Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

12
Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: I still don't buy a Prudence in the Charles VI Tarot.
Ross,
There are significant changes from the PMB (the earliest standardization we have exemplars of) to the CVI and what followed, particuarly in regard to this board's previous conversation about the Chariot (female in CY/PMB and pretty much male thereafter, inclusive of the CVI). The earlier chariot's chastity shield and associated meanings get dropped with the male charioteer. Ultimately the conversion of Time's hourglass into a lantern obscures that card into being read strictly as "Hermit". I'll stop with further examples and move on to the question: did Prudence/Fama/"world" get significantly changed from the CY/PMB to the CVI? I’d argue it was modified to reflect specific symbols of the commissioning city but otherwise retained the meaning of the earlier cards.

For the PMB World card, the parallels from the Visconti Hours (in Bianca’s possession after 1447 or perhaps when the Marziano deck was recovered at Pavia in 1449?) fall of Jericho illumination I posted above seem straightforward: a hexagonal city in a circular border. In the case of the CY deck, where one can presume all seven of the canonical virtues, it is not a leap of faith to see Prudence conflated with Fama there, with Fama also holding the symbols of rulership: “Right rule” or rather a bon droyt. Miniature cities lorded over by an allegorical woman in both the CY deck and the CVI deck, and the identification of the former as Prudence/Fama would seem to suggest the same for the latter (an identification also suggested by the Palazzo Minerbi’s Prudence, literally "encompassing" the cities within her sphere of influence). An allegorical female is uniquely absent in the PMB world, but if one returns to the possible model – the Grassi illumination of Jericho - one finds a related if contemporary meaning: the fall of city by one backed with divine right; i.e., Sforza’s reduction of the “sinful” Ambrosian Republic (the stand-in for Jericho in 1450), which he will of course restore to its Visconti splendor with prudence (and with his Visconti wife beside him, she being possibly idolized as Prudence in the CY “world” card).

Onto the CVI World card: the CY attribute of rulership – the Visconti ducal crown – is replaced with the more generic symbol of rulership, the orb in the CVI world. In the opposite hands, instead of an uplifted winged trumpet (like a scepter), in the other hand the CVI female holds a fleur-di-lys tipped scepter, thus specifying which dominion over which right rule (conflated with Prudence, I would argue) will be exercised: Florence and its contado (the latter was the manifest symbol of her growing power – the acquisitions of places like the Arezzo and Pistoia).

The general context is a re-evaluation of the Virtues from the contemplative life to the active life; this re-evaluation was most clearly articulated in Florence by the likes of Salutati and Bruni (revising the contemplative platform of Petrarch, most notably be their reinterpeation of Cicero via the newly discoverd Cicerconian texts). Prudence, appropriate to the merchant bankers who formed the power elite, was now tied to civil participation and what made Florence great; see for instance: Hankins J. “Teaching Civil Prudence in Leonardo Bruni’s History of the Florentine People.” In: Ebbersmeyer S, Kessler E Ethik – Wissenschaft oder Lebenskunst? Modelle de Normenbegründung von der Antike bis zur Frühen Neuzeit. Berlin: Lit Verlag; 2007. p. 143-157.

If the CVI is in fact a Florentine deck (a belief to which I believe we all subscribe to) and the World card is a manfestation of “right rule” (why else a sceptre and orb above a contado?), I don’t see how it cannot reflect the Florentine re-evluation of virtues, particularly Prudence…especially in light of the historical precedents of the CY, PMB world cards and regionally relevant (Council from Ferrara to Florence) images of Prudence such as that in the Palazzo Minerbi.

Phaeded

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

14
Fermo, January 1434

Wiki states to Fermo:
In 1199 it became a free city, and remained independent until 1550, when it was annexed to the Papal States.
In the contest between the Hohenstaufen and the papacy, Fermo was besieged and captured several times; in 1176 by Archbishop Christian of Mainz, in 1192 by Emperor Henry Vl, in 1208 by Marcuald, Duke of Ravenna, in 1241 by Emperor Frederick II, and in 1245 by Manfred of Sicily. After this it was governed by different lords, who ruled as more or less legitimate vassals of the Holy See, e.g. the Monteverdi, Giovanni Visconti and Francesco Sforza (banished 1446), Oliverotto Euffreducci (murdered in 1503 by Cesare Borgia), who was succeeded by his son Ludovico, killed at the battle of Montegiorgio in 1520, when Fermo became again directly subjected to the Holy See.
The mentioned "Giovanni Visconti" should be "Giovanni Visconti d'Oleggio" (- 1366), who was send by archbishop Giovanni Visconti (- 1354; uncle to Bernarbo, Galeazzo and Matteo Visconti) in the region to extend Milanese territory, after all Italy had been weakened by the great plague, but not Milan. This was the great expansive movement of Milan, which prepared Giangaleazzo's later dream of an Italian kingdom. As this had been "long ago", Fermo should have enjoyed its free-city-status for a longer time, when Francesco Sforza arrived.
There was some competition between Fermo and the Varano family, the Varano had between 1413 a castel in Sant'Angelo in Pontano (which actually is much closer to Fermo than to Camerino, the central place of the Varano). In some larger distance to Camerino are other cities, which also belonged to the Varano domain, so their territory can't have been small, though likely not with much population(a region with many mountains).

Camerino is a city of humble dimensions ... 7.000 inhabitants nowadays.


http://gnxas.unicam.it/SILS_XII/piantafoto.jpg
In 1382 ... Giovanni Da Varano built a 12 km-long wall to defend the city, while a Ducal Palace was built by Giulio Cesare in 1460, which was one of the most sumptuous in Italy at the time. ... In 1336 the University was founded. The Da Varano were wiped out by Cesare Borgia in 1502, and in 1545 the city fell under direct Papal administration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camerino

