where known, is a preliminary guide to Italian humanists’ Latin and vernacular prose and poetic accounts of Jews and Judaic culture and history from about 1440 to 1540. In each case, I have sought to provide the author’s name and birth and death dates, a brief biography highlighting details which especially pertain to his interest in Jews, a summary of discussions about Jews, a list of relevant works and dates of composition, locations of manuscripts, and a list of secondary sources or studies of the author and his context arranged alphabetically by author’s name. Manuscripts are listed in alphabetical order by city of current location; imprints, as far as possible, by ascending date. Abbreviations: DBI Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (Rome: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, 1960-present) Kristeller, Iter Paul Oskar Kristeller, Iter Italicum: A Finding List of Uncatalogued or Incompletely Catalogued Humanistic Manuscripts of the Renaissance in Italian and Other Libraries; Accedunt alia itinera, 6 vols (London: Warburg Institute; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1963-1991) Simon Atumano (d. c. 1380) Born in Constantinople and became a Basilian monk in St John of Studion there. Bishop of Gerace in Calabria from 1348 until 1366, and Latin archbishop of Thebes until 1380. During his time in Thebes, which was the capital of the Catalan duchy of Athens, he studied Hebrew and in the mid- to late-1370s he began work on a polyglot Latin-Greek-Hebrew Bible dedicated to Pope Urban VI.
    [Show full text]
  • NAT TURNER's REVOLT: REBELLION and RESPONSE in SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA by PATRICK H. BREEN (Under the Direction of Emory
    NAT TURNER’S REVOLT: REBELLION AND RESPONSE IN SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA by PATRICK H. BREEN (Under the Direction of Emory M. Thomas) ABSTRACT In 1831, Nat Turner led a revolt in Southampton County, Virginia. The revolt itself lasted little more than a day before it was suppressed by whites from the area. Many people died during the revolt, including the largest number of white casualties in any single slave revolt in the history of the United States. After the revolt was suppressed, Nat Turner himself remained at-large for more than two months. When he was captured, Nat Turner was interviewed by whites and this confession was eventually published by a local lawyer, Thomas R. Gray. Because of the number of whites killed and the remarkable nature of the Confessions, the revolt has remained the most prominent revolt in American history. Despite the prominence of the revolt, no full length critical history of the revolt has been written since 1937. This dissertation presents a new history of the revolt, paying careful attention to the dynamic of the revolt itself and what the revolt suggests about authority and power in Southampton County. The revolt was a challenge to the power of the slaveholders, but the crisis that ensued revealed many other deep divisions within Southampton’s society. Rebels who challenged white authority did not win universal support from the local slaves, suggesting that disagreements within the black community existed about how they should respond to the oppression of slavery. At the same time, the crisis following the rebellion revealed divisions within white society.
    [Show full text]
  • {Download PDF} Michelangelo and the Popes Ceiling Ebook, Epub
    MICHELANGELO AND THE POPES CEILING PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Ross King | 384 pages | 08 May 2006 | Vintage Publishing | 9781844139323 | English | London, United Kingdom Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King A panorama of illustrious figures converged around the creation of this magnificent work-from the great Dutch scholar Erasmus to the young Martin Luther-and Ross King skillfully weaves them through his compelling historical narrative, offering uncommon insight into the intersection of art and history. Four years earlier, at the age of twenty-nine, Michelangelo had unveiled his masterful statue of David in Florence; however, he had little experience as a painter, even less working in the delicate medium of fresco, and none with the curved surface of vaults, which dominated the chapel's ceiling. The temperamental Michelangelo was himself reluctant, and he stormed away from Rome, risking Julius's wrath, only to be persuaded to eventually begin. Michelangelo would spend the next four years laboring over the vast ceiling. He executed hundreds of drawings, many of which are masterpieces in their own right. Contrary to legend, he and his assistants worked standing rather than on their backs, and after his years on the scaffold, Michelangelo suffered a bizarre form of eyestrain that made it impossible for him to read letters unless he held them at arm's length. Nonetheless, he produced one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, about which Giorgio Vasari, in his Lives of the Artists, wrote, 'There is no other work to compare with this for excellence, nor could there be. Battling against ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems, inadequate knowledge of the art of fresco, and the pope's impatience, Michelangelo created figures-depicting the Creation, the Fall, and the Flood-so beautiful that, when they were unveiled in , they stunned his onlookers.
