a Lo Scheggia cassone

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In this post I am going to focus on one cassone, attributed to Lo Scheggia, otherwise Giovanni di Ser Giovanni Guidi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_d ... anni_Guidi). He is of special interest because he is a tarot card painter documented by Pratesi, http://trionfi.com/naibi-on-sale. I described the cassone in my previous post. Carandente, 1963, has very detailed pictures; he attributed it to the "master of the Adimari," because of its similarity to the Adimari chest depicting a wedding First I give the color Triumphs downloaded from the Web, then Caradente's images. There are only four surviving Triumphs: Love, Death, Fame, and Eternity. I haven't seen any of these images on Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:I_Trionfi.

First, the Triumph of Love. The three couples in front of the chariot remind me of the Charles VI Love card:

in color, from http://www.niceartgallery.com/Giovanni- ... 04-74.html
Image


And in black and white, from Carandente. The first is as above, the second is the people following the chariot, four couples, the woman's hairdo comparable to that in the Adimari chest, according to Carandente (a c. 1450 depiction of what is probably a 1420 wedding):

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N31eTfCc_JI/U ... riLove.JPG
Image


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyFiP62umI8/U ... midazo.JPG
Image


Next, the Triumph of Death.

First, from from http://www.niceartgallery.com/Giovanni- ... 04-74.html
Image


Then Carandente. He only has what is in front of the chariot.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DcCKWLnsrh0/U ... oDeath.JPG
Image


Next, the Triumph of Fame:
First, from http://www.niceartgallery.com/Giovanni- ... 04-74.html
Image


And Carandente, who has the front in black and white, and the back in color. I find this one very interesting, and the reason why only shows up in the Carandente version. I'll discuss it in another post.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uVDjlYU4tKc/U ... midazo.JPG
Image

Image

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8XzC2Go_az4/U ... meBack.JPG

Finally, Eternity, very different from usual. Carandente doesn't reproduce this one at all:
First, from http://www.niceartgallery.com/Giovanni- ... 04-74.html
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyqpDBTNDZY/U ... 514DET.jpg
Image

Petrarch ms. in US: Ullman

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Berthold L. Ullman has a very slim volume of Petrarch Manuscripts in the United States, 1964. There is supposed to be a later version, by someone else, but this one came first.from Interlibrary Loan. These are on parchment unless stated otherwise. I include 2 mss. of commentaries on the Trionfi, both by Iacopo Poggio, Florence.

This is a rather unhelpful list, as there are 8 entries that merely say "XVth c." Only one, number 62, is before 1440 there are 5 for 1440-1450, and 36 Trionfi manuscripts total (excluding the Poggio) out of 99 ms. total. They all appear to contain most of the poem. Sometimes sections are indicated as missing. When indicated, I will give what is missing. In these cases, there is also an order listed of what is there: A-M. These probably refer to sections of the poem, but it is not said which ones.

1. U. of Texas Parsons 5. XV century, Italy. With Canzoniere, Sonetto di Dante.

4. Walters Art Gallery, W. 410 (De R. 492). ca. 1450 Italy. With Canzoniere. Some ff. lacking or misplaced.

5. " W. 411 (De R. 494). 1470 Italy (Naples?)

6. " W. 755. Ca. 1480, Rome. Misssing: Y, Z; B ends lassentio, K ends avante.

9. Boston Public Library, 27. XV c. F. 3: "ex libris d. ... Panz" (?). Owned by Vincenzo Paolino Missenese. With Canzoniere, Laurea propriis, Faam. II, 9, 18-19. Paper.

10. " 139 (ms. 1552). XV c. Italy. One miniature (Apollo and Daphne, attributed to Francesco d'Antonio. Strozzi arms; clasp with six Medici balls. With Canzoniere. Y Z omitted; B ends lassentio; K ends avante.

