Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

1
I have started this thread, because Mikeh spoke of this Song book and although he is reading it from the Italian version and appears interested in the poetry or songs- I am interested in the images.
My thanks to Mikeh for posting this subject in the first place.

The first time I saw anything to do with a codex called “Canzone delle Virtu e delle Scienze” was in a Tuscan town Montalcino in the Church of Saint Augustine.
On the left lower wall was a fresco.
Bartolo di Fedi.jpg Bartolo di Fedi.jpg Viewed 17935 times 132.59 KiB
The blurb in my book said it was by Bartoli di Fredi and said something like this…..(I still have pamphlet)
Here Bartolo di Fredi uses an iconography that was very stable, and repeated many times in this century and the next (XV). It is Tuscan (Siena School) in style. Augustine is depicted on a throne with a book open on his knees with one hand while showing excerpts of the book today but they are unreadable. At his feet, stretched out in opposite directions, lie defeated two heretics. It looks like artist has taken a similar representation of Bartolomeo de 'Bartoli in 1350 who had explained that, in the exeplum “The Song of the Virtues and Sciences.“ (illustrated by Nicolo di Bologna)The artist, however, introduces some variations, since it is not Saint Augustine as Bishop and Doctor of the Church, but only the theologian committed to the vigorous defence of Christian truth (against heretics).
I was aware that the Cary Yale Visconti cards showed a similar scheme with the Virtues, so when I was back in Florence- I found a copy, but was not able to afford it. I had a good look through it though. The black and white drawings were like the throned cards of the PMB right down to the shape of the platforms they sit on. The illustrations that I am unable to post say they are from Dialectics and Zoroastrianism, from Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti written by Bartolomeo da Bologna di Bartoli (fl.1374) (vellum) and illustrated by Nicolo di Bologna.
Niccolo da Bologna.jpg Niccolo da Bologna.jpg Viewed 17935 times 62.35 KiB
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

2
Bartolomeo Bartoli of Bologna is called a scribe but really he could also be called a Glossator.

The study of Roman Law was based on the codex of Justinian- the jurists conducted detailed text and through reasoned argument (not debate)to come to a single answer- thus the 'truth'. They wrote in the margins or between the lines. The scribes in Bologna developed a script to make text and glosses more clear and this was called "Littera Bononiensis". This was so that text (i.e Canon Law or Biblical) had only one meaning. They then sent their 'code' or scheme out all over Europe with the intention that Roman Law was God's perfect Truth on Earth.

The Panegyric which included B. Bartoli of Bologna's own work The Song of Virtue and Science corresponded to this Bologna code called Littera Bononiensis; with the correct placement of illusrations on the manuscript. The Songs or verse are to complement the illustrations, done by Nicolo di Bologna and had specific order and colouring.

In the Panegyric there is a sonnet by Fazio Umberti, a Letter of Petrarch and other things I cannot remember.
I hope to find this out when I get Leone Dorez'a book about the Songs.

Next I will explain the actual scheme of the Song of Virtue and Science.
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

3
The Song of Virtue and Sciences is divided into two parts; the first of which consists of ten rooms and the second of eight rooms. (Like rooms of what they call a Museum).
The first part contains a description of Virtues- The second the Sciences.
In the intial room, Bartoli declares his intention to describe in Vulgar Rhyme to the Daughters of Discretion- the Mother of Virtues; and those Daughters of Docility the Mother of Science.
The daughters of Discretion can be explained this way....
Constituting an Abbess (Discretion Mother of Virtues)
In her commands let her be prudent and considerate;
and whether the work which she enjoins
concerns God or the world,
let her be discreet and moderate,
bearing in mind the discretion of holy Jacob, who said,
"If I cause my flocks to be overdriven,
they will all die in one day."
Taking this, then, and other examples of discretion,
the mother of virtues,
let her so temper all things
that the strong may have something to strive after,
and the weak may not fall back in dismay

