Pisanello and his Work for the Northern Italian Courts
of Mantua and Ferrara
Written by: Miranda Cohen
Pisanello, Arthurian Cycle, Mantua
Pisanello is an artist whose collection of work encapsulates many of forces and ideals at work in Quatrocento Italian Renaissance society. Pisanello was active in the first half of the 15th century, and was of the most sought-after artists of his time. He served many patrons throughout Italy, but he created his most famous work for the Northern courts of Mantua and Ferrara. For the Gonzaga of Mantua and the d’Este of Ferrara, Pisanello composed a number of pieces in various mediums including metal engraving, paintings, and fresco cycles. The subject matter he depicted for these courts were as wide-spread as his choice of medium, ranging from profile portraits to religious works to depictions of medieval jousts. Both his style and his subject matter represent several ideologies popular at the time in Renaissance Italy: in particular the forces of humanism and notions of chivalric virtue. These chivalric works especially make him an important artist historically. Historians often emphasize the humanist interest in classical antiquity when talking about the art of Quattrocento Italy; Pisanello’s wide array of chivalric-themed work shows the often-underemphasized forces of court hood and chivalry popular in Italy at the time. Both the Gonzaga and the d’Este court valued each of these themes because they contained values that the family wished to convey to the general public. However, though they requested artwork containing similar themes, each court employed Pisanello to put a unique emphasis on certain aspects of each ideology. By examining the way in which Pisanello implicated each court through his humanist and chivalric themes, one can get a clear view of the individual values and culture of these two Northern Italian courts.
Humanism was a powerful force in not only the Northern courts of Mantua and Ferrara but also all across Italy. The term humanism describes the interest and rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman writings, and was an interest that permeated the fields of not only writing and philosophy, but also art.[1] Humanism often manifested itself in art in the form of subject matter of classical mythology, classical icons such as columns and engravings, and a more three-dimensional style of depicting the human body. In the light of this last criterion, it is somewhat surprising that Pisanello was extremely popular among the humanists of his time. Pisanello does echo concepts of classical antiquity, as can be seen in his medals for the Gonzaga court. However, much of his work does not directly reference classical antiquity, and the somewhat flat style in which he depicts his subject matter is often more reminiscent of the ornate International Gothic style than the dimensionality of classical works.
Despite this, many Humanists admired Pisanello’s work. Baxandall examines this phenomenon in his Giotto and the Orators. He comments:
It is one of the more disconcerting facts of Quattrocento art history that more praise was addressed by humanists to Pisanello than to any artist of the first half of the century; in this sense—and it seems a reasonably substantial one—Pisanello, not Masaccio, is the ‘humanist’ artist.[2]
Backing his claim that Pisanello is the true “Humanist” artist, Baxandall points to many humanist praises of Pisanello. Many humanists articulated their praise for Pisanello in the form of ekphrasis, a classical form of expression. One reason for his popularity among humanists was the fact that Pisanello’s work could prompt this ekphrasis. As Baxandall puts it: “For whether he was aware of it or not, Pisanello’s work sometimes has the character of contriving a series of cues for standard humanist responses—Mongols and birds for variety, whole menageries for decorative itemizing, flashy foreshortening for ars…”.[3] By understanding these concepts, it is easy to see why many patrons sought after Pisanello to execute work inspired by humanist themes.
Humanism was just as important in the courts of Mantua and Ferrara as it was in the rest of Italy. The art of classical antiquity was considered to be some of the finest created by man; consequently, each court employed artists to mimic these ancient artists. Not only were these pieces prized for their classical aesthetic, they were also valued because they showed the education of their owner. The intellectuals of the day all had humanist educations, which were the ultimate symbol of accomplishment.[4] Because of these reasons, both the Gonzaga and the d’Este courts gathered much art of classical antiquity, the d’Este especially. Leonello d’Este owned an extensive collection of Roman coins, as well as other ancient artifacts, and “seemed to have been an enthusiastic numismatist”.[5] Having received a humanist education, he was well-versed in Greek and Latin literature, and Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War was said to be his favorite book.[6] He was also fascinated by iconic classical leaders such as Caesar and Alexander the Great, whom he employed Pisanello to allude to in several of his commissions for the court.
