Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

11
http://trionfi.com/etx-playing-card-producers-italy

.... there are rather much persons connected to playing card production in Florence. It's not really a good strategy to specify on one of the artists.

Phaeded wrote ...
That Visconti was indeed celebrating his acquisition of Sforza precisely in 1440 .... etc.
I think, that the action you refer to happened in 1441, not in 1440.

June 1441, condottieridiventura.it, "Francesco Sforza"
E’ pronto per la guerra; tocca Sommacampagna, attraversa il Mincio, passa tra Lonato e Calcinato, perviene a Castenedolo ed a Bagnolo Mella; con la ritirata di Niccolò Piccinino prende la strada di Quinzano d’Oglio. Perviene a Verolanuova ed a Pralboino; il capitano avversario si piazza a Binanuova ed a Seniga. Lo Sforza varca l’Oglio con 8000 cavalli e 3000 fanti; di notte sposta le truppe e con una marcia di trenta miglia giunge a Pontoglio, invia in avanguardia Cristoforo da Tolentino e Tiberto Brandolini che colgono alla sprovvista le guardie nemiche, si impadronisce del ponte e traghetta le truppe oltre il fiume. Il Piccinino si colloca tra Romano di Lombardia ed il fiume Serio per difendere la Ghiaradadda ed il bergamasco; lo Sforza si volge allora su Martinengo con l’obiettivo di rifornire di vettovaglie Bergamo. Viene prevenuto dal capitano visconteo che inoltra alla difesa del castello di Martinengo 1200 cavalli e 500 fanti comandati da Giacomo da Caivana e da Perino Fregoso. Lo Sforza riceve in soccorso 6000 cernite del bresciano e del bergamasco e si prepara ad assediare la fortezza con 6 bombarde. Attacca Cignano, dove il Piccinino si è trincerato con forze numericamente inferiori alle sue (10000 cavalli e 6000 fanti); è respinto un suo attacco che termina con la cattura di 500 cavalli e la morte di 20 uomini d’arme, quasi tutti della sua famiglia, ed il ferimento di Fiasco da Giraso e di Troilo da Rossano. Ripiega a Castignano; fa scavare un ampio fossato a difesa del suo campo e continua a battere con le artiglierie il castello di Martinengo. Il rivale allestisce due forti nelle vicinanze con i quali impedisce l’arrivo di rifornimenti (vettovaglie e foraggio per le cavalcature) ai 30000 uomini dello Sforza. In breve il condottiero si trova a passare dalla posizione di assediante a quella meno favorevole di assediato.
automatic translation
He is ready for war; he touches Sommacampagna, crosses the Mincio, passes between Lonato and Calcinato, reaches Castenedolo and Bagnolo Mella; with the retreat of Niccolò Piccinino he took the road to Quinzano d'Oglio. It reaches Verolanuova and Pralboino; the opposing captain places himself in Binanuova and in Seniga. Sforza crosses the Oglio with 8,000 horses and 3,000 infantry; at night he moves the troops and with a march of thirty miles he reaches Pontoglio, sends Cristoforo da Tolentino and Tiberto Brandolini in the vanguard who catch the enemy guards off guard, takes possession of the bridge and ferries the troops across the river. The Piccinino is located between Romano di Lombardia and the Serio river to defend the Ghiaradadda and the Bergamo area; Sforza then turns to Martinengo with the aim of supplying Bergamo with provisions. He is prevented by the Visconti captain who sends 1200 horses and 500 infantry commanded by Giacomo da Caivana and Perino Fregoso to the defense of the castle of Martinengo. Sforza receives 6,000 selections from Brescia and Bergamo to help and prepares to besiege the fortress with 6 bombards. He attacks Cignano, where Piccinino has entrenched himself with forces numerically inferior to his (10,000 horse and 6,000 infantry); one of his attacks was repulsed, ending with the capture of 500 horses and the death of 20 men-at-arms, almost all of his family, and the wounding of Fiasco da Giraso and Troilo da Rossano. He falls back to Castignano; he had a large ditch dug in defense of his camp and continued to beat the castle of Martinengo with artillery. The rival sets up two forts nearby with which he prevents the arrival of supplies (provisions and forage for the mounts) to Sforza's 30,000 men. In short, the leader finds himself passing from the position of besieger to the less favorable one of besieged.
July/August 1441, condottieridiventura.it, "Francesco Sforza"
I due capitani rimangono a contatto per diciotto giorni. Nel frangente è salvato dal duca di Milano che, irritato per le richieste dei suoi condottieri volte a smembrare il ducato visconteo (in primis Niccolò Piccinino, ma anche Luigi da San Severino, Taliano Furlano e Luigi dal Verme tutti con svariate richieste territoriali) indirizza al suo campo Antonio Guidoboni con la richiesta di un suo arbitrato e l’offerta di sua figlia in sposa. Il Visconti richiama il Piccinino e gli intima di deporre le armi; lo Sforza firma una tregua con il segretario Eusebio Caimi. Ai primi di agosto ha un incontro amichevole con il Piccinino ed i suoi condottieri quando costoro lasciano il campo di Martinengo; si reca a Soncino e da qui a Venezia dove dimostra al Senato la bontà dei suoi atti.
automatic translation
The two captains remain in contact for eighteen days. In the predicament he is saved by the Duke of Milan who, irritated by the requests of his leaders aimed at dismembering the Visconti duchy (primarily Niccolò Piccinino, but also Luigi da San Severino, Taliano Furlano and Luigi dal Verme all with various territorial requests) addresses the his camp Antonio Guidoboni with the request for his arbitration and the offer of his daughter in marriage. Visconti calls Piccinino back and orders him to lay down his arms; Sforza signs a truce with the secretary Eusebio Caimi. In early August he has a friendly encounter with Piccinino and his leaders when they leave the Martinengo camp; he goes to Soncino and from here to Venice where he demonstrates to the Senate the goodness of his deeds.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

12
Still in Work

We had some discussion about the very early time of the Trionfi decks in the thread "What are the documents for Marziano's dates?" ...
It started here .... 07 Jan 2023, #546
viewtopic.php?p=25619#p25619 ... general summary about the early time of the Trionfi decks.
and was finished here ... 17 Jan 2023, #564
viewtopic.php?p=25638#p25638

The major topic was Matteo de Pasti and his letter to Piero di Cosimo de Medici about the illustrated production of Petrarca's "Trionfi" poem (this letter is the oldest document for this sort of literature). We suspect a relation of the "Trionfi poem" motifs to the early Trionfi cards and to the fashion, to paint this motifs on objects like cassone etc, which all appear at the same time (1440s) as a novelty. This Matteo de Pasti letter has been written in 1441, the first Trionfi card note with Giusto Giusti and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta happened in September 1440. The oldest cassone pictures with Trionfi motifs are probably a little later.