    [Show full text]
  • Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects
    Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Giorgio Vasari Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Table of Contents Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects.......................................................................1 Giorgio Vasari..........................................................................................................................................2 LIFE OF FILIPPO LIPPI, CALLED FILIPPINO...................................................................................9 BERNARDINO PINTURICCHIO........................................................................................................13 LIFE OF BERNARDINO PINTURICCHIO.........................................................................................14 FRANCESCO FRANCIA.....................................................................................................................17 LIFE OF FRANCESCO FRANCIA......................................................................................................18 PIETRO PERUGINO............................................................................................................................22 LIFE OF PIETRO PERUGINO.............................................................................................................23 VITTORE SCARPACCIA (CARPACCIO), AND OTHER VENETIAN AND LOMBARD PAINTERS...........................................................................................................................................31
    [Show full text]
  • Michelangelo's Julius II Tomb As Template for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Senior Theses and Projects Student Scholarship Spring 2019 Sculpting in Marble and Fresco: Michelangelo's Julius II Tomb as Template for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Jillian Gates jillian.gates@trincoll.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Gates, Jillian, "Sculpting in Marble and Fresco: Michelangelo's Julius II Tomb as Template for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2019. Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/754 Sculpting in Marble and Fresco: Michelangelo’s Julius II Tomb as Template for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling A Senior Thesis Presented By Jillian Gates To the Art History Department In Fulfillment of the Requirements for Honors in Art History Advisor: Professor Kristin Triff Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut May 2019 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………. 2 ​ Chapter I: Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 3 ​ Chapter II: Julius II Tomb ……………………………………………………………….. 15 ​ Chapter III: Sistine Chapel Ceiling ………………………………………………………. 33 ​ Chapter IV: Conceptual Similarities ……………………………………………………… 47 ​ Chapter V: A Shared Vision ………………………………………………………………. 54 ​ Chapter VI: Figure Similarities …………………………………………………………… 58 ​ Chapter VII: Consequences of Michelangelo’s Technique After the Ceiling …………… 64 ​ Chapter VIII: Conclusion …………………………………………………………………… 71 ​ Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………….. 74 ​ Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………… 76 ​ 3 Chapter I: Introduction As a seminal artistic figure of the early Renaissance period, Michelangelo produced works of art that defined the canon of art. Through his early sculpted and painted works, the ambitions Michelangelo had for himself as an artist were evident. Not only were the works he created masterful for such a young age, but they also pushed the boundaries of existing artistic and stylistic techniques.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Art in Rome Giorgio Vasari: Rinascita
    Renaissance Art in Rome Giorgio Vasari: rinascita • Early Renaissance: 1420-1500c • --1420: return of papacy (Martin V) to Rome from Avignon • High Renaissance: 1500-1520/1527 • -- 1503: Ascension of Julius II as Pope; arrival of Bramante, Raphael and Michelangelo; 1513: Leo X (Medici pope) • --1520: Death of Raphael; 1527 Sack of Rome • Late Renaissance (Mannerism): 1520/27-1600 • --1563: Last session of Council of Trent on sacred images Renaissance in Rome--Political • Reunited Papacy in Rome -1309-1377: Papacy moves to Avignon -1378-1417: Great Schism – two popes (Roman and French) and then three; efforts to solve Schism lead to – 1409-1438: Conciliar Movement – alternative theory of Church government: highest authority is council of bishops not pope – 1417: Martin V (Roman from Colonna family) is elected by Council of Constance – 1420: Arrives in Rome—papal court re-established • Papalism vs. Conciliarism and emphasis by Popes of papal primacy / primatus Petri Rome in the Renaissance Jubilee: Seven pilgrimage churches of Rome (Jubilee of 1575) St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore, St. Paul Outside the Walls, Santa Croce, St. Lawrence Outside the Wall, Santuario della Madonna del Divino Amore Renaissance Palaces: Palazzo Venezia, begun 1455 Palazzo della Cancelleria, begun1489 Palazzo della Cancelleria, interior courtyard Palazzo Farnese, 1517-1589 Renaissance Art in Rome--characteristics • Patronage of popes and cardinals of humanists and artists from Florence and central/northern Italy • Religious art: focus shifts from a divine symbolism to a humanistic realism —human centrality, measure and beauty • Recuperation of classical art (going “ad fontes”) --Study of classical architecture, statuary and painting recovery of Vitruvius’ De architectura (1414—Poggio Bracciolini) • Application of mathematics to art/architecture: elaboration of single point perspective – Filippo Brunelleschi 1414 (rules of mathematical perspective) – L.
