QUATTROCENTO FEMALE PORTRAITURE;
A STUDY OF LITERARY, CULTURAL,
AND ARTISTIC RELATIONSHIPS
KRISTEN VAN AUSDALL
A THESIS
Presented to the Department of Art History
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
December 1980
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fiSi
1
A
AvA-
An Abstract of the Thesis of
Kristen Van Ausdall for the degree of Master of Arts
in the Department of Art History
to be taken December 1980
Title; Quattrocento Female Portraiture: A Study of
Literary, Cultural, and Artistic Relationships
Approved:
Frances L. Pitts
"Quattrocento Female Portraiture: A Study of Literary,
Cultural, and Artistic Relationships," is an analysis of the
unique visual nature of female portraiture in fifteenth-
century Italy. Although rarely commented on in modern
scholarship, depictions of men and women during this period
had differing rates of evolution and divergent stylistic
characteristics. The distinctions between male and female
portraits can be interpreted by investigating not only the
early visual precedents, but also the literary ideals of
women that pervaded Italian society, the examples of womanly
perfection established in Catholic doctrine, and the special
social roles that upper-class women fulfilled. The inter
action of cultural ideals created a complex feminine image;
a conflation of these ideals is revealed in the portraiture.
The necessity of an image which conveyed this desirable
information about a woman was determined by the transitional
character of Quattrocento society.
J 4,
^ -5
VITA
NAME OF AUTHOR: Kristen Van Ausdall
PLACE OF BIRTH: Los Angeles, California
DATE OF BIRTH: May 2, 1951
UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
Humboldt State University
University of Oregon
DEGREES AWARDED:
Bachelor of Arts, 1974, Humboldt State University
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Italian Renaissance Art
Northern Baroque Art
English Illustration
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Art History,
University of Oregon, Eugene, 1979-80
AWARDS AND HONORS;
Ina McClung Award, 1979
Samuel H. Kress Tuition Grant, 1979
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te"'
Hli liVuMr' V'•
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many people to whom I am indebted, and I
gratefully acknowledge their assistance. In particular, I
wish to thank the members of my committee. Professors Ellen
Johnston Laing and Sylvia B. Giustina. During the last
stages of this thesis. Professor Laing generously provided
her vast experience and unflagging energy, and I am grateful
for the many hours she contributed. Professor Giustina's
enthusiasm for the topic, and her knowledge of Italian
language and literature, were both warmly appreciated.
It is not possible to adequately thank my advisor.
Professor Frances L. Pitts, for all her help. Not only has
her consistent emphasis on scholarship been an essential
part of the formulation of this topic, but her patience and
understanding have been of inestimable value. Throughout
the evolution of this thesis. Professor Pitts' ability to
promote creative thought has been as sustaining as it is
rare.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Chapter
I. EARLY VISUAL AND LITERARY SOURCES
Trecento Profile Portraiture
Literature
Early Fifteenth Century Female
Portraits
II. RELIGIOUS SOURCES
III. LATER QUATTROCENTO SOCIETY AND
PORTRAITURE
Social Roles of Women . . . .
Portraiture and Quattrocento
Social Aims
CONCLUSION
NOTES
Notes to Introduction
Notes to Chapter I
Notes to Chapter II .
Notes to Chapter III
ILLUSTRATIONS
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .
VXll
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
For a complete bibliographic citation of the sources
of illustrations see the Bibliography. Dimensions are
included only for purposes of comparison in independent
panel portraits.
Figure
Simone Martini: St. Louis of Toulouse
Crowning Robert of Anjou^ 1317. Panel.
Naples, Galleria Nazionale. White, pi. 101
Jacapo del Casentino: San Miniato and
Scenes from His Legend, c. 1342. Panel.
Berenson, Florentine School, v. 1, pi. 108 ,
Bernardo Daddi: Madonna of the Magnificat,
1334. Fresco. Florence, Opera del Duomo.
Berenson, Florentine School, v. 1, pi. 165 ,
Taddeo Gaddi: Tree of Life, Lives of the
Saints, and Last Supper, c. 1340-50.
Fresco. Florence, Sta. Croce, Refectory.
White, pi. 121
Taddeo Gaddi: Entombment with Female
Donor, c. 1350. Fresco. Florence, Sta.
Croce, Capella Bardi di Vernio. Berenson,
Florentine School, v. 1, pi. 125
Nardo di Cione: Paradise, c. 1350's.
Fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella,
Strozzi Chapel. Berenson, Florentine School,
V. 1, pi. 194
Christine de Pisan and Cite des Dames
Workshop: Tournament, c. 1410. Miniature.
London, British Museum, Harl. 4431, fol.
150. Meiss, Limbourgs, ill. 155
Christine de Pisan and Epitre Workshop:
Portrait of Christine de Pisan, c. 1403-04.
Miniature. Brussels, Bibl. royale, ms. 9508,
fol. 2. Meiss, Limbourgs, ill. 12
Figure Page
French School; Portrait of a Lady^ c. 1410,
Panel, 52.5 x 30.6 cm. Washington, D.C.,
National Gallery. Sindona, pi. 137 . . . ,
Pisanello: Portrait of Ginevra d'Este,
c. 1434. Panel, 42.5 x 29.5 cm. Paris,
Louvre. Sindona, pi. 104
Fra Filippo Lippi: Portrait of a Lady,
c. 1445-1450. Panel, 47 x 31.5 cm. West
Berlin, Staatliche Museen. Pope-Hennessey,
ill. 42
Giotto: The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1305.
Fresco. Padua, Arena Chapel. Stubblebine,
ill. 27
Domenico Ghirlandaio: The Adoration of the
Magi, c. 1485. Panel. Florence, Uffizi.
Berenson, Italian Painters, pi. 180 . . . .
Fra Filippo Lippi: Altarpiece, c. 1437.
Panel. Paris, Louvre. Berenson, Italian
Painters, pi. 157
Fra Diamante: Portrait of a Lady, c. 1440.
Panel, no dimensions available. New York,
Metropolitan Museum. Lipman, fig. 32 . .
Piero della Francesca: Diptych of Battista
Sforza and Federigo da Montefeltro, c. 1460-
65. Panel, 47 x 33 cm. each panel. Florence,
Uffizi. Clark, pi. 100
Piero della Francesca: Discovery and Proof
of the True Cross, c. 1453-1466. Fresco.
Arezzo, San Francesco. Clark, pi. 59 . . .
Piero della Francesca: Detail from Discovery
and Proof of the True Cross. Fresco. Arezzo,
San Francesco. Clark, pi. 71
Piero della Francesca: Triumphs, reverse of
the Uffizi diptych, c. 1460-65. Florence,
Uffizi. Clark, pi. 101
Master of the Adimari Chest: Marriage Chest,
c. 1440. Florence, Galleria dell'Accademia.
Maguire, pi. 1
Figure Page
Antonio Pollaiuolo: Portrait of a Lady,
c. 1470. Panel, 46 x 34 cm. Milan, Museo
Poldi-Pezzoli. Del Lungo, frontispiece . .
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Visitation, 1486-1490,
Fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella,
Choir. Ediz. Giusti di S. Becocci
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Giovanni degli
Albizzi, detail from the Visitation, Florence
Santa Maria Novella, Choirl Ediz. Giusti di
S. Becocci
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Giovanna degli
Albizzi, c. 1490. PaneTT 77 x 49 cm. Lugano
Sammlung Thyssen-Bornemisza. Pope-Hennessey,
ill. 25
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Nativity of the Virgin
1486-1490. Fresco. Florence, Santa Maria
Novella, Choir. Ediz. Giusti di S. Becocci .
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Donor figures, detail
from the Nativity of the Virgin. Fresco.
Florence, Santa Maria Novella. Ediz. Giusti
di S. Becocci
Domenico Ghirlandaio: Donor figure, detail
from the Nativity of the Virgin. Fresco.
Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Choir. Ediz.
