the 'bibliotheca graeca': castagno, alberti, and ancient sources

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The 'Bibliotheca Graeca': Castagno, Alberti, and Ancient SourcesAuthor(s): Toby YuenSource: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 112, No. 812 (Nov., 1970), pp. 724-736Published by: Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/876445

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TOBY

'YUEN

T h e

Bibliotheca

G r a e c a :

Castagno

A l b e r t i ,

a n d

A n c i e n t

S o u r c e s *

OF the few mural ensembles

that

have survived from the

Quattrocento,

only

two

may

be

described

as

entirely

illusionistic in

conception

and not dominated

by

figurative

elements.

They

are the bibliotheca

graeca,

originally

part

of

the

Vatican

Library

of Sixtus IV

(Fig.6),

and

the

Sala del

Mappamondo

in

Palazzo

Venezia. Both decorations are

of

uncertain

authorship.

Both

are

analogous

in that a

single

point

perspective

system

of fictive

classical

architecture

is

rigorously applied

to

the

four

walls,

thus

compelling

the

visitor

to take

a fixed

vantage-point

at the centre

of

the

hall.

The walls

of the Sala del

Mappamondo,

painted

around

1490,

are

unique

in that

figurative

scenes

are

entirely

absent.1

The hall itself is so vast that its

dimensions almost

outweigh

the

mediocre

quality

of

the

execution.

As

monu-

mental

architecture

this

decoration

appears

less

striking

when one realizes that nearly all the motifs are literal

quotations

of the

triumphal

arch

theme,

deriving

from the

Arch

of

Constantine,

and that

these

had been

introduced

some

forty

years

earlier

by

Mantegna

in

the Roman

settings

of

his

frescoes

of St

James

in

the Erimitani

at

Padua.

The lesser

known bibliotheca

graeca,

while modest in size

and earlier

in

date,

represents

the

most

precocious surviving

work

of

illusionistic

painting

of the

fifteenth

century.

The

mise

en

sckne

is a

noble

cortile enclosed

by heavy

Roman

colonnades

that sustain

a

rich

entablature,

broken

by

projecting

bays,

and,

in

the

curved lunettes

above,

an

open

air marble

balustrade

of

gothic type,

surmounted

by

vases of

flowers

and

by

tendril-like streamers

swirled

about

in

the

most

frivolous

linear

patterns

(Figs.8, 9).

Indeed,

the

lively

all'antica,

all'aperta

effects

conjured by

this continuous

scheme

are

reminiscent

in

character,

lighting

system,

and

theme

of the so-called 'second'

style

of

Pompeian

painting.

Whether

the artist knew visible remains

of

ancient

painting

or

was

inspired

by purely

contemporary

developments

in

Quattrocento painting

is the

question.

The

first

possibility

inevitably

invites

controversy,

since

actual

walls of the second

style

are

not

yet

known to

have

been

discovered

-

or

recorded,

to be more

precise

-

until

the

eighteenth

century,

whereas

monuments

of

the

third

and the

fourth

styles

did

escape

the

ravages

of

Renaissance

plundering.

If,

on the other

hand,

the

decoration of the

bibliotheca

raeca

was the

product

of

Quattrocento

trends,

when

should it be dated? Some historians tend to view the 1470's

as the

great

decade

for the

invention of

classicizing

room

schemes,

the intarsia

decoration of the

Urbino

studiolo,

and

Mantegna's

Camera

degli Sposi,

while

from

the

I480's

on one can trace the fresh interest in

grotteschi, catalyzed by

the

rediscovery

of

Nero's

Domus

Aurea.2 The

I450's

also

formed a

period

of

comparable

fermentation

during

which

the

young Mantegna,

Piero della

Francesca,

and

Castagno

improvised

scenes within

imposing

classical

environs.

Significantly,

scholars concerned with

the

role of

the

bibliotheca

raeca

are divided

as to

which

of

these two

decades

of

antiquarian

revival

it

should

be

assigned

to.

The

attribu-

tion is also

shrouded

in

doubt. Melozzo

da

Forli,

Piero,

the

circle

of

Alberti,

and the

bottega

of Ghirlandaio

have

all

been

suggested.3

It will become

clear

in

this

study

that

the

frescoes

belong

to the

1450's

and

that

the

design

evolved

from an

associa-

tion between two

masters

of

perspective

who

were

active

in

Rome in the same

period:

Alberti and

Castagno.

In

his

fresco

cycle

of the

Uomini

Illustri

Castagno betrays

an

incipient interest in Albertian motifs. In the decoration of

the bibliotheca

graeca

he

brings

to

view

a

mature

grasp

of

the severe classical

idiom

and

the

romanita,

which

must have

grown

out

of direct

encounters with

Alberti and

the

am-

bient of Rome. The

antique

models that

Alberti himself

drew

upon

are

difficult

to

identify,

owing

to

the

fusion

of

fantastic

and real

architectural

forms in this

reconstruction

of what he

imagined

to be

an

all'antica

peristyle. Knowledge

of Roman

ruins,

supplemented

by

classical

allusions to villa

architecture,

formed the touchstone

of

Alberti's

conception

for

the Vatican

frescoes.

In

this

sense the decoration of

the

bibliotheca

graeca

falls

outside

the

mainstream of

Quattro-

cento

painting.

Its illusionistic

conception anticipated

Cinquecento

schemes such

as

Peruzzi's

Sala

delle

Prospettive

rather

than the

Mantegnesque

Sala del

Mappamondo.

Until the

ambiguity

about

its date

and

attribution is

dispelled,

the

sources and

implications

of

the

bibliotheca

graeca

will

remain obscure.

Redig

de

Campos's history

of

the

north

wing

of the

old

pontifical

palace

is

invaluable

in

augmenting

the

preceding

researches. His

studies

of

the

masonry

stripped

in

the

restoration

of

1967

confirm the

*

This

is a revised section of a

survey

of

illusionistic

mural

decoration of the

second

half of the

Quattrocento

in

Rome. I am

most

grateful

to

the

Fulbright-

Hays

Commission which

helped

to

make this research

possible.

1

Illustrated in F. HERMANIN:

II

Palazzo

di

Venezia,

Rome

[I1948],

pp.I03-132;

of

s.

SANDSTROM:

The

Programme

for

the

Decoration of

the Belvedere of

Innocent

VIII',

Konsthistorisk

Tidskrift,

XXIX

[1960], p.60.

2

On

the diverse

influences of this crucial

monument,

see the excellent

study by

N.

DACOS:

a dicouverte

t

la

formation

des

grotesques

la

Renaissance

(Studies

of

the

Warburg

Institute),

London

[1969].

3

From

1475

the

bibliotheca

atina

and the

bibliotheca

raeca

ormed the

bibliotheca

communis.The former hall measures 19 by Io46 m.; the latter, 8 by Io48

m.

They

were

evidently

named as such

on the

basis

of

the

corresponding

MSS

filed

in

them;

they

now exist

as

part

of the Floreria

Apostolica.

The two

adjoining

rooms to

the east were annexed before

1480

to become

part

of the

Vatican

Library

of

Sixtus IV. See P. FABRE:

'Le

Vaticane

de

Sixte

IV',

Me'langes

'Archiologie

t

d'Histoire,

a. XV

[18951, PP-455-483.

The

attribution

to

Melozzo was

advanced

by

E.

STEINMANN

Die

Sixtinische

Kapelle,

Munich

[1901], p.52);

to Piero

by

G. ZIPPEL

('Piero

della

Francesca a

Roma',

Rassegna

d'Arte,

VI

[1919],

pp.81-94),

HERMANIN

(op.

cit.,

p.io8),

and E. STRONG

('Some chapters

from

the

unfinished

history

of the Vatican

Palace...',

unpubl.,

British School

at

Rome,

[I948], pp.I20f.);

to the Ghirlandaio work-

shop

by

D.

REDIGDE

CAMPOS

I

Palazzi

Vaticani,

Bologna [1967],

p.

61);

and

to

an unidentified

follower of

Alberti

by

K.

LANCKORONSKA

'Zu

Raffaels

Loggien',

Jahrbuch

des

Kunsthistorischen

ammlungen

n

Wien,

n.s. IX

[1935],

PP.I I4f)

and A.

BLUNT

'Illusionistic

Decoration in Central Italian

Painting',

Journal

of

the

RoyalSociety f

Arts,

CVII

[1958-1969],

p.312).

725






Ie

C2d

Oortilc

de

,j'5

a

dp2agal.

t.

:lithorsia.

a .

,.

,ala

e

A

i Xico,3 s e.

6Dgmfhb

dgue

ao

at;

Insod~elnt.

III

Adl

xne).

VI,,/orsrei

AT].

dif

eideso

(lf

2idea

l,

V

G.

J.A'

Z

ira d 0esl

74

e

is

to'XIs').

.....q.

.s.e.

.y. .

?

A.

Bibliotheoa-latina.

"

7Aha

aB.

Bibliother

ogreca.e

.s

.

.Abliothc

s ar

C'BD.

Bibliothoca

Pontifitia

6.

