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The Sword of Cesar Borgia: a Redating with an Examination of His Personal Iconography

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THE SWORD OF CESAR BORGIA: A REDATING WITH AN EXAMINATION OF HIS PERSONAL ICONOGRAPHY By ELIZABETH BEMIS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2007 1 © 2007 Elizabeth Bemis 2 To those with whom I share my life and my love of the past 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Ross for her guidance through this research, and Dr. Barbara Barletta for her support of my work and throughout my studies. Thank you to Dr. Caterina Fiorani and the Fondazione Camillo Caetani for giving me the opportunity to see the sword of Cesare Borgia, and to Nick Humphrey and Nigel Bamforth of the Victoria and Albert Museum for allowing me to view the scabbard of Cesare Borgia. To the office and library staff of the University of Florida, Thank you. I would like to thank my parents for their support of my education. Finally, thank you to my sister for her continued and diligent support throughout this process and for her willingness to share her life with the Borgias. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................6 ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................10 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE SWORD AND SCABBARD........................................................16 3 DISCUSSION OF THE ARTISTS.........................................................................................27 4 PROVENANCE .....................................................................................................................37 5 DATE OF THE SWORD .......................................................................................................43 6 THE IMPORTANCE OF DECORATIVE ARTS..................................................................64 FIGURES.......................................................................................................................................79 LIST OF REFERENCES.............................................................................................................108 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................115 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1 Sword of Cesar Borgia.......................................................................................................79 2 Sword of Cesar Borgia, face and verso..............................................................................80 3 Scabbard to the sword of Cesar Borgia..............................................................................81 4 Worship of the Bull taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia. .............................................82 5 Worship of the Bull taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia. .............................................83 6 Monogram taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia. ...........................................................84 7 Monogram taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia. ...........................................................84 8 The Crossing of the Rubicon and the Worship of Love taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia.................................................................................................................................85 9 The Crossing of the Rubicon taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia................................85 10 Worship of Love taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia...................................................86 11 Triumph of Caesar taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia................................................87 12 Triumph of Caesar taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia................................................88 13 Decorative band taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia....................................................89 15 Worship of Faith and the Pax Romana taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia.................90 16 Worship of Faith taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia...................................................91 17 17.a Music 17.b Rhetoric...............................................................................................92 18 Pax Romana taken from the sword of Cesar Borgia..........................................................93 19 Face of the scabbard of Cesar Borgia. ...............................................................................94 20 Detail of the trace lines on the face of the scabbard of Cesar Borgia................................95 21 Detail of the Worship of Love and additional decorative elements taken from the scabbard of Cesar Borgia...................................................................................................96 22 Detail of the top of the back of the scabbard of Cesar Borgia...........................................97 23 Back of the scabbard of Cesar Borgia................................................................................98 6 24 Detail of the back of the scabbard of Cesar Borgia. ..........................................................99 25 Pinturicchio, Disputà........................................................................................................100 26 Medal of Alexander VI. ...................................................................................................101 27 Pinturicchio,Detail of the arch from the Disputà.............................................................102 28 Pinturicchio, Ceiling of the Sala del Credo. ....................................................................103 29 Pinturicchio, Annunciation..............................................................................................104 30 Pinturicchio, Adoration of the Shepards..........................................................................105 31 Pinturicchio, Visitation of St. Bernardino........................................................................106 32 Early example of the Golden Rose, MS. Barb. Lat. 3030. ..............................................107 33 Example of the Ducal cap................................................................................................107 7 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts THE SWORD OF CESAR BORGIA: A REDATING WITH AN EXAMINATION OF HIS PERSONAL ICONOGRAPHY By Elizabeth Bemis August 2007 Chair: Elizabeth Ross Major: Art History The blade of the sword of Cesar Borgia, today in the possessions of the Fondazione Camillo Caetani, is elaborately etched with scenes based on the life of Julius Caesar. Six classically inspired tableaus comprise the core of the decorative program: Worship of a Bull, Crossing of the Rubicon, Worship of Love, Triumph of Julius Caesar, Worship of Faith and Pax Romana. These images are the only extant examples of the personal iconography Cesar Borgia employed to represent himself as the modern Caesar. The etched decoration is most commonly dated contemporaneously to the original fabrication of the sword which due to an inscription on the hilt is given a time frame between 1493 and 1498. The inscription refers to Cesar as a Cardinal and these are the years between which he held that title in service to the Roman Church. However, that assumption is not inevitably true, and the probability exists that these images were added at a later date. Perhaps the most grandiose expression of Cesar’s individual symbolism is found in a parade of the Triumphs of Julius Caesar, held in Cesar Borgia’s honor in February 1500. This study will consider the sword and the parade together, presenting them as two key elements, one material and one ephemeral, in the development of Cesar’s personal iconography. Most notable, on both the sword and in the parade, is his unusual depiction of the scene of the Crossing of the 8 Rubicon. This particular episode evokes Cesar’s military achievements and his recent appointment as Captain General of the Papal Army. The close alignment found between this parade and the scenes on the sword suggests that they share a common date of execution, around the year 1500. It is known through the Diary of Johannas Burchard, Master of Ceremonies to the Papacy, that Cesar was given the Blessed Sword, an annual gift presented by the pope to a secular ruler, in that year. This thesis asserts that the etchings on the Caetani sword were added to an existing blade as preparation for its presentation as a blessed sword. The importance of the adjustment in date becomes clear when an enhanced understanding of the role played by decorative arts as means of self-representation in the political and social arenas of Renaissance Europe is attained. For an individual whose life was so clearly divided with two very different roles the intention that fueled Cesar’s iconography would have been dramatically divergent from one phase to the other. Therefore a clear probability of date is paramount to our understanding of the personal iconography of Cesar Borgia. 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Today in Rome, in the chattels of the Fondonzione Camillo Caetani, can be a found
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