BOOKS of painting (‘molto perito nella teorica di detta concern.3 Henrike Haug suggests that when arte’), not of knowledge in general (p.22). The Tombs of the Doges of Venice Enrico Dandolo died in Constantinople in Given that we have almost no evidence of from the Beginning of the Serenissima 1205 after leading the Fourth Crusade, the the books Dante read, we should also admit to 1907. Edited by Benjamin Paul. 590 pp. Venetian state probably erected his tomb in our ignorance of the texts that Lorenzetti incl. 161 b. & w. ills. (Viella, Rome, and the atrium of Hagia Sophia as a victory monu- might have known and that might have in- Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani, Venice, ment. The Venetian Republic did not fund fluenced his painting. 2016), €40. ISBN 978–88–6728–559–4. or administer the erection of monuments Gabriella Piccinni’s essay on the political to deceased doges except in exceptional circumstances of the decade in which the Reviewed by DEBORAH HOWARD circumstances, such as the one for Marc’ Sala della Pace was painted is perceptive and Antonio Trevisan (d.1554), who died with- subtle. While emphasising that this was a LIKE POPES, THE DOGES of Venice were out heirs and whose tomb slab and monu- period of peace and economic boom, which chosen by an elite electorate – in this case the ment in S. Francesco della Vigna were prob- saw the completion of major public monu- Venetian nobility – and comparisons have ably commissioned by the Procurators of S. ments, such as the Palazzo Pubblico, as well often been drawn between the tombs of both Marco as trustees of the estate. Ostermann’s as the initiation of new ones, Piccinni also groups. As early as 1484, in a much-quoted long and scholarly examination of the tes- points to profound political and economic passage, the German Dominican pilgrim taments of Venetian doges as a source for problems such as the butchers’ rebellions Felix Fabri (Faber) remarked: ‘Never have the study of their monuments is extremely of 1318 and 1325, which nearly overthrew I seen more extravagant tombs. Even the valuable, even if her thematic arrangement the government of the increasingly tyran- graves of the popes in Rome cannot compare precludes a chronological structure. nical Nine, and the diminishing power of with these’. Prior to this study, Jan Simane’s The complexities of inheritance and Siena’s international banks. Her insights Grabmonumente der Dogen prov ided a n aut hor i- private finances (or the lack thereof) led might lead one to question the orthodox tative basis for future research, while histor- to many different burial scenarios. Ducal interpretation of the Sala della Pace as ians of Renaissance sculpture, such as Anne remains were often interred beneath the straightforward propaganda for the good Markham Schulz, have analysed individual floor, sometimes at some distance from the government of the Nine. It is somewhat monuments.1 The first book to adopt an inter- monument itself, as for instance in the tomb disappointing that the otherwise useful disciplinary framework was Debra Pincus’s of Francesco Erizzo (d.1646) in S. Martino. essay by Marco M. Mascolo and Alessandra The Tombs of the Doges of Venice, which ex- Following the initial interment, the monu- Caffio on Lorenzetti’s role as the city’s de plored ducal tombs down to that of Andrea ment might reach completion long after the facto official painter following Simone Dandolo (d.1354), the last doge to be buried subject’s death, such as that of Leonardo Martini’s departure for Avignon in 1336 in S. Marco. This pioneering work integrated Loredan (d.1521), who presided over the accepts the orthodox interpretation of Good politics, liturgy, biography, materiality, style, catastrophic Cambrai Wars. The complex and Bad Government, as does Seidel himself. iconography and dynastic concerns.2 history of this monument forms one of Indeed even Piccinni sees Lorenzetti’s fres- The book under review sustains this rich Avery’s exemplary case studies. Heirs did cos as a self-serving utopian vision. interdisciplinarity but spans the whole his- not always respect a doge’s wishes, as in the The attributions in the catalogue are tory of the Venetian Republic – and even case of Nicolò Tron (d.1473), who requested generous. Only five securely document- beyond, for the last chapter narrates the fas- burial in the tomb of his family but was in- ed and dated works of Lorenzetti survive. cinating story of the reburial of the remains stead commemorated by a monument in the About ten undocumented, unsigned and of Sebastiano Venier (d. 1578), the hero of presbytery of the Basilica dei Frari (Fig.3). undated works are excellent candidates for the Battle of Lepanto (1571). As Jan May and In other instances the doge might erect his inclusion in his œuvre. But the catalogue Benjamin Paul relate, Venier was originally tomb