Diagram

of

the

building

nucleus

around

the Cortile

del

Papagallo:

Innocent

III-Alexander

VI.

Author's

revision of

Redig

de

Campos:

I Palazzi

Vaticani,

Grafico

i.

7.

Bibliotheca

raeca

after

restoration:

east

and

sout

Rome.)

8. Bibliotheca

graeca:

east

and

south walls.

Fresco.

(Floreria

Apostolica,

9.

Bibliotheca

graeca

after

restoration:

south

and

wes

Vatican,

Rome.)

Rome.)






THE

BIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA :

CASTAGNO,

ALBERTI,

AND

ANCIENT

SOURCES

thesis

that

Nicholas

V

rebuilt the

medieval section of

the

north

wing

and extended

it

to the west

in

order to

establish

his own

palatium

novum

Fig.6).4

The

exterior wall to

the

west of

the medieval

section then became the eastern wall

of

the

future

bibliotheca

raeca.

The

new

western

adjunct

embraced

four

floors,

bounded

on

the

east

by

the

Trecento

wall, on

the

south

by

the

Cortile

del

Pappagallo,

and

on the

north

by

the

Cortile del Belvedere.

The

vaulting

and

arrangement

of

the

space

in

this

wing

were identical for

the

cantina,

he

ground

floor,

and the first

floor,

each

of

which was

barely

lit

by

three

large

windows in

the north

wall.

Two

central

massive

pillars,

situated

along

the

major

axis of each

floor,

divided the

space

into

three

areas,

each

covered

by

double

cross-vaults.5

The

ground

floor deviated

from

the

tripartite pattern;

its south wall

towards the Cortile

del

Pappagallo,

was

opened by

three

doors,

two of

them

leading

into

the

larger

hall,

later

named

the

bibliotheca

latina,

and

one

into

the bibliotheca

raeca.

The

original

divisions of

these two

sale

came to

light

in

1967,

when

the

remains unearthed beneath

the

pavement

around

the

central

pillar

in

the bibliotheca

atina

revealed

that the

ground

floor of the western quarterhad once been partitionedinto

'sei

camere

ettangolari,

iascuna

on la

sua

volta

a

crociera is-

lunga'.6

Either Nicholas V

or

Sixtus

IV,

or

perhaps

both,

must

have converted

the six rooms into

the

present

two

halls.

The

confusion

about

the

authorship

of

the bibliotheca

graeca

frescoes stems

largely

from

the

original

assumption

that

the

two rooms

were

contemporaneously

decorated

by

the same artist

or

workshop.

Writers ascribeit either to the

painters employed by

Sixtus

in

the

mid-1470's

or to the

Ghirlandaio brothers. As for the Ghirlandaio

brothers,

their

responsibility

for the bibliotheca atina

paintings

is

verified

by

Vatican

bills

of

payment.

Further

evidence

of

their hand lies in the style of the eight lunette paintingsthat

portray

the

Church

Fathers and

classical

philosophers

in

bust

form

(Fig.21).7

The recent

assignation

of the frescoes

of

the

neighbouring

room

to the

Ghirlandaio

shop

is

not, however,

supported

by

any

evidence,

documentary

or

stylistic.

On

the

contrary,

the

possibility

of even

dating

the frescoes of the

bibliotheca

raeca

within

the

reign

of

Sixtus

is

negated by

architectural

and

ornamental

discrepancies.

The most

patent

is the

prominent

display

of the

papal

arms

of

Nicholas

V on the

keystones

of

the two

vaults,

the one

to

the north

bearing

the initials

'N.PP.V'

(Fig.Io)

as

opposed

to the

Rovere

stemmas

of

Sixtus

IV in

the

bibliotheca

atina. The

presence

of

Nicholas

V's

painted

keys

has been

ignored

or

else

read

as

'insolito

omaggio

al

defunto ondatore

della

Libreria Vaticana'

by

the

Rovere

pope."

The latter

seems

a

magnanimous

motive to

impute

to

a

pope

-

particularly

to

Sixtus

IV,

yet

no evi-

dence or

parallel

exists in the

papal

annals to

show

that

any

pontiff

took

pains

to transfer

credit

for

his

own

building

achievements

or

decorations

to a

predecessor.

Moreover

Nicholas himself

was

famous

for

impressing

his

modest

coat-of-arms

upon

the frames

and

keystones

of

whatever

rooms he

built, restored,

or

decorated.9

The

disharmony

between the decorative

schemes

of

the

two

reading

rooms is also

striking.

Under

Sixtus the interior

layouts

of both rooms were

arranged

so

that the

space

of

each was

occupied by

rows of

desks,

aligned

in a

north-south

direction,

and

the

manuscript presses.

The

decoration

of

the

bibliotheca

atina,

done

in

tempera,

corresponds

to

this

plan.

The

painted half-figures

are

confined

within the

lunettes

while

figurative

and

architectural

elements were absent on

the

lower

walls,

but for

Melozzo's

single

fresco.

Painted

in

an

emerald

green

intonaco,

the

lower zone

simulated

a

tapestry with red ribbons suspended by nails from the

actual

imposts

of

the

vaulting.10

In

contrast to

the

flat

surface

pattern

maintained on the

lower walls

there,

the

perspective

scheme of the

bibliotheca

raeca

extends

over the

entire

fields

of

both

the

six

lunettes and

the nether

zones

(Figs.7-9).

The

spatial

effects of the false

colonnades and

the

receding pavements

must

have

been

lost

upon

the

spectator placed

amidst

slanting

desk

tops.

This

surely

would

not have

occurred

had both

rooms

actually

been

decorated

by

the same artist.

Other

discordant

features

can be cited to demonstrate that

the

frescoes

of

the biblio-

theca

graeca

could

not

have been

contemporaneous

with

the

tempera

paintings

of

the bibliotheca atina.

The untimely death of Pope Nicholas in i455 forestalled

his

architects from

erecting

'a

spacious library

lighted

by

a

range

of windows on each

side',

according

to Manetti.

No effort was made

to

realize

this

project

until the accession

of

Sixtus

to

the

papacy.

In

February

of

I475

he decided to

house

the first

public library

in

the

ground

floor

rooms

of

the

north

wing

of the Vatican

Palace and

appointed

Bartolomeo

Platina

as

his librarian.

"

Bearing

in

mind Nicholas's

role

as

the

founder

of the

north-west

quarter,

it

becomes clear

that the

structural measures undertaken

by

Sixtus to

trans-

form

this

section into

a

library

were minimal in

extent.

The Rovere

pope

erected no new walls. He

merely

razed

certain

of the

original

party

walls and his additions to the

fabric

consisted

mainly

of fenestrations in

the south

and

4

E.

MUNTZ:

Les

arts

d

a cour

des

papespendant

e XVe et le

XVIe sidcle(Biblio-

theque

des

tcoles

d'Athenes et de

Rome)

Paris,

I

[1878],

II

[1882],

III

[1885];

FABRE,

op.

cit.;

F.

EHRLE and E.

STEVENSON:

li

affreschi

del Pinturicchioell'

Appartamento

orgia

del

Palazzo

Vaticano,

Rome

[1897],

and

REDIG

DE

CAMPOS:

Palazzi,

PP.44,

48.

5

See

the

reconstruction

of

the

ground

floor

rooms

in

FABRE,

op.

cit.,

pl.IV.

6

The

original

pillar

and traces

of the four

tramezzi

built

by

Nicholas V

in

the

bibliotheca

atina,

after

being stripped during

restoration,

are illustrated

in

REDIG DE

CAMPOS: II Restauro

delleAuledi

Niccold

V

e

di Sisto

IV

nel

Palazzo

Apostolico,

Vatican

[1967],

P-25;

idem:

Palazzi,

p.47.

Cf. T.

MAGNUSON:

Studies

in

Roman

Quattrocento

rchitecture,

ome

[1958],

p.x

19.

SIbid.,

p.II9;

REDIG

DE

CAMPOs:

Palazzi,

p.61.

Moreover the

marmoreal

rendering

of the

heads,

the

descriptive

treatment of

minutiae and the

graduated

sky setting,

pierced

by

swooping

birds,

are

fully

characteristic

of

other better

known

paintings

by

Domenico such

as The

Calling of

the First

Apostles

n

the

Sistine

Chapel, 1481.

The wooden

quality

of

the

lunette

paintings

in the

bibliotheca atina leads

one

to

suspect

that Domenico

relied

heavily upon

his

brother

and

assistants

to execute his

designs.

8

Illustrated

in

ZIPPEL,

op.

cit.,

p.9I,

Fig.6;

see

REDIG

DE CAMPOS:

Palazzi,

PP.47f.

9EHRLE-STEVENSON,

p.

cit.,

pp.3If.;

MONTZ

op.

cit., I,

p.IIo)

noted that

Nicholas

V,

inspired

by

Imperial

models,

proudly stamped

even

the

building

tiles with

his

initials.

