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Friars, Patrons, and Workshops at the Basilica del Santo, Padua*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2016
Extract
Few incidents in the life of St Francis strike the art historian more than his demolition of the newly constructed chapter-hall in Assisi. As the date of a chapter at S. Maria della Portiuncula was fast approaching and there was no accommodation for the large number of friars expected, the people of Assisi built a house to shelter the incoming friars. Coming across this structure, Francis became so irritated that he climbed the roof and threw down tiles and rafters, and was only stopped when knights interfered and the municipality argued that the building belonged to them. Ironically, this same man had answered God’s call and had repaired the ruined churches of S. Damiano, St Peter, and S. Maria della Portiuncula in Assisi.
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- Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1992
Footnotes
*
The material in this paper has been drawn from my forthcoming Ph.D. thesis on Franciscan patronage of the arts in the Veneto (University of Warwick). I wish to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the British School at Rome for their generous support of my research.
References
1 Thomas of Celano, Vita Secunda, ch. 27, Analecta Franciscana, 10 (Quaracchi, 1926-41), p. 166; Speculum, ch. 7, Le Speculum perfectionis ou Mémoires Je Frère Léon sur la Seconde Partie de la Vie de Saint Francois d’Assise, 1, texte latin, British Society of Franciscan Studies, 3 3, ed. P. Sabatier (Manchester, 1928), pp. 21-3; Scripta Leonis, Rufini, et Angeli Sociorum S. Francisci, ch. 11, ed. R. B. Brooke (Oxford, 1970), pp. 106–7.
2 Celano, Vita Prima, chs 8, 9, pp. 16-18.
3 Brooke, R. B., Early Franciscan Government (Cambridge, 1959)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lambert, M. D., Franciscan Poverty. The Doctrine of the Absolute Poverty of Christ and the Apostles in the Franciscan Order, 1210-1323 (London, 1961)Google Scholar.
4 A very useful guide to the vast body of critical discussion exists in Scarpellini, P., Fra’ Ludovico da Pietralunga: Descrizione della Basilica di S. Francesco e di altri santuari di Assisi (Treviso, 1982)Google Scholar.
5 The standard work on the basilica is Gonzati, B., La Basilica di Sani’ Antonio di Padova, 2 vols (Padua, 1852)Google Scholar; for all documentation see A. Sartori, Archivio Sartori: Documenti di Storia e Arte Francescane, 1, ed. G. Luisetti (Padua, 1983) [hereafter ArSartori].
6 G. Lorenzoni, ed., L’edificio del Santo di Padova (Vicenza, 1981) [hereafter L’edificio]; G. Lorenzoni.ed., Le Sculture del Santo di Padova (Vicenza, 1984)10 Semenzato, ed., Le Pitture del Santo di Padova (Vicenza, 1984) provide useful introduction, although incomplete.
7 Anonymus O. Min., Vita prima beati Antonii vel ‘Assidua’, in V. Gamboso, ed., Fonti agiografiche antoniane (Padua, 1981) [hereafter Assidua], ch. 25, 2-3, pp. 402-5.
8 Assidua, ch. 26, 11-14, pp. 410-11.
9 Published by Gonzati, La Basilica, 1, doc. io, p. x. It is not known whether or not the Santo derived finance from cemeterial fees for the land around the basilica; burials occur at an early date. For these procedures in Britain see Wood-Legh, K., Perpetual Chantries in Britain (Cambridge, 1965)Google Scholar.
10 Salvatori, M., ‘Costruzione della basilica dall’origine al secolo XIV, in L’edificio, pp. 31–81 Google Scholar, esp. p. 67.
11 Salvatori, M., ‘Nacque “francescane” la seconda basilica del Santo’, Santo, 17 (1977), pp. 307–21 Google Scholar, at p. 318.
