Chapter 1— Preview
1. Giambologna's Flemish name, Jehan Boullongne, or Jean Boulogne, was italianized to Giovanni Bologna, though the artist was more commonly called Giambologna by his Italian contemporaries. The misnomer Giovanni da Bologna, which lives on sporadically to this day, was occasionally used by contemporaries, and was perpetuated by Burckhardt, who, as James Holderbaum points out in The Sculptor Giovanni Bologna (New York, 1983), 5, erred in translating von , denoting Giambologna's knighthood, into da , meaning "from."
For assessments of Giambologna's art, see, for example, Charles Avery, Giambologna (Mt. Kisko, N.Y., 1987), 9-10; John Shearman, Mannerism (Baltimore, 1967), 30-31, 86-91, 162-63. Studies like Richard Tuttle's (not yet published), of Giambologna's Neptune Fountain in Bologna will help correct this skewed evaluation. See Irving Lavin, Past-Present: Essays on Historicism in Art from Donatello to Picasso (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1993), 63-83, for a revaluation of this monument that incorporates Tuttle's discoveries. [BACK]
2. Avery, Giambologna , 97. On the interpretation of Renaissance pictures, Creighton Gilbert, "On Subject and Not-Subject in Italian Renaissance Pic- soft
tures," AB 34 (1952): 202-16, argues for a broader, more inclusive, approach than either a strictly stylistic or an iconological analysis allows. His view is equally applicable to sculpture and accords with my assessment of meaning in Giambologna's work. [BACK]
3. Raffaello Borghini, Il riposo (Florence, 1584), 72-73. The setting of this dialogue on art was the villa Il Riposo of Bernardo Vecchietti, Giambologna's first Florentine patron. According to Borghini, who obviously knew Giambologna, the sculptor himself suggested that the group, complementing as well as rivaling Cellini's Perseus (1553), represented another incident in the Perseus story. No doubt Giambologna intended his work to compete with and surpass Cellini's as well as to join the other civic monuments in the Piazza della Signoria. Margaret D. Carroll's provocative analysis of Giambologna's statue in her article "The Erotics of Absolutism: Rubens and the Mystification of Sexual Violence," Representations 25 (1989): 7-11, argues that multiple meanings are subsumed in the work. Pointing out that Francesco de' Medici thought of it as an emblem of dynastic achievement, Carroll also shows that it could have served as "an empathetic bond between ruler and ruled that spans divisions of class and wealth by affirming their commonly held values in the domain of gender." For further thoughts on this subject from a feminist perspective, see Yael Ewen, "The Loggia dei Lanzi: A Showcase of Female Subjugation," Woman's Art Journal 12 (1991): 10-14. [BACK]
4. I have profited from discussing with Leatrice Mendelsohn the figura serpentinata and the paragone . On their relationship, see John David Summers, " Maniera and Movement: the Figura Serpentinata," Art Quarterly 35 (1972): 269-301. [BACK]
5. For a comprehensive treatment of the paragone debate, see Leatrice Mendelsohn, Paragoni: Benedetto Varchi's "Due Lezzioni" and Cinquecento Art Theory (Ann Arbor, 1982). For Varchi's Lezzioni , including Cellini's reply, see Due Lezzioni di M. Benedetto Varchi (Florence, 1549), in Paola Barocchi, ed., Trattati d'arte del cinquecento fra manierismo e controriforma (Bari, 1961), vol. 1, 3-82; and John Pope-Hennessy, Cellini (New York, 1985), 170. [BACK]
6. John Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture (New York, 1970), 52. [BACK]
7. Two studies on specific aspects of the chapel have appeared recently: Silvana Macchioni, "Le sculture del Giambologna," in Il Palazzo dell'Università di Genova. Il Collegio dei Gesuiti nella strada dei Balbi (Genoa, 1987), 359-84; Michael Bury, "The Grimaldi Chapel of Giambologna in San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa," MKIF 26 (1982): 85-127. [BACK]