The Matteo de Pasti letter notes elephants as animals for the Fama chariot. The elephant is a motif in the Malatesta heraldry, but we don't know, since when. There is the curious detail, that 3 medals exist, all made in 1446 by Matteo de Pasti for S.P. Malatesta and all 3 use the elephant as a symbol. An earlier use of the elephant in the heraldry of the Malatesta wasn't found. The Malatesta have a chessboard decoration and 3 heads ...

Castello Sismondo
https://www.gpsriccione.com/de/rimini-d ... mondo.html ... advertising text of a hotel
Das Schloss Sismondo von Rimini bewahrt ein wichtiges Stück Geschichte. Wenn man von der Piazza Cavour und der Piazza Malatesta ankommt, ist man von der Fassade des klassischen Renaissance-Schlosses mit seinen dicken Mauern und seinen schrägen quadratischen Türmen überwältigt. Das Schloss wurde zwischen 1437 und 1446 von Sigismondo Malatesta (der 1437 nur 20 Jahre alt war) entworfen und gebaut. Zu seinen Beratern gehörte auch der Architekt Filippo Brunelleschi, der berühmt für die schöne und innovative Kuppel von Santa Maria del Fiore, dem Dom von Florenz, ist. Schloss Sismondo war ursprünglich viel größer; es umfasste auch das bereits existierende Haus der Malatesta Familie und andere Flügel und wurde von einem Wassergraben umgeben, der jetzt rekonstruiert werden soll. Was wir heute sehen war der Kern. Am Eingang können Sie das Wappenschild mit dem klassischen Band des Schachspiels und einen Kamm mit einem Elefantenkopf sehen – und daneben eine Rose mit vier Blütenblättern. Der Elefant ist eine Schlüsselfigur der Heraldik Malatesta, weil er Kraft, Intelligenz und andere edle Tugenden darstellt.
Zu den einzigartigsten Aspekten gehören die Türme von Castel Sismondo, die gegenüber der Stadt stehen als habe Sigismondo Pandolfo einen Volksaufstand oder einen Angriff von außen befürchtet. Obwohl die Stadt mit ihren Herrschaften identifiziert wird, erscheint Schloss Sismondo als Symbol der Macht und der Verteidigung des Sigismondo Pandolfo. Um das Schloss zu bauen, musste die Erde geebnet und ein ganzes Stadtviertel umgesiedelt werden. Unter den zerstörten Gebäuden waren der Bischofspalast, ein Kloster, das Baptisterium und der Glockenturm der Kathedrale. Nach der letzten Renovierung der schönen Burg durch den Architekten Carla Tomasini Pietramellara finden hier nun regelmäßig Ausstellungen und Veranstaltungen statt. Wenn Sie während Ihrer Reise eine Pause machen wollen, sollten Sie die momentane Ausstellung im Schloss besuchen: Sie werden weder von der Ausstellung noch dem Inneren der Burg enttäuscht werden. Die Burg befindet sich in einem wirklich guten Zustand, der einem das Gefühl der einstigen Macht in diesem Ort vermittelt.
automatic translation
Rimini Castle Sismondo preserves an important piece of history. Arriving from Piazza Cavour and Piazza Malatesta, one is overwhelmed by the facade of the classic Renaissance castle with its thick walls and its sloping square towers. The castle was designed and built between 1437 and 1446 by Sigismondo Malatesta (who was only 20 years old in 1437). Among his advisors was the architect Filippo Brunelleschi, famous for the beautiful and innovative dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence's Duomo. Sismondo Castle was originally much larger; it also included the pre-existing house of the Malatesta family and other wings and was surrounded by a moat that is now to be reconstructed. What we see today was the gist. At the entrance you can see the coat of arms with the classic ribbon of chess and a crest with an elephant's head - and next to it a rose with four petals. The elephant is a key figure in Malatesta heraldry because it represents strength, intelligence and other noble virtues.
Among the most unique aspects are the towers of Castel Sismondo, which face the city as if Sigismondo Pandolfo feared a popular uprising or an attack from outside. Although the city is identified with its dominions, Sismondo Castle appears as a symbol of the power and defense of Sigismondo Pandolfo. In order to build the castle, the earth had to be leveled and an entire district had to be resettled. Among the destroyed buildings were the bishop's palace, a monastery, the baptistery and the bell tower of the cathedral. After the last renovation of the beautiful castle by the architect Carla Tomasini Pietramellara, exhibitions and events are now regularly held here. If you want to take a break during your trip, you should visit the current exhibition in the castle: you will not be disappointed by either the exhibition or the interior of the castle. The castle is in really good condition, which gives you a sense of the power that was in this place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Sismondo
Image
The elephant is still above the entrance.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Burg+ ... 12.5635839
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.0596716 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.059799, ... 312!8i6656
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/rimin ... y=relevant
https://www.photofvg.it/info.image.asp? ... 043300.jpg

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

1446 seems to be an important year for Malatesta

automatic translation from https://condottieridiventura.it/sigismo ... i-brescia/ ... years 1446-1447
Important contacts:
Filippo Maria Visconti (* 23. September 1392; † 13. August 1447)
Giannozzo Manetti
1446
Feb. Emilia and Lombardy
He was invited to Milan by Filippo Maria Visconti. He sets out with 40 horses; near Cotignola he escapes an ambush that is set for him by Astorre Manfredi who is in the pay of the Florentines. He shelters in a swamp near Russi; he arrives in Ferrara and Milan.