And Daughters of Docility as this for example...Teachable
Docility, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is related to the virtue of prudence. Specifically, it is that part of prudence that allows us to acquire knowledge through the teaching of another. The Angelic Doctor points out that even the most learned people need to be docile, since no man is completely self-sufficient in matters of prudence. We all stand in great need of being taught by others.
Proverbs 31:26-31 - "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

The second room includes an invocation of Saint Augustine with the latin Headings that are in charge of every room of the Song.
The eight other rooms or pages are devoted to -Theology, Prudence, The Fortress, (not written as Fortitude) Temperance, Justice, Faith, Hope and Charity.
The first part ends with a discharge in the Code of the Museum, in an abstract form of a tree.
The second part desribes the sciences- Philosophy, Grammer, Dialect, Rhetoric, Arithmatic, Geometry, Music and Astrology. This second part is also closed with a discharge.
The code of the Museum pages devoted to each of the Virtues and Sciences are devided into three parts; the upper is the definition of the Virtue or Science extracted from Saint Augustine; the middle is a representation of the Virtue or Science; The poem is then clearly placed to service the ornamentation of the Code.
Bartoli.jpg Bartoli.jpg Viewed 17931 times 106.72 KiB
This example is not the original of Bartoli it is a copy handrawn from the illumination of Nicolo di Bologna I believe.
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

4
Here is some of the works as a transcriber of Bartolomeo Bartoli in the Bologna Code
The Officium Sancte Maria Virginis for the benedictine Abbey of Kremsmunster 1349
illustrated by Nicolo of Bologna
A transcribed Code for his brother Andrew the painter in 1359/60
The Divine Comedy with Francesco Prato 1370
Missale Secundum Constetudium Roman Curie illuminated by Nicolo di Bologna
The original 'Old Digest' commissioned in 1330.*
* this 'Old Digest' was was a private contract with a Bolognese bookseller Nicola Allegri via the Bologna University which apparently indicates the intention to spread the code through Europe.
One fact I do not understand is that it is said that the Song of Virtue and Science was dedicated to 'Luchino Visconti' and therefore dates the work to 1349. I have no idea if there is more than one copy, or that Bruzio and Luchino are the same person.
He apparently had great connections.. he knew the grandson? of the Commentator and reader of the Divine Comedy and this made him interswted to write poetry in the vernacular. His business partnership with his brother Andrew had a lot of work and his friendship with miniaturist and illuminators kept him busy. His code and illustration of code were in what is called Gothic and Perfect workmanship and would be used by master Calligraphers and illustrators right up to the 15th Century.
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

5
Lorredan wrote: One fact I do not understand is that it is said that the Song of Virtue and Science was dedicated to 'Luchino Visconti' and therefore dates the work to 1349. I have no idea if there is more than one copy, or that Bruzio and Luchino are the same person.
Bruzio was illegitimate son to Luchino Visconti. Luchino Visconti died 1349. Luchino was uncle to Bernarbo and Galeazzo Visconti and a third brother by the both.

Luchino was poisoned. The nephews accused Isabella, his young wife, but possibly they were it themselves. It might well be, that Bruzio had 1354/55 not in Milan, cause it might have been dangerous to him. Kaplan II has a biography p. 59.
Last edited by Huck on 11 Aug 2012, 22:57, edited 1 time in total.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

6
Thanks Huck! That makes it clear.
Who is Inerius? Well he was called Lucerna Juris or Lantern of the Law.
Wikipedia says this of him...
Irnerius taught along lines firmly established in the teaching of Scripture, by reading aloud a section of the civil law, which the students would copy, and add to the text his commentary and explanatory glosses. Thus he was the first of the glossators, whose explainations of the law became an essential part of the legal curriculum.

