Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood
The Funerary Monument (or Equestrian Monument) to Sir John Hawkwood
The politics of the commissioning and recommissioning of the fresco have been analyzed and debated by historians. The fresco is often cited as a form of "
The fresco is the oldest extant and authenticated work of Uccello, from a relatively well-known aspect of his career compared to the periods before and after its creation. The fresco has been restored (once in 1524 by Lorenzo di Credi, who added the frame) and is now detached from the wall; it has been repositioned twice in modern times. It is now on the north wall of the nave, beside a similar depiction of fellow condottiero Niccolò da Tolentino (d.1435) by Andrea del Castagno.
John Hawkwood
Hawkwood had a long military career and a complicated relationship with Florence. He fought for England during the
Hawkwood then entered the service of Pope Gregory XI in his wars against Milan (1372–1375) and in the War of the Eight Saints (1375–1378), during which Hawkwood helped put down the Florentine-instigated rebellions in the Papal States.[8] During the conflict, Hawkwood was paid 130,000 florins—which was extracted from local clergy, bishops, abbots, monasteries, and ecclesiastical institutions—to confine his activities to suppressing the rebellions in the Papal States, rather than directly attacking Florence.[9] Hawkwood also received a 600 florin annual salary for the next five years and a lifetime annual pension of 1,200 florins.[10]
Hawkwood married Donnina, the illegitimate daughter of
However, Hawkwood was the de facto commander-in-chief (
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.[18][19]
In 1395,
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.[21]
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.[22][23] 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.[23]
Context
In the
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.[29] 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.[30] 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 defaming portrait in the Palazzo della Signoria in 1428,[31] depicting him hanging upside-down in chains,[32] which was "depaint[ed]" in April 1430.[32][33]
Commissioning
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.[34] It was unprecedented for the Signoria to vote to erect a monument to a living person in the cathedral.[15] 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.[35] 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.[36]
Hawkwood's March 20 funeral began in the
The plans for Hawkwood's commemoration were modified on December 2, 1395, when it was decided to also rework the wooden monument of
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.
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.[41][49] 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.[50] There is, of course, some weakness to attributing the commissioning and recommissioning 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.[51] 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.[15][31][45] 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.[31] Yet Franco 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.[49]
Uccello
The choice of Paolo Uccello (born in Florence in 1397),
Uccello was known to have been in Venice in 1427 and to have returned to Florence by 1431, allowing a second window for historiographical speculation: some say he may have gone to Rome;
Thus, the Florence Cathedral is the repository of all the extant works of Uccello whose attribution is firmly rooted in contemporary documents: two murals—the Hawkwood and the Clock Face with Four Heads of Prophets or Evangelists (1443)—and two stained glass windows—Resurrection (1443–1444) and Nativity (1443–1444).[64] The Hawkwood is Uccello's "earliest dated and fully authenticated extant work".[65]
Modifications
Uccello's Hawkwood was completed, only to be ordered redone by the capo maestro of the Opera del Duomo, on June 28, 1436.[41][49] Uccello was found not to have been at fault on July 6, and paid for both his first and second versions, the latter of which was finished before August 31.[41][49] Incidentally, the second version—copied from the original, rather than direct observation—is the only true extant testimony to Hawkwood's appearance.[66] The demanded redesign—which was ordered soon after post-Albizzi members secured a majority among the operai[67]—is at the heart of any discussion about the political implications of the fresco. For centuries, art historians have argued that the rejection was rooted in questions of perspective and color,[68] while more recent scholarship suggests it was the content of the fresco to which the capo maestro objected.[69] The specific objections of the capo maestro are not documented—except that the fresco was "not painted as it should be",[69][70] but it is clear that only the portion containing the horse and rider was to be erased and redone.[71] A preparatory drawing in the Uffizi with the same static scene is the primary clue to the appearance of the original fresco, in which Hawkwood was apparently more armored, taller, and—along with his horse—in a more militaristic stance.[72] The Hawkwood thus both participated in and reinforced the Quattrocento trend that every Florentine public monument to a soldier of fortune employ a parade horse rather than a battle charger, in less than complete armor, and at a pace more suited for reviewing troops than charging into battle.[73] A study which subjected the drawing to ultraviolet rays confirmed that Uccello had originally depicted Hawkwood as "more threatening", with his baton raised and horse "at the ready".[36]
