Tomb of Antipope John XXIII

Coordinates: 43°46′24″N 11°15′17″E / 43.773224°N 11.254602°E / 43.773224; 11.254602
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Tomb of Antipope John XXIII

The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII is the

sepulchre of the Great Schism in the church and the last papal tomb which is outside Rome itself".[1]

Cossa had a long history of cooperation with Florence, which had viewed him as the legitimate pontiff for a time during the

Medici self-promotion", as such a tomb would have been deemed unacceptable for a Florentine citizen.[3]

The tomb monument's design included figures of the

art historians, as have the interpretations of its design and iconography
.

Antipope John XXIII

Antipope John XXIII
Main article: Antipope John XXIII

Antipope John XXIII had a complicated life, legacy, and relationship with the city of Florence. Baldassare Cossa was a

cardinal in 1402. After the Council of Pisa in 1409, Cossa encouraged rebellion against Pope Gregory XII, who refused to resign. Cossa was deprived of his cardinalate, but it was restored by Antipope Alexander V, who had been elected by the council.[6]

Cossa succeeded Alexander V as John XXIII in 1410. John XXIII was acknowledged as pope by France, England,

Poland.[7]

Wider view

When Ladislaus of Naples conquered Rome in 1413, John XXIII was forced to flee to Florence. He was compelled by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, to convoke the Council of Constance in 1414, although when the threat to his pontificate and possibly his person became apparent, he fled in 1415. Although he expected his departure would disperse the council, the members of which he called to join him under the protection of Frederick IV, Duke of Austria, it continued to operate where they were. As John XXIII tried to make his way towards the territory of John II, Duke of Burgundy, Frederick IV surrendered him to the custody of Sigismund and the Council, and he was imprisoned by Louis III.[8]

In the meantime, the Council deposed John XXIII on May 29, 1415 and elected

Medici bank as the depository-general for the papal finances.[12]

In Florence, Cossa submitted to Martin V on June 14, 1419 and was rewarded with a cardinal's hat on June 26, only to die on December 22.[13] Although given the title of Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum, Cossa called himself "Cardinal of Florence".[14]

Funeral

Cossa's body was moved to the Baptistry and the nine-day funeral, as prescribed by the Ordo Romanus, was well-attended by the Florentine elite and the papal court.[15] Cossa's corpse was crowned with a white mitre with his cardinal's hat at his feet on the funerary bier during the rituals, which took place entirely within the Baptistry and Duomo.[16] The first three days of ceremonies celebrated in turn Cossa's role as cardinal and pope, his role as an ally of Florence, and his role as a private citizen.[17] He received a temporary burial until the tomb was complete.[18]

Commissioning

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, one of the executors of Cossa's will

The commissioning of Cossa's tomb monument was negotiated for about a decade following Cossa's death. Cossa's

last will and testament—written on his death bed on December 22, 1419—made several of the customary Florentine civic bequests, acts of charity, and traditional ecclesiastical courtesies, but the bulk of his estate was left to his nephews Michele and Giovanni.[19] The bequests to his nephews took priority, and his estate remained disputed by various creditors while the tomb was being completed.[20]

Cossa designated four prominent Florentines as his executors: Bartolommeo di Taldo Valori, Niccolò da Uzzano, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, and Vieri Guadagni,[21] allowing any two of the executors to act on behalf of all four, as Valori and Medici appear to have done.[22] Valori died on September 2, 1427, by which time Guadagni was also deceased and Uzzano had long lost interest, leaving the remaining work of commissioning entirely to Giovanni, or—more likely—Cosimo de' Medici.[23]

The executors claimed that Cossa had revealed his desire for burial in the Baptistry to them but had been too modest to request it in his will.[24] Most later scholars accept this testimony of the executors, attributing Cossa with "tact—and tactics", although at least one has postulated that the executors chose the site of the Baptistry against Cossa's wishes.[25]

Cossa willed a relic, believed to be the right index finger of John the Baptist, to the Baptistry (reliquary pictured)

Documentary records indicate that, on January 9, 1421,

Carlo Strozzi, who went through the records, are extant.[28]

The Calimala's acquiescence is traditionally explained by Cossa's donation of the

Philotheus Kokkinos, Patriarch of Constantinople presented it in 1363 to Pope Urban V, who passed it to his successors Gregory XI and Urban VI, who was dispossessed of it during the siege of Nocera, after which John XXIII bought it for 800 florins and wore it on his person before hiding it in the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli.[30]

Completion

Florence Baptistry
.