In an earlier collection to the Mantegna Tarocchi and Lazzarelli ,,,,
http://trionfi.com/0/m/01/
Rudolfo III. Varano, grandfather of Giulio Cesare is said to have had 64 sons from 3 wives and other women, 54 sons reached the life of grown-ups. He had many titles:
"Signore e 5° Vicario Pontificio di Camerino dal 1399, Signore e Vicario Pontificio di Tolentino, San Ginesio, Montecchio, Belforte del Chienti, Visso, Aamandola, Sarnano, Monte San Martino, Gualdo Cattaneo, Montesanto, Cerreto e Ponte dal 1399, Signore e Vicario Pontificio di Penna San Giovanni e di Civitanova dal 1404, Signore di Macerata 1399, Signore di Montefortino dal 1406 (Investitura Pontificia), Signore di Smerillo dal giugno 1409, Signore di Beroide dall’agosto 1414, Podestà di Macerata 1385, Governatore di Cortona per il Re di Napoli dal giugno 1409, Priore del Comune di Spoleto dal giugno 1414".
He died in Beldiletto 2-V-1424.
The result were serious quarrels between the legitimate brothers. In Nov. 1433 Piergentile, father of Giulio Cesare's cousin Rudolfo, was captured and beheaded, in spring Giovanni, Giulio Cesare's father, was assassinated. In June 1434 the two hostile brothers were cut to pieces, one took 5 sons with him. All this was accompanied by militaric actions of Sforza and cardinal Vitelleschi in the region. In 1444/1447 the Varano were re-established by Pope Nicholas V., using the still rather young remaining heirs as new regents. Rudolfo (1426 - 1464), son of the beheaded Piergentile, was married 1444/1448 to Camilla d'Este, an illegitimate daughter of Niccolo d'Este (she was probably involved in the Trionfi activities of 1.1.1441 and is connectable to earliest Trionfi documents). His cousin, Giulio Cesare (1434), son of the assassinated Giovanni, became co-regent. He married 1461 Giovanna Malatesta (1444 - 1511), a daughter of Polissena Sforza and Sigismondo Malatesta. She was a child of the marriage of October 1441, which accompanied the greater festivity of the marriage of Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza in 1441 (at this opportunity the Cary Yale Tarocchi possibly was produced). Polissena was murdered by her husband in 1449 - at least this is told in this way. Giulio Cesare Varano became active in the condottieri business - beside this he developed similar humanistic interests as his more famous colleague Federico Montefeltro. Both had variously interactions, the contacts were usually hostile till 1469 - Varano stood near to Sigismondo Malatesta -, but after Sigismondo's death in 1468 and Giulio Cesares successless attempt to conquer Rimini 1469, by which he was defeated and captured by Montefeltro, things turned and in the following years they usually appeared on the same military side.
There was a lot of murder in the Varano family then (1433-1434), and the major activity in it was on the side of Vitelleschi.

For some time earlier (December 1420) I found this:

Life of Braccio da Montone
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/and ... rafico%29/
"Tornato in Umbria, il F. attese a opere civili e seguì con attenzione l'evolversi della politica papale nei confronti del Regno di Napoli. Nel mese di dicembre, rimasto vedovo della prima moglie, si sposò con Nicolina da Varano, sorella di Berardo e vedova di Galeotto Belfiore Malatesta. Le nozze furono celebrate a S. Maria degli Angeli; gli "habiti di corruccio" che la sposa indossò, per la morte recente della madre, non ridussero la pompa e l'allegria dei festaggiamenti che seguirono per molti giorni a Perugia, ma preannunciarono tristi eventi. Molti membri della famiglia da Varano, dei Chiavelli di Fabriano e dei Trinci furono presenti."
A Varano sister Nicolina married Braccio da Montone, the famous Condottiero. Before she had married to Galeotti Belfiore Malatesta [that sounds a little astonishing, cause this man was in 1420 already 20 years dead]. Galeotto Belfiore had been younger brother to other more popular Malatesta (Carlo, Pandolfo and Andrea) and in 1395 he had a wedding with Anna da Montefeltro, and as part of the festivity there was a "rappresentazione del Ludus Troiae". Nicolina - if she really married this Galeotti Belfiore - had waited long for her new marriage.
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/mal ... rafico%29/
We learn, that the Trinci family was close to the Varano, cause they appear as guests at the wedding of Nicolina

For the Ludus Troiae (something, which should interest us) I found the following note
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13826410/Le-p ... -Malatesti
Nel novembre 1395 come testimonia Flavio Biondo 12,in occasione del ritorno del fratello Galeotto Novello signore di Cervia con la moglie Anna di Montefeltro sposata in aprile, Carlofa rappresentare a Rimini il Ludus Troiae, la giostra descrittanell’ Eneide 13 con finti combattimenti tra giovanetti.

and the footnotes:

12: Cfr. C. Cardinali, «Carlo Malatesti principe umanista», I Malatesti a cura di A. Falcioni eR. Iotti, Rimini, 2002, p. 121

13: Cfr. Eneide, V, vv. 577-602; «[…] haut alio Teucrum nati vestigia cursu / impediunttexuntque fugas et proelia ludo [...]» (vv. 592-3)

For the time of murder inside the Varano family, which is just in the time of Francesco Sforza's triumph in Fermo there are the following details:
Biography of Giovanni da Varano (father of Giulio Cesare)
http://www.condottieridiventura.it/~con ... da--varano

August 1432 (trouble between the brothers cause of Vitelleschi)
La cittadinanza di Tolentino gli va incontro a Belforte del Chienti e gli offre un banchetto; fa ritorno nella città e gli sono tributati altri onori a testimonianza dell’ affetto e della stima di cui è circondato. Si scontra con i fratelli Gentile Pandolfo e Berardo che lo accusano con un quarto fratello, Piergentile, di tradimento davanti al vescovo di Recanati Giovanni Vitelleschi.
September 1433 (short before Sforza arrived), Death of Piergentile
E’ convocato a San Severino Marche; rifiuta di andarvi. Vi si reca invece Piergentile, che è catturato e fatto decapitare a Recanati.
Spring 1434: Sforza had arrived; Giovanni is murdered by his remaining brothers
E’ ucciso a colpi di accetta in una camera del palazzo, a Camerino, dai sicari di Berardo e di Gentile Pandolfo.
************************

In the life of Berardo da Varano
http://www.condottieridiventura.it/inde ... i-camerino
After an intensive life as Condottiero (active since 1403) ....

September 1433: Death of Piergentile
E’ spinto dal suo consigliere Arcangelo da Fiordimonte ad accusare i fratellastri Piergentile e Giovanni alla corte pontificia: il secondo, imputato di spaccio di moneta falsa nello stato della Chiesa, è fatto decapitare a Recanati.
December 1433: Fight against Sforza finds an arrangemant
Con Niccolò da Tolentino affronta le milizie di Francesco Sforza, teso a ritagliarsi un proprio stato nelle Marche ed in Umbria. Lorenzo Attendolo lo obbliga ad un accordo e gli impone una taglia di 18000 ducati da pagarsi in tre rate (4000 ducati per l’aprile dell’anno successivo, 6000 a metà anno, di cui 4000 ducati in panni, ed altri 8000 a dicembre). Deve inoltre consegnare agli avversari alcuni centri, quali Montecosaro, Montecchio (Treia), Montemilone (Pollenza), Sant’Angelo, Gaglioli e Gualdo Cattaneo.
Spring 1434: arrangement with Sforza; Giovanni is killed
Passa al servizio di Francesco Sforza; ottiene 20000 fiorini, di cui 12000 in contanti: dà un figlio in ostaggio. Taliano Furlano gli occupa Serravalle di Chienti. Se ne lamenta con Niccolò Piccinino e costui gli consiglia di fare fuggire il figlio dato in ostaggio e di abbandonare la causa pontificia. Si impadronisce di Tolentino con il fratello Gentile Pandolfo e fa uccidere a Camerino (a colpi di accetta) l’altro fratellastro Giovanni su istigazione del vescovo di Recanati Giovanni Vitelleschi.
July 1434: Berarldo is murdered
Tolentino è assalita dagli sforzeschi. Affida il presidio della rocca a Roberto da Montalboddo, a Bertoldo Oddi ed al figlio Gian Filippo. E’ ucciso nello stesso mese dagli abitanti, assistiti da Foschino Attendolo, mentre sta passeggiando con Luca Ridolfacci intorno alle mura ed alla porta del Monastero (Marina). E’ sepolto nella città nella chiesa di San Catervo.
Information is very contradictious. I saw elsewhere May and October 1434 given as alternative dates for the mass murder of the family, in which also children were killed (some children were saved). Alas, finally all 4 brothers were dead. The assassination took place from the side of the merchant class in Camerino. Camerino became a republic from 1434-1447.
Generally it's summarized (true or untrue), that Vitelleschi played the intrigue, which splitted the 4 reigning brothers. Then Vitelleschi had als his hands in the riot of the merchant class.

