Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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SteveM wrote:
mikeh wrote: Well, in the Gozzoli, a lot of the people have hats on, so you can't tell; but what about the boy in the blue tunic, below left?
This one, I presume? Certainly close (enough?) :
Close enough, IMHO, as to not make it an indicator of a later dating -- c'59/'60/'61 still stands (as a possiblity)?
Last edited by SteveM on 05 Feb 2017, 21:03, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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I see ...

Image


... 7 palle at the horse decoration of the youngest Magus (also some other heraldic devices, which I don't understand).

There were some rumors, that the youngest Magus was presented by the young Lorenzo himself. There are better documented statements, that in the Pope-Pius-Trionfo in April 1459 Lorenzo (10 years old) had some engagement with his "banda" (his friends) at this opportunity, somehow as part of the show.
Gozzoli painted till 1464, it makes logic, that he painted the boys older than they were in 1459.

According the 3 Magi stories the 3 kings were about 15, 30 and 60 years old ... so there was (possibly) an interest to finish the pictures around that date (which would have the 15 birthday).

Perhaps the boys around the Magi are portraits of Lorenzo's "Banda". The the face with the splitted might have been well meant as Lorenzo's younger brother.

Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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In the group of the 7 boys (inclusive the dominant young magus = Lorenzo) ...

Image


... 2 boys are especially remarkable, those, who look more or less frontal. Bernardo Rucellai (* 11 August 1448, 5 months older) was same age to Lorenzo and belonged to his banda and he were close. He married in 1466 Lorenzo's sister (Nannina de' Medici *14 February 1448), possibly a plan, which already existed in 1463/64 or earlier.

This seems to be a picture of him ...

Image

http://isiflorence.org/blog/2012/recent ... rnational/

... the hair looks red-blonde.

This we had in an older discussion ...

Image


Image


... commented with "Medici diamond rings at the back of the page, possibly together with Rucellai sail (?). The hat with Medici diamon rings (again, already shown) at the right."
The picture appeared in the context of the marriage between Bernardo and Nannina.
viewtopic.php?f=23&p=15534#p17717

Again the hair looks red-blonde.

Medici heraldic at Rucellai Palace, given as "Alberti, Medallion from the Facade of the Rucellai palace"
https://de.pinterest.com/pin/418060777880458517/

Image


*****************

Large picture of the group at ...
http://laphamsquarterly.org/sites/defau ... 1_2800.jpg

From the life of the father of Bernardo Rucellai:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_ ... o_Rucellai
Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai was born on 26 December 1403 to Paolo Rucellai and Caterina di Filippo Pandolfini, one of three children born in the 40 months of their marriage before the early death of Paolo Rucellai. As a young man, Giovanni di Paolo entered the banking house of Palla di Noferi Strozzi and at the age of about 25 married his daughter Iacopa di Palla Strozzi. The couple had two sons and five daughters. Rucellai remained loyal to Strozzi after the banishment of the latter to Padova by Cosimo de' Medici in November 1434, and for about 27 years he took no part in public life. However he became friends with Cosimo, and in 1461 his second son, Bernardo di Giovanni Rucellai, then about 13 years old, was married to Cosimo's grand-daughter Nannina de' Medici, daughter of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici and elder sister to Lorenzo. Nannina was brought to her husband's house five years later, on 8 June 1466. The wedding feast was famous for its opulence: 500 guests were seated on a dais which occupied the loggia and the whole of the piazza and the street in front of Palazzo Rucellai.
So the marriage was already fixed in 1461. And there was an elder brother to Bernardo, possibly also with red hairs (there are astonishing many red-haired persons at the picture).
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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Huck wrote: There were some rumors, that the youngest Magus was presented by the young Lorenzo himself. There are better documented statements, that in the Pope-Pius-Trionfo in April 1459 Lorenzo (10 years old) had some engagement with his "banda" (his friends) at this opportunity, somehow as part of the show.
I'm pretty sure the consensus is that the young magus is simply an allegory of Medici dynastic succession - the whole painting, apart from commemorating actual illustrious visitors to Florence under Medici rule, being a tribute to the Medici assumption of the annual Florentine procession of the Magi to San Marco (also controlled by the Medici).

Dynastic succession in the Gozzoli painting: Following the young Magi allegory, you have Piero taking the lead as he had assumed a leadership role by this date (but would be contested when Cosimo died), followed by the elderly and ailing Cosimo on humble mule (with his personal imprese of a metal torch), then the young 9 year old scion, Lorenzo, further back whose head is found just above and between the condottiero princes Galeazzo Sforza and Sigismondo Malatesta, sending the none-too-subtle message that the Medici dynasty is guaranteed by arms. In that very year of 1459 Lorenzo basically serenaded Galeazzo (who was looking down from Medici Palazzo) with an armeggeria out on Via Largo, in which a famous triumphal float of Cupid accompanied the mounted 'knights', with Lorenzo at their head; thus political-military ties packaged into 'professions of love', etc. The much-discussed cassone (mistakenly dated to 1440 in most publications; see the relevant/corrective study by Patricia Lurati on academia.edu) of the joust in Santa Croce occurred during this same state visit from Galeazzo (hence the Sforza dog imprese on the banner on the left).

