# Two Illuminated Statuti from the Archive of San Giovanni Decollato in Rome

Elli Doulkaridou-Ramantani

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To cite this version:

Elli Doulkaridou-Ramantani. Two Illuminated Statuti from the Archive of San Giovanni Decollato in Rome. Rivista di storia della miniatura, 2018, 22, pp.164-172. hal-01828773

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M rivista di storia della
MINIATURA
M rivista di storia della
MINIATURA
Sommario

5 Tavole a colori

17 *Lucinia Speciale*
La musa cristiana. Il ritratto di Marco del Tetravangelo di Rossano

22 *Teresa D'Urso*
Cava e il Mediterraneo. A proposito di alcuni codici di età normanno-sveva

29 *Fabrizio Crivello*
Un Salterio glossato in stile tardogeometrico a Magonza

33 *Silvia Maddalo*
Storie sui margini. Appunti sulla Bibbia manfrediana di Torino

38 *Federica Volpera*
Il ms. 20 dell'Eisenbibliothek di Schlatt: una nuova acquisizione per la produzione libraria nella Genova di tardo Duecento

53 *Laura Pasquini*
Enrico VII e la rappresentazione figurata della regalità: le fonti manoscritte

68 *Giordana Mariani Canova*
Il Messale di Ildebrandino Conti e i suoi miniatori: il Maestro avignonese e il Maestro del Codice di san Giorgio

74 *Marco Rossi*
Un contributo figurativo alla Milano di Giovanni Visconti: la *Chronica urbis* lat. 4946

78 *Antonella Cattaneo*
L'apparato illustrativo del *Huon d'Auvergne* di Berlino

89 *Massimo Medica*
Un codice miniato visconteo ancora poco noto: il Cicerone della Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid

97 *Giuliana Algeri*
Una nota sul 'codice Bodmer' di Michelino da Besozzo

106 *Gennaro Toscano*
Un Libro d'Ore miniato da Leonardo da Besozzo per Alfonso il Magnanimo (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1886)

114 *Giovanna Saroni*
Frammenti inediti di un Libro d'Ore savoiardo

123 *Federica Toniolo*
Incunaboli miniati dell'officina urbinate e ferrarese di Federico da Montefeltro

132 *Lilian Armstrong*
Roberto Valturio, *De re militari*, 1472. A Note on the Hand-illuminated Copy in Houghton Library of Harvard University

136 *Anca Delia Moldovan*
Astrology and Agriculture in the Calendar of the Offiziolo of Charles VIII (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, inv. 2502/4)

149 *Giuseppa Z. Zanichelli*
Il Maestro del Breviario di San Giovanni Evangelista

153 *Elena De Laurentiis*
I corali del Centro Studi Francescani per la Liguria. Nuove miniature di Michele da Genova

164 *Elli Doulkaridou Ramantani*
Two Illuminated *Statuti* from the Archive of San Giovanni Decollato in Rome

173 *Antonio Iacobini, Giulia Orofino, Xavier Barral i Altet*
*Opus Romanum*. Un nuovo libro sulla miniatura a Roma nel Duecento

187 *Recensioni*
A cura di *Giuseppa Z. Zanichelli*

200 *Miniatura on-line*
A cura di *Federica Toniolo*

202 *Scritti di Anna De Floriani*
A cura di *Elena De Laurentiis*
Tav. XVIII. Rome, Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato, 2/C, Capitoli e Ordinationi della Venerabile Compagnia della Misericordia di Roma: Proemio, f. 2r.

(vedi saggio E. Doulkaridou Ramantani)

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The contents of the archive of the Archconfraternity of San Giovanni Decollato, also known as 'della Misericordia', are currently divided between the Archivio di Stato di Roma and the archives of the Archconfraternity of San Giovanni Decollato situated at the foot of the Capitoline Hill¹. The archive holds seven manuscripts containing various versions of the brotherhood's statutes (*statuti*)². The present contribution discusses two of these manuscripts, both of which contain a full-page decorated frontispiece³. The first (fig. 1) is dated to around 1518 and appears to come from the workshop of Attavante degli Attavanti (1452-1520/1525), whereas the second, which includes the date 1581, is more challenging to attribute at this stage of research (pl. XVIII)⁴. In addition to bringing these two works to light, the present contribution examines them *in tandem*, enabling an interesting comparison in a precise context. Given that the entity commissioning both works had specific and stable expectations through the years, it is possible to observe how the artists attempted to adapt their visual culture while always seeking to maintain a subtle balance between tradition and innovation.

