Translated by ChatGPT from the Italian of Fulvio Delle Donne, Antonio Beccadelli (Panormita): Alfonsi regis Triumphus / Il Trionfo di re Alfonso, Basilicata University Press, 2021, pp. 37-55.

Online version of Delle Donne with images and transcription of Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Urb. lat. 1185, folios 91r-99v -
http://web.unibas.it/bup/evt2/pantrionf ... rpretative

Map of Alfonso's triumphal route:
Map from Sergio Bertelli, The King's Body, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001, p. 78. "In Naples, the Aragonese cavalcade of 1443 for Alfonso the Magnanimous entered through the Porta di Mercato, but failed to continue along the perimeter of the Angevin walls (Fig. 20). At first sight it might seem that the ancient rite was not being observed, but in looking closely at the itinerary, one discovers that the king progressed along the ancient decumanus and the walled precinct of the Roman city, which no longer existed. Thus he made a circuit of the ancient precinct that marked the city's foundation, as if there remained a residual memory and tradition of a sacred route, changed but still ideally present, even when the millennial stones no longer existed."

1) After the king and the princes of the Kingdom decided to celebrate the parliament in Naples, they left Benevento and first arrived in Aversa, then at the church of St. Anthony, located outside the walls of Naples, where they waited for a while as the necessary preparations for the triumphal spectacle were being made. In fact, all the citizens of Naples had unanimously decided to welcome the sovereign in triumph, both for the admirable victory of that king and for his exceptional clemency.
2) Therefore, on the 26th of February, the king appeared with the princes at the Carmine gate, near which a significant portion of the walls had been demolished by the citizens themselves to open a wide passage in honor of the entering king. There, the lofty triumphal chariot, entirely made of gold, was prepared, on top of which there was a throne made of gold and purple. Four white horses were attached to the chariot, each one pulling one of the four wheels, and they, quite fiery, were adorned with silk reins and golden bits.
3) On the chariot, in front of the king's throne, there was the dangerous chair that seemed to emit flames, certainly the most important among the king's insignia.
4) On the sides of the chariot, twenty nobles were arranged, and each of them held a high pole with the edges of a golden pallium tied at the top - never has it been heard that one equally precious has been used for such a purpose - from whose highest margins the emblems of the Kingdom and the city fluttered, elegantly hanging.
5) The king, sitting in triumph, was to be carried under this pallium, or if one prefers, umbrella, but before getting on the chariot, he decided to say or do something worthy. Thus, first calling Gerardo Gaspare d'Aquino to himself, he said: "I, young man, for your father's merits and services, appoint you and make you the Marquis of Pescara, and at the same time, I urge you to uphold his same faith, constancy, and integrity, for the honor of which we today bestow upon you such a high title, so that what has sprung from your father's benefaction, you may preserve and further amplify it with your own virtue. And you, Nicola Cantelmo, for the faith and respect you have shown, we make you the Duke of Sora, and you, Alfonso Cardona, for your outstanding military actions and singular virtue, we appoint you as the Count of Reggio.
6) With approximately the same words and the same gratitude in his heart, he elevated many others to the comital dignity: he made Francesco Pandone the Count of Venafro, Giovanni Sanseverino the Count of Tursi, Francesco the Count of Maratea, Amerigo the Count of Capaccio, all belonging to the same family. To many other highly deserving men, whom we avoid listing in order to move more quickly to more important and joyful matters, he then granted the equestrian dignity.
7) After these things, in the name of the true and most wise Christ of God, whom he always desired to give all praise and glory for the victory, he ascended the chariot, wearing a cloak of silk and scarlet, lined with sable fur in its long train, with his head uncovered. Indeed, although many, even noble ones, asked him to do so, he could not be persuaded to accept the laurel crown, according to the custom of those who celebrate triumphs. I believe this was due to his singular modesty and religiousness, as he judged that the crown should be bestowed upon God rather than any mortal.
8) But when he appeared high on the chariot, such great jubilation and applause arose from the men present and the women watching from the rooftops of the houses that, due to the clamor of those rejoicing, the blare of the trumpets and the sound of the pipes could not be heard, even though there were countless of them. Meanwhile, some could be seen crying tears of joy, others laughing with delight, and still others remaining astonished by the extraordinariness of the sight.
9) After proceeding a little further, he stopped until the procession that preceded him advanced, among whom the Florentines, foremost among all, presented various spectacles devised with singular ingenuity and executed at great expense, as follows.
10) Immediately after the trumpet and pipe players, ten children came forward, lined up in garments lined with scarlet silk, adorned with silver and pearls according to each one's ability to add them with their effort and devotion. They wore purple or, I might say vulgarly, scarlet shoes, ornamented in a manner very similar to their attire with silver and gems. Each of them rode exceptionally beautiful horses, which were also decked out with tinkling bells that resounded all around. Standing on the stirrups, in a way that barely touched the saddle with their backsides, in such a manner as to cause embarrassment to an honest person, they held a half-painted lance in their upraised right hand, adorned with various colorful flowers, which they would now twirl on their heads, now thrust forward as if to throw it, or, according to their pleasure, wave it. Each one had a crown made of gold leaf on their heads, and as they passed in front of the king, holding the reins with their left hand, they would bow their heads and lower the crown.
11) Following them was Fortune, the mistress of all things, on a platform covered with colorful carpets, and she was elevated as if on a high chariot, with long hair flowing down her forehead and a bald nape. Under her feet was a large golden sphere, and it was raised high by the arms of a child who appeared like an angel, and this angel had his feet immersed in water.
12) Shortly after, six virtues followed Fortune, carried on beautiful horses adorned with rich trappings, all of them possessing a most noble and ancient appearance. To be recognizable, each virtue carried its symbol in front of them. First among them, Hope displayed a crown, then Faith held a chalice, and Charity held a naked child. Fourth came Fortitude, who held a marble column in her hand. Fifth was Temperance, holding two vials and mixing water and wine. Finally, Prudence showed the people a mirror with her right hand and a serpent with her left.
13) Justice remained, as the queen of the others, not content with a horse, she was carried high on a pulpit, adorned and well-dressed. She held an unsheathed sword in her right hand and a balance in her left. Behind her, as if presenting the empire to those who followed and revered her, there was a throne placed higher, also decorated with gold and purple. On this throne, three angels seemed to descend from heaven, each offering their own crown to the one who deserved that throne through justice.
14) Following this beautiful throne was a great multitude of knights, dressed and styled in the fashion of various nations, princes, and nobles. However, they followed the throne in such a way as to precede a chariot carrying the personification of Caesar.
15) Indeed, Caesar came forward, carried on a highly decorated platform with steps covered by a carpet. Caesar stood there with a laurel crown on his head, in armor, and a mantle. In his right hand, he held a scepter, and in his left, a golden globe. Under his feet, the world, in its spherical form, rotated incessantly.
16) He stopped in front of Alfonso and spoke roughly in this manner, in rhythmic verses in the vernacular language: "Alfonso, most excellent among kings, I urge you to hold onto these seven virtues that you have just seen pass before you and that you have always cultivated until the end. If you do this—and I know you will—those virtues that now triumphantly show you to the people will one day make you worthy of that imperial throne, which you desired when it passed by. As you have seen, Justice was also brought with the throne so that you may understand that without justice, no one can achieve true and lasting glory.
17) But never rely on Fortune, who just now seemed to offer you her golden locks. She is fickle and unstable. Behold, the world is changeable, and everything is uncertain except for virtue. Therefore, revere it in the most religious manner, as you already do.
18) I will pray to the greatest and best God to preserve you in prosperity and Florence in liberty." After saying these things, Caesar mingled with the crowd, and behind him followed, in two rows, about sixty Florentines, all dressed in purple or scarlet tunics.
19) After them came those Iberians, whom we call Celtiberians in Latin and Catalans in the vernacular, and they also staged performances with a large number of people and an excellent spectacle. They had brought along some fake horses that closely resembled real and living ones, covered with trappings. Young men dressed in floor-length garments rode these horses, and as those young men moved their feet, it seemed as if the horses were truly galloping, turning, chasing, or fleeing. The riders held a shield painted with the king's insignia in their left hand and an unsheathed sword in their right.
20) Against them, there were foot soldiers dressed in Persian or Syrian fashion, fearsome with their turbans and scimitars. The horsemen and foot soldiers initially moved together, lightly dancing in harmony with the music and rhythms as if they were dancers. Then, as the music became more intense, they too became inflamed in battle, occasionally engaging in combat with the soldiers' loud clamor and the amusement of the onlookers. The Iberians scattered the barbarians in every direction, capturing and defeating them.
21) After them, a very tall tower beautifully adorned was carried, with an angel guarding its entrance, wielding a sword. On that tower, four virtues were presented: Magnanimity, Constancy, Clemency, and Liberality. They carried the dangerous chair, the royal emblem, each singing a song composed of different verses.
22) First among them, the angel addressed the king with verses that roughly said: "Alfonso, king of peace, I offer and entrust to your hand this castle with the four illustrious virtues above it. Since you have always revered and embraced them, now they willingly desire to accompany you in triumph."
23) Following, Magnanimity urged the king to display excellence of character, then showed the barbarians defeated and put to flight by the Iberians, so that the king would understand that, in the event he waged war against the infidels and those who do not acknowledge the name of Christ, the Iberians would immediately and undoubtedly emerge as victors.
24) Third was Constancy, the ornament of all virtues, and it too admonished to endure with a firm and unwavering spirit the circumstances of human life when they arise, to be guided by honorable and glorious intent without misfortunes, and to undoubtedly overcome fortune, enduring all things.
25) Then Clemency, with a countenance gentler than the others, gazed toward the king as if reflecting in a mirror and said, "These other sisters of mine, O king, certainly make you the best among mortals, but I make you equal not to men but to the immortal gods. They have shown you how to conquer, whereas I have always shown you how to pardon the defeated and reconcile them to you." Having briefly spoken these words, she fell silent.
26) Finally, Liberality threw coins to the crowd, demonstrating that the king should be content only with glory and leave all other things to the people.
27) After these remarkable performances, which took place in a marvelous manner in front of the chariot, five noble men dressed in scarlet capes appeared. One for each district: the entire city of Naples is indeed divided into five districts or squares, which they call "sedili" because people sit there. They went ahead of the chariot, directing it, staying to the right of the horses and organizing the crowd that preceded them, both with the sticks they held in their hands and, above all, with their formidable authority.
28) Therefore, Alfonso proceeded, venerable in his august majesty and admirable in the dignity of his entire person, and the applause of those who cheered him reached the heavens. All the barons and princes of the kingdom followed the chariot on foot, arranged in four ranks.
29) First among them were Ferdinand, the son of the triumphant Alfonso, a child of illustrious lineage, and Giovanni Antonio, the Prince of Taranto. Standing in the middle, to the right was Raimondo, the Prince of Salerno, and to the left was Abram, the envoy of the King of Tunis.
30) Then came Giovanni Antonio, the Duke of Sessa, an esteemed man worthy of eternal remembrance for his loyalty and steadfastness, Honored, the Count of Fondi, Francesco, the prefect of the city of Rome and the Count of Gravina, and Pietro, the envoy of the illustrious Duke of Milan.
31) In the third rank were Antonio, the Duke of San Marco, Troiano, the Duke of Melfi, Antonio Centelles, the Marquis of Crotone, and Giacomo, the son of the valorous Niccolò Piccinino.
32) Then, according to their rank, there were thirty-eight dukes and counts, about a hundred nobles and barons, an almost infinite number of knights, and a vast multitude of distinguished men, venerable prelates, and learned scholars.
33) Looking at the crowd behind the chariot, you could say that there were no other men in the city. Even that enormous square, as well as the rooftops of all the palaces, the windows, the doors, the arcades, the streets, the squares, and every other place were so filled with people, both foreigners who had come from all parts for the spectacle and citizens, that if you had not looked behind the chariot, you could have thought that there were no other men left.
34) And already Alfonso proceeded amidst the foundations of his triumphal arch, which had already begun to be built, and as he gradually looked at the various monuments, he started moving towards the district of the Mint, where the streets were strewn with flowers and foliage. But, an unprecedented sight neither seen nor read, the windows of the houses facing each other were connected with scarlet fabrics and woven abundantly with gold.
35) Under this almost golden sky, Alfonso, to the great applause of all the silversmiths and merchants, and with a new display of spectacles and festivities, carried forward in incredible celebration, arrived without further ado at the seat of Porta Nuova. There, an almost infinite multitude of men and beautiful women who danced and sang awaited the king with incredible longing and exceptional joy.
36) In this seat, as well as in the others, the walls were covered with colorful curtains and drapes, and the women were sumptuously adorned with purple, pure gold, and gems. That luxury was praiseworthy, as every elegant and refined thing was turned and dedicated to the king, the lord, the father, the benefactor.
37) Therefore, exhibiting, or rather interspersing, dances and songs, all the young maidens, kneeling with folded hands, adored him when they saw him as if he were a god, the guardian of their modesty. The men did the same because he had preserved their wealth and lives.
38) Then, advancing, he headed towards the seat called Porto, where the people engaged in similar dances and exultation, and which, with no less adornments, was extremely elegant in terms of the number, beauty, bearing, and refinement of the young maidens. They received the king with the same gratitude and reverence as their protector.
39) Then he was brought to Nido, a noble and ancient seat, not inferior to any of those already mentioned, whether you wanted to satiate yourself with the adornments of the walls and the beautiful paintings, or whether you wanted to be amazed by the multitude of maidens, or whether you wanted to be captivated by their beauty, or be caressed by their singing and delighted, perhaps, by their dances. Here, too, everyone rendered immortal thanks to the most pious and merciful king.
40) He was then brought to the ancient seat of Montagna, received by men and women with similar welcome, similar gratitude, and similar affection from all.
41) From there, he proceeded towards the marble steps of the cathedral, got off the chariot, and, accompanied by the procession of princes and nobles following him, entered the church and humbly prayed to the true deity, Jesus Christ, attributing and ascribing to Him the praise of victory, the glory of triumph, the honors of all virtues, and the gratitude.
42) Therefore, resuming the journey, in front of the church doors, he bestowed the equestrian title, for his merits, upon Giannotto Pitto; then he ascended the chariot with great and almost unbelievable joy and applause from the maidens who awaited the king in the seat of Capuana. Never before had there been greater refinement, whether in the magnificence of things, the beauty of similar maidens and nymphs, the generosity of the people, the grateful joy of their spirits, or, finally, in the individuals and the surroundings.
43) Continuing onwards, as evening was falling, the king was finally brought to Castel Capuano, which is located near this splendid seat. [Pietro Ursuleo]