10

The

ground

floor

rooms

and

seating arrangement

are

described and

illu-

strated in

FABRE,

op.

cit.,

pp.455ff., p.469;

concerning fragments

of the

original

decoration,

most

of which is

lost,

on the lower walls of

the

bibliotheca

atina,

see

REDIG

DE CAMPOS:

Restauro,

p.Io.

Only

Melozzo's

famous fresco

of

Sixtus

IV

and

Platina,

1477,

and two

papal

stemmas intruded

this decoration

on the

north and west walls.

11

J.

W. CLARK: 'The Vatican

Library

of

Sixtus

IV',

Proceedings

f

the

Cambridge

Antiquarian

ociety1899],

P.4;

cf.

VESPASIANO

A

BISTICCI:he

Vespasian

Memoirs,

tr.

W.

George

and E.

Waters,

London

[1926], p.50.

726






0.

Io.

Bibliotheca

graeca:

north

Swall.

Fresco.

(Floreria Ap-

ostolica, Vatican,

Rome.)

iI

. Bibliotheca

graeca:

north

and east walls. Fresco.

(Floreria Apostolica,

Vati-

can,

Rome.)

,.

I2.

Bibliotheca graeca: south

wall.

Fresco.

(Floreria Ap-

cstolica,

Vatican,

Rome.)

13.

Detail of

false

architrave

from the bibliotheca

raeca.

Fresco.

(Floreria Aposto-

lica, Vatican,

Rome.)

I.t.:.

....

.

....

3................






4

4 r

iiii~iiii~iii~ii'iii~iii~iiiiiii•~i~i~i•iiiiii~iiiizi~i~iiiiiiiii•iii~iii~iiiiiiiiiii ii

........................................................................................................i

14.

Bibliotheca

raeca:

west wall,

south lunette.

Fresco. (Floreria

Apostolica,

Vatican,

Rome.)

i iiiiiiiiiiii

v

i iii} J~iiiiiiniiiiijii

15.

i

i~i~a~i?

"liotheca~

???b

grea

etw ln

rth

luneti~~zi~te.

F

esc

.

(Foreaii

Aposto;'~~al96~;ica,

ai

canRome.






THE

'BIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA':

CASTAGNO, ALBERTI,

AND ANCIENT

SOURCES

west

walls

and in

the wall

dividing

the bibliothecaatina

rom

the

graeca.

The

quartering

of the official

library

in the

present

two

rooms

is

reconstructed

through

Platina's accounts

compiled

between

3oth

June, 1475

and

I4th

September,

1481,

and

the

results

of the

1967

restoration.

Together,

these

sources

show that

Sixtus's immediate concern

upon

eliminating

several

of the

originalparty

walls was

to

improve

the

lightingof both rooms

by inserting

five new windows. Between 28th

November,

1475

and

4th May,

1476

Domenico and

David

Ghirlandaio

were

paid

'pro pictura

bibliothecae'.

Three

German artists were

simultaneously engaged

to

glaze

and

embellish

the

windows.

The

completed

decoration

of

the

windows,

old and

new,

is

recorded

7th

June,

1476,

'pro

quinque

enestris

magnis,

duabus minoribus'.12

he

windows

comprise

the three

great

finestroni

f

Nicholas

V in the

north

wall,

as well

as

the

two in

the

west wall and

the two

smaller

ones

in

the south

wall of the two rooms

(Figs.8, 21),

all

added

by

Sixtus. The

Rovere stemmas were added

to

the

intrados

of the three

old

finestroni,

ncluding

the one

in

the

bibliotheca

raeca

(Fig.Io).

Hence, the new openings in the Greek library are of

primary

interest:

they

represent

the

only securely

datable

elements in that

hall.

The

single

window in

the south wall

was

inserted

in

late

I475

and

decorated

in

early

1476.

The

two

apertures

in

the

wall between it and the

bibliotheca

latina were

opened

in

1480

(Fig.9).

Within

the same brief

period,

1475-1476,

the

original

door

in

the south

wall,

that

opened

onto the

Cortile del

Pappagallo,

was sealed

up

on the

inner

side.13

The

four

surviving

inestrellepened by

Sixtus

in the

south

and west

walls of both

halls

in

I475

offer

a

telling

contrast

to

the

three

old

finestroni

n

the north wall. In

the

bibliotheca

latina each of the

windows,

old

and

new,

is

neatly

centred

within

the lunette it

occupies (Fig.2i);

each

of

the

lunettes

repeats

a

simple

scheme

of

either

single

or

paired

bust

figures standing

behind

a

stone

parapet.

The

windows are

thus

symmetrically

flanked

by

the

painted personages

who

hold scrollsthat

flutter

around or

overlap

the real

frames

in

a

trompe-l'oeil

manner,

indicating

that the

Ghirlandaio

shop

harmonized its

decoration

with the

architectural

members in

the

bibliotheca

atina.

In

the

bibliotheca

raca,

on

the

other

hand,

a mere

glimpse

of

the south

wall

(Fig.I2)

reveals

that

the

window

added

by

Sixtus

destroyed

what

must once have

been the central

section of an earlier

decoration. The

fictive

balustrade

was

clearly

ruined

by

this

window,

while

remnants of

amputated

flowers and

flying

ribbons,

protruding

from

the real

frame,

signify

that no

attempt was made then to disguise the intrusion, a fact

faithfully

recorded to this

day by

the

1967

restoration

(Fig.7).

Another

feature

oddly

at variance

with the same

frescoes

is

the

painted

frame of the old

finestrone

n the north

wall

(Figs.I

o,

I I)

with

its

heavy

ornate

inlay

of

overlapping

scales which

irrationally

cuts across the false

architrave,

frieze,

colonnade,

and

balustrade.

These aberrations

of

the

harmoniously

proportioned

false architecture of the

south

and

the north walls contradict the idea

that Sixtus com-

missioned

the

original

frescoesof this hall.

Though

he

might

have altered

the works of his

predecessors,

he would

scarcely

have

damaged

his own decorations

in such

a

manner.

Further hints

showing

that the two halls were

not

decorated within the same

period

are to be found in the

Vatican records

of

payment.

Of Platina's

entries for

the

period

of

1475-1477, only

two refer to

the

bibliotheca

raeca.

In

1478

Platina

paid

for

a

pictorial

task which has

hitherto

perplexed

scholars: 'Habuere

aulus et

Dionysius

ictores

duos

ducatos

ro

duobus

aribus

aligarum

uam

etiere

domino

ostro

dum

pingerent

cancellos

bibliothecae t restituerent

icturam

bibliothecae

raecae,

ita n. Sanctitas

ua

mandavit,

die

XVIII

martii

1478.'14

Another

restoration of

an even

earlier

date

has been

overlooked since

it was

erroneouslypublished

by

Miintz;

accordingly,

the

bill

of

7th

November,

1476,

which was

corrected

by Zippel

for its omission

of the

crucial word

'grece'should read: 'Dedi paule et dionysio ictoribus. .pro

restaurata

pictura

bibliothece

grece,

ducatos

X,..'.61

Significantly,

the

bibliothecaatinadid

not

require

restora-

tions,

nor

was it

designated by

name

in

the

records

of

payments

to the

Ghirlandaio

shop

and to

Melozzo.

Platina

probably

singled

out

the

bibliotheca

raecaby

title

simply

to

distinguish

the minor

tasks of

repainting

there

from

the

major,

all-embracing

decorative

work

taking

place

in

the

bibliotheca

atina.

If,

as these entries

show,

restorations

were

called

for as

early

as

1476

in

the

bibliotheca

raeca,

he

orginal

frescoes

must

have been

executed

at a

considerably

earlier

date. And if

Sixtus

was not

responsible

for

these

frescoes,

alternative

questions

arise:

(a)

what

were

the

restorations

of 1476

and

1478 respectively, and (b) which pontiff

preceding

Sixtus

ordered

the

original

decoration?

One

clue

to

the

1478

task is

suggested

by

those

scholars

who

once

attributed the frescoes

to

Melozzo,

and

by

the

damaged

condition of

this

room.

Upon

the

creation

of

the

second

Vatican

Library

in

1588

the

ground

floor

rooms

of

the first

library

were

abandoned,

and

then

shabbily

'ridotto

adessoa

uso di

Foreria'.16

y

19go

Steinmann

noted

that a

large

area of

the

surface had

been

whitewashed

and that

traces

of

original

fresco

could

be

detected

beneath

the

deteriorated

strip

framing

the

window in

the

north

wall,

which was

discussed above

(Fig.i i).

Okkonen

also

con-

cluded that the

colour

flaking

away

from

the

oak-leaved

festoon

strip,

that

protrudes

so

awkwardly

along

the

12

MONTZ,

op.

cit., III,

pp.121-126.

13

Ibid.,

p.126;

on the new

windows

of

1475-1476,

see

FABRE,

op.

Cit.,

pp.46of.

Of the

two

apertures

in the

intersecting

wall between the

two

halls,

the

central

one

was

later

converted

into

the

present

door. The marble frame

of the

sealed

up

door of

Nicholas V on the

exterior side

of the wall was

preserved

and

adorned

with the arms of

Sixtus

IV;

it

is

visible

when

viewed

from

the

Cortile

del

Pappagallo.

