The Ugly Renaissance (65 page)

Although the Duomo was the epicenter:
In contrast to Santa Croce—rightly reputed as the pantheon of dead Italian greats—Santa Maria del Fiore contains almost no monuments to lay figures. Aside from
Domenico di Michelino’s fresco
Dante Before the City of Florence
, only
Filippo Brunelleschi (the dome’s architect),
Giotto di Bondone (the architect of the campanile), and
Marsilio Ficino were commemorated with memorials. The remaining funerary monuments are those of saints or senior ecclesiastical figures (such as Pope Nicholas II and Pope Stephen IX). By the early fifteenth century, there was even a growing feeling that the laity should never be commemorated in churches:
Leon Battista Alberti’s discussion of this topic is, of course, the most prominent example of such sentiments. On Alberti’s remarks, see Wegener, “That the Practice of Arms Is Most Excellent Declare the Statues of Valiant Men,” 136.

As the inscription:
It is worth noting that Hawkwood was known to Italians as “Giovanni Acuto” and was commemorated by the Latinized name “Ioannes Actus.” The terms of the inscription have deliberately classical echoes, on which see Hudson, “Politics of War,” 25.

Born somewhere in southeast England:
For a thorough treatment of Hawkwood’s career, see Caferro,
John Hawkwood
.

It was while campaigning with the White Company:
His campaign against the papacy and his bravery are both noted by Froissart. Froissart,
Chronicles
, 282–83.

it was in 1377 that he found his métier:
On Hawkwood’s hiring by Florence in 1377, see Caferro, “Continuity, Long-Term Service, and Permanent Forces,” 224–25.

“most effective captain”:
Ibid., 224.

To avoid such a devastating eventuality:
See Najemy,
History of Florence
, 151–52.

Yet by leading a band of marauders:
This is described by Marchionne di Coppo Stefani,
Cronaca fiorentina
, 345. See Caferro, “Continuity, Long-Term Service, and Permanent Forces,” 226.

“behaved more unforgivingly”:
Leonardo Bruni,
Historiarum florentini populi libri XII
, II.72, in
History of the Florentine People
, 1:183. See Ianziti,
Writing History in Renaissance Italy
, 132–33.

In 1377, Hawkwood was responsible:
Mallett,
Mercenaries and Their Masters
, 40–41.

Lamenting the use of German mercenaries:
Petrarch,
Canzoniere
, poem 128, lines 17–38, in
Petrarch’s Lyric Poems
, 257–59. On the context of “Italia mia,” see Mommsen, “Date of Petrarch’s Canzone
Italia Mia
.”

Indeed, it was no coincidence:
Mallett rightly notes that “in Florence the caricatures painted on the walls of the Palazzo della Signoria of
condottieri hanging upside down in chains were not uncommon sights.
Niccolò Piccinino was the object of such a painting in 1428 … In Venice, it was not the Doge’s Palace which was chosen for such gestures, but the walls of the public brothel at the Rialto.” Mallett,
Mercenaries and Their Masters
, 94–95.

Malatesta da Verucchio:
Dante,
Inf
. 27.44–46.

On discovering that his wife, Francesca da Polenta:
Ibid., 5.73–142. On this episode, see Barolini, “Dante and Francesca da Rimini.”

Pedro Berruguete’s
Portrait of Duke Federico
:
The portrait is sometimes attributed to Justus of Ghent.

In depicting his patron in such a manner:
For Federico’s life, see Tommasoli,
La vita di Federico da Montefeltro
; La Sizeranne,
Federico di Montefeltro
.

Campaigns had become more brutal:
As Mallett has rightly observed, “The major factor in the decline of the influence of the companies was the growth of a more organised political structure in late fourteenth-century Italy.” Mallett,
Mercenaries and Their Masters
, 51. The remainder of this paragraph is indebted to Mallett’s insights.

Quite apart from the vast sums:
The kingdom of Naples appears to have pioneered this technique—King Ladislaus made Francesco Sforza (son of Muzio Attendolo) marquis of Tricarico, in Basilicata, in 1412—but it was certainly not uncommon in the North. The papacy regularly granted vicariates to those who had rendered outstanding service, or who were most liable to turn tail, and the Malatesta of Rimini were among the more prominent examples of those who received such ecclesiastical grants. So, too, the Visconi—and later the Sforza—of Milan habitually gave titles and estates to their commanders. On the especially interesting example of the Malatesta, see Jones, “Vicariate of the Malatesta of Rimini.”

