The Conquest of Etruria in Francesco Salviati's Triumph of Camillus
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The Conquest of Etruria in Francesco Salviati’s Triumph of Camillus Caroline Hillard In 1540, Cosimo I de’ Medici, Duke of Florence, transferred same years that Salviati created his fresco, scholars of the his residence from the Medici Palace to the Palazzo della Florentine Academy promoted their own thesis of Florentine Signoria (now the Palazzo Vecchio), the seat and symbol of cultural imperialism in their texts. Both the texts and the the Florentine republic for almost two and a half centuries. fresco celebrate the Duke’s image as master of an emerging Scholars have recognized the symbolic importance of this Tuscan state, with ancient Etruria as the model for Tuscan move: it signified the permanent demise of the republic and unification. the stability of Medici rule. In the following years, the Duke Executed between 1543 and 1547, the decoration of the initiated a massive campaign of renovation to transform the Sala dell’Udienza is an eclectic assortment of allegories and republican building into a ducal palace. One of his first proj- narratives drawn from historical, biblical, and mythological ects was the decoration of the Sala dell’Udienza, or Justice sources (Figure 2). The principal scenes are stories of Mar- Chamber, for which he called upon Francesco Salviati. The cus Furius Camillus, the Roman republican hero celebrated monumentality of Salviati’s frescoes, the public function of for his victories over neighboring tribes and for liberating the space, and the project’s primacy in Cosimo’s early reno- Rome from the Gauls. The Triumph of Camillus depicts the vation indicate the centrality of this commission in Cosimo’s triumphal procession following the destruction of Veii by the early patronage. Roman army. Livy and Plutarch explain that the battle of Veii A principal scene in Salviati’s decoration of the hall is was a crucial victory, ending a ten-year siege and signaling the Triumph of Camillus, an opulent tapestry of figures, rich a shift in the balance of power between Rome and Etruria.2 ornament, and antique references (Figure 1).1 It is curious that The victory came soon after Camillus was appointed dictator. the Duke chose this subject for his first major public com- Unable to penetrate Veii’s fortifications, Camillus supervised mission. The main textual sources—the deeds of Camillus the mining of a series of underground tunnels, allowing the recounted by Livy and Plutarch—condemn the event as a Romans to infiltrate the citadel from below. The unsuspecting blatant expression of dictatorial pomp and arrogance. This Veientes, still guarding the walls, were promptly defeated and paper aims to reconcile the subject of Salviati’s Triumph of their city sacked, the citizens killed or captured. In gratitude Camillus with its celebratory function. Reexamination of the for his victory, Camillus sacrificed to the city’s patron, Juno, subject matter—the Roman conquest of the Etruscan city and directed her cult statue to be brought to Rome, where of Veii in 396 BC—reveals a theme commonly overlooked he would dedicate a temple in her honor. The Roman people in modern scholarship: the Roman conquest of Etruria, or were jubilant, and the general was awarded a triumph of ancient Tuscany. An iconographical and contextual analysis unprecedented magnitude. of the fresco suggests that it was part of a broader program A letter of October 1543 relates that Duke Cosimo sent to celebrate Florentine dominion over the region. In the Salviati to his secretary, Pierfrancesco Riccio, to retrieve “all 1 Although the bibliography on the fresco is vast, the decoration of the dell’Udienza in Palazzo Vecchio,” Le arti del principato mediceo (Flor- Sala dell’Udienza has not been the subject of an in-depth study in ence: S.P.E.S., 1980) 141-200; Melinda Schlitt, “Francesco Salviati’s over 40 years. The fundamental source remains Iris Cheney’s Fran- Frescoes of Camillus and Cosimo I de’ Medici,” The Search for a Patron cesco Salviati, 1510-1563, 3 vols., diss., New York University, 1963, in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, ed. David G. Wilkins and vol. 1, 162-89 and vol. 2, 359-74. A good overview of the hall and its Rebecca L. Wilkins (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1996) 157-177; decoration is found in Alfredo Lensi, Palazzo Vecchio (Milan: Bestetti Roberto Guerrini, “L’immaginario del principe e l’uso dell’antico: due e Tumminelli, 1929) 136; Ettore Allegri and Alessandro Cecchi, Palaz- episodi nella Firenze medicea tra manierismo e barocco,” L’architettura zo Vecchio e i Medici: guida storica (Florence: S.P.E.S., 1980) 40-47 civile in Toscana: il Cinquecento e il Seicento, ed. Amerigo Restucci and Luisa Mortari, Francesco Salviati (Rome: Leonardo—De Luca, (Siena, It.: Amilcare Pizzi, 1999) 469-499 and Stefano Pierguidi, “Le 