14

MONTZ,

op.

cit., III,

p.131-. Cf.

A.

SCHMARsoW:

Melozzo

da

Forlt,

Berlin

[1886],

p.41;

FABRE,

op.

Cit.,

p.464;

STEINMANN,

p.

Cit.,

p.84; CLARK,

op.

Cit,

p.22;

and

REDIG

DE

CAMPos:

Palazzi,

p.61.

Despite

their

lack of

renown,

Paulus and

Dionysius

were

'pictores'

employed

on

numerous

minor

com-

missions

for

Platina

'propictura'

between

May,

1476

and

March,

1478.

15

ZIPPEL,

op.

Cit.,

p.84

n.2.

Cf.

MrrNTz

op.

Cit.,

III,

p.I27)

who

omitted

the

word

'grece',

which is

badly

scrawled but

still

legible today;

the

spelling

of the

word

as

such is

verified

by

Monsig. J.

Ruysschaert.

16

A.

TAJA:

Descrizione

el

Palazzo

Vaticano,

Rome

[1750],

p.411.

j.

P.

CHATTARD

(Nuova

descrizione

del

Vaticano,

II,

Rome,

[1766],

P.459

described

the

biblio-

theca

graeca:

'con colonne

arte

verdi,

e

parte

gialle; architrave,

regio, cornice,

capitelli

gialli

da

alcunifestoni

nterrotte.'

729






THE

'BIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA':

CASTAGNO,

ALBERTI,

AND ANCIENT

SOURCES

balustrade

(Fig.I5),

was

the

work of

a restorer.17

Un-

fortunately,

the restoration of

1967

conceals

the

original

colour

underlying

the

repainted

strips.

Nevertheless,

the

same

harsh

green

festoons,

which

run

along

the base of

the

balustrade

and frame

the

lunettes

and two

keystones,

still

seem to

clash

with

the

muted

tones

of

the

false architecture

(Figs.I

o,

I5).

The

arid

rendering

of

the

festoons

is

a

telling

contrast

to

the delicate

atmospheric

treatment

of the

Augustan

frieze of naturalistic

swags

of

fruit, flowers,

and

bucrania

Fig.

I3),

which was

very likely

inspired by

the

unique

Caffarelli

sarcophagus.18

The festoonsof oak

leaves,

insignia

of

the

Rovere,

were

probably

added

by

order

of

Sixtus

for

the

sake of

harmonizing

the

older decoration of

this

hall

with

that

of the bibliotheca

atina,

where

the

eight

lunettes

and

papal

stemmas

were,

de

rigueur,

nclosed

by

Rovere

festoons

(Fig.2I).

Since the festoons

overlap

the

lunette

fields

in the bibliotheca

raeca

with

jarring

effects

similar

to those

crowding

the

base of

the

balustrade

(Figs.

Io,

15),

it

seems

reasonable

to

conclude

that

they

were

the

maladroit

repaintings

of

1478

entrusted

to

Paulus

and

Dionysius.

At least one element of the 1476 restoration remains

visible

on

the north

wall,

where the entrance

door

once

existed

(Figs.7,

8).

Sealed

up

on the

inner

side

by

Sixtus,

this

section

displays

a

painted

column that

is

crowned

by

a

composite

capital

mounted

conspicuously

lower

than

the

capitals

of the

other columns.

Clearly

this

column was

an

afterthought

created

by

the restorers

o

disguise

the

walled

up

door,

though

they

had to lower

the shaft

and

capital

to

fit

it beneath

that

window

which

had

spoiled

the

upper

zone

of

false

architecture

(Fig.I2).

Without

doubt

this

posterior

column,

decapitated

by

the

finestrella

f

1475,

was

painted

in the initial

period

of

alterations

to the

fabric,

i475-1476.

The

relatively large payment

of

ten

ducats

implies that other areas of the same room required

more

repainting.

Here,

the

identity

of

the

papal

patron

can be

securely

predicated.

Between

1455

and

1474

none

of Nicholas's

successors

made

an effort

to

preserve

or

embellish

the

ground

floor

rooms.

Only

Nicholas

V,

who had

founded

the

western

adjunct

of the

palace

and had

placed

his

keys

in

the

bibliotheca

raeca

ad the

opportunity

and,

aswe shall

see,

the

motive

to decorate

them

in

classicizing

style.

Nicholas

V's

reputation

as the

first humanist

pope

and

as

Maecenas

of the

artsstems

fromhis creation

of a

brilliant

court

of

scholars

and artists

summoned

from

every

part

of

Italy

and

Europe.

Knowledge

of these

artists' activities

is

slender,

though

documents

allude

to numerous

commissions

for the Vatican Palace. Remarkable, too, was the pope's

preferment

of

the

Florentines,

foremost

among

them Fra

Angelico,

Bernardo

Rossellino,

and Leon

BattistaAlberti.19

Since the

perspective

scheme

of

the

bibliotheca

raeca

rescoes

reflects

advances

made

by

the

Florentine

school,

his dis-

crimination

provides

another hint

of the

painter's dentity.

A

dating

within

the

early 1450's

would

better

explain

the

restorations

of

1476

and

1478,

for after the

death of Nicholas

in

1455,

these

damp,

obscurely

lit rooms on

the

ground

floor

were

neglected.

Against

the evidence which

points

to Nicholas as the

patron responsible

or

the

bibliotheca

raeca

rescoes,

only

one

contradictionexists:

the fact

that the

perspective

cheme was

manifestlydesigned

for the

present vaulting

of

the

room and

not for the

original

two

camere.

ince the

four

perspective

vanishing-points

for

the

lower

walls and

lunettes

are

pre-

cisely

centralized,

the

visitor

is

compelled

to

stand

at

the

very

centre

of the room.

On

the east

and west walls

the

orthogonals

would

converge

at

the

centre of the broad

piers

(Figs.8,

9), showing

that the

east-west

tramezzo

built

by

Nicholas

must have been

razed before the hall

with

its

present

boundaries

could be

painted.

The

explanation

of

this

apparent

enigma

implies

a reversal

n

plans

by

Nicholas for

the ground floor rooms, following a brief period of intense

construction

and before their

completion.

In

the

light

of

what

is known of the

changing

character

of

the

pope's

ambitious

building

programmes,

this answer

seems all the

more

valid.

From

the

first

year

of his

reign (1447)

Nicholas initiated

a

vast

campaign

to

rebuild

the

Borgo

Leonino,

St

Peter's,

and

the Vatican

Palace,

the

plans

of which

were

so

grandiose

n

concept

that

they

could

not have

been realized

even had he

enjoyed

a

longer

life.

Alberti's

powerful

presence

was felt

at

the

papal

court

well before

1452

when

he

presented

his

treatise,

the De

re

aedificatoria,

o

the

pontiff.

Nicholas

and

his

chief

architect,

Rossellino,

were

apparently

discarding

conservative

designs

on

his

advice.

Whether

Alberti inter-

vened

as

acting

architect

or

as

consultant

is

a matter of

debate,

owing

to the dearth

of

known

facts

about

him.

Yet,

in the

wake of Brunelleschi's

death,

Alberti

began

to

play

an ascendant

role

among

the

more

progressive

artists,

architects,

and

patrons

in Central

Italy.

Fromthe

1440's

on

his influence

can

be traced

in new

designs

for

churches

and

palaces,

particularly

in the

buildings

of

other

architects,

supervised

by

him,

such

as

Matteo de'

Pasti

and

Rossellino.20

The

pope's

readiness

to

alter earlier

plans

for

various

parts

of the

palace

may

be attributed

n

large

measure

to

Alberti's

suggestions.

The desire

for

another

studiolo,

decorated

in

a

17

STEINMANN,

P.

cit.,

I,

p.83;

0.

OKKONEN:

elozzo

da

Forli

und seine

Schule,

Helsingfors

[1910o],

op.

cit.,

p.52

n.2.

18

Illustrated

in

D.

E.

STRONG:

Roman

ImperialSculpture,

London

[196I],

pl.43.

The

garland

relief

of the

sarcophagus,

in

Berlin,

was accessible

in

Rome

in

the

fifteenth

century,

and

copied

in the Codex Escurialensis

in two

drawings

on

the

same

sheet;

see

H.

EGGER:

Codex

Escurialensis...,

Vienna

[I9o6]

fol.

36v.

The

painted

frieze

in the bibliotheca

raeca

reproduces

the rich

garland

frieze

as

in the

second

drawing,

that omits

the

utensils,

of the Codex.

The

relief

itself

is

a

replica

of

the

inner

garland

panels

of the Ara

Pacis,

which are

so

extraordinary

in

creating

the illusion and

atmospheric

effects of

a wooden

fence with

suspended

garlands

and

bucrania,

but which

apparently

were not

known

before

the

sixteenth

century.

See G.

MORETTI:

AraPacis

Augustae,

Rome

[1948].

19

VESPASTANO,

op.

cit.,

p.46;

L. PASTOR:

The

History

of

the

Popes,

ed.