Founded on May 8, 1488 by members of the Florentine community in Rome and recognised by Pope Innocent VIII two years later, the primary objective of the Archconfraternity of San Giovanni Decollato was to comfort those sentenced to death and undertake the costs of their burial⁵. Under Paul III's reign, the company was granted the privilege to vote for the release of a prisoner and proceed to his liberation on the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, on June, 24 of every year (see Appendix below)⁶. After dressing the prisoner in red robes, the members of the brotherhood accompanied him in a solemn procession from Tor di Nona, the prison that once stood near the Tiber River, and across Castel Sant'Angelo, towards the church of San Giovanni Decollato.

Upon reception of the sacraments and according to the ritual, the prisoner would transgress a small door on the right side of the church, surmounted by the inscription “Per misericordiam”⁷. The prisoner could then start his life over as a free man. The militant dimension of these activities, especially after 1517 and the advent of the Reformation, is evident. Since Lutheranism did not recognise acts of mercy, indulgences and care for the dead or those sentenced to capital punishment had a strong Catholic character⁸.

The statutes contained the rules of the brotherhood and were evolving texts, subject to modifications and reforms over the years. The first reform, focusing on the criteria of admission for new members, was the result of years of debate. Discussions began in 1514, and the members published the reviewed statutes on August 5, 1518. In 1581, an actual reform took place and was entered in the superintendent's (*Provveditore*) diary as a 'publication'⁹.

The illuminated frontispieces, coinciding with the above two dates, come with a clear context of commission, production, and objectives. The statutes of 1518 (fig. 1), the oldest illuminated manuscript in the archive and the first to be equipped with a full-page miniature, was probably commissioned to mark the modifications but also to celebrate the Florentine character of the archconfraternity that had been dismantled in Florence after the death of Lorenzo de' Medici¹⁰. It is not surprising that the brothers opted for a Florentine style by commissioning an artist from Attavante's workshop¹¹. The brotherhood received a significant number of privileges during the 'Florentine' period of the papacy, especially in the reign of Leo X (1475-1521), which contributed to its increasingly prominent presence in the city's religious and social fabric.

The frontispiece displays the artist's style, namely vertical and horizontal strips of monochromatic background in blue, green, and
1. Rome, Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato, 1, *Capitoli e Ordinationi della Compagnia della Misericordia di Roma*: Attavante degli Attavanti and assistants, decorated page with the *Decollation of Saint John the Baptist*, f. 1r.

red with vertical structures filled with golden acanthus leaves. Winged *putti* contribute to the animation of these areas and enliven the decoration. A phytomorphic *putto* in the lower right corner draws his eyes upward, to demonstrate that the marginal and decorative figures are aware of the decapitation scene taking place within a framed space – indicating that it is happening in a different level of reality. A

similar device can be found in the *Enchiridion* of Epictetus that Attavante decorated for Leo X at the beginning of the century (fig. 2)¹². In the lower border of the 1518 frontispiece, two angels present the motto of the brotherhood, which is written on a tablet and inserted in a medallion. The angels are placing their hands behind as well as on and inside the medallion, thus suggesting that they inhabit a three-di-

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<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>2. Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 81.22, *Enchiridion*: Attavante degli Attavanti, decorated page, f. 1r.</figcaption></figure>

mensional space¹³. The lily of Florence, set on top of the tablet, takes the form of a ribbon continuing in the virtual space behind the tablet and turns into the red cross of the city in the lower part of the medallion.

The miniature of 1581 (pl. XVIII) repeats the visual configuration of the statutes of 1518. It is evident that the artist of the later frontispiece observed the earlier version and attempted to maintain a degree of structural continuity. At the same time, the marginal decoration of Florentine descent gives way to a significantly more robust framing device.

The scene of the beheading is constrained within a framework operating as an Albertian window while flowering candelabras inhabited by pairs of winged *putti* and birds animate the margins. The three-dimensionality is ac-