March. Marches
He returns to Fano. He promotes a conspiracy in Urbino which is thwarted by Federico da Montefeltro: all those who escaped (and those who are banned from the city following the rebellion) find refuge in Rimini and Cesena. Among these are in particular Niccolò Perfetti and his brother Battista who cede the fortresses of Casteldelci, Senatello and Faggiuola to Malatesta.

Jul. Marches
He moves between Fossombrone and Fano; he takes part in the council of war in which it is decided to continue the campaign and to expel Sforza from the whole march of Ancona. He obtained Pergola with the fortress, which was given to him by the castellan Guastalamarca, and Monte Gherardo; he diverts the Sforza troops from Isola di Fano and approaches Montefabbri. A large part of the Cagli countryside came into his hands.

Aug. Brands
Montefabbri surrenders to him, takes Talacchio, pillages and sets fire to Colbordolo (25 defenders are killed in the battle and many are wounded). He besieges Montefeltro in Urbino and obtains agreements with Sassocorvaro and Montegrimano.

Sept. Marche and Romagna
Monte Cerignone surrendered to him with the fortress; he also has Soanne and Montegelli. He returns to Rimini and receives Cardinal Scarampo, whom he goes to meet in Santo Spirito. He sends troops to the ducals engaged in war against the Venetians.

Oct. Marches
Beats at Montelauro Dolce dell'Anguillara: 40 men-at-arms with three foremen are captured among the opponents (40 infantrymen are also killed). 3,000 horse and 1,000 Florentine infantry led by Guidantonio Manfredi, Simonetto da Castel San Pietro and Gregorio d'Anghiari come to Sforza's aid. Their intervention reverses the course of the conflict. Malatesta must abandon the siege of Urbino with Cardinal Scarampo; he is challenged to pitched battle by Montefeltro by sending a bloody glove. He apparently accepts; in reality he does not go out in combat preferring to be on the defensive. Alessandro Sforza and Montefeltro conquered the castles of Pozzo del Piano, Tomba and Montelauro; they begin to besiege Gradara.

Nov. Dec. Milan Venice Marche Romagna Emilia and Lombardy
Gradara is besieged until the first days of December; Malatesta helps the fortress from the outside, amply demonstrating his competence in the field of military engineering. He manages to let some messages to the defenders penetrate through a secret dungeon, harasses the besiegers without interruption from behind. The hostilities ended with a truce when he took an active part in reconciling the Duke of Milan with Sforza. He welcomes Guidantonio Manfredi in Rimini who returns to Faenza after abandoning the siege of Gradara. For his part he crosses the Forlì area with his troops (in Forlì he has an interview with Antonio Ordelaffi), crosses the Bolognese area and reaches Lombardy to help the Duke of Milan in difficulty with the Venetians. Filippo Maria Visconti offers him the general captaincy of his militias; he refuses the job so as not to increase Sforza's jealousy towards him.
1447
Feb. Mar. Lombardy Emilia and Romagna
From Milan he returns to his territories. In Ferrara he meets with the Venetian visdomino to offer his services to the league. Through Sforza a truce is proclaimed between him and his brother Domenico on one side and Alessandro Sforza (whom he tried to have killed) and Montefeltro on the other.

Jul. Naples Florence 600 spears and 600 infantry
He approaches the king of Naples and his emissaries sign the contract with Alfonso of Aragon: the duration is established at one year plus one of approval. He is given an annual commission of 4,000 ducats; he also obtains a loan of 50 ducats for a lance and 4 ducats for an infantryman for basic necessities. The 32,400 ducats relating to the forced loan should be paid in four installments from the day on which the king of Naples is able to collect his credits from the pope and the Visconti. Montefeltro was instead hired by the Florentines to fight the Aragonese in Tuscany.

[Filippo Maria Visconti dies at 13th of August]

Sett. Rimini Urbino Marche
Against the pacts stipulated previously he makes Fossombrone rebel and besieges its fortress: on the third day Montefeltro intervenes and defeats it. The city is sacked. Malatesta returns to Rimini; he welcomes you Raimondo Boilo, emissary of Alfonso of Aragon, who is on his way to Naples from Lombardy. He accompanies him for a while outside the Porta di San Bartolomeo.

Nov. Rimini Urbino Romagna
Hosts in Rimini Galeazzo Malatesta, Antonio and Cecco Ordelaffi. With his cousin he pushes the refugees from Fossombrone to attack some castles, such as Montalto, Bellaguarda, San Biagio, Casaspessa, Torricella and Sant'Ippolito. He wrote to the king of Naples that his offensive in the Marches had the aim of recalling Montefeltro from Tuscany. Alfonso of Aragon orders him to take care of the matters for which he has been taken instead of his own personal ones: he receives the order to join the Aragonese in Montepulciano. He refuses to obey because up to that moment 22,000 or 25,000 ducats of the forced loan alone have been delivered to him. He sends one of his emissaries to the king to ask for the balance of the conduct: he is imprisoned in Castel Sant'Ermo; two other ambassadors are similarly ill-treated. Malatesta now has a reason to justify the defection he is contemplating and resumes negotiations with the Florentines and Venetians. Alfonso of Aragon sends him another 2,000 ducats.