Bertelli's map of Alfonso's triumphal procession seemed a little lacking in details. I wondered where he got it.

If he got it from Beccadelli's text, then it is misleading. King Alfonso does indeed start at the Carmine/Mercato gate, but he doesn't end at the Castelnuovo, but at the Castel Capuano, in the center of town. Reading more closely, or between the lines even, his map implies that Alfonso follows the Roman decumanus boundaries, or the east-west main streets, ending in gates, garrisons in Roman times. This insight seems sound.

Here is how my understanding of Beccadelli would look on Bertelli's map. Read on for the explanation.


Beccadelli describes the stages of the progression clearly, except for one place where the confusion is no doubt do to me not to him, which I discuss below regarding paragraph 34.

Beccadelli's account of Alfonso's itinerary:

He waits outside at the church of Saint Anthony (paragraph 1 of Beccadelli). The map of 1560 at the end of this post is admittedly nearly 120 years after the event, but it has almost all the same site names and it is artistically represented. The church of Sant'Antonio is far to the north of the old city. After some searching, it turns out that this can only be the church of Sant'Antonio Abate, which is the name of the whole district.


The distance to the Porta del Carmine is about 1.6km, or one mile. Carmine and Mercato are the same gate, as you learn when you look it up.

Si trovano per questa nuova porta vari nomi: l'antico porta nova, porta del mercato oppure porta del moricino (toponimi spiegabili perché sorgeva presso il campo del moricino divenuto nuova sede del mercato). https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_del_Carmine

The church of Santa Maria del Carmino (number 152 on the big map at the end) is still there at the gate, now called Basilica Santuario di Maria Santissima del Carmine Maggiore.