centuated, primarily through the *putti* of the upper border, who kneel on the edge of the *storia*'s frame, their tunics slightly billowing towards the foreground. Instead of the western Christogram (IHS), visible on the upper border of the earlier frontispiece, here the two *putti* present the head of the Baptist on a platter. These *putti* are more than simple *reggistema* since they also carry the attributes of the Baptist, the cross and the lamb, thus augmenting the presence of the martyred saint. Equal-ly intriguing is the treatment of the arms of Florence as well as of the archconfraternity's motto *Per misericordiam*. In the 1518 statutes, these elements were merged into the same space, seeking to promote and consolidate the Florentine identity of a still young institution; sixty years later, such promotion was hardly necessary. The compartmentalisation and re-distribution of visual and symbolic functions encouraged by the development of mannerist decorative systems led our artist to place the conspicuous tablet containing the *motto* in the upper zone of the frontispiece, directly above the *storia*¹⁴. Furthermore, resting on the frame of the *storia* and flanked by two *putti*, the tablet becomes a pedestal for the presentation of the Baptist's head. At this point, the relations of scale become problematic, since the head of the Baptist is significantly larger than the *putti*. This difference of scale enhances the emblematic character of the device which also adorned the cloister (fig. 3) and the official documents of the brotherhood¹⁵. The viewer/reader transgresses the virtual threshold created by the fictitious frame – its depth accentuated by the succession of framing devices – and passes through the virtual door of the Misericordia, just as the chosen prisoner transgressed the small door of the church every June, 24.

The attentive observation of the 1518 frontispiece on the part of the later artist is further confirmed by the colour of the figures' garments. While the colours of the women's clothes and the executioner remain similar, the representation of the Baptist has changed. Instead of his camel-skin robe, alluding to his hermitic life, the saint wears a red tunic resembling the one in the *Beheading of Saint John the Baptist* by Daniele da Volterra (fig. 4)¹⁶. Indeed, this painting was probably destined to adorn the church of San Giovanni Decollato and thus may have been seen by the miniaturist¹⁷. The red tunic is intriguing from another perspective, since the liberated prisoner was
<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>3. Rome, cloister of San Giovanni Decollato: *Head of the Baptist*, stucco.</figcaption></figure>

given a garment of the same colour to wear along the way from the prison to the church¹⁸. The difference, however, lies in the effects of narrative, for there is a shift between the earlier and later versions of the scene, which sets up a narrative continuity while at the same time increasing the number of episodes represented simultaneously. Whereas in Attavante’s rendering the act has just been committed and the saint’s head still lies on the ground before the feet of Salome¹⁹, in the 1581 version, the latter is represented receiving the Baptist’s head amidst a more populated and robust composition, resembling a contemporary prison cell. The artist seems to have found inspiration in Vasari’s version of the same episode, painted for the oratory of the archconfraternity (fig. 5). There, we can observe a similar proliferation of episodes in depth by the multiplication of plans through architecture and framing devices (doors and windows). The same mechanism was employed by Francesco Salviati in the Sala dell’Udienza Invernale of the Sacchetti Palace in Rome, in the scene of *Bathsheba Going to David* (fig. 6). It seems equally plausible to presume the influence of a painting executed by a follower of the Cavalier d’Arpino (fig. 7)²⁰. Indeed, it appears that the illuminator attempted to fuse multiple visual references.

Apart from the visual similarities with the church’s decorations and paintings, the ritualistic dimension of the later frontispiece becomes apparent through a comparison with a small anonymous painting depicting, once again, the beheading of the Baptist (fig. 8). Called *tavolette*, such devotional aids were used by the *confortatori* during the *afflitio* –

the assisted confession of the prisoners and their procession towards their place of execution²¹. Some are now held in the *Camera storica* of the archconfraternity. The verso of these small tablets almost exclusively depicted the Crucifixion, while the decoration of the recto varied²². Framed and equipped with a handle – like handheld mirrors – the *tavolette* were placed by the *confortatori* in front of the prisoner’s eyes to help him meditate on his redemption during his final hours²³. A drawing by Annibale Carracci depicts a *confortatore* holding a *tavoletta* close to the condemned prisoner’s eyes during his ultimate ascent to the gallows (fig. 9). In the *tavoletta* in question, the saint’s red tunic – also worn by the liberated prisoner, as discussed above – could allude to the ‘liberation’ of the condemned before God, emphasising the sacrificial aspect of the ritual. Furthermore, the saint is depicted kneeling with his hands in a gesture of prayer, moments before the strike of death – thus enhancing the *tavoletta’s* function as a mirror of salvation for the condemned in his hour of anguish²⁴.

