Aldobrandini Tazze
The Aldobrandini Tazze are a set of 12 silver-gilt standing cups in the shallow tazza shape (plural tazze), sometimes described as bowls or dishes. They are outstanding examples of Renaissance metalwork, described by John Hayward as "the most impressive single monument of Italian and perhaps European goldsmith's work of the 16th century",[1] and by the Victoria and Albert Museum as "one of the most spectacular groups of 16th century silver to survive".[2]
Each tazza comprises a shallow bowl mounted on a high foot and stem. A vertical pedestal rises from the centre of the bowl, topped by a standing figurine of one of the first Roman emperors whose lives are described in The Twelve Caesars by the Roman author Suetonius.[3] The inside surface of each bowl is chased with four scenes from Suetonius's life of the relevant emperor.
The tazze have a complicated and somewhat uncertain history and
The 12 tazze were reunited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2014, at the start of a major research project. This endeavor resulted in an exhibition organized by Siemon, The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery, which was accompanied by a volume of essays by the same title. During the exhibition, which was on view from 12 December 2017 until March 11, 2018. The exhibition then traveled to Waddesdon Manor in England in 2018, where it was on view from 18 April until 22 July.[6][7] Videos exploring how the Nero tazza and Vitellius tazza depict their Suetonian content were created by Siemon and Beard for display in the exhibition, and can be viewed on the Metropolitan Museum's YouTube channel. During the exhibition, the tazze were displayed in public for the first time since the mid-19th century.[5][8][9][10]
Description
Each tazza is a bowl or cup, approximately 16 inches (41 cm) high. The form is based on the kylix, a broad shallow wine-drinking cup from Ancient Greece, also the source of the word "chalice". Some tazze could be used for drinking, but they would also be used as serving dishes for small food items, such as delicacies, sweets or fruit. These lavishly decorated vessels were probably intended primarily as a spectacular display of wealth and artistic taste. They were cast in sections that screw together, with seven main parts: a base, comprising a foot and stem; a disc to support the bowl, normally concealed beneath it; the circular dish-like bowl itself; a low pedestal standing above the centre of bowl; and the figurine of a Roman emperor mounted on the pedestal, with separate cape.
The inside surface of each shallow bowl is
The
Early history
The early history of the tazze is not known securely. The 12 tazze are included in an inventory of Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini dated 1603. It is possible that they were owned by
It seems that the complete set came into the ownership of Cardinal
History from the 19th century
The set of 12 tazze may have been taken to London by a steward of the
A set of casts of the 12 emperor figurines was made while the collection was complete. These casts were in a private collection in the UK in the 1970s, and offered for sale at Christie's in 1976 by the estate of the Arthur Gore, 6th Earl of Arran.[12][13]
The Paris dealer
Recent scholarship
Research by Yvonne Hackenbroch published in 1950,[15] by John Hayward published in 1970,[1] and by David Revere McFadden published in 1976,[16] have helped to clarify the history and provenance of the tazze. McFadden said in 1976 that "several bowls and figures are, at present, unlocated, including the bowl and figure of Tiberius, the Claudius figure and bowl, the Nero bowl, and the figure of Galba". The locations of these items have become known since the 1970s. The complete Claudius tazza (figure and bowl) is in a private collection, as is the bowl of the Nero tazza; the figure of Galba is in Lisbon, with a bowl identified as part of the Caligula tazza.
The location of all known surviving elements became clear when the 12 tazze were reunited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014,[17] and displayed together at an exhibition there from December 2017 to March 2018, reconfigured to show the correct emperor with the correct bowl. They were disassembled to be shipped for exhibition at Waddesdon Manor from April to July 2018, where again they will be shown in their proper configuration. After the exhibition, the intention is to return them to their current owners in their modern, mismatched state, but negotiations are ongoing to reverse the mismatches on a more permanent basis.