8. I am grateful to Stephen Zwirn for sharing with me his thoughts on narrative. Without attempting to produce a comprehensive bibliography on recent narrative studies, I mention a few that I have found helpful: Roland Barthes, "Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative," New Literary continue
History 6 (1975): 237-72; Hans Belting, "The New Role of Narrative in Public Painting of the Trecento: Historia and Allegory," in Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, ed. Herbert L. Kessler and Marianna Shreve Simpson, Studies in the History of Art, 16 (Washington, D.C., 1985), 151-68; Richard Brilliant, Visual Narratives (Ithaca, N.Y., 1984); Vidya Dehejia, "On Modes of Visual Narration in Early Buddhist Art," AB 72 (1990): 374-92; Paul Ricoeur, "Narrative Time," in On Narrative, ed. W.J. Thomas Mitchell (Chicago, 1981), 165-86; Hayden White, "The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality," in On Narrative, ed. W.J. Thomas Mitchell (Chicago, 1981), 1-23; Irene J. Winter, "After the Battle Is Over: The Stele of the Vultures and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East," in Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, ed. Herbert L. Kessler and Marianna Shreve Simpson, Studies in the History of Art, 16 (Washington, D.C., 1985), 11-32. [BACK]
9. I discuss the preparatory studies and two other versions of these reliefs in Appendix 4. Two of the six angels were stolen in 1982 and have not yet turned up (Macchioni, 394 n. 121). [BACK]
10. For indulgences, the practice of granting remission of sin in return for acts of penance that included contributions to church buildings, see P.F. Palmer, "Indulgences," New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7 (1967), 482-84. Ennio Poleggi, Strada Nuova (Genoa, 1972), fig. 8, shows the location of San Francesco at the end of the fifteenth century; fig. 10 gives its ground plan in relation to the plans of other churches in the area. [BACK]
11. For a complete history of the church, see the unpublished eighteenth-century manuscript of Niccolò Perasso, "Chiese di Genova," ASG, Ms 836. See also Domenico Cambiaso, S. Francesco e il Terz' Ordine in Genova e Liguria (Genoa, 1916); and Alfonso Casini, Cento conventi (Genoa, 1950), 319-31. More recently, there is a good summary by Giorgio Rossini, "San Francesco di Castelletto: Dagli inizi alle demolizioni ottocentesche," in the exhibition catalogue edited by Max Seidel, Giovanni Pisano a Genova (Genoa, 1987), 229-61. [BACK]
12. Cambiaso, S. Francesco, 68; Vincenzo Promis, "Libro degli Anniversarii del Convento di San Francesco di Castelletto in Genova," ASLSP, vol. 10 (1874), 404. [BACK]
13. This monument was the subject of a major exhibition held in Genoa in 1987; see Seidel, ed. Giovanni Pisano a Genova . [BACK]
14. La scultura a Genova e in Liguria dalle origini alle cinquecento, vol. 1 (Genoa, 1987), 197-98. [BACK]
15. Perasso, "Chiese di Genova," fol. 2; and Rossini, "San Francesco di Castelletto," 229-61, especially 235-43 and 258 n. 62. [BACK]
16. See Poleggi, Strada Nuova, for the history of this street, including full documentation. break [BACK]