One can easily imagine how the red and black robes as well as the lanterns and visual aids created a singular spectacle throughout the streets of Rome. During his visit to the Eternal City in 1581, Michel de Montaigne was impressed by the procession leading to an execution and dictated to his secretary an entry which is now part of his diaries:

> *Il s’arresta pour voir ce spectacle. Outre la forme de France, ils font marcher devant le criminel un grand crucifix couvert d’un rideau noir, & à pied un grand nombre d’homes vetus & masqués de toile qu’on dict estre des jantils homes & autres apparans de Rome, qui se vouent à ce service de accompaigner les criminels qu’on mene au supplice & les cors des trespassés, & en font une confrerie. Il y en a deus de ceus là, ou moines, ainsi vetus & couvers, qui assistent le criminel sur la charette & le preschent, & l’un d’eus lui presante continuellement sur le visage & lui faict baiser sans cesse un tableau où est l’Image de Nostre Seigneur. Cela faict que on ne puisse pas voir le visage du criminel par la rue. A la potence, qui est une poutre entre deus appuis, on lui tenoit tous-jours cete image contre le visage, jusques à ce qu’il fut élancé²⁵.*
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>4. Torino, Galleria Sabauda: Daniele Ricciarelli detto Daniele da Volterra, *Beheading of Saint John the Baptist*.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /><figcaption>5. Rome, San Giovanni Decollato: Giorgio Vasari, *Beheading of Saint John the Baptist*, detail.</figcaption></figure>

The administrative nature of these statute texts does not immediately allude to a devotional use of their illustrations. However, the brothers were required to read these rules often, especially at the presence of new members<sup>26</sup>. Moreover, the statutes of 1581 stress the particular attention that was expected on the part of the *Governatore*:

> Legga spesso questi nostri Capitoli, et ogni tornata ne faccia leggere uno, o più, tanto che nel tempo del suo uffitio siano letti una volta tutti. [...] perché vogliamo sia lo specchio, capo, et timone di nostra compagnia a' honor di Dio, et commun bene di tutti i nostri fratelli<sup>27</sup>.

The personifications of *Ecclesia* and *Caritas* placed within the initial *B* of the 1581 frontispiece seem to consolidate the archconfraternity's missions, especially since the sacrament of the Eucharist was ostentatiously present in recent commissions adorning the oratory, such as Jacopino del Conte's altarpiece<sup>28</sup>.

The role of the *Governatore* as a mirror (*specchio*) of the archconfraternity intensified over the years. At this point it is interesting to compare the statutes of 1581 with the 1883 edition, where the same chapter reads:

> [Il governatore è] lo specchio di nostra Compagnia [...] e siccome egli è il primo e di luogo, e d'onore, così preceda tutti non meno nella frequenza ai nostri pii esercizi, che nell'osservanza de' nostri Capitoli; e finalmente con l'esempio suo a tutti gli altri sia di stimolo ed incitamento al ben operare, proponendosi il premio che in cielo dalla sua sollecitudine riporterà, e ricordandosi all'incontro che delle azioni sue dovrà rendere conto a Dio e agli uomini<sup>29</sup>.

The relatively late execution date of the 1581 miniature excludes the official papal illuminator at the time, Apollonio Bonfratelli (1500?-1575)<sup>30</sup>. Nevertheless, the quality of the miniature points to an experienced artist. In the second half of the sixteenth century, several illuminators were active in Rome, although they are poorly documented<sup>31</sup>. The illuminators in the service of Pope Gregory XIII, Simonzio Lupi da Bergamo (active 1591-1605), Valerio Mariani (1568-1605), and Simone Fiammingo (active 1584-1589), are convincing candidates for attribution. All later entered the service of Francesco Maria II della Rovere, duke of Urbinno (1549-1631), in Pesaro<sup>32</sup>. In fact, in 1581, the duke was actively seeking illuminators in Rome who would undertake the decoration of
<figure><img src="image_9.png" /><figcaption>6. Rome, Palazzo Ricci-Sacchetti, Sala dell'Udienza Invernale: Francesco Salviati, *Bathsheba Going to David*.</figcaption></figure>

the manuscripts in the ducal library in Urbinono³³. A close comparison of the 1581 frontispiece and the works of these illuminators, especially the marginal decorations of the *Passion* by Simenzio Lupi, currently in Chantilly (fig. 10), reveals the use of very similar decorative vocabularies and colour palettes³⁴. Further evidence of Lupi's Roman visual culture³⁵ is the partial imitation of Vincent Raymond's

marginal decoration of Paul III's Psalter³⁶ for the duke's *Vita* now in the Vatican Library³⁷. The critical literature has never discussed these two manuscripts, but the illuminator of the first frontispiece was a prolific artist whose work would mark the art of illumination throughout the sixteenth century. Despite the redundant character of the marginal decoration (such margins coupled with *putti* placed among the acanthus leaves are common to many of his Florentine works), the dated frontispiece provides pieces of additional information about the activity of the illuminator in Rome³⁸. As for the second frontispiece, its discovery sheds more light on the relatively understudied area of illuminated manuscripts in sixteenth-century Rome.

