Italian Mosaic Art 1270 – 1529
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A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details 0 University of Sussex Carol Ann Hydes Candidate for Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) Italian Mosaic Art 1270 – 1529 Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex February 2017 i Statement I hereby confirm that this thesis, entitled “Italian Mosaic Art, 1270 – 1529”, has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature................................................ Carol Ann Hydes ii University of Sussex Carol Ann Hydes: Candidate for Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) Italian Mosaic Art, 1270 -1529 Summary My thesis concerns the practice of mosaic art throughout Italy between the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, a period long-studied for its painting, but rarely if ever for its mosaics.1 It addresses the extent of the art form both numerically and geographically in a way not done before, and discusses its likely costliness and what is known about how mosaics were made and the artists who made them. The first four chapters largely address these key issues by analysing the two databases that I constructed from primary and secondary sources. The first database counts and tracks the installation of wall and ceiling mosaics into Italian churches between 1270 and 1529. The second database enumerates the artists who made mosaics during the same period. The last two chapters of the thesis consider why some patrons chose to commission mosaics, but why many of them turned away from commissioning the medium. Whilst explaining the reasons for the decline in any art form is tricky, I argue that they were caused by the political, economic, religious, social and philosophical changes that happened in Italy, though the reasons often appear intertwined and specific to individual cities. 1 The reasons for choosing the dates 1270 to 1529 are explained in the Introduction. iii Acknowledgements I would particularly like to express my special gratitude to my supervisor Professor Liz James for her generous guidance, critical attention and encouragement at every stage of the work and since the thesis strayed into the Renaissance, to Professor Michelle O’Malley for her valuable advice. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the staff of the University of Sussex Library for their prompt attention and success in acquiring texts, and the staff of the Warburg Library for their invaluable support. Many Italian curators and guides in innumerable churches and museums right across Italy were extraordinarily helpful and I owe all of them very much gratitude, as well as friends to whom I turned for their specialist knowledge of religion, Latin and information technology. I am also grateful to Wendy Watson for words of wisdom and encouragement during the re-writing of this thesis. But this study would never have been possible without the indulgence, patience and help during fieldwork and writing of my husband Owen Hydes and daughter, Ciaran Hydes. To them and Liz James, I dedicate this study. iv Contents Page Statement i Summary ii Acknowledgements iii Contents iv List of Tables vii List of Figures ix List of Illustrations x Map: Political Context I: Italy circa 1300 xiii Map: Political Context II: Italy circa 1500 xiv Map: Italian cities where mosaics were installed between 1275 and 1529 xv Introduction 1 The Importance of Mosaic 4 Parameters of the thesis 5 The databases 7 Methodology 8 Scholarly work on Italian Mosaics in the late Middle Ages and 11 Renaissance Chapter 1: The Extent and Location of Mosaic Work in Italy, 1270 to 1529 17 Introduction 17 Database of mosaic activity 17 The number of mosaics installed, 1270 to 1529 19 The three phases of mosaic activity 21 The balance of mosaic activity 24 Geographical trends 25 Conclusion 31 Chapter 2: The Production of Mosaics 33 Introduction 33 Technology and its links to the cost of mosaics and the time taken 34 to produce them Glass-making in Italy 34 Material for glass-making 36 Other resources 41 Furnaces 43 Colouring glass 45 The glass-makers 47 Making metallic tesserae 49 The process of setting tesserae 50 v Contents Page The cost of mosaics 53 Conclusion 56 Chapter 3: The Mosaicists 58 Introduction 58 Definition of “mosaicist” 59 The meaning of “mosaic workshops” 60 Who became mosaicists? 