Then, not yet seated on the throne on the chariot, he goes into the city through a part of the wall demolished for him (Beccadelli paragraph 2). The chariot is ready (paragraphs 3-4), but he enobles some of his men (Beccadelli paragraphs 5-6) before mounting the throne (paragraphs 7-8).


“After proceeding a little further...” (paragraph 9) can only be to the Piazza del Mercato, the largest public square in town, by the looks of it, so this must be where the spectacles were held (paragraphs 9 to 26). The first were done by Florentines (sponsored by the community of Florentine merchants, we learn from other sources), paragraphs 9-18, and second by Catalans, paragraphs 19 to 26.

Then a procession forms and they leave the Mercato. Beccadelli describes the four ranks following behind the chariot (including, in the fourth rank, “learned scholars,” which included Beccadelli and Lorenzo Valla, an assertion made by Holt Parker in his edition of Beccadelli's Hermaphrodite, page xviii, which is what made me do this study in the first place, since I had never had that image in my mind before and I wondered where he got it). Beccadelli paragraphs 27 to 33.

Now, paragraph 34, comes a curious description I have to guess about. Beccadelli says that

Iamque Alfonsus per media sui triumphalis arcus fundamenta, coepta iam agi, iter faciebat, monumentaque rerum suarum paululum conspicatus Numulariorum versus regionem ire perrexit.

My own literal:

And now Alfonso, through the midest of the foundations of his triumphal arch, already begun, was making his way, having caught sight for a brief moment of the monuments of his achievements, proceeded towards the region of the Mint.

Delle Donne translates as:

E già Alfonso procedeva in mezzo alle fondamenta del suo arco trionfale, che già si era iniziato a costruire, e, avendo guardato a poco a poco i vari monumenti, cominciò a muovere verso il quartiere della Zecca

Now, it is hard for me to imagine that Alfonso took a quick dash of 1.75km, over a mile, to the Castelnuovo, where the triumphal arch is, and then back into the center of town where the Zecca (bank) district is, around the church of Sant'Arcangelo, number 93 on the 1560 map. This is where the Palazzo della Zecca was since the 13th century. My understanding of this paragraph then, is that the stonework of the arch was done at some place in town near the Mercato, and then transported and erected at the Castelnuovo. So Beccadelli is saying that Alfonso inspected and approved the stonecarvers' work as the procession advanced, without getting off of his chariot we have to imagine. I'll have to research it further, but this seems to be the best picture at the moment.

The easiest way from the Piazza del Mercato to the Porta Nuova (139 on 1560 map below) does indeed go north-west towards the Zecca, which is how I have traced it on the map, through the square called “la Sellaria”, number 89 on the map. Then southward againg to number 139, the Porta Nova district (paragraphs 35 to 37).

Then straight to Porto (paragraph 38), number 135, and up the via Nilo (51 on map, which I cannot find), which is also written “Nido”, to the seat of the district of Nido, number 81 (paragraph 39).

From there he goes to the seat of Montagna (paragraph 40), number 30 on the map. He could have gone straight up, past the church of San Domenico (number 49), but I made a little detour so that he could have paid respects to the actual seat, number 81, the little domed building on the map.

From there along the via dei Tribunali (the tribunal is the Castel Capuano) to the cathedral (“Domo”, number 34 on the map), of Santa Maria Assunta, is a straight shot. This is described in Beccadelli's paragraphs 41 and 42.

Finally, after a long day (although in Febrary the daylight would only be around 10 hours) to the Castel Capuano, paragraph 43.

So, I still don't know if Bertelli is right, in that the itinerary is a circuit of the five sedili di Napoli – Portanuova, Porto, Nilo, Montagna, and Capuana – but I don't know how ancient that is.
http://www.rosscaldwell.com/images/triu ... proute.jpg

This Triumph is, and has been, of interest because of its tarot-like motifs as conceived by Florentines: seven virtues, Fortune, and two triumphators, Alfonso near the beginning and Caesar toward the end.

way that Ross advanced a long time ago, but which he now attributes to Florence. My objection has been, whether Florence or Bologna, that Caesar as the one who ended by Roman Republic would have been anathema to both. A problem with my objection is that Caesar was said to have been the founder of Florence in 59 b.c. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Florence and numerous other websites_; if so, perhaps his defects could be overlooked.

However, I see from Bruni's History of the Florentine People (in archive.org) that he redefined the founding of Florence: it was not Caesar, but the veterans of Sulla's army who founded the city, 50 or so years earlier. After first over-spending and becoming impoverished as a result, the veterans took up the course of virtue and the city prospered. It languished under the Empire, and rose again once the Empire fell.

All of this fits Florence's image of itself as a virtuous republic. The veterans got rich due to plunder, and they fell into poverty as a result, only recovering when they found a sense of virtue again. Meanwhile, Sulla himself is a precursor to Caesar, even if he died peacefully, because he took the Roman state by force. Sulla's victories remained and seemed to make Rome strong, whereas, p. 52 of Hankins' translation:

Yet the decline of the Roman Empire ought, in my opinion, to be dated almost from the moment that Rome gave up its liberty to serve a series of Emperors.

Bruni then describes how each of the earliest Emperor met his end violently, eventually engendering more and more tumult. The "almost" gives me pause, but not much. Bruni skips over Caesar himself, who of course gained power by armed rebellion against the Republic, just like Sulla, albeit for a different purpose, to supersede the senate, not restore it to power.

We can now look at the winged-helmeted figure on the Bolognese Chariot and World as Sulla's representative veteran, conquering, succumbing to Fortune, being resurrected in subsequent generations, only to fall and rise again, with the ascendance of virtue represented in the World card. Well, that's if the Bolognese images originated in Florence. At the same time, to flatter a foreign potentate, the Florentines will happily glorify Caesar in a similar way, a rotating world beneath him.

Other items of interest are the numbers in this procession: 20 nobles, 10 on either side of the King's chariot, perhaps all being elevated in rank by Alfonso (21 trumps?); 5 districts of Naples (5 suits?), 4 ranks of counts and princes on foot (4 regular suits?). But I am not sure how much can be made of this. Likewise for the angels (3 is just the trinity) descending with a crown to one who is deserving, like Fame on the CY World card.

Thanks for looking at Alfonso's triumph, Mike. I also have Borso's in Reggio, ten years later, ready to go. The two triumphs are genetically related, and in many ways Borso's is more informative - we have the designer's notes.

With Alfonso, I am not at all advancing a similar idea to the Caesar-triumph story of the trumps, which I insist I put into the Unicorn Terrace because I wanted to be playful, not to seriously commit to it. I was right to do so. I have not tried to understand the trump sequence as a simple linear narrative since the locus became Florence, which for me happened between 2010 and January 2012, when Thierry informed me of his Giusto Giusti discovery and I announced it here. We had already been moving towards Florence from two different directions for some time: iconographically, recognizing Charles VI, Catania, Rothschild, etc. as being Florentine since 2005-2006; and documentarily, from Arnold Esch's Roman customs register work that led to Florentine makers and exporters of Triumph cards that Franco Pratesi so heroically brought to light between 2009 and 2012, and beyond. So Giusto Giusti was just the final piece in a movement that had been building for years. Even the original move to A, for me, in 2003, which meant Bologna at the time, was a necessary precondition to make the short step to Florence possible.

What I AM doing with Alfonso is giving a famous example of how the Florentines approached the triumphal idea in practice, in the apparatus of the procession, its logic, adapted to the occasion, and its symbolism as expressed in the words of the symbols themselves. The specific symbolism and order in Alfonso's triumph is not what I am using for insight into the game of Triumphs. It has some symbolism very specific to Alfonso, and to the setting in Naples. What is important to me is that some of the same people, or at least the same sort of people, I believe, who invented the game of Triumphs, also designed the Florentine part of Alfonso's triumph, and perhaps the overall plan of it. So we may look for insights into how they conceived the triumph-idea for the context of the game's symbolic triumphal procession, by comparison with the triumph they designed for Alfonso's through Naples, since the latter is "speaking" in the various accounts, and we have no such speaking-explanation for carte da trionfi.