## Appendix

*Capitoli et Ordinationi della Venerabile Compagnia della Misericordia di Roma*, Rome, Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato, 2/C, *Statuti e capitoli riformati dell'anno 1581*, cap. XXIII, ff. 28v-29v.

Del modo di liberare il Prigione.
Cap.° XXIII

Erve eos qui ad mortem ducuntur, et qui ad interitum trahuntur liberare non cesses. Poiché è piaciuto alla benignità de' Sommi Pontefici & conceder gratia alla Compagnia nostra che possa il giorno della Decollazione del nostro Padre san Giovan Battista liberare un prigione dannato a morte. Ordiniamo che la prima tornata d'agosto, il Governatore deputi tre huomini di nostra Compagnia, i quali visitino tutte le carcere di Roma, et piglino in nota tutti quei prigioni per la vita che vi troveranno, et saranno atti per ottener questa gratia, da quali si faccino dar un memoriale, nel quale si contegna tutto il fatto, et la causa del delitto, et s'è possibile usino diligenza di veder il processo se confronta col memoriale. Intendino sopratutto se gl'hanno la pace, et s'è buona; però procurino d'haverne fede authentica accio sicuramente possino riferire la verità. Usata questa diligenza debba il Governatore far intimare una congregatione, dove li medesimi deputati senza passione alcuna riferischino fedelmente tutt'i casi, un per uno, di quelli che haranno trovati. Legghino i memoriali loro, et narrino tutte le circonstanze principali del fatto, le quali potessero sminuire o aggraduire il delitto, caricando in questo le conscienze loro quando facessero altramente, et tutti quelli che haranno la pace, parendo che meritino d'esser proposti, si mettino a partito, et quello che harà più fave nere s'intenda haver vinto, et sia liberato; dichiarando che quando ce ne fosse un solo debba vincere per i duo terzi, et essendoci qualcuno di nostra natione vogliamo che sia anteposto a gl'altri, havendo però li sopradetti requisiti. Vinto che sarà, il Governatore deputi li medesimi, o altri, come a lui parerà, li quali vadino da Nostro Signore, e da chi sarà necessario per effettuare tal gratia, faccino far il mandato, et quanto in questo sarà di bisogno, il Proveditore in tanto procuri che il prigione si confessi, et per questo effetto vi mandi il nostro Cappellano. La mattina della nostra festa la Compagnia con le veste, et Crocifisso lo varia a levelare della prigione, et l'accompagni processionalmente alla nostra chiesa, dove comunicatosi stia tutto quel giorno ringratiando Dio della gratia ricevuta. Facciaseli poi la sua patente, et si mandi con la benedittione di Dio, et tutto si faccia per la passione di Christo, et senza premio alcuno.
7. Private collection (formely Christie's, London, 2nd December 2008, sale 4533, lot 203): follower of Cavalier d'Arpino, *Beheading of Saint John the Baptist*.

<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>

I wish to thank Dott. Francesco Scalia, Governatore of the Archconfraternity, for all his help and benevolence. My warmest thanks go to the archivist Monica Spivach who answered all my questions and helped me navigate the archive's volumes with patience and generosity of spirit. I am also profoundly grateful to Ilaria Andreoli, Federica Toniolo and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. This discovery occured during a Daniel Arasse residential scholarship obtained from the French School and the French Academy in Rome (June 2016). Last but not least, I would like to thank Sonia Lyons and Petros Ramantanis for proofreading my text.

1) Archivio di Stato di Roma, Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato (cited hereafter as ASR, SGD) and Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato (ASGD).

2) ASR, SGD, Atti della Direzione, b. 202, tit. 16, minuta

del 2 dicembre 1877. Alleg. A: *Inventario di tutti gli atti documenti e registri esistenti nell'Archivio della Confraternita di S. Giovanni decollato*. See also M. Di SIVO, *Il fondo della Confraternita di S. Giovanni Decollato nell'Archivio di Stato di Roma (1497-1870): inventario*, 'Rivista storica del Lazio', 8 (2000), pp. 181-225: 193, nt. 38.

3) ASGD, 1, *Capitoli e Ordinationi della Compagnia della Misericordia di Roma*, 1518, 230x163 mm; 2/C, *Capitoli et Ordinationi della Venerabile Compagnia della Misericordia di Roma*, 1581, 263x191 mm.

4) D. GALIZZI, *Vante di Gabriello di Vante Attavanti detto Attavante*, in *Dizionario dei biografico dei miniatori italiani. Secoli IX-XVI*, a cura di M. Bollati, Milano 2004, pp. 975-979.