    [Show full text]
  • Fugitive Slave Advertisements and the Rebelliousness of Enslaved People in Georgia and Maryland, 1790-1810
    1 Fugitive Slave Advertisements and the Rebelliousness of Enslaved People in Georgia and Maryland, 1790-1810. Shaun Wallace Date of Submission: September 2017 This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Stirling 3 Abstract This dissertation is a systematic investigation of fugitive slave advertisements aiming to understand the nature of fugitives’ rebelliousness in Georgia and Maryland between 1790 and 1810. Hitherto, historical inquiry pertaining to slave fugitivity has focused on other states and other times. This study provides a close reading of 5,567 advertisements pertaining to runaway slaves and analyses extracted data pertaining to the prosopography of 1,832 fugitives and their fugitivity. Its main research questions focus on advertisements as manifest records of rebellion. Who were the fugitives? What do the fugitive slave advertisements reveal about enslaved people’s contestation of slaveholders’ authority? The principal findings are as follows. First, the typography and iconography of fugitive slave advertisements were expressly intended to undermine the individualism and agency of enslaved people. Second, with regard to Georgia and Maryland, while there were spikes between 1796 and 1798 and 1800 and 1801, fugitivity was a daily occurrence, and thus a normative act of rebellion distinct from insurrection. Third, quantitative analysis indicated fugitives were typically young males, in their twenties, likely to escape at any time of the year; Georgia fugitives were more likely to escape in groups. Fourth, qualitative analysis of advertisers’ descriptions of fugitives revealed evidence of challenges to their authority. Depictions of fugitives’ character and remarks or notes on their behaviour constitute evidence of observed characteristics.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Humanism and Honour in the Making of Alessandro Farnese 35
    6 RENAISSANCE HISTORY, ART AND CULTURE Cussen Pope Paul III and the Cultural Politics of Reform of Politics Cultural the and III Paul Pope Bryan Cussen Pope Paul III and the Cultural Politics of Reform 1534-1549 Pope Paul III and the Cultural Politics of Reform Renaissance History, Art and Culture This series investigates the Renaissance as a complex intersection of political and cultural processes that radiated across Italian territories into wider worlds of influence, not only through Western Europe, but into the Middle East, parts of Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It will be alive to the best writing of a transnational and comparative nature and will cross canonical chronological divides of the Central Middle Ages, the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Renaissance History, Art and Culture intends to spark new ideas and encourage debate on the meanings, extent and influence of the Renaissance within the broader European world. It encourages engagement by scholars across disciplines – history, literature, art history, musicology, and possibly the social sciences – and focuses on ideas and collective mentalities as social, political, and cultural movements that shaped a changing world from ca 1250 to 1650. Series editors Christopher Celenza, Georgetown University, USA Samuel Cohn, Jr., University of Glasgow, UK Andrea Gamberini, University of Milan, Italy Geraldine Johnson, Christ Church, Oxford, UK Isabella Lazzarini, University of Molise, Italy Pope Paul III and the Cultural Politics of Reform 1534-1549 Bryan Cussen Amsterdam University Press Cover image: Titian, Pope Paul III. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy / Bridgeman Images. Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6372 252 0 e-isbn 978 90 4855 025 8 doi 10.5117/9789463722520 nur 685 © B.
    [Show full text]
  • A Snitch in Time: an Historical Sketch of Black Informing During Slavery Andrea L
    Marquette Law Review Volume 97 Article 4 Issue 2 Winter 2013 A Snitch in Time: An Historical Sketch of Black Informing During Slavery Andrea L. Dennis University of Georgia School of Law, aldennis@uga.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Part of the Law and Society Commons Repository Citation Andrea L. Dennis, A Snitch in Time: An Historical Sketch of Black Informing During Slavery, 97 Marq. L. Rev. 279 (2013). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol97/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact megan.obrien@marquette.edu. 34609-mqt_97-2 Sheet No. 37 Side A 03/17/2014 11:30:34 DENNIS-10 (DO NOT DELETE) 3/10/2014 12:31 PM A SNITCH IN TIME: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BLACK INFORMING DURING SLAVERY ANDREA L. DENNIS Although potentially offering the benefits of crime control and sentence reduction, some Blacks are convinced that cooperation with criminal investigations and prosecutions should be avoided. One factor contributing to this perspective is America’s reliance on Black informants to police and socially control Blacks during slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Wars on Drugs, Crime, and Gangs. Notwithstanding this historical justification for non-cooperation, only a few informant law and policy scholars have examined closely the Black community’s relationship with informing. Furthermore, even among this small group, noticeably absent are historical explorations of Black America’s experience with informing during slavery.