It was Philine Helas's paper "'mundus in rotundo et pulcherrime depictus: nunquam sistens sed continuo volvens'. Ephemere Globen in den Festinszenierungen des italienischen Quattrocento" That made me take a deeper interest in Alfonso's triumph.
https://www.academia.edu/104319996/_mun ... attrocento

I first brought it up in 2009 here - viewtopic.php?f=12&t=334&p=5143&hilit=pulcherrime#p5143

What struck me first was the paragraph from the English summary at a page no longer existing, but is on pages 158-159 of the German paper linked above,

“At the above-mentioned event in Naples, Florentine merchants presented a statue of the emperor Caesar standing on a sphere painted to represent the earth, which was constantly revolving. It is my hypothesis that this globe was a product of the "scientific revolution" which began in early 15th Century Florence and was further proliferated by the Union Council in 1439 where Greek and Latin scholars met. Written sources make no mention of the creator of the 1443 globe. We can, however, reconstruct a highly suggestive connection: Piero de' Ricci was the author of a poem recited by Caesar; de' Ricci was acquainted with Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, the great Florentine cartographer who, in turn, was a friend of Filippo Brunelleschi, the well-known architect, engineer and constructor of machines for the religious spectacles in Florence. Together this is a rare combination of humanistic, artistic and scientific knowledge which could have formed the basis for this invention.”

Except for Piero de' Ricci, who wrote the poem for Caesar, and, just as Malatesta Ariosti for Borso's Reggio triumph, probably all of the words spoken by the symbolic figures, none of the other men Helas named there interested me much. I was more interested in how the fact of a rotating globe, the first recorded, might have inspired the idea of a an actual rotating earth in some of the audience, perhaps even in the mind of the proposed inventor, Toscanelli, himself.

It was Piero de' Ricci's role in Alfonso's triumph that got me thinking in terms of the festival designers in Florence as the inventors of the game. The artists, artisans, poets, engineers, planners. This festival idea was the background to everything I've thought later.

I also thought that, given how often Alfonso's triumph is cited in the literature on Renaissance triumphs and their iconography, that the most famous description, Antonio Beccadelli's, deserved to be translated into English in full. There are four or five other, shorter accounts, which I'll put up as well. One is from a Catalan witness, written two days after the event to his correspondents back home, which inverts the order of the allegorical spectacles in the Mercato square, putting that of the Catalans first, Florentines second. I don't know what to make of it, but it is the earliest witness. Maybe he was just being partisan?

Here is Helas' lost text, that I had the presence of mind to copy into a document while it was still up.

"MUNDUS IN ROTUNDO ET PULCHERRIME DEPICTUS: NUNQUAM SISTENS SED CONTINUO VOLVENS" :EPHEMERE GLOBEN IN DEN FESTINSZENIERUNGEN DES ITALIENISCHEN QUATTROCENTO

Philine Helas

Dr. Philine Helas, Kunstgeschichtliches Institut der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, D-10099 Berlin.
Der Beitrag basiert auf Thesen und Materialien meiner Dissertation Lebende Bilder. Ein Phänomen der italienischen Festkultur des Quattrocento, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 1997. Für Anregungen und Hinweise möchte ich Kristen Lippincott und Rudolf Schmidt danken.

SUMMARY

Fifteenth Century Italian culture is characterized by sumptuous pageantry at public feasts, ecclesiastical processions, and in profane ceremonies such as the festive entrance of a ruler, bride or guest of state. On such occasions, living images or tableaux vivants were used. At two events, the entrance of Alfonso d' Aragona in Naples in 1443 and the wedding of Costanzo Sforza and Cammilla d' Aragona in Pesaro in 1475, this pageantry included a personification placed on a globe. These examples are important documentations for the history of the globe in 15th Century Italy.

At the above-mentioned event in Naples, Florentine merchants presented a statue of the emperor Caesar standing on a sphere painted to represent the earth, which was constantly revolving. It is my hypothesis that this globe was a product of the "scientific revolution" which began in early 15th Century Florence and was further proliferated by the Union Council in 1439 where Greek and Latin scholars met. Written sources make no mention of the creator of the 1443 globe. We can, however, reconstruct a highly suggestive connection: Piero de' Ricci was the author of a poem recited by Caesar; de' Ricci was acquainted with Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, the great Florentine cartographer who, in turn, was a friend of Filippo Brunelleschi, the well-known architect, engineer and constructor of machines for the religious spectacles in Florence. Together this is a rare combination of humanistic, artistic and scientific knowledge which could have formed the basis for this invention. It should also be noted that ephemeral decorations formed a special place for artistic experiments.

In Florence, the first picture of a globe can be found in the 1470's in a painting by Piero Pollaiuolo. Many other examples can subsequently be found in miniatures. Perhaps influenced by Florentine inventions, Federico da Monte-feltro made his court a center of humanistic and scientific studies, generating another ephemeral globe in 1475. Only two years later, the first „real" globe is documented in Italy. It was made for Sixtus IV by the German astronomer Donnus Nikolaus Germanus.

It appears that an artistic readiness to use and transform knowledge of geometry and optics formed the basis of an interest in „imaging" the earth. This was later to become an important part of the history of science.

Der Globusfreund 45-46 (1997/98, published February 1998)

http://www.coronelli.org/publikationen/gf4546.html

Here is the Catalan letter I mentioned above, by Antonio Vinyes to the City Council of Barcelona. I have bolded the inversion of the order of the spectacles:

"Carta de Antonio Vinyes a los Consellers de Barcelona." (Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona, Cartes comunes originals, vol. 13, 1443, ff. 18-18, 28/02/1443), published in Madurell y Marimón, Mensajeros Barceloneses en la corte del Magnánimo, 1963, pp. 217-219.
https://archive.org/details/mensajerosb ... 6/mode/2up

Ihesus. Molt honorables...: Per tant com és cert que per innada e fael naturalesa vostres coratges se són alegrats, e s’alegren de les grans victòrias, per lo molt alt e molt excellent princep e poderós senyor, lo senyor rey, triumfalment, en a per temor e migà de la sua spasa obtengudes.

És donchs pertinent que vostres grans savieses sien avisades de la grandissima e triunfal festa e solemnitat, feta al dit senyor en la entrada que de present ha feta en la sua ciutat de Nàpols, la qual bellicosament en lo present any, segons a tot lo món es notori ha entrada, e a ses mans subjugada. La dita festa e solemnitat tant com n’e pogut compendre és sots la forma següent: Lo senyor rey aprés hach a sa mà, segons dit és, e conquistada la dita ciutat de Nàpols, discorrent e cobrant ab sa mà poderosa les ciutats, viles e castells sotsmesos al domani de Nàpols, axi en les parts de Abruço e de Puylla, com de altres parts, e aquelles a sa reyal mà sotsmeses, és retornat en la dita ciutat de Nàpols, la qual lo ha recebut altament com a lur rey e senyor.

E dissapte que’s comptave xxiii del mes de febrer lo dit senyor vench en lo monastir de Sent Anthoni, qui és assats prop la dita ciutat, e aturant aqui los dimenge e dilluns prop següents, les grans dances e alegria se comencen per los setges e altres parts de la ciutat.