The fresco's current appearance is not identical to the version redone by Uccello. The frame with Renaissance
Style
The reworked fresco has been seen as "classicizing" the image of the condottieri, with the terra verde technique giving the
A variety of explanations have been proposed for this split perspective, which has even been suggested by Frederick Hartt to have been a practical joke.[81][82] Entangled in these questions of perspective is Vasari's criticism of the horse's raising both its right legs at the same time, which would likely topple the horse, if accomplished.[83] However, it is clear from Uccello's other works that he was not interested in using perspective simply for realism;[54] rather, Uccello "placed in an unnatural, fantastic overall atmosphere, the fruit of this painter's complex and unique imagination".[84] This style has even been cited as an example of synthetic realism in line with the late Gothic movement.[79]
Inscription
Underscoring the classical elements of the fresco is the Latin inscription, added on December 17, 1436[49] and composed by Bartolomeo Fortini de Orlandini, son of Benedetto di Ser Landi Fortini, former treasurer of Florence and apprentice of Spinello Alberti, one of the chief negotiators of Florence during the War of the Eight Saints[41][85]—the first such inscription on an antique sarcophagus in a Florentine painting.[86] The inscription reads: "Ioannes Acutus[87] eques brittanicus dux aetatis suae cautissimus et rei militaris peritissimus habitus est" (John Hawkwood, British knight, most prudent leader of his age and most expert in the art of war). The epitaph, likely a reference to Hawkwood's aforementioned cautissimus ("most prudent") retreat across the Oglio, is borrowed from the eulogy of Roman general Fabius Maximus, who wore down Hannibal by tactical retreat and avoiding battle.[17][83] The eulogy of Fabius Maximus agrees so distinctly with Quattrocento humanism that some scholars have even dubbed it a "Renaissance fake".[88]
Interpretation
By classicizing the condottieri, the portrait may have represented an opportunity to—as Leonardo Bruni had advocated—"revive the ancient form of tribute" by choosing a "long-dead and uncontroversial subject".[89] Mallett has interpreted the fresco as a Medicean attempt to exalt "the praiseworthiness of condottieri to a populace with mixed feelings".[90] In fact, Cosimo may have allowed the former Albizzi project to go through merely to pave the way for a similar honor for Niccolò da Tolentino (died 1435), a condottiero whom the Medici would have favored over Hawkwood.[15] The Tolentino fresco was commissioned 20 years after the soldier of fortune's death, and was specified in its contract to be painted in "the same manner and form as the Hawkwood".[91] Thus, the recommissioning of the portrait may be read as part of an ongoing debate over the appropriateness of condottieri for a Republic. Bruni raises this subject in De militia (1420),[92] arguing for a standing Florentine militia, especially given the close ties between Tolentino and the Medici.[45] Intending to depict Hawkwood as an "obedient captain conducting an inspection of troops",[3] the conceit of Hawkwood patiently reviewing troops is "suggestive of a loyal communal servant".[93]
The Medici may have wished to emphasize that point that any condottiero, no matter how hostile or fickle, could be bought off and manipulated to Florentine interests and truly Florentinized.[94] Attempts to claim Hawkwood as Florentine were well underway even before his death; for example, Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder wrote in 1391 that Hawkwood "no longer has any foreign blood ... and has become regenerated more strongly and more healthful in fiber and body under the moderating sky of Italy".[95] Such a viewpoint has even crept into modern scholarship: the 19th-century Italian historian Ercole Ricotti called Hawkwood "the last of the foreign condottieri or the first of the Italian ones"; his 18th-century biography Domenico Maria Manni called him "general captain of Florentine armies" and virtually ignored two decades of Hawkwood's service to other city-states;[96] even in the 20th century, Friedrich Gaupp attempted to characterize Hawkwood's direct attack on Florence as a "marriage proposal".[97]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Borsi, 1994, p. 304.
- Edward, the Black Prince, and some proponents of his knighthood claim that it occurred in Italy. See Caferro, Hawkwood, 9, 42.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, p. 9.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, pp. 31–61.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 4.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 97–115.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 116–143.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 144–174.
- ISBN 1-4051-1954-3. pp. 151-155.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 175.
- ^ a b c Hudson, 2006, p. 5.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 175–190.
- ^ a b Hudson, 2006, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 131; Borsi, 1994, p. 112.
- ^ a b c d Borsi, 1994, p. 302.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 11.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, p. 20.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. xiv.