The text of Justinian's Pandects used in Bologna, referred to as the Littera Bononiensis, closely parallel to the Littera Florentina, would be disseminated throughout Europe as students returned home from Bologna: there are versions of the Bolognese Littera with provenances in Paris, Padua, Leipzig and at the Vatican (Purpura 2001).
I keep seeing the Charles V1 Cards- the card we call the Hermit.
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

7
The ‘Old Digest’ that I mentioned earlier was apparently THE DIGEST, also known as the Pandects - the Digest of Roman Law. It is one part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the civil law issued under Justinian. The provisions of the Roman Law also influenced the Canon Law of the Church- that is that the Church lives by Roman Law.
The only place where the Justinian code was re introduced after the 8th Century was Italy, after it was recovered through War about 1070. There had not been written Law- it was a tradition that had not been proved. There is some idea that it had been lying around in some library- until the Pope Gregory V11 needed some legal studies done and it was accidentally found. It is evident that there were some copies around because the text was been taught in Bologna- but there was one found in Pisa in 1406- that had never been used- it was taken to Florence (Pisa conquered).
This was very handy for the Italian communes and their merchant class- who needed law about equity for city life- and it was not German, as Italians thought that German oral law was primitive. The History of the Roman Law (written) appealed to scholars, who were reviving their classical heritage. Both the Church and state throughout Europe needed Lawyers and Bologna was the dominant place it was taught and spread using the
Littera Bononeisis.

Now I am no way skilled in deciding what Saint Augustine married to Roman Law, and where commentators saw the essence of God’s Law and Civil Law agreed- so I will have to wait to see what quotes of Augustine were used in the Song and their placement- before I can go any further on this subject. All I do know for certain is that it was said that if man’s Laws are just- they will be in harmony with God’s Law.

I am having enough trouble deciding why Bartoli of Bologna decided a Fortress meant Fortitude, and as Augustine said Fortitude was a Virtue of the Warrior class, what on earth would be the quote? On the abstract tree the illustration for Fortitude is a knight outside a Tower- but I have yet to see the verse, Augustine quote, and illustration of the Room called The Fortress.

I think I am swimming through mud at this point. I can see obvious elements of Tarot in the Song,but if there is a definite order,(maybe originally there was not an order :ympray: ) it comes in groups????

~Lorredan
250px-Apuleius_Metamorphoses_c__65.jpg 250px-Apuleius_Metamorphoses_c__65.jpg Viewed 17908 times 32.37 KiB
Me! Unknowing.
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

8
I, too, find the images in the work done for Bruzio Visconti of most interest, as opposed to the text. I have been slowly translating the relevant portions of the 1904 commentary written by Leone Dorez about the codices. That seems to be the source of most of the information available. In this post I will give you my translation, such as it is, of the first three chapters, pp. 9-20, with one image referred to by Dorez and a few comments by me. The work I am quoting isLa canzone delle virtv e delle scienze di Bartolomeo di Bartoli da Bologna, testo inedito del secolo XV tratto dal ms. originale del Museo Condé a cvra di Leone Dorez, Bergamo Istitvto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche Editore, MDCCCCIIII. I will give the Italian original if requested, but I am still hoping that someone outside the US will find a link at least to the digitalized text, which is what I am working from. I include the page numbers at the beginning of each page. Comments in brackets, usually giving the Italian when I think it might be important, are mine. Comments about the Latin are Dorez's.
10 DOREZ

I. HISTORY OF THE CODEX.

Of the most admirable collection of codices in the sumptuous library of the palace of Chantilly of the venerated memory of the Duke of Aumale, the volume holding the chief place is that in which we read, transcribed and illustrated, a moral song, dedicated by Bartolomeo di Bartoli da Bologna to Bruzio di Luchino Visconti. ' Interesting for those who study the literary tastes of one of the roughest bastards of the house of Visconti, it is most important for the history of Italian art at the end of the Middle Ages.

It can be said without exaggeration that no relic deserves more than this to be fully reproduced by the workshop of the Italian Institute of Graphic Arts. We hope that archeologists do not judge our labor in vain, but on the contrary to be of no little utility for those studies of art that will certainly be accomplished, as one from the century passed away just now, to that just begun.