Giusti di S. Becocci
INTRODUCTION
Female portraiture of the Quattrocento exhibits a
unique visual character distinct from male portraiture of
the same period. Although it is true that paintings of both
men and women are idealized, the recognition of the distinc
tions which existed between the female and male ideal in the
fifteenth century is crucial to the study of the portrait
image. Yet, this distinction has been virtually ignored by
modern scholars in the study of early Renaissance
portraiture.^ John Pope-Hennessey, for example, has
suggested that the reason for the persistence of the female
profile portrait was purely aesthetic;
The profile was not only the most advantageous,
it was also the most flattering view, and for
this reason, until quite late in the fifteenth
century it was the form in which the portraits
of women were invariably cast.2
However, to understand the singularity of female portraiture
in the fifteenth century, it is necessary to examine some of
the cultural ideals current during that era. Meaningful
investigation of this ideal requires both a study of the
visual precedents, and a thorough grasp of the influences of
society, religion, and secular literature. The last, in
particular, developed out of the close cultural contacts
between France and Italy that continued throughout the
fifteenth century. By the late Quattrocento, through the
formation of a cross-cultural idea, these influences had
exerted a profound effect upon Italian female portraits.
Thus a consideration of the arts and letters of both
countries is imperative to understanding the development of
the feminine ideal found in Italian portraits of the last
half of the century. It is not the intent of this study to
compile a catalogue of types, but to explore major trends in
the depiction of women, and to endeavor to establish links
between these artistic trends and the cultural environment
from which they spring.
Any discussion of fifteenth century Italian portrai
ture necessitates dealing exclusively with the upper classes,
since it was only the elite who could afford to commission
these works. In this context, it is interesting to note
that male and female portraiture did not develop at the same
rate, nor for identical reasons. Introduced in Florence in
the first half of the fifteenth century, the independent
male portrait had been profoundly altered by the latter part
of the century. In contrast, female portraiture became
popular only xn the second half of the century, and during
that time the profile took overwhelming precedence over any
other form. These different rates of evolution suggest that
the social and cultural concepts underlying the development
of female portraiture were distinct from those dictating the
4
appearance of male portraiture.
Although there are a few early renditions of the
kings of France (c. 1360-1410), portrait painting as a
popular genre belongs primarily to Florence, where it
flourished early in the fifteenth century. Much has been
written, both in primary sources from the Renaissance and in
modern scholarship, analyzing men in society and the arts.^
The aims of male portraiture, as well as the male role in
Quattrocento society, were clearly set out, and were often
influenced by the major directions of humanism throughout
the century.^ The late Trecento and early Quattrocento saw
the rise of wealthy merchant families in Italy to positions
of power and political influence. Men controlled society,
and at the beginning of the century wished to assert them
selves as idealized leaders, often in imitation of the
venerated politicians of ancient Rome. This emulation
appears to have been a major factor in the formation of the
portrait images.7 They needed to reinforce their images as
leaders, in order to have themselves seen as equals of the
noble class which represented the traditional rulers in most
of the Italian city-states. The powerful financial families
wished to be associated with both the nobility and with
antique politicians, in order to create an unassailable
public image. The citizens of Florence took pride in
maintaining a high standard of civic humanism. Such an
attitude was fertile ground for commemorating those who had
contributed to the well-being of the State, and this in turn
nurtured a flowering of female portraiture.
Two types of portraiture influenced the early profile
portrait in Italy. The first is donor portraiture, both
male and female, which was connected primarily to large
church commissions from the wealthiest families. One
purpose of this type of portrait was to insure a place in
heaven for the donors, by emphasizing their generosity and
interest in the Church. Further, the piety and penitence
thereby demonstrated was often an effort to mitigate a
lifetime of usury or other serious crime against Church
g
doctrine. The second influence was restricted to male
portraiture in which the presentation was directly related
to the antique Roman medal. Numismatic portraiture of
ancient Rome depicted the rulers of a period that was
greatly admired by fifteenth century humanist society. The
strong interest in and admiration of antique literature, as
well as Latin and Greek languages, had been forming for over
a century, so it was logical that fifteenth century portraits
be modeled partly after those of the ancients.
It must be stressed that the use of the profile was
common to both types of early portraiture. Hence the
antique prototype was more easily absorbed and reconciled
with the donor portrait, thereby creating a new portrait
formula. It must also be mentioned that women are not
depicted in the ancient medallic form, thus the direct influ
ence of the antique will not be discussed in this thesi.s 9 
When turning to female portraiture of the late
fifteenth century, one finds the continuing use of the
profile. (It would seemingly have connections to male
portraiture of the first part of the fifteenth century, and
there are indeed some influences that can be readily
detected.) However, visual precedents such as donor
portraiture, courtly depictions, and Quattrocento male
portraiture, cannot fully explain the persistence of the
highly idealized female portraits in the latter half of the
Quattrocento. An explanation, though, can be found by
examining attitudes toward the upper-class woman at this
time. Three factors were crucial in shaping these attitudes:
the important role of women in secular literature, the
expectations of the Catholic Church which set the example
for female behavior through art and doctrine, and women's
function in society.
Courtly literature, which formed an important part of
the body of secular literature, was instrumental in laying
the foundation for the development of the concept of the
ideal woman found in Quattrocento portraiture. The courtly
ideal provided a universally accepted image of the noble
woman, which was acknowledged by both men and women, and
used by those striving for social recognition. The courtly
ideal not only provided a behavioral model for women, but
also a physical paradigm. Both of these aspects were in
harmony with Italian literary tradition. This can be seen
in the image of the ideal woman presented in the work of the
major Italian writers, Dante, Petrarch, and even in some
instances, Boccaccio.
The courtly tradition was also compatible with
religious values and saintly emulation. Since medieval
theology was still a primary social factor in the early
Renaissance, the ideal was easily extrapolated into a new
fifteenth century Italian image. This religious revaluation
of the literary ideal did not conflict with the domestic
role of women in the noble or pseudo-noble class, for the
system of love which it extolled was one grounded in honor
and self-control. Considering the prominence of women in
the literature, the extant visual illustrations of this
genre become important in determining the influences of
literature on the independent panel portrait.
Religious virtue can be seen as the overriding
behavioral motivation within fifteenth century society,
especially for women, influencing as it did all parts of
their lives. Women were responsible for the spiritual well-
being of their families, but were discouraged from placing
formal religious ritual before domestic duties. Domestic
duties could be part of Christian virtue, and Christian
virtue was always a part of domestic expectations, but any
aspect of a woman's behavior which caused the neglect of her
duties, including too great an attention to religion, was
considered detrimental to her personality.12
Socially, there were distinctly disparate expecta
tions for women of different classes. In the middle-class
the domestic capabilities of a woman were the crucial
concern. In addition, her managerial abilities were often
essential to the family's livelihood. Women of the upper-
classes not only had these responsibilities, but also had to
maintain themselves as representatives of powerful and
respected families. Therefore, it was particularly important
for them to conform to the ideal feminine image. For this
study, the role of women of the wealthiest merchant class
and the noble class is of primary concern, for the extant
portraits are of noble or pseudo-noble sitters, and much of
the need for the idealized portrait lies in the conversion
of families from the status of merchant-burgher to that of
merchant-prince.
This social mobility is exemplified by the Medici
family in Florence, who in the fifteenth century,
increasingly became the epitome of the new merchant-noble
class, holding political power equal to such noble families
as the Visconti in Milan and the Estense of Ferrara. The
behavior of the family members reflected positively or
negatively on the powerful men who headed them, and this was
no less true of wives and daughters than it was of the sons.
The rise of the merchant class in Italy produced a competi
tive atmosphere in which each member of a ruling family had
to assert and reassert the right to power. From this desire
for differentiation arose the need for an idealized concept
of womanhood, and a need for a suitable visual presentation.
It is important, then, to look at the cultural conditions
which structured fifteenth century lives and try to determine
the varied influences that created the ideal of womanhood
controlling female portraiture, and which ultimately explain
why the approach to female portraiture remained relatively
unchanged long after male portraiture had expanded in new
directions.
