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Pordenone's Altar-Piece of the Beato Lorenzo Giustiniani for the Madonna dell'OrtoAuthor(s): Michael Douglas-ScottSource: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 130, No. 1026 (Sep., 1988), pp. 672-679Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/883566Accessed: 25/01/2010 13:30

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MICHAEL DOUGLAS-SCOTT

Pordenone's altar-piece o f t h e B e a t o LorenzoGiustiniani f o r t h e Madonna dell'Orto

_iu--.nianiwi..SththBpi,SLosGIOVANNI Antonio da Pordenone's Beato Lorenzo Gius-tiniani altar-piece (Fig.3) now hangs in the AccademiaGallery in Venice although the altar of Federico Renier,for which it was designed, survives at the church of theMadonna dell'Orto (Fig.4). Pordenone signed his picturebut did not date it. In 1905, however, Gustav Ludwigpublished a document which showed that Pordenone hadcontracted in 1532 with the secular canons of S. Giorgio inAlga, who owned the church, to paint a canvas there forone hundred ducats.1 The Renier altar-piece was amongthe major commissions the Friulian painter was to receivein Venice before his untimely death in Ferrara seven yearslater. Despite the significance of the work, it has not beenthe subject of detailed independent study nor have itsorigins or its devotional functions fully been appreciated.2The context of Pordenone's undertaking at the Madonnadell'Orto and his connection with the church can beelucidated from unpublished documents, mainly in thearchive of the secular canons,3 to provide a fuller accountof the picture's original setting, its place in the iconographyof Lorenzo Giustiniani, the choice of saints depicted in it,

i~:,;! ~i,i:?:t ! and the responsibility for the commission.For about 250 years, Pordenone's altar-piece was con-__;~~~~~~~ r tsidered one of the principal features of this monastic church,situated at the limits of the city near the northern lagoon.Successive accounts, starting with Vasari's in 1550, re-corded it in situ, and in 1581 it was listed first among thechurch's pictures in Sansovino's Venetia,Citta& obilissima.It was mentioned in a history of the secular canons of 1642with the comment 'qua nihilpulchrius',and six years laterRidolfi provided the first full description of it, which con-cludes 'lasciandol'autorein quella degna Pittura una pretiosa

G. LUDWIG: 'Archivalische Beitrage zur Geschichte der venezianischen Malerei',.fahrbuch der kdniglich preusszischen Kunstsammlungen, XXVI [1905], Beiheft,

Giustiniani with St John the Baptist, St Louis of Toulouse(former pp. 123-29.g e Bernadn of Sapien, Srt Franis an Toul seul raonseofy2The catalogue of the Accademia Gallery, S.M.MARCONI: Opered'Arte del Secolougustine),St Bernardinoof Siena, St Francis and two secularcanonsof

7ga, by Giovanni Antonio da Pordenone. 1532. 420 by 220 em. XVI, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Rome [1962], pp.174-75, offers the fullestenice). discussion of the background of the picture to date. The iconography of thealtar-piece receives passing attention in s. TRAMONTIN: San Lorenzo Giustinianinell'Arte e nel Culto della Serenissima,Venice [1956], and in A. NIERO: L'ImmaginediS. LorenzoGiustinianinell'Arte,Venice [1981]. G.M. PILO: LorenzoGiustiniani,Udine[1982], touches on the position of the Pordenone in the long history of theprocesso or Lorenzo Giustiniani's canonisation.3In 1668, the order was suppressed. The archives of its monasteries weretransferred to the palace of the Papal Nuncio and thence, in 1835, to theArchivio Segreto Vaticano in Rome (referred to in these notes as ASV). CardinalAngelo Mercati published the second contract for Tintoretto's organ doors in1937 and the contract and payments for Palma il Vecchio's St Vincentaltar-piece(see notes 18 and 51, below) from the archive of the Madonna dell'Orto.4G. VASARI: e Vite de'piu eccellentiPittori, Scultoried Architettori,nelle Redazioni del1550 e 1568, ed R. Bettarini and P. Barocchi, Florence [1966], Vol.IV, p.431.F. SANSOVINO:enetia,Citta Nobilissima, Venice [1581], p.58. It is last mentionedin the church in the 1799 edition of Antonio Maria Zanetti's Della Pitturaveneziana,although it had been removed two years before.

3. Beato Lorenzoidentified s St AtSan Giorgio n Ai(Accademia, V

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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL ORTO

4. Altarof FedericoRenier, hurch fthe Madonna ell'Orto,Venice.5. Lorenzoiustiniani,y GentileBellini. 21by 155cm. (Accademia, enice).6. StsGeorge,ZeromendTryphon,yMatteoPonzone. 20by220cm.(Altar f FedericoRenier, hurch f Madonna ell'Orto,Venice)memoriai e stesso'.5 In 1660,Boschinidedicated verfiftyverses o the work n his Carta elJ%avegaritoresco, hileLovisa eproducedt in IIGranTeatro i Veneziaf 1720.WhenMoschinipublished is guideto thecity in 1815,the Renier altar-piecewas no longer in the Madonnadell9Orto.7t had been removedto Paris in 1797 but,unlikeother pictures rom the church,wasnot replacedthereon its return o Venicein 1815. It has remained nthe Accademiaever since) ts place at the Renier altarbeing taken first by GentileBellini'sLorenzo iustiniana(Fig.5) (alsooriginally romthe churchand now in theAccademia)and then by Matteo Ponzone'sSts George,fferome nd Tryphonrom the church of the Knights ofMalta (Fig.6).A reducedcopy of Pordenone's ainting,made in 1861, now hangs n the chapel to the left of thechancel)which s mistakenlydentified n the Accademiacatalogueas the site of the Renieraltar.TheRenieraltaris, in fact,situated n the astbay of the eft aisle(Fig.4)8

5J. TOMASSINI: Annales anonicorumecularium. GiorgiinAlga,Udine [1642],p.327. c. RIDOLFI: Le Maraviglieell'Arte1648), ed. D. von Hadeln, Berlin[1914-24], .l25.6M. BOSCHINI: LaCarta elJVavegzzriloresco,d. A. PALLUCCHINI, Venice [1966],pp.233-34.. LOVISA: IlgranTeatroiVenezia,enice 1720].7G. MOSCHINI: Guidaer a Citt2 i Venezia,enice 1815],Vol.2,p. 8.8Thechapel o the left of the appella maggioreas dedicatedo the threeMagiand held by theScuoladei Fornari.There s another opyof the Renieraltar-piece n thechurch f S. Apenol. 6.