11. Camarillo, CA, St. John's Seminar ( Estelle Doheny Collection). ca 1480 Florence. Two miniatures and two borders in manner of Francesco Chierico. With Canzioniere.

12. Harvard University. MS. Ital. 52 (formerly Dn 1, 2) Some paper. 1463 (Feb. 14 and March 24). With Dante Canzone.

14. " Richardson 43. 1440 Florence. with Canzoniere, Note on Laura. Possibly copied by Antonio di Mario, compared to Vat. Urb lat. 245 of same year. YZ omitted; B ends appaga; K end avante.

16. " MS. Typ 42. 1489 (Jan. 10), Italy. One illuminated border, decorated initials. Z omitted. B ends assentio; K ends avanti.

17. U. of North Carolina. Paper, XVI c. Bought in 1536 by Zuane Minio. YZ omitted; B ends assenzio; K ends avante.

20. Newberry Library, Chicago. MS. 70. Iacopo Poggio, Commentary on one of the Trionfi. Paper, 1480 (Oct. 24). Copied by Bassanus de Villania, who says he received the first thre quinions in Florence and then completed it. Iacopo was hanged uring the Pazzi conspiracy in Florence in 1478. Paper.

22. U. of Chicago. 706. Paper (1 parchment flyleaf). 1450, copied by Iacobus de Godis. Owned ca. 1470 by the later Card. Pietro Foscari. With Canzoniere, Nova beleza (Rime disp. XI).
.
23. Denver CO Marie W. Thomas. 2 Petrarch. 1480 probably Florence. With Canzoniere.

29. Cornell University. Pet Z 10. XV c. (late). With Canzoniere, Note on Laura. Paper.

30. " Pet +Z 11(A. 190005). Paper except 2 pp. parchment. XV c. Arms of Eustachio Confidati. With Canzonieri and poems by many authors.

31. " Pet +Z 12 (A. 190002). XV c. Italy. With Canzoniere. 2 miniatures in initials.

32. " Pet Z 13 (A 190009). ca. 1470. Owned by Eustachio Confidati xvi c. with Canzoniere.

33. " Pet Z 14. (A 190003). XV cent. (at end partly erased date probably MCCCCII). Cat. of L. Arrigoni, Milan.
With Canzoniere.

34. " Pet Z 15 (A. 190008). XVI c. With Epitaph, Frigida Francisci.

35. " Pet Z 16 (A. 190007). XVI cent (early). Three illuminated initials.

37. " Pet. Z 45 (A. 19003). Iacopo Poggio, Sopra el trompho della famma di Petrarca. Paper XVI c.

51. Yale University. 1464, Italy, written by Carolus Palle Guadi for Franciscus de Forestis della Foresta. Owned by Carmelite monastery of St. Paul, Florence. With Canzoniere. YZ omitted; B ends assensio, K ends avante.

62. Phyllis Goodhart Gorden and John Dorier Gordan NY. 1432-34, Ferrara and Venice. Paper. Copied by Petrus de Carbonibus , last leaf by his son Leonardus in Casttro Massignani, May 31, 1456. With Canzoniere and some Cicero (4 selections) and a Seneca fragment of his Liber fort. bonorum. (f. 219).

66. 1476, Italy. Orsini arms. Ten miniatures. With Canzioniere.

70. New York Public Library. 87. XV c. (late). Owned in 1593 by Marchese Caraccioli of Sirino. 11 miniatures.

71. B. M. Rosenthal, Inc., NY. Special Offer 17, No. 207, Cat. XII, No. 32. XV c. north Italy. Two illuminated borders. "Emi mihi a viro Servilio in Verona." With Canzoniere, verses. YZ omitted; B ends appagia; K ends avante.

72. Adrian van Sindern, NY. 1447, March (1446 Florentine style). Illuminated border and title page. Strozzi arms; owned by Filippo and Lorenzo Strozzi and Clarissa de' Medici.