Humanists were cynical about the increasingly popular influence of chivalric culture, but it is clear that princes of the court favored both ideologies.[7] Historians tend to focus on the area of humanism because humanists left behind the most documentation, but by upon examining artistic commissions, it is clear that chivalric culture was possibly just as important, particularly in the courts of Mantua and Ferrara.[8] Much of this interest was generated by medieval French tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.[9] This interest spanned past merely reading the myths. Italian leaders sometimes named their children after the heroes of these tales, as well as performed ceremonial reenactments of tournaments and jousts.[10] These tournaments served not only a symbolic purpose by creating a parallel between modern Italians and the characters of the Arthurian legends, but also flaunted the princes’ skill as fighters.[11] There was also an integration of Arthurian values into Italian court culture. Syson comments: “…the chivalric value system was central to the construction of ideals of virtuous behavior during much of the fifteenth century, not least at the courts of Northern Italy”.[12] The virtues of gallantry, chivalry and bravery were highly valued in these courts.[13]
Both letters to and from the courts of the Gonzaga and d’Este families showed that both courts were fascinated by these legends. Both libraries were also “well stocked” with French chivalric romances.[14] Italians had high regard for French culture, which they viewed as the epitome of the courtly and the sophisticated. Both courts hosted these chivalric tournaments and knighted nobles of the court. Ludivoco and Leonello both identified personally with famous knights and upheld these chivalric values, as seen in their commissions. Indeed, the art they commissioned is very illuminating to their vision of themselves, and how they wished to be seen by the public.
Both Ludivico and Leonello understood the power of art to influence and change the views of its audience. Princes equated art with virtue and nobility; they invested in art because it helped uphold their image and communicate the values of these princes and could also influence how they were viewed by the public. [15] Art could also communicate the values that the princes felt the rest of the court society should live by. As put by Steven Campbell: “not only was the court an aristocratic household that assimilated or managed the central offices and institutions of a state; it was also an ethical and aesthetic conception, an ideal of civilized life and of refinement in human conduct”.[16] Thus, the court was not only a political center but an institution that created constructs of how to live.
Although he was popular across northern Italy, Pisanello was a favorite especially of the Mantua and Ferrara courts. Working as a court artist provided many advantages over working for a guild, and his best-known work was made for these two courts.[17] Examining the differences in each patrons’ oeuvre can be illuminating in understanding the goals of each court. Interestingly, the main motive behind their patronage seems to have been the same: the search for legitimacy as a ruler. However, each man commissioned Pisanello to imply their legitimacy in very different ways. These differences can tell us much about the characters of the two men and the climate of the courts at the time.
Both princes were very interested in chivalric legend, Ludovico especially. Both Ludovico and Leonello were condottieri, or leaders of mercenary armies. These armies gained wealth by fighting in the wars of their larger superpower neighbors. The characters of Arthurian legends were therefore very appealing to these men. The legends presented fighters as noble and virtuous, and they legitimized war.[18] Thus Ludovico and Leonello embraced these tales and the chivalric way of life. As Syson says, “As the Gonzaga and their fellow soldier-princes showed off their military skills, they legitimated what might otherwise have been taken as a sordid, money-making concern by emphasizing the chivalric roots of the tournament and joust”. [19] Ludovico especially emphasized the purity of his motives for being a condottieri. As stated by his contemporary Filippo Maria, “the lord Ludovico does not practice the profession of arms for the greed of gain but to obtain honor and fame”.[20] However, although both princes were interested in being associated with chivalric values, they commissioned Pisanello to express them in very different ways, thus showing the subtle differences between the two courts and their leaders.
The Arthurian Cycle in the Ducal Palace in Mantua is unfinished and highly damaged, but it still is a spectacular display of Pisanello’s skill and the subject matter of chivalric virtue. On the south-east wall of the Sala del Pisanello is The Tournament at the Castle of King Brangoire (Plate 1). This mural is a depiction of the tournament of fifty-plus men, clashing in clumps throughout wall, some on horses, others on foot. The fresco is action-filled and dynamic, with some knights triumphing, while others lie dying. Their white, intricately rendered armor contrasts with the plain purplish-blue background. Lining the top of the fresco is a repeated design of a hind, a great dane, a flower and a collar.