CHAPTER I
EARLY VISUAL AND LITERARY SOURCES
Painted depictions of women in the Quattrocento are
inextricably linked to a niomber of social values presented
to the viewer in the portrait image. The most significant
social concept for the understanding of this portraiture is
the development of the complex notion of the ideal woman.
This concept is related to both the changing role of women
in fifteenth century Italian society, and to the formulation
of an ideal pictorial image which makes that role manifest.
Visually, the ideal image of womanhood had its roots in two
sources; representations of women as donor figures in
Trecento religious paintings, and illuminations accompanying
the literature of courtly love. Each of these sources had a
strong influence on the evolution of female portraiture in
Italy, and it is necessary to investigate each in some depth
to see how the style and content of Quattrocento depictions
were affected.
Trecento Profile Portraiture
A consideration of donor portraiture in Trecento
religious commissions must include the examination of both
male and female figures, since the differences in the
portrayals are generally subtle, and often negligible. The
portraits can be roughly divided into three categories; the
first and most common displays a profile view donor (or
donors) worshipping and/or being presented by a holy figure
which denotes their position as patron; the second, a group
scene which represents an ecclesiastic or historic event,
with several portraits contained within it; the third, an
infrequent type, in which a portrait is the central subject.
The first two categories have many subdivisions, but
are generally straightforward in depiction and function.
The third category, the individual portrait, poses a more
complex problem in terms of portraiture, but is nonetheless
characteristic of the pictorial approach at that time.
Portraiture as a recording of features solely for the
purpose of psychological insight into character is virtually
unknown in the Trecento. This is true of all three cate
gories, though the individual portrait was not limited to
strictly religious interests as in the donor figures. An
example is the 1317 portrait of Robert of Anjou receiving
the crown from his late brother, St. Louis of Toulouse, by
Simone Martini (c. 1285-1344) (Fig. 1). The political
significance of this painting is the overriding factor in
its formation because Robert's right to rule was insecure.
The profile features of Robert are recorded primarily to
stress a didactic political manifesto: Robert is the
natural heir to his canonized brother, and as such must be
recognized by the influential citizens of his realm.^
Therefore, the portrait is specific enough for this
recognition to occur, but allows the viewer only a public
perception of the man.
A knowledge of the aesthetic properties of the
profile portrait is important to an understanding of the
function of the portrait image in the development from the
Trecento donor portraits to the fifteenth century independent
panel portrait. In discussing the profile portrait of
fifteenth century Italy, Jean Lipman states that he believes
that the profile view implies a separation between the
spectator and portrait figure (since they do not face each
other), establishing an objective view of the person
2
depicted. He goes on to say that the profile is also the
most characteristic presentation of an individual, since
only one half of a face is shown and the side view is the
most easily identifiable configuration of the features. In
addition, the profile is the least foreshortened manner in
which to portray a person, and has the least amount of
plastic projection; the contour rather than the mass is
3
emphasized. The method of depiction a Trecento artist
chose to use related directly to the function of the portrait
image. Obviously, if the figure's features were intended to
be readily recognized, thus associating a specific person
with a desirable action, whether it was a donor portrait or
one with more subtle motives (such as the portrait of Robert
of Anjou), the profile view was more successful.^
In Trecento religious paintings containing donor
figures, the portraiture was always subsidiary to the holy
figures. Most portraits represent private donors, and it is
here that a sequential pattern emerges based on size and
distance vis-^-vis the holy figures. In general, the closer
the donor is to the main image, the smaller it is. This is
also true if there is any representation of physical contact
between the two. When donor figure is larger it is separated
from the main image in a personal space. Two examples
illustrate these relationships, one by Jacapo del Casentino
(active c. 1339-1358), and the other by Bernardo Daddi
(c. 1312-48). Jacapo's San Miniato of c. 1342 (Fig. 2)
shows a donor figure with extreme proximity to the holy
figure. In this altarpiece the tiny donor embraces the toe
of the full-length central saint, who spans the center of
the panel between four scenes of his life.
Increasingly, the larger, more austere donor figures
begin to take precedence over the excessively humble donor
type displayed in the naively reverential San Miniato figure.
The relationship of the donor and holy figure becomes less
rigidly defined and, among other things, more psychologically
complex in the following century. Bernardo Daddi's Madonna
del Magnificat of c. 1340 (Fig. 3), is a huge central half-
length Madonna enclosed by a framing device flanked by two
smaller full-length saints (SS. Catherine and Zenobius), who
stand on a shallow stage. Immediately below this stage are
two female donors on a reversed perspectival floor. The
Virgin gestures to the older woman, extending her hand
outside her enclosure. An intriguing aspect of female donor
portraiture is demonstrated by the women in the Magnificat.
Women are very often unidentified, except by virtue of a
husband's portrait. This anonymity is underscored by the
simplification of their features. When the primary donor is
female there is a slight shift in emphasis; while still not
specific in feature, there seems to be a greater attempt to
depict a particular person. In the Magnificat the features
of the older woman are somewhat idealized, but her position
of respect is denoted by her garb and by the Virgin's
feature. In addition, the exchange between this donor and
the Virgin is quite direct in comparison with her companion.
This personal interchange with a holy figure is an indica
tion of the honored position accorded the donor. This can
also be seen to a degree in the small figure of the nun in
close proximity to the saints in Taddeo Gaddi's (c. 1300-
1366) Tree of Life fresco in the Refectory of Sta. Croce
(c, 1350, Fig. 4). She kneels, praying to S. Bonaventura's
vision, set apart only by her scale and proximity to the
picture plane. There is no question of her becoming part of
the vision, but her drapery overlaps that of the holy
figures, thus denoting her consequence to the viewer. Women
in donor portraiture become more important when treated
without their male counterparts, preparing for a development
in the fifteenth century of an independent female portrait
genre.
In the later Trecento the increase in the number of
donor portraits can perhaps be explained by the changing
patterns of patronage. This seems to have been occasioned
by a trend toward more lay involvement in the Church,
thereby causing a shift from commissions made largely by
ecclesiastic orders to those made by wealthy citizens.
Types of donor portraiture in the late Trecento tended to
merge and the lines between these types grew less distinct
as the century progressed. An early, tentative exploration
of a personal attitude toward salvation can be detected in
the startling position of the female donor in Taddo Gaddi's
Entombment in the Bardi di Vernio Chapel (c. 1350, Fig. 5).
Here the old and new are somewhat uneasily combined. Framed
in the middle section of Christ's tomb, the wife of the
donor is shown both as extremely significant due to her
central position on the tomb, and conventionally reverent
because of her small size and pious attitude of supplication.
Her features are subordinated to the profile line, creating
a generalized portrait with little idealized beauty. The
intent of the portrait is very clear; the woman is framed
individually to imply her importance as a donor, representing
not her own personality, but her moral rectitude which
merits salvation.
The mid-century crisis in the Trecento creates a
pressing question in the formation of portraiture. Economic
and political crises early in the 1340's were followed by
widespread famine. In 1348 the bubonic plague hit Italy for
the second time within the decade, striking with great force
in both Siena and Florence. This sudden proximity to death
appears to have instilled in some Christians the desire for
a more subjective involvement in salvation. Holy figures
and donors are seen side by side in the Strozzi Chapel
frescoes in Santa Maria Novella (Fig. 6) of the 1350's, by
Nardo di Clone (active c. 1348-66). These frescoes help to
support the argument of a growing awareness of a personal
involvement in salvation. In the Last Judgement and
Paradise scenes, the immediate recognition of many
contemporary or historical personages encourages the living
to seek their own eventual salvation through these instances
of the Triumphant.
From these examples it becomes clear that Trecento
portraiture shows the donor completely absorbed with the
holy personage, scene, or event depicted. This necessitated
the subordination of the donor to her devotional attitude.
As the century progresses, the donor increasingly becomes
the focus of the painting, and an attempt is made to show
the influence of the spiritual content on the individual.