86. Wellesley College. Plimpton 485. XV c. Venice. Arms, Bon Family of Venice. Owned by Benedictine Tita Meratti. With Canzoniere.

87. " Plimpton 491. XV c. (end). One miniature.

88. " XV c. (end), probably Florence. With Bono Giamboni, del ben parlare; Enea Silvo Piccolomini, Perche non toglieva moglie. Parts 1 and II, Strozzi arms; Part III, Anselmi (?) arms.

91. " Plimpton 901. ca. 1480, probably Florence. With Epitaph (Frigida; f. 47v).

93. Unknown. ca. 1470, Italy. One miniature. Sold, possibly in Europe.

95. Private collection 531. XV c. Italy. Probably no longer in US.

96. Lathrop c. Harper, Inc, NY. Cat 15 (1962), No. 5. XV c. (late). Florence (?). With note on Laura, Laurea propriis;, Canzoniere.

One other interesting ms: 69. Pierpont Morgan 502. Canzoniere, XIV c. (late), north Italy , probably Milan, with Arms of Galeazzo II Visconti of Milan (d. 1378) painted over in XV c., but form of shield supported by two leopards (emblem of Galeazzo) is original, as are initial G and crown. Border changed when volume was acquired by Lodovico Barbo, abbot of Santa Giustina of Padua (d. 1443), his initials on f. 1. Illuminated title page, 65 ff.

The non-captives in some early Triumphs of Fame

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In this post I want to show two different early ways of depicting the Triumph of Fame. One is fairly familiar, with its two captives in front and Fame with her sword in one hand and little red Cupid in the other. The one below is attributed to Apollonio di Giovanni, Florentine, allegedly c. 1442.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... 4-fame.jpg
Image


Here is another, also from c. 1442, attributed by some to Domenico di Michelino, others to Zanobi Strozzi, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... a_fama.JPG


But there is also a different tradition, in which they seem to be grooms rather than captives. In this one, Fame usually holds a book rather than the small nude archer. This is likely inspired by Boccaccio's Amorosa Visione, in which the end result, and so the goal, is unity in divine love with his beloved Flammata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorosa_visione). Fama's book, on the other hand, would seem to relate better to Petrarch. In Boccaccio, famous scholars are put with Wisdom and only warriors and statesmen with Fame; Petrarch puts both with Fame. Here is one attributed to Lo Scheggia (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... a_fama.JPG). The young standing figure to our left of the elephants clearly has his unbound hand raised in front of him.



Also allegedly by the same painter:
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/ ... ID=1549721

According to art historian Jacquiline Marie Mussacchio ("The Medici Tournabuoni Desco da Parto in Context", Metropolitan Museum Journa l 33 (1998), p. 140, http://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/journals/ ... nnered.pdf), even Lo Scheggia's famous birth tray, commissioned by Piero de' Medici for his son Lorenzo, has the pair not as captives but as "retainers...one centrally placed and staring out at the viewer, the other barely visible because of the cluster of men on horseback." In a footnote she adds that "although disheveled and barefoot, these two young men are not the shackled prisoners who often appear in such scenes" (note 19, p. 148). Below are the relevant details of the birth tray (http://www.casasantapia.com/art/loscheggia.htm). I don't myself see that the one we can see is unshackled; his hands look like they are behind his back to me. Above this detail Fame has her sword in one hand and red Cupid in the other, a detail that usually goes with the captives.