Before giving to the author and the owner of the work to which we are dedicated notices one could find in chronicles and documents of the time, it is appropriate to say where this precious volume was conserved at least in the eighteenth century. First to discuss them was that diligent investigator of the literature and history of Milan Argelati Philip, who in his Biblioteca writes thus: "But why we speak of Bruzio Visconti, we believe it is to gratify scholars, pointing to a codex in parchment, elegant, in folio, preserved in the Archinto library, full of excellent miniatures made in gold.

10 DOREZ

"It has this title: Incipit Cantica ad gloriam et honorem magnifici militis domini Brutti nati incliti ac illustiis principis domini inchini Vice-comitis de Mediolano, in qua tractatur de Virtutibus et Scientiis vulgarizatis, Amen „. - Thus Litta compiling his Famous Italian Families of c. 1820, obtained from Count Archinto communication of the poem by Bartolomeo di Bartoli, and it was valued for its reproduction in color, not too happily, however, of the first miniature, really magnificent, which represents the author kneeling before his patron. And the Archinto volume remained at his house until the day, now far away, when one Robinson of London, the agent of the noble Milanese family, sold it to the Duke of Aumale.
[My comment: So we learn that at least in the 18th century, the work was still in Italy. Here is a version of that miniature, which Dorez will discuss in detail later:
http://www.allposters.it/-sp/Chansonne- ... 03658_.htm]
11 DOREZ

II. BARTOLOMEO DI BARTOLI

It is easy enough to find the name of the author, since he himself identifies himself in the sending [invio] of his song. He speaks thus:

Bartolomeo da Bologna di Bartoli
My faith ' [Me fe’], because I am Catholic, [perch’io m’incartholi]
With poor [miser] Bruze, and make it to be painted for him.

What is less easy to identify is the success achieved by this writer, rather obscure, which seems strange to all historians of Italian literature. The song is actually something so unremarkable, so devoid of poetic inspiration, it is no surprise that it soon fell into oblivion as the ramblings of not one of the 'minor poets,’ but the least. But it is because happy Bartolemeo, compared to many others, made so artistically "depinzere" a composition so mediocre. The work of the brush has saved that of the pen.

Bartolomeo di Bartoli was one of those calligraphers, not entirely without culture, who by wealthy lords or convents sometimes made most splendid manuscripts. We by chance find four of these codices transcribed by Our Author: in addition to the Chantilly, there are two that show us his associate the famous miniaturist Niccolo da Bologna. Of all we give here a succinct description.

1, (Year 1349). First is the '"Officium sancte Marie Virginis", which now belongs to the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmünster in Upper Austria. At the end of the last page (82 t.) it reads: “Ego Bartholomeus de Bartholis de Bononia scripsi hoc officium sancte Marie Virginis. Anno Nativitatis Domini millesimo trecentesimo quadragesimo et nono, indiciione secunda, die martis XXIIIL In vigillia Beate Virginis explevi. De mense Martii.
At 83 t. follows the Officium in peragendo mortuorum (sic), which finishes at 184 t. with the subscription: Finito libro, refferamus gratias Christo, Qui scribit scribat. Domino semper cum Domino vivat. Vivat in Celis Bartholomeo. In nomine. Amen. The miniatures of this codex are by Niccolo da Bologna.

12 LEONE DOREZ

2. (Year 1374). The second was part of the Palatine in Mannheim, and now is conserved in R. Library of Monaco of Bavaria (Lat, 10072). It is a Missale secundum consuetudinem Romane Curie, where page 360 r. reads: Explicit officium Missalis secundum consuetudinem Romane curia, Deo Gratias Amen. Correctum et postscript per me Bartholomeum de Bartholis di Bononia scriptorem. MCCCLXXIII, indictione XII, XXIII Februarii. The first miniature, of which Valentinelli has given a detailed description, that of p. 161t.-162 r., bears the name of NICOLAUS DE BONONIA, and also gives him as the so-given author of the two hundred initial letters, containing groups of figures from the Old and New Testaments, as well as the lives of Saints that seemed to be made by the same painter."