The chronology of the tomb monument's completion is not precisely known, but portions can be determined from various sources. According to the passing reference of a Florentine notary, in 1424 (by the Florentine calendar) part of the tomb was installed.[31] Michelozzo's Catasto from July 1427 indicates that Michelozzo had been Donatello's partner for about two years ("due anni o incircha") and that three-fourths of the 800 florin budget had been spent.[32] To harmonize these accounts, one must conclude either that Michelozzo's chronology was imprecise, that Donatello received the commission before the partnership was formed, or that the 1424 date in the Florentine calendar falls in 1425 in the modern calendar.[33]

On February 2, 1425, Bartolomeo Valori and Cosimo de' Medici requested 400 of the 800 florins that had been deposited with the

Vasari's claim in his Vite of 1550 that Cosimo was responsible for the handling of the commission has been questioned.[36]

It is probable that the sarcophagus was installed on or shortly before May 2, 1426, when the Calimala contracted for two chaplains to say a daily mass for Cossa's soul.[35] The records of the Duomo workshop indicate that on January 28, 1427 Valori bought four white marble blocks for the tomb.[37]

The exact date of completion is unknown but an extreme

Virtues reflecting in minute details the Cossa Virtues.[39]

Vasari suggests that the tomb went over budget, costing 1,000 florins, although it is unclear who covered the excess.

grain of salt.[42]

Design

The closely contemporary Venetian tomb of Doge Tommaso Mocenigo, of 1423.

The Baptistry already contained three

sarcophagi: those of Bishop Ranieri (d. 1113) and two reused Roman sarcophagi.[43] However, the tomb monument at 7.32 metres (24.02 ft) in height was easily the tallest monument in the Baptistry, and—at the time—in Florence.[4] The Duomo contains few tombs, with some notable exceptions, such as that of Aldobrandino Ottobuoni.[5]

The tomb monument adapted to the conditions imposed by the Calimala and integrated with the interior of the Baptistry. The

high relief
.

Although the style of the work is thoroughly classicising, the overall form reflects the grandest type of the medieval Italian wall tomb, in which the vertical piling-up of a series of different elements is characteristic.

Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence.[54]

Base

The base slab, or

garlands and ribbons.[4]

Virtues

Virtues by Michelozzo

Above the pylon, separated by the cornice, are the

laymen, and the theological virtues reserved for ecclesiastics, including the Brancaccio tomb.[58] However, the Cossa Virtues, from their hair to their sandals, are more thoroughly antique.[59] Donatello also produced two similar bronze Virtues for the Siena Baptistry, whose chronological relationship to the Cossa Virtues is unclear.[60]

The 1.05-metre (3.44 ft) tall Faith, to the right of Charity, is holding a

Ceres, and Juno, all of which were depicted with cornucopias in their left hands.[62] Besides underscoring the antiquity of the tomb monument, the main purpose of the tall yet poorly finished Virtues is to put additional vertical distance between the viewer and the effigy, which has the cumulative effect of de-emphasizing the peculiarities of Cossa, in favor of a generic pontiff (i.e. a potential line of Florentine popes), by blunting the "immediacy" of the trope of lying in state, which was otherwise dominant on Quattrocento wall tombs.[63]

Sarcophagus and inscription

Above the Virtues, four classical

bas-relief pioneered by Donatello) on the architrave sarcophagus (2.12-metre (6.96 ft) wide and 0.7-metre (2.30 ft) high) depicts two putti or spiratelli ("little spirits") holding open a large inscribed parchment, perhaps in the style of a papal brief.[65] The putti (or spiratelli) share many characteristics with their ancient counterparts, except for their crossed legs.[66]

The Marzocco was a symbol of Florentine rule.