5) C. COQUELINES, *Bullarum, privilegiorum ac diplomatum romanorum Pontificum amplissima collectio. Cui accessere pontificum omnium vitae, notae, & indices opportuni*, III. Ab Eugenio IV ad Leonem X scilicet ab anno 1431 ad 1521, Romae 1743, pp. 221-223. See Di SIVO, *Il fondo della Confraternita cit.*, nt. 8; V. MOSCHINI, *San Giovanni Decollato*, Roma 1927; C. FANUCCI, *Trattato di tutte l'opere pie dell'alma citta di Roma*, Roma 1601, pp. 335-338.

6) I. POLVERINI FOSI, *Pietà, devozione e politica: due confraternite fiorentine nella Roma del Rinascimento*, 'Archivio storico italiano', 149 (1991), pp. 119-161: 148-149, 155.

7) Our archival research and in witness sources have not yielded any concrete proof concerning this part of the ritual. Nevertheless, the oral tradition surrounding this detail along with the strong symbolic dimension of this gesture allows for including it in our present interpretation.

8) J.S. WEISZ, *Caritas/Controriforma: The Changing Role of a Confraternity's Ritual*, in *Crossing the Boundaries. Christian Piety and the Arts in Italian Medieval and Renaissance Confraternities*, edited by K. Eisenbichler, Kalamazoo 1991 (*Early Drama, Art, and Music Monograph Series*, 15), pp. 221-236: 225.

9) The second reform was approved on June 19, 1581, *Rubricella generale di tutto cio si contiene nei giornali del proveditore compilata dal fratello Guido Bottart archivista* (ASGD, Credenza F), f. 94v: "Pubblicazione de' nostri capitoli approvati in corpo di compagnia". See also Di SIVO, *Il fondo della Confraternita*, p. 188.

10) K. EISENBICHLER, *Lorenzo de' Medici e la Congregazione dei Neri nella Compagnia della Croce al Tempio*, 'Archivio storico italiano', 150 (1992), pp. 343-370.

11) A favourite of the Medici, Attavante was a prolific artist and the owner of a workshop in Florence. He decorated numerous volumes for Lorenzo the Magnificent during his Library project of 1480-1492. When Giovanni de' Medici, future Leo X, became cardinal, in secret, in 1489 Attavante decorated his personal Missal (Toledo, Archivio Capitular, 52.10). For the relationship between Attavante and the Medici family, see A. DILLON BUSSI, *Una serie di ritratti miniati per Leone X e un poscritto di novità su Matteo da Milano e sul libro in epoca leonina*, 'Rivista di Storia della miniatura', 1-2 (1996-1997), pp. 17-33. For the participation of assistants see A. GARZELLI - A.C. DE LA MARE, *Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento: 1440-1525. Un primo censimento*, Firenze 1985. See also J.J.G. ALEXANDER, *The Painted Book in Renaissance Italy*, New Haven 2016, p. 154.

12) Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 81.22.

13) This is common in Attavante's manuscripts. See for example the *Prayerbook of Anne of Brittany*, Chicago, Newberry Library, 83, f. 1r.

14) The dynamic relationship between the centre and the periphery is a common characteristic of the maniera decorative systems. See P. MOREL, *Fonction des systèmes*

8. Rome, Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato, Camera Storica: *Beheading of Saint John the Baptist*, tavoletta.

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_12.png" /></figure>

décoratifs et de l'ornement dans l'invenzione maniériste: réflexions autour de Francesco Salviati, in *Programme et invention dans l'art de la Renaissance*, sous la direction de M. Hochmann – J. Koering – J. Kliemann – P. Morel, Roma 2008 (*Collection d'histoire de l'art de l'Académie de France à Rome*, 7), pp. 285-306.

15) Beginning with the pontificates of Leo X and Clement VII the marginal ornamental figures engage in erudite interactions with elements of the Medici *imprese*. This can be observed in the ceiling decorations of the Sala di Costantino. See M. PERRY, "Candor Illaesvs": The "Impresa" of Clement VII and Other Medici Devices in the Vatican Stanze, 'The Burlington Magazine', 119/895 (1977), pp. 676-686; D. CALDWELL, *The Sixteenth-Century Italian Impresa in Theory and Practice*, New York 2004, pp. 226-227. For the same phenomenon in Medici manuscripts, see S.E. REISS, *Cardinal Giulio de' Medici's 1520 Berlin Missal and Other Works by Matteo da Miliano*, 'Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen', n.F., 33 (1991), pp. 107-128; E. DOULKARIDOU-RAMANTANI, *Jules de Médicis et Pompeo Colonna. Enjeux héraldiques dans les missels de deux cardinaux antagonistes, in Héraldique et Numinismatique*, sous la direction d'Y. Loskutoff (Moyen Âge-Temps modernes, 5), forthcoming.