F.

I.

Antrobus,

London

[1923],

II,

pp.183,

195.

20

Alberti's

role as

designer

then is

recognized

in the Palazzo Rucellai and the

Tempio

Malatestiano,

built

by

Rossellino

and

Matteo

de'

Pasti,

respectively,

who

were

closely supervised

by

him. From

the

I460's

on

his

principles

and

motifs

are reflected

in

the

Palace

of

Pius

II at Pienza and

in

parts

of the

Palazzo

Venezia,

and

in

the

designs

of the

progressive

circle of

painters

and architects

at

the court

of

Federigo

da Montefeltro

at Urbino.

R.

KRAUTHEIMER: 'The

tragic

and

comic

scenes

of

the

Renaissance',

Gazette

des

Beaux-Arts,

XXXIII

[1948],

pp.327-346;

V.

MARIANI:

'Roma in

L.

B.

Alberti',

Studi

Romani,

VII

[1948],

pp.635-646.

Nicholas

V held

him

in

the

highest

esteem

well before

he

became

pope,

and,

in

the

first

months

of his

reign,

granted

him a

benefice;

see

G.

MANCINI:

Vita di

Leon

Battista

Alberti,

Florence

[1882],

and

G.

DEHIO:

'Die

Bauproject

Nicolaus

des

Funften

und

Leon

Battista

Alberti',

Repertorium

fiir

Kunstwissenschaften,

II

[1880],

p.254.

MAGNUSON

(op.

Cit.,

pp.88-97)

argues

against

the

idea

of Alberti's

direct

intervention

in

Nicholas's

projects;

E.

MACDOUGALL

The

Art

Bulletin,

XLIV

[I962],

pp.67-75)

demonstrates

how

untenable

this

hypothesis

is,

particularly

with

respect

to the

Borgo project,

and

convincingly

maintains

his role as

the

foremost

designer

from the

I450's

on.

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THE

BIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA

CASTAGNO,

ALBERTI,

AND

ANCIENT

SOURCES

more

classicizing

vein

than the one

painted

by

Fra

Angelico

(since

destroyed),

probably

induced

him to remove

the

party

wall that subdivided

the

moderate-sized

bibliotheca

graeca.

His

previous purpose

for the six

cameres

uncertain

nor is it

known

whether

he had

a hand

in

razing

any

of

the other

party

walls

in

the bibliotheca

atina.

The

authorship

of

the

frescoes is first intimated

by

the

vigorous

drawing

style

of the two

anonymous

busts

painted

in

the lunette

field

of

the north wall

(Fig.

Io).

Both

heads

are

damaged,

but

enough

remains

to

demonstrate

that

they

share

nothing

in

style

with

the

prosaically

rendered

heads

by

the Ghirlandaio

shop

(Fig.21). Curiously,

the

better

preserved,

aristocratic

figure

on the

right

and the

vase

beside him are drawn far out of

scale to the blond

giovanotto

on

the left.

The latter

peers

downwards

while the

older

personage

in

profile

fixes

him with

an intense

'space-

traversing' glance

that

cuts across

the

real

window

between

them. The

floral elements

may

symbolize

their

relationship

(Figs.14,

15).

The

fusion

of

elastic line and

plastic

strength

here

char-

acterize the style of only one master active during mid-

century,

Andrea

del

Castagno.

The

physiognomy

of

the

giovanotto

s

marvellously

akin

to the more

robust

heads

painted

by

him

in

the

1450's,

such

as St

Thaddeus

in

the

Last

Supper,

Christ in

Christ

and

St

Julian

(Figs.I6,

I7),

Pippo Spano,

and the

superb

bust

portrait

in

the

Washing-

ton

National

Gallery

(Mellon

Collection).

The

identical

features are mirrored

in

the tilted

head

of

the

giovanotto:

he

almond-shaped

eyes

with

swollen

curved lids

and

sideways

glance,

petulant

'cupid-bow'

lips,

full,

tapered

chin,

hook-

tipped

nose

with dilated

nostrils and

broad

cheek

bones.

Rude

energy

and

fastidious ine

animate

the

idealized

heads

which

Castagno

was

fond of

posing

in

three-quarter's

view.

His hand

is thus

betrayed by

the

elegance, precision,

and

tension of

a

linearism,

tempered by

asprezza

of

form,

which

places

him

among

the

most

sophisticated

draughtsmen

of

the

Quattrocento,

rivalled

only by

Pollaiuolo

and

Botticelli.

His weakness as a

colourist,

despite

his

debt to

Domenico

Veneziano,

was

counterbalanced

by

his

power

as

a

designer.

The

haughty,

less

idealized

figure

on

the

right

(Fig. 19)

re-

calls

other

profiles

by

the

same

artist,

above

all,

those

ofNiccol6

Acciaioli,

Niccolo

Tolentino

(Figs.I8, 20),

and

St

Matthew

in the

Last

Supper.

The

early

dating

of

the

bibliotheca

raeca

is

reaffirmed

by

the

style

of

coiffure,

head-gear,

and

dress.

Despite

the

ruined

surface,

we can still

make

out

the

sil-

houette of a

thick

curly

mass of hair

framing

the

face of

the

giovanotto.

It

reflects a

hair

style

popular

among

dandified

Florentine youths in the

I440's

and

-5o's, usually

achieved

by

strenuous

brushing

or

wadding,

and is

well

modelled in

the

'Adimari'

cassone in

Florence.

Also

typical

of

the same

period

are the

flamboyant

vest

coat,

inflated

slashed

sleeves,

and

beret

with its

faintly

military

aspect,

worn

by

the

lordly

personage,

who

clearly

would

not be a

member

of

the

clergy.

He

may

be a

princely patron

or

a

wealthy

humanist,

though

the latter

possibility

seems

remote.

The

identity

and

relationship

of

the

two men

remain

a

mystery.

One

may

hazard

certain

guesses,21

but

a

detailed

study

of

the

literary

sources

about the

court of

Nicholas is

needed to

unravel

it.

Proof

that

Castagno

was

employed

by

Nicholas

V

was

discovered

by

Mtintz

in the form

of a Vatican

bill of

pay-

ment

for

I4th

October,

I454:

'Duc.

I5,

bol.

4

d. c. a

mo

Andreino

a Firenze

pint(ore)

cont.a 6 lavoranti

er opere 76

datedadi

26 di sett.

a di

13

di Ottobre variati

rezzi.'

Occurring

between

I6th

June, 1454

and

early

1455,

this

commission

coincides

with

a

shadowy

hiatus

in the

Florentine's

brief

career.

Though

the

entry of

1454

fails

to

specify

the

'opere

76',

it does establish

his

presence

in the Vatican.

Castagno,

dubbed

both 'Andreino'

and 'Andrea'

in

contemporary

and

later

notices,

by 1454,

supervised

an active

shop

and

had Baldovinetti

as a

partner.22

Until

now,

the

implications

of this Roman

sojourn

have

been

overlooked.23

To demonstrate

that the

commission

of

1454

must

be identical with

the decoration

of the

bibliotheca

graeca,

we

may

juxtapose

another,

known

hall frescoed

by

him

for the Villa Carducci

at

Legnaia,

the

Uomini

llustri

cycle

(Fig.22).

It is

here,

and nowhere

else,

that we

discover

the

same

system

of decoration

and

perspective

formula.

In

both

halls rational

and harmonious

forms are intended

to

be viewed from an ideal viewpoint, fixed at the very centre

of the

room,

and even

the same devices

of fictive

architecture

are

exploited:

a rich

entablature,

symmetrical

intercolum-

niations,

wooden

coffered

ceiling,

Composite

capitals,

marble

wainscoting,

and

elegant

streamers

floating

in

an

airy

upper

zone. Unlike

the frescoed

hall in the

Villa

Carducci,

however,

the

newly

frescoed

bibliotheca

raeca

was

probably

never

enjoyed

by

its

patron,

Nicholas

V,

since

he

was confined

to his bed

during

the last months

of his

life

(August

I454-March

1455).

After

the

pope's

untimely

death

it

was abandoned

and

evidently

forgotten

until

Sixtus

IV

gave

it

a

new

function.

If the

imprint

of

Castagno's

personality

is

transparent

n

both halls, an equally conspicuous 'leap' in spiritual con-

ception

distinguishes

the Vatican

from

the

Legnaia

frescoes.

The decoration

of the bibliotheca

raeca

s

so

much

bolder,

more

powerful,

and novel

owing

to the

new

romanitd

hat

21

There

is an

enigmatic

passage by

R.

M.

TORRIGGIO

(Le

Sacre

Grotte,

Rome

[x6351,

p.225)

which

mentions

Niccol6

Perotti in

a

record of

12th

April, 1462,

as

'arcivescovo

ipontino,

etterato ntimo

del

Bessarione,

oeta

laureata a

Bologna

de

Federico

II,

la

cui

effigie

vedevasi

ipinta

nella

bibliotheca

aticana'.