The subject matter of this fresco is derived from Lancelot, the third part of a French medieval prose that now is known as the Vulgate Cycle.[21] It features Bohort, Lancelot’s cousin, and his struggle in the tournament at the castle of Brangoire, the victor of which would win the king’s daughter.[22] Through this cycle, Ludovico was trying to make a parallel between himself and Bohort.[23] The design along the top of the fresco contains several references to the Gonzaga family. The hind and the great dane were symbols of Ludivico’s grandfather and father, respectively. The marigold was a symbol often associated with Ludivico, which decorates several other works for which he was a patron. The fourth symbol, the collar, represents the Gonzaga connection to the Order of the Swan, a chivalric order founded by Frederick of Brandenburg.[24] Ludovico’s marriage to German princess Barbara of Brandenburg connected him to this illustrious order, Barbara having been descended from the legendary Swan King.[25] The lengths through which Pisanello has implicated the Gonzaga family in relation to chivalric virtues shows Ludovico’s desire to be seen as a heroic leader and fighter. Joanna Woods-Masden gives a succinct summary of Ludovico’s agenda in her article, “French Chivalric Myth and Mantuan Political Reality”:
These chivalric frescoes were part of a conscious campaign to promote Gonzaga lineage and influential connections…the decorative programme of the Sala del Pisanello reveals the Marchese’s determination, at the beginning of his rule, to stress his own legitimacy and to promote his family alliance with the Hohenzollern and his ties, through them, to the Emperor.[26]
By understanding all the forces behind the work, the viewer is able to see that the piece is not only a romantic, escapist work, but also a work that serves a political agenda and even functions as propaganda. The piece is intended to show Ludivico as a sophisticated and gallant soldier who has the right to rule not only because of his chivalric qualities, but also because of his connection to this ancient knightly nobility.
Pisanello’s medals for the Gonzaga are an important part of Ludovico’s ouvre as a patron. Pisanello was a great popularizer of medals in Quatrocento Italy. These medals usually bore the profile of the subject on the front along with their name or a descriptor. The back of the medal bore an allegory that described the values and virtues of the subject. The format of a medal was a nod to classical antiquity and the coins of ancient Rome.[27] Medals served an important purpose; as Syson and Thorton describes it, “(the princes) recognized that, by commissioning medals, they could preserve not only their own name, fame and appearance, but that of members of their family and of their courts”.[28] Medals were a stately way of upholding the subject’s name, along with their best attributes.
Only a few medals were made for the Gonzaga court, but each are significant and illuminating. Medal of Ludovico Gonzaga (Plate 2) shows the profile of Ludovico on the front wearing typical court garb, his name emblazoned in the background. The back of the medal shows Ludovico riding atop a horse who is picking up its leg in mid-stride. The medal is an interesting mix of courtly and humanist influences. On one hand, the format of the medals in itself is a reference to the classical coins in terms of the bronze material, the Latin inscriptions, the profile of the subject, and the link between both sides of the medal.[29] However, the medal also is also clearly influenced by chivalric values. Ludovico’s dignified riding of his horse is a reference to his position as a condotierri and his status as a knight. Even aspects of the production and composition of the medal alludes to French art, and in doing so, French chivalric culture, as “a large part of their vocabulary is derived from the manuscript illumination and metal-work of France and Burgundy”.[30]
Another relevant medal is Pisanello’s Medal of Cecilia Gonzaga (Plate 3). The front side of the medal shows a profile view of the long-necked, elegantly dressed Cecilia. Latin inscriptions decorate the rim of the coin, including “Virgo” (virgin), as well as her relations to members of her family. The back of the coin contains the image of a young woman in profile wearing a wrapping of lose fabric, one of her breasts exposed. Alongside her sits a unicorn.
This medal too is an interesting mix of classical and chivalric. Just as with the medal of Ludovico, there are strong references to classical antiquity and also some reference to French and Burgundian art and chivalric virtues. The subject matter itself, however, also shows an interesting combination of the two ideologies. On one hand, the semi-nude woman on the back of the coin recalls an ideal woman of classical antiquity. Her exposed breast, as well as her toga- like garb, are almost certainly references to classical sculpture. Significantly, Cecilia also received a humanist education, and therefore could be likened to this classical woman.[31] On the other hand, the medal also contains several clear chivalric and Christian ideas, the most significant being that of Cecilia’s purity. Women of court culture were expected to be chaste and modest. The medal emphasizes in several ways that Cecilia has both of these qualities. First is the inscription of “Virgo” (Virgin) on the front of the coin, her first descriptor after her name. The second is the unicorn on the reverse of the coin, which is a reference to the legend of the unicorn that could only be caught by a true virgin.[32] The third is appearance and the stance of the woman in the allegory on the back of the coin. Cecilia is beautiful, but almost anonymously so. Indeed, it is unlikely that Cecilia even posed for the execution of this medal.[33] Her beauty is so similar to other women that Pisanello depicted that it is likely that he merely illustrated his own ideal of womanly beauty instead of capturing a true likeness. This is in character with the attitudes of chivalric culture toward women. The women of Arthurian legends are almost always anonymous, and have very few distinguishing qualities from one another. The modest pose of the woman on the back of the coin reflects Cecilia’s chastity, another Arthurian value. The viewer can see that Cecilia is beautiful, but this is not something she flaunts; instead she gazes innocently to the side, unaware that she is being observed.