So towering a figure:
Clough, “Federigo da Montefeltro’s Patronage of the Arts,” 130.

As early as 1464, Gianmario Filelfo:
Zannoni, “I due libri della
Martiados
di Giovan Mario Filelfo,” esp. 657–59. On the younger Filelfo’s relationship with Federico da Montefeltro, see, for example, Clough, “Federigo da Montefeltro’s Patronage of the Arts,” 133–34.

Paltroni’s laudatory biography:
Paltroni,
Commentari della vita e gesti dell’illustris- simo Federico Duca d’Urbino
.

“worth comparing to the best captains”:
Simonetta,
Montefeltro Conspiracy
, 51.

“to his prudence, humanity”:
Castiglione,
Book of the Courtier
, I, p. 41.

Apocryphal though the tale may be:
For a good survey of the chapel’s broader function, see Knox, “Colleoni
Chapel in Bergamo and the Politics of Urban Space.” See also Schofield and Burnett, “Decoration of the Colleoni Chapel”; Piel,
La Cappella Colleoni e il Luogo della Pietà in Bergamo
; Bernstein, “Patronage, Autobiography, and Iconography.”

a double-sided portrait of the duke and his wife:
On these panels, see Kempers,
Power, Painting, and Patronage
, 235–37.

He was a true bibliophile:
On the
studioli
, see Remington, “Private Study of Federigo da Montefeltro”; Fabiański, “Federigo da Montefeltro’s ‘Studiolo’ in Gubbio Reconsidered.”

According to Vespasiano da Bisticci:
Kempers,
Painting, Power, and Patronage
, 360n7; Clough, “Federigo da Montefeltro’s Patronage of the Arts,” 138.

An acquaintance of Cristoforo Landino:
Clough, “Federigo da Montefeltro’s Patronage of the Arts,” 131–37.

Perhaps as a result of a youth:
On Federico’s fondness for architecture, see Heydenreich, “Federico da Montefeltro as a Building Patron.”

In 1464, he commissioned the Dalmatian architect:
On the palazzo itself, see Rotondi,
Ducal Palace of Urbino
.

So fabulous was Federico’s court:
See Weil-Garris and d’Amico, “Renaissance Cardinal’s Ideal Palace,” 87.

excoriated by the Florentine chancellor, Leonardo Bruni:
On the
De militia
, see Bayley,
War and Society in Renaissance Florence
; Viti, “ ‘Bonus miles et fortis ac civium suorum amator.’ ”

“Mercenaries are disunited”:
Machiavelli,
Prince
, chap. 12, pp. 38–39. Similar statements about mercenary generals can be found in Machiavelli,
The Art of War
, 1;
Discourses
, 2.20.

“These condottieri have now reached”:
Mallett,
Mercenaries and Their Masters
, 105.

“Oliverotto prepared a formal banquet”:
Machiavelli,
Prince
, chap. 8, pp. 28–29.

“blasphemous and cruel”:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, II.12, 1:253.

“raped [the] wives and daughters”:
Ibid.

Even worse was Braccio da Montone:
Mallett,
Mercenaries and Their Masters
, 66.

“pleasant and charming”:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, II.18, 1:273.

Corresponding with his network:
See Simonetta,
Montefeltro Conspiracy
.

Fighting was in Sigismondo’s blood:
For a survey of the Malatesta family in general, see Jones,
Malatesta of Rimini and the Papal State
.

after Sigismondo had begun an affair:
Sigismondo was to marry Isotta in 1456. The couple had four known children, one of whom (Antonia) was subsequently beheaded by her husband for adultery. Isotta was not, however, Sigismondo’s only mistress. He is reputed to have bedded dozens of women in his time, but only Vannetta dei Toschi is known.

Over the next fourteen years, the two condottieri:
For an engaging, if flawed, treatment of the rivalry between the two men, see Pernis and Adams,
Federico da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Malatesta
.

“He broke faith”:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, II.32, 1:329.

“was a slave to avarice”:
Ibid., 1:327–29.

Tempio Malatestiano:
The classic study of the church remains Ricci,
Il Tempio Malatestiano
.

“one of the foremost churches”:
Vasari,
Lives
, 1:210.