Born

in

1430,

Perotti

had

an

accelerated

career,

as

a

classical

scholar,

papal

secretary

to

Nicholas from

1453,

who

praised

him

highly,

and

Bishop

of

Siponte

from

1458.

See

VESPASIANO,

p.

cit.,

p.50,

and D. DE

MENIL,

ed.:

Builders

and

Humanists:

the

Renaissance

opes...,

Houston

[1966],

pp.2o7ff.

Either

this

precocious

scholar,

before

he

joined

the clerical

ranks,

is

indeed

the

giovanotto

by

Castagno,

or

merely

a

portrait

in another

papal

studiolo

used

as a

library,

loosely

titled the

Vatican

Library

before

the

reign

of

Sixtus

IV.

22

MONTZ,

Op.

cit.,

I,

p.94

n.2;

this

bill of

the

Tesoreria

egreta,

1454,

folio

I74v,

now

in the Archivio

di Stato in Rome

(Camerale I, Vol.1469), should be read

as:

'Duc[ati]

15,

bol[ognini]

4 d[i]

c[amera]

a

m[aestro]

Andreino

a

Firenze

pint[ore]

cont[ati]

a

6

lavoranti

er

opere

76

date

da di

26

sett[embrej

di

13

Ottobre

variati

prezzi.'

To

paint

a

room

the size of the

bibliotheca

raeca

n

eighteen

days

would

certainly

have

required

the

help

of six

'lavoranti'.

He was also dubbed

'Andreino

degli

Impiccati'

after

working

for

the

Medici

in

I440,

and

was

still referred

to

in

documents as

'Andreino

ipintore'

fter

his

death

in

1457.

R.

W.

KENNEDY:

Alessio

Baldovinetti,

New

Haven

[1938],

p.i5;

A. FORTUNA:

'Alcune note

su

Andrea

del

Castagno',

L'Arte,

LXII

[1958],

P-349;

for

analysis

of

Castagno's

late

works,

see

M.

HORSTER:

'Castagnos

Florentiner

Fresken

I45o-I457',

Wallraf-RichartzJahrbuch,

XVII

[9551],

pp.79-I3i,

and L.

BELLOSI:

Intorno

ad

Andrea

del

Castagno',

Paragone,

n.s.

23

[1967],

pp.3-18.

Concerning

Nicholas

V,

PASTOR,

op.

Cit.,

II,

p.307.

23

I

have

learnt,

through

brief

correspondence,

that

Dr

Horster is

also

making

a similar attribution

of the

bibliotheca

raeca

to

Castagno

in

a

forthcoming

monograph.

733






THE

'BIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA?

:

CASTAGNO,

ALBERTI,

AND

ANCIENT SOURCES

one

may safely

assume

that the

Villa

Carducci

cycle

was

the

antecedent

in

execution,

datable

about

1449-I450,

and

served

as

an

experimental prelude.

In

the

painted

archi-

tecture

of the

bibliotheca

raeca

there exists

a

bold

monu-

mentality, fully

consistent

with revived Roman ideals of

mass,

severity,

and

gravitas.Only single gothic

motifs such

as the

balustrade

quatrefoils

nterrupt

the

grandiose

vision,

to

remind

the viewer

of the

painter's

Tuscan

heritage.

The

Villa Carducci

ensemble,

on the other

hand,

remains

predominantly

Florentine

in its scheme

and

effects,

though

it

does reflect

the latest

Albertian innovations.

The

pilaster

strips

that

rhythmically

divide

the

false niches

housing

the

Uomini

llustri

were

freshly inspired

by

those

on the facade

of the Palazzo Rucellai

(1446-1451)

designed by

Alberti.

Castagno's

construction

for the UominiIllustri

is also an

attempt

to

re-create

a favourite

humanist

theme

within

an

antique-style

setting,

as

prescribed

by

Alberti

in his treatise

on

architecture,

which

would

be

mounted

upon

a

powerful

podium

of 'handsome

Pannels'

proper

for

porticoes

and

halls,

to evoke

the 'brave

and memorable

Actions of one's

Countrymen,

and their

Effigies'

(IX,

4).

Yet these

borrow-

ingswere offsetby Castagno'spreference or olderFlorentine

models.

The

arrangement

of

the

niche

figures

and

pulti

owes

much

to Donatello's

sculptures,24

while the

scheme

harks

back

to the

profane

decorative

system

of

Trecento

palace

interiors such

as

the Palazzo

Davanzati,

where the

uppermost

zone alone

was reserved

for

scenes

of

landscape

or architecture.

The

lower

walls often simulated

hanging

tapestries,

as in the

anachronistic

scheme

of

the

bibliotheca

latina

still.

Castagno partially

broke

away

from this

formula

in

the

Legnaia

frescoes

by

placing

the series

of false niches

with

seemingly

live

figures

n the middle

zone,

but the

effects

are

ultimately

decorative

rather

than

illusionistic.

The

false

inlays

of the

podium

and recessed

nichesare

crystallized

nto

hard planar patterns of colourful surfaces,thus countering

the

illusion of wall

penetration

and

steep

perspective.

The

figures

are thrust

back inwardsand

the flatnessof the

picture

plane

is re-asserted.

In the bibliotheca

raeca

ornament

is

subordinated

to

structural

mass

and

spatial

clarity.

Moreover,

the

Flavian

entablature,

Augustan

frieze,

and

projecting

bays

are

saturated

with

a rich

Roman idiom

alien to

Florentine

painting

of the

1450's.

The

plan

and details

of the

powerful

colonnade

closely

resemble

those of the 'Colonnacce'

of

the

'Forum of

Nerva',

when its

podium

was

still

concealed

by

earth.

The character

of

the

pictorial

ensemble,

however,

is

so

antiquarian

and

grandiose

that

it must have

been

con-

ceived

by

an erudite

mind

equally

familiar

with the

ruins

and environs of Rome and with classical texts. In recalling

Castagno's

contadino

origins

and his bias for

Florentine

archetypes,

and

calculating

that he could have

spent

three

months,

at the

very

most,

in

Rome

prior

to the

Vatican

commission,

it seems

improbable

that

Castagno

was

the

sole

author

of

the

bibliotheca

raeca

resco

scheme.

It

would

be

safer

to

assume,

I

maintain,

that

Albertiwhose

influence

is

already

visible in the

Uomini

Illustri

series,

personally

advised

him in this

enterprise.

This

would seem the most

credible

interpretation

since

we

must

also

take into

account

the fact of Alberti's

presence

in

Rome in

the

autumn

of

1454,

his self-avowed fraternization

with

avant-garde

loren-

tine

artists,25 and,

above

all,

the Albertian

species

of archi-

tecture

depicted

in

the

bibliotheca

raeca.

The

species

of

porticoed

cortile

envisioned here reflects

an

integral part

of Alberti's

ideal

architecture.Whereas con-

temporary

architects,

that is

the followers

of

Brunelleschi,

favoured

the arcade

motif

of

light, flowing porticoes

of

arches

springing

from slender

columns,

Alberti

shunned

it

as

being

unclassical

and therefore suitable

only

to

buildings

of inferior

importance:

'The Porticoes

of

the

Houses

of

the

principal

Citizens

may

have

a

compleat

regular

Entablature

over the

Columns;

but

those of

lower

Degree

should

only

have

Arches.'

(IX, 4).

His

theory

that the

'Quality

of the

Owner'

(IX, i)

strictly

determines

the function of

archi-

tectural motifs revives the Vitruvian notion of architectural

propriety.

Vitruvius

had

recommended

that

houses should

be

planned

on

principles

to

suit different classes

of

persons'

(VI,

5,

3).26

Alberti

prescribed

all'antica

styles,

types,

and

ornamental

motifs

solely

for

the

higher

ranksof his

social and

intellectual

hierarchy.

Hence,

porticoes bearing

a

straight

entablature

are

reserved

for

palaces, temples,

and

noble

public

edifices.

Within

this

system

the

colonnades

in

the

bibliotheca

raeca

transcend

the

fanciful

props

of

an

anti-

quarian's

dream.

The modest-sized room of

Nicholas V

projects

the

mood and

dignity

of a

royal

residence which

'ought

to be the

first in

Beauty

and

Magnificence'

and

'should have

stately

Porticoes,

and

handsome Courts

with

every Thing

else

in Imitation of a

public Edifice,

that

tends

to

Dignity

or

Ornament'

(IX,

I).

In turn

the

porticoes

enclose the

principal

unit

of the

house,

the

cortile,

the social

and

physical

functions

of

which

render it 'a

public

Market-place

to the

whole

House',

for

from it 'derives

all the

Advantages

of

Communication

and

Light'

(V,

I7).

The

type

of

cortile alluded

to

by

Alberti

24

For

quotations

I

cite

the

English

trans.

by

G.

Leoni in

J.

Rykwert's

ed.

of

L.

B.

ALBERTI:

Ten

Books

of

Architecture,

ondon

[1955].

With

regard

to

the

gothic

tradition

of

allegorical

figures

depicted

as

living persons,

see

SANDSTROM:

Levels

of Unreality...

