Heraldry in the Trecento Madrigal by Sarah M. Carleton A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Sarah M.Carleton 2009 Heraldry in the Trecento Madrigal Sarah M.Carleton Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto 2009 Abstract This study investigates a repertoire of eighteen madrigals whose texts refer to heraldry, all of which were composed in trecento Italy. The hereditary and personal arms cited in the song texts are those of the Visconti, Della Scala and Carrara families of northern Italy. Though these madrigals have been used in the past as a means for dating manuscripts and reconstructing composer biographies, they have never been studied as a discrete repertoire. This study applies musicological, heraldic and art historical approaches to the repertoire in order to investigate the heraldic madrigal as a manifestation of political authority in trecento Italy. Part One offers background information necessary to the understanding of the heraldic madrigal repertoire. Chapter 1 presents a glossary of heraldic terminology, and an overview of the role of heraldry in late medieval life, art and literature, focusing on heraldry as a means of representing ideas of authority and identity in the late Middle Ages. Chapter 2 defines the heraldic madrigal and discusses the stylistic features unique to this repertoire. This chapter also considers the heraldic madrigal in the context of contemporary musical repertoires such as the Italian motet and the songs of the French ars subtilior. Chapter 3 presents a critical edition of heraldic madrigal texts with translations. ii Part Two consists of case studies. Chapter 4 explores the link between Jacopo da Bologna’s madrigal Aquila altera and the references to the Holy Trinity in the heraldry of its dedicatees, Giangaleazzo Visconti and Isabelle de Valois. Chapter 5 offers a re-evaluation of the poem La fiera testa, challenging the common opinion that the text is condemnatory. Chapter 6 considers non-musical models for the the madrigal texts Inperiale sedendo and Per quella strada, based on manuscripts owned by and dedicated to the Carrara family. The Conclusion of this study touches briefly on the legacy of the heraldic madrigal, giving a summary of later Italian songs containing references to the heraldry of noble families, such as the Malatesta and Medici. iii Acknowledgments This study is the result of five years of hard work, editing, frustration, more editing, and help received from many people and organizations. I was able to complete this degree because of funding from various agencies, first from a University of Toronto Open Scholarship, then from an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council fellowship, and finally, a University of Toronto Doctoral Completion Grant. My research in Italy was partially funded by a travel grant from the School of Graduate Studies, and I would also like to thank the University of Bologna for their support which enabled me to attend the “Dozza” seminar in July 2002. To the people who helped me with my research in Italy, grazie. Thanks to the staff at the Biblioteca Civica and the Biblioteca Universitaria in Padova, who were so friendly and helpful. Thanks also to the staff at the Castello Visconteo in Pavia, for a special tour of the rooms decorated with heraldry, and access to their library. Thanks especially to Ingeniere Bianchi at the convent of Santa Maria Assunta in Cairate, who took the time to give me a thorough understanding of the building’s history. On this side of the Atlantic, I would like to thank Robert Nosow for sending me a copy of his paper “The Perlaro Cycle Reconsidered,” which provided invaluable insights into this repertoire. Thanks also to John Nádas for taking the time to discuss my thesis at the 2005 meeting of the American Musicological Society. I also owe thanks to Benjamin G. Kohl for pointing me to Caterina Griffante’s edition of De curru carrariensi, and for his comments about the frescoes in the Palazzo di Levante. I am very fortunate to have enjoyed the expertise and assistance of my supervisory committee, whose interdisciplinary talents were so helpful. Special thanks go to Timothy J. McGee for writing so many reference letters and for reading my work with such care. Thanks to Jill Caskey for her art historical perspective, without which I would have made several blunders, and to William Robins, without whose help my translations from trecento Italian would not have been anywhere near as accurate or nuanced. I would like to give my sincere thanks to my supervisor, John Haines, who always had faith in my ability to complete this degree despite pregnancies and a maternity leave. iv I am also grateful to Susan Ironside, graduate administrator extraordinaire, without whose administrative expertise I would not have been able to complete my degree. Susan always answered all of my many questions promptly and politely (even