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

Here I find an interesting statement:

Image

http://books.google.de/books?id=bZ6eJuZ ... 34&f=false

Biondo Biondi (also Biondo Flavius) wrote about the Trionfi phenomenon in the 1450s, when Francesco Sfoza had reached his height.
http://trionfi.com/0/k/biondi/
(an older Trionfi.com collection)

A book about Biondi's "Italia Illustrata" with a rather good introduction.
http://books.google.de/books/about/Bion ... edir_esc=y

Latin text of "De Roma triumphante" (original c. 1457 / printed 1479 / edition of 1531)
http://141.84.81.24/cgi-bin/blondus2.pl?seite=1

Biondo became a real good historian. He likely was not the first, who realized, that a new time has arrived, but his
texts treat the period "medieval" as a closed chapter (so I've read). Biondo was loved by pope Eugen, so he perceived personal progress in this time.

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

Eugen lost a lot of money in his crisis. So once he attempted to kill Francesco Sforza. Details of this action are found in the biography of Baldassare da Offida, a condottiero, who got the commission for the attack.
http://www.condottieridiventura.it/inde ... -da-offida

September 1436
Con Pietro Giampaolo Orsini cerca di fare uccidere a tradimento a Ponte Poledrano (Bentivoglio) Francesco Sforza; vi colloca in agguato alcuni arcieri. Lo Sforza, avvertito la sera precedente dell'insidia dal cardinale di Capua, non si fa vedere all' appuntamento. Baldassarre da Offida lascia allora Bologna, si porta a Budrio e vi raccoglie numerosi contadini per prendere alla sprovvista il capitano rivale. Sosta a Riccardina;è vinto dagli avversari capitanati dal Sarpellione. Fugge a Budrio e viene assediato nel castello: gli abitanti si ribellano, è catturato mentre tenta di nascondersi travestito da donna. Cosparso di farina, è condotto a Cotignola dove confessa le insidie portate a Francesco Sforza. Il condottiero lo fa condurre a Fermo. E' incarcerato nella rocca del Girifalco ed è preso in custodia da un ex servitore di Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio.
In December 1435 Offida (then Podesta of Bologna) had been already useful in the murder of Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio (which didn't hinder, that Sforza and Offida cooperated in 1436).
Requisisce le armi tenute nella casa di Giacomo dalle Correggie e di altri partigiani dei Canedoli e le fa portare nel suo palazzo; fa decapitare Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio ed impiccare Tommaso Zambeccari nella sala del re Enzo.


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

Sforza seems to have appeared 3 times in Florence in the critical time (1334-1336).

Sforza November 1434
A Firenze, nel convento dei domenicani di Santa Maria Novella gli è rinnovata dai pontifici la condotta portata a 500 lance (con 3 uomini per lancia) e 800 fanti per un anno di ferma ed uno di rispetto. Il costo mensile delle compagnie è di 10500 fiorini.
Sforza November 1435
Si reca a Firenze con 300 cavalli per rendere omaggio al papa: fra i vari festeggiamenti che si svolgono nella città è organizzato un torneo fra 70 dei suoi uomini d’ arme. Gli sono donati dalle autorità cavalcature, drappi di seta d’oro e d’argento di gran valore; Eugenio IV lo investe di Barbiano e lo nomina capitano generale dello stato della Chiesa con una condotta di 800 lance e 800 fanti.
Sforza November 1436
Viene accolto a Firenze con grandi onori (giostre e balli) da Cosimo dei Medici. Stipula a Santa Gonda un contratto per il quale passa al soldo di fiorentini e veneziani per cinque anni di ferma ed uno di rispetto. Lo stipendio mensile è stabilito in 14000 fiorini, a carico per il 60% dei fiorentini e per la quota residua dei veneziani; la prestanza è di 40000 ducati ed è da pagarsi entro tre mesi. Tra i patti segretati è inserita la clausola che non può essergli richiesto di attraversare il Po contro la sua volontà. Fronteggia Niccolò Piccinino con 5000 cavalli e 2500 fanti senza tentare alcuna azione. Rientra in Romagna per la via di Modigliana e prende possesso di Barbiano, che con Cunio fa parte della contea di Cotignola. [1000 lance / 1000 fanti]
Three times it was November, and the fighting time was over. Within the three years his visits show increased glamour from year to year.

In 1434 it happened, that Eugen had to flee from Rome.
In the same year Cosimo returned from exile.
In 1435 the competition with Fortebraccio was decided in Sforza's favor.
In 1436 (spring) the Duomo in Florence reached a sort of "final state" (after 140 years). Pope consecrated it. In the same time a picture of John Hawkwood was finished (in the Duomo).

3 years later the Duomo became the meeting place of the council.

Image

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hawkwood

We have to talk about this.

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

Sforza's "triumphal entry in Fermo" in January 1434 is a blind spot. Well, we know, that there had been the decision, that Sforza took the region for himself, and not for Filippo Maria Visconti. Likely there was an activity, during which Sfoza was welcomed by the population, and urged, that they make an oath and promised to be good citizens, at least.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

15
Collection: Triumphal habits of Condottieri
- before and short after the Anghiari battle


In the interest of the studies to the question, if the Anghiari battle might have been the reason for the first deck, which was called "Trionfi", it seems of interest to know about that, what was done before by Condottieri to celebrate victories. So I start to collect material.

Fact I

Image

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hawkwood
John Hawkwood, by Paolo Uccello in 1436

The year 1436 is that, what interests me here.
"In 1436 the Florentines commissioned of Paolo Uccello a funerary monument, a fresco transferred on canvas, which still stands in the Duomo. Originally, the Florentines intended to erect a bronze statue, but the costs proved too high. Finally they settled for a monochrome fresco in terra verde, a color closest to the patina of bronze."
The Fresco is painted in the manner, that, if you see it from below as in a church, you see a 3-dimensional statue, not a picture (so I've read).

Image

http://www.wibue.de/2006/index.php?imag ... 0innen.JPG

It has a strong position with a lot of place around it. Beside is another condottiero, I think, it is Niccolo da Tolentino.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_da_Tolentino

Image


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian ... _Tolentino

This was made by Andrea del Castagno in 1456. It's the year, what interests me here.

The Duomo naturally is a very prominent place in Florence. In the 1420s and early 1430s, however, it was "still in work".