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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL ORTOPordenone's painting owes its fine general conditionlargely to its absence from the church during the nineteenthcentury. The Renier altar was then menaced by fallingmasonry from the adjacent campanile and was exposed tothe weather. The condition of Gentile Bellini's LorenzoGiustiniani testifies to these perils.9 The Pordenone hasbeen restored twice, in 1843 and again in 1964, withoutapparent loss except for some architectural details. 10Thecanvas, which has not been cut, measures 420 by 220 cm.,and, on the evidence of the altar sizes, it must have beenthe largest at the Madonna dell'Orto at the time of is com-mission. It is signed: 'IOANNIS/ANTONII/PORTUNA/ENSIS' onthe pedestal on which Lorenzo Giustiniani stands. Theblessed Lorenzo faces the viewer with his right hand ex-tended in blessing and in his left a book. At the base of thepedestal, two secular canons hold on the left an iron crossand on the right, scarcely visible, an episcopal mitre. Infront of them, on the left is a bishop-saint identified byRidolfi as St Ambrose but since Boschini as St Augustine; 1in the right middle-ground stands S. Bernardino of Siena.The bishop-saint looks up to Lorenzo and points to theLamb which St John the Baptist supports on a book at

front right. The Baptist has his left foot on a section of acolumn base. Vasari commended this colossal figure: 'inSan GiovanniBattista si sforzddi mostrare uantovalesse'. 2 Tothe left, St Francis kneels before the Lamb, completingthe group which forms a V-shaped opening towards thefigure of the Blessed Lorenzo.The group is confined by massive corinthian columnson bases set in a space which is closed by an apse with agold mosaic half-dome behind Lorenzo's head. An oculusabove the entablature provides some overhead light.Another source illuminates the foreground, inflaming thedeep reds in the chasuble of the bishop-saint and the pinkin the drapery over the Baptist's right shoulder.Some of the features of the picture can be connectedwith its location in the Madonna dell'Orto (Fig.4). TheRenier altar was the most monumental of a new generationof altar tabernacles at the church. Located between twodoors leading to the campanile (one of which is nowwalled up), the altar is characterised by its height. Itsfluted corinthian columns on tall plinths, pronounced pedi-ment and carved frieze are all intact, although the mensaand steps were evidently replaced in the last century. Thealtar retains the hauteur uitable to a noble place of worshipand commemoration despite its insertion between twodoors. The format and certain stylistic characteristics of thepainting, particularly the compression of the figures andthe 'mannerist' and 'Parmigianinesque' elongation of forms,were directly conditioned by this circumstance. Its fictive

9F. ZANOTTO: Nuovissima Guida di Venezia, Venice [1856], mentions that thecupola of the campanile (which had been struck by lightning) was collapsingand fragments had broken through the roof of the left aisle below. It is uncertainwhen the Bellini suffered most damage, however, whether in the Renier altar orsubsequently, when placed in the leaking Contarini chapel; it was in the Acca-demia by 1852.'0MARCONI, op.cit., at note 2 above; see also note 14 below.IIBoschini identified him as St Ambrose in the Carta del Navegar pitoresco butchanged this to St Augustine in Le Minere della Pittura veneziana,Venice [1664],p.445.'2VASARI, op.cit. at note 4 above, p.431. This appears only in the 1568 edition.'3The principle is different in so far as the chapels were on the opposite sidefrom Giovanni Bellini's altar-piece at S. Giobbe. The Pordenone is to someextent a transposition of a Sacra Conversazione.674

architectural space compensates for the absence of an actualrecess, unique on the left side of the church, a solution com-parable with that of Giovanni Bellini's S. Giobbe altar-piece the general configuration of which the Pordenoneadapts. 13The moulding of the niche behind Lorenzo orig-inally echoed that of the altar's frame, and the cherub inthe mosaic complemented those in the frieze above. Further-more, the axis of the composition is off-centre to takeaccount of the angle at which the altar is approached inthe church.14 In the foreground, Pordenone took intoconsideration a real light source for the painting from theclerestory windows across the church from the Renier altar.As Lorenzo Giustiniani was not canonised until 1690,the dedication of the altar was to 'Beato' Lorenzo Giustiniani.Born in 1381, Lorenzo had been a founder member of theorder of the secular canons of S. Giorgio in Alga, of whichhe became General in 1413. Created Bishop of Castello in1433 against his wish to remain with his order, he became,in the words of his friend Gabriele Condulmer, co-founderof the order and subsequently Pope Eugenius IV, 'il decorodel episcopato'. n 1451, he was made the first Patriarch ofVenice. He died five years later. Administrator, scholar-writer and mystic, he did not possess the lungs to be apopular preacher but nevertheless became an object ofgeneral devotion, and after his death was invoked as anintercessor. The standard source for his life and work,apart from his own voluminous writings, is the biographyby his nephew, Bernardo, which records some of the miraclesassociated with him. 15In a Breve of 19th July 1524, PopeClement VII licensed his cult as a bishop-confessor aftersustained political pressure from the Venetian Republic. 16The secular canons at the Madonna dell'Orto had aparticular reverence for Lorenzo Giustiniani. In his Willhe had required them to recall him in their offices, and hisstatus as a figure of veneration was intimately bound upwith that of the order. He had also prepared the groundfor them to acquire the church and monastery of theMadonna dell'Orto, which they did in 1462, and fouryears later they commissioned Gentile Bellini to paint arepresentation of him (Fig.5). Gentile's image most prob-ably derives from the effigy that his father, Jacopo Bellini,is recorded as having made for Giustiniani's tomb at S. Pietrodi Castello in 1456.17 It has some of the characteristics ofa cult-image, notably the aureole, the attendant angelsand the two monks kneeling before the Protopatriarch,but it was not an altar-piece.In 1525, the year after the Clementine licence, PietroMarin, prior of the monastery, in his role as trustee ofthe Will of Vincenzo Valier, instructed Palma il Vecchioto include Eugenius IV and Lorenzo Giustiniani in his

'4Titian's Pesaro altar-piece at the Frari offers a parallel but Pordenone putsthe axis on the left. There are precedents for similar spacial accommodations inPordenone's wauvre.15B. GIUSTINIANI: VitaBeati LaurentiIustiniani Venetiarum atriarchae,Vcnice [1475].The first edition of Lorenzo Giustiniani's collected works appeared in Brescia in1506.16For the stages towards the eventual canonisation of Lorenzo Giustiniani in1690 see G.P. MAFFEI: Lorenzo Giustiniani primo Patriarca di Venezia.. ., Padua[1691]. Since 1519 the Venetian Ambassador to the Holy See, the future DogePietro Lando, had applied to successive Popes for the licence of the cult ofLorenzo Giustiniani in the Dominio Veneto.17J. MEYER ZUR CAPELLEN: 'La "figura" del S. Lorenzo Giustinian di JacopoBellini', Centro edescodi studi venezianiQuaderno19, Venice [ 1981].