The portraits begin to reveal the way in which the donor's
religious contemplations affect his or her soul. This is a
significant indication of the increased influence of the
importance of the individual in Italian art.^ The emphasis
on prominent donor representations in these religious
paintings was of fundamental significance to the development
of portraiture in the following century. In addition, these
portraits had an impact on later times because of their
spiritual content and the differentiation in the treatment
of male and female figures.
Literature
The other major source which influenced the ideals
underlying female portraiture of the Quattrocento is the
literature of love. It is here that women gain a primary
role, since the concern of the genre is the glorification of
the noble woman. The role of women in literature does not
parallel her role in donor portraiture, because in courtly
literature the woman is not seen as an appendage of her
husband, family, or religious order, but through the eyes of
a man recounting her virtues—she is adored rather than
adoring.'
It is generally recognized that French Romances were
avidly read by upper-class Italians of the fifteenth century.
In this courtly literature they found the image of the ideal
woman which corresponded to that developed in the work of
g
Dante and Petrarch. Eventually, these literary ideals were
to be combined with the existing female donor formula to
fashion a new mode of feminine portraiture.
The unique idea of romantic love between a man and
woman, first expressed by the late twelfth century by the
Proven9al troubadours, created a contrast to the view that
women were naturally defective, and as St, Chrysostom said,
"a necessary evil, a natural temptation, desired indeed, but
bearing calamity with her, a domestic peril, a deadly
9
fascination." In the service of courtly love men surren
dered themselves to unrequited passion; they felt that women
exalted the spirit rather than debased it. Women become
untouchable goddesses instead of a necessary evil, thus
creating a theoretical potential in women to achieve the
highest moral virtue, and inspiring men to virtue also.
This can be seen vividly in the work of Petrarch in praise
of Laura;
When sometimes Love is borne in her sweet face
and comes among the other ladies there,
as each one suddenly seems much less fair,
by so much does my will to love increase.
I bless [benedico] the time, the very hour, the place,
that raised my eyes up to a height so rare,
and say: my soul, your thankfulness declare
that you were rendered worthy of such grace.
From her there comes to you the thought of love
which, if you follow, leads to highest good,
careless of all that other men regard;
from her there comes the blithe and graceful mood
that shows the fittest path to heaven above:
and thus my hope already seems to thrive.10
By the fifteenth century there were many exponents of
this literary adulation of women, a tradition which
influenced the behavior of the nobility, as well as those
seeking that status. In courtly love, the contemplation
of a lady's virtues prompted men to undertake noble deeds in
the service of chivalry. These deeds were expressions of a
man's love as well as an indication of the manner in which
his lady led him to honor. The extent to which this litera
ture influenced Italian upper-class culture during the
course of the fifteenth century can be found in a comparison
between a fictional account of a jousting tournament and the
record of an actual joust. That the spirit of a public
occasion such as a joust was not only similar in both French
and Italian culture, but was little changed throughout the
fifteenth century, can be illustrated by comparing the
account of the French writer and artist, Christine de Pisan,
with that of the 1468 tournament sponsored by Lorenzo de'
Medici.
In her Book of the Duke of True Lovers, written
c. 1405, Christine de Pisan describes a fictional tournament
12
and accompanies the description with an illiimination. As
narrator, the Duke tells of the lavish preparations arranged
to impress his lady. The Duke's lady was seated in a place
of honor surrounded by noble ladies in descending order of
rank. This placement acknowledges the lady's superiority,
in both her worldly rank and, by implication, her moral
character. The joust was preceded by the readying of arms
and emblems; on his helmet the Duke wore a green "chaplet"
(garland) and a sleeve, both given to him by his lady. Thus
arrayed, he sallied forth for a day of jousting. Deeds of
chivalry were done in honor of the lady and, due to the
effort to impress, hard blows were "aimed at the opening of
13
the visor, or else struck at shield or helm."
The brutality is somewhat diminished in the Italian
version, for it became the form, rather than the content that
was most important in the later tournaments. While Lorenzo
14 .
de' Medici speaks modestly of the actual tournament, its
lavishness was recorded in a poem by Luigi Pulci, "La Giostra
di Lorenzo de'Medici. It took place in the Piazza S.
Croce, and cost, as Lorenzo notes in his Ricordi, 10,000
16
ducats. This estimate only refers to the structures and
decoration in the Piazza, and doesn't include money spent on
personal adornment. Lorenzo rode to the event on a horse
given to him by Ferrante, King of Naples. The account of
this event shows how thoroughly the Medici were assimilated
into the position of nobility by this time, and how great a
part the courtly ideal played in the reaffirming of that
position. Over his surcoat Lorenzo wore a silk scarf, with
fresh and withered roses embroidered around his motto,
Le Tems Revient, written in pearls. Placed in his black
velvet cap amidst gold and jewels, on his heraldic shield
17
were displayed the three golden lilies of France, while in
the center of the shield was the Medici diamond. In the
field he mounted a charger presented to him by the Duke of
Ferrara, and buckled on armor sent by the Duke of Milan.
Lorenzo was awarded the tournament prize, as was the
fictional Duke in Christine de Pisan's account. In addition,
both the Duke and Lorenzo comment modestly on this accom-
18
plishment. Both jousts were arranged for an admired lady,
inaccessible as always, and each tournament was ostensibly
19
arranged for another purpose. There were numerous visual
illustrations of jousts in both France and Italy, and the
way in which women are depicted appears to have a relation
ship to courtly literature and to the development of female
portraiture.
The first visualizations of the woman described in
courtly literature were in book illumination. With its
graceful, delicate lines and vivid color. International
Style was the perfect vehicle to convey her physical
appearance. One of the miniatures in Christine de Pisan's
Duke of True Lovers depicts the joust (Fig. 7). Knights are
seen frozen in active poses, compressed into the foreground
by a decorative backdrop. The compositional emphasis is not
the sport per se, but concentrates on the women serenely
watching the scene from a raised box which creates the
backdrop. The long sleeve of the Duke's lady, placed in the
center, hangs over the enclosure drawing the eye upward. A
dark horizontal line leads the viewer's eye across the box
to each lady; at each end a female profile figure draws the
eye back to the center, producing a closed composition.
Further, the ladies are larger in scale than the contestants
in the foreground, emphasizing the woman's key position in
courtly love tradition. Despite their key position, the
ladies have very little individual character in their faces,
rather, all conform to the International Style ideal of
20
elegance derived from the Limbourg workshop of Paris.
Interestingly, the visages of all the women have counter
parts in literary description; very white skin, broad
21
foreheads, small rounded chins, and fair hair. The
presence of these direct parallels attests to the existence
of a broadly accepted physical ideal. This important
example emphasizes the consequence of the woman to the
tournament, staged for her. When deeds of chivalry were
done in this context, the man's sense of honor was heightened
and the quality of his soul elevated. In this miniature,
the lack of characterization of the Duke's lady is deceptive,
because the values she represents are of the highest order.
The literary text accompanying the visual illustration is
crucial to the understanding of the depiction, for to
comprehend the seemingly bland quality of the lady's
pictorialization, one must look to the correct demeanor of a
22
woman in Christine's account of the chivalric ideal.
When turning to Italian sources one finds a body of
literature which expresses related concerns. A Florentine
of the Trecento, who had traveled in Provence, Francesco da
23
Barberino, composed two popular works setting forth the
courtly ideal to the upper-class of Florence. The
popularity of the books demonstrates the assimilation of the
courtly ideal into the everyday life of the upper-class
Italians. Barberino's Costume e Reggimento di Donna is a
guidebook of model behavior for women, written in an
aphoristic style in verse. All of Barberino's maxims are
illustrated by examples or stories. The rules that were to
be observed by women come under fifty-four headings, in
addition to many preliminary warnings and special precepts
for reigning houses. For every occasion, according to this
author, there was an appropriate response. For example,
Barberino often gives instructions such as, "[a woman
25
should] stand with her eyes lowered and her limbs still."