1992) 25-34 and 110-112. For more specific discussions of style and allegorie di Francesco Salviati nella Sala dell’Udienza di Palazzo Vec- iconography, see Catherine Dumont, Francesco Salviati au palais Sac- chio,” Paragone Arte 67 (2006): 3-13. chetti de Rome et la décoration murale italienne (1520-1560) (Rome: Institut Suisse de Rome, 1973) 105-21; Giulio Lensi-Orlandi, Cosimo 2 Livy, From the Founding of the City, trans. B.O. Foster, vol. 3 (Cam- e Francesco de’ Medici alchimisti (Florence: Nardini, 1978) 188-215; bridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1984) 65-83; Plutarch, Plutarch’s Lives, trans. Candace Adelson, “Bachiaccca, Salviati, and the Decoration of the Sala Bernadotte Perrin, vol. 2 (New York: Macmillan, 1916) 104-113. ATHANOR XXVI CAROLINE HILLARD of the notable works on Camillus, so that he might make a Livy similarly relates that Camillus “rode into the City sketch for His Excellency.”3 Salviati’s fresco closely follows on a chariot drawn by white horses, which struck men as the ancient accounts, capturing the chaos of the siege and being not only undemocratic, but irreverent,” and that the the splendor of the subsequent triumph. Like many Renais- citizenry was “troubled at the thought that in respect to his sance narratives, the fresco unites various moments of the steeds the dictator was made equal to Jupiter and the sun- story in a single composition. The city of Veii dominates the god.”5 The general was also sharply criticized for opposing background, recognizable by its hill-top position and com- a bill to move half of Rome to the conquered city, and even manding walls, described by Livy and Plutarch. The moment more for his distribution of the spoils of war.6 Public disap- before the battle is portrayed in the middle-ground, with the proval was so great that Camillus lost the confidence of the Roman army rushing into the tunnels beneath the city. The Roman people and went into voluntary exile. subsequent triumphal procession crowds the foreground. It is clear from multiple references to the Duke through- Camillus, seated in his chariot, is crowned by Fame, while out the Justice Chamber that Camillus is presented as an the Romans escort prisoners, hoist standards, ceremonial embodiment of Cosimo; why, then, should the Duke have banners and trophies, and cart off the spoils of war. At the chosen to identify with this episode of dictatorial arro- head of the procession, a small group of priests transports gance? Perhaps because of this contradiction, many scholars the cult statue of Juno. downplay the importance of the ancient accounts and see In the victory over Veii, Cosimo selected an unpopular the fresco rather as a general statement of princely virtue.7 event in the Camillus story. The ancient sources describe In the Renaissance, Camillus embodied prudence, justice, how the sumptuousness of Camillus’ triumph earned him magnanimity, and moral strength.8 More specifically, the the contempt of the Roman people. Plutarch writes: general was associated with ideal leadership: having freed Camillus was lifted up to vanity. and Rome from the Gauls, Camillus was the savior of the city, celebrated a triumph with great pomp: he its second founder, a new Romulus. In a similar way, Duke actually had four white horses harnessed Cosimo liberated Florence from the threat of foreign rule, to a chariot on which he mounted and ushering in a new age of peace and prosperity.9 The Triumph drove through Rome, a thing which no has been understood as a celebration of Cosimo’s rise to commander had ever done before or af- power, his victory over his Florentine enemies, or his own terwards did. For they thought such a car triumphant return from exile.10 sacred and devoted to the king and father Although these observations may be valid for the nar- of the gods. In this way he incurred the rative cycle as a whole, the specific choice of the Triumph enmity of the citizens, who were not ac- subject merits further consideration. If Cosimo intended the customed to wanton extravagance.4 image as a general statement of triumph and virtue, why 3 The letter was written by Lorenzo Pagni, a secretary of the Duke, and 8 For an overview of the Renaissance textual sources, see Schlitt 163- carried to Riccio by Salviati. It stated that Riccio was to give “a M.ro 171. Franc. dipintore, datore di questa, tutte le opere notabili di Camillo, adcio possa farne uno schizzo per S.Ex.a., e così li piacera exeguire.” 9 On Cosimo’s early career see G. Spini, Cosimo I e l’indipendenza del The document is reproduced in Cheney, vol. 2, 645, doc. 14. principato mediceo (Florence: Vallecchi, 1980); Furio Diaz, Il Gran- ducato di Toscana: i Medici (Turin: Utet Libreria, 1987) 79-83; Eric 4 Plutarch 111. Cochrane, Florence in the Forgotten Centuries, 1527-1800 (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1973) 13-92; Rudolf von Albertini, Firenze dalla re- 5 Livy 81.