17. I am grateful to George Gorse for his illuminating comments about the complex problem of Alessi's part in the design of the Strada Nuova and for sending me his essay "A Classical Stage for the Old Nobility: The Strada Nuova and Sixteenth Century Genoa," to appear in Absolutism and Urban Space in Early Modern Italy, ed. R. Litchfield and John Marino (forthcoming). See E. De Negri, "Considerazioni sull'Alessi a Genova," in Galeazzo Alessi e l'architettura del cinquecento . Atti del Convegno internazionale di Studi (Genoa, 1974), 289-97, especially 294-95. Poleggi ( Strada Nuova ) does not believe that Alessi was involved in planning the Strada Nuova, but both the consensus and circumstantial evidence for Alessi's contribution, whether as consultant or mastermind, seems overwhelmingly against that view. See also E. De Negri, Galeazzo Alessi architetto a Genova (Genoa, 1957). [BACK]
18. Records of the family's stock may be found in ASG, Banco di San Giorgio, Pandetta no. 17, Sala no. 20, Cartulario delle Colonne, no. 1459 "P," anno 1611; idem, no. 1459 "C," anno 1611; idem, no. 1464 "B," anno 1611; no. 1465 "PN," anno 1611. [BACK]
19. See Poleggi, Strada Nuova, 301-26, for the history of Nicolò Grimaldi's palace, now Il Municipio. The lot Nicolò bought from Luca Grimaldi (son of Gerolamo) was more than three times the size of any of the other lots designated for palaces on the Strada Nuova. [BACK]
20. In a notary document of 29 July 1568 (Poleggi, Strada Nuova, 323) the chapel in San Francesco is referred to as the chapel of Francesco Grimaldi, Luca's father. [BACK]
21. Several Grimaldis maintained ties to San Luca, their parish church, as well as to the mendicant Church of San Francesco di Castelletto, as we learn from an anonymous manuscript in the state archives, ASG, Ms 446, "Le chiese di Genova," n.d., fol. 63v. On the death of the parish priests of San Luca in 1563 and 1581, cousins of Luca Grimaldi presented the newly selected replacement for investiture. And in 1605 Luca, who was referred to as one of the "governatori e procuratori delli Grimaldi," was one of the presenters (fol. 63v). [BACK]
22. Poleggi, Strada Nuova, 81-90, 90 n. 11, discusses the history of the palace and distinguishes between the two Lucas. Luigi Levati, Dogi biennali di Genova dal 1528 al 1699, pt. 1 (Genoa, 1930) 304-5, summarizes what can be gleaned from the archives about "our" Luca Grimaldi. The rebuilding of San Pietro di Banchi, begun in 1581 although projected earlier, was undoubtedly motivated by the plague of 1577. See La scultura a Genova, 326-27 (figs. 345-47), 344-45 (figs. 384-87); and Bury, "The Grimaldi Chapel," 88, 118 n. 27. [BACK]
23. Promis, "Libro degli Anniversarii," 420.
24. Ibid., 406-7. [BACK]
23. Promis, "Libro degli Anniversarii," 420.
24. Ibid., 406-7. [BACK]
25. Licia Collodi Ragghianti, "Luca Cambiaso disegnatore," Critica d'Arte, no. 3 (1954): 239-62, believes that Uffizi 1749 may be a preparatory study for the lost painting for San Francesco. break [BACK]
26. After the conclusion of the Council of Trent in 1563, apostolic visitations were gradually instituted for all of Italy. These inspections included a minute examination of the physical condition of the churches and their decoration. In Genoa, for example, the visitation in 1582 by Monsignore Francesco Bossio, which is well documented, seems to have omitted nothing. Among the many instructions he left for San Francesco di Castelletto were the following: that the roof of the church be repaired as soon as possible, that all altars be enlarged or reduced according to fixed measures, and that each have an altarpiece and a marble balustrade ("Visita pastorale delle chiese della diocesi di Genova, fatta da Monsignore Francesco Bossio, 1582," ASG Ms 547, fol. 109); see also Synodi Dioecesanae et Provinciales, editae atque ineditae S. Genuensis Ecclesiae, accedunt Acta et Decreta Visitationis Francisci Bossii, Ann. MDLXXXII (Genoa, 1833); Francesco Bossio, Decreta Generalia ad exequendae Visitationis Genuensis usum (Milan, 1584). [BACK]
27. The progressive denuding and demolition are recounted in Rossini, "San Francesco di Castelletto," 254-55. [BACK]