This medal of Cecilia Gonzaga is a perfect example of how Ludovico combined both classical and chivalric ideologies to convey messages about his family, without seeing a contradiction between the two sets of values. Both the fresco and the two medals served to implicate Ludovico and his family with the values of chivalry, sophistication, chastity, and the intelligence of a humanist education. All of these values were meant to legitimize the Gonzaga’s rule and Ludovico’s role as a condottieri.
Leonello d’Este was also trying to convey similar virtues through art, but there are marked differences between each man’s oeuvre. The most significant difference between his and Ludovico’s oeuvre is the absence of artwork whose subject matter draws from Arthurian legend. This does not mean that Leonello was not interested in chivalric culture. Leonello, in fact, was very taken with chivalric culture, particularly with the figure of Saint George, the ultimate Christian knight.[34] His admiration of St. George was very great; Syson mentions that “among the other festivities for his marriage to Maria of Aragona in 1444, he had the main piazza transformed into an oak wood for a play devoted to Saint George”.[35] The nobles of the court of Ferrara were knighted, and knighthood seemed to be a standard that separated the court nobles from other nobility.[36] However, Leonello did not commission any surviving works that directly reference St. George or other knights, though he did commission work involving court values. Overall, Leonello chose to compare himself to legendary classical leaders instead of chivalric knights.
Examples of this parallel are Pisanello’s panel portrait, Leonello d’Este, marquis of Ferrara (Plate 4), and his six medals of Leonello. Leonello d’Este shows a profile of Leonello in refined courtly dress. It is clear that Pisanello altered aspects of Leonello’s appearance when comparing this portrait to the other, more accurate, likenesses of Leonello. Not only did Pisanello depict Leonello as more handsome, or at least more normally proportioned than he was in real life, he also created visual parallels between him and Alexander the Great.[37] The features of the Leonello of the painting are similar to a drawing copied from an ancient coin of Alexander.[38] Interestingly, this coin depicted Alexander as Hercules, which implicates Leonello with both of these legendary men. His name, meaning “little lion”, works as a pun, and his tawny mane of hair in the painting works as another visual pun.[39]
Leonello’s desire to connect himself with these legendary heroes of Alexander and Hercules is understandable knowing his personal history. Leonello was an illegitimate child, and he no doubt sought to compensate for his uncertain birth by implying that he was a powerful and capable ruler.[40] He chose to implicate himself with classical examples rather than chivalric perhaps because, as Syson suggests:
The execution of justice or good government…was increasingly understood to depend on the emulation of other precedents—on the imitation of ancient men and women whose actions and saying were thought to manifest the ideal virtues of a ruler.[41]
Through these connections to these two figures, Leonello tried to legitimize himself and his rule of Ferrara.
This parallel is also present in Pisanello’s medals of Leonello. Leonello was extremely keen on medals, no doubt because of their parallels to classical antiquity. He had six portrait medals cast of himself, with each profile following the general form of the panel portrait. The last portrait medal, Medal of Leonello d’Este (Plate 5) cast in 1444, is particularly illuminating to how Leonello wished to present himself. Behind the portrait of himself, Pisanello included a descriptor of Leonello as the son-in-law of Alfonso of Aragon.[42] As was the case with Ludovico, Leonello is trying to illustrate the extent of his connections, and therefore his worthiness to rule. The reverse side shows Cupid or Amor teaching a lion how to sing. This conveys several messages. For one, it is relating Leonello again to a lion, which relates him back to both Alexander and Hercules. For another, because the viewer is supposed to take the lion for Leonello, it also shows his interest in music and also in love, if the medal is to be taken metaphorically.[43] This is appropriate, as the medal was a gift for Leonello’s marriage to Maria of Aragon. The medal therefore is teeming with ideas and double-meanings, which may also have been part of Leonello’s agenda to be seen as an intelligent and worthy prince.[44]
Pisanello’s Portrait of Margherita Gonzaga (Plate 6), to whom Leonello was married, is another piece that shows Leonello’s values. This piece is the largest reference to chivalric culture in his oeuvre. It depicts a woman thought to be Margherita Gonzaga in profile, wearing a resplendent court outfit of white, green and red and decorated with pearls. Her pale hair is pulled back, and she sits before a background of dark shrubbery and blooming flowers. One striking aspect about the painting is its similarity to Pisanello’s portrait of Cecilia Gonzaga. Although they are related, the two women are so similar that they are almost interchangeable. This may allude back to the somewhat anonymous ideal of women in court culture. Women were expected to have the virtues of chastity and decency. Pisanello has depicted this chastity by her innocent and unassuming gaze directed away from the viewer. Her clothes also serve to convey important aspects about her and the Gonzaga and d’Este family. Her clothes are lavishly decorated with pearls, showing the illustrious nature of the family. Yet her clothes also help to convey her virtues; she is wearing the Gonzaga colors of white, green and red, standing for Faith, Hope and Charity, all positive qualities expected of people of the court.[45] She wears a sprig of juniper, a symbol of Leonello d’Este, thereby directly connecting him to these virtues.[46] The background of the painting, with its almost tapestry-like quality, is a reference to Franco-Burgundian art, and all the virtues that come with French court culture.