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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL ORTO

St VincentDeaconaltar-piece for the Valier chapel (Fig.7). 18They stand behind St Dominic and St Helen respectively.In the same year, an altar was instituted to LorenzoGiustiniani. It contained an altar-piece by Girolamoda Santacroce, later removed to the mother church ofS. Giorgio in Alga which burned down in 1788.19 Theexact relation of Pordenone's BeatoLorenzoGiustinianialtar-piece to this intriguing lost work by Santacroce cannottherefore be ascertained. However, it is still possible to setPordenone's version in a local iconographical tradition.For the Friulian master has clearly grafted Gentile Bellini'sprototype onto the standard arrangement exemplified byPalma's St VincentDeaconaltar-piece in order to produce amodern solution to devotional requirements at the Madonnadell'Orto. Bellini's characterisation of the Protopatriarch isreiterated by Pordenone: the gaunt features of the ascetic;20the blue cap and, under his transparent surplice, the habit(from which the canons derived their appelation of turchiniand which symbolised Lorenzo's underlying loyalty to hisorder); the right hand extended in blessing with the leftholding a book (perhaps his Della Vita Monastica, which,while not constituting a rule, set guidelines for the spirituallife of the order); and finally the two attributes of the ironpatriarchal cross and the episcopal mitre, which recallGiustiniani's ecclesiastical dignities.The significance of the Renier altar-piece for the icon-ography of Lorenzo Giustiniani emerges once it is recog-nised that the Protopatriarch was finally placed on a ped-estal, facing forward at the centre of a group with saintsagainst an apse with a gold mosaic. To portray Lorenzoface on, Pordenone could have drawn on a bust of him,now lost, but which is recorded in an inventory.21With the Renier altar-piece, Lorenzo Giustiniani wasenshrined as a cult-figure. The canons were not satisfiedwith his beatification alone: it is clear that they plannedtheir hero's canonisation. By 1588 an annual indulgencewas permitted at the Renier altar,22 and in 1594 Lorenzowas granted his own mass and office by Pope Clement VIII.Daniele Rosa, procurator of the Madonna dell'Orto in the1590s and ultimately General of the whole order, corre-sponded with influential figures of the early seventeenthcentury, including the order's protector, Cardinal Orsini,to assist the processoor the canonisation which was alreadyunder way by 1472. Some of this correspondence was laterpublished.23 In 1622, the patriarch Giovanni Tiepolo hadLorenzo portrayed in the series of Venetian saints andbeatifor the Morosini chapel in the church.24 In 1666, twoyears before the suppression of the secular canons, there ispayment for music composed in honour of Lorenzo.25

It is remarkable that in the Renier altar-piece, LorenzoGiustiniani has been elevated above bonafidesaints of theimportance ofJohn the Baptist and St Francis. He appears

18A. MERCATI: 'Storici, critici dell'arte e documenti a propositodi una pala diPalma il Vecchio', Rendiconti. tti dellaPontifica ccademiaomana i Archeologia,XV [1939], pp.21-35.'9This had the inscription: 'B. LAUREANTIUS IUSTINIANUS PRIMUS PA T-RIARCA VEVNETIARUM DIE VIII IANUARH MCCCCLV. HIEROMIMUS ASANCTA CRUCE P. MDXXV. This is recorded in D. ROSA: Summorum, anctissi-morumque ontificum llustrium VirorumPiorumquePatrumde Beati LaurentiiIustinianiVenetiarum Patriarchae Vita Sanctitate ac Miraculis Testimoniorum Centuria,Venice [1614].20GIUSTINIANI, op.cit. at note 16 above provided this description of the Proto-patriarch's appearance: 'Fuit proceritatecorporisaltiore, quam, iusta, gracilioribusmembris,colore candido, statu erectus,et celsus, omni acie admodumdecora,oculis verouniversum orpus ta moderantibus, t venerationemtsanctitatemundique pirareviderentur'

7. St Vincent eacon,withStsDominic ndHelen,PopeEugeniusVandBeatoLorenzoGiustiniani,y Palma il Vecchio. 1525.280 by 180cm. (Churchof Madonnadell'Orto, Venice).

to appeal to his devotees over the heads of his saintly com-pany. However, his pre-eminence is qualified by placinghim off-centre and behind the grander saints; StJohn andSt Francis are also clearly differentiated by a strongerlight. The action in the foreground is focused on the Lambas a symbol of Christ: it is certainly not to Lorenzo that thesaints testify their devotion. The Renier altar-piece wasnot censured during the Visitation of 1582, whose terms ofreference included the application of the Tridentine decreesto religious art in Venice; and it is clear that the compositioncomplies with the Clementine licence of 1524 which hadspecified that depictions of Lorenzo in altar-pieces had torepresent him as a beatoand not as a saint.26

(Chapter7).2 ASV, Nunziatura Veneta I, no.3. See Liber Tertius / InstrumentorumuppressarumCongregationum 1669], fol.90.22ASV Nunz.Ven.II., Sta.Mariadell'Orto [hereafterabbreviatedas S.M.d.O.]17,fol.17v.23ASVNunz.Ven.II., S. Giorgio in Braida, 833. Publishedin ROSA, op.cit.atnote 19 above.24Now n the secondsacristy.25ASVNunz.Ven.II, S.M.d.O. 26, Giornale666.26Themain recordsof the Visitation are in the Palazzo Vescovile archive inVenice but there is a fragment in ASV Nunz.Ven.II, S.M.d.O. 794. For thetext of Clement VII's Breve, see ROSA, op.cit. at note 19 above, fols.6v-7v.

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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL ORTOPordenone's altar-piece can thus be understood, to someextent, in the context of the devotional traditions and specialreverence of the turchiniat the Madonna dell'Orto for the

Protopatriarch. The licence of the cult and the removal ofSantacroce's altar-piece would have disposed them to sup-port an offer of another altar to Lorenzo Giustiniani intheir church. This does not, however, fully account for anessential purpose of the altar-piece, which was painted fora private altar. Although Cicogna noted the inscription'RHENERIO/FEDERIGO' on the predella of the altar, no attempthas ever been made to link this member of the Renierfamily with the commission of the altar-piece or to examinehis part in the formulation of its iconography.27Federico Renier was a Venetian patrician who occupieda number of prominent government posts. In 1514 he wasamong the Provveditorioprala Rinnovaziondelle Fabbriche nRialto, and two years later he became Savio di Terraferma,then Podesta of Crema until 1519. Appointed AvvogadordiCommun n 1524, in 1529 he was sufficiently wealthy tocontribute towards a loan to the Serenissima nd was madeAvvogadorEstraordinario.From 1530 to 1531 he was Podestaof Verona. He was subsequently appointed to the Councilof Ten, of which he became Head. In May 1533, he wassent to Milan on a diplomatic mission and in the nextyear as an orator to congratulate Pope Paul III at hiselection. It was doubtless from this Pope that he receivedhis Knighthood. He died in 1542 and was buried at theMadonna dell'Orto.28