12 ArSartori.p. 557.no. I.
13 Lançaroto documents and objects in ArSartori, pp. 773, 777, no. 13, 782; Turchetto on pp. 565, nos 2,4, 566, nos 5-8,777, no. 6; Zabarella on pp. 554, nos 2,4.774,781.
14 The objects provided by the Lupi family were published along with their costs in A. Sartori, ‘Nota su Altichiero’, IISanio, 3 (1963), pp. 291-326, doc. 12; reprinted in ArSartori, pp. 471-2, no. 106; for the Conti inventory see L. Guidaldi, ‘Documenti’, Sanio, I (1928-9), pp. 358-64.
15 ‘Item dui camissi, dui amitti, Il manipuli, una stuoia, dui cordoni… forniti de cendale rossoa la sua arma … un palio de zendalo azuro, con uno compaso in meço eun lovo e con una franca bianco e vermiglia … duo lectorilia de ligno, cum lupis… duae cobaleae a lectorile, cum arma lupi…’ and many more in ArSartori, pp. 471-2, no. 106.
16 Ganguzza Billanovich, M., ‘Per la storia religiosa ed edilizia della basilica antoniana: la capella della Madonna Mora e dell’Arca in un nuovo documento del XIV secolo’, Il Santo, 19 (1979), pp. 67–79 Google Scholar.
17 Ibid., p. 77: ‘… quod nullus de domo dicti domini Gerardi propter presentem concessionem et assignationem possit nee debeat infra dictam cappellani faceré sepulruram aut facturam seu novitatem aliquam infra vel circa cappellani sine consensu volúntate et licencia sepedicti capiruli Sancti Antonii conventus fratrum minorum de Padua. Possint autem in dicta cap pella vel extra sua insignia vel arma sculpiri faceré et depingi.’
18 Ibid p. 78.
19 Ibid., p. 79: ‘… quod nullus de fratalea antedicta possit unquam in huiusmodi cappella aliquam sepulturam habere aut aliquod ius ibidem prêter sibi supra reservatum pretendere.’
20 Ar Sartori, p. 565, no. 4.
21 Ibid., p. 565. no. 4.
22 Ibid., p. 540, no. 70.
23 Ibid., p. 566, no. 7.
24 The patronage of these chapels has received scant attention save the following: Cenci, C..’Bonifacio Lupi di Soragna e i Frati Minori’, AFH, 57 (1964), pp. 90–109 Google Scholar; Sartori, ‘Altichiero’; A. Sartori, ‘La cappella di Giacomo, S. al Santo’, Il Santo, 6 (1966), pp. 267–359 Google Scholar; Edwards, M. D., ‘The tomb of Raimondino de’Lupi, its form and its meaning’, Konsthistorisk tidskrift, 52 (1983), pp. 95–105 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
25 For payment sequence see Sartori, ‘Altichiero’, pp. 305–26; Sartori, ‘S. Giacomo’, pp. 303-7; for a complete edition of documents see ArSartori, pp. 456-75; on the building progression of the chapels see Simon, R., ‘Altichiero versus Avanzo’, Papers of the British School at Rome, 45, ns 32 (1977). PP-252–71 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
26 As is inscribed on his tomb: see Sartori, ‘Altichiero’, p. 309.
27 Julian Gardner kindly pointed the coincidence of this Crucifixion and those in the Upper and Lower Churches at Assisi. The Crucifixion in the Santo was meant to be seen by pilgrims, as this chapel, directly opposite St Anthony’s, performed a pilgrimage role.
28 Voragine, Jacques de, La légende done, tr. Roze, J.-B.M. (Paris, 1967), pp. 479–85 Google Scholar.
29 As is evident from his will dated 11 May 1372, published in part by Sartori, ‘Altichiero’, pp. 309–11, doc. 9.
30 These include either Saints Francis or Anthony of Padua, on a decorative band on the left wall, and St Clare holding a lily, both unpublished.