“erected at … magnanimous expense”:
The full Greek inscription reads: “
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, son of Pandolfo, Bringer of Victory, having survived
many and most grave dangers during the Italic War, in recognition of his deeds accomplished so felicitously and with such courage, for he obtained what he had prayed for in such a critical juncture, has erected at his magnanimous expense this temple to the Immortal God and to the City, and left a memorial worthy of fame and full of piety.” Trans. in Lavin, “Piero della Francesca’s Fresco of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Before St. Sigismund,” 345.

the fresco he commissioned from Piero della Francesca:
For an interesting and recent reevaluation of this work, see ibid.

“There is no doubt that Sigismondo’s perfidy”:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, II.32, 1:331.

9. T
HE
U
NHOLY
C
ITY

Aeneus Silvius Piccolomini:
For biographical treatments of Aeneas, see Mitchell,
Laurels and the Tiara
, and Paparelli,
Enea Silvio Piccolomini
.

Far from being an upright, saintly figure:
For what follows, see Francesco Filarete and Angelo Manfidi,
“Libro Cerimoniale” of the Florentine Republic
, 76–77; Baldassarri and Saiber,
Images of Quattrocento Florence
, 79–80.

“See how we lords of cities have sunk!”:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, II.26, 1:311.

Although Cosimo de’ Medici would have been hoping:
See Holmes, “Cosimo and the Popes.”

At the key meeting, he shouted everyone down:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, II.32, 1:327–35.

He delighted in a joust:
Ibid., II.31, 1:327.

Even though some 14,000 florins:
Ibid.; Filarete and Manfidi,
“Libro Cerimoniale” of the Florentine Republic
, 78.

Since 1309, the popes had resided not at Rome:
For what follows, see Mollat,
Popes at Avignon
; Renouard,
Avignon Papacy
.

“The city of Rome was in agony”:
Anonimo Romano,
Life of Cola di Rienzo
, 40.

Urban had split the Church in two:
For further details on the beginnings of the schism, see Ullmann,
Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages
, 279–305; Ullmann,
Origins of the Great Schism
.

Petrarch, for example, spent the greater part of his life:
On Petrarch’s periods of residence in or near Avignon, see Wilkins,
Life of Petrarch
, 1–5, 8–24, 32–39, 53–81, 106–27; on his benefices and other sources of ecclesiastical income, see Wilkins, “Petrarch’s Ecclesiastical Career.”

Leonardo Bruni served as a papal secretary:
On Bruni’s career at the Roman Curia, see Bruni,
Humanism of Leonardo Bruni
, 25–35; Gualdo, “Leonardo Bruni segretario papale.”

Simone Martini was an important presence:
The standard work on Martini’s life and career remains Martindale,
Simone Martini
.

artists such as Matteo Giovanetti:
Enaud, “Les fresques du Palais des Papes d’Avignon”; Laclotte and Thiébaut,
L’école d’Avignon
.

Landino pictured the ghost:
Landino,
Xandra
, II.30, in
Poems
, 136–39.

Vespasiano da Bisticci was horrified:
Bisticci,
Vite di uomini illustri del secolo XV
, 20.

Far from seeing the city as a rival:
Infessura,
Diario della città di Roma
.

Before even taking holy orders:
Aeneas even wrote a history of the Council of Basel as a means of setting out his passionate attachment to the conciliar movement’s ideals. Piccolomini,
De gestis Concilii Basiliensis commentariorum libri II
. This
edition also contains a helpful and lucid introduction to Aeneas’s contribution to conciliar thought.

“his learning and intellectual gifts”:
Pius II,
Commentaries
, I.28, 1:139.

“Only the learned who have studied”:
Partner,
Renaissance Rome
, 16.

In 1427, Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello:
Welch,
Art and Society in Renaissance Milan
, 242–43.

Cardinal Giordano Orsini:
See Simpson, “Cardinal Giordano Orsini (+1438) as a Prince of the Church and a Patron of the Arts”; Mode, “Masolino, Uccello, and the Orsini
Uomini Famosi
.”

Fra Angelico—widely renowned:
On Fra Angelico’s dual reputation, see Vasari,
Lives
, 1:198. For his frescoes, see ibid., 1:203. It is worth noting that Fra Angelico’s services had initially been sought out by Nicholas’s predecessor, Eugenius IV. The chapel is today known as the Niccoline Chapel. For further details on the artist’s works in Rome during this period, see Gilbert, “Fra Angelico’s Fresco Cycles in Rome.”