On 14th May 1528, Renier made an agreement withthe canons at the Madonna dell'Orto to pay for an altarand a tomb. The original agreement does not survive29but it is referred to in an accord ofJanuary 1540 (1539 bythe Venetian calendar) for masses (Appendix I).30 Underthe 1528 agreement, Federico Renier and his wife Agnesinawere conceded an altar under the title of the glorious andblessed Lorenzo Giustiniani on the condition that theydecorate it with an altar-piece and furnish it at theirexpense.31 Daily masses were to commence during thelifetime of the couple and were to include prayers for theirancestors and family. Every Saturday, there was to be aspecial mass for Federico himself. That year he deposited600 ducats towards this purpose.32Renier's wife, Agnesina Erizzo, made independent contri-butions to a foundation for masses at the Madonna dell'-Orto which had been initiated by her mother, Francesca(nee Muazzo), in 1486.33 In her Will, dated 1529, Agnes-ina asked to be buried in 'I'archahafattofar il miomaridoai

frati di s.m.d.l'orto'.34The Erizzo coat-of-arms is on theright plinth of the altar and, that of the Renier on the left,although both have lost their paint (Fig.4). She continued

27E. CICOGNA: Delle Inscrizioniveneziane,Venice [1824-53], Vol.1, p.225.28Ibid.29Archivio di Stato, Venezia, Notarile Atti, Cancelleria Inferiore, Busta 28,No. 1, Hieronimo de Bossis. His files extend from 1486 to 1524.30The fact that a final agreement for masses was reached only at this stage, twelveyears after the concession of the Beato Lorenzo Giustiniani altar to the Reniers -and there are no signs of payment for masses in the monastic records prior tothis date - may reflect the delays in setting up the altar with its altar-piece.31No mention is made of the amount required for this end or what arrangementsshould be made about finding suitable artists for the job: these questions mayhave been specified in the lost contract of 1528.32ASV Nunz.Ven.II, S. M.d.O. 34.33Ibid, 793.34Archivio di Stato, Venezia, Atti Gracolario 1183/57, 18thJuly 1529.676

payment after her husband's death.35 The Reniers' sonsAlvise (Luigi), Bernardino and Zuanne (Giovanni) con-tinued to pay dues, some from agricultural revenue, afterthe death of their mother.36 Federico's son Luigi and grand-son Federico later had busts of themselves placed in aediculesover the two doors to the campanile (Fig.4). However,when the church was inventoried in 1669 after the sup-pression of the order the altar was not ascribed to theRenier family, although it was still in use and retained allits furnishings.37Devotion to Lorenzo Giustiniani was part of FedericoRenier's background, for his father, Alvise, had joined theorder of S. Giorgio in Alga after the death of his Contariniwife.38 Thus the choice of Lorenzo Giustiniani, wouldhave recommended itself to Federico as a tribute to hisfather's vocation. Furthermore, the choice of saints in theRenier altar-piece, none of whom is conventionally asso-ciated with Lorenzo Giustiniani, is clarified by the Renierfamily tree:

FrancescoAlvise (Luigi)IFEDERICO

Luigi Bernardino Giovanni39

St Francis, S. Bernardino and a StJohn, all namesakes offamily members, are present in the picture. The remainingsaint has been called St Augustine since Boschini in 1664,but may more plausibly be identified as St Louis of Tou-louse. The unmistakable brown Franciscan hood is drapedover his episcopal cope, and comparison with GiovanniBellini's altar-piece in S. Giovanni Crisostomo and particu-larly with Sebastiano del Piombo's left organ door fromS. Bartolomeo a Rialto, both of which contain St Louis ofToulouse, confirms this identification.There is therefore a clear stress on the Renier male linein the basic choice of saints, the patron's grandfather,father and three sons being recalled. Oddly enough, Federicohimself is excluded - perhaps because there was no traditionin Venetian iconography for the depiction of any of thepossible St Fredericks.40 Federico may in any case haveinherited his father's devotion to Lorenzo Giustiniani andmay have considered his patron and intercessor sufficientrepresentation for himself in heavenly circles.

35ASV Nunz.Ven.II, S.M.d.O. 16.36Ibid., 794 for Luigi and Bernardino; and 795 for Giovanni, who was payinglivelli in March 1545.37ASV Nunz.Ven.I: 'Un'Altare con Pala del B. Lorenzo Giustinano in tela, e suo

fornimentodi Legno intagliato di mano,fu detto,del Pordenone.QuattroCandelliericon suaCroced'Ottone. Due Cossini Pavonazzi di Damasco. Un parapetto di VelutoPavonazzocon suofornimento di legno intagliato dorato. Due altri parapetti rosso, e l'altro bianco deseta vecchi'.38G.A. CAPPELLARI VIVARO: II Campidoglio Veneto,MS geneology of the Venetiannoble families presented to the Biblioteca Marciana in 1748.39Ibid. The chart is borne out by the information in CICOGNA (op.cit. at note 27above) and by the documents as well as by Cappellari.40An oral communication of Padre A. Niero in 1984. None are to be found inthe Warburg Institute's photographic collection.


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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL ORTOThe choice of saints in the altar-piece shows signs of a

particular Franciscan emphasis. St Francis and two Fran-ciscans account for three of the four saints in the picture.One of the prayers Federico Renier ordered was that ofthe Franciscan St Anthony of Padua but there is no proofthat Federico was a lay brother of the Franciscan order orhad any special ties with it. Agnesina, on the other hand,left money to S. Francesco della Vigna and to ObservantFranciscan nunneries and monasteries of Venice in herWill.41

Federico Renier was an exceptionally busy man and hisfrequent absences from Venice in the 1530s made regularsupervision of the execution of his altar difficult. It emergesfrom the document Ludwig published that Pordenone infact contracted with the turchini and not with Federicohimself: 'zuan antonio anteditto del 1532facto un concordo eucontrato um dicti reverendiadri per il qual mi obbligaidandomiloroil telerdefarli unquadro erpretiode ducaticento'.42 Therecan be little question that this quadrowas the Renier altar-piece as there is no evidence that Pordenone painted othercanvases for the church, despite Moschini's attribution oftwo frescoes there to him.43 There is, however, an unpub-lished document which shows that a drawing by Pordenonewas used for a relief of St George and the Dragon for theMadonna dell'Orto in 1539 (see Appendix 2). The descrip-tion in the contract is so specific that it might help toidentify this sculpture, should it survive.How and when did Pordenone come into contact withthe secular canons at the Madonna dell'Orto? In December1529, the artist found himself involved in the execution ofthe Will of the Paduan lawyer, Alvise Bardellini, who haddied that October. Bardellini left much of his considerablewealth to the Madonna dell'Orto where he was to beburied. In his testament, he asked for the return to aDaniel Sartor of a gold belt he had held in pawn for adebt.44 On 9th December Pordenone underwrote a receiptfrom the prior for the golden belt on behalf of Daniel's sonand promised to shield the monastery from any ulteriorclaim (Appendix 3).45 Bardellini left to the canons theadministration of land on the terraferma.46 ordenone him-self had bought land with a further obligation to pay 100ducats to Bardellini.47 Clearly the canons agreed to exempthim from this debt in their role as heirs and executors ofthe Bardellini legacy in exchange for the painting of theRenier altar-piece, although no definite agreement on thiswas reached before 1532. Then problems arose: Cassandra,the rapacious wife of the deceased lawyer, contested her