Image


The cupola had been a major problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral
On 18 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced a structural design competition for erecting Neri's dome. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, who was supported by Cosimo de Medici. Ghiberti had been winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery in 1401 and lifelong competition between the two remained acute. Brunelleschi won and received the commission.
Ghiberti, appointed coadjutator, was drawing a salary equal to Brunelleschi's and, though neither was awarded the announced prize of 200 florins, would potentially earn equal credit, while spending most of his time on other projects. When Brunelleschi became ill, or feigned illness, the project was briefly in the hands of Ghiberti. But Ghiberti soon had to admit that the whole project was beyond him. In 1423 Brunelleschi was back in charge and took over sole responsibility.
Work started on the dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV on March 25, 1436 (the first day of the year according to the Florentine calendar). It was the first 'octagonal' dome in history to be built without a temporary wooden supporting frame: the Roman Pantheon, a circular dome, was built in 117–128 AD with support structures. It was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance. During the consecration service in 1436, Guillaume Dufay's similarly unique motet Nuper rosarum flores was performed. The structure of this motet was strongly influenced by the structure of the dome.
So 1436 was a good time to find a solution for the empty place there at this wall. John Hawkwood, dead already for 42 years, was chosen to fill it. A Condottiero, who perhaps during the past 140 years building time had gained the most fame and merits for the city of Florence.

"John Hawkwood died in Florence on March 16-March 17, 1394. He was buried with state honors in the Duomo. Shortly afterwards, Richard II asked for his body to be returned to his native England." ... says Wiki to John Hawkwood. So it perhaps was already decided then to keep the bones there. An old plan, perhaps.

Here more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funerary_M ... n_Hawkwood
Hawkwood, now in his seventies, made preparations to return to England, where he had been sending money to acquire land, and set up a chantry. Just as he was liquidating his affairs in Italy, he died, on March 17, 1394.
In 1395, Richard II of England petitioned Florence for the return of Hawkwood's body, as he had done for Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, the local magnate to the Hawkwood family in England, in whose service he had begun his military career. Florence acquiesced to Richard II's request in a June 3, 1395 letter:
Our devotion can deny nothing to the eminence of your highness. We will leave nothing undone that is possible to do, so that we may fulfill your good pleasure. So, therefore, although we consider it reflected glory on us and our people to keep the ashes and bones of the late brave and most magnificent captain John Hawkwood, who, as commander of our army, fought most gloriously for us and who at public expense was interred in the principal church of Santa Reparata […] nevertheless, according to the tenor of your request, we freely concede permission that his remains shall return to their native land.
However, it remains an open question whether Hawkwood's remains were ever transferred to England, to the tomb prepared for him at St. Peter's in Sible Hedingham, or whether his remains were reburied in 1405 under the old choir of the Duomo, of which record has been lost since it was repaved in the 16th century. In any case, the tomb monument would have run into difficulty, as a ban on tombs above floor level in the Cathedral was passed on April 5, 1400.


Well, there's a lot of background, and this wiki article should be honored for its good work.
Background

On August 20, 1393—when the Signoria, at the suggestion of Coluccio Salutati, voted to erect a marble statue of Hawkwood in the Duomo, "that brave men may know that the commune of Florence recompenses true service"—Hawkwood was liquidating his Tuscan properties and preparing to return to England. It was unprecedented for the Signoria to vote to erect a monument to a living person in the cathedral. The ambiguous plans of the Signoria—which likely was aware of Hawkwood's health status—might well have been for a tomb rather than a cenotaph; Hawkwood died soon after, on March 17, 1394.[34] The Signoria went to great lengths (unsuccessfully) to entice Donnina to remain in the city—voting to transfer various sums of money to her (in exchange for Hawkwood's Tuscan fortress), despite "thorny legal issues" which required multiple acts of the city council—indicating to some extent the market value of Hawkwood's symbolic capital.

The fresco of fellow condottiero Niccolò da Tolentino is adjacent to the Hawkwood in the Florence Cathedral.
Hawkwood's March 20 funeral began in the Piazza della Signoria, continued to the Battistero di San Giovanni, where his body was placed on the baptismal font for public viewing, and culminated in the Cathedral, at a cost of 410 florins, not counting the substantial expenses of the Guilds.
The plans for Hawkwood's commemoration were modified on December 2, 1395, when it was decided to also rework the wooden monument of Pietro Farnese, the hero of the Pisan war,[33] and to place marble tomb monuments to Farnese and Hawkwood on the north aisle, facing the high altar. Painters Agnolo Gaddi and Giuliano Arrighi were selected by a committee to sketch directly onto the Duomo wall models for the Hawkwood and Farnese tombs. Although neither tomb was realized, documentary evidence suggests that a painting of Hawkwood—with a figure of Hawkwood by Gaddi and a sarcophagus by Pesello—was completed by June 16, 1396. Historian Frances Stonor Saunders speculates that Uccello may have based his representation of Hawkwood on this early painting and that the earlier painting may have been based on a death mask of Hawkwood. The Hawkwood fresco is situated in the third bay of the northern wall, today flanked by paintings of Dante (c. 1455) and a similar fresco monument to fellow mercenary Niccolò da Tolentino (1456, by Andrea del Castagno); fictive tombs in fresco of two humanist ecclesiasts—Bishop Corsini (c. 1422, probably by Giovanni dal Ponte) and Fra Luigi de' Marsigli (c. 1439 by Bicci di Lorenzo), an Augustinian monk who founded a literary academy—are much smaller than those of the two condottieri. The fresco probably came to replace the tomb (rather than serving as a place marker for it) for reasons of expedience and frugality, although on these points there is little documentary evidence.
Well, the idea was not so new ...
In the Quattrocento, it was traditional for condottieri like Hawkwood to be buried in major public churches, even when their careers had produced mixed results for the city-state in question. The genre of the equestrian statue was revived during the Quattrocento for the purpose of commemorating condottieri; Donatello's Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata (c. 1447–1453) in Padua is the first surviving bronze equestrian statue since Ancient Rome.[24] Tibertino Brandolino ... ["Tibertino Brandolino, Hawkwood's comrade-in-arms from the Bagnacavallo days] .... was interred at San Francesco in Venice"]; Jacopo de' Cavalli at SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Rome [???? http://books.google.de/books?id=d7LXI9k ... ri&f=false ]; Paolo Savelli .... [ http://www.condottieridiventura.it/inde ... -di-romaat ] ... Basilica dei Frari in Venice, along with a wooden equestrian statue on a marble sarcophagus,[25] which—along with the bronze horses on the façade of St. Mark—may have inspired Uccello's Hawkwood;[26] and Konrad Aichelberg [at a church in Pisa.[27] When such burials were not possible, frescoes were an acceptable substitute: Guidoriccio da Fogliano was painted on horseback by Simone Martini in Palazzo Pubblico in Siena in 1328; Pietro Farnese was depicted in a papier-mâché equestrian monument atop a sarcophagus in the Florence Cathedral in 1363.[27]
Holding ever more lavish funeral ceremonies for fallen condottieri was only one way in which Italian city-states competed with each other to attract the services of the most skilled mercenaries.[28] Hawkwood's funeral was sandwiched between the funerals in Siena of Giovanni d'Azzo degli Ubaldini—who had been poisoned by the Florentines in the Visconti wars—and Giovanni "Tedesco" da Pietramala.[29] The commissioning of Uccello to repaint the fresco came at the "climax" of a war with Lucca, which had recently begun a monument to honor Niccolò Piccinino, in contrast to Piccinino's pittura infamante in the Palazzo della Signoria in 1428, depicting him hanging upside-down in chains, which was "depaint[ed]" in April 1430. ...{my comment: "I didn't know about this Hanging Man story" ... see: viewtopic.php?f=23&p=13935#p13935
Back to 1436 and that actually happened short before:
Fresco