16) The liberated prisoner was also supposed to wear red robes. See F. RICCARDI, *Direttorio per il maestro di cerimonie della Ven. Arciconfraternita di S. Giovanni Decollato di Roma*, Roma 1823, p. 21.

17) Daniele Ricciarelli detto Daniele da Volterra, *Beheading of Saint John the Baptist*, 1551, Torino, Galeria Sabauda, inv. 260, see V. ROMANI, *I dipinti d'Elci*, in *Daniele Da Volterra: The d'Elci Paintings*, edited by V. Romani – B. Agosti, Munich 2016, pp. 103-5.

18) V. PAGLIA, *La Pietà dei carcerati. Confraternite e società a Roma nei secoli XVI-XVIII*, Roma 1980 (*Biblioteca di storia sociale*, 11), p. 297; RICCARDI, *Direttorio per il maestro di cerimonie* cit., p. 21.

19) Attavante usually limited himself to marginal decora-
tion. Examples which stand out are the Missal for the arch-
bishop of Dol (Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, 5123) and
the Bible for the king of Portugal (Lisbon, Arquivos Nacio-
nais Torre do Tombo, 161.1-8). For the latter, see A. WOHL
SEDGWICK, *The Lisbon Bible and the Throne of Portugal*,

'The Burlington Magazine', 159/1366 (2017), pp. 14-24.

20) Christie's, London, 2nd December 2008, lot 5433, as Follower of Giuseppe Cesari, the Cavalier d'Arpino.

21) See especially S.Y. EDGERTON, *A Little-Known 'Purpose of Art' in the Italian Renaissance*, 'Art History', 2 (1979), pp. 45-61.

22) For the hypothesis of the subject of the *tavoletta* be-
ing chosen in accord with the type of punishment see
*ibidem*, p. 50.

23) L.J. FEINBERG, *Imagination All Compact: Tavolette and Confraternity Rituals for the Condemned in Renaissance Italy*, 'Apollo', 161 (2005), pp. 48-58; see also K. FALVEY, *Early Italian Dramatic Traditions and Comforting Rituals. Some Initial Considerations*, in *Crossing the Boundaries* cit., pp. 33-55: 42-45.

24) Kathleen Falvey makes a similar comment, see FALVEY, *Early Italian Dramatic Traditions* cit., pp. 42-43.

25) M. DE MONTAIGNE, *Journal du Voyage de Michel de Montaigne en Italie, par la Suisse et l'Allemagne, en 1580 et 1581*, II, Paris 1775, pp. 297-298. An English translation of this text is cited by Samuel Edgerton, see EDGERTON, *A Little Known 'Purpose of Art' cit.*, p. 45, nt. 1.

26) POLVERINI FOSI, *Pietà, devozione e politica* cit., p. 150.

27) *Capitoli et Ordinationi* cit., 2/C, cap. V, ff. 9v-10r.

28) See J.S. WEISZ, *Salvation through Death: Jacopino del Conte's Altarpiece in the Oratory of S. Giovanni De-collato in Rome*, 'Art History', 6 (1983), pp. 395-405.

29) Ordini coi quali deve esser governata la venerabile Arciconfraternita di S. Giovanni Decollato detta della Misericordia della Nazione fiorentina di Roma, 1883, cap. V, ASR 169/1 p. 15-17; see also POLVERINI FOSI, *Pietà, devozione e politica* cit., p. 149, nt. 65.

30) E.A. TALAMO, *Apollonio de' Bonfratelli*, in *Dizionario biografico dei miniatori* cit., pp. 42-43.

31) See ALEXANDER, *The Painted Book* cit., p. 175, nt. 241. One of them was Giuseppe Farfalla, who probably collaborated with Bonfratelli on the occasion of the Missal for the Papal Mass of the Purification (Toledo, Biblioteca Capitular, 38.3), see E. DE LAURENTIIS – E.A. TALAMO, *The Lost Manuscripts from the Sistine Chapel. An Epic Journey from Rome to Toledo*, exhibition catalogue (January 23-April 23, 2011), Madrid – Dallas 2010, pp. 177-184, ntt. 5, 7. Too little information is available on Giuseppe
<figure><img src="image_13.png" /><figcaption>10. Chantilly, Musée Condé, ms. 39 (1601), Passio domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem: Simonzio Lupi (after Albrecht Dürer), Crucifixion, f. 12v.</figcaption></figure>

Farfalla, see A. BERTOLOTTI, *Artisti belgi ed olandesi a Roma nei secoli XVI e XVII*, Firenze 1880, p. 337.