Dec. Florence Rimini
Naples Urbino Pesaro
600 spears and 400 infantry Tuscany and Marche
He meets with Angelo della Stufa and Giannozzo Manetti, goes to Florence and stipulates the policy: the money received from the Aragonese if he keeps it as a salary for the past months. He initially asks for a supply of 600 spears and 400 infantry (against the offer of 500 spears and 300 infantry) and the general command of the troops; the Venetians get in the way; he claims the clause not to be subjected to any review during times of peace. Finally he accepts the conduct of 600 lances and 400 infantry for one year of service and one of approval. He has the command of all the militias with the exception of those of Montefeltro: among his conditions in favor of him are the permission not to have to face his brother's troops, nor the pontifical ones. None of this prevents him from continuing to harass Montefeltro. In fact, he persuades Alessandro Sforza that he is about to attack Pesaro; Sforza's brother asks for his help; at the same time Malatesta shows his longtime rival a letter on the matter; together they decide to anticipate the moves of the lord of Pesaro. From some signs, Montefeltro realizes that he is the victim of a deception; he enters Pesaro and defends the city from Malatesta's troops. Sigismondo Pandolfo breaks into the Urbino area and occupies more than thirty castles there. The Florentines protest.

still in work
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

13
Huck wrote: 20 Jan 2023, 19:05 The elephant is a motif in the Malatesta heraldry, but we don't know, since when.
Pandolfo III Malatesta, Sigismondo's father, already used the elephant emblem - the "elefante crestato" (crested elephant) - in his heraldry since at least 1409. This is according to this page, "L’araldica militare di Pandolfo III Malatesta, signore di Brescia e Bergamo". -

https://stemmieimprese.it/2015/04/20/la ... e-bergamo/

- it cites a manuscript in the Archivio di Stato di Fano, register 45 of the Codici Malatestiani, which describes his three standards in 1409, among which is lo standardo del alifante.

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

14
Thanks, that is a big improvement.

"Alifante" ("lo standardo del alifante") is the expression, which is used in 1409 by the father of Sigismondo Pandolfo. "Alfil" is the common impression for the chessfigure of the Elefant (at the place of the Europeon bishop), which was common in old asiatic chess versions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfil
The Malatesta have a chessboard design in their heraldry, that gives the Alfil some plausibility.

Pandolfo III Malatesta has an interesting biography.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandolfo_III_Malatesta
the following is better and much more information
automatic translation from the content of the German webpage https://www.wikiwand.com/de/Pandolfo_III._Malatesta
Pandolfo III. Malatesta
Lord of Fano, Brescia and Bergamo / from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rimini
Pesaro
condottiere
Pandolfo III. Malatesta (January 2, 1370 – October 3, 1427) was lord of Fano, Brescia and Bergamo and an important condottiere with pronounced cultural interests.

Family and Youth

Tomb of Pandolfo III. Malatesta in the Church of San Francesco in Fano (photo by Paolo Monti, 1972)
Pandolfo III. Malatesta's parents were the Condottiere and Signore of Rimini Galeotto I Malatesta (around 1300-1385) and Gentile Da Varano, daughter of Rodolfo II Da Varano (?-1384), Condottiere and Lord of Camerino and Camilla Chiavelli from Fabriano. He had numerous siblings, several of whom had careers as brilliant as Pandolfo III. himself. Of particular note are Carlo I Malatesta (1368–1429), lord of Rimini, Andrea Malatesta (1373–1416), lord of Cesena, and Galeotto Novello (called “Galeotto Belfiore”, 1377–1400); Lord of Cervia, Meldola, Sansepolcro, Sestino, Sassofeltrio and Montefiore. Almost all of his sisters and half-sisters were married to the region's ruling potentates: the Gonzaga of Mantua, the Pepoli of Bologna, the Manfredi of Faenza and the Montefeltro of Urbino.

Pandolfo III. Malatesta grew up at the Malatesta court in Rimini and received an excellent education, e.g. by the famous humanist Giacomo Allegretti. In addition to Italian, he also spoke Latin, French and Provençal and wrote Latin verses. He also played the lute and harp. After the death of his first wife (1398) he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1399.

In the generation of Pandolfo III. the Malatesta reached the peak of their power. On the one hand, they benefited from the Great Schism (1378–1417) with the competing papal claims in Rome and Avignon, and ruled large parts of Romagna and the Marches, areas that actually belonged to the ailing Papal States. On the other hand, they took advantage of the decades of turmoil in Lombardy by making themselves indispensable as condottieri for the political forces in Upper and Central Italy and by being able to massively expand their own dominions. Pandolfo III. From 1402 Malatesta consistently used his position in the regency council of Gian Galeazzo Visconti's widow for his own interests. In the obvious attempt to create his own territorial state in Lombardy, he seized control of Brescia (1404-1421), Bergamo (1407-1419) and Lecco (1408-1418) with the active support of his brother Carlo I Malatesta. He lost Bergamo and Lecco in the summer of 1419, Brescia after the Battle of Montichiari (October 8, 1420), which he lost to the Milanese troops under Carmagnola, the peace treaty between Milan and Venice of February 24, 1421, and Carmagnola's entry into Brescia on August 21, 1421. March 1421. For giving up the rule in Brescia Pandolfo III. Malatesta compensated by the Visconti with 34,000 guilders. He retired to the remaining Signoria of Fano (province of Pesaro and Urbino).

Condottiere

Pandolfo III. Malatesta began his military career at a young age and fought, often with his brothers Carlo I and Andrea Malatesta, in countless skirmishes and small wars in the service of the Papal States or with his own troops against rival dynasties of the region such as the Balacchi (Santarcangelo), the Da Polenta from Ravenna, the Montefeltro from Urbino, the Ordelaffi from Forlì. Unlike condottieri such as Facino Cane, Carmagnola, Muzio Attendolo Sforza, Angelo della Pergola or Niccolò Piccinino, he did not have to work his way up the ranks, but as a member of a famous noble family with his own dominion he assumed military leadership functions from the very beginning. Already in 1389, not even 20 years old, he and his brother Carlo led for Pope Urban VI. 2,000 riders in the field. Significant for his reputation as a condottiere was his participation in the victory of the anti-Milan league at Govèrnolo in 1397 over Jacopo dal Verme and Giovanni da Barbiano. In the same year he was appointed Capitano generale of the papal troops. From 1401 (until 1412) he was in the service of the Duchy of Milan, where he was one of the most important exponents of the Guelph party. After the assassination of Giovanni Maria Visconti in 1412 he fought in the war of the Republic of Venice against Sigismund of Luxembourg, king of Hungary, who claimed possession of Friuli and Istria. In September 1412 he replaced his brother Carlo I as supreme commander of the Venetian troops and put up vigorous resistance to the Hungarian general Filippo Scolari and Pippo Spano. After numerous battles and unsuccessful sieges, he had to retreat to Friuli and later to Hungary in the spring of 1413. For this success Pandolfo III was. Malatesta richly rewarded by Venice. He received a mercenary service contract for 1,000 men, which was endowed with 48,000 ducats annually, an annual life annuity of 1,000 ducats and a palazzo on the Grand Canal Pandolfo III was also appointed. Malatesta accepted into the Venetian nobility.