28. Raffaelo Soprani, Le vite de' pittori, scultori, et Architetti genovesi e de' Forastieri che in Genova operarono con alcuni ritratti di gli stessi (Genoa, 1674), 291, is the earliest published reference to the Grimaldi Chapel. Soprani says of it: "Quali opere sono di cosi fina maestria, che non solo cagionano stupore in coloro, che s'imbattono a considerarle: ma quando Giovanni non havesse dato al mondo altro saggio del suo valore, meritarebbe ad ogni modo di esser honorato col titolo d'ottimo, e di eccellente maestro." See also Carlo Giuseppe Ratti, Instruzione di quanto può vedersi di più bello in Genova in pittura, scultura, ed architettura (Genoa, 1780), 248-50, which lavishly praises the Grimaldi Chapel in listing many of the contents of San Francesco:
Le tavole che l'adornano meritano qualche osservazione, e per vederle con alcun ordine, la prima a destra di S. Girolamo è di Bernardo Castello; l'altra che segue con la Beata Vergine e vari Santi si può dire che fosse, ma non già che sia di Perin del Vaga, perché molto rovinata dal tempo, e quella di S. Caterina tra le ruote è d' Andrea Semino . La cappella degli Spinoli ben architettata in marmo ha una tavola col Presepe dello stesso Semino ed un deposito di marmo d'Andrea Spinola, colla sua figura giacente su di un'urna, ed una Vergine al di sopra col Putto, scultura del Cambiaso ovvero del Castello Bergamasco. Sono in essa alcuni ritratti in marmo di nobili Spinoli, tra i quali quello d'Andrea Doge e quello di Clelia sua consorte, di Carlo e di altri, tutti di buona maniera. Nella capella che dopo questa s'incontra, la tavola del transito della Madonna è del Sarzana, e in quella che viene appresso, la tavola con S. Francesco è di mano di Camillo Procaccino, fratello di Giulio Cesare. Troverete ora la cappella Grimaldi nobile per architettura, marmi e bronzi, celebratissimo lavoro di Giovanni Bologna, che di tal materia gittò sei belle statue di Virtù, sette bassirilievi con misteri della Passione, e sei graziosi putti, ed anche l'effigie del Crocifisso all'altare. Le due tavoline però, una colla vendita di Giu- soft
seppe, e l'altra col sagrificio d'Isacco, sono del Lomi . All'altar maggiore potrete ammirare un Crocifisso in legno di Giovannandrea Torre .
(The panels that decorate it deserve some comment. To see them in some order, the first to the right of Saint Jerome is by Bernardo Castello; of the next, with the Blessed Virgin and various saints, one could speculate but not say with certainty that it was by Perino del Vaga, because it has been so ravaged by time; and that of Saint Catherine on the wheel is by Andrea Semino. The chapel of the Spinola, well constructed in marble, has a panel of the Nativity by the same Semino, a monument of marble by Andrea Spinola with his recumbent figure on an urn, and a Virgin above with an angel, a sculpture by Cambiaso or by Giovanni Battista Castello, Il Bergamasco. There are in this chapel some marble portraits of noble Spinoli, among them Doge Andrea and his wife, Clelia, [as well as] Carlo and others, all in a good style. In the chapel after this one, the panel of the Dormition of the Virgin is by Sarzana, and in the next, the panel with Saint Francis is by Camillo Procaccini, brother of Giulio Cesare. Next is the Grimaldi Chapel, with noble architecture, marbles, and bronzes, a most celebrated work of Giovanni Bologna, who in that material [i.e., bronze] cast six beautiful statues of Virtues, seven bas-reliefs with mysteries of the Passion, six charming putti as well as the image of the crucifix on the altar. The two panels, however, one with the Selling of Joseph, the other with the Sacrifice of Isaac, are by Lomi. On the high altar one can admire a wooden crucifix by Giovannandrea Torre.)