I posted this above, but again there is general consensus that this is Lorenzo - the age fits perfectly for 1459 and his 'broken' nose is unmistakable:
Image


At all events, why do the 'CVI' and 'AS' decks feature black shields on the highest suit of swords, a color of mourning?

My 2 cents again: The novel introduction of a male ruler on the Chariot was done in the 'AS' because Costanzo had just inherited his fief of Pesaro and the wedding with an Aragonese princess guaranteed the stability of his fledgling rule. The 'AS' king of swords has a black shield because it commemorates Costanzo's illustrious father Alessandro (who errantly gives his name to this deck), deceased just two years prior (and whom first acquired Pesaro for the Sforza). A few years later the Pazzi Conspiracy happens and then the CVI; the slain Giuliano commemorated in the sword court cards, also with a black shield (not king, naturally, as he was not the senior brother), according to my view.

I would also argue that the Sforza had already been commemorated with a deceased paternal figure in the King of Swords in the CY, Muzio Attendolo Sforza, who famously died drowning in his armor trying to save his page who had fallen into a river (who would have cared for the helmet and arms not being used) - and sure enough, a single page with helmet on is in this card, and the Sforza device of the cotogna is the imprese on the chest, symbol of the dynasty's hometown of Cotignola (symbolized by the mela cotogna):
Image

A 20th century imaginative painting of Muzio's death (which merely speaks to the well-known manner of his death):
Muzio Sforza death.jpg Muzio Sforza death.jpg Viewed 8468 times 88.88 KiB

Phaeded

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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Phaeded wrote: Dynastic succession in the Gozzoli painting: Following the young Magi allegory, you have Piero taking the lead as he had assumed a leadership role by this date (but would be contested when Cosimo died), followed by the elderly and ailing Cosimo on humble mule (with his personal imprese of a metal torch), then the young 9 year old scion, Lorenzo, further back whose head is found just above and between the condottiero princes Galeazzo Sforza and Sigismondo Malatesta, sending the none-too-subtle message that the Medici dynasty is guaranteed by arms. In that very year of 1459 Lorenzo basically serenaded Galeazzo (who was looking down from Medici Palazzo) with an armeggeria out on Via Largo, in which a famous triumphal float of Cupid accompanied the mounted 'knights', with Lorenzo at their head; thus political-military ties packaged into 'professions of love', etc. The much-discussed cassone (mistakenly dated to 1440 in most publications; see the relevant/corrective study by Patricia Lurati on academia.edu) of the joust in Santa Croce occurred during this same state visit from Galeazzo (hence the Sforza dog imprese on the banner on the left).
I just know the story, that Lorenzo accompanied the Pius-Trionfo in 1459. I don't know this cassone ... or do you mean this?
http://www.rosscaldwell.com/images/flor ... int-lg.jpg
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=392&p=14473&hilit= ... nta#p14473

Lorenzo was 10 years old in 1459, btw.

....
At all events, why do the 'CVI' and 'AS' decks feature black shields on the highest suit of swords, a color of mourning?
My 2 cents ...maybe this was just a free place to add the heraldry of the buyer of the deck?

The two smaller cards in the style of the Charles VI also have free shields.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=964&start=20#p18778
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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Huck wrote: I just know the story, that Lorenzo accompanied the Pius-Trionfo in 1459. I don't know this cassone ... or do you mean this?
http://www.rosscaldwell.com/images/flor ... int-lg.jpg
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=392&p=14473&hilit= ... nta#p14473
Indeed I do. Equally important to Pius's account (which is somewhat prejudiced as he felt jilted), are Galeazzo's letters home and the Anonymous terza rima account (Newbiggin has translated that into English). Ross referenced the Lurati article but here's the link; brilliant piece of scholarship that re-dates the cassone to 1459 (actually 1463 or so for a later wedding), but in Italian (I laboriously went through a Google translate): https://www.academia.edu/2938043/_In_Fi ... rt_Gallery
Phaeded wrote:
At all events, why do the 'CVI' and 'AS' decks feature black shields on the highest suit of swords, a color of mourning?

Huck wrote:
My 2 cents ...maybe this was just a free place to add the heraldry of the buyer of the deck?
That only makes sense if the black is then painted over with the relevant livery color(s) of the buyer/recipient, which in the case of the 'AS' would be red; why is it instead black, when on the numerous examples in the festival book they always show the Sforza-Pesaro color of red? E.g.:
MSS Urb.lat.899 triumph detail of AS impresa.jpg MSS Urb.lat.899 triumph detail of AS impresa.jpg Viewed 8459 times 60.26 KiB
It makes more sense for an artist studio to leave a shield blank and not waste the black paint. The black signified something: (a) death.
Image
Image


Phaeded

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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Phaeded wrote,
I'm pretty sure the consensus is that the young magus is simply an allegory of Medici dynastic succession - the whole painting, apart from commemorating actual illustrious visitors to Florence under Medici rule, being a tribute to the Medici assumption of the annual Florentine procession of the Magi to San Marco (also controlled by the Medici).