E aprés lo dimarts demati vers viiiiº hores, que’s comptave xxvi del dit mes de febrer, lo dit senyor volent entrar en la dita ciutat, per la part de la plaça del Mercat vers lo Portal del monastir del Carme, los ciutedins e ministres de aquesta ciutat de Nàpols hagueren fet derrocar aquí gran troç de mur, e al encontra del dit senyor ans que fos entrat, li fonch presentat un gran carro molt magnifich de iiii rodes, ab gran bastiment dessús dites rodes fet a manera de cadafal. Lo dit carro e rodes dalt a baix ere daurat, e dalt havie una molt rica cadira cuberta de brocat d’or e dos coxins del dit brocat, lo i per seure, l’altre per los peus, e lo siti perillós. E lo dit senyor venint en caballs, vestit de roba carmesí roceguant folrada de martes, ab cara molt ardent, clara e alegra, descavalcant de son cavall, pujà sobre lo dit carro, e sech en la dita cadira, e prestament li fonch posat dessús per los pus magnífichs homens de la ciutat, un molt rich pali de brocat d’or qui tenie xxii bordons, lo qual coste mil cccc ducats. E axí lo dit carro tirat per iiii molt bells cavalls blanchs en dos, ab cordons de seda e ab sengles coxinets de carmesí, vench fins al mur tranchat. E aquí aturat li vench un molt poxant entremés ab gran cadafal, fet per los mercaders cathalans, sobre lo qual entremés eren les iiii Virtuts, e lo siti perillós que lo dit senyor fa per sa divisa o empresa. E la una de les dites Virtuts ab alta veu significà e parlà al dit senyor que la dita empresa del dit siti perillós, per la benaventurada conquesta havie son obtende, com algun altre rey, príncep ne senyor no era stat digne de seure sobre aquell siti, sinó lo dit senyor qui havie supeditat e obtengut lo dit rey[al]me. E discorregut lo dit entremés ab moltes naturas de jochs que li feren, vench altre entremés fet per los mercaders florentins, e sobre un cadafal hagueren posat un home armat de ernés, com qui stave de peus sobre un pom gros, e designació del món, estant devant lo dit senyor ab alta veu li dix en substància semblants paraules: Re Alfonso, re de pau, Déus te mantengue en ta prosperitat, e la bella Florença en sa libertat. E no’t vulles altificar de tanta glòria, car béns són de fortuna, e lo món és qui rode.

E dites aquestes o semblants paraules, artificialment feren rodar lo dit gran pom, fet a manera de món. E discorreguts...

Lo comte de Sant Valentino, lo comte de Mareri, lo comte de Lauria, lo comte de Bochu, lo comte de Calatanoxeta, lo comte de Aderno, lo comte de Calataballota, lo comte de Olivito, lo comte de Mirabella, lo comte Gilabert, Romeo Caldora, Iacobo de Lagonisa, Carbo di Campobaixo, lo almirall de Cicília, lo almirall de Aragò, lo mestre justier de Cicília, lo conservador de Cicília, lo mestre portolà de Cicilia, los embaxadors de Florença, lo embaxador de Jénova, los embaxadors de l’Àguila, mestre Iacobo Gayatano, Francisco de Montragono, e molts altres homes generosos e magnats.

E axi altament, lo dit senyor, entrant e passant per la dita plaça del Mercat ont ere començat lo arch triumfal que fan per memòria de la dita entrada, tirà la via dels Cambis o Banchs, e tots carrés empaliats, tirà la via del Setgia de la Porta Nova, e aquell setgia altament empaliat e acompanyat de damas molt poxantment e ricosa vestides de carmasins e altres draps de seda, e lurs manyoses fornides de perles e fermalls e molts ministrés. Per mostrar la gran festa al dit senyor les dites dames dançaven. E axí discorrent lo dit senyor los setgias de Porto, e de Nido, e de Capuana, que aximateix eren empaliats e fornits de damas e ministrés, e continuant les grans dançes, lo dit senyor, molt alegrement, entrà en lo Castell de Capuana, ont havic aximateix de g[r]ans entremeses, dances e alegries. E aquella nit matexa lo Castell de Sent Elm, lo Castell Nou, e lo Castell del Ou, e encara tota la ciutat han fetes grans luminàries e alimares.

Aprés, mossenyors molt honorables, aquella nit matexa, vengueren al dit senyor los dits prínceps, duchs, comtes e barons, e suplicarenlo que fos de sa mercè que, aprés son óbit, volgués proveyir e heretar don Ferrando de Aragó, del reyalme de Nàpols; e aquell en lo dit cars, los donàs per rey e senyor, car ells se offerien decontinent ferli homenatge, la qual cosa, lo dit senyor, molt liberalment atorguà.

Aprés, inmediatament, los dessús dits prínceps, comtes, duchs e barons, feren al dit senyor altre suplicació, que attès que lo papa e lo dit senyor no’s podien concordar, que fos de sa mercè darlos licència que ells poguessen trametre o scriure al dit papa, que’s concordàs ab lo dit senyor. En altra manera ells li significarien que no podien viure axí, e d’aquí avant lo papa los hagués per excusats, etc. E feta aquesta suplicació lo dit senyor molt benignament, la admeté, e ho atorguà segons ere demanat. De les altres cosas que per avant occorreran jo n’avisaré vostres grans savìeses, qui ordonen de mi tot lo que plasent vos sia.

Scrita en la ciutat de Nàpols, a XXVIII de ffebrer, any M.CCCC.XXXXIII

"Jesus. Your honors...: Therefore, as it is certain that by nature and innate inclination your hearts have been delighted, and they rejoice in great victories, through the very high and excellent prince and powerful lord, the lord king, triumphantly, achieved by fear and the might of his sword.

"It is therefore relevant that your great wisdom is informed of the grand and triumphant feast and solemnity held in honor of the aforementioned lord at his entry into his city of Naples, which he has recently conquered. This city has been forcefully entered and subdued by him this year, as is well known throughout the world. The said feast and solemnity, as much as could be summarized, took the following form: The lord king, having taken Naples into his hands and conquered the city, proceeded to roam and acquire, with his mighty hand, the towns, villages, and castles subject to the dominion of Naples, both in the Abruzzo and Apulia regions, as well as in other areas. He subjected them to his royal hand and then returned to the city of Naples, which received him with great honor as their king and lord.

"On Saturday, the 23rd of February, the said lord arrived at the Monastery of St. Anthony, which is located near the city. He stayed there on Sunday and Monday, and during these days, great dances and rejoicing began throughout the city's streets and other areas.

"Then, on Tuesday morning around the ninth hour, the 26th of the same month, the said lord, intending to enter the city through the Market Square towards the Gate of the Carmel Monastery, had a large section of the wall demolished by the citizens and officials of the city of Naples. Before he could enter, they presented him with a magnificent and grand carriage with four wheels, adorned with great splendor upon these wheels, resembling a platform. The said carriage and wheels, from top to bottom, were gilded, and on top, there was a very rich chair covered in gold brocade, with two cushions of the same brocade, one for sitting and the other for the feet, and the seat was perilously high. The said lord, riding on horses, dressed in crimson velvet lined with marten fur, with a face radiant, clear, and joyful, dismounted from his horse and ascended the said carriage. He seated himself in the aforementioned chair, and promptly, the most magnificent men of the city placed upon him a very rich mantle of gold brocade, which had twenty-two tassels and cost 1,400 ducats. Thus, the said carriage, pulled by four beautiful white horses in pairs, with silk cords and crimson saddlecloths, came up to the breached wall. Here, it stopped, and a very elaborate interlude, built by Catalan merchants, appeared on a grand platform. On this interlude, there were the four Virtues and the perilous seat, which the said lord used as his emblem or device. One of the Virtues spoke aloud and signified to the said lord that he, through the blessed conquest, had obtained the said emblem of the perilous seat, as no other king, prince, or lord had been worthy to sit upon that seat except for the said lord, who had subjected and obtained the said kingdom. After this interlude, with many entertaining performances, another interlude made by Florentine merchants came forth. On a platform, they had placed a man armed with armor, as if he stood on a large apple. In the presence of the said lord, he spoke with a loud voice, in substance, similar words: King Alfonso, king of peace, may God maintain your prosperity and beautiful Florence in its freedom. Do not let yourself be exalted by such glory, for wealth is fleeting, and the world keeps spinning.

"After uttering these or similar words, they artistically rolled the large apple, made to resemble the world. With these events concluded...

"The Count of Sant Valentino, the Count of Mareri, the Count of Lauria, the Count of Bochu, the Count of Calatanoxeta, the Count of Aderno, the Count of Calataballota, the Count of Olivito, the Count of Mirabella, Count Gilabert, Romeo Caldora, Iacobo de Lagonisa, Carbo di Campobaixo, the Admiral of Sicily, the Admiral of Aragon, the Master Justiciar of Sicily, the Conservator of Sicily, the Master Portolan of Sicily, the ambassadors of Florence, the ambassador of Genoa, the ambassadors of Aquila, Master Iacobo Gayatano, Francisco de Montragono, and many other noble and prominent men were present.