Elisabeth Dhanens, Jean Boulogne (Brussels, 1956), 241-53, includes the Grimaldi bronzes in her catalogue of Giambologna's oeuvre. Holderbaum, The Sculptor Giovanni Bologna, 210-14, 261-76, gives a perceptive, if brief, formal analysis of the Grimaldi bronzes. Bury, "The Grimaldi Chapel," deals only with the chapel's reconstruction. Avery, Giambologna, briefly considers the reliefs and Virtues in the context of relief sculpture and religious works. Macchioni gives the most comprehensive account to date. [BACK]
29. Filippo Baldinucci, Notizie dei professori del disegno da Cimabue in qua, book 3 (Florence, 1681-88), 120-36. [BACK]
30. For a study of the sculpture in Sainte-Waudru, see R. Hedicke, Jacques Dubroeucq von Mons: Ein niederländischer Meister aus der Frühzeit des italienischen Einflusses (Strasbourg, 1904), published in French as Jacques Dubroeucq de Mons, trans. Emile Dony (Brussels, 1911). See also the essay in the catalogue Jacques Du Broeucq (Mons, 1985), published in connection with the exhibition in Sainte-Waudru, 1 October to 24 November 1985. Werner Gramberg, Giovanni Bologna: Eine Untersuchung über die Werke seiner Wanderjahre (Berlin, 1936), discusses Giambologna's early years to 1567. [BACK]
31. Ignace Vandevivere and C. Perier-d'Ieteren, Belgique Renaissance (Brussels, 1973); Jacques Debergh, "Echos de l'antiquité romaine dans l'oeuvre de Du Broeucq," in Jacques Du Broeucq, 125-44. [BACK]
32. This and the other figures and reliefs from the rood screen are illustrated in Jacques Du Broeucq, 56-84. break [BACK]
33. Debergh, "Echos de l'antiquité romaine," 125-44. [BACK]
34. Baldinucci, Notizie, book 3, 7, 89. [BACK]
35. The relation between Giambologna and Gugliemo della Porta is discussed in Chapter 5. Della Porta's shop was the center of bronze casting in Rome when Giambologna was there, and it was also a gathering place for Flemish artists. [BACK]
36. Michael Bury, "Bernardo Vecchietti, Patron of Giambologna," I Tatti Studies 1 (1985): 13-56. [BACK]
37. Baldinucci, Notizie, book 3, 88: "Di questa sorte per certo non potè dolersi Gio. Bologna celebre Scultore Fiammingo, mercè l'avere nel suo primo arrivó a Firenze dato alle mani d'un Principe de' più magnanimi, che contasse allora quella sua età, e fu questi la Gl. Mem. del Granduca Francesco, sotto i cui auspici ritrovò egli non pure perfezione nell'arte sua, e buone ricchezze, ma eziandio qualla fama, che per sempre lo renderà immortale, siccome ora so io per raccontare." [BACK]
38. See the exhibition catalogue edited by C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, Giambologna, 1529-1608: Sculptor to the Medici (London, 1978). [BACK]
39. See Malcolm Campbell and Gino Corti, "A Comment on Prince Francesco de' Medici's Refusal to Loan Giovanni Bologna to the Queen of France," Burlington Magazine 115 (1973): 507-12. [BACK]
40. Dhanens, 56-63, 355. [BACK]
41. I am using the term "Catholic Reformation" in this study instead of the more traditional term "Counter-Reformation" in recognition of the modern historical view, which interprets the Catholic reform of the sixteenth century as much more than a reaction to the Protestant Reformation. See John O'Malley, "Catholic Reform," in Reformation Europe, ed. Steven Ozment (St. Louis, Mo., 1982); Henry Outram Evenett, The Spirit of the Counter Reformation (Cambridge, 1968); Hubert Jedin, Katholische Reformation oder Gegenreformation? Ein Versuch zur Klärung der Begriffe (Lucerne, 1946). [BACK]
42. Both treatises are in Barocchi, ed., Trattati, vol. 2, 1-509. The Council of Trent had reaffirmed the value of images in aiding worship in its twenty-fifth session, held in 1563; see H.J. Schroeder, ed., Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (London, 1941), 215-17. [BACK]