Image

In another illustration, where Fame has a book, attributed to the same Lo Scheggia (although Malke gives it to de' Pasti), instead of grooms we see Dante and Virgil conversing:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x5tMVCC68_U/U ... riChas.JPG

In another, by the "Master of the Vitae Imperatorum" in Milan, given here to 1445-1450 but by Trapp to c. 1440, Fame has the book, but the grooms are replaced by sword bearers standing at attention on either side. (This image I get from Drawing relationships in Northern Italian Renaissance Art: Patronage and Theories of Invention ed Giancarla Periti, 2004, illustrating the essay "The Tomb of the Ancestors in the Tempio Malatestiano and the Tempio of Fame in the poetry of Basinio da Parma," by Stanko Kokole):


The manuscript, I think, was done for Alessandro Sforza, whose impresa of the rampant lion can be seen above. Another page has the initials "G. S." with the rampant lion in the middle. I hypothesize that these initials are for Ginevra Sforza, Alessandro's daughter. If so, they went either to Pesaro or Bologna (Ginevra's later home), where it would have been easy, in the early 16th century when these cities were conquered by the Papacy, for the manuscript to come into the possession of the Vatican.

Lo Scheggia has been hypothesized, by Huck (http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=171021), as the artist who did the 1440s tarot deck for Alessandro Sforza. That the Chariot card from that deck has two grooms speaks to a relationship between it and the Lo Scheggia cassone. (The grooms are most clearly identified in their lower bodies).

Image


One standing groom appears, of course, in the CY Chariot and that of Catelin Geoffrey (http://www.tarothistory.com/compare/ima ... froy_7.jpg)

Another Triumph of Fame in somewhat same tradition is identified as of a "follower of Mantegna" by Michael's source (detail of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... -1460s.JPG). There is the book and young retainers next to the horses, unshackled:

Image


In the first Triumphs of Fame, of the 14th century, there were no grooms, captives, or others on foot at all, as can be seen in Michael's uploads at the top of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Petrarch%27s_triumphs. These illustrations, to be sure, were for Petrarch's De viris illustribus and not the Trionfi, with some input from Boccaccio but apparently none from the Trionfi..

The first Triumph of Fame that has them--whether as grooms or captives is not clear--is a Florentine cassone attributed by Lutz Malke to the circle of Antonio Gaddi (top image below reproduced from his "Contributo alle figurazione dei Trionfi e del Conzonieri del Petrarca", in Commentari: Revista di critica e storia dell'arte, vol. 28 (1977) , p. 11). Callman, in Apollonio di Giovanni (p. 12), dates this cassone to the "1420s or 1430s," Callman says that Fama holds the nude archer in one hand. It looks to me more like a laurel or olive branch (detail, from Callman's reproduction, below the other one).



Image

Re: Collection "How Petrarca became famous" (till 1450)

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MikeH wrote:Huck points out that Lo Scheggia is a known painter of tarot cards, 1447-1450, identified by Pratesi at http://trionfi.com/naibi-on-sale.
Hi MikeH,
with my currently slow internet connection it's difficult to get an overview. Just a correction:

Lo Scheggia MIGHT be a Tarot painter cause some given reasons, but he is NOT CONFIRMED as a Tarot painter.
Franco Pratesi offered only evidence, that Lo Scheggia made playing cards, which were sold by the Puri family in 1447/1448.
This are the more expensive decks of the objects sold by the Puri family:

Image


"GI" on the list stands for "Lo Scheggia". He got 5 Soldi for each deck ... more expensive than the usual low-price-decks, but not enough to speculate, that this might have been Trionfi decks, which only in two cases were sold for less than 9 Soldi and never were sold for less than 7 Soldi.
More interesting in this list might be the decks of PA (= "Paparello"), who made "Chorone decks" and we don't know, what Chorone decks are.
They might have been something, which Marcello with his broad understanding, what ludus triumphorum might be, would have called ludus triumphorum. They are more expensive and in the rank of prices, which were paid in Florence for Trionfi decks.