Pope Martin V objected to a portion of the inscription—"IOANnES QVOnDAM PAPA"—because he thought it implied Cossa had died as pope (the

Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome,[71] and cast in bronze.[72]

According to Avery, Donatello's Ascension of Christ and the Giving of the Keys to St. Peter may have been intended to share the front of the sarcophagus,[73] further strengthening the papal associations, which were created by dating Cossa's death using the ancient Roman Calends of January, which was uncommon on Florentine tombs, but was used in papal ones.[74]

Effigy

On top of the sarcophagus, the bier of the effigy is supported by lions whose shape mimics Trecento consoles.[75] The lions may be based on the Florentine Marzocco, as if to mark John XXIII in the same manner as a conquered city-state. As Donatello's Marzocco for the papal apartment in Santa Maria Novella conveyed Florence's ambivalence towards Martin V (as both a source of prestige by visiting, and a potential adversary of the Republic), the lions supporting the bier contextualize the tomb monument's support for John XXIII's claim to the papacy by cementing it as a Florentine claim. Yet, any iconographical interpretation of the lions must be taken with a grain of salt as lions are symbolically promiscuous,[68] and are also seen as supports on earlier tombs, such as that of Lapo de' Bardi (d. 1342) in the Bargello.[76]

The sarcopagus with the antipope gisant

The bier and the pall spread over it are tilted towards the viewer with the lion supporting the head standing 2-centimetre (1 in) shorter, increasing the visibility of the effigy, especially the head.[77] The gilded-bronze, life-size effigy itself makes no attempt to argue for Cossa's papal status, dressing Cossa clearly in the costume of a cardinal;[78] the bedding it rests on is of un-gilt bronze. The opening in the 16th century of the sarcophagus confirmed that Cossa's actual burial clothes matched the effigy.[79] There was no precedent for a three-dimensional gilded-bronze effigy on an Italian tomb monument; there was, however, a 6-foot (1.83 m) gilt bronze statue on the balcony of the Palazzo della Briada in Bologna commissioned by Pope Boniface VIII.[68]

Some scholars suggest that Donatello created the effigy with the aid of a death mask,[80] but others disagree.[81]

Canopy

Behind the effigy is a 1.34-metre (4.40 ft) tripartite pylon with sunk molded borders supporting the cornice and framed by two additional Corinthian pilasters. Above it rests an

conceit of being supported by the ribbed brass ring, an impossibility given its weight. McHam[63] suggests that the canopy is based on the "Dome of Heaven", and thus the baldacchino of papal enthronement. However, Lightbown[83] is emphatic that the double-summited canopy looped against the pillars is not a baldacchino, but rather a secular bed-canopy.[84]

Attribution

Main articles: Donatello and Michelozzo
The external pulpit for the Duomo of Prato, another collaboration of Donatello and Michelozzo

The tomb monument was the first collaboration between

Papal Secretary Bartolomeo Aragazzi in what is now the Duomo of Montepulciano, and the external pulpit of the Duomo of Prato.[85] At the time of their partnership, Donatello was already well known for his statues of prophets and saints for the Duomo and Orsanmichele, while Michelozzo was more obscure.[86]
Both had worked for a time for Ghiberti, whose workshop then led Florentine sculpture.

Nearly every element of the tomb monument has been attributed to both Donatello and Michelozzo by different art historians.[87] These characterizations are mostly of historiographical interest: attribution to Donatello is more of an indication of what is valued by each commentator than any objective criteria; often, aspects are attributed to Michelozzo explicitly because they are "less well executed".[61]

Descriptions from 1475 to 1568 attribute all of the tomb except for the figure of Faith to Donatello.[88] Some modern sources reverse this dichotomy, attributing all of the tomb to Michelozzo with the exception of the gilded bronze effigy.[63] Some sources credit Donatello only with the bronze effigy.[89] According to Janson, of the marble work, only the putti can be attributed to "Donatello's own hand".[81] Donatello's alleged deficiencies in casting or in architecture have been proposed as the reason for his partnership with Michelozzo,[90] in addition to his busy schedule.[91]