(Figura),

Uppsala

[1963],

p.113.

The

figures

in

the shallow

niches

apparently

derive from Donatello's

early

niche

sculptures,

in

the

Bargello,

while

the

putti

recall Donatello's

playful

creatures

on

the

Cantoria

reliefs.

25

C.GRAYSON

An

Autograph

etter

rom

L. B. Alberti

o Matteode' Pasti

November

i8,

1454,

New

York

[I957])

shows that Alberti

supervised

Matteo

in the

construction

of

the

Tempio

Malatestiano,

while

he

remained in

Rome. That

Alberti

became

closely

acquainted

with the most advanced artists

and archi-

tects in Florence

through

his visits,

1427-1434,

is

proved

by

his

preface

to

his treatise On

Painting (ed. J. Spencer,

New

Haven

[1966],

p.9)

where

he

also

urges

the

painter

to associate

with

poets

and

orators;

in his treatise

on

architecture

he stresses

that the arts

'absolutely necessary

to the

Architect,

are

Painting

and

Mathematicks'

(X, io).

See

KRAUTHEIMER:

orenzo

Ghiberti,

Princeton

[1956], pp.316-320;

K. CLARK:iero della

Francesca,

London

[I1951],

pp.

I

7f.

His

powerful

influence

on Piero's architectural

style

dates

from about

1450

when

they

worked at

Rimini,

precisely

at

the time

Castagno

began

to

employ

Albertian

motifs. It would seem

that

Alberti's belief

that

the 'architect

has

borrowed

from the

painter

his

epistyles,

capitals,

columns,

pediments,

and

other

similar

things' (SPENCER,op.

cit.,

p.64)

was

reversed,

in

practice,

on

Castagno's part

in

the Vatican

frescoes.

26

VITRUVIUS:

The Ten Books

of

Architecture,

r.

M.

H.

Morgan,

New

York

[1960]:

'Hence,

men of

everyday

fortune

do

not need entrance

courts,

tablina,

or atriums

built

in

grand

style,

because such

men

are more

apt

to

discharge

their social

obligations

by

going

round

to others than

to

have others

come

to

them.'

(VI,

5,

I).

See

KRAUTHEIMER:hiberti,

.333.

734






THE

cBIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA :

CASTAGNO,

ALBERTI,

AND ANCIENT

SOURCES

must be

the

peristyle

rather than

the atrium form.27

At

first

glance

the marble balustrade above

appears

to be a

gothic

parapet,

yet

the naturalistic treatment of floral

elements and

breezy setting suggest

another Albertian

ideal,

the

open

air terrace.

Though

Alberti could not have seen

a

Greek

agora,

he

presumed

that

the Greeks made them

'exactly

square,

and

encompassed

them with

large

double

Porticoes,

which

they

adorned

with

Columns

and

their

Intablatures,

all of

Stone,

with noble Terraces at the

Top,

for

taking

the

Air

upon'

(VIII,

6).

The

airy

terrace in the

lunette fields

counterbalancesthe

heavy

closed

colonnades

below

and instills

a flavour of

intimacy.

It is no

accident

that the Vatican

frescoes,

which

display

a

classical

cortile and

garden,

coincide

in

time with the

re-

birth

of interest

in villa

design.

Humanists, architects,

and

patrons,

inspired

by literary

allusions to the

idyllic settings

of

porticoed

promenades

and

gardens

in

the

Greek

Academies

and

by

the Petrarchianideal

of a

retreat for

the

vita

contemplativa,

egan

to

incorporate

villa elements in the

plans

of

houses

and

palaces.

Since their enthusiasm

out-

stripped

their

fragmentaryknowledge

of

ancient

villas,

they

turned to the only literarysourcestouching on classical villa

design,

the

two letters of

Pliny

the

Younger.

In

describing

his

'Laurentine'

villa,

Pliny

stresses the

importance

of its

siting

for

beauty,

healthy

exposure, spaciousness,

cascading

fountains,

paved porticoes,

a

formal

garden richly

laid

out

with box

and

fruit

trees

and a

terrace

'fragrant

with

violets'.

Around

1460,

in the

Veneto,

Bartolomeo

Pagello,

a Vicenzan

humanist,

built

the

first villa

based

directly

on

Pliny's

accounts.

That

Pliny

exerted an

influence

as

early

as

the

I440's,

however,

is

shown

by

Alberti's recital

of the

selfsame

features

in

the

passages

on villas in his

architectural

treatise,

which was

evidently begun

in

the

I440's

and finishedin

the

main

by 1452.

As Alberti was

among

the

first to reassert

the classical

ideal of the intimate

balance

between

house

and nature

and to

envisage

the suburban

villa as

a residence

combining

the

'Dignity

of the

Townhouse,

and

the

Delights

and

Pleasures

of

the

Country-house'

(IX, 2),28

he

probably

helped

to

plan

the

project

of

Nicholas

V

for

a

magnificent

cortile-garden

complex

in the Vatican

Palace.

Though

it

was

precluded by

the

pope's

death,

porticoes,

cortiles,

fountains,

and

garden landscaping

were to

play

a

major

role,

which

would have

given

it

a far

more

classical

aspect

than the

medieval hortus onclusus.

In

this

context

the

combination

of a

severe

palatial

cortile,

fit

for

a

humanist

pope,

and an

intimate

garden-

terraceseems less

paradoxical.

Even the conceit of

recreating

the

out-of-doors

in-doors seems

to

have

been

inspired by

Pliny's

letter

about

his

Tuscan

villa.

Here

Pliny

describes

a

garden

suite

looking

onto a cortile that included a room

painted

with

garden

scenes,

'ornamented

by

a

marble

wainscoting

and,

no

less

pleasing,

a

frieze above

it,

depicting

birds

perched

on

leafy

branches'.29

The

garden

interior

theme

would have

appealed

to Alberti if

he

wished to

embody

the

au courant deas

of villa

elements

as

essential

features

of

palaces

and villas.

In its

entirety

the

false Roman

architecture

in

the Vatican frescoes

may

have been an

experimental

model

proposed

by

Alberti and

executed

by

Castagno,

to illustrate ideas

for a

regal

residence

coupled

with

elements

of

the

grandiose garden

scheme. The

decora-

tion does simulate

a

novel classical

ambient,

perhaps

in-

tended

to

visualize

the

splendid

dreams of

Nicholas

V,

in

lieu of the yet unbuilt extensionsplanned for the old palace

or,

at the

very

least,

to whet the

papal imagination.

In

analo-

gous

fashion

the

Roman-Campanian

painters

of

the second

style

once

gave

form to

their

visions

of

architectural

in-

novations

long

before

they

could

be

realized.

Ancient

pictorial

sources must

have

played

a

role

here.

Throughout

his

architectural

treatise

Alberti

acknowledges

his debt to classical

authors,

yet proudly

reminds

the

reader

of his own

first-hand

studies

of

antique

models.

The

question

of whether

any

artist

in

the fifteenth

century

knew

ancient

painted

walls

remains

ambiguous

owing

to

the

absence of

documentation

of their

survival

and

destruction. If

we

recall, however,

that humanists

such

as

Biondo and

Pius

II

often

stumbled upon

the remains of

ancient

villas, we

cannot

lightly

discount

the

idea

that

Alberti,

one

of

the

most

passionate

as well as

methodical

explorers

of Roman

ruins,

might

have

discovered

fragments

and

even

walls of

painted

decoration. His incisive

descriptions

of

ancient

building plans,

stucco

decoration,

wax

painting

technique,

mosaic

work,

pavement settings,

tomb

decorations,

and

masonry,

as

they

are

recorded in

his

treatise,

together

with

his

visible

influence

upon

the

design

of

the

Vatican

frescoes,

lend

substance to this

possibility.

Painted

walls

may

have

been

part

of

what he liked to

designate,

but did not

bother

to

classify,

as 'ancient

Works'.30 On the other

hand,

the

character of his treatise

remains theoretical

rather

than

topographical

or

antiquarian;

whatever remains

he

re-

corded were for the sake of

example

and

precept.

In like

manner

the

scheme of fictive architecture in

the

bibliotheca

27

Though

loosely

applied

by

Early

Renaissance

writers,

Alberti

usually

means

'cortile' in

the

specific

sense of a Hellenistic

peristyle

court surrounded

by

porticoes

rather

than

the

simple

Roman atrium.

28

H.

TANZER:The Villas

of Pliny

the

rounger,

New York

[1924],

Letter

II,

17,

pp.8-I

I.

j.

ACKERMAN:Sources

of the

Renaissance

Villa',

Acts

...

of

the

History

of

Art,

II

[1963], pp.6f.

G. MASSON

'Palladian

villas as

rural

centres',

Archi-

tectural

Review,

CXVIII

[1955], p.17) published

the letter of about

1460,

out-

lining plans

to convert his rural villa into

a

place

for

'cultured relaxation'

with

specific

features lifted

straight

from

Pliny's

account

of

the Laurentine

villa. On

Pliny's

profound

influence

in

the

Quattrocento,

C. L. FROMMEL:

Die

Farnesina und

Peruzzis

Architektonisches

Friihwerk,

Berlin

[1961],

p.II6,

L.