"And so, the said lord, entering and passing through the aforementioned Market Square, where the triumphal arch was erected to commemorate the said entry, took the route of the Exchange or Benches, and all the streets were adorned. He proceeded along the route of the Setgia de la Porta Nova, and that setgia was highly decorated and accompanied by ladies dressed luxuriously in crimson and other silk fabrics, their sleeves adorned with pearls and brooches, and many attendants. The said ladies danced to display the great celebration to the said lord. Thus, as the said lord progressed, the setgias of Porto, Nido, and Capuana, which were similarly adorned and filled with ladies and attendants, were passed by, and the grand dances continued. The said lord, joyfully, entered the Castell de Capuana, where there were also great interludes, dances, and festivities. On the same night, the Castell de Sant Elm, the Castell Nou, the Castell del Ou, and the entire city illuminated and shone brightly.

"Afterwards, highly honorable gentlemen, on the same night, the said princes, dukes, counts, and barons approached the said lord and pleaded with him that, after his passing, he would be pleased to appoint and inherit Don Ferrando of Aragon as the ruler of the Kingdom of Naples. In the presence of the said lords, the said lord granted them the kingdom and lordship, as they immediately offered to pay homage. The said lord generously granted their request.

"Immediately afterward, the aforementioned princes, counts, dukes, and barons made another plea to the said lord. They stated that since the pope and the said lord could not come to an agreement, they requested permission to send a message or write to the pope, requesting his reconciliation with the said lord. In any other case, they would consider themselves excused from the pope's authority, etc. The said lord kindly accepted and granted their request as they had asked. As for other matters that will occur in the future, I will inform your esteemed wisdom, who guide me as you please.

"Written in the city of Naples, on the 28th of February, in the year 1443."

(translation ChatGPT)

Since Vinyes didn't know it was Caesar on the "large apple" (pom gros), it appears that he did not have as privileged a position as Beccadelli in regards to the pageant. Beccadelli notes that the learned men of Alfonso's court, which included Lorenzo Valla and himself, marched behind the triumphal chariot in the last rank of honor in the procession.

Here is an stone relief carving of Alfonso's triumph, which was once placed over a doorway in the Sala dei Baroni in the Castelnuovo, the same room which once showed King Robert's cycle of famous men painted by Giotto. The relief was destroyed in a fire in 1919, only a photograph remains.

If this strange - nude? - figure on what indeed looks like a large apple is Caesar, then Vinyes' description might be the more accurate one. But I'm not sure.

The old photo:

The version of Caesar on the 1450s cassone in a private collection in Naples shows the globe to be very small, but I have tended to think that, like his other omissions, the artists has condensed the images for economy on the space available. For instance Justice is alone, not in the presence of the other Virtues we know were there. But, he must have known that Justice was singled out in the spectacle, so it was enough to show her to remind the viewer of all of the Virtues.

Ross Caldwell wrote: 27 Aug 2023, 09:30 What I AM doing with Alfonso is giving a famous example of how the Florentines approached the triumphal idea in practice, in the apparatus of the procession, its logic, adapted to the occasion, and its symbolism as expressed in the words of the symbols themselves. The specific symbolism and order in Alfonso's triumph is not what I am using for insight into the game of Triumphs. It has some symbolism very specific to Alfonso, and to the setting in Naples. What is important to me is that some of the same people, or at least the same sort of people, I believe, who invented the game of Triumphs, also designed the Florentine part of Alfonso's triumph, and perhaps the overall plan of it. So we may look for insights into how they conceived the triumph-idea for the context of the game's symbolic triumphal procession, by comparison with the triumph they designed for Alfonso's through Naples, since the latter is "speaking" in the various accounts, and we have no such speaking-explanation for carte da trionfi.
...
Except for Piero de' Ricci, who wrote the poem for Caesar, and, just as Malatesta Ariosti for Borso's Reggio triumph, probably all of the words spoken by the symbolic figures, none of the other men Helas named there interested me much. I was more interested in how the fact of a rotating globe, the first recorded, might have inspired the idea of a an actual rotating earth in some of the audience, perhaps even in the mind of the proposed inventor, Toscanelli, himself.

Ross, thanks for giving a nuanced take here, and the inclusion of Caesar can almost be entirely attributed to Alfonso's cultural program and the Florentine need to flatter him (and most importantly, keep the grain shipments from Naples coming). And we need to be very circumspect in weighing what portion of the program from the ur-tarot was shared with the Alfonso triumph (or can be inferred vice versa, since we have no particulars for the ur-tarot).

To Mike's comments about Caesar in Bruni's History, let me add his earlier thoughts from his Laudatio:

Accordingly, this very noble Roman colony was established at the very moment when the dominion of
the Roman people flourished greatly and when very powerful kings and warlike nations were being
conquered by the skill of Roman aims and by virtue. Carthage, Spain, and Corinth were levelled to the
ground; all lands and seas acknowledged the rule of these Romans, and these same Romans suffered no
harm from any foreign state. Moreover, the Caesars, the Antonines, the Tiberiuses, the Neros—those
plagues and destroyers of the Roman Republic—had not yet deprived the people of their liberty.
Rather, still growing there was that sacred and untrampled freedom that, soon after the founding of the
colony of Florence, was to be stolen by those vilest of thieves. For this reason I think something has
been true and is true in this city more than in any other; the men of Florence especially enjoy perfect
freedom and are the greatest enemies of tyrants. So I believe that from its very founding Florence
conceived such a hatred for the destroyers of the Roman state and underminers of the Roman Republic
that it has never forgotten to this very day. If any trace of or even the names of those corrupters of
Rome have survived to the present, they are hated and scorned in Florence.
https://www.york.ac.uk/teaching/history/pjpg/bruni.pdf

I am not interested in the rotating globe, although I suppose Lo Scheggia had that on his mind when he drew up Lorenzo de Medici's birth tray painting, where Fama stands on a potentially mechanical looking globe. But the veduta tondo we find persisting in the hand-painted tarot decks "World" trumps has nothing to do with a rotating globe - that tradition exists separately. Iconographical considerations aside, and for the reasons already cited, I think we can all accept Caesar was in no way a part of the ur-tarot.

I would like to point out why Florentines were the source of Caesar's inclusion into the triumph: most of the illustrious families did business in Naples, if not had banking or business branches there, and thus intelligence from there was always first hand. They knew what Alfonso wanted - it was his program they simply fashioned words and edifici for. If Alfonso wanted to accept Caesar as embodying the seven virtues that was his business. To wit:

[Alfonso] always had Caesar's Commentaries with him on military expeditions. Caesar continued to form part of Alfonso’s cultural identity for years after his death (Margolis, Oren Jason. The Politics of Culture in Quattrocento Europe: René of Anjou in Italy. Oxford University Press, 2016: 88)

Piero di Giovanni de’ Riccci, author of Caesar's speech, would have been one of the most informed of political currents in Naples. Just two years later (1 April, 1445) we find Ricci asking Giovanni di Cosimo de Medici to write a letter of condolence to Piero’s recently widowed sister Camilla de Ricci Peruzzi (McLean, Paul D.. The Art of the Network: Strategic Interaction and Patronage in Renaissance Florence. Duke University Press, 2007.101). His sister then was married into the formerly powerful Peruzzi (albeit now exiled), who long had a presence in Naples, as undoubtedly did the Ricci have business connections.

What does interest me are the Florentine-produced 7 virtues in Naples following so closely upon the ur-tarot. It is a fourth data point for considering a 7 virtue based + 7 exempli deck with 14 total trumps of the ur-tarot:

1. "14 images" painted for Bianca 1/1/1441, Ferrara.

2. 70 card tarot deck implying 14 trumps in 1457, Ferrara (1 and 2 reinforcing each other as in the same city)

3. c. 1441 CY only has trumps that can be considered virtues and their exempli (no sun, moon , star, devil, tower, 'juggler', fool, hermit), implying 14 trumps

4. Florence's state contribution to Alfonso's 1443 triumph focused on the 7 virtues (Caesar was merely a nod to Alfonso).

All of this falls within ~17 years of the ur-tarot, three of the data points within 5 years.