The fresco was initially commissioned, decades after Hawkwood's death, in May 1433 by the Albizzi government, just months before the regime's collapse. Perhaps the project was an attempt by the Albizzi to hearken back to a time when the oligarchic elite of Florence had been more aligned with their own conservative interests. On July 13, 1433, design competition notices for the new monument were placed at the Duomo, the Baptistry, and Orsanmichele. The instigators of the renewed project were the grandsons of Guido di Soletto del Pera Baldovinetti, one of the ambassadors who (unsuccessfully) pleaded with Hawkwood to return to Florence's service in 1389, and Donato Velluti, a 14th-century military and political historian. It is almost inconceivable that the commissioners of the monument would not have regarded Hawkwood as a self-interested mercenary, knowing that he often acted against the interests of Florence. After the launching of the design competition, in September 1433, Cosimo and Averardo de' Medici were exiled from Florence, for—among other things—allegedly attempting to embroil Florence in a war with Lucca.

Recommissioning

After Cosimo's triumphant return to Florence, rather than scrapping the project, in May 1436 the Medici regime hired Uccello to replace the Gaddi and Pesello fresco. Hugh Hudson suggests that it would have been too risky for the Medici to cancel the Albizzi project, so they instead shrewdly modified it to fit their interests. There is, of course, some weakness to attributing the commissioning and re-commissioning of the monument to Albizzi or Medici intrigues, as only two (maybe three) of the eight operai on July 13, 1433 were members of the Albizzi faction and only one was a Medici when it was resumed on May 18, 1436; yet the influences of both factions doubtlessly did not require blood relation. Around this time, documents attest to multiple repairs of a nearby window, opening the possibility that the original fresco had experienced water damage, and would have needed to be restored in any case. Others have suggested that the recommissioning was part of the "refurbishing" of the cathedral associated with its rededication as Santa Maria del Fiore by Pope Eugene IV in March 1436. Yet, Borsi concludes that "undoubtedly under pressure from the Medici" the operai discarded their plans for a straightforward restoration of the Gaddi fresco and opted for a completely new monument.
An interesting story in itself.

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

With the "publication" of the Hawkwood-fresco - inside the larger context, that now the Duomo had a state of being "ready" - we somehow have a fixed date, that indicates, that "something big" has happened to the Condottieri scene. The Duomo was an excellent place - something like a big and famous gallery - and a condottiero picture got a great position, where many persons of the future could see it. A "triumphal place", I would say, and I'm for the moment not aware, that something of greater dimensions had been done before in medieval Italy for the Condottieri... let's say, after the big plague.

Well, there was an emperor crowning right in 1433 and this was the first since Charles IV in the 1350's. Maybe the many German knights in Italy 1431-33 and the triumphal actions triggered the idea, that one had to do something with the "Italian knights". The new discussions around the Hawkwood memorial started with the Albizzi in 1433, right in the Emperor-crowning-summer.

As the big star of the heaven of the public Condottieri perception Francesco Sforza has come out with a series of impressive recent great successes at the battle-fields. So a good question: Where's Sforza? He's right there. just at the feet of Hawkwood, in Florence.

As already mentioned:
Sforza November 1434
A Firenze, nel convento dei domenicani di Santa Maria Novella gli è rinnovata dai pontifici la condotta portata a 500 lance (con 3 uomini per lancia) e 800 fanti per un anno di ferma ed uno di rispetto. Il costo mensile delle compagnie è di 10500 fiorini.
Sforza November 1435
Si reca a Firenze con 300 cavalli per rendere omaggio al papa: fra i vari festeggiamenti che si svolgono nella città è organizzato un torneo fra 70 dei suoi uomini d’ arme. Gli sono donati dalle autorità cavalcature, drappi di seta d’oro e d’argento di gran valore; Eugenio IV lo investe di Barbiano e lo nomina capitano generale dello stato della Chiesa con una condotta di 800 lance e 800 fanti.
Sforza November 1436
Viene accolto a Firenze con grandi onori (giostre e balli) da Cosimo dei Medici. Stipula a Santa Gonda un contratto per il quale passa al soldo di fiorentini e veneziani per cinque anni di ferma ed uno di rispetto. Lo stipendio mensile è stabilito in 14000 fiorini, a carico per il 60% dei fiorentini e per la quota residua dei veneziani; la prestanza è di 40000 ducati ed è da pagarsi entro tre mesi. Tra i patti segretati è inserita la clausola che non può essergli richiesto di attraversare il Po contro la sua volontà. Fronteggia Niccolò Piccinino con 5000 cavalli e 2500 fanti senza tentare alcuna azione. Rientra in Romagna per la via di Modigliana e prende possesso di Barbiano, che con Cunio fa parte della contea di Cotignola. [1000 lance / 1000 fanti]
Map of Marca di Fermo
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ivieri.jpg

Life and times of Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan, with a preliminary sketch of the history of Italy (1852)
Urquhart, William Pollard, 1815-1871
Volume I
http://archive.org/details/lifetimesoffranc01urquuoft
http://books.google.de/books/about/Life ... edir_esc=y
Volume 2
http://books.google.de/books?id=w7tMAAA ... &q&f=false

**********

Getting Sforza at the right side, might have been seen as the right decision in 1436, at least by Cosimo (pope Eugen saw it different, as we know). The habits of the usual condottieri had been often anarchic ... giving them "official honors" seems to have been detected as a way to civilize them. This was not really a new strategy, but for the researched period, in which we try to look for reasons, why around 1439/1440/1441 the Trionfi customs reached a very creative moment, the Hawkwood picture looks like n important detail.

In 1437 Sforza was engaged by Florence in a war against Lucca.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

16
This picture is a little far off (1423), but it touches the theme of the council 1439.

***********

Inspired by the Trinci finding I followed "Gentile da Fabriano", who is given as the artist of a greater part of the frescoes in Foligno (about 1411-12).

He went to Florence and painted then this work (1423):

Adoration of the Magi

Image

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentile_da_Fabriano
large picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ration.jpg

... 30.000 Florins, brought up by Palla Strozzi, who later was expelled by Cosimo. The picture has a clear date: MCCCCXXIII = 1423 can be detected.

It jumps to the eyes, that this version of the "Adoration of the Magi" has a lot of similarities to the 1459-64 Benozzo Gozzoli version (it's clearly connected to a "triumphal march). Especially the major King or Magi looks similar, as if it would be the same man ...