These admonitions correspond very closely to the modesty
displayed by the ladies in Christine de Pisan's tournament
illustration, as well as to other International Style
depictions. The anecdotes accompanying Barberino's
instructions describe paragons from the courts of Provence,
Normandy, England, and Castile. The international background
reveals the pervasiveness of this behavioral mode for women.
In addition, the popularity of the volume suggests the
admiration for the aristocratic ideal and the Italian desire
to emulate it. As was usual with literature of this period.
unmistakable religious overtones are present. In Barberino's
work this takes the guise of female allegorical figures
26 
personifying the Virtues. The author converses throughout
the book with the allegorical figures, who serve to unite
the otherwise disjointed parts of the book. Each of the
Virtues is subordinate to the Madonna, who represents
27
Wisdom. The subordination to the Virgin implies that she
is the source for all virtues, and she is thus inextricably
28 
bound to the chivalric ideal.
More sophisticated forms of literature were plumbed
by Elizabeth Cropper for her article on the ideal woman in
art. She points out that the same type of woman who was the
subject of the panegyric of the thirteenth century Latin
poetics became the donzella svelta, gracile, and ridente,
who in the vernacular Romances always appears with ivory
skin, blonde hair, rosy cheeks, and red lips. The most
influential vernacular poet who absorbed this description
29
was Boccaccio. In praising Emilia in the Teseida, he
continues the tradition by discussing her physical beauty in
nearly the same terms. Since the poem was written by an
author whose best known work, the Decameron, often exposed
the foibles of men and women, this poem underscores the wide
acceptance of the ideal in Italy.
Christine de Pisan
One of the most fascinating individuals of the
courtly world in the early fifteenth century was Christine
de Pisan. She was born in Venice about 1364; her father.
Tommaso da Pizzano, was a noted professor of astrology at
Bologna who subsequently accepted an offer from Charles V,
King of France, to work in his service. Tommaso's position
at the French court brought his family into contact with
many prominent people of the day. After a unique education
31
iinder her father's supervision, Christine was married at
age fifteen to Etienne de Castel, who became notary and
Secretary to the King. Christine subscribed to the courtly
ideal of womanhood in theory, promoting the image, but an
examination of her life shows that she also contradicted
some of the tenets of the ideal. She was to become an
extremely unusual and unconventional woman in many ways.
Both her father and her husband had died by 1389, and she
was involved for fourteen years in litigation concerning her
husband's estate. Though she had some staunch champions,
she was highly criticized during these legal battles for
appearing in the antechambers of the palace to defend her
rights. (This transgression was rendered more onerous by
her appearing unescorted.)
In order to support herself and her three children,
Christine wrote courtly and lyric poetry, but in the years
between 1399 and 1405, her interests were awakened to more
serious subjects. In her "Epistre au Dieu d'Amour," she
defended women against male detractors; particularly
offensive to her were the attacks against women and marriage
contained in the second part of the popular, thirteenth
32
century, Roman de la Rose, written by Jean de Meung. In
the "Dieu d'Amour," she championed women with a carefully
constructed argument, highlighted by her assertion that
though there were miscreants, that fact did not condemn all
women. In her argument, Christine also enumerated the
virtues of womanhood, underscoring them with religious
references: women should be honoured for the sake of the
Virgin, and because, unlike men, no woman in Biblical
33
example had ever turned her back on Christ. The publica
tion of this defense was followed by an intense exchange of
letters, debating the subject, between Christine and learned
men of Paris such as Gontier and Pierre Col and Jean
Monstreuil. Christine's side of the debate was supported
by, among others, her friend Jean Gerson, Chancellor of the
34
University of Paris.
Another of Christine's defenders in the debate was
Marshal Boucicault, who had returned from his successful
campaign in the East, and in 1399 founded an order of
knighthood dedicated to the defense of ladies, "I'^cu verd
A la dame blanche." On St. Valentine's day in 1400, another
association for the defense of women, and the cultivation of
poetry, was founded by lords of the Burgundian party.
Christine was the only woman who took a leading role in the
organization of this "Cour Amoureuse." Among the members of
this association were two of Christine's chief adversaries
in the debate concerning the Roman de la Rose, Gontier and
Pierre Col. This indicates the wide acceptance of the
courtly ideal, even in the presence of a blatant philosophi
cal contradiction. In addition, Christine was widely read
and highly praised by prominent and learned men of her
35
day, again underscoring the co-existence in social values
of the courtly ideal and humanist studies.
Another work written and illustrated by Christine,
the Livre de Trois Vertus (1405),  expanded upon these
synthesized theories of ideal womanhood. In this educational
treatise on the duties of women in different ranks of
society, Christine explains the lack of great female authors
and thinkers of the Medieval era;
Si la coustiame estoit de mettre les petites
filles a I'escole, et que communement on les
fist apprendre les sciences comme on fait aux
filz, au'elles apprendroient aussi parfaitement
et entenderoient les subtilites de toutes les
arz et sciences comme ils font.36
In her writing, interests and activities, Christine can be
seen to embody the different impulses of the courtly ideal
and the new hximanist learning, which came to complement each
other. Although she wrote out of necessity, her writing was
not confined to courtly literature or poetry. This is an
important point, for it indicates that while she knew the
conventions of courtly love and was skillful at portraying
its manifestations, she also knew its intellectual limits.
Not only was Christine an Italian-born woman active in
promoting the position of her sex, but she also regularly
commissioned workshops to illustrate her books and maintained
aesthetic control. This remarkable woman provides a clue
to the process which occurred in the pictorialization of the
ideal woman.
One of Christine's courtly prose works, The Book of
the Duke of True Lovers^ from which the description and
illustration of the joust discussed earlier in this study
were derived, is interesting in its implication for the
issue of Quattrocento female portraiture. The story is
concerned with the love a noble young man feels for an
inaccessible woman, married to a jealous, high-ranking
husband. The process of the idealization of a lady and all
its ramifications is developed in the brief novel. A dual
image of the ideal woman is implied in one of the many poems
the Duke (i.e. Christine) writes to express his overwhelming
emotion;
Thou 0 Love, the traitor art!
Tender once as any may.
The wielder of the dart
That is pointed but to slay.
Thee with reason, but my fay,
Double-visaged we declare;
One is as the ashes grey.
But one is an angel fair.
Loth am I to find my part
In the night without a ray.
Yet desire hath stung my heart
And I sigh in sorrow's sway.
Gentle hope will never stay
In the mansions of despair:
One to death would point the way.
But one is an angel fair.
Hope might in my spirit start.
Death thy servant bids her nay;
While beneath thy scourge I smart.
Doleful still must be my lay.
Since to set my steps astray.
Thou at once art wheat and tare;
One is like a devil, yea.
But one is like an angel fair.
Love, thou teachest me to say.
Double tribute is to apply
For thy servant everywhere;
One is grievous, well-a-day!
But one is an angel fair.38
Love itself is the subject of this ballad, but one infers
the object of that love is the guiding force behind the
double image; denigrating and sublime, the poem furnishes an
impression of the woman herself. Not as an individual, but
as a concept, she wields a two-edged sword with her ability
to bestow or withdraw her favor at will, affecting the
quality of the Duke's life. Woman as a concept, rather than
an individual is important to the understanding of Quattro
cento female portraiture, since Italian portraits were
influenced by the literary image of the ideal woman. The
poem quoted above implies that the lady has the power both
to destroy the spirit, and conversely, to exalt earthly life,
thus giving the Duke the ability to achieve more than he
would without her silent inspiration. This is an extremely
subtle role and very difficult to express visually. Thus
the International Style miniatures which developed around
this literature tend to formalize the depiction of the ideal
woman into set attitudes and poses in order to illustrate
an accepted concept.