Notes

  1. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 4.
  2. ^ a b Lightbown, 1980, p. 16l; Caplow, 1977, p. 107.
  3. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 156; Strocchia, 1992, p. 142.
  4. ^ a b c Lightbown, 1980, p. 26.
  5. ^ a b Lightbown, 1980, p. 24.
  6. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 4; Caplow, 1977, pp. 98–99.
  7. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 4–5.
  8. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 5–6.
  9. ^ Strocchia, 1992, p. 137; Lightbown, 1980, p. 5.
  10. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 153.
  11. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 154.
  12. ^ Strocchia, 1992, p. 136.
  13. ^ Caplow, 1977, pp. 99–100.
  14. ^ Strocchia, 1992, p. 137.
  15. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 100.
  16. ^ McHam, 1989, pp. 154–5; Strocchia, 1992, p. 138; Lightbown, 1980, p. 44.
  17. ^ Strocchia, 1992, p. 139.
  18. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 14.
  19. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 8–9.
  20. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 14–15.
  21. ^ Janson, 1963, p. 59.
  22. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 20–21.
  23. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 22.
  24. ^ McHam, 1989, pp. 155–6.
  25. ^ a b Janson, 1963, p. 61.
  26. ^ Janson, 1963, p. 59; Caplow, 1977, p. 103.
  27. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 16.
  28. ^ a b Lightbown, 1980, p. 20.
  29. ^ Caplow, 1977, pp. 101–102; Strocchia, 1992, p. 138.
  30. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 9–10.
  31. ^ a b Lightbown, 1980, p. 19.
  32. ^ Caplow, 1977, pp. 105–108; Grassi, 1964, p. 69.
  33. ^ Janson, 1964, pp. 59–62.
  34. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 104.
  35. ^ a b Lightbown, 1980, p. 21.
  36. ^ Vasari, Vite, ed. Milanesi, ii, 1878, p. 399. Cited by Caplow, 1977, p. 106; McHam, 1989, p. 156; Lightbown, 1980, p. 18.
  37. ^ Janson, 1963, p. 59; Caplow, 1977, pp. 104–105.
  38. ^ Caplow, 1977, pp. 116–119; McHam, 1989, p. 157; Strocchia, 1992, p. 134.
  39. ^ Janson, 1963, p. 63.
  40. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 116; Lightbown, 1980, p. 23. This claim is also made by Del Migliore, 1684, Firenze città nobilissima.
  41. ^ a b c Janson, 1963, p. 62.
  42. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 23.
  43. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 16, 24.
  44. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 120; Lightbown, 1980, p. 24; McHam, "Donatello's Tomb of Pope John XXIII", p. 147.
  45. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 120.
  46. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 121.
  47. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 149; Lightbown, 1980, p. 26.
  48. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 30–31.
  49. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 163.
  50. ^ Levey, 1996, pp. 151–153.
  51. ^ Pope-Hennessy, pp. 15–19 and 183–186.
  52. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p. 46 and fig. 89.
  53. ISBN 1-85669-439-9
  54. ^ Levey, Michael; Early Renaissance, p. 57-59, 1967, Penguin
  55. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 39–40.
  56. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 114.
  57. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 50.
  58. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 25–27.
  59. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 38.
  60. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 134.
  61. ^ a b Lightbown, 1980, p. 37.
  62. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 133; Lightbown, 1980, p. 37.
  63. ^ a b c McHam, 1989, p. 157.
  64. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 27.
  65. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 28.
  66. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 135.
  67. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 105; McHam, 1989, p. 149.
  68. ^ a b c McHam, 1989, p. 159.
  69. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 161.
  70. ^ Panofsky, 1964, p. 72.
  71. ^ Gardner, 1992, p. 62; Lightbown, 1980, p. 25.
  72. ^ Meyer, 1904, p. 76; Lightbown, 1980, p. 46.
  73. ^ Avery, 1994, pp. 36–39.
  74. ^ McHam, 1989, pp. 163–4.
  75. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 122.
  76. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 42.
  77. ^ Meyer, 1904, p. 63; Lightbown, 1980, p. 28.
  78. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 43; McHam, 1989, p. 159.
  79. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 44–45.
  80. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 44; Grassi, 1965, p. 70.
  81. ^ a b Janson, 1963, p. 64.
  82. ^ McHam, 1989, p. 149, 159.
  83. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 28–29.
  84. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 32.
  85. ^ Lightbown, 1980, pp. 2–3.
  86. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 1.
  87. ^ Caplow, 1977, pp. 122–140; Janson, 1963, pp. 63–64; Lightbown, 1980, p. 18.
  88. ^ Caplow, 1977, p. 119.
  89. ^ Grassi, 1964, p. 69.
  90. ^ Janson, 1963, pp. 50–56, 63.
  91. ^ Lightbown, 1980, p. 33.

References

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