Only one tazza, of Claudius, remains in its original configuration, with the original fluted base, and the Claudius bowl matched with the Claudius figurine. Five others have the original base, but the bowls and figurines are mismatched (Galba bowl with Caligula figurine, and Caligula bowl with Galba figurine; Augustus bowl with Nero figurine, Nero bowl with Tiberius figurine, Tiberius bowl with Domitian figurine). The Domitian bowl is associated with the Augustus figurine, but has a replica of its original fluted base (the original is lost). Four others (Julius Caesar, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) have matching bowls and figurines but replaced decorated bases. The Titus bowl is missing both its figurine and its base.
The 12 tazze
- Julius Caesar
- The Julius Caesar tazza (bowl and figurine, but with replaced decorated base) is held by the
- Augustus
- The bowl of the Augustus tazza (with original fluted base, and associated with the figurine of Nero) was sold at Christie's in 2000 for just over £1m and is now in the collection of Wernher Collection at Luton Hoo, possibly acquired from the Frankfurt art dealer Jakob Goldschmidt.[12][20][21]
- The Augustus figurine (associated with the bowl of the Domitian tazza) is now held by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Previously (per Hayward 1970) they were in the collection of Standish Vereker, 7th Viscount Gort.[21][22]
- The bowl of the Augustus tazza (with original fluted base, and associated with the figurine of Nero) was sold at Christie's in 2000 for just over £1m and is now in the collection of
- Tiberius
- The bowl of the Tiberius tazza (with original fluted base, and now associated with the figurine of Domitian) is the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The tazza was donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Walter Leo Hildburgh in 1956, after being displayed on loan there since 1937. The bowl was traditionally thought to show Domitian but has recently been re-identified as Tiberius; it is now associated with the figurine of Domitian, but until 1956 with the figurine of Vitellius. The Vitellius figurine was removed in 1956 and transferred as part of a three-way swap: the figurine of Vitellius was sent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Metropolitan Museum sent its figurine of Otho to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and the figurine of Domitian from Toronto was sent to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The attempt to correct the mismatches reunited the Vitellius and Otho bowls in New York and Toronto with the correct figurines, and was intended to reunite Domitian too, but inadvertently created a new mismatch in London.[2][23]
- The Tiberius figurine (associated with the bowl of the Nero tazza) is held in a private collection, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[23][24]
- Caligula
- The bowl of the Caligula tazza (with original fluted base, and associated with the figurine of Galba) is at the Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida in Lisbon.[25][26][27]
- The Caligula figurine (associated with the bowl of the Galba tazza) is in the Bruno Schroder collection in the United Kingdom. The mismatched tazza was sold at Christie's, London in June 1960.[27][28]
- Claudius
- The Claudius tazza (bowl and figurine, with original fluted base) is held in a private collection, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.[29]
- Nero
- The bowl of the Nero tazza (with original fluted base, associated with the figurine of Tiberius) is in a private collection, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[24][30]
- The figurine of Nero (associated with the bowl of the Augustus tazza) is now in the collection of Selim Zilkha (see above).[12][20][30]
- Galba
- The bowl of the Galba tazza (with original fluted base, and associated with the figurine of Caligula) is in the Bruno Schroder collection in the United Kingdom (see above).[31]
- The Galba figurine (associated with the Caligula bowl) is held by the Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida in Lisbon.[25][26][31]
- Otho
- The Otho tazza (bowl and figurine, but with replaced decorated base) are held in the Lee Collection at the
- Vitellius
- The Vitellius tazza (bowl and figurine, but with replaced decorated base) is held by the Jules S. Bache, until 1944, and was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art using the Fletcher Fund in 1945.