3. (No date). In the Chigi in Rome (LV 167) the Viscount Colomb de Batines has found a “codex of the Divine Comedy in 4 ^ parchment. of XIV century (about 1370), in big round Gothic characters, with titles and topics in Latin in red ink, and embellished initials in color for each song, and otherwise bigger at the beginning of each canto, and conserved most beautifully". At the end it reads: Explicit tertia Cantica Comedie Dantis Aldigherii de Florentia, in qui tentat [tractat?] de Gloria Paradisi. Ad quam anima cuius [eius?] et omnium fidelium per misericordiam Omnipotentis Dei Requiescat in pace. Amen. Ego Bartholomeus de Bartólis scripsi. Said de Batines: "The amanuensis also puts his name after the subscriptions placed at the end of the first two Canticles." * Perhaps Bartoli transcribed that example of the poem when Benvenuto di Buoncompagno began publicly to read Dante in Bologna about the year 1369.

4. (No date). Finally, the Paris Nationale, a few years ago, recovered a copy of the illuminated Decretum of Gratian, which belonged to President Bouhier, of whom the final subscription says: Explicit textus Decreti. Deo Gratias. Correctus per dominum Francisscum (sic) de Prato et Bertholomeum di Bertoli in ecclesia de Bononia Sancii Barbatiani. - Frater Adigherius condam Ugolini de scripsit Castagnolo. (Nouv. acq. lat. 2508). The first part of that subscription is certainly the hand of Bartolomeo di Bartoli, as can be assured by comparing the facsimile reproduced here (see Plate II) with the codex of Chantilly. Also from this subscription, like that of the Missal of Monaco of Bavaria, Bartoli is not satisfied with modest glory as an elegant writer, but also aspired to the reputation of diligent editor. Who will make a critical study of the text of the Decree and the Roman Missal, so as to decide whether this pretension of Our Author was well-founded.

That's all that has happened to be found about the person and work of the Bolognese writer and corrector. Others will perhaps be more fortunate than we. But it is possible to observe some relevant considerations. Bartolomeo has written with obvious pleasure the work

THE SONG OF VIRTUES AND SCIENCES 15

of Alighieri; Whence one can perhaps infer that he had some relationship with the homeland of the poet, which, as we shall see later, would be of little moment for the history of the Codex of Chantilly. That could be more of the subscriptions of the codices of Kremsmünster, Monaco and Munich and Paris, as well as from the collaboration of Our Author with Niccolò di Giacomo da Bologna, to argue that he never left his native city, but there always exercised constantly his profession. And even that is not without interest for the genesis of the song to Bruzio Visconti.

16 DOREZ

III. Luchino and Bruzio Visconti

According as he is found responsible for the title of the song sent to him, Bruzio was the son of Luchino Visconti, brother of the celebrated Giovanni, the Archbishop of Milan. Even Luchino, like all other members of his family, believed he had good friends on the part of the poets, who perhaps did not make much account of him. Fazio degli Uberti, to whom he had addressed a petition with a sonnet, unfortunately obscure, he replied in kind with an essay that If the art is poor, it is at least not ignorant of courtesy [é povero d’arte, non é meno digiuno di cortesia]. They want Petrarch as well to be clutching at ties of friendship; all that is certain is this: in 1347 he asked Messer Francesco to send 'verses and seedlings collected in the garden of Parma, and that the poet one day care to satisfy him by sending him a letter with particles from the floor and a 'poetic epistle.’

Somewhat later, Petrarch addressed another metric epistle to Luchino, in which he praised Italy, urged the prince to take due account of letters, and cited the example of several ancient captains, among whom can even be noted Nero.