Image


Image


John VIII Palaiologos, since 1425 the "Eastern Emperor", which in 1439 appeared during the council in Florence, travelled in 1423–24 to Venice, Milan and Hungary (? also to Florence ?) to ask for aid against the Osmans in person.
We know, that Filippo Maria in Pavia had commissioned frescoes for his visit.
Was this work - the adoration of the Magi - a preparation for a possible visit in Florence (in 1423)? A future emperor of Constantinople, who would be treated well in Florence, promised good Florentine trade connections in the same future.

I detect only two Magi on the main paiting, on the smaller pictures at the top there are 3. John had a younger brother Andronikus, which had been made ruler in Thessaloniki in young years. Just in the year 1423 he gave Thessaloniki to Venice to gain protection against the Osmans. I'm not aware, that Andronikus had accompanied John to Venice ...

Here from a historian's blog (Diana Gilliland Wright)
http://surprisedbytime.blogspot.de/2010 ... logos.html
Andronikos had fifteen years in Thessalonike, and much of that time the city was beset by Ottoman raids, and finally the siege of 1423. He was apparently fairly debilitated from his illness by this time. After Andronikos handed over Thessalonike to the Venetians on 19 September 1423 -- all of this was done with messengers back and forth to Constantinople for advice and approval -- he traveled, along with his son John, to the Morea on a Venetian galley.

One of the less-reliable chronicles reports that his friends advised him to sell Thessalonike, and that the Venetians paid him 50,000 ducats, which sounds about right if you consider that they paid 10,000 for Nauplion. [Late correction: I have found the document of the payment and they only paid 2,000 for Nauplion.] It also says that some of the money he wasted "in a sorry manner" and some he gave to his banqueting companions. I hope he did get some fun out of his life in Thessalonike, but I don't have any confidence in any of that. Venetian documents report letters and emissaries from Andronikos asking them to take the city. [The previous year Theodoros had asked them to take over the Morea -- more on that in another entry.] A letter of 27 July says Thessalonike was a gift, and directs the new Venetian administration to arrange to pay him 20,000 to 40,000 aspers a year out of whatever was left over from the taxes after the necessary administrative expenditures. That is something like 350 - 700 ducats a year, a comfortable living if he had a small entourage, but hardly imperial. (It is interesting that they mention Ottoman coinage -- had that become the common currency of Thessalonike and northern Greece?)


The third (old) Magi, missing on the main picture), likely is at home in Constantinople (the sick father of John and Andronikos, who died 1425).

Image


Palla Strozzi (left with red hat) together with his father (right with falcon), the sponsors of the picture, are seen standing close to the both Magi.

Image

The color of the clothes of the two accompanying persons is the same color as that of Palla and his father in the major picture.

Image

The third king is rather dark in his face (one of the kings often is painted dark)

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

Palla Strozzi is said to have been also the man with nails and crown of thornes at this picture

Image

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palla_Strozzi

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

Relations

Palla Strozzi had been married to Marietta, sister of Nanni Strozzi. Nanni Strozzi was a Florentine condottiero (died 1427) and he became father of Tito Vespasiano Strozzi (* 1424), poet in Ferrara, who became father of another poet, Ercole Strozzi (murdered 1508 in Lucrezia Borgia / Alfonso d'Este context). Tito Vespasiano was also uncle to Matteo Maria Boiardo.
Leonardo Bruni made a famous oratio on the death of Nanni Strozzi. The text seems to have had some importance. Perhaps it's relevant to our theme.

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

Some minor observations:

Image


A thief steals the spurs of the younger king. Or he releases them, that the young king can better kneel down.

Image


A dove is captured by a hawk. The lion looks interested.

Image


This might be the 3rd king, but I doubt it.

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

ADDED:

....
.-) .... oh. my BIG mistake, I completely overlooked the kneeling figure at the bottom. The 3rd king is present, the crown is lying at the bottom.

Image


... and the crown is positioned in a manner, that it is in the middle on the top of the painter's name:

Image


Actually the 3rd king CAN'T be overlooked, but I did it, cause I was fixed on a third crown on a head. Well, otherwise, I likely wouldn't have detected the 1423 synchronicity with the visit in Italy and the matter with Thessaloniki. So an error with creative effect ... :-) ...
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

17
Huck,
It seems your purpose here is to flush out a trend or event in 1436-1438 that lead to trionfi, but the collection of factoids is all over the map: the Albizzi-Medici rivalry, the church Councils, the Hawkwood/Tolentino commissions, the Stroizzi altarpiece from 1423, the dedication of the Duomo, Sforza’s movements, etc. In order to find a “grand” unifying theme (assuming there is one) that ties all this together let me suggest two broad problems, that fall under the rubric of Albizzi-Medici rivalry:
A. Through the end of the decade Cosimo and his Medici party were still consolidating power after his recent return from exile in 1434
B. The exiled and still wealthy Albizzi faction remained a potential problem, not to be finally resolved until 1440 at Anghiari.

The Albizzi faction had already made the strongest claims on military knighthood – the plan to memorialize Hawwood in 1433, the dedication of Bruni’s treatise on knighthood to R. Albizzi, R. Albizzi being the same person who was the most vocal mouthpiece for the Luccan War, etc. THE PROBLEM: Anyone else wishing to claim the right to rule Florence needed to assume the rhetoric - visual and otherwise – of knightly/military power. All of Cosimo’s moves in this time frame point to precisely that assumption of the outward signs of knighthood/military control previously made by the Albizzi. To wit:
• Completing the Hawkwood commission in the Duomo (which fittingly mirrored the joint military actions of the combined Papal and Florentine armies in that time period, culminating in Anghiari)
• Opening an Ancona branch of the Medici bank in 1436 to underwrite Sforza’s allegiance (De Roover, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank: 1397-1494: p. 59f.)
• Having the author of On Knighthood (De militia) dedicated to Albizzi, Bruni, finish his Florentine histories by having it culminate with the battle of Anghiari and defeat of Albizzi.
• I’ve written the following in another thread in this forum in regard to the parallels between the Strozzi/Fabriano and Medici/Gozzoli paintings (the significance of course being that Palla Strozzi was exiled along with the Albizzi as one of their partisans): “In fact the Stozzi altarpiece was directly ‘quoted’ in Gozzoli's famous painting of the Magi for Cosimo in his new palace in 1459: one of the kneeling Magi's feathered headress is exactly reproduced but with the Medici colors of green/red/white instead of the Strozzi red/gold.” 09 Dec 2012, 12:40 , viewtopic.php?f=11&t=906&hilit=+Strozzi+magi

To ask it again, where is there a Florentine triumph in 1436-1438, specifically called a trionfo by contemporary sources? In fact all of the above are signs that cumulatively reveal the vigorous co-option by the Medici of the symbols of military valor and the control of the military itself, something formerly associated with their chief internal enemy, the Albizzi. It all reaches a climax at Anghiari where Florence’s age-old external threat, the Visconti, get thrown into the losing side of the bargain to boot. In terms of the resolution of Florence’s internal conflict and and defeat of its external enemy, nothing in the decade of the 1430s compares with the triumph of Anghiari, noted as such per the likes of Machiavelli:
Benedetto de' Medici, finding the report of Niccolo having proceeded either to Rome or to La Marca, incorrect, returned with his forces to Neri, and they proceeded together to Florence, where the highest honors were decreed to them which it was customary with the city to bestow upon her victorious citizens, and they were received by the Signory, the Capitani di Parte, and the whole city, in triumphal pomp. (History of Florence, Book V, Chapter VII).
Phaeded

PS Read Treccani’s bio on Giusti – clearly a Medici partisan. How did the earliest known tarot not reflect Anghiari, his home and the scene of the battle (and again, if not Anghiari…what in the time period 1436-1440?)? http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giu ... ografico)/

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

18
A knight of the Bardi family has been chosen as a judge (podestà) in the city of Padua. He is a tiny man, unmilitary in his habits, and an indifferent horseman.