4'Agnesina's influence on the iconographyof the picture is uncertain. None ofher family are represented by namesakes.It is true that her mother was calledFrancesca, however, and a Francesco Erizzo was a canon at the Madonnadell'Orto in 1484. Her association with the Madonna dell'Orto may havepreceded that of her husband and her contact with the canons need not havebeen through him only: in 1536, she made independent arrangementsfor hermansionariaASV Nunz.Ven.II, S.M.d.O. 34).42LUDWIG,p.cit., at note 1above, p.125.43Seenote 7 above.44ASV Nunz.Ven.I, S.M.d.O. 1708. 8th April 1521; codicil 26th October,1529. 'Lassoa mistrodaniel artor he i sia restiduidonocenturooro,qualaveva npegno erunducato, t lo ducatoassochepregamisierDominedioermeethora eresserbon poveroi lassoducati uattro'.45Pordenone igns the receipt in his own hand. It is not clear what the relationof Giovanni Antonio Licinio or de Sacchis da Pordenone, the painter, was toZuanbattistaAlessandroCiroichon Pordenone orwhomhe here actsasguarantor.Daniel Sartor wasat any rateGiovanniBattista's ather (seeAppendix 3).46Bardellinieft them land in Carpenedo,lavilla diMartelegond near Gambara

husband's Will and refused to render the monastery itsdue, going as far, it was claimed by the turchini in theensuing litigation, as to conceal the money left to them.48She also pursued Pordenone for his debt. The canons,however, officially released Pordenone from the debt toBardellini only in 1537, which would be curious had hecompleted his painting in 1532. This is the context of thedocument Ludwig published: it is a petition of 1538 to theGiudici del Procuratorprotesting against the inequity ofCassandra's claim.It is therefore very probable that Pordenone came intocontact with the prior and canons of the Madonna dell'Ortoas a result of the Bardellini bequest in the year after theReniers had agreed to establish an altar to Lorenzo Giustin-iani in the church. The chapter had granted Federico theright to construct and decorate an altar at his own expense.The Renier tomb was already finished in the followingyear; but it was the canons who provided the artist andthe canvas for the altar-piece, and it is through the monas-tery's social network, not that of the Reniers, that Pordenonereceived his commission.Pordenone's debt presented the canons with a con-venient option. What they did with the sum the Reniersagreed to contribute for the painting in 1528 is not recorded,but there is no suggestion in 1540 that it had not beenforthcoming. The prior in 1528, Pietro Marin, who diedin 1533, would have been sensitive to the opportunity ofemploying the celebrated Friulian master. Marin was re-sponsible for a campaign of redecoration at the church inthe 1520s, including the painting of the choir49 and thecompletion of the Valier chapel. He himself paid forimprove-ments to the daughter church of S. Michele at Mirano.50In his Will, he left one of his panels to an artist whoworked at the Madonna dell'Orto.5i It is possible that thecanon to the right in the Renier altar-piece might be aportrait of Marin. Throughout his ministry, Giustinianihad maintained two turchiniassistants, but those in thepainting appear sufficiently specific to be portraits.52All the documentary evidence implies that Pordenone'sdealings were principally with the turchini.Renier seemsmerely to have specified which saints were to be includedin the altar-piece and to have delegated responsibility forits execution to the prior and canons. He would mostlikely have been presented with a modello for approval,and his satisfaction with the finished picture may well haveled to official commissions for Pordenone in the 1530s. Butthere is no evidence that Renier and Pordenone ever met.

especially;he made the canons his universalieredi.47LUDWIG, op.cit. at note 1above, p.125.45ASVNunz.Ven.II, S.M.d.O. 35. In a petition to the Avvogadoridi Commun,the canonsclaimed that: 'Cassandrai messe l letto ubitomorrom.Alvisefingendoeesser malata tsefecemetterotto edrappi . . duisaccheti ebona randezauttipienideoro'.49Ibid., 91.50Ibid.,794.51A. MERCATO: 'La Scrittura per la Presentazionedella Madonna al Tempio aSta. Maria dell'Orto', La Mostradel Tintoretto Venezia,Fasicolosecondo, XV[April 1937], pp.3-4.52The two canons at the feet of the Patriarch could be the prior and theprocurator at the Madonna dell'Orto at the date of the execution of thepainting. However, the exact date is uncertain. Mattersarefurthercomplicatedby the fact that changeover of these offices were annual within the order. In1533, the year of Pietro Marin's death, Agapito Zafardo was Prior (ASVNunz.Ven.I, S.M.d.O. 1752).

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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL'ORTO

Although it was the canons who gave Pordenone hisinstructions, some of the picture's iconographical pecul-iarities may owe more to his own invention and initiativethan to any elaborate programme of theirs. Pordenone'scontribution to the basic content of the new image is likelyto have been substantial, particularly as there was no estab-lished tradition for altar-pieces of Lorenzo Giustiniani.The peacock motif in the mosaic recalls his CremonaLamentation resco and the canons had reason to welcomethis venerable symbol of eternal life.53 There is no directprecedent for St Francis kneeling before the Lamb, althoughthis arrangement does perform a compositional functionhere.54 The base-fragment at the foot of the Baptist maysimply be a prop for his elegant, serpentine pose.55Pordenonebrought to his task important interests of his own (althoughhe painted the Renier altar-piece in execution of a debt),above all to promote his reputation as a modern painterin Venice. His work certainly testifies to the force of hisartistic personality and the variety of his experience. Inparticular it reflects his trip to Rome in the year before his