Also Fabrizio or, as he is known to contemporary writers, Bruzio Visconti, Luchino's favorite son, had literary relations, even more familiar than this same Luchino, with Fazio and Petrarch. It was certainly not flour to make communion wafers the man who with so much greed tyrannized and oppressed the poor town of Lodi, entrusted to his care by his father, who, when he died, January 24, 1349, he did not dare any longer against Genoa, which they had been besieging, or return to Milan or any other place of Lombardy, and sought refuge in the Veneto. His father, though a military man, exceeded him in moral virtue; from Azario and Flame he comes to us pictured as austere, generous, just, charitable. The blind love he felt for his son, who obtained all that he craved and had thus become tacitly "second Lord of Milan,” was perhaps the cause of more serious perversion of Bruzio.

While he held Lodi, Bruzio led a great life and spent without counting. "He took a wife from Castelbarco, of the Trento region, and like Nero ruled the city. The people dared not speak. He was not

THE SONG OF VIRTUES AND SCIENCES 19

Dressed, according to the Gospel, in the wedding garment. He carried off whatever he wanted. Not with more justice, was everything done according to his wishes, because he was reputed smart, clever and knowledgeable. Everywhere he acquired moral books, and having good and reasonable princes, came to an awful end. Many beautiful things were said of his completed study.” Thus Tazario, who really gives us the clearest explanation of his dedication to Moral books Bartolomeo di Bartoli of that "bad company". The ruthless tyrant of Lodi loved books, and, with a phenomenal hypocrisy, affected to read with special preference those who dealt with moral matters. And indeed is preserved the Nationale in Paris further proof of taste, that is a codex surpassing even the Chantilly, dedicated to the same Bruzio by Luca de Mannelli, a Florentine of the Dominica order, of whom later we will have occasion to speak at greater length.

Meanwhile, here is the original title of the volume {Lat. 6467, and. 2 t.): Incipit compendium moralis philosophie. P. 13 t. reads: Incipit traciatus de quatuor virtutibus cardinalibus; At p. 45 r.: Tractatus de amicicia, and 52 r.: Explicit opus breve moralis phylosophie compilatum per Reverendum virum fratrem Lucam de Manellis ordinis Predicatorum. Deo Gratias. Amen. In the dedication Marinelli said he had completed his treatise on the orders of his master: In hac Inquam philosophia moralis a mi vestro familiari compendiosum Silvestro et clarum rogatus tractatum ... And a little further:

Ne vero arrogantiam asscribatur mihi quod scribe possem causam reprehensionis in Vobis referre; \ na \ m si insipiens factus sum sapientium usurpans officium, Vos, domine, me coegistis, Dominorum enim rogamina etiam is supplicent cogunL Sed aliam excusationem effero, quia quicumque hoc opus culpare voluerit cognoscat quod hoc opera expressi ab Aristotle ex libro Ethicorum ab ex, ex libro de Tullio et Officiis Tusculanis questionibus a Thoma ex prima et secunda secunde college, pauca de meis cogitationibus praeter formam procedendi subiungens, et ideo non me, sed supradictos auctores ledit, qui has sententias depravare conatur.

Among his authorities Luca again cites the text of the work of Seneca and St. Augustine. Moreover, this compendium, which as materially as literarily is mediocre, the obscure book would be of little value, if not preceded by a beautiful frontispiece representing Bruzio, the author, thirteen major cities of Lombardy in many small medallions, and again, in the middle of six of the ancient authors and saints, Bruzio as the figure of Justice trampling Pride. A painting that is certainly not entirely consistent with the historical truth, but they have emerged from the brush of Niccolò da Bologna, who we recognized have collaborated with Bartoli. (See Plate III).