Dynastic succession in the Gozzoli painting: Following the young Magi allegory, you have Piero taking the lead as he had assumed a leadership role by this date (but would be contested when Cosimo died), followed by the elderly and ailing Cosimo on humble mule (with his personal imprese of a metal torch), then the young 9 year old scion, Lorenzo, further back whose head is found just above and between the condottiero princes Galeazzo Sforza and Sigismondo Malatesta, sending the none-too-subtle message that the Medici dynasty is guaranteed by arms.
Dale Kent says (Cosimo de' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance (2000) p. 315):
The three Magi are ideal types who may stand, among many other things, for the three generations of Cosimo's family: Lorenzo, Piero, and the patriarch himself.
So Huck is allegorically right (which is how I took him, but perhaps I am wrong), and Phaeded literally correct.

While we are identifying people, it may be significant who the person is between Cosimo and Piero:

Image


Kent (p. 316 and caption on p. 317, following Cristina Acidini) says it is Carlo di Cosimo, Cosimo's illegitimate son:
The son of Cosimo's Circassian slave, Carlo is clearly distinguished by his dark skin and by his exotic features and headdress.
Since Circassia is one of the homelands of the Mamluks, perhaps he was used diplomatically. He also might have learned Circassian card games from his mother, if indeed that is where the Mamluks got their cards. The importation of slaves from the region east of the Black Sea into Florence started in the late 14th century. That she was Circassian is an exception to the usual Florentine practice of importing Tatars (see my post at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1096&p=16840&hilit ... e#p16840)/

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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mikeh wrote: While we are identifying people, it may be significant who the person is between Cosimo and Piero:

Image


Kent (p. 316 and caption on p. 317, following Cristina Acidini) says it is Carlo di Cosimo, Cosimo's illegitimate son:
The son of Cosimo's Circassian slave, Carlo is clearly distinguished by his dark skin and by his exotic features and headdress.
Since Circassia is one of the homelands of the Mamluks, perhaps he was used diplomatically. He also might have learned Circassian card games from his mother, if indeed that is where the Mamluks got their cards. The importation of slaves from the region east of the Black Sea into Florence started in the late 14th century. That she was Circassian is an exception to the usual Florentine practice of importing Tatars (see my post at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1096&p=16840&hilit ... e#p16840)/
Considering Cosimo is also flanked by an African, this makes sense - both Circassia/Mamluks and Ethiopia(?) indicating riches of the east, just like Piero's ps-Arabic script. I hazard 'Ethiopian' as Eugene/Council of Florence reached out to the Ethiopian king (as well as the Copts, which would involve the Mamluks), and Ethiopia was considered the location of Prester John who was also considered a descendant of the one of the Magi, hence especially appropriate for this painting (see relevant passages in Joseph Gill, The Council of Florence, 1959).

But again, there are other illustrious personages (namely Sforza and Malatesta) who had nothing to do with the Council, so this painting cannot be strictly interpreted as a celebration of that. Its more of placing the Medici in a mythical Christian setting along with the courtly visitors they had over the years. And of course Botticelli did not hesitate to portray the dead Medici (Cosimo and his two sons) as the magi in 1475 in his Adoration of the Magi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration ... otticelli)

The political rhetoric here is the Medici are the living embodiment of the Magi - even dealing directly with the Magi's homelands - and bringing the wealth from those countries to Florence (all while remaining as pious as the Magi, goes without saying). And if you disagree with any of that, the Medici could ominously retort, 'say hello to our friends Sigismondo and Galeazzo' (even Martelli, the person identified as leading Piero's horse, has been linked with the martial defense of the Medici, hence his drawn dagger - per this paper available on JSTOR: Roger J. Crum, "Roberto Martelli, the Council of Florence, and the Medici Palace Chapel," Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 59. Bd., H. 3, 1996: 403-417).

Phaeded

Re: Pseudo Charles VI Tarot : Exhibit on line Bnf

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Phaeded wrote:
Phaeded wrote:
At all events, why do the 'CVI' and 'AS' decks feature black shields on the highest suit of swords, a color of mourning?
...The black signified something: (a) death.
Image
Image
Getting back on point...as to why Costanzo would have shown his father, Alessandro, as deceased, is this inscription around his profile of a medal from 1475 (NGA-Washington DC won't let you link the image, but here's the link to the medal on their site: http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Colle ... nscription):

CONSTANTIVS SFORTIA DE ARAGONIA DI[vi] ALEXAN[dri] SFOR[tiae] FIL[ius] PISAVRENS[is] PRINCEPSAETATIS AN[no] XXVII

= Costanzo...son of the god Alessandro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divi_filius

Still waiting for a single alternative theory for the black shield, for either the "CVI" or "AS".
cron