I suspect, that Lo Scheggia might be a Trionfi card painter, and I suspect, that he might have been involved in the production of the Alessandro Sforza Trionfi and so possibly also in the production of the Charles VI Trionfi, either as somebody, who only modified the Florentine Charles VI version in the interest of a private collector, or somebody, who was directly involved in the Charles VI. As I suspect, that the Charles VI was made as a commission of the Medici and at least one of the commissions of the Medici went clearly to Lo Scheggia ("Fame" made for Lorenzo's birth in 1449).
Actually: If - as I earlier suggested - the Charles VI design was generated for Lorenzo's 14th birthday (the day, when traditionally boys became "grown-up" and "men"), then it has some internal logic, that the family returned with their commission to the painter, who already made something for the birth. Lorenzo was healthy and had reached his 14th year (not every child did that, and from Lorenzo's cousin we know, that the Medici had a personal bad experience), so Lo Scheggia's Fame had proven as a good "start in life". As the 14th birthday signified a "2nd start in life" ... Lo Scheggia perhaps AGAIN was chosen.
Anyway, we have, that Lorenzo indeed became very FAMOUS, more,than one might have suspected in 1449, and one may conclude in our counting of the facts 564 years later, that this harmless BIRTH MAGIC with FAME with the help of Lo Scheggia had worked very well. Lo Scheggia was used to work for MAGICAL MOMENTS, he made wedding chests (cassone), for events, at which dates likely occasionally were chosen with the help of astrologers and other wise men.or those, which were taken for that.
Perhaps this played a role.

btw. Pratesi wrote a new article to Lo Scheggia:
http://trionfi.com/evx-lo-scheggia

*************

I've seen, that you've found more Petrarca-Trionfi objects before 1440. That's nice.
Before I left in late December we had 3 (or 4).

1. 1414 Bologna, with two illustations (one - Fame - in the later Trionfi style (text not complete)
2. one of "first quarter of 15th century", found by myself
3. March 1439 - letter from Milan, offered by Ross
(4) 1418 in Cosimo's possession (not confirmed)

If you've found more, things become complicated to keep an overview, and perhaps we should open a new thread for the collection of such items.
We've indeed a problem here to keep some overview. Forums tend to become a jungle.

**************************

Added, cause just detected:
Lo Scheggia has been hypothesized, by Huck (http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=171021), as the artist who did the 1440s tarot deck for Alessandro Sforza.
... :-) ... Hm, I'm not responsible for any dating of the Alessandro Sforza cards to the 1440's. I explicitly think, that the Charles VI was POSSIBLY created for Lorenzo de Medici's 14th birthday and that would have been in January 1463. Further I think, that the Alessandro Sforza cards depend on the earlier existence of the Charles VI cards and not vice versa, so naturally the Alessandro Sforza cards would have been later.

Actually I think, that this card Moon ...

Image


... shows the natural persons Regiomontanus and Toscanelli.

Regiomontanus arrived in 1461 in Italy. Toscanelli worked for the Medici. I don't know for sure, if they ever met, but they had letter contact. Both were famous for their astronomical researches.

Toscanelli had in his age a somehow nasty, very unusual face - as the left person (he was 66 in 1463). Regiomontanus designed his head in his own productions similar to the right person.

Image


Image

at the left side in the middle, not the central person, which is Marsilio Ficino

Image


If this assumption is right, then the Charles VI couldn't have been done before 1461. It may be assumed, that the discussions around the researches of Toscanelli and Regiomontanus were popular at begin of 1463. The teacher of Regiomontanus, Georg von Peurbach, was well known in Italy (he gave lectures in Ferrara around 1450). Bessarion went to Vienna to take Peurbach to Italy, but Peurbach had died. So Bessarion took Regiomontanus with him. Regiomontanus arrived in Italy not as a nobody, but with great expectations.

If somebody in 1463 wished to paint 2 contemporary famous astronomers, Toscanelli and Regiomontanus would have been the best choice. Especially, if the painter lived in Florence.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Collection "How Petrarca became famous" (till 1450)

65
Thanks for commenting, Huck. It's good to hear from you. And thanks for the corrections. I don't remember where I got the "1440s" dating for the Alessandro Sforza. I guess it wasn't you!