In the years that followed, relations with Filippo Maria Visconti deteriorated. Despite mediation efforts by the Republic of Venice and later by Martin V, a military confrontation was inevitable. On July 24, 1419 Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola conquered Bergamo and on October 8, 1420 Pandolfo III lost. Malatesta against the same opponent the Battle of Montichiari. Now he was looking for a peace agreement that was as advantageous as possible. In March 1421 he ceded Brescia to the Duke of Milan, giving up Lombard rule forever and returning to Romagna. In the following years he was again in the service of the Pope and the Republic of Florence as Capitano generale. He fought his last major battle on July 28, 1424 against the Milanese troops under the condottieri Angelo della Pergola, Secco da Montagnana and Guido Torelli. The Battaglia di Zagonara ended in a heavy defeat for the Florentine troops and Pandolfo's brother Carlo Malatesta was taken prisoner.

The courts of Fano and Brescia
Pandolfo III. Malatesta took over the dominion of Fano, inherited from his father, on his death in 1385. His small state was organized in a very complex way, had a central administration at court in Fano and a large number of officials (chancellor, judges, clerks, notaries, castellans, etc.). Governors were appointed in numerous cities to exercise government power. As the surviving files show, the Signoria of Fano was tightly organized, administrative actions and accounting were already written down to a large extent. There were also diverse forms of communal self-government and village autonomy with countless privileges and special rights that were often newly granted or confirmed. This sophisticated administrative and accounting system was also used in the seignories of Brescia and Bergamo in 1404 and 1408 respectively. Interestingly, Pandolfo III recruited Malatesta chose his key figures for the administration of the northern Italian dominions from among the experienced officials in Romagna and the Marches. These covered an area of several thousand square kilometers, where more than half a million subjects lived.

Condottiere
Pandolfo III. Malatesta began his military career at a young age and fought, often with his brothers Carlo I and Andrea Malatesta, in countless skirmishes and small wars in the service of the Papal States or with his own troops against rival dynasties of the region such as the Balacchi (Santarcangelo), the Da Polenta from Ravenna, the Montefeltro from Urbino, the Ordelaffi from Forlì. Unlike condottieri such as Facino Cane, Carmagnola, Muzio Attendolo Sforza, Angelo della Pergola or Niccolò Piccinino, he did not have to work his way up the ranks, but as a member of a famous noble family with his own dominion he assumed military leadership functions from the very beginning. Already in 1389, not even 20 years old, he and his brother Carlo led for Pope Urban VI. 2,000 riders in the field. Significant for his reputation as a condottiere was his participation in the victory of the anti-Milan league at Govèrnolo in 1397 over Jacopo dal Verme and Giovanni da Barbiano. In the same year he was appointed Capitano generale of the papal troops. From 1401 (until 1412) he was in the service of the Duchy of Milan, where he was one of the most important exponents of the Guelph party. After the assassination of Giovanni Maria Visconti in 1412 he fought in the war of the Republic of Venice against Sigismund of Luxembourg, king of Hungary, who claimed possession of Friuli and Istria. In September 1412 he replaced his brother Carlo I as supreme commander of the Venetian troops and put up vigorous resistance to the Hungarian general Filippo Scolari and Pippo Spano. After numerous battles and unsuccessful sieges, he had to retreat to Friuli and later to Hungary in the spring of 1413. For this success Pandolfo III was. Malatesta richly rewarded by Venice. He received a mercenary service contract for 1,000 men, which was endowed with 48,000 ducats annually, an annual life annuity of 1,000 ducats and a palazzo on the Grand Canal Pandolfo III was also appointed. Malatesta accepted into the Venetian nobility.
In the years that followed, relations with Filippo Maria Visconti deteriorated. Despite mediation efforts by the Republic of Venice and later by Martin V, a military confrontation was inevitable. On July 24, 1419 Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola conquered Bergamo and on October 8, 1420 Pandolfo III lost. Malatesta against the same opponent the Battle of Montichiari. Now he was looking for a peace agreement that was as advantageous as possible. In March 1421 he ceded Brescia to the Duke of Milan, giving up Lombard rule forever and returning to Romagna. In the following years he was again in the service of the Pope and the Republic of Florence as Capitano generale. He fought his last major battle on July 28, 1424 against the Milanese troops under the condottieri Angelo della Pergola, Secco da Montagnana and Guido Torelli. The Battaglia di Zagonara ended in a heavy defeat for the Florentine troops and Pandolfo's brother Carlo Malatesta was taken prisoner.