when they were not her responsibility, as was often the case), and helped me to plan out my maternity leave. I will always be grateful for the help and advice of friends and colleagues, especially the core members of Sine proprietate: Luis-Manuel Garcia, Bryn Latta, Stephanie Treloar and Jamie Younkin, who endured mensural notation and medieval cuisine in order to help me understand fourteenth-century music. Thanks also to Michael Cuthbert for sending me hard- to-find articles, to Jamie Younkin for references to Milanese sources, and to Bettina Ryan for help with Latin translations. Above all, I would like to thank the members of my family for their love and endless support during this seemingly endless endeavour. First, my parents and in-laws, but especially my mother and mother-in-law, without whose help and support I would not have been able to travel to Italy in 2006. Second, my daughter Imogen and my son Morgan, who provided the incentive to finish at all. And last, but by no means least, I thank my husband Bryn for his constant love, encouragement and saint-like tolerance of Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, mud, and other preschooler obesssions. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv List of Tables ix List of Figures x List of Appendices xi List of Source Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 Part I: Background Chapter 1: The Heraldic Middle Ages Introduction 5 Glossary of heraldic terminology 6 Paraheraldry 10 Heraldic display and authority 13 Heraldry and identity 18 Chapter 2: The Heraldic Madrigal Introduction 26 The trecento madrigal 27 The heraldic madrigal 32 A brief history of the heraldic madrigal 36 Heraldic madrigal composers 43 Transmission of the heraldic madrigal repertoire 51 vi The heraldic madrigal as traditional and experimental genre 56 Related repertoires 61 Part II: The Repertoire Chapter 3: The Heraldic Madrigal Repertoire Introduction 78 Madrigals containing Visconti heraldry 81 Madrigals containing Della Scala heraldry 105 Madrigals containing Carrara heraldry 111 Madrigals containing heraldry that is as yet unidentified 120 Part III: Case Studies Chapter 4: A Trinitarian Reading of Jacopo da Bologna’s Aquila altera/Creatura gentile/Uccel di Dio Introduction 122 The paraheraldry of Giangaleazzo Visconti 123 Aquila altera/Creatura gentile/Uccel di Dio 130 Heraldry in Aquila altera 135 Conclusions 141 Chapter 5: La fiera testa che d’uman si ciba: A celebration of Visconti ruthlessness? Introduction 145 The paraheraldry of Bernabò Visconti 146 The poetic text 152 The style and date of the music 155 La fiera testa: pro- or anti-Visconti? 159 vii The artistic patronage of Bernabò Visconti 162 Other songs containing Bernabò’s motto 166 Conclusions 170 Chapter 6: Two Heraldic Madrigals for the Carrara Family Introduction 173 Carrara heraldry 175 Music in trecento Padua 181 Inperiale sedendo 184 De curru carrariensi 189 Questions of patronage 197 Per quella strada 204 Conclusion: The Legacy of the Heraldic Madrigal 215 Bibliography 220 Appendix 1. Summary of heraldic and paraheraldic badges cited 233 Appendix 2. Heraldic madrigal summary 234 Appendix 3. The Visconti, 1277-1447 236 Appendix 4. The Della Scala of Verona, 1311-1387 237 Appendix 5. The Carrara of Padua, 1356-1405 238 Transcription of Inperiale sedendo (Supplementary File 1) Critical commentary Accompanying the Transcription of Inperiale sedendo (Supplementary File 2) viii List of Tables 2.1 Hypothetical chronology of heraldic madrigal composition 2.2 Three-voice madrigals in trecento manuscripts 2.3 Transmission of the heraldic madrigal repertoire 2.4 Heraldic songs of the trecento, excluding madrigals 2.5 Heraldic songs of the French ars subtilior 2.6 The motets of Johannes Ciconia 2.7 Textual and musical structure of O felix templum 3.1 Repertoire of heraldic madrigals 3.2 Madrigals of the Anna cycle 3.3 Madrigals of the biscia cycle 5.1 Manuscript transmission of Inperiale sedendo ix List of Figures 1.1 Shield charged with a cat 1.2 Shield with a bend 1.3 Quartered arms 1.4 Crest of Francesco il Vecchio da Carrara (Padova, Biblioteca Civica B.P. 124/22, folio 20) 2.1 Jacopo da Bologna, Nel bel giardino 2.2 The En attendant complex and related songs 3.1 The Visconti biscia (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds latins 6069F, folio 1) 3.2 The Della Scala ladder on a stone sheild at the castle in Soave. 3.3 Mastiff with golden wings on the tomb of Mastino II Della Scala 3.4 Red carro (Padova, Biblioteca Civica B.P. 124 /XXII, folio 21) 3.5 Crest of Marsilietto Papafava (Padova, Biblioteca Civica B.P. 124 /XXII, folio 17v) 5.1 Equestrian statue and sarcophagus of Bernabò Visconti, Castello Sforzesco, Milan 5.2 Paraheraldry of Bernabò Visconti, Alfodhol de Merengi’s Liber judicorum et consiliorum (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds latins 7323, folio 5) 6.1 The heraldic Carrara chariot.