63 Description of the database 65 Methodology for the construction of the database of mosaicists 66 and workshops of mosaicists and tables from it. Interpretation of the data in the tables 67 The demand for mosaicists in Italy 68 The demand for the services of mosaicists in five Italian cities 70 The work of mosaicists 73 The design of mosaics 75 Setting tesserae 78 The training of mosaicists 78 Repair work 80 The movement of mosaicists around Italy 82 Mosaicists and other media 86 The early sixteenth century 96 Conclusion 98 Chapter 4: The Iconography of Mosaics 99 Methodology 100 Iconographical changes 101 Architectural changes 102 Mosaics in apses 104 Mosaics on facades 107 Mosaics in other architectural positions 111 Influences on iconography 112 Other influences on iconography 114 Conclusion 125 Chapter 5: Why did patrons choose mosaic art? 127 Conclusion 144 Chapter 6: The declining patronage of mosaics 145 Conclusion 169 Conclusion 171 Bibliography 176 vi Contents Page List of Appendices Appendix 1: Tables from the database of Buildings where Mosaics were installed on Walls and Ceilings between 1270 and 1529 186 Appendix 2: Tables from the database of Mosaicists, 1270 – 1529 238 Appendix 3: Iconography of Mosaics: arranged and coloured by subject of mosaic 297 Illustrations 303 vii List of Tables Chapter Table Title Page No. No. Introduction Table 1 Cities, towns and villages that formed the basis 10 of the research Chapter 1 Table 2 Locations of Towns/Cities/Regions in the 18 database of mosaics Table 3 Summary of different forms of mosaic activity 20 organised by city or region Table 4 Buildings with new mosaics and repairs to 22 mosaics by decades from the 1270s to 1520s Chapter 2 Table 5 Some sources of materials used in making glass 37 for tesserae in Italy, 1270 to 1529 Table 6 Other resources used for glass-making in Italy, 42 1270 to 1529 Chapter 3 Table 7 Locations in the database of mosaicists and 66 workshops active between 1270 and 1529 Table 8 Venice: men who worked only in mosaic and 88 those who also worked in other media in the three periods 1270-1329, 1330-1449 and 1450- 1529 Table 9 Rome: men who worked only in mosaic and 89 those who also worked in other media in the three periods 1270-1329, 1330-1449 and 1450- 1529 Table 10 Florence: men who worked only in mosaic and 91 those who also worked in other media in the three periods 1270-1329, 1330-1449 and 1450- 1529 Appendix 1 Table 11 Buildings in Arezzo with wall/ceiling mosaics 187 Table 12 Buildings in Florence with wall/ceiling mosaics 188 Table 13 Buildings in Lucca with wall/ceiling mosaics 201 Table 14 Buildings in Orvieto with wall/ceiling mosaics 202 Table 15 Buildings in Perugia with wall/ceiling mosaics 208 Table 16 Buildings in Pisa with wall/ceiling mosaics 209 Table 17 Buildings in Pistoia with wall/ceiling mosaics 212 Table 18 Buildings in Rome with wall/ceiling mosaics 213 Table 19 Buildings in Sicily with wall/ceiling mosaics 219 Table 20 Buildings in Siena with wall/ceiling mosaics 223 Table 21 Buildings in Southern Italy with wall/ceiling 224 mosaics Table 22 Buildings in Venice with wall/ceiling mosaics 226 Appendix 2 Table 23 Arezzo: Mosaicists who worked in the city 239 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 24 Florence: Mosaicists who worked in the city 240 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order viii Table Title Page No. No. Appendix 2 Table 25 Lucca: Mosaicists who worked in the city 258 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 26 Orvieto: Mosaicists who worked in the city 259 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 27 Perugia: Mosaicists who worked in the city 267 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 28 Pisa: Mosaicists who worked in the city between 268 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 29 Pistoia: Mosaicists who worked in the city 276 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 30 Rome: Mosaicists who worked in the city 278 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 31 Sicily: Mosaicists who worked in the area 283 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 32 Siena: Mosaicists who worked in the city 284 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 33 Southern Italy: Mosaicists who worked in the 286 area between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 34 Venice: Mosaicists who worked in the city 287 between 1270 and 1529 in chronological order Table 35 Other possible Mosaicists of the late Thirteenth 296 Century to early Sixteenth Century (in alphabetical order) Appendix 3 Table 36 Period 1: 1270-1329 297 Table 37 Period 2: 1330-1449 300 Table 38 Period 3: 1450-1529 301 ix List of Figures Chapter Figure Title Page No.