The courts of Fano and Brescia
Pandolfo III. Malatesta took over the dominion of Fano, inherited from his father, on his death in 1385. His small state was organized in a very complex way, had a central administration at court in Fano and a large number of officials (chancellor, judges, clerks, notaries, castellans, etc.). Governors were appointed in numerous cities to exercise government power. As the surviving files show, the Signoria of Fano was tightly organized, administrative actions and accounting were already written down to a large extent. There were also diverse forms of communal self-government and village autonomy with countless privileges and special rights that were often newly granted or confirmed. This sophisticated administrative and accounting system was also used in the seignories of Brescia and Bergamo in 1404 and 1408 respectively. Interestingly, Pandolfo III recruited Malatesta chose his key figures for the administration of the northern Italian dominions from among the experienced officials in Romagna and the Marches. These covered an area of several thousand square kilometers, where more than half a million subjects lived.
At his courts, Pandolfo III unfolded. Malatesta an artistically ambitious patronage, which also included extensive building activity and need not fear comparison with the courts of the Gonzaga in Mantua or the d'Este in Ferrara. This is particularly true of Brescia in the years 1404-1421, where Pandolfo III. exercised a far-reaching reign "in which elegance, generosity and love of art were expressed". Pandolfo III. Malatesta lived in Brescia's municipal government palace, the Broletto, which he had enlarged with a portico with cross vaults. For the cappella Palatina del Broletto he commissioned Gentile da Fabriano to create a cycle of paintings that had been forgotten in the 17th century but was rediscovered in the 1980s and fragments have survived. Many other painters received commissions, such as Andrea Bembo, Antonino and Bartolomeo Bonardi, Giovanni da Milano, Giovannino de Nova, Guglielmo and Giorgio Zoncacci, as well as Bartolomeo Testorino and Ottaviano Prandino from Brescia. In addition, Pandolfo III was interested. for literary life, assembled a respectable library and supported the small but important group of poets around Jacopo Malvezzi and Giovanni da Borgo San Donnino.
Above all, his support of music was significant. The court in Brescia employed numerous singers and musicians and was one of the major musical centers of the early 15th century. Between 1404 and 1421 more than forty musicians, singers and instrumentalists were active in Brescia. The most famous among them were Beltrame Feragut (French composer from Avignon), Nicolaus de Burgundia (singer in the service of Gregory XII), Bertoldus Dance (bandmaster to Pope Martin V) and Leonardo Tedesco (later lutenist at the court of Este in Ferrara and probably the teacher of the famous Pietrobono del Chitarino (around 1417–1497)). The industrious building activity should also serve to consolidate rulership. Numerous impressive buildings were built in a short time, some of which served military purposes, such as the Rocca Malatestiana in Fano, or housed the courts and administrative units of the Signoria. On the other hand, the building activity should also promote the prestige of the ruler. In Brescia, in addition to the extensions in the Broletto Palace, he had numerous representative buildings built or substantially rebuilt, in addition to various palaces, the Ospedale di San Cristoforo, the monasteries of Sant'Eufemia (today: Sant'Angela Merici) and Santa Maria di Pace, or the churches of Sant'Agata, Santa Maria del Carmine, San Tommaso, San Pietro Martire and San Francesco d'Assisi.
In 1406 a mint was established and Pandolfo III. Malatesta promoted arms production. In Iseo he set up a shipyard that built warships for naval and river battles. A 50-strong municipal law enforcement corps was created to improve public safety. During the Malatesta Seignory period, Brescia prospered and the population increased. Pandolfo III. Malatesta was a dynamic ruler. At the same time, he was ruthless and no less cruel than other condottieri. He suppressed protests and uprisings with an iron fist.

Progeny
Pandolfo III. Malatesta was married three times: in 1388 he married Paola Bianca Malatesta (–1399), daughter of Pandolfo Malatesta, lord of Pesaro. She was his cousin, first married (1379) to Sinibaldo Ordelaffi (1336-1386), Signore of Forlì. For Paola Bianca Malatesta Pandolfo III. build a still existing tomb in the church of San Francesco in Fano by Filippo di Domenico. The second marriage he concluded in 1421 with Ansovina da Varano (?-1423), daughter of Rodolfo da Varano, lord of Camerino. Finally, in 1427, he entered into a third marriage with the very young Margherita Anna Guidi, daughter of Francesco Guidi, Count of Poppi. All three marriages remained childless. On the other hand, he had descendants with two women from Brescia: Allegra de Mori and Antonia da Barignano (1399-1471), daughter of Giacomino da Barignano and Giacomina Celeri. Galeotto Roberto Malatesta came from the first union, the other two sons from the second:

* Galeotto Roberto Malatesta (1411–1432), legitimized 1428. He grew up at court in Rimini and was brought up by his childless aunt Elisabetta Gonzaga. In 1427 he married Margherita d'Este, daughter of Niccolò II d'Este (1338-1388), Margrave of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. Galeotto Roberto Malatesta was Lord of Rimini from 1429 to 1432, abdicated in 1432 in favor of his half-brother Sigismondo Pandolfo and spent the last months of his life in the Franciscan monastery of Santarcangelo di Romagna.
* Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417–1468), Signor of Rimini from 1432, Condottiere
* Domenico (called: Novello) Malatesta (1418–1465), legitimized 1428; married to Violante da Montefeltro (1430-1493), daughter of Guidantonio da Montefeltro Signore von Cesena, the towns of Bertinoro, Meldola, Sarsina, Roncofreddo and the area around Sestino also belonged to his dominion. In Cesena he unfolded an intensive building activity that characterizes the townscape to this day. The showpiece among the numerous public buildings is the unique Biblioteca Malatestiana.
* Giacoma Malatesta emerged from an unknown connection. She was married to Giacomo Gonzaga, an illegitimate son of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

15
Phaeded wrote: 15 Nov 2022, 23:42
Ross Caldwell wrote: 21 Oct 2022, 16:58 In Brunelleschi, I found a plausible connection in his visits to the duke in Milan.... had discovered that Lo Scheggia was Brunelleschi's friend (a much younger friend, but one in which Brunelleschi would have taken an interest not least because he was Masaccio's younger brother, Masaccio being an artist he respected very much and mourned at his untimely death), and had come to know through Franco Pratesi's discoveries that Lo Scheggia had painted cards..

Beyond Marziano's Milanese "trumps" not matching trionfi in subject matter nor in number, and why Florence and Milan would emulate one another in the bellicose period leading up to and extending after Anghiari (a further note on that below), there is the all-important issue of art projects and patrons, of which Brunelleschi was not. The idea of trionfi's spontaneous generation from the card-playing taverns or art studios remains suspect, with no notable comparables of which I'm aware besides Ghiberti's 'gates of Paradise' but even there he had to compete with Bruni's own proposed program for the baptistery's doors in submitting them for approval to the commissioning Opera del duomo. Guilds, confraternities, etc. commissioned the subjects of the St. John's edifici - the artists executed them.

The Medici commissioned projects; Brunelleschi was a contractor, however illustrious, who carried them out. Lo Scheggia was yet another "art contractor" known to the Medici, perhaps thought of in the second rank or even below a Castagno.

Relevant Medici commissioning events, most of which concern contracts related to S. Maria del Fiore where Lo Scheggia worked leading up to 1440.