- The Vitellius tazza (bowl and figurine, but with replaced decorated base) is held by the
- Vespasian
- The Vespasian tazza (bowl and figurine, but with replaced decorated base) are in the private
- Titus
- The bowl of the Titus tazza is in the St. Donat's Castle. The original base and figurine are now lost.[37]
- There is a 19th century replica of the bowl of the Titus tazza (with replaced decorated base, and associated with a copy of the Julius Caesar figurine). It was in the
- The bowl of the Titus tazza is in the
- Domitian
- The bowl of the Domitian tazza (with a replica of its original fluted base, and associated with the figurine of Augustus) is held by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.[22][39]
- The Domitian figurine is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, associated with a bowl (with replaced decorated base) previously thought to be part of the Domitian tazza, but now thought to show Tiberius. The figurine was sent to London from Toronto in the 1950s."[2][39]
References
- ^ a b c "The Aldobrandini Tazzas", John Hayward, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 112, No. 811 (Oct., 1970), pp. 669–676, Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd., Article Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/876472
- ^ a b c Aldobrandini Tazza, Victoria and Albert Museum
- ^ a b "The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58839-639-6.
- ^ a b "The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery". Historians of Netherlandish Art. 2017-12-18. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery, Waddesdon Manor, 18 April – 22 July 2018
- ^ Waddesdon Manor to host Renaissance treasures exhibition, BBC News, 31 December 2017
- ^ Beard, Mary (October 12, 2017). "Silver Caesars". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 12, 2017 – March 11, 2018
- ^ The Silver Caesars, Apollo Magazine
- ^ Silver in England, Philippa Glanville, p.121
- ^ a b c Auction of Italian Renaissance silver-gilt tazza identified as Nero figure and Augustus bowl, Christie's, London, 5 July 2000, Sale 6293, Lot 18
- ^ a b Auction of silver-gilt tazza with an Italian Renaissance figure of Titus, Christie's, London, 5 July 2000, Sale 6293, Lot 19
- ^ Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, p.99
- ^ "The Emperor Tazzas", Yvonne Hackenbroch, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 8, No. 7 (Mar., 1950), pp. 189–197, Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Article DOI: 10.2307/3257471, Article Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3257471 (see also http://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/bulletins/1/pdf/3257471.pdf.bannered.pdf)
- ^ "An Aldobrandini Tazza: A Preliminary Study" Archived 2018-04-14 at the Wayback Machine, David Revere McFadden, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin LXVIII (1976–77), pp. 52–53.
- ^ Cups running over – Classics and silverware Archived 2018-04-14 at the Wayback Machine, A Don's Life, Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement website, 22 June 2014
- ^ Julius Caesar figurine and bowl, Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid
- ^ Julius Caesar tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Review Archived 2017-08-22 at the Wayback Machine of Rennaissance and Baroque: Silver, Mounted Porcelain, and Ruby Glass from the Zilkha Collection by Paul Schroder
- ^ a b Augustus tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Augustus figurine and Caligula (sic) bowl, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
- ^ a b Tiberius tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Tazza with Emperor Tiberius figure and dish with scenes from the life of Nero, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Highlights of the Museu Medeiros e Almeida Archived 2015-03-21 at the Wayback Machine, LisbonLux
- ^ a b Medeiros e Almeida House-Museum
- ^ a b Caligula tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ Christie's ref??
- ^ Claudius tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Nero tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Galba tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ Otho tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ “The Aldobrandini Tazza” with a figure of the Roman Emperor Otho, Google Arts & Culture
- ^ Vitellius tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ Auction of Morgan Aldobrandini Tazza, identified as Vespasian at Sotheby's, New York, 1 February 2013, lot 10
- ^ Vespasian tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ Titus dish, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ Titus tazza (replica), Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ^ a b Domitian tazza, Metropolitan Museum of Art
External links
- Silver Caesars: The Nero tazza, video from the Metropolitan Museum of Art at YouTube, 7 December 2017
- Decoding the Silver Caesars: A Conversation with Mary Beard and Julia Siemon, Part One, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 23 January 2018
- Decoding the Silver Caesars: A Conversation with Mary Beard and Julia Siemon, Part Two, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 20 February 2018
Further reading
- The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery, Edited by Julia Siemon; essays by Ellenor Alcorn, ISBN 9781588396396