Christine cleverly delineates the ironic relationship
of men to women in courtly love logic. As we have seen, the
womanly object of desire has the power to deny the man her
love, thereby lessening his ability to achieve knightly
honor. Thus when the Duke, the archetypical lover, is
assured of returned love, the woman becomes the incarnation
of good. In another ballad he likens her to a saint and
requests that she grant him Grace;
Kind and fair Saint,
My heart's repose.
Whose sweet constraint
Doth all enclose
that the world knows
Of graciousness,
Vouchsafe me grace!
Fresh without taint.
As the new rose.
This my heart's plaint
That overflows
Ere my breath goes.
Pity and bless.
Vouchsafe me grace!
Ah, sweet dove pent.
Shy dove, for whose
Dear grace I faint.
So my heart glows
It dares Disclose
Love, Love nought less.
Vouchsafe me grace!
Save thy heart close
To longing's throes,
0 Loveliness,
Vouchsafe me grace!^'
Thus in courtly love and the chivalric tradition noble women
40
attain a higher status in theory than that accorded to men.
The parallel between images of saints and the Virgin and
this ideal woman is blithely drawn in poetry, and it would
seem increasingly that painting takes on a growing respect
ability as an art from literature. If the artists of the
early Quattrocento wished to attain the status of poets,
what more effective method than to draw their forms from
literary tradition, extending portraiture beyond a simple
likeness. Portraiture in the fifteenth century was to
become a self-contained vision, invested with a widely
acknowledged ideal, rather than the direct, immediate, and
humble relationship of portrait figure to holy figure seen
in Trecento donor painting.
Early Fifteenth Century Female Portraits
Very few independent female portraits that can be
dated to the beginning of the fifteenth century are extant.
The transition from women in illustrations of courtly life
to the independent panel portrait can be seen by examining
two early French examples: the first a portrait of Christine
41
de Pisan (Fig. 8), a book illumination from about 1405,
and the second, an independent panel now in the National
Gallery in Washington, D.C., artist unknown and dated
42
tentatively about 1415 (Fig. 9).
Christine portrays herself in a standardized visual
language, identifying with an impersonal pictorial style
which emphasizes her role as a writer. Christine intended
to show herself in this portrait as a courtly woman, and at
the same time, surround herself with literary emblems. She
is seen in her study, framed by an arch motif, in a three-
quarter view, writing in an open book. International Style
conventions are employed; the face is characterized by a
wide brow, rounded chin, pale skin, and small, unpronounced
features. Controlled by this courtly style, Christine's
portrait reveals little about her appearance, and nothing
about her psyche.
43 .
The Washington Portrait of a Lady is set against a
dark foil which accentuates the extreme white and rose tones
44
of the face. The movement of the design begins within the
profile line of the face against the dark ground; each curve
repeats the rounded shape of the brow, nose, and chin. The
eye moves up to the headgear, which slopes rapidly downward
to the simple line of the back, where the eye is caught by
the deliberate curve of the beads, and led back up to the
face. The head rises out of a high collar and heavily
brocaded, deep blue and gold gown. This is counter-balanced
by the sumptuous headgear wound round the dark gold tones of
the elaborately dressed hair. The whole is designed to be
read as a two-dimensional surface pattern as well as a
portrait. Despite this stylization, the portrait expresses
some individuality of feature. The linearity is deceptive,
for the face itself begins to emerge from the subordination
to two-dimensional design; the plasticity of the face pulls
away from the stylized flatness of the torso. This seeming
awkwardness is extremely effective because it accentuates
the face and creates strong contrasts, all of which are
highly charged with energetic and unresolved tensions.
These characteristics are shared to a limited degree with
the early profile portraits of Italy.
The Veronese, Pisanello (c. 1395-1455), took his
artistic inspiration from International Style, combining
French with Lombard characteristics. As in the French panel
in Washington, Pisanello's Portrait of Ginevra d'Este
(c. 1435, Fig. 10) includes two-dimensional patterning,
although here transferred mainly to the background. The
artist displays other International Style preferences, such
as the attenuated, three-quarter body versus a profile head.
Though the profile is silhouetted against a dark green
background, the botanical detail lessens the impact.4 5 The
flattening of the figure to merge with the background is
achieved by a correspondence in the colors of Ginevra's gown
with the flowers, butterflies, and foliage. Against this
richness the unbroken surfaces of the face and neck appear
well articulated. Ginevra*s face is suffused with a soft,
golden light which defines the features with moderate shadow.
creating the illusion that the features are pronounced,
without delineating them precisely. The ear is defined by
the shadow, bringing it into sharper focus than any other
feature. A white ribbon catches the light and directs
attention to the minutely rendered hairs, pulled back
tightly from her face and neck. Her facial expression, on
the other hand, conforms to a courtly attitude of self-
contained superiority, with a slight, stiff smile. Thus
Pisanello, by carefully selected detail, and by balancing
idealization with naturalism, convinces the viewer of
Ginevra's existence. At the same time he establishes her as
in possession of ideal womanhood; this is further reinforced
by the nobility inherent in the emblems of her family, seen
in the botanical background and the impresa on her sleeve.
The Portrait of a Lady, by Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406-
69, Fig. 11), probably painted around 1445-50, also exhibits
tensions, although it is stylistically more consistent and
self-consciously abstracted into a more universal statement.
This profile portrait provides an early example of Florentine
painting in the formation of an idealized female portrait
lineage. Lippi advanced the portrait, with its remnants of
the awe and reverence inherited from early donor portraits,
to a more mature state. Although the original impetus of
Lippi's Lady stems more from donor portraiture than from the
courtly image, the portrait is overlaid with Renaissance
innovations, such as the perspectival background, a greater
facility in rendering the substance of the body, and the
reconciliation of the linearity with three-dimensional
form.
47
The lady is dressed in French fashion, with a green
gown, and a headdress composed of a scarlet cap, outlined by
pearls, and a white, translucent veil. The veil floats
about her neck, covering a single strand of pearls, and
emphasizing the decorative effect of the line. Her face is
portrait-like, but the features are subordinated to the
expressive force of the line, which exaggerates the extreme
slope of the forehead and receding curve of the chin. Light
shines consistently from the left, unifying the composition
and highlighting selected areas. In particular, it models
her hands, a device that serves to guide the eye upward. In
addition, it falls on the converging lines of the window
frame and sill, focusing attention on the head. The light
glows with a crystalline luster on the face, emphasizing the
ivory tones and distinguishing it from the mundane world.
There is abstraction in the facial expression; though the
eye stares straight ahead, the heaviness of the lid allows
for an impression of psychological inwardness, and reinforces
a reverential quality akin to religious paintings. The
embellishments of her costume tend to focus attention on the
abstracted face to a greater extent than either the Pisanello
or Washington portraits. Although Lippi delights in the
sensuality of texture, it does not negate the piety that
characterizes the face. The diaphonous veil is as
luxuriously conceived as that of a Lippi Madonna. However,
because of the Renaissance viewer's preconceived acceptance
of the Madonna's innate spirituality and purity, she is
allowed a greater degree of soft, pliable beauty. These
human attributes instill religious didacticism with qualities
comprehensible to the secular viewer. On the other hand,
even though profile features can be flattering in secular
portraiture, they do not convince the viewer of a woman's
existence, as we have seen in Pisanello's portrait of
Ginevra d'Este. An important conceptual advance is created
by Lippi's use of the tactile qualities to affirm his
sitter's genuineness. At the same time, the profile portrait
idealizes the features, and emphasizes the qualities of
womanhood valued by the patron and society.
Although a sense of ideal womanhood had been formalized
in both literary and, as will be discussed, in social terms,
the pictorial poetry of womanhood was only beginning to be
developed in the first part of the fifteenth century. In the
feminine ideal of secular literature, the infusion of a reli
gious element was inevitable. Petrarch was able to make
48
reference to Laura as a divine figure, but was also able to
distinguish the characteristics which constituted her super
iority and connect them with earthly love. This tradition
was assimilated into the work of other authors, and religious
imagery tends to become mingled with secular imagery in later
love lyric. This can also be seen in painting, hence the
traditions of both the secular and religious arts become in
fluential in the depiction of women in the fifteenth century.