* After the 1434 return of Cosimo to Florence, the Medici more or less controlled state commissions.
* 1433-1436: S. Maria del Fiore funerary fresco 'monument' to condottiero Hawkwood. The original fresco was initially commissioned in May 1433 by the Albizzi government, just months before the regime's collapse; subsequent to Cosimo's triumphant return to Florence, in May 1436 the Medici regime hired Uccello to replace the Albizzi artists.
* Between 1436 and 1440, Lo Scheggia collaborated on the intarsia designs for cupboards in S. Maria del Fiore.
* With that commission at an end in 1440, Lo Scheggia was free to do the ur-tarot...at the behest of Medici and their partisans, which after Anghiari certainly included Chancellor Leonardo Bruni, with whom Guisti had direct contacts per his journal.

* July 1440 Castagno was commissioned by the state/Medici to paint the defeated Albizzi traitors upside down - impiccati - on what is today the Bargello, on the processional route from the Piazza della Signoria, to the Duomo.
* April 1445 Castagno portrait of Bruni for the Guild of the Giudici e Notai (lost)
* March 1447 Castagno, Three Virtues painted in the main meeting room (not the ceiling fresco virtues) for the guild of Guidici e Notai (Pessllino's shop also participated).
* 1449. Medici commission Lo Scheggia to paint the deschi da parto for Lorenzo de' Medici's birth.
* 1450 Castagno commissioned to paint a caritas for Bernedetto Medici, the hero of Anghiari, at the vicariato at Scarperia (B. was vicar of the Mugello that year)
* 1456. Medici commission Castagno to paint in S,. Maria del Fiore a fellow equestrian Monument of condottiero Niccolò da Tolentino to go along side Ucello's from 1436.

The Medici regime's guiding fingerprints are all over these projects (Castagno details provided as an apt comparable to Lo Scheggia), several of which are precisely where Lo Scheggia labored for four years, right before the emergence of trionfi - in S. Maria del Fiore.

None of these examples are of an artist taking the initiative in painting "on spec." And this list of commissions is hardly an exhaustive one of Medici-controlled state commissions, but needless to say the painters were not selecting the subject matter - they were commissioned to execute/paint via a contract. To posit that Lo Scheggia,a Medici creature at this point, was contracted to paint a novel series of figures to celebrate the victory at Anghiari over the hated Albizzi/Visconti forces, perhaps via the Dieici (the "Ten of War") on which both Cosimo and Bruni sat, requires no special pleading.

Back to why belligerents Florence or Milan, who could copy one or the other c. 1440 - my theory contextualizes the borrowing in a wholly antagonistic context: following the 'insult' of the ur-tarot that essentially celebrated his defeat at Anghiari, F. Visconti commissioned a variation to celebrate his military coup of sorts in stealing Sforza away from being in Cosimo's pay and into a contract with him, and cemented via marriage to his daughter with an appropriate wedding gift of dominions (Cremona and Pontremoli). This too does not require special pleading. Malatesta was also gifted a trionfi deck, a trifling gift (forthcoming condotti would be more meaningful) because the Medici were keenly aware of losing Sforza and needed him back in the fold.

That Visconti was indeed celebrating his acquisition of Sforza precisely in 1440 via other art works is witnessed in the Pisanello medals made for Filippo and Sforza that year: [medals]


Phaeded

Bump, with some supplemental material added above. And of course the key piece of relevant data is Pratesi's discovery in 2013 that Scheggia himself actually produced trionfi: http://trionfi.com/evx-lo-scheggia
Giovanni certainly produced Naibi, and maybe Trionfi as well. Here the name of Trionfi is directly applied to playing cards, and only to some of them, a specific kind of Naibi, which were documented under the names of Naibi a trionfi, or Naibi di trionfi, or just Trionfi.
....
I found in documents kept in the AOIF in Florence that two dozens of his Naibi Piccoli were sold in 1447, and four packs of his Grandi in the following year.(1) The records of those trades allow us to know something else about his production. It can be considered to correspond to an intermediate grade, distant both from the most precious items and from the most ordinary ones.
....

Now, we are continuing to proceed downward and are ready to reach the lowest limit of Giovanni’s production, as far as I know. About his masterpieces we can read whole books.(7) His activity in the “minor” arts is on the other hand well documented by several exhibitions, catalogues, and specific studies.(8) Unknown was his production of playing cards, but in my note a number of these products can be found traded, with corresponding dates and prices.(1)

What about even less important works? How did he earn his living? Here I am able to comment on a document, which allows us to see him at work in his ordinary practice. I have first read it in the manuscript,(2) and only later on I have seen that this document had not escaped the attention of Margaret Haines: it has been entirely transcribed in the book indicated above.(3) We meet Giovanni in the Ricordanze of Marco Parenti, a known relative of Alessandra Macinghi, who in her turn is a renowned author of letters from which useful information has been derived on the Florentine milieu of the time. Giovanni is involved in the construction and decoration of a Sopraccielo, a kind of intermediate covering under the ceiling of the bedroom. This decorated furniture required the subsequent intervention of more craftsmen. One had first to provide the cloth and dye it blue (L.9 s.18); another had to build the wooden frame (L.11 s.6); another to paint it (L.5), and finally the last craftsman, a painter, had to finish the job by decorating the object with painting, gold and silver (L.22). What for us is the most surprising point in this whole job is that Giovanni was not personally involved in the final painting work: this part of the decoration was assigned to a painter, whose name was not even inserted in the record.

Our renowned painter, Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, is explicitly indicated on 5 August 1451 as the author of the cheapest operation: just brush-painting the wooden frame. One may deduce that someone else could be preferred, if a painter had to decorate the cloth parts.
A few further documents of a similar kind have been collected by Margaret Haines in the book mentioned.(3) How far we see him now from his frescoes, and from his triumphal decorations as well!

Unlike Scheggia who who specifically worked in the medium of trionfi and was free in 1440, Brunelleschi was swamped at this time (see the Saalman information provided: the Duomo's tribune morte/Lantern and four other projects from significant commissioners demanded his time in 1439 until the rest of his life). This also meant that unlike Scheggia, who at times found no project to small - doing a deck of cards or painting a bed - Brunelleschi had no financial motivation to take such odd jobs that a lesser artist would take. Moreover, Brunelleschii had important clients (the Duomo opera, Parte Guelfa, S. Spirito, S. Lorenzo, etc.) demanding completion of their commissions - any trifling side project has to be rejected out of hand without some concrete evidence pointing to Brunelleschi engaged in engraving/paper commissions c. 1439-1440, beyond his architectural designs.