A few of your images didn't come throug

Huck wrote,
Further I think, that the Alessandro Sforza cards depend on the earlier existence of the Charles VI cards and not vice versa, so naturally the Alessandro Sforza cards would have been later.
Why do you say that? Alessandro Sforza was already acquiring an illuminated copy of Petrarch's Trionfi in the 1440s, made in Milan, judging from the rampant lion on its Triumph of Fame (in my last post) and also on its frontispiece (an earlier post) with the initials "G S" (perhaps Ginevra Sforza). Also, the Alessandro Sforza Chariot card is more like the Visconti Chariot than the Charles VI is, in virtue of its valets, and in virtue of the round object that both charioteers hold, as opposed to the Charles VI with no valet and an ax. Also, the posture of the horses and the round object make it more similar to the Rothschild image, which Ross thinks corresponds to something earlier than most (for these and others, see viewtopic.php?f=23&t=390#p5263). Also, the Lo Scheggia cassoni are from the 1440s. Also, the oversized condottiere hat is something very common in pre-1450 art; it shrinks in size after that.

It seems to me that Ross a while back cited some art experts who identified the Charles VI with a different workshop.

I had found two books with pre-1440 Trionfi manuscripts listed. Unfortunately I posted their descriptions in two different threads! Ullman's list( in Petrarch Manuscripts in the United States), which I gave at viewtopic.php?&f=11&t=858&p=13722#p13722, has only one definitely pre-1440 ms.
#62. Phyllis Goodhart Gorden and John Dorier Gordan NY. 1432-34, Ferrara and Venice. Paper. Copied by Petrus de Carbonibus , last leaf by his son Leonardus in Casttro Massignani, May 31, 1456. With Canzoniere and some Cicero (4 selections) and a Seneca fragment of his Liber fort. bonorum. (f. 219).
The other list is that in the book Petrarch Manuscripts in the British Isles, which I gave at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=868&p=13562#p13562. For some reason I identified the author of this book as as Nicholas Webb; WorldCat lists the author as Nicholas Mann. In any case, there were seven pre-1440 ms listed there. Ross wrote a nice summary on places and dates a little later in the thread.

Other countries have their own books in the Petrarch Manuscripts in... series, including Germany. I can't get them on Interlibrary Loan, as libraries here don't have them. It would be worth getting them somehow.
Last edited by mikeh on 12 Feb 2016, 06:04, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Collection "How Petrarca became famous" (till 1450)

66
hi Mike,
mikeh wrote:Thanks for commenting, Huck. It's good to hear from you. And thanks for the corrections. I don't remember where I got the "1440s" dating for the Alessandro Sforza. I guess it wasn't you!

A few of your images didn't come throug
They seem to do it well now.
Huck wrote,
Further I think, that the Alessandro Sforza cards depend on the earlier existence of the Charles VI cards and not vice versa, so naturally the Alessandro Sforza cards would have been later.
Why do you say that? Alessandro Sforza was already acquiring an illuminated copy of Petrarch's Trionfi in the 1440s, made in Milan, judging from the rampant lion on its Triumph of Fame (in my last post) and also on its frontispiece (an earlier post) with the initials "G S" (perhaps Ginevra Sforza). Also, the Alessandro Sforza Chariot card is more like the Visconti Chariot than the Charles VI is, in virtue of its valets, and in virtue of the round object that both charioteers hold, as opposed to the Charles VI with no valet and an ax. Also, the posture of the horses and the round object make it more similar to the Rothschild image, which Ross thinks corresponds to something earlier than most (for these and others, see viewtopic.php?f=23&t=390#p5263). Also, the Lo Scheggio cassoni are from the 1440s. Also, the oversized condottiere hat is something very common in pre-1450 art; it shrinks in size after that.
"G.S." is a nice finding and the identification as "Ginevra Sforza", illegitimate daughter of Alessandro looks plausible. However, it's only a "G.S." in a Trionfi poem text, not a "G.S." on a Trionfi card.