32) DE LAURENTIIS – TALAMO, *The Lost Manuscripts* cit., p. 182, ntt. 26-28. See also E. HERMENS, *Valerio Mariani da Pesaro, a 17th Century Italian Miniaturist and His Treatise, 'Miniatura', 3/4 (1993), p. 93-102*. For the possibility that Simone Fiammingo and Simonzio Lupi be the same artist, see ALEXANDER, *The Painted Book* cit., p. 159. For the time being the *Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani* contains two separate entries, see H. SZÉPE, *Simone Fiammingo, in Dizionario biografico dei miniatori* cit., p. 943; EADEM, *Simonzio Lupi da Bergamo, ibidem*, p. 945-946.

33) ALEXANDER, *The Painted Book* cit., p. 159.

34) Chantilly, Musée Condé, ms. 39 (1601). The images can be consulted online on the *Initiale* database of the Institut pour la recherche et histoire des textes (IRHT): http://initiale.irht.cnrs.fr/codex/10290 (accessed 17 June 2018). The grant of privileges from Francesco Maria II della Rovere to his cousin Giulio Cesare della Rovere Mamiani dated 1585 of the Walters Art Museum (W.481) bears a similar decorative scheme on f. 2r.

35) Simonzio Lupi appears in payment documents of Gregory XIII as 'maestro Simontio Bergamasco'. See DE LAURENTIIS – TALAMO, *The Lost Manuscripts* cit., p. 182, ntt. 25; E.A. TALAMO, *Codices cantorum: miniature e disegni nei codici della Cappella Sistina*, Firenze 1998, p. 208.

36) Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 8880.

37) Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Urb. lat. 1764, f. 1r.

38) Attavante is documented in Rome in 1512 and it is assumed that there he remained until the end of his life. See GALIZZI, *Vante di Gabriello* cit. He also collaborated with Matteo da Milano for the decoration of a statute of the hospital of San Salvatore, see P. TOSINI, *Una collaborazione tra Matteo da Milano e Attavante degli Attavanti: il Ms. 1010 dell'Ospedale del SS. Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum*, 'Rivista di Storia della miniatura', 8 (2003), pp. 135-144; EADEM, *Miniature dall'Ospedale del SS. Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum: decorazione, rituali, iconografia*, 'Rivista di storia della miniatura', 12 (2008), pp. 123-136. Alexander proposes that given the relative unimportance of this manuscript it was probably sent to Florence for decoration (ALEXANDER, *The Painted Book* cit., chap. 5, nt. 95). We cannot exclude that this was also the case for the frontispiece of the 1518 statutes.

## List of manuscripts

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, W.481

Chantilly, Musée Condé, 39 (1601)

Chicago, Newberry Library, 83

Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,

Urb. lat. 1764

Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 81.22

Lisboa, Arquivos Nacionais Torre do Tombo, 161.1-8

Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, 512

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 8880

Roma, Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni

Decollato, 1; 2/C

Toledo, Biblioteca Capitular, 38.3; 52.10

## Photo credits

pl. XVIII, figs. 1, 3, 5, 8: Per gentile concessione

dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato, Roma

fig. 2: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Firenze

fig. 4: Galleria Sabauda, Torino

fig. 6: Nicolas Cordon

fig. 7: Christie's, London

fig. 9: Windsor, Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II 2017

fig. 10: Musée Condé, Chantilly

## Abstract

*Due Statuti miniati nell'Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato a Roma*

L'Archivio dell'Arciconfraternita di San Giovanni Decollato a Roma conserva due copie manoscritte degli Statuti della compagnia, entrambi arricchiti da frontespizi miniati. Il primo è datato 1518 e sembra esser stato prodotto dell'atelier di Attavante degli Attavanti mentre il secondo, portando la data 1581, è ascrivibile a un pittore pienamente inserito nel panorama artistico del tardo Cinquecento. Oltre a presentare queste due opere inedite, il contributo ne propone un'analisi in parallelo, mettendo in luce interessanti tangenze, derivanti dal comune contesto culturale. È infatti possibile osservare come gli artisti abbiano adattato la loro cultura visiva, cercando allo stesso tempo di mantenere un sottile equilibrio tra tradizione e innovazione. Inoltre, l'evidenza contestuale e archivistica aiuta a comprendere come queste immagini facessero parte di una rete di oggetti devozionali legati a specifiche pratiche rituali.

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