Leonello’s oeuvre therefore, although it also functions to legitimize the rule of its patron, does so is a very different way than Ludovico. Chivalric ideas play a large role in his life, shown through his regard for St. George and his approval of the courtly values of chastity and modesty in women. However, upon examining his commissions, it is clear that Leonello preferred to emulate the persona of classical rulers rather than medieval knights. It is likely that this was due his to his illegitimacy; he wished for the public to associate him with these iconic classical leaders rather than his ambiguous birth. These classical leaders emphasized his role as a prince and administrator, the image he was most interested in projecting, rather than a soldier. Through his portraits, especially his portrait medals, Leonello was trying to create for himself the image a modern classical ruler, an icon remembered more for his role as a leader than his career as a condottieri.
Ludovico Gonzaga was trying to create a different image of himself through his art. Instead of trying to emulate classical rulers, Ludovico instead concerned himself with associating himself with the heroes of chivalric literature, and in doing so legitimize his role as a condottieri. His commissions simultaneously reflected classical themes, creating the identity of a Humanist soldier. By understanding the differences between the commissions of Ludovico and Leonello, it is clear that no two Italian courts are the same. Although both men employed Pisanello, each created a distinct and separate identity for himself and his court through the aid of art.
[1] Kraye, Jill. The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 161
[2] Baxandall, Michael. Giotto and the Orators: Humanist Observers of Painting in Italy and the Discovery of Pictoral Composition, 1350-1450. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), 91
[3] Baxandall, Giotto and the Orators, 96
[4] Syson, Luke and Gordon, Dillian. Pisanello: Painter to the Renaissance Court. (London: Yale University Press, 2001) , 94
[5] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 109
[6] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 96
[7] Woods-Marsden, Joanna. ‘French Chivalric Myth and Mantuan Political Reality in the Sala del Pisanello’( Art History 8, 1985), 403
[8] ibid
[9] Paccagnini, Giovanni. Pisanello (New York: Praeger Publishers Inc, 1973), 46
[10] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 56
[11] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 57
[12] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 43
[13] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 57
[14] Paccagnini, Pisanello, 45
[15] Campbell, Stephen J. Campbell, Steven J, ed. Artists at Court. Image-making and identity 1300-1550. (Boston: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 13
[16] Campbell, Artists at Court, 16
[17] Warnke, Martin. The Court Artist: on the Ancestry of the Modern Artist. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), xiv
[18] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 57
[19] ibid
[20] ibid
[21] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 52
[22] Woods-Marsden, 403
[23] Woods-Marsden, 407
[24] Woods-Marsden, 405
[25] Woods-Marsden, 406
[26] ibid
[27] Syson and Thorton, Pisanello, 112
[28] Syson and Thorton, Pisanello, 23
[29] Syson and Thorton, Pisanello, 116
[30] ibid
[31] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 116
[32] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 117
[33] ibid
[34] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 65
[35] ibid
[36] Trevor, Dean. Land and Power in Late Medieval Ferrara: the Rule of the Este, 1350-1450 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 146
[37] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 89
[38] ibid
[39] ibid
[40] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 93
[41] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 93
[42] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 123
[43] ibid
[44] ibid
[45] Syson and Gordon, Pisanello, 104
[46] ibid