There still is not a single reference or piece of evidence for 22 trumps before the PMB. Its all theoretical retro-dating of much later evidence, with nothing contemporary to the ur-tarot to validate it, while ignoring all 4 points just named.

Phaeded

Phaeded wrote: 27 Aug 2023, 17:21
Ross, thanks for giving a nuanced take here, and the inclusion of Caesar can almost be entirely attributed to Alfonso's cultural program and the Florentine need to flatter him (and most importantly, keep the grain shipments from Naples coming). And we need to be very circumspect in weighing what portion of the program from the ur-tarot was shared with the Alfonso triumph (or can be inferred vice versa, since we have no particulars for the ur-tarot).
I am not interested in the rotating globe, although I suppose Lo Scheggia had that on his mind when he drew up Lorenzo de Medici's birth tray painting, where Fama stands on a potentially mechanical looking globe. But the veduta tondo we find persisting in the hand-painted tarot decks "World" trumps has nothing to do with a rotating globe - that tradition exists separately. Iconographical considerations aside, and for the reasons already cited, I think we can all accept Caesar was in no way a part of the ur-tarot.

I would like to point out why Florentines were the source of Caesar's inclusion into the triumph: most of the illustrious families did business in Naples, if not had banking or business branches there, and thus intelligence from there was always first hand. They knew what Alfonso wanted - it was his program they simply fashioned words and edifici for. If Alfonso wanted to accept Caesar as embodying the seven virtues that was his business. To wit:

[Alfonso] always had Caesar's Commentaries with him on military expeditions. Caesar continued to form part of Alfonso’s cultural identity for years after his death (Margolis, Oren Jason. The Politics of Culture in Quattrocento Europe: René of Anjou in Italy. Oxford University Press, 2016: 88)

Caesar's presence may have flattered him, but his message was all admonition, not praise. In particular, don't trust Fortuna, as I did, and prove your worthiness of this honor by leaving Florence in peace!

It was given in Italian, not Catalan, so maybe some of the force of it was lost on him - I have no idea of his mastery of Italian - but I disagree that Caesar is implied to embody the Virtues. Rather, he is an exemplum that, as you point out, Alfonso held dear and could relate to. Absolutely I agree that the Florentines knew that about him. If they could have given a triumph for Filippo Maria, they would doubtlessly have used Caesar too, saying more or less the same thing.

Piero di Giovanni de’ Riccci, author of Caesar's speech, would have been one of the most informed of political currents in Naples. Just two years later (1 April, 1445) we find Ricci asking Giovanni di Cosimo de Medici to write a letter of condolence to Piero’s recently widowed sister Camilla de Ricci Peruzzi (McLean, Paul D.. The Art of the Network: Strategic Interaction and Patronage in Renaissance Florence. Duke University Press, 2007.101). His sister then was married into the formerly powerful Peruzzi (albeit now exiled), who long had a presence in Naples, as undoubtedly did the Ricci have business connections.

Interesting on Piero de' Ricci, thanks. Are you sure that this is Piero di Giovanni (d'Andrea) de' Ricci, though? I don't see that in what I can view of McLean's text. There is another Piero de' Ricci, not the poet, who was later executed for conspiracy. I am finding it difficult to find out much detailed information on this family.

Part of the reason I want to know is because Alberti made the horoscope for Giovanni Battista de' Ricci, son of "Petri de Ricciis", in 1435. I would like to know if this is the same Piero de' Ricci, who could be found through his paternity in this case, or whether it is the later traitor, or a different Piero altogether.

What does interest me are the Florentine-produced 7 virtues in Naples following so closely upon the ur-tarot. It is a fourth data point for considering a 7 virtue based + 7 exempli deck with 14 total trumps of the ur-tarot:

1. "14 images" painted for Bianca 1/1/1441, Ferrara.

Baseless speculation what these fourteen images were. Why not the 14 virtues that accompanied Chastity's chariot in the Trionfi?

With her, and armed, was the glorious host
Of all the radiant virtues that were hers,
Hands held in hands that clasped them, two by two.
Honor and Modesty were in the van,
A noble pair of virtues excellent,
That set her high above all other women;
Prudence and Moderation were near by,
Benignity and Gladness of the Heart
Glory and Perseverance in the rear;
Foresight and Graciousness were at the sides,
And Courtesy therewith, and Purity,
Desire for Honor, and the Fear of Shame.

(translation Peter Sadlon https://petrarch.petersadlon.com/read_t ... ge=II-I.en )

01 Honor
02 Modesty
03 Prudence
04 Moderation
05 Benignity
06 Gladness of Heart
07 Glory
08 Perseverance
09 Foresight
10 Graciousness
11 Courtesy
12 Purity
13 Desire for Honor
14 Fear of Shame

2. 70 card tarot deck implying 14 trumps in 1457, Ferrara (1 and 2 reinforcing each other as in the same city)

It only "implies" 14 trumps if you are already inclined to read it that way. It could be a deck shortened in the pips, or it could be a careless scribe.
Shortened deck is what Hurst and Pratesi independently surmised.
But yes, every commentator who defends the original 22 has to deal with this hapax.

3. c. 1441 CY only has trumps that can be considered virtues and their exempli (no sun, moon , star, devil, tower, 'juggler', fool, hermit), implying 14 trumps

It also has six court cards in each suit, and is, factually, an expanded deck.
Brambilla only has two trumps. And Rothschild one.

CY was an expanded deck. It is an indirect witness to the standard trumps of the Florentine model, but not a copy of it.

This is my view, in any case.

There still is not a single reference or piece of evidence for 22 trumps before the PMB. Its all theoretical retro-dating of much later evidence, with nothing contemporary to the ur-tarot to validate it, while ignoring all 4 points just named.

Phaeded

The evidence is the preponderance of it. The spread of the game, even to small towns, by 1450. The existence of the common game, which means printed, mass-produced. Sold retail under that name. It had devotees. That every deck we know that we can call a Tarot deck has standard subjects, except for Visconti di Modrone. This deck can now be seen for what it is: a unique experiment, expanded in courts and trumps, and perhaps the most luxurious deck ever made (with the possible exception of Michelino's, but we'll never know). For the rest, the surviving subjects are from the limited standard group, however few or many survive and however they are portrayed. PMB is held to be from the late 1450s, and is contemporary with Charles VI. And Catania-Palermo is now dated to about 1450. They are all rough datings, but well within the same period. There is no reason to think that PMB represents some kind of revolution that affected the whole genre of Triumph cards all over Italy.

When they say "carte da gioco", we assume the common game, we don't assume that a number of different kinds of cards, style and number, are being referred to. It is just the standard kind. Whatever the kinds of cards named, playing cards, Imperatori, Corone, Triumph cards, etc. when there is a name, whether we know what they looked like or not, we assume that the person writing the record, and the buyers and sellers, when that is the case, especially did. There was an understanding of a standard, well-defined object. Whatever the different qualities and prices. But players would not tolerate a change in configuration every time they went to the store for a deck. When they wanted to play Triumphs, they expected the Triumphs they already knew.

Here's the Piero who was beheaded in 1457, Piero di Giovacchino d'Ardingo de' Ricci -
https://books.google.fr/books?id=fQlfAA ... 22&f=false

Another Piero, di Zanobi d'Ardingo (same grandfather), is here:
https://books.google.fr/books?id=pbbuFC ... 22&f=false

They note that Guido, the scribe of Riccardiano 1591 was Guido, son of Piero di Giovanni de' Ricci, not Piero di Zanobi di Ardingo di Corso de' Ricci...

Here is ours, 1396(ish)-1475, from Lanza, Lirici Toscani, volume 2, page 371 -

I cannot find where any of these biographers get the dates of his life from, except from a manuscript about the family in Florence.

Here is Gustavo Uzielli in 1893 telling us not to confuse Piero di Giovanni and Piero di Giovacchino:
https://books.google.fr/books?id=8eizqE ... 22&f=false

He only cites Francesco Flamini, La Lirica toscana del Rinascimento anteriore ai tempi del Magnifico, just published two years before, and Flamini doesn't say how he knows the dates, either (pages 542-543).

https://books.google.fr/books?id=eBo2AA ... &q&f=false

Ross Caldwell wrote: 27 Aug 2023, 18:36 Interesting on Piero de' Ricci, thanks. Are you sure that this is Piero di Giovanni (d'Andrea) de' Ricci, though? I don't see that in what I can view of McLean's text. There is another Piero de' Ricci, not the poet, who was later executed for conspiracy. I am finding it difficult to find out much detailed information on this family.