31 These witnesses are ‘Lombardo di Iacopo da Seta … Domenego de Q. de ser Iacopode la Seta … Zoane de Q. de messer Pavino di Sbughi da Ferrara … Pacino di messer Apardo di Donati da Fiorenca’: cf. Sartori, ‘Altichiero’, pp. 311–14; repr. in ArSartori, pp. 45°-8.
32 ArSartori, p. 457, no. 9: ‘Ancora per fatura e lavoratura de V archi de pietra biancha e pietra forte de Vesentina e de soa pietra, i quali deno essere volti sopra le sopradette coione da la parre de narici de la deta capella, e deno essere lavorati a soace e cornute seguitando quelmodo ch’è in certi volti che sono in uno bancho il quale è nela staçone di Domenicho e di Lombardo a mano drita a l’entrata …’. For a more detailed discussion of these models see my forth coming PhJD. thesis, University of Warwick.
33 ArSartori, p. 458, no. 2.
34 ArSartori, pp. 458-9, no. 2.
35 Ibid., p. 463, nos 67-8.
36 During a local chapter on 19 October 1376; a provincial meeting on 3 May 1378; a general chapter on 4 June 1384; in a letter from Martino da Rivarolo, Minister General, to Bonifacio, dated 20 August 1385. The final exchange between the new Minister, Enrico Alfieri da Asti, and Lupi occurs on 30 August 1389. See Cenci, ‘Bonifacio Lupi’, pp. 99-109 for excerpts of documents’, for a thorough account of the rapport see my forthcoming Ph.D. thesis.
37 ArSartori, p. 472, no. 107.
38 Ibid., pp. 472-3, no. 109.
39 Ibid., p.856,110. 1.
40 Interestingly, there is an early parallel with the Upper Church of St Francis at Assisi. Although dedicated to St Francis, it had the Apocalypse/St Michael, Virgin, and St Peter cycles in the transepts and apse, in addition to two Crucifixions. Although Franciscans appear in the south transept next to the throne where Mary sits with Christ, beneath the angels who swing censers before the altar, and Francis weeps at the foot of Christ crucified, St Francis played a minor role there initially. I am grateful to Julian Gardner for bringing the following to my attention.
41 J. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order from its Origins to the Year 1517 (Oxford, 1968), pp. 339-62.
42 Orvieto Cathedral was having similar problems forbidding unauthorized persons putting up paintings without official permission, see J. Gardner, ‘The Cappellone di San Nicola at Tolentino: Some functions of a fourteenth-century fresco cycle’, in Tronzo, W., ed., Italian Church Decoration of the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. Functions, Forms and Regional Traditions (Bologna, 1989), pp. 101–7 Google Scholar, at p. 115.
43 For a recent discussion of the paintings see F. d’Arcais, ‘La presenza di Giotto al Santo’, in Semenzato, ed.. Le Pitture, pp. 3-13.
44 For the function of this building and comparative material, cf. Gardner, J., ‘Andrea Bonauito and the chapterhouse frescoes in Santa Maria Novella’, Art History, 2 (1979), pp. 107–38 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
45 Examples include the Conti family tomb in the Belludi chapel and the Lavellongo and Vigonza tombs in the vestibule off the south door.
46 The tombs of Ubertino and Jacopo Carrara in the Eremitani church in Padua are two outside examples.
47 The paintings were destroyed during the Second World War: Bettini, S., Giusto de’Menabuoi e l’arte del Trecento (Padua, 1944), p. 138 Google Scholar.
48 Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frati, Venice, and S. Francesco, Treviso, never seem to have had cycles of painting. Both churches of S. Francesco, at Udine and Cividale, show no unified programme; the same goes for S. Francesco, Mantua. The upper church of S. Fermo Maggiore is the exception, with cycles narrating the life of St Francis and St Louis of Toulouse. This seems to have been the product of collected efforts by the guardian, Fra Daniele Gusmerio, and a layman, Guglielmo Castelbarco.
49 Lambert, Franciscan Poverty, p. 33.