CHAPTER II
RELIGIOUS SOURCES
The significance of fifteenth century female
portraiture lies in a structure of great cultural complexity.
Having dealt with the importance of early portrait styles
and literature on the formulation of depictions of women,
it is now necessary to investigate the religious sources
that exerted an influence on the genre. It is important to
understand that an essential element of Renaissance society
was its absorption in Christianity; religious rituals and
dogma permeated every facet of life. Renaissance Christians
fundamentally understood the iconographical language of the
art they saw so profusely around them. From medieval
society, the Renaissance inherited a religious legacy of
profound impact.
Both public and private devotion was an important
part of medieval and Renaissance religious life. Mass was
said frequently, marking the events on the Biblical calendar.
Prominent families made decorative donations to the Church,
often in the form of side chapels dedicated to their own
patron saint. Preaching figured significantly, and was
quite popular, especially among women. At home, wealthy
citizens had private chapels, as well as paintings of
religious subjects for meditation within their own chambers.
Women were expected to pray for all members of their
families, and elaborate rosaries were crafted to aid in this
aspect of Christian worship. Due to this interrelationship,
it is not possible to separate religious life from secular
life in any but the broadest terms. ̂ The Church and hel: /
representatives were engaged in worldly affairs, and the
reciprocal nature of secular and religious life created only
nominal divisions between the two. Women especially were
expected to live the Christian life, adhering to its
stringent moral requirements. Religion influenced both
2
their behavior, and the attitudes of men toward them.
Michelet summed up the education of the medieval woman in
3
one short phrase, "1'imitation de la Vierge."
There was no great division between the education of
medieval and early Renaissance women, and the attitude of
reverence toward the Virgin continues throughout the
fifteenth century. In the Christian point of view, the
highest state of perfection ever attained by a woman was
that of the Virgin, the Mother of Christ. It was this image
of womanhood and motherhood, however unattainable, toward
which women could aspire. There were numerous pictorial
examples of the Madonna in various roles, used for public
4
and private devotion. Increasingly in the fifteenth
century, images of the Virgin became more human and
approachable. This accessibility in the artistic image led
to a wider acceptance of human qualities in the portrayal of
other important women, thus facilitating an evolution in
female portraiture. Paintings of the Virgin were visual
reminders of this ideal of womanhood, and it was naturally
through this subject that the Christian artist first
5
conceived of an artistic feminine ideal.
The womanly identification with the Virgin was very
common, and can be seen, for example, in the visions of the
6
great fourteenth century saint, Catherine of Siena. Her
mystic marriage to Christ echoes that of St. Catherine of
Alexandria in the fourth century; both visions are reflec-
7
tions of Mary and Christ as Bride and Bridegroom. Many
Italian female saints after Catherine of Siena became the
Q
spouses of Christ. This was the consummate example of
imitatio Maria, but the concept of this devotion—the
ability to move closer to Christ through the Virgin's
intercession, and ultimately through emulating and identify-
9
ing with her—affected all Christian women.
In order to strengthen this identification, artists
of the fifteenth century show a growing tendency to depict
the Virgin as a mortal being, albeit extremely beautified
and idealized. In Trecento paintings of the adoration of
the Magi, the Virgin is shown with greater dignity and
solemnity, as befits the Mother of God receiving the homage
of the earthly kings (Fig. 12). Only during the Renaissance
does her face begin to show more expressiveness, displaying
interest in the homage shown to the Child, as well as a
heightened sense of motherly affection (Fig. 13).
Seven sorrowful events in Mary's life form the Via
Matris which corresponds to Christ's Via Crucis. Mary as a
human being suffered and partook of Christ's sufferings, and
through that, and because of it, shares in the atonement of
mankind, Through the veneration of Mary, people of the
Renaissance had to recognize this role the Creator allowed
the Virgin, and in doing so, took their highest ideal of
woman from this example. The worshipper could see that the
Virgin's sufferings were the hximan, physical expression of
Christ's sorrows. This is one of the ways in which the
relationship between Christ and Mary could be elucidated.
Among Mary's sorrows, Simeon's prophecy was one of
the most potent, since it was the presentiment of all her
future sorrows. At the Presentation of Christ in the
temple, Simeon said to Mary;
Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising
of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken
against (and a sword will pierce through your
own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts
may be revealed (Luke 2:34-35).
In the Versio vulgata, this was translated, "and his sword
shall pierce through thy soul [italics mine]."^^ This
caused the commentators to interpret the "sword" as the
lance that pierced Christ at the Crucifixion. The sword
that was to be figuratively thrust into her bosom at the
Sacrifice was often shown literally in art, not at the
Crucifixion, but at the moment Mary receives Simeon's words.
Hence Mary's presence at Christ's Presentation became
associated with her suffering at Golgotha, and the popular
interpretation of Simeon's prophecy was instrumental in
. .  . 12
asserting a greater consanguinity with Christ. In
addition, the apocryphal literature which grew up around
Mary and her relationship with her Son emphasized her human
tenderness and affection. These were qualities on which
women could not only meditate, but which aided them in the
devotional task of identifying so closely with the Virgin
that they lived through her experience.1 3 Each presentiment
of separation from Christ, each search, paralleled the final
separation, both physical and metaphysical. Through His
mother, Christians could see the hviman side which Christ
progressively abandons for his true role. This had a
parallel in earthly life that a Renaissance man and woman
could easily comprehend: in order to realize full manhood,
men had to progressively leave the tutelage of their
mothers, sorrowful, but necessary. Therefore, in the minds
of both men and women, a preconceived parallel existed, and
a transference was natural in Quattrocento portraiture from
Madonna image to secular female image.
In the first half of the fifteenth century, female
portraits begin to exhibit more complex states of mind,
corresponding to those of the psychologically responsive
Virgin figures. There is a time discrepancy in the
manifestation of this characteristic in these two types of
painting. In addition, in portraiture this new treatment
demonstrated less an individual personality, than a general
awareness of the ideal woman, or rather ideal wife/mother.
Her womanly role, in turn, was defined by the example
14
provided by the unwavering devotion of the Virgin. During
the fifteenth century, the Madonna depictions surpass the
secular figures in displaying psychological states. While
there seems to be a growing trend in the Quattrocento to
depict the Virgin as a mortal being, the female portrait
15
images tend to elevate mortal women.
Although it is not easy to convey psychological
states through the profile view, since it gives only half
the face, it is not impossible. Fra Filippo Lippi's
Portrait of a Lady (Fig. 9), when compared to the full-face
Madonna in the Louvre Altarpiece (c. 1437, Fig. 14) by the
same artist, shows the portrait to be much less open in its
expression. The profile view is one reason for this formal-
ization, but a comparison with the Portrait of a Lady
(c. 1440, Fig. 15), attributed tentatively to Fra Diamante,
confirms that a limited psychological state can be revealed
in a profile portrait. The woman is framed by panelling on
all sides; she pokes her head forward a bit, increasing the
intensity of her gaze, as if she sees something that the
viewer cannot. (This mental alertness is used and refined
later in the century.) In Lippi's Madonna, the full-face
gaze is directed pensively downward, expressing a more
definable emotion; she is contemplating the future sorrow of
Christ's Sacrifice. In Fra Diamante's work, the austerity
of the surroundings helps to create the mood of quiet
contemplation. The sitter's character is intimated by the
pictorial treatment of the features, but this character is
more an ideal of Christian virtue, influenced by the
Virgin's example, than the portrayal of an individual
personality. Despite this, the images of women are not
merely blank and idealized beyond any character, but attempt
to depict an inner spiritual life.
The spiritualized aspect is partially created by the
extremely psychologically remote quality in the portraits,
appearing as if the woman depicted were in a partially
transcendent state, rather than the ordinary temporal realm.