within his own lifetime, for example confidently attributes an additional dozen laid to rest in the family tomb in S. Maria Marino Grimani (d.1605) at S. Giuseppe di works to the artist, all of which on grounds degli Angeli, Murano, but in 1907, amid re- Castello, examined by Ruth Schilling. of style or quality are at best debatable. newed hostilities with the Ottoman Empire, The tension between the public career This matters because Lorenzetti’s autograph he was reinterred in the great Dominican of the doge and the celebration of family works show that he was both a supremely church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. This cere- honour is another recurrent theme. The gifted visual artist and a great colourist, monial transfer reflected the national and heirs of doges who died in disgrace, such whose handling of paint is intrinsic to the royal identity of the emerging Italian state, as Francesco Foscari (d.1457), might use the expressive significance of his art, as shown and even involved the creation of a full-length tomb as a means of restoring the family’s by Hyman and Seidel. Optimistic attribu- standing effigy in bronze to adorn the tomb. reputation. In a rare case of one brother suc- tions dilute our sense of what makes his work A conference held at the Centro Tedesco ceeding another as doge, Marco (d.1486) and so outstanding. In turn, this approach sup- di Studi Veneziani and the Fondazione Agostino (d.1501) Barbarigo’s double tomb, ports the traditional – predominantly icono- Giorgio Cini Onlus in 2010 forms the basis formerly in S. Maria della Carità, allowed a graphic – treatment of the Sala della Pace, for the sixteen essays by an international large expanse of wall to be dedicated to one where sections of fresco, ineptly repainted in line-up of authors drawn from museums, family. The concentration of ducal tombs the 1360s, possibly by Bartolomeo Bulgarini, academia and heritage bodies. Because the in SS. Giovanni e Paolo invited visual and are used as evidence for unfounded con- essays in English, German and Italian re- iconographic comparison, whereas the pa- clusions. Nonetheless, the exhibition was flect a range of different approaches, there tronage of a single church as a mausoleum by magnificent and the catalogue will be inval- are inevitably many overlaps between them. the unpopular Cristoforo Moro (d.1471) in uable. Both support Lorenzetti’s reputation Some authors focus on individual tombs or S. Giobbe, as Janna Israel explains, derived as Ghiberti’s ‘perfettissimo maestro’, perhaps small groups of monuments, while others prestige from its monopolisation of the site. greater even than Giotto, with immense examine particular aspects such as ducal The volume draws attention to different influence on fifteenth-century painting in testaments (Judith Ostermann), tombs of do- types of effigies and their meanings. In the Tuscany and beyond. garesse (Dieter Girgensohn), epitaphs (Debra monument to Nicolò Tron in the Frari, a Pincus) or the choice of materials (Victoria recumbent effigy (introduced to Venice 1 N. Rubinstein: ‘Political ideas in Sienese art: the Avery). As a matter of principle in such a var- with Andrea Dandolo’s tomb in S. Marco) frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Taddeo di ied and multi-lingual volume, it would have lies at some height above a standing effigy. Bartolo in the Palazzo Pubblico’, Journal of the Warburg been helpful to have included abstracts. Benjamin Paul’s essay, which develops Ernst and Courtauld Institutes 21 (1958), pp.179–207. A new and valuable emphasis is the theme Kantorowicz’s theory of the separation of the 2 See the review by Jane Martineau in this Magazine of agency, which is threaded through the body politic from the mortal body, explores 146 (2004), p.699. whole volume, although not highlighted as a this curious solution. Despite the role of the 347 APRIL 2018 • CLX • THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE BOOKS_APR18.indd 347 19/03/2018 18:21 BOOKS 3. Monument to Doge Nicolò Tron, by Antonio Rizzo. 1476–80. Istrian stone, polychromatic marbles and gold, 15 by 7.35 m. (S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice; photograph Apollonio Tottoli). doge as a defender of the faith, the implied more influential Antique source than the 1 J. Simane: Grabmonumente der Dogen: Venezianische link between the doge and the resurrect- Arch of Constantine, cited by Drogin. The Sepulkralkunst im Cinquecento, Sigmaringen 1993; ed Christ in the tomb of Pietro Mocenigo book’s numerous black-and-white photo- and A. Markham Schulz: The Sculpture of Tullio (d.1476) remains anomalous. graphs are of excellent quality, though often Lombardo, London 2014; see the review by David Drogin is the only author to dwell too small to allow the reader to study the Claudia Kryza-Gersch in this Magazine 158 (2016), pp.906–07.