53Accordingo a traditionwhichmayhaveoriginatedwith St Augustine,peacockmeat was said not to rot and the bird became a symbolof the incorruptibilityofthe flesh.Examplesof the motifcan be found n Veneto-Byzantine rt,forexampleon the marble antistasisat the cathedralof Torcello. One of the miraclesassoci-ated with Lorenzo Giustinianiwas that his body did not decomposefor65 daysafter hisdeath.54Outside the heretical writings of Tommaso da Celano there is no literarysource either; but Pordenone has clearly transposedthe more usual represen-tation of St Francis kneeling before the Christ Child. It is uncommon to find

contract with the canons, for the titanic figure of theBaptist has one source in Michelangelo's Risen Christ inS. Maria sopra Minerva.56 His painting hangs in thesame room at the Accademia as Titian's late Pieta, Tin-toretto's St Mark series and Veronese's vast Feast in thehouseof Levi, all of which postdate it, fully justifying thetitle bestowed upon Pordenone in his lifetime of pictormodernus.Nonetheless its place is not in the Accademia. Manycharacteristics of the work are best appreciated in thecontext of the Renier altar at the Madonna dell'Orto. It

integrated a number of demands peculiar to its positionand was an original solution to them. In 1870, at thecompletion of a major restoration of the church, VincenzoZanetti, in his fundamental study of the Madonna dell'Orto,proposed its return to the Renier altar.57 Now, over adecade after the successful restoration financed by theItalian Art and Archive Rescue Fund, the case is strongerstill for returning it to the position for which it was designedand the church of which it was a part.58

StJohn theBaptistwith the Lamb on thebook asattributesnVenetianpainting.55Thismay refer to Christ as the foundation stone but there is no evidence forwhat it is doing here.56The importance of the statue to Titian is noted and its impact may bereflected n his undated StJohntheBaptistn the AccademiaGallery. Pordenonemay have drawn upon Titian's St Francis in the Pesaro altar-piece for hisversionof the saint:a caseof usinghis rival'sammunitionagainsthim.57v.ZANETTI: La Chiesa ellaMadonna ell'Orton Venezia, enice [1870], p.93.58A. CLARKEnd P. RYLANDS: TheChurchftheMadonna dell'Orto,London [1977].

AppendicesAppendix 1. 5th January 1540. Record of concession of Blessed LorenzoGiustiniani altar in Madonna dell'Orto to Federico and AgnesinaRenier, 14th May 1528.(Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Nunziatura Veneta II, S. Maria dell'Orto 793.Unnumbered folios)MCCCCCXXXVIIII Die quinto mensis Ianuarii. Conciosia che alli XIIII dimazo 1528 per mano del quondam m. Hieronymo de Bossis nodaro el fussecelebrato uno Instrumento tra il capitulo et collegio delli Reverendi Canonicidi Sancta Maria dal Horto della congregatione de San Zorzi in Alga di Venetiada una parte et il magnifico et clarissimo m. Federico Renier fu del magnificom. Alvise per suo nome et per nome della magnifica madona Agnesina Erizo fudel magnifico m. Antonio il procurator sua consorte da laltra parte; per il qualli ditti padri habbino concesso alli ditti m. Fe[de]rigo et madona Agnesinaconsorti la fazada in testa del coro nella chiesia di Santa Maria dal Horto, nellaqual li ditti consorti potessino ad ogni suo benplacito far construir per suadevotion uno altar sotto il titulo nome et dedication di il glorioso et beatoLaurentio lustiniano olim patriarcha di questa inclyta citta con tutti quellimodi conditione et obligatione come in dicto Instrumento si contiene, et perrecognition di tal benigna concession li ditti consorti habbino promesso ornarditto altar di pala banchi et arca et dotar di ducati dodese al'anno a lire vii perducato, cioe ducati sei esso m. Fe[de]rigo et li altri sei essa madona AgnesinaPromettendo esso m. Federico che esso et ditta m.a Agnesina per li sui testamentilassarano aditto monasterio tanti pre netti di ogni angaria che li darano li ducatidodese al anno alla Camera di Imprestidi di monte vechio et etiam lassar tantocavedal che da po forniti di pagar li pro si atrova in la camera predicta cherendarano li ducati dodese predicti al anno ut supra, Prometendo li ditti padriper se et successori suoi che quando laccadera il caso di principiar et far dirmessa ogni zorno et continuis Temporibus Inperpetuum, quella dir et celebrarogni zorno inperpetuo aditto altar di il beato Laurentio per lanima delli dittim. Federico, et madona Agnesina et de sui padre et madre et altri sui atttinenticosi passadi di questa vita come di quelli che infuturo il nostro Signor Idiochiamera a se, et etiam far il suo anniversario ogni anno in die etc., per il qualanniversario li ditti consorti habbino promesso oltra li ditti ducati sei per unodela mansonaria lassar ducato Uno al anno per tal causa, et perche li dittim. Federico et m.a agnesina sua consorte hanno deliberato con il nome di dioet di m.a Sancta Maria et del glorioso, e beato Laurentio lustiniano far in vitasua quello che haveano promesso al ditto capitulo di far doppo la morte sua,impercio il ditto magnifico m. Federico facendo per nome suo et per nome della678

ditta m.a Agnesinasua consorte,per la quale promettede rato per li ditti nomiprometteet si obliga di primiscriveral ditto capitulo ducati dodese alla cameradi ImprestidiIn monte vechio in sextierdi san Marco videlicet;cadauno ducatisei si che il ditto monasterio habbia di obbligation ducati dodese al anno a lirevii per ducato netti di ogni angaria per tanti pro quanti al presentesi atrova incamera videlicet:del 1486 marzo fin 1520marzoinclusive che sono pro numerosettanta. Et etiam il ditto m. Federico per li ditti nomi promette et si obligaobligar al ditto capitulo tanto cavedal che finiti li pro ditti li dara ogni annoducati dodeseal anno netti ut supravidelicet:ducati sei per la ditta m. Federicoet ducati seiperla ditta m.a Agnesinasuaconsorte.Et etiamli fara la obligationedi il ducato uno alanno per cadauno delli ditti, ma quello ducato il ditticapitulo non havera a tochar fino il Signor Iddio non mandera il caso che lipossescodarogni anno, et etiam il suo cavedal che finiti li prodittihabbia tantocavedal che respondail ditto ducato per uno come e detto delli ducati sei peruno ut supra a della mansionaria, Per la qual cosa li ditti Venerandi padricapitularmente congregadia sono di campanellasecondoil solito nella forestariainferior [namesof canonsollow] tutti unanimi et concordi perse et successorisui prometono et si obligano che subito che li sarano scriti over obligati allacamera di imprestidili sopradittiducati dodese videlicet: ducati sei per esso m.federico, et ducati sei per la ditta m.a agnesina in monte vechio neti di ogniangaria, principiarimmediate a dir et dover far dir ogni zorno la ditta messacontinuis temporibuset in perpetuum al ditto altar del Beato Laurentio lust-iniano et pregar Dio et la gloriosaverzine Maria per la sanita et vita in graziasempre de Dio deli ditti m. Federico et m.a Agnesina sua consorte nec nonpregarIddio per lanima di suo padre et madreet altri attinenti et etiam di tuttisui benefactori cossipassati come presenteet futuri et il sabbato sempre per ilditto m. federico dir la messa della sancta conceptione con le oration del spiritosancto et di santo Antonio da Padoa pur aditto altar continuis temporibuset inperpetuumet cussili ditti Reverendipadri per se et successori ui promettonoetsi obligano di atender et observarut supra. In reliquis il ditto instrumento dicompositione fatto alli 14 di mazo 1528 non sia in altra parte alterato, ne aquello derogato, ma in tutte et per tutte sue parti rimanga fermo et rato, masolamentein questa parte sia dichiarato quanto alla mansonaria che si havra afarpostmorteme fatto in vita ne piu aditto m. Federico em.aAgnesina aparteniradone per tal conto obligar una sua comissaria et heredita per tal causa dimansonaria come erano tenuti et obligati per havervoluto questi farin vita suaet non dar causa ai commissari ne heriedi Iddio doni longa vita e sanita aliicontrahenti et in la suasanctagrazia quelli sempreconservi[formulae].


