ABSTRACT Title of Document: LYING with the SAINTS: HEAVENLY
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: LYING WITH THE SAINTS: HEAVENLY BODIES AND EARTHLY BODIES IN THE SUCCORPO OF SAN GENNARO Nicole Riesenberger, Master of Arts, 2011 Directed By: Professor Meredith J. Gill, Department of Art History and Archaeology In January 1497, when the powerful Carafa family translated the relics of San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples, to the city’s cathedral, a devastating plague that had ravished the region is said to have immediately ceased. The presence and miraculous power of the saint’s relics give meaning to the Succorpo, Cardinal Oliviero Carafa’s funerary chapel in the cathedral. This magnificent foundation serves two functions: first, it is the private funerary chapel of Carafa and select members of his family; second, it is the locus of the cult of San Gennaro himself. My thesis examines the chapel’s dual functions and explores the iconography of its decoration. I present new propositions regarding the architectural plan and artistic attributions of the chapel, and I provide a close reading of the portrait sculpture of Cardinal Carafa in the Succorpo, considering how its strategic placement informs our understanding of the program and its meaning. LYING WITH THE SAINTS: HEAVENLY BODIES AND EARTHLY BODIES IN THE SUCCORPO OF SAN GENNARO By Nicole Joy Riesenberger Thesis 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 Master of Arts 2011 Advisory Committee: Professor Meredith J. Gill, Chair Professor Anthony Colantuono Professor Marjorie S. Venit © Copyright by Nicole Joy Riesenberger 2011 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 Acknowledgements It would be difficult to list all of those friends, colleagues and mentors who have given me their support during the preparation of this thesis. I would first like to thank my advisor, Meredith J. Gill, for her continued encouragement and guidance. She has spent countless hours talking with me about my research and has patiently read various drafts of this manuscript. Her knowledge of Italian Renaissance art, society and spirituality has been invaluable to my own interpretations of the Succorpo chapel. I should also like to thank my other thesis committee members, Professors Anthony Colantuono and Marjorie Venit, who carefully read the final draft of this manuscript and provided me with their helpful suggestions and stimulating inquiries. I must also express my appreciation to the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, which has provided a warm and supportive environment for learning and academic growth over my last two years there. Finally, my completion of this thesis would not have been possible without a travel grant for a work-study trip in Italy last summer, funded by the Department of Art History and Archaeology, along with Mr. Erik B. Young, and the School of Architecture Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents......................................................................................................... iv Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 State of the Scholarship ............................................................................................ 3 Critical Challenges in Researching the Succorpo..................................................... 8 Organization of the Text ........................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: Cardinal Oliviero Carafa........................................................................... 13 Early Life and Ecclesiastical Career....................................................................... 13 Cardinal Carafa’s Literary and Artistic Patronage ................................................. 18 Chapter 2: Tommaso Malvito and his Workshop in Naples....................................... 27 Tommaso Malvito’s Oeuvre ................................................................................... 32 Giovanni Tommaso Malvito and his Oeuvre.......................................................... 40 Chapter 3: The Succorpo of San Gennaro: “Imperatrice de tucte cappelle” .............. 43 The Translation of San Gennaro’s Relics: The Context for the Succorpo Commission ............................................................................................................ 43 The Succorpo of San Gennaro in the Duomo of Naples......................................... 46 The Architecture of the Succorpo........................................................................... 50 Possible Precedents for the Succorpo ..................................................................... 53 Architectural Attributions....................................................................................... 55 Sculpture of the Succorpo....................................................................................... 59 Relief Carvings of the Stairwells and Shell Niches................................................ 60 Pilaster Reliefs.................................................................................................... 68 Function of the Minor Altars .............................................................................. 71 Floor and Ceiling Decoration ................................................................................. 73 Artistic Attributions ................................................................................................ 77 Placement of the Carafa Sculpture.......................................................................... 81 Possible Precedents and Artistic Attributions......................................................... 83 The Funerary Monument of Charles VIII and the Carafa Sculpture in the Succorpo ................................................................................................................................ 86 Attribution of the Carafa Sculpture ........................................................................ 87 Chapter 5: Function and Iconographic Program of the Succorpo ............................. 90 Function .................................................................................................................. 90 Iconographic Program............................................................................................. 93 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 95 iv List of Illustrations 1. Filippino Lippi, Carafa Chapel, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome. (Web Gallery of Art) 2. Francesco Laurana and Tommaso Malvito da Como, Saint Lazarus Chapel, Old Cathedral, la Major, Marsellies. (After Benoit, 93.) 3. Tommaso Malvito. Tomb of Francesco Carafa, San Domenico Maggiore, Naples. (After Ascher fig. 57) 4. Jacopo della Pila and Tommaso Malvito, Tomb of Diomede Carafa, San Domenico Maggiore, Naples. (Alinari Archives) 5. Tommaso Malvito, Cappella Recco, San Giovanni a Carbonara, Naples. (Alinari Archives.) 6. Tommaso Malvito, Tomb of Carlo Pignatelli, Santa Maria Assunta dei Pignatelli, Naples. (After Ascher fig. 56) 7. Tommaso Malvito, Tomb of Bishop Bernardino Carafa, San Domenico Maggiore, Naples. (After Ascher fig. 60) 8. Tommaso and Giovanni Tommaso Malvito. Tomb of Ettore Carafa, San Domenico Maggiore, Naples. (After Ascher fig. 59) 9. Giovanni Tommaso Malvito, Caracciolo di Vico chapel, San Giovanni a Carbonara, Naples. (Alinari Archives) 10. Giovanni Tommaso Malvito, Detail of Cappella de Cuncto, Santa Maria delle Grazie a Caponapoli, Naples. (After Fabio Speranza http://www.pbase.com/fabio65/image/24961868) 11. Workshop of Tommaso Malvito, Succorpo of San Gennaro, Duomo (Santa Maria Assunta), Naples. (Artstor) 12. Sarcophagus of San Gennaro’s Relics in the Succorpo (rear view), Duomo (Santa Maria Assunta), Naples. (After Strazzullo, Franco. Quinto centenario della traslazione delle ossa di San Gennaro da Montevergine a Napoli: 1497- 1997. Napoli: Edizioni scientifiche italiane, 1996. (fig. 10)) 13. Floor plan of the Succorpo. (After del Pesco fig. 3) 14. Bronze door of the Succorpo. (Photo by the author) v 15. Bronze door of the Succorpo (rear panel). (Photo by the author) 16. Diagram of pavements in the Succorpo. (After Folli fig. 39) 17. Cut-away drawing of Succorpo. (After del Pesco fig. 4) 18. Catacombs of San Guadioso, Naples. (http://www.napoliunplugged.com/Catacombs-of-Naples-Italy.html) 19. Detail of niches in the Catacombs of San Guadioso, Naples. (http://www.24heures.ch/naples?photo=3) 20. Donato Bramante, Sacristy of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan. (Artstor) 21. Detail of putti at the entrance to the Succorpo. (After Folli fig. 66) 22. Detail of the Tomb of King Ladislas, San Giovanni a Carbonara, Naples. (Alinari Archives) 23. Jacopo della Pila, Tomb of Antonio ‘Malizia’ Carafa, San Domenico Maggiore, Naples. (Alinari Archives) 24. Detail of the second niche in the left aisle of the Succorpo. (Photo by the author) 25. Detail of the relief in the forth niche of the