Ginevra had her wedding (1) in May 1454 short after the peace of Lodi and definitely during a climax of the observable Florentine Trionfi card production, which somehow started with the emperor visit 1452 and was finished with the death of Pope Niccolo V. The groom "Sante Bentivoglio" was originally "from Florence" and it might be natural, that there was a Trionfi deck at the Bolognese wedding.
However, the actual relevant deck (with its special Temperance with a stag) has a male figure as chariot driver, and that's - my opinion - reason to assume, that it was not a wedding deck.

Ginevra had another wedding (2), this time with Giovanni Bentivoglio, in 1464 and that fits nice with the assumption, that the Charles VI (assumed to be from 1463) was the prototype of the deck in the possession of Alessandro Sforza.
But the deck (again) has a male chariot driver. And the bride (very likely) was already in Bologna with 2 children from first marriage) and didn't arrive in a triumphal cavalcade from Pesaro.
Alessandro participated in the fights around Naples and these were finished around the time of the wedding. I've no precise dates for the wedding, only a "1464". But it looks plausible, that this wedding took place "after the war in Naples", and that it was somehow accompanied by another "wedding after the war" between Drusiana Sforza and Jacopo Piccinino, which, as far I know, took place around August 1464, and was disturbed by the news, that Cosimo had died in Florence and the pope Pius in Ancona.

I read, that Alessandro Sforza got the castle Gradara from the hands of Pius II. in 1464 (possibly as a result of the Naples war ?).
In 1464 he obtained by Pope Pius II the seigniory of Gradara, which he defended by the Malatesta attempts of reconquest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Sforza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradara

Generally we have some indications, that these years after 1462 might have been another Trionfi card production height after the confirmed years of 1452-1455

1463: Borso stopped his single decks productions, possibly cause the market had developed
1462: 96 Trionfi decks export by Cambini family from Florence to Venice (earlier recorded
sales knew only groups of 12 decks)
1463: Import to Rom, 309 Trionfi decks (and another big number a little later)
1463: New Trionfi card law in Florence, after 1450
1466: first note of Minchiate, indicating a new development
1465: Our own speculations about the wedding of Ippolita Sforza and Lorenzo's journey

If the Charles VI was "copied and modified" and the origin is really from 1463, then it's plausible, that it happened quick (so 1464 is somehow perfect).
We have also this new finding of two cards in the recent years, which look like court cards of the Charles VI, perhaps you remember (I don't know where they are). Somehow we can speak of 3 known surviving decks in this production.

****************
It seems to me that Ross a while back cited some art experts who identified the Charles VI with a different workshop.
I don't know about this, but I lost my overview meanwhile ... :-)
I had found two books with pre-1440 Trionfi manuscripts listed. Unfortunately I posted their descriptions in two different threads! Ullman's list( in Petrarch Manuscripts in the United States), which I gave at viewtopic.php?&f=11&t=858&p=13722#p13722, has only one definitely pre-1440 ms.
Perhaps we can bring the details altogether in one (new) article, otherwise it becomes confusing.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Collection "How Petrarca became famous" (till 1450)

67
Mike,
Have no strong thoughts here either way but just wanted to point out there was one other GS - Gabriele Sforza, brother of Francesco who became bishop of Milan (in 1454 I think); if the question is how to account for how the book got to the Vatican, it could have been bequeathed to another Sforza cleric, Cardinal Ascanio (son of Francesco). I think I would lean to Ginerva however as I'm not sure why the Augustinian bishop would be particullarly interested in Petrarch....
Huck wrote,
"G.S." is a nice finding and the identification as "Ginevra Sforza", illegitimate daughter of Alessandro looks plausible. However, it's only a "G.S." in a Trionfi poem text, not a "G.S." on a Trionfi card.

