Eternal and Cola di Rienzo’s Show of Power

Amy Schwarz

The anonymous biographer of Cola di Rienzo (1313-54) recorded the ascent of an innkeeper’s son to become the self-appointed “Tribune” of Rome. The authority of the papacy, situated in from 1309 until 1368, and that of the reigning nobility upon the citizen’s government were overcome by opportunity. Fourteenth-century Rome was ravaged by plague and famine, the city was unsafe for trade and community, and the feuding barons struggled for dominance, particularly from the Colonna and Orsi- ni families. In 1343, the notary Cola di Rienzo, accompanied the citizen’s committee of “Thirteen Good Men” to urge the newly elected Pope Clement VI to return the papacy to Rome. In an eloquent letter from Avignon to the Roman citizens, Rienzo announced pa- pal permission to declare 1350 a Jubilee Year, thus indicating the Pope’s promised return to the Eternal City. The Jubilee of 1300, decreed by Pope Boniface VIII to take place each century, was amended to every fifty years to restore faith in the papacy and in the importance of Rome. The papal residency in Avignon, a humiliating distance from St. Peters, was due to coercion from the French Monarchy and threats of anti-papal sentiment in Italy. Rienzo met with Clement VI through the auspices of the Roman Cardinal Giovanni Colon- na, as recommended by the recent poet laureate and honorary citi- zen of Rome, Francesco Petrarca (1304-74). A poet and states- man promoting the revival of the ancient Roman Republic, Pe- trarch was in the employment of the Cardinal situated in Avignon. An early Humanist, desired to see Rome in the form of Amy Schwarz the ancient Republic, while uniting Christian and antique imagery in his poetry and in legal rhetoric. He proved to be very influential to Rienzo’s own course of action. Prior to Cola di Rienzo’s own political show of power, “mys- terious” allegorical paintings appeared on the walls of buildings directed at those associated with the neighbourhoods, inherent to the sites. Apocalyptic images and references to the ancient Roman Republic were depicted in Dantesque allegory on the Senatorial Palace at the Capitol, the Lateran Basilica (Papal Palace), the church of Sant’Angelo in Pescheria (under the auspices of the only Roman Cardinal, Giovanni Colonna), and the Maddalena, a small church near Castel S. Angelo en route to St. Peter’s. The paintings, in words and pictures, proclaimed the need for salva- tion and justice in Rome, Italy, the Christian world. Meanwhile, Rienzo discreetly gathered supporters from amongst the citizens seeking reform. In my dissertation on the subject, emphasis was placed upon the painted political allegories created for Cola di Rienzo’s mani- festation of prophecy and presence. The focus, here, is upon the public ceremonies and spectacles performed to enhance his poli- tical program. Cola di Rienzo incorporated every known tradi- tional and contemporary ritual to manufacture his assumed autho- rity. With performance, Rienzo publicized his political agenda to manipulate civil and ecclesiastical governments. The primary sources describing these activities are the extant letters of Cola di Rienzo, letters and accounts about him, and the colourful anony- mous Vita written four years after his death (1358).1 The buildings and sites chosen for each of the four paintings (described only in the Vita) correlated with the neighbourhoods and audiences addressed by the public ceremonies. In mid-tre- cento Rome, socio-political concerns were communicated through visual rhetoric, over-laid with references to Ancient and Christian Rome as Caput Mundi or the Eternal City. The objective was the return of the Pope to his rightful place at St. Peter’s, along with

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