Much more educated than the father, whom Petrarch wrote in the epistle of 1347, urging him to love poetry, in the poem sent to him along with seedlings:

20 LEONE DOREZ

"You have tasted the first fruits of letters," Bruzio was a "true man of letters and not at all a mediocre poet" as demonstated in his poems diligently published and studied with great acuteness by Renier. Also to him Petrarch wrote a "letter that reads in poetic stamp entitled to a “Zoilo ** with or without title, and in the codex [Strozziano 141, ed. 64, in the Laurentian of Florence **] bears instead: Epistle ad dominum "Bruzum de Vicecomitibus Mediolanensem," but "not bearing courtesies,” in a response of the Tuscan poet to the satires directed against him by Visconti. Likewise Fazio degli Uberti addressed a sonnet to Bruzio which boasts his loyalty to him:

“King Arthur, or any other aspect of time; [El re Artu,né altro tempo aspetto]
All are given the love that I say to you,
In order that [Ond’] I have you as lord and friend."

But in the existence of a Visconti tyrant, poems and moral treatises are incidental and a luxury, nothing more. In real life, the passion of an imperious man remains his policy. Probably in 1355, tired of the obscure life that since 1349 he led in the Veneto, Bruzio wasin Bologna, where he was amicably greeted by his cousin, John Oleggio, captain and governor of the town, who, lacking faith in Matteo Visconti, on his part Maltraversa and Ghibelline, had just begun his rule himself.

Between the two, joint friendship did not last long, for, after the death of Matteo, which occurred September 29, 1355, Bernabo Visconti devised to tear Bologna from the hands of Oleggio, and to make sure, he knew the connivance of Bruzio. Who no doubt very carefully hatched the conspiracy, and was a cousin. He was provisionally arrested in February 1356 and expelled from the city "with only his clothes" [colle sole vesti] as a "dog". Again he fled to the Veneto, in a place Azario called "Achatum" (perhaps Cattaio, or better Cat, in the province of Padua), where he died in the troubles of extreme poverty. We will see later what import these circumstances bear on the history of the Codex of Chantilly.
Well, I'm not sure I got all of this. I don't know what a Zolio is, for example. Perhaps others will have comments.
Last edited by mikeh on 11 Aug 2012, 00:24, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

9
That is a whole lot of work Mikeh!!
It seems that Bruzio was a thug and spoilt by his dad.
I read that scribe, thought him a miser- that made me laugh.
I hope someone can get the online text also. I can't or at least it slows my computer down to less than a crawl.
When he was marched out of town- I guess his Library finally ended up in Pavia?
I think a 'Zolio' is a firebrand- quick to flame- but I am not sure.
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: Panegyric of Bruzio Visconti by Bartolomeo da Bologn

10
Thanks for the suggestion on "Zolio", Lorredan.

When I saw that word "miser", I thought, he can't mean "miser"; that's "avaro"; it must be an early form of "misero", i.e. "wretched". And so would Bartolomeo have been writing after 1449, when Bruzio was hiding out in the Veneto, poor and powerless. Do you really think he meant "miser". (Added next day: I see, Lorredan: you were making a joke.)

In my last post, I forgot a couple of photos I was going to put in. I wrote, about a different manuscript done by a different scribe for Bruzio:
Among his authorities Luca again cites the text of the work of Seneca and St. Augustine. Moreover, this compendium, which as materially as literarily is mediocre, the obscure book would be of little value, if not preceded by a beautiful frontispiece representing Bruzio, the author, thirteen major cities of Lombardy in many small medallions, and again, in the middle of six of the ancient authors and saints, Bruzio as the figure of Justice trampling Pride. A painting that is certainly not entirely consistent with the historical truth, but they have emerged from the brush of Niccolò da Bologna, who we recognized have collaborated with Bartoli. (See Plate III).
Here are my photos of these details. First, the top, with some of the thirteen cities. Notice also the Visconti vipers at the top. So it was already a heraldic this early.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_rNPrWEX3SQ/U ... G_0494.JPG
And here is the bottom illustration, showing Bruzio as Justice trampling Pride:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eZRd4lRI0QE/U ... G_0493.JPG
Last edited by mikeh on 10 Aug 2012, 02:20, edited 1 time in total.
cron