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PORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL'ORTOORDENONE S ALTAR-PIECE AT THE MADONNA DELL'ORTO

Appendix 2. 28th May 1539. Don Lazaro de' Conti commissions aSt George relief to a design by Pordenone(Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Nunziatura Veneta II, S. Maria dell'Orto 791,unnumbered folios)

Sia noto e manifesto a chi lezera questo presente scrito chome la sig[n]oria demesser don lazaro di chonti a sastifato m? zuane intagadoro francese per lamanifatura de s. sebastia e de s. rocho et etiam a sastifato m? francesco badillo perla depentura di diti sopra scriti santi che son in tuto ducati 10 videlicet L.46 s. 10et per le chas[s]e per portare i sopra scriti santi L. 1 s. 18.Item a di dito el sopra scrito mis. don lazaro e rimas[t]o dachordo cho el ditom? zuane de farze uno s. zorzo a chavalo mezzi chon mezo relevo chon ladonzela e lo serpente chon uno chasteleto cho do teste 2 teste a una finestrasechondo el deseg[n]o fato de man de mes. zuane antonio da pordanone il qualea preso de soua quanto m? zuane fina sara chompida la sopra scrita opera sotoscrito de mia man e de dito mes. don lazaro a di medesimo sopra scrito le qualefigure va intuno chanpo alto p.4 largo p.6 o[ncie] 6 e per sua manifatura e spesade ligamo monta schudi quatro doro in noro e da al presente per chapara ge dauno schudo doro in oro egaltri 3 quando la dita opera sara chonpida Item emefrancesco per mio depenzere videlicet metre ge argento le arme de de s. zorzoela diadema doro equelo fa bisog[n]o per presio L.10 e s.2 d.6 la quale Iofrancesco badillo per nome de m? zuane per non saper scrivere a di emedesimosopra scrito presente mes. hieronimo charmina e m? zuane antonio bresaninintagadoro e nota che la testa de chavalo si sia sia spichada de bon relevo.

Appendix 2. 28th May 1539. Don Lazaro de' Conti commissions aSt George relief to a design by Pordenone(Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Nunziatura Veneta II, S. Maria dell'Orto 791,unnumbered folios)

Sia noto e manifesto a chi lezera questo presente scrito chome la sig[n]oria demesser don lazaro di chonti a sastifato m? zuane intagadoro francese per lamanifatura de s. sebastia e de s. rocho et etiam a sastifato m? francesco badillo perla depentura di diti sopra scriti santi che son in tuto ducati 10 videlicet L.46 s. 10et per le chas[s]e per portare i sopra scriti santi L. 1 s. 18.Item a di dito el sopra scrito mis. don lazaro e rimas[t]o dachordo cho el ditom? zuane de farze uno s. zorzo a chavalo mezzi chon mezo relevo chon ladonzela e lo serpente chon uno chasteleto cho do teste 2 teste a una finestrasechondo el deseg[n]o fato de man de mes. zuane antonio da pordanone il qualea preso de soua quanto m? zuane fina sara chompida la sopra scrita opera sotoscrito de mia man e de dito mes. don lazaro a di medesimo sopra scrito le qualefigure va intuno chanpo alto p.4 largo p.6 o[ncie] 6 e per sua manifatura e spesade ligamo monta schudi quatro doro in noro e da al presente per chapara ge dauno schudo doro in oro egaltri 3 quando la dita opera sara chonpida Item emefrancesco per mio depenzere videlicet metre ge argento le arme de de s. zorzoela diadema doro equelo fa bisog[n]o per presio L.10 e s.2 d.6 la quale Iofrancesco badillo per nome de m? zuane per non saper scrivere a di emedesimosopra scrito presente mes. hieronimo charmina e m? zuane antonio bresaninintagadoro e nota che la testa de chavalo si sia sia spichada de bon relevo.

Appendix 3. 9th December 1529. Pordenone acts as guarantor for ZuanBatista son of Daniel Sartor in the receipt of a gold belt from the priorof the Madonna dell'Orto.(Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Nunziatura Veneta II, Sta. Maria dell'Orto 797,unnumbered folios)

Noto faci mi zuan batista ale[ss]andro Ciroicho in pordenon Como in questozorno prexente mechiamo aver reseuto dal reverendo padre prior [illegible] delagiexia de madona santa maria dal orto de vinecia 1 sentura doro qual aveva inpegno la bona memoria de m. aluvise bardelin et oltra di questa ducati 4 arazon de lire sie soldi quatro per ducato li qual lui li lasa per lanima sua a m?daniel sartor liqual danari prometo de rato che ni mio fradel ni alqun di diticrcdi i ii arai l a stitdio cl di so di questo) nm zan antonio depentor se sotoscrivera per mia sigurta c promete dito m" zan antonio de conservar dito prioret convento che piu non li possa eser domandati da alcuna persona[in Pordenone's and]

lo sopra scritto Zuan Antonio pictor son contento & prometto di quanto secontiene nel sopra scritto scritto.[the verso is inscribed:]

Scripto di Zuan baptista fiol di m? Daniel del recevere quanto li lassa m.Alovise bardolin adi 9 decembrio 1529.