- ^ Saunders, 2004, pp. 294–295. Coincidentally, letters from Hawkwood to a family friend in England on these arrangements are the oldest surviving correspondence in English (now British Museum).
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 9–10.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, p. 323.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 326–327.
- ^ a b Wegener, 1993, p. 132.
- ISBN 0-19-817301-6. p. 265.
- ISBN 1-85669-439-9. p. 265.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, pp. 5–6.
- ^ a b Paolieri, 1991, p. 19.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, p. 315.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 316.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 316–317.
- ^ a b c Caferro, 2006, p. 320.
- ^ a b Hudson, 2006, p. 6.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 144.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, pp. 310–313.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 313.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, pp. 321–322.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 314–315; Hudson, 2006, p. 9; for comparison, the funeral of Coluccio Salutati, the humanist Chancellor of Florence, cost 250 florins. See Caferro, 2006, p. 315.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, p. 317.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 317–318. Other dates include 1395 (plans) and 1405 (execution). See Hatfield, 1965, p. 320.
- ^ Saunders, 2004, pp 313–315.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Caferro, 2006, p. 318.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 8.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 9.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 14.
- ^ a b c Hudson, 2006, p. 10.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 12.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 13.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 13. Uccello's Battle of San Romano, a set of three paintings, depicts the war against Lucca (see Hudson, 2006, p. 27), also noted for their political implications (see Griffiths, 1978, pp. 313–316; Wegener, 1993, pp. 136–139), because it depicted the battle which was the "closest approximation to victory in an otherwise disastrous war" (Starn, 1984, p. 58).
- ^ a b c d e Borsi, 1994, p. 303.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 15.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 14, 16.
- ^ The date of Uccello's birth is somewhat speculative. However it is known that he was born to Antonia di Giovanni and Dona di Paolo, a barber-surgeon.
- ^ D'Ancona, 1960, p. 5.
- ^ a b Paolieri, 1991, p. 12.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, p. 7. The designation of an artist as having studied the Brancacci frescos—which is often not based on documentary evidence—is primarily of historigraphical importance, an indication that the artist is regarded as worthy of the trope of "genius".
- ^ Some speculate that he stayed at Ghiberti's workshop. See Paolieri, 1991, p. 12.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, p. 13.
- ^ Mode, 1972, p. 377.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 17; Wegener, 1993, p. 134.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, p. 13–15.
- ^ Salmi, 1936, p. 106.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 1.
- ^ Pudelko, 1934, p. 232.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 8.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 21.
- ^ e.g. Paolieri, 1991, p. 22.
- ^ a b Caferro, 2006, p. 321.
- ^ a b Borsi, 1994, p. 28.
- ^ Hudson, 2006, p. 18.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, p. 22; Hudson, 2006, p. 19; Borsi, 1994, p. 303–304.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 163.
- ^ Starn, 1984, p. 65.
- ^ Bergstein, 2002, p. 864.
- ^ a b Borsi, 1994, p. 114.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 135–136.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 136.
- ^ a b Paolieri, 1991, p. 21.
- ^ Dempsey, 1972, p. 281.
- ^ Hartt, 1969, p. 212.
- ^ Kurbovy, 1988, pp. 79–84.
- ^ a b Hudson, 2006, p. 25.
- ^ Paolieri, 1991, p. 7.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 207.
- ^ Covi, 1963, p. 14.
- Latinisedas Johannes Acutus ("John Sharp"), also rendered as "Aucgunctur", "Haughd", "Hauvod", "Hankelvode", "Augudh", Auchevud", "Haukevvod", "Haukwode", "Haucod", etc. See Caferro, 2006, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Saxl, 1940, p. 25.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 156.
- ^ Mallett, 1974, p. 129.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 161.
- ^ Bruni, generally a critic of mercenaries, praised Hawkwood for his effectiveness. See Caferro, 2006, p. 321.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 320. Lionello Boccia has claimed that the unusual poses of Hawkwood and the horse can be attributed to 19th-century restoration rather than Uccello himself.
- ^ Wegener, 1993, p. 157–158.
- ^ Caferro, 2006, p. 24.
- ^ Manni, Commentario della vita del famoso capitano Giovanni Aguto Inglese.. (Bologna: Volpe, 1755).
- ^ Caferro, 2006, pp. 24–25.
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- Starn, Randolph, and Partridge, Loren. 1984. "Representing War in the Renaissance: The Shield of Paolo Uccello." Representations 5: 32–64.
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