H.

HEYDENREICH:

'Federigo

da

Montefeltro as a

Building

Patron',

Studies in

Renaissance&

Baroque

Art

Presentedo

Anthony

Blunt

...,

London

[19671,

PP-5f.,

who

points

out Alberti's

role,

and MASSON:

talian

Gardens,

London

[1966],

pp.6o,

67,

who notes humanist

theories on

gardens

set within

classical

environs,

such as

that

described

in

the

Hypnerotomachia

oliphili

(c.1467),

enclosed

by

a

Corinthian

peristyle garden.

On

Pliny's

influence

upon High

Renaissance

painting,

the

forthcoming

article

by J.

DALEY.

For

the

dating

of Alberti's

architectural

treatise,

KRAUTHEIMER:

hiberti,

pp.268-27o

n.28.

For

Alberti's

passages

on villa

features, ALBERTI,

p.

cit.,

V,

14-18;

IX,

2;

cf.

his

brief

treatise

on

the

villa rustica

ype (1438)

in

GRAYSON,

d.:

'Villa',

Rinascimento,

V

[1953].

On

Nicholas V's

project

for the Vatican

garden

complex,

ACKERMAN:

he

Cortiledel

Belvedere,

Vatican

[1954],

p.8.

29

TANZER,

op.

cit.,

Letter

V, 6,

p.19.

30

See,

as

examples,

ALBERTI:

Architecture,II,

16; VI,

9;

VII,

2,

VIII,

1-4,

IX,

4.

The

author of

Descriptio

urbis

Romae

(1433) surveyed

and

attempted

to

deduce

principles

of

ancient

practice

from the

remains:'There

was not

the

least

Remain

of

any

ancient

Structure

...

but

what I

went

and

examined,

...

Thus

I

was

continually

searching,

considering,

measuring

and

making

Draughts

of

every Thing

I

could hear of'

(VI, I).

That

ancient

paintings

were

known

on

the

Palatine is further indicated

by

the

passage

in

Pirro

Ligorio's

MS.

Libro

dell'antichitd,VI,

fol.I51I,

n the

Archivio di

Stato

in

Turin

(published

in

DACOS,

op.

cit.,

pp.I16f.):

Ne havemoveduto

.

delle

antiche

case

private.,..

et

in

altri

luoghi

del

CollePalatine'.

735






THE

'BIBLIOTHECA

GRAECA :

CASTAGNO,

ALBERTI,

AND

ANCIENT

SOURCES

graeca

is

visionary,

an idealized

complex

of

forms,

not

reducible

to a

series

of

ancient

motifs,

though

drawing

from them.

Rich with

literary borrowings

the frescoes

are

still closer

to

the

principles

and

fantasy

of

ancient

painting

than

to

contemporary

decoration.

That

painted

walls

of

the second

style

had

not

been

recorded

during

quarrying operations

in Rome and

Ostia

merely

underliesthe

indifference

of the

artigiani

nd

account-

ants whose sole

concern

was

the

re-use

of

ancient marbles

as

building

materials.

Since

theatres,

palaces,

and tombs of

the

third and

fourth

styles

survived Renaissance

vandalism,

writers are

inclined

to

dismiss

the idea of

a

possible

influ-

ence

of Roman

illusionistic

painting upon Quattrocento

artists. The excavations of the

eighteenth

century

which

unearthed

frescoed walls

of

the

second

style

are

not

'proof

positive'

that

they

were

unknown

until then.

They

establish

only

that,

by

this late

date,

sufficient

archaeological

nterest

in

Roman

painting

was awakened so that historians

and

artists,

now

aware of

their

significance,

took

pains

to

codify

them. The fact that Alberti's own

plans, drawings,

and

models

are lost

to us is

unfortunate,

but

in

no

way

implies

that they never existed. His treatise, his edifices, and his

role

in

the

design

of the Vatican frescoes

testify

to his

prob-

able

acquaintance

with ancient

painting.

Hence,

it

would

seem far more

illuminating

to

enquire

about the

species

of

mural

painting

he

may

have

seen

before

heir

destruction.

Alberti's

idea

of the

primacy

of fictive architecture in

interior decoration

is

prescribed

n

a

passage

in

his treatise:

'Upon

side Walls

no Sort of

Painting

shews handsomer

than

the

Representation

of Columns

in

Architecture.'

(IX,

4).

Though

this

is not

proof

in itself that

he

saw

painted

walls

of the

second

style,

it

anticipates

the

execution

of

the

frescoes

of the bibliotheca

raeca

in

which architectural

representations,

and not

figural

scenes,

on the

surrounding

walls become the principal means to beguile the interest of

the

spectator.

Further,

the

passage

takes

on added

signifi-

cance

in relation

to the

particular

themes of the Vatican

frescoes.

Aside

from the

literary

sources

cited,

four-wall

schemes

of

continuous

classical

colonnades

do not exist

in

medieval

or

Quattrocento painting.

Yet

such

schemes are

most

common

in

Roman wall

decoration

of

rooms

where

colonnades,

articulated

by boldly projecting

bays,

are the

'exact

counterparts

of real

columns

surrounding

the

gar-

den'.31

The

visitor,

compelled

to

stand at a

precisely

fixed

point

in the

room,

thus becomes

a

participant

within the

imaginary

extended

boundaries.

Houses,

such as the

villa

at

Boscoreale,

offer the

most famous

examples,

but those

in

Rome,

before their

destruction,

were

also notable for con-

triving

illusionistic

effects of

porticoed peristyles.

The

'Ambiente ei

festoni

di

pino'

on

the

Palatine,32

exemplifies

this

species

n

Rome. The

use

of a

rational

system

of

lighting,

by

which a

single

source

pretends

to

illuminate the

entire

room

and

to

cast uniform shadows is

characteristic

of

a

number

of

second

style

decorations,

such

as

the

'Ambiente

delleMaschere'nd the

'Casa

di

Livia'

on

the

Palatine

(Figs.

23,

24).

The

same

principle

of

counterfeit

lighting

is

applied

in

the Vatican

frescoes: the

northernmost

faces of

the

projecting bays

on

the

east,

west,

and

south walls

are

uniformly

lit

by

the

real

window

in

the north wall

(Figs.

14,

15)-

The

scheme

of

continuous

garden

scenes,

as

Pliny's

letter

indicates,

was

another,

though

less

frequent

trompe-

l'oeil

theme

of

Roman

decoration. The

splendid

garden

room of the 'Villa of Livia' at

Primaporta

belongs

to

this

genre.

Because it is so

unique,

it is

cited

here

with reserve

as one

of

the few

surviving

examples.

Its

singular

naturalism

of

foliage

and

fresh air

setting

have

much

in

common,

for

liveliness

of

effect,

with the

open

air

terrace and

garden

elements in the

Vatican frescoes. How

Castagno

contrived

such

extraordinarily

free

and

crisp

botanic

effects

is

a

question that cannot be answered by literary sources

alone. It is a

striking

departure

from

the

settings

of

his

other

painting,

like the

Widener

David,

and

particularly

the conventions of Central Italian

painting,

or

the

stylized

vistas of

loggia

decorations,

as

in

the Casa dei

Cavalieri

di

Rodi in Rome

of

about

1470.

The

bold

mounting

of

the

elegant amphora-shaped

vases

on

the balustrade

also

recalls

the

fantastic

vessels set on

the

projecting

bays

of

entablatures,

a

motif

peculiar

to

painted

walls

of

the

second

and

third

styles

(Figs.23, 24).

Thus,

the two schemes

of

porticoed

cortile and

garden,

which are

combined

here to form

the first

all'antica oom

ensemble of the

Quattrocento,

reveal

a

wealth

of

ancient

stimuli, literary and visual. The literary sources are more

apparent

and can be traced to

the

humanist

interest

in

villa architecture.

Though

the

pictorial

prototypes sug-

gested

above

are

without

concrete

documentation,

they

at

least reveal the

generic

similarities

between Roman

illusionistic

painting

and the decorative scheme of the

bibliotheca

raeca,

which

is so

extraordinary

for

its

period.

Not to

attempt

an

explanation

would

be

to

consign

these

frescoes

by Castagno

to

a

vacuum.

If

we

recognize

the

progressive

and reborn

classical

spirit

in

them,

we

must

speculate

on the

origins,

Albertian

and

Roman,

of their

conception.

To

neglect

the

question

of

their

derivation would

be to lose

sight

of

their

unique position

in the nascent

history

of

classicizing

room decoration.

31

P.

w.

LEHMANN:

oman

Wall

Paintings

from

Boscoreale n the

Metropolitan

Museum

of

Art,

Cambridge

[x953],

p.8.

32

Illustrated

in G. CARETTONI:

Due

nuovi

ambienti

dipinti

sul

palatino',

Bollettino

d'Arte,

XLVI

[1g96],

Figs.I-3.

736

the 'bibliotheca graeca': castagno, alberti, and ancient sources

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