To give himself a more impressive appearance, he decides to wear a magnificent crest on his
helmet, consisting of a bear rampant with drawn claws and the motto: "Non ischerzare con
l'orso, se non vuogli esser morso" (Don’t play games with the bear if you don’t want to be
eaten). On his way to Padua, he passes through Ferrara, where in the main piazza by the
prince's castle he is accosted by a gigantic German knight. The German, who is a bit tipsy, is
incensed to see the diminutive Florentine bearing what he claims are his, the German's, own
arms and so he challenges the Florentine to a duel. The Florentine, however, can see no point
in coming to blows and arranges a deal through his seconds. “Let's settle this with florins and
put honor aside, he says. If you want me to go on my way as I came, I'll be off right now; if
you mean that I shouldn’t bear his crest, I swear by God’s holy angels that it’s mine and that I
had it made in Florence by the painter Luchino and it cost me five florins; if he wants it, give
me five florins and take the crest away.”

The German, triumphant as though he'd conquered a city, paid up willingly. The Bardi knight went off with his five florins to Padua, where he was able to purchase a new crest for only two florins, making a clear profit of three.
A Franco Sacchetti story, retold here ...
http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handl ... sequence=1
... in context of Bruni's "De Militaria" (c. 1420)

Well, I read this to understand your argument about "De Militia". I'm not so impressed. Bruni - from Arezzo, so close to the "wild region" of the Marches, where many condottieri could manifest themselves in castles on mountains, which were difficult to attack, talks in humanistic manner about the ideal knight. Which is not a merchant - like all those people in Florence, close to a prospering city region with trade, trade, trade and trade, and not much persons to follow the ideals of a knight.
The realistic "knights of the moment" (c. 1420) were made of another stuff, and there names are Braccio and Muzio Attendolo. Well, somehow Bruno speaks in the interest of Florence to make these wild guys somehow usable.

It's remarkable, that none of the Albizzi appears in the long lists of Condottieridiventura.it "as a condottiero". Though Luca di Albizzi, otherwise described as a merchant and a politican, appears as a commander in the battle of San Romano. But the condottieri-site makes a difference between condottieri and commissioners.

1420 is too far away form 1436-38. The quoted text gives ... "Further confirmation for this reading of Bruni’s treatise can be found in another text which, surprisingly, is never been cited by students of the
De militia : the Oration on the Funeral of Nanni Strozzi (1428)". That's closer.
Well I've pointed to this already.

Maso Albizzi had an interesting "knight phase" in his youth, fighting far in the North for the German order, so "knights" had tradition in the Albizzi family. Maso died 1417. Perhaps Rinaldo, in "c. 1420" still a "young" head of the family, thought about reviving old ideals, perhaps inspired by the young Roman king Sigismondo, who in Constance just had such big successes.

***************
phaeded wrote:The Albizzi faction had already made the strongest claims on military knighthood – the plan to memorialize Hawwood in 1433, the dedication of Bruni’s treatise on knighthood to R. Albizzi, R. Albizzi being the same person who was the most vocal mouthpiece for the Luccan War, etc.
Maybe it's not so sure, that the Albizzi were the active part in it. We have ...
The fresco was initially commissioned, decades after Hawkwood's death, in May 1433 by the Albizzi government, just months before the regime's collapse. Perhaps the project was an attempt by the Albizzi to hearken back to a time when the oligarchic elite of Florence had been more aligned with their own conservative interests. On July 13, 1433, design competition notices for the new monument were placed at the Duomo, the Baptistry, and Orsanmichele.
... so says the Wiki article. Fine.
So, what's here addressed as an "Albizzi goverment, just months before the regime's collapse"?

We have Cosimo captured at 7th of September 1433 and we have him exiled at 29th of September, in the same month. The "new reign" (Albizzi-friendly), which organized the capture, had started at 1st of September, only a few days before.
There was a new peace between Lucca and Florence, finishing a war between Lucca and Florence, which was initiated by the Albizzi. Florence had losses and didn't make a good figure in the military actions. Cosimo was chosen in the Dieci during the war. After the war he went to the Mugello to avoid to give own heavy critics about the way, how the Albizzi had led the war. Let's assume, that this was in June/July. After the begin of the new reign at 1st of September he was invited to come to Florence. He arrived at 4th of September.
How do these pieces fit together? I don't have a clear description. Did the Albizzi really "reign" in May 1433?
• I’ve written the following in another thread in this forum in regard to the parallels between the Strozzi/Fabriano and Medici/Gozzoli paintings (the significance of course being that Palla Strozzi was exiled along with the Albizzi as one of their partisans): “In fact the Stozzi altarpiece was directly ‘quoted’ in Gozzoli's famous painting of the Magi for Cosimo in his new palace in 1459: one of the kneeling Magi's feathered headress is exactly reproduced but with the Medici colors of green/red/white instead of the Strozzi red/gold.” 09 Dec 2012, 12:40 , viewtopic.php?f=11&t=906&hilit=+Strozzi+magi
Well, you didn't talk about the year 1423, and the possibility, that then already the 3 holy kings were associated to the Empire in Constantinople.
To ask it again, where is there a Florentine triumph in 1436-1438, specifically called a trionfo by contemporary sources?
I've pointed to the condition, that the Duomo was "ready" (1436) after about 140 years, and this naturally was connected to festivities (this should have been in spring). Further we have a visit of Francesco Sforza with tournament and other amusements, just as the knights love it, in November. We have in the same year a big condottiero-picture installed at an important place.
I didn't state, that these activities were called "Trionfo". But they have "triumphal moments".
I also don't see given a contemporary use of the word "Trionfi" for the activities of Sforza (January 1434), Vitelleschi (1436) and Trinci (1438) or for the Trionfo of Filippo Maria Visconti in June 1425. Such precise things are rare.
It seems clear, that Alberti's Philodoxus in 1424 uses twice an address for "triumphal march".