Alas, ran up against the same wall of no information (which is strikingly odd considering they were obviously intimates - at least this family member - of the Medici).

What does interest me are the Florentine-produced 7 virtues in Naples following so closely upon the ur-tarot. It is a fourth data point for considering a 7 virtue based + 7 exempli deck with 14 total trumps of the ur-tarot:

1. "14 images" painted for Bianca 1/1/1441, Ferrara.


Baseless speculation what these fourteen images were. Why not the 14 virtues that accompanied Chastity's chariot in the Trionfi?
https://petrarch.petersadlon.com/read_t ... ge=II-I.en

So you're pivoting to Petrarch's text in order to not address the seven canonical virtues the Florentines did put on their edifice? What was current in Florence in 1440 were precisely the seven canonical virtues which allowed one to ward off the blows of Fortune, the trump also simply called the Wheel (which is one of the two surviving Brambilla trumps so we can assume it was there from the beginning). The Florentine contribution to Alfonos's triumphal parade is perfectly in line with their own brand of trionfi, sans Caesar.

Of course Petrarch was known everywhere, but where is a representation of the series of 14 sub-attributes of Chastity...in Ferrara? That was never a convention for portraying Chastity (instead it was bound Cupid, an Ermine flag, unicorns, etc.).

The generic "14 images" doesn't privilege any particular series, but what mattered most to the d'Este court would incline us one way or another.

We know Ferrara was an early adopter of trionfi, but even earlier than the 10 February, 1442 reference? Is there anything that gets Ferrara close to Giusti's presentation deck to Malatesta for instance? Malatesta's first wife Ginevra d'Este (24 March 1419 - 12 October 1440) was herself half Malatestan to begin with. Her death just after Giusti is delivers the Florentine tarot deck to Malatesta in the camp outside Forli on September 16 (less than a month later, 12, Oct. 1440), means that whenFerrarese courtiers appear in Rimini for her funeral Malatesta already had the new gift of tarot in hand. That allows at least two months for 14 "painted images" for the visiting Bianca Visconti on 1/1/1441 (assuming the courtiers are back in Ferrara with word of the new game by the end of October 1440). Moreover, historians have discounted foul play involving Ginerva's death. Any lingering doubts about hostility between Malatesta and the d'Este is further removed by Giusti himself:

1441 (still 1440 by the Florentine calendar):
On Wednesday the 22nd [Feb] in Arimino [Rimini] the Lady of Agnolo gave a fine dinner to several ladies, and among others to the niece of the Marquis of Ferrara. 68 [all giornali references are machine translations of Newbigin's text, easily looked up by date: https://www.academia.edu/885393/I_Giorn ... 82_Edition ]

Three days before Giusti set's out to give Malatesta the tarot deck on the 16th, on the 13th of September 1440 he decides that riding to the front at Forli is too dangerous and mentions leaving behind valuables: "I left the cloth and the rings at Lodovico Poggiolini's house in Cesena the belt that I had brought for Agnolo's wife, and I left mine giornea in purple velvet and my pair of red stockings." Madonna Giovanna de’ Brancalioni, wife of Agnolo d’Anghiari, was thus on campaign with her mercenary captain husband and of such a status (Giusti had arranged for Agnolo to acquire three minor castles just previously) that she could host a d'Este in Malatesta's Rimini (less than 2 months after the New Years when Bianca would have received the "14 painted images"). Furthermore, it is clear that Giusti carried a gift both for her and the trionfi for Malatesta at the same time, and no reason she wouldn't have been aware of the deck and perhaps had a cheaper version on Giusti to entertain her guests. It is also possible that she earlier received d'Este courtiers for Ginerva's funeral in the fall of 1440 (perhaps Malatesta relied on her feminine touch once he briefly became a widower). So her, Malatesta, and who knows else, would have known of the new card game of trionfi, and would have been a possible means of entertainment for the Ferrarese guests both during the time of the funeral and afterwards (novel objects are always worth showing off).

This doesn't of course touch on the number of trumps in any fashion, but it clearly provides a distinct means of diffusion of a Florentine ur-tarot via Malatesta to the d'Este in the short time period between September 16 1440, when Malatesta received the deck, and January 1, 1440 when the "14 painted images" were presented to Bianca Sforza. The presence of the Marquis of Ferrara's niece in February 1441, suggests a continuing stream of visitors from Ferrara after the death of Ginerva d'Este on 12 October 1440, less than a month after the arrival of the trionfi deck into the hands of Malatesta.

2. 70 card tarot deck implying 14 trumps in 1457, Ferrara (1 and 2 reinforcing each other as in the same city)


It only "implies" 14 trumps if you are already inclined to read it that way. It could be a deck shortened in the pips, or it could be a careless scribe.
Shortened deck is what Hurst and Pratesi independently surmised. But yes, every commentator who defends the original 22 has to deal with this hapax.

Again, I'm not simply "inclined", I'm considering it in light of the 1457 reference from the very same city of Ferrara.

3. c. 1441 CY only has trumps that can be considered virtues and their exempli (no sun, moon , star, devil, tower, 'juggler', fool, hermit), implying 14 trumps


It also has six court cards in each suit, and is, factually, an expanded deck.
Brambilla only has two trumps. And Rothschild one.

CY was an expanded deck. It is an indirect witness to the standard trumps of the Florentine model, but not a copy of it.

This is my view, in any case.

All we can say for certain is the court cards were expanded, not the trumps (with the PMB representing a modification/expansion of the ur-tarot, IMO). I provided an explanation multiple times for the CY court cards, but in short: the Florentine love trump in the ur-tarot must have matched the Florentine "CVI"'s Love trump with 3 couples (Florence would never feature a single couple implying a royal wedding); Milan changed the love card to matrimonial considerations of a single couple with a low bed in the background of the tent for the required consummation. The original idea of the three couples was retained however in each suit, three females that could pair with three males. There is no imaginary rule stating the trumps had to match the number of cards in a suit. The CY is indeed idiosyncratic, but largely due to that change and particular iconographic changes relating to the Chariot and "World" which necessarily needed to reflect Visconti Milan.

There still is not a single reference or piece of evidence for 22 trumps before the PMB. Its all theoretical retro-dating of much later evidence, with nothing contemporary to the ur-tarot to validate it, while ignoring all 4 points just named.

The evidence is the preponderance of it. The spread of the game, even to small towns, by 1450. The existence of the common game, which means printed, mass-produced. Sold retail under that name. It had devotees. That every deck we know that we can call a Tarot deck has standard subjects, except for Visconti di Modrone. This deck can now be seen for what it is: a unique experiment....

What about the tarot expansion of Minchiate and when do you date the Bolognese variations? Tarot is not that monolithic (especially when we get out of the 15th century).

But even assuming a standard for the PMB, AS, EE, and CVI (which I do), this "preponderance" all date to after 1451 which is when I see the innovation of expansion. Lumping the CY in with the "preponderance" is an ahistorical rhetorical maneuver to make it look like the CY is the outlier on the same atemporal table, when it precedes all else by a decade and is the earliest surviving exemplar. Again, there is ZERO evidence for 22 trumps before the PMB itself. All you need is a single reference to 78 cards in the mid-15th century...but it doesn't exist. 70 does.

If Ferrara was an early adopter from the very beginning, per that historical possibility I laid out above, it may have accordingly been loathe to accept the innovation made elsewhere (Milan), therefore we encounter a reference to the original 70 card format some 6 years after the innovation of a 78 total card trionfi deck in Milan. Both versions briefly overlapped in time but the centrality and economic might of Milan meant that the 78 card format was to win out, especially since the Sforza dynasty persisted down to the end of the century (and why Malatesta wanted such a deck from Bianca in 1451 - it was novel, and unlike the one he had from Florence since 1440). Ferrara itself eventually following suit per the "Ercole d'Este" deck in 1473.

Phaeded