The next likeliest candidate after Scheggia for the trionfi commission was Castagno, but he was doing the hanged man portraits in July 1440 and then moved in to the painting of the crucifixion in the Santa Maria degli Angeli (1440-1442; see Spencer 1991:7). Scheggia had just wrapped up his intarsia designs for cupboards in S. Maria del Fiore, begun 1436 and ended 1440. Lo Scheggia was available.

Conclusion: Trionfi occured under the auspices of the Cosimo Medici regime (possibly jointly celebrating the Papal court then headquartered in Florence and which participated in the Anghiari battle). This Florentine regime took former Malatesta fiefs (back in Papal hands at that time) as the windfall booty after the victory of Anghiari. The primary middleman between Cosimo/Bruni's Dieici and Malatesta was the one who brought the earliest known trionfi to Malatesta: Giusti. All of this shows undeniable links between Cosimo's regime and Malatesta, and Giusti continued to act as a go between for those parties in the ensuing years. Scheggia was available for this commission and indeed is known to specifically work on card decks 7 years later; two years after that commissioned by the Medici to paint the deschi da parto for Lorenzo de' Medici mother. All of the salient facts align and Occam's razor points to the Medici regime commissioning Scheggia to paint the ur-tarot, with one of the earliest known exemplars delivered by Medici middleman Giusti to Malatesta.

Phaeded

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

16
Phaeded wrote :
Bump, with some supplemental material added above. And of course the key piece of relevant data is Pratesi's discovery in 2013 that Scheggia himself actually produced trionfi: http://trionfi.com/evx-lo-scheggia
Franco Pratesi noted the production of playing cards by Scheggia at http://trionfi.com/naibi-on-sale
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3 of the sales on this list have in the last column a "GI"
The GI stands for "Giovanni di San Giovanni", which is the normal name for "Lo Scheggia".

Franco Pratesi adds at this place:
An extraordinary cardmaker
Several names of cardmakers and painters of playing cards who were active in Florence in about those years can be found here and there, but in Richordançe A we find one, who may be more interesting than all the remaining ones: Giovanni da San Giovanni. San Giovanni Valdarno is the present name of a country town that near the end of the 13th century had been built by the Florentines, with the name of Castel San Giovanni, as a fortified settlement in front of Arezzo (not to forget that San Giovanni Battista is still considered as the patron of Florence).
Our Giovanni painter was born there but, as it occurred for many artists, he lived and worked in Florence; this he did after having been active as a soldier in his youth. His outstanding plus point is not so much due to his personal value as a painter, however remarkable, but rather to that of his elder brother, nobody less than Masaccio. For Masaccio, let me add here just his dates of birth and death, 1401-1428 – he has been so great an artist that it is easy to get whatever information one may wish about him. His full name was Tommaso di ser Giovanni Guidi da San Giovanni; his younger brother was born in 1406, soon after the death of their father, so that he could take the same first name: Giovanni di ser Giovanni, then nicknamed Lo Scheggia.(7)
I could read no less than three whole books dedicated to him, (8,9,10) where I could not find (yet) any trace of playing cards. It may be worth noting however that, while he is not known as a painter of triumphal cards, he is renowned for some of the triumphal processions that he painted on cassoni, the big and finely decorated trunks that were part of the marriage settlements of the brides.
Art historians should be warned not to expect that the revolutionary style of Masaccio could be passed to his brother as a painter of playing cards. Here no revolutionary improvement in style is welcome: the aim of the work is just to satisfy the conservative attitude of the players, who always prefer, and by far, that their traditional images are changed the least as possible.
I feel the last practical point is not taken sufficiently into account by art historians, when they pay some attention to playing cards, en passant. It is therefore a pleasure for me to provide them with the documented name of a painter, whom they already know from different productions. Even if art historians have written little or no pages about him as a card painter, I feel certain that they will soon find their remedy to this, with new hundreds of pages. There is an additional advantage: I give them exact dates for these cards, but thanks to the long life of this artist, it will be unlikely for them, in this case, to attribute to a painter cards produced before his birth or after his death.
It's not given, that one of the 3 productions by Scheggia were Trionfi playing cards. It's also not recognizable, that the connected prizes were especially expensive. Franco wrote this article in January 2012, so in a very early phase of his cooperation with trionfi.com.
In the article, that Phaeded mentioned, Franco wrote "Giovanni certainly produced Naibi, and maybe Trionfi as well." Franco wrote also, that Scheggia worked on Trionfi pictures (not cards), but this is well known.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

17
Yes, and Franco goes on to say:
Was our artist personally involved in the production of Trionfi? I could not find a documentary confirmation yet, but I can hardly imagine a Florentine painter, for whom producing such items would have been easier.
That Lo Scheggia painted Triumph cards is sufficiently plausible that it can be taken as a premise upon which to base further speculation. I certainly assume that he did.

Ada Labriola considers that the Alessandro Sforza cards were painted circa 1450 by an artist close to Lo Scheggia, or at least influenced by his style ("Le cartes de Catane et Palerme furent réalisées par un peintre en relation avec cet artiste, ou tout au moins influencé par ses modèles stylistique." Labriola, "Les tarots peints à Florence au XVe siècle," in Tarots enluminés, chefs-d'oeuvre de la Renaissance italienne (Lienart, 2021), p. 118).

Re: Giusto Guisti: For the moment the oldest Trionfi document

18
Franco didn't state, that Scheggia made Trionfi cards, but indicated the possibility or probability, that he might have done that. That's a difference between fact and reflecting speculation.

Long before Ada Labriola and 2021 there was Trionfi.com with ...
https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/new- ... 34/page-21
https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/flor ... ot.171059/
... and other places (start ca. January 2012)

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Huck
http://trionfi.com