In fact all of the above are signs that cumulatively reveal the vigorous co-option by the Medici of the symbols of military valor and the control of the military itself, something formerly associated with their chief internal enemy, the Albizzi. It all reaches a climax at Anghiari where Florence’s age-old external threat, the Visconti, get thrown into the losing side of the bargain to boot. In terms of the resolution of Florence’s internal conflict and and defeat of its external enemy, nothing in the decade of the 1430s compares with the triumph of Anghiari, noted as such per the likes of Machiavelli:

Benedetto de' Medici, finding the report of Niccolo having proceeded either to Rome or to La Marca, incorrect, returned with his forces to Neri, and they proceeded together to Florence, where the highest honors were decreed to them which it was customary with the city to bestow upon her victorious citizens, and they were received by the Signory, the Capitani di Parte, and the whole city, in triumphal pomp. (History of Florence, Book V, Chapter VII).
... :-) ... You ALSO hardly can call Macchiavelli's text contemporary to the battle of Anghiari.
PS Read Treccani’s bio on Giusti – clearly a Medici partisan. How did the earliest known tarot not reflect Anghiari, his home and the scene of the battle (and again, if not Anghiari…what in the time period 1436-1440?)? http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giu ... ografico)/
How does the earliest known Tarot reflect anything? We don't have information, how this deck looked like. We have a sentence with a few words, and the terminus is "paio di naibi a trionfi" and not Tarot.

Btw. .... who is Benedetto de' Medici? What do you have to him?
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

19
Huck wrote:
There was a new peace between Lucca and Florence, finishing a war between Lucca and Florence, which was initiated by the Albizzi. Florence had losses and didn't make a good figure in the military actions. Cosimo was chosen in the Dieci during the war. After the war he went to the Mugello to avoid to give own heavy critics about the way, how the Albizzi had led the war. Let's assume, that this was in June/July. After the begin of the new reign at 1st of September he was invited to come to Florence. He arrived at 4th of September.
How do these pieces fit together? I don't have a clear description. Did the Albizzi really "reign" in May 1433?
Rinaldo's dad, Maso, took the credit for the acquisition of Pisa and the son Rinaldo was also the vocal proponent for the war with Lucca; they were always seen as the "hawk" party. The Luccan war created the need for the castato reassessment tax which hurt everyone in Florence along with additional forced loans called upon the elite bankers (I think Cosimo was in for 27% of that). Eventually the war was settled with no tangible results. The Albizzi faction looked to redirect the heat for that onto their enemies, the Medici; Rinaldo did that by accusing Cosimo of having Tolentino (who in fact was a close friend of Cosimo's) in his pay and was going to try to do a coup with Tolentino's troops (for these details see Dale Kent's Cosimo De' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance: The Patron's Oeuvre. 2000: 276f). Rinaldo Albizzi had Cosimo locked up in the Palazzo Vecchio tower and then exiled - based on the Tolentino accusation - so yes, he "reigned" if not in name.
Huck asked:
who is Benedetto de' Medici? What do you have to him?
AKA Bernardetto. We've discussed him before – a distant relative of Cosimo and one of the two army commissioners at Anghiari – the other being Neri Capponi. The latter was neutralized as a potential political rival when Cosimo had Neri’s own condottiero connection tossed out of a Palazzo Vecchio window in 1441: Baldàccio d'Anghiari. Cosimo replaced Tolentino (d. 1435) with Sforza as his primary beholden condottiero after 1436 with the aforementioned establishment of the Ancona Medici branch in that year (the Marche of Ancona being Sfora’s base of operations at that time). Castagno, who painted the defamed Albizzi upside down on the Bargello, was brought to Florence by Bernardetto and was one of his primary patrons (we’ve discussed the relevant source before: Andrea Del Castagno: And His Patrons , by John Richard Spencer).

As for Machiavelli and his Anghiari “triumphal pomp” (trionfanti in the original) comment: he had the Florentine archives before him, just as Bruni did in writing his histories; despite his need to disparage the military losses at Anghiari he still has to admit the victory was a big civic celebration - a trionfo. That is more relevant than someone looking back today and metaphorically labeling the Council of Florence or Duomo consecration as “triumphs”. In fact Dale Kent talks of the duomo being lit up (how, I do not know – torches?) to celebrate Anghiari.

We know the earlier names of card games – Diritta (“direct”), Condannata (“punishment/condemned”), Pilucchino (“to pick grapes”) - and suddenly in 1440 we have a word synonymous with military victory: trionfo/i. Occam’s razor points to a military victory being the inspiration – not its metaphorical application to a clerical event - and we have the most important military victory of the decade (to the powers that be: the Medici) conterminous with the first use of that word for playing cards (naibi).

Phaeded

Re: Trionfi customs 1436 and 1438

20
Primary sources for Anghiari:
…dispatches written from Anghiari to the Signoria on the day of the battle and several days following it. Having probably remained in the possession of the Signoria, they would have been available to and were certainly the major sources for fifteenth-century savants such as Flavio Biondo da Forli [1392-1463, apostolic secretary to Pope Eugene IV], Leonardo Dati [1408-1472; wrote Trophaeum Anglorium which described the battle of Anghiari], and Benedetto Dei [1418-1492, in the service of the Medici who wrote a chronicle], all of whom dwelt on and richly embellished the story of Anghiari” (“Leonardo's Battle of Anghiari: Proposals for Some Sources and a Reflection,” Barbara Hochstetler Meyer, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 66, No. 3 (Sep., 1984), pp. 367-382: 369).
Machiavelli at least made use of Flavio Biondo (see S. Anglo, Machiavelli, A Dissection, 1969: 159f). Directions to da Vinci on what to paint for his famously lost Anghiari painting that are in the Atlanticus Codex are in a different hand other than Leonardo’s (thus the presumption these were provided to him from the archives, thus also available to Machiavelli).

As for the dispatches from the battlefield, they are translated and published in Spencer, Andrea Del Castagno: And His Patrons , 1991: 18-19. Spencer adds:
The citizens of Florence recognized the importance of the victory as well. The dome of the cathedral and the campanile were illuminated as they were for the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. Litta reports that upon their return to Florence the commissioners were honored with a pennon, a caparisoned horse, a shield with the arms of Florence, and a helmet. Strangely enough, Bernardo [Bernardetto] took precedence over Neri even though Neri weas older and had been senior on earlier missions….He was also named first in the act narrating the events that led up to the condemnation of Rinaldo degli Albizzi and his allies [Spencer, Appendix 4, p. 141]. Clearly, freidnship counted for much in the case of Neri but kinship wioth Bernardo was even more importamnt. (19)
Anghiari was clearly turned into a Medici celebration (years later even da Vinci’s painting features Bernardetto’s capture of the flag at Anghiari), Capponi demoted in importance and his own military connection killed by Cosimo in the following year (Baldaccio) and the Anghiari victory itself categorically a trionfo, despite the lack of a clear account of a street procession. At all events, Anghiari was celebrated with triumphal pomp/trappings in the form of the cassoni that have come down to us, the illumination of civic structures after the battle, the impiccati on the Bargello (which was on the Via del Proconsolo triumphal route that leads to the rear of the duomo) and the awards heaped upon the commissioners charged with overseeing the military operations that lead to the victory.
A street level photo I took of the Bargello where the Anghiari impiccati would have been painted, looking up the Via del Proconsolo in the direction of the duomo: Finally, I’m still digesting this heavily illustrated 2011 publication I picked up n Anghiari itself this past April:
Anghiari 29 giugno 1440, la battaglia, l’iconografia, le compagnie di ventura, l’araldica by Massimo Predonzani
Image

Phaeded