    [Show full text]
  • The Santissima Annunziata of Florence, Medici Portraits, and the Counter Reformation in Italy
    THE SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA OF FLORENCE, MEDICI PORTRAITS, AND THE COUNTER REFORMATION IN ITALY by Bernice Ida Maria Iarocci A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto © Copyright by Bernice Iarocci 2015 THE SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA OF FLORENCE, MEDICI PORTRAITS, AND THE COUNTER REFORMATION IN ITALY Bernice Ida Maria Iarocci Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto 2015 A defining feature of the Counter-Reformation period is the new impetus given to the material expression of devotion to sacred images and relics. There are nonetheless few scholarly studies that look deeply into the shrines of venerated images, as they were renovated or decorated anew during this period. This dissertation investigates an image cult that experienced a particularly rich elaboration during the Counter-Reformation – that of the miracle-working fresco called the Nunziata, located in the Servite church of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence. By the end of the fifteenth century, the Nunziata had become the primary sacred image in the city of Florence and one of the most venerated Marian cults in Italy. My investigation spans around 1580 to 1650, and includes texts related to the sacred fresco, copies made after it, votives, and other additions made within and around its shrine. I address various components of the cult that carry meanings of civic importance; nonetheless, one of its crucial characteristics is that it partook of general agendas belonging to the Counter- Reformation movement. That is, it would be myopic to remain within a strictly local scope when considering this period.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fragment As a Manifestation of Non-Finito in Auguste Rodin's
    The Fragment as a Manifestation of Non-Finito in Auguste Rodin’s Oeuvre A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of the Arts By Sarah Bartram May, 2016 Thesis written by Sarah Bartram B.A., The University of Akron, 2014 M.A., Kent State University, 2016 Approved by _____________________________________ Albert Reischuck, MA, Advisor ____________________________________ Christine Havice, Ph.D., Director, School of Art _____________________________________ John R. Crawford-Spinelli, Ed.D., Dean, College of Arts TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………..…………………………………..iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...……………………………………………………………vii I. INTRODUCTION……………..………………………………………………………..1 II. NON-FINITO, MICHELANGELO, AND RODIN’S WORKSHOP………………….6 III. THE AMPUTATED FORM……………………………………..………………..…19 IV. THE ISOLATED BODY PART.…………………………………………………....30 V. ASSEMBLAGES………………………………..……………………………………39 VI. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………55 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………..56 FIGURES……………………………………………………………………..………….61 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Artist, Title, Date Page 1. Auguste Rodin, The Walking Man,1907,………………………………………...…..60 2. Auguste Rodin, Danaïd,1889. ……………………………………………………....60 3. Auguste Rodin, Fugit Amor, ca. 1885, Marble carved ca. 1892-1894………..…......61 4. Auguste Rodin, I Am Beautiful, modeled 1885……………………………………...61 5. Auguste Rodin, St. John the Baptist, 1878……………………………………..……62 6. Auguste Rodin, The Shade, modeled 1881-1886…………………………………….62
    [Show full text]
  • Simone Guadagni by Raffaella Zaccaria
    Simone Guadagni by Raffaella Zaccaria Simone Guadagni (common direct ancestor of all the Guadagni branches, French Gadagne, Torrigiani and Dufour Berte) was born in Florence, on July 25, 1411 from Vieri Guadagni and Francesca, daughter of Simone Tornabuoni; Vieri and Francesca got married in 1395. Painting by famous Renaissance artist Ghirlandaio: from left to right: Giuliano Tornabuoni, Giovanni Tornaquinci, Gianfrancesco, Girolamo and Simone Tornabuoni. Detail from the painting below in the Tornabuoni Chapel in Florence. Simone Tornabuoni, on the far right, is Francesca Tornabuoni Guadagni’s father; as Vieri’ wife, Francesca is the ancestress of all of us Guadagni, Torrigiani, Dufour Berte and French Gadagne and so her father Simone is too. Our common ancestor Simone Tornabuoni was born Tornaquinci, then changed his name in Tornabuoni. The second man from the left, Giovanni Tornaquinci, is probably a cousin of his who has not changed his name. The other three, Giuliano, Gianfrancesco and Girolamo Tornabuoni are probably all our great uncles so this is a family portrait of our ancestors by great artist Ghirlandaio. Tornabuoni Family Chapel by Ghirlandaio in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Simone Guadagni’s father, Vieri Guadagni (1369-1426), had been an important representative of the oligarchic clique of the degli Albizzi, with which he had actively cooperated, together with his brother Bernardo, achieving a political position of prestige. Also Simone Guadagni would have had a brilliant political career ahead of him, if the events which led to the fall of the degli Albizzi Party and the triumph of the Medici side, with the establishment of a 60 year lasting regime, had not hindered its realization.
    [Show full text]