Appendix 3. 9th December 1529. Pordenone acts as guarantor for ZuanBatista son of Daniel Sartor in the receipt of a gold belt from the priorof the Madonna dell'Orto.(Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Nunziatura Veneta II, Sta. Maria dell'Orto 797,unnumbered folios)

Noto faci mi zuan batista ale[ss]andro Ciroicho in pordenon Como in questozorno prexente mechiamo aver reseuto dal reverendo padre prior [illegible] delagiexia de madona santa maria dal orto de vinecia 1 sentura doro qual aveva inpegno la bona memoria de m. aluvise bardelin et oltra di questa ducati 4 arazon de lire sie soldi quatro per ducato li qual lui li lasa per lanima sua a m?daniel sartor liqual danari prometo de rato che ni mio fradel ni alqun di diticrcdi i ii arai l a stitdio cl di so di questo) nm zan antonio depentor se sotoscrivera per mia sigurta c promete dito m" zan antonio de conservar dito prioret convento che piu non li possa eser domandati da alcuna persona[in Pordenone's and]

lo sopra scritto Zuan Antonio pictor son contento & prometto di quanto secontiene nel sopra scritto scritto.[the verso is inscribed:]

Scripto di Zuan baptista fiol di m? Daniel del recevere quanto li lassa m.Alovise bardolin adi 9 decembrio 1529.

ELIZABETH PILLIOD

' I n t empore poenitentiae': Pierfrancesco F o s c h i ' sp o r t r a i t o f Cardinal Antonio P u c c i *

ONE of the six artists honoured with the charge of drafting -i . !the statutes for the Florentine Accademia del Disegno in |1563 was Pierfrancesco di Jacopo Foschi (1502-67). Tojudge from his known paintings, Foschi seems to have lbeen a successful painter of religious subjects and portraits;2lI . . . .yet the facts of his career and, especially, his patronagecan be only dimly glimpsed through the scant informationgiven in Vasari's Vite.3According to Vasari, Foschi was apupil of Andrea del Sarto and the master of Maso da SanFriano;4 he participated in many of the major Medicean

*1am very grateful o the PrincipessaGeorgianaCorsini orhergreatenthusiasmthroughoutmyresearchon thispainting.I shouldalso ike to expressmy gratitudeto Gino Corti for his boundless help.'The others were Bronzino, Sangallo, Montorsoli, Michele Tosini, and Vasarihimself. See G. VASARI: Le vite de' piu eccellentipittori scultoried architettori, d. G. , -MILANESI, Florence [1878-85] (hereafter cited as VASARI-MILANESI), VI, p.658.For Foschi's role in the Accademia, see K.-E. BARZMAN:'The Universita,Compagnia,ed Accademia del Disegno', Ph.D. dissestation., The Johns Hopkins University, l A_J lBBaltimore, 1985, pp. 139-43. _2Foschi's importance as a portraitist was noted by A. PINELLI: 'Pier Francesco diJacopo Foschi', GazettedesBeaux-Arts, LXIX [1967], p.97: 'A giudicaredal notevolenumerodei ritratti e dal rangodeipersonaggi in essi raffigurati alti prelati, poeti, etc.) sideducefacilmente he l Foschi dovette odere n Firenzedi unacertafama per la sua attivitadi ritrattista'3See VASARI-MILANESI, V, p.58; VI, pp.7, 87, 281, 443, 658; VII, pp.304, 612;and VIII, p.619. For further information on Foschi, see D. SANMINIATELLI:'Foschi e non Toschi', Paragone, VIII, No.91 [1957], pp.55-57. In addition toSanminiatelli's archival notices, the location of Foschi's domicile facing thePiazza S. Spirito is now known: see Florence, Archivio di Stato (hereafterabbreviated as ASF), Miscellanea medicea, 223, fol. 24v. This entry in the GrandDucal Census of 1551 gives Foschi's name as 'Pierfrancl escjo di Jac[ opJodipintore'.Foschi was still living in this house in 1561 (ASF, Decima granducale, 3780, 8. Portrait of CardinalAntonioPucci, by Pierfrancesco Foschi. 1540. Palfol.62r). 88 cm. (Corsini Gallery, Florence).4For Foschi's influence on one of Maso's portraits, see v. PACE: 'Maso da SanFriano', Bollettinod'Arte,LXI [1976], pp.74, 76.

ELIZABETH PILLIOD

' I n t empore poenitentiae': Pierfrancesco F o s c h i ' sp o r t r a i t o f Cardinal Antonio P u c c i *

ONE of the six artists honoured with the charge of drafting -i . !the statutes for the Florentine Accademia del Disegno in |1563 was Pierfrancesco di Jacopo Foschi (1502-67). Tojudge from his known paintings, Foschi seems to have lbeen a successful painter of religious subjects and portraits;2lI . . . .yet the facts of his career and, especially, his patronagecan be only dimly glimpsed through the scant informationgiven in Vasari's Vite.3According to Vasari, Foschi was apupil of Andrea del Sarto and the master of Maso da SanFriano;4 he participated in many of the major Medicean

*1am very grateful o the PrincipessaGeorgianaCorsini orhergreatenthusiasmthroughoutmyresearchon thispainting.I shouldalso ike to expressmy gratitudeto Gino Corti for his boundless help.'The others were Bronzino, Sangallo, Montorsoli, Michele Tosini, and Vasarihimself. See G. VASARI: Le vite de' piu eccellentipittori scultoried architettori, d. G. , -MILANESI, Florence [1878-85] (hereafter cited as VASARI-MILANESI), VI, p.658.For Foschi's role in the Accademia, see K.-E. BARZMAN:'The Universita,Compagnia,ed Accademia del Disegno', Ph.D. dissestation., The Johns Hopkins University, l A_J lBBaltimore, 1985, pp. 139-43. _2Foschi's importance as a portraitist was noted by A. PINELLI: 'Pier Francesco diJacopo Foschi', GazettedesBeaux-Arts, LXIX [1967], p.97: 'A giudicaredal notevolenumerodei ritratti e dal rangodeipersonaggi in essi raffigurati alti prelati, poeti, etc.) sideducefacilmente he l Foschi dovette odere n Firenzedi unacertafama per la sua attivitadi ritrattista'3See VASARI-MILANESI, V, p.58; VI, pp.7, 87, 281, 443, 658; VII, pp.304, 612;and VIII, p.619. For further information on Foschi, see D. SANMINIATELLI:'Foschi e non Toschi', Paragone, VIII, No.91 [1957], pp.55-57. In addition toSanminiatelli's archival notices, the location of Foschi's domicile facing thePiazza S. Spirito is now known: see Florence, Archivio di Stato (hereafterabbreviated as ASF), Miscellanea medicea, 223, fol. 24v. This entry in the GrandDucal Census of 1551 gives Foschi's name as 'Pierfrancl escjo di Jac[ opJodipintore'.Foschi was still living in this house in 1561 (ASF, Decima granducale, 3780, 8. Portrait of CardinalAntonioPucci, by Pierfrancesco Foschi. 1540. Palfol.62r). 88 cm. (Corsini Gallery, Florence).4For Foschi's influence on one of Maso's portraits, see v. PACE: 'Maso da SanFriano', Bollettinod'Arte,LXI [1976], pp.74, 76.

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