Siena cathedral

This essay examines and discusses a hitherto unpublished drawing reproducing a fresco in Siena, now lost but traditionally attributed to Simone Martini by sources ranging from Ghiberti to Della Valle. The drawing, from the collection of the art historian Jean-Baptiste Seroux d’Agincourt housed in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, prompts discussion regarding the painting’s iconography and style.

The vicissitudes of the Siena cathedral building site and two particular commissions in the summer and autumn of 1356 make it possible to take steps towards the identification of the sculptural corpus of Michele di Nello, a "master of stone" hitherto unknown but who, thanks to the documentation of the time, can be identified as an important figure on the Sienese artistic scene in the aftermath of the Black Death of 1348. Starting from the sculptures of the cathedral building, it is possible to identify his activity in the field of wood-carving, thus sketching in a more articulate way the story of this new actor on the stage of 14th-century sculpture in Siena.

The paper takes a systematic approach to the hitherto unpublished relic of St John the Baptist's right arm which is kept in a cache in Siena cathedral. It includes the available historical information about the relic's journey from Serbia until its arrival in Siena (1464) and the circumstances in which it came into the possession of pope Pius II. It provides a detailed description both of the relic and of the reliquary, an exquisite piece of medieval goldsmithing and filigree work with few direct analogies. Particular attention is devoted to the inscription on the reliquary lid: " Right arm of John the Forerunner, cover me, Sava the Serbian archbishop. " Based on the inscription, the reliquary is identified as one of the founding objects of the treasury of the monastery of Žiča (the Serbian cathedral and coronation church) which was gradually built up in the first decades of the thirteenth century through the effort of Sava of Serbia. Discussed in the context of this topic are also the " veil " and the " cushion " , the luxurious textiles in which the Baptist's arm was brought to Siena.

Michelangelo’s largely overlooked commission of April 1503 for twelve over life-sized Apostle statues for the cathedral of Florence was among the earliest important artistic ventures that were initiated in Florence following the expulsion of the Medici from the city in November 1494.  Significantly, the following clues suggest that either the Medici –who were the unofficial rulers of Florence from 1434 to 1494- or pro-Mediceans were behind this commission.
Firstly, Niccolo Michelozzi was present as chancellor of the Wool Guild (the guild in charge of the construction, embellishment and maintenance of the cathedral of Florence through its arm, the Cathedral Board of Works) when the Apostle contract was drawn up.  Niccolo had served as Lorenzo de’ Medici’s (the Magnificent’s) private secretary until the latter’s death in April of 1492.  Secondly, the contract was witnessed by Giuliano da Sangallo, Lorenzo de Medici’s favorite architect.  Thirdly, the commission for all twelve statues was allotted without any form of competition to Lorenzo de Medici’s protégé Michelangelo, a most unusual way of handling a project of this importance on the part of the Cathedral Board of Works.  In addition, the 16th century author and Medicean court artist Giorgio Vasari -who is quite obviously hiding something- fails to mention Michelangelo’s prestigious commission in the "Lives of the Artists" (first edition Florence, 1550; second revised and amplified edition Florence, 1568).  Instead, he claims that his hero Michelangelo carved an Apostle in competition with other sculptors –which is far less impressive than carving an entire cycle of over life-sized statuary on one's own- when: “Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici governed Florence” (thus, after the Medici return from exile in September 1512).  By doing so, Vasari draws the Apostle commission into the orbit of his patrons, the Medici.
The problem becomes more intriguing when we realize that Lorenzo de’ Medici (also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent) had longstanding ties to the Cathedral Board of Works and that his son Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici –a former canon of Florence Cathedral, living in exile since late 1494- was the most high ranking Florentine clergyman at the time of the signing of the Apostle contract.  Was Cardinal Giovanni carrying on his father’s agenda? Renewed Medicean control over the ongoing construction and embellishment of the Cathedral would amount to a powerful blow to the Republican government of Florence.

... insight, and photographs, without which this study could not have been completed; to Ms. Lone Bogh of the Conservation Department, Statens Museum, Copenhagen; to Dr. Alessandro Cecchi of the Galleria degli Uffizi, who had Simone Martini's Annunciation removed from the ...

In 1464 Pope Pius II donated a precious relic to the cathedral of Siena, his hometown—the right forearm and hand of St John the Baptist. On that occasion the appropriate document was drawn up—a donation charter. This paper brings a transcription of the Latin text of the charter (furnished with critical apparatus) and its translations into Serbian and English.

Папа Пије Други поклонио је 1464. године катедрали у Сијени, свом завичају, драгоцену реликвију – десну руку и шаку светог Јована Крститеља. Том је пригодом сачињен и одговарајући пратећи документ – даровна повеља. У овом се раду доноси препис латинског текста споменуте повеље (с одговарајућим критичким апаратом) и његов превод на српски и енглески језик.

Central to the design of the Siena cathedral pavement is the Mountain of Wisdom. It is located among Sages like Hermes Trismegistus and the Sibyls. Originating in a larger study of the roles of Neoplatonic, Gnostic and Hermetic concepts of salvation in the cathedral pavement design, this paper concentrates on the panel designed by Pintoricchio in 1504 which shows Socrates, Crates, Fortuna and Sapientia together with a "peripatetic" group of Sages who ascend the mountain. Many sources have been claimed for this scene, among them the Bible, Augustine, and the tabula cebetis. Crucial for understanding the panel's iconography are however the Old Testament's Book of Wisdome and Lactantius' Divine Institutes, with its chapter on the False Wisdom of the Philosophers. Lactantius uses ancient philosophy and their pagan sages to undermine his apologetic approach to justify Christian religion. Within this context Socrates and Crates constitute important moral exemplars. The Book of Wisdom indicates Sapientia as the teacher of all the virtues, and through an interpretation of Divine Wisdom links humanity to the maritime allegory. Only those who recognize the superiority of Divine Wisdom finally achieve enlightenment.