Ginevra had her wedding (1) in May 1454 short after the peace of Lodi and definitely during a climax of the observable Florentine Trionfi card production, which somehow started with the emperor visit 1452 and was finished with the death of Pope Niccolo V. The groom "Sante Bentivoglio" was originally "from Florence" and it might be natural, that there was a Trionfi deck at the Bolognese wedding.
However, the actual relevant deck (with its special Temperance with a stag) has a male figure as chariot driver, and that's - my opinion - reason to assume, that it was not a wedding deck.
I'm not sure you need the Chariot to be female to imply a possible wedding. The Cary deck's chariot, IMO, was for Sforza's 1441 wedding to Bianca which included the Visconti dowry of Cremona, hence the shield she holds out with a Visconti emblem. The PMB chariot, however, shows Bianca again, I believe, but with the symbols of rulership (ducal crown, sceptre and orb) which she does not hold in the Cary deck, as the (contested) rulership of Milan was now the main focus. The PMB Love card reiterates the Cary wedding Love card because one of Sforza's primary claims to the duchy was via Bianca (see Gary Ianziti on this), but the PMB deck would hardly be a wedding deck in c. 1450 and yet the chariot is female. The chariot's primary meaning to me is rulership, whether a marriage was a means to that or not.

Phaeded

Re: The non-captives in some early Triumphs of Fame

68
Mike/Huck,
Am I the only one struck by the similarity between the "Master of the Vitae Imperatorum" image posted by Mike and the Rothschild cards (particularly the tendril/floral brocade on many of the figures' dress)? Facial/hair features perhaps not as close but same school of artists perhaps using the same copybook for fabric? Mike, can you produce a color scan of the Milan illumination?
Mike posted:
In another, by the "Master of the Vitae Imperatorum" in Milan, given here to 1445-1450 but by Trapp to c. 1440, Fame has the book, but the grooms are replaced by sword bearers standing at attention on either side:


The manuscript, I think, was done for Alessandro Sforza, whose impresa of the rampant lion can be seen above. Another page has the initials "G. S." with the rampant lion in the middle.
Rothschild knight:
Image


Pope:
Image


Thanks,
Phaeded

Re: Collection "How Petrarca became famous" (till 1450)

69
hi Phaeded,
Phaeded wrote:Mike,
Have no strong thoughts here either way but just wanted to point out there was one other GS - Gabriele Sforza, brother of Francesco who became bishop of Milan (in 1454 I think);
....
28 July 1454, relatively short after the peace of Lodi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriele_Sforza
... died young with 34 years in 1457

I'm not sure you need the Chariot to be female to imply a possible wedding. The Cary deck's chariot, IMO, was for Sforza's 1441 wedding to Bianca which included the Visconti dowry of Cremona, hence the shield she holds out with a Visconti emblem. The PMB chariot, however, shows Bianca again, I believe, but with the symbols of rulership (ducal crown, sceptre and orb) which she does not hold in the Cary deck, as the (contested) rulership of Milan was now the main focus. The PMB Love card reiterates the Cary wedding Love card because one of Sforza's primary claims to the duchy was via Bianca (see Gary Ianziti on this), but the PMB deck would hardly be a wedding deck in c. 1450 and yet the chariot is female. The chariot's primary meaning to me is rulership, whether a marriage was a means to that or not.

Phaeded
I agree, that the PMB can't be seen as a wedding deck, more the declaration of Visconti/Sforza rulership in Milan.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Collection "How Petrarca became famous" (till 1450)

70
Phaeded: I haven't located a color reproduction of that "Master of the Vitae Imperatorum" Triumph of Fame. Thanks for pointing out the similarity to the Rothschild. I knew the style was similar to something in tarot, but I hadn't identified what. This Master flourished 1430-1450, some say 1459 (and some say earlier than 1430). It seems to me that I read somewhere that he did a psalter for Bianca Maria Sforza in c. 1450.

I agree that a female charioteer is not necessary in a wedding deck, especially one done in Florence or Bologna (which typically had male charioteers). I also don't see why a deck commissioned by Alessandro had to be for a wedding.