This emphasis on the spiritualization of female portraiture,
its connection with women and religion, and especially with
imitatio Maria, can be seen in a diptych (painted on two
sides) of Federigo da Montefeltro and his wife, Battista
Sforza (c. 1460, Fig. 16), by Piero della Francesca
(c. 1420-1492). Since both are seen in profile, these
portraits provide a perfect example of the disparity between
17
male and female depictions. The bust-length portrait of
Battista is stylistically related to Piero's female figures
in the narrative cycle in San Francesco in Arrezo (Fig. 17),
whereas the pendant profile portrait of Federigo portrays
the utmost individuality of feature and personality, and
stylistically is difficult to relate to the artist's
depictions of male saints.
While Battista's portrait resembles, for example,
Piero's kneeling figure of an attendant to St. Helena in the
Proof of the True Cross (Fig. 18), there is also a subtle
specificity in the rendering of the secular face. Both the
faces of St. Helena's attendant and Battista are defined by
the bone structure that Piero manipulates to create volume.
In addition, each face projects a sense of reverence and
purity. Despite the extreme idealization, it is the
structure of Battista's head itself, as well as the sensi
tivity of the individual features, that gives the face
character, and lends to the portrait an aura of inner
strength and knowledge. The decorative line is used to
unify the figure, creating depth in the coiling headdress,
and, originating from the unseen ear, it is continued in the
curve of the deeply cut jawline. An extension of this line
molds the silhouette of the features and describes the
perfect oval of the head set against the sky. The interior
of the face echoes this shape, particularly in the fore
shortening of the eye which is structured by a dark line,
encircling the area and emphasizing the socket. The eye
itself is a small wedge within the oval shape; the pupil is
only half seen under the protruding lid, reinforcing the
spiritually inward expression.
When compared with the profile portraits of Pisanello,
the difference is immediately evident. Pisanello's Portrait
of Ginevra d'Este (Fig. 10) demonstrates this disparity in
its abstract flatness against a fantasy background.
Ginevra's face is basically two-dimensional; the features
are composed rigidly, with the mouth tilted upward in a
formalized smile. In Piero's work the density of the head
overcomes the limitations of the profile. The figures and
background of the diptych possess an independent reality,
each existing to play against the forms of the other. The
Pisanello portrait, on the other hand, does not appear to
exist in any real time or space: Piero's work captures the
essence of an environment existing in suspended time.
The portraits of Battista Sforza and Federigo da
Montefeltro succinctly dramatize the disparity between the
male and female profile portrait in the second half of the
fifteenth century. The landscape behind each figure, as
well as the common light source unify the paintings, but
the light illiames Battista's face and places Federigo's in
shadow. This technique allows for far greater modulation in
the male portrait, and thus greater specificity. The Duke's
brilliant crimson garb contrasts with the muted tones of
Battista's portrait. Her delicate, nearly translucent flesh
acts as a foil to her husband's robust swarthiness. It
attests both to Piero's skill as a colorist, and to the
power of the female ideal, that Federigo's physicality does
not overwhelm his wife's portrait. Battista's portrait
displays a natural continuity with the idealized women of
other portraits. There is no need to depict her in any
other pose, for all the information necessary about her is
here and, as in Trecento portraiture, this is sufficient to
convey the desired message. Although more specific in
feature than the face of St. Helena's attendant in the
Arezzo fresco, the tranquility, sense of inner knowledge,
and spiritual attainment are all present—as if the soul
were worn on the exterior as well as the interior.
The association of women and religion is reinforced
on the reverse side of the diptych; Battista is accompanied
in her Triumphal chariot by personifications of the
theological Virtues, while the Duke is accompanied by the
18
secular Virtues (Fig. 19). Furthermore, the Duchess'
chariot is drawn by unicorns, symbols of chastity. Chastity
was a fundamental attribute of the Virgin, and the imitation
of the Virgin was a prerequisite for attaining all other
virtues. This was also a crucial virtue to the upper-class
woman's role in society, as demonstrated by the severe
19
punishments for incontinence. This chastity was the center
of onest^, a significant concept to the medieval and Renais
sance Italian woman. The implications of onest^ go far
beyond its most fundamental meaning of honesty and modesty.
In Thomistic tradition,2 0 a woman in possession of her
onest^ had a sensitivity to anything shameful or immoderate.
instigating a sense of honor devoted to duty, and was
21
crowned by a spiritual beauty. Thus the image of Battista
is bound together with the social requirements that she has
ostensibly met, and which the portrait seeks to convince the
viewer she has fulfilled, bringing honor to her, and conse
quently to her husband and family. Similarly, the icon
ography of the Duke's depiction represents the counterpart
in men—worldly goals and assets. The two portraits become
mutually complementary, embodying the highest expectations
for noble manhood and womanhood. All of the virtues seen in
the Triumphs on the back are synthesized in the portraits of
the Duke and Duchess on the front; the two panels in
conjunction provide a public statement of the fame and honor
of the House of Montefeltro.
In summary, there is a close relationship between
women and their imitation of the Virgin, because it was
through the Virgin's suffering that women were able to
22
respond to Mary on a human as well as a spiritual level.
Specifically, this imitatio Maria seems to have encouraged
forebearance, nobility of mind, and piety, and these
qualities are reflected in the portraiture. A woman such as
St. Catherine of Siena could gain special recognition
through unusual spiritual prowess, but the majority of women
had to rely on embellishing the image of womanhood, and
glorifying their natural attributes through spiritual
identification with the Virgin. In this effort, the beatific
superiority of the woman in the courtly tradition was
beneficial. Women created a mystique of religious devotion
by conforming to the role that was extolled as their
Christian duty, and used every method within the scope of
that role to gain as powerful a position as it would allow.
The perpetuation of this position can be seen as an important
factor in the evolution of female portraiture, for the image
of woman that it conveys reveals the manner in which they
23
wished to be perceived.
CHAPTER III
LATER QUATTROCENTO SOCIETY AND PORTRAITURE
Key aspects of literature and religion contributed to
the formation of the cultural imagery of noble womanhood in
the fifteenth century. And it is that social structure
which provided the final component for female portraiture of
the late Quattrocento. During this latter part of the
century, the form female depiction embraced in Italy was
still primarily that of the profile portrait. Developed in
Florence during the first half of the century to depict
men,^ this form persisted as a convention only in female
portraiture as the century progressed. As pointed out
earlier, one of the advantages of the profile was to present
the features of an individual in the most immediate and
easily recognizable way possible, while maintaining a
standard of idealization as a direct statement of the
sitter's virtues. Pope-Hennessey only touches on the
complexity of female depiction when he notes that the
purpose of some portraits was informative. For example, he
states that by the end of the century in Ferrara, portraits
of Estense women were sent to prospective husbands to
2
acquaint them with the appearance of the bride. He fails
to point out, however, that this informative function is
suggestive of the complexity of the portrait; the portrait
was the sole impression that would be received before
betrothal was seriously contemplated, and the impression
conveyed would therefore be crucial. Thus the portrait
commissioned by a particular family needed to state the most
desirable characteristics of the prospective bride. To
achieve this the ideal of womanhood which had been developed
was employed, because of its wide acceptance.
The information about the lady portrayed in a profile
portrait was necessarily that which the patron wished to be
conveyed. Therefore, in order to achieve advantageous
alliances, not only did these portraits contain information
about a specific woman, but they also expressed the quality
3
of a woman's family. Thus it was essential to create a
portrait image that embraced all those ideals of womanhood
formulated in religion and literature, and absorbed into
feminine social roles.
Social Roles of Women
The importance of a woman's domestic competency was
4
traditional in the merchant class of the communes of Italy.
Intelligence and business acumen were also desirable traits
in women of mercantile families, though not always essential
so long as the household was well managed. With the upward
mobility of a wealthy merchant-class, women of these
families were seen increasingly as "ladies," traditionally a
noblewoman's prerogative. Women of the Italian nobility
fulfilled more than just a domestic role. Their additional
social expectations were intimately connected with the
courtly image, as well as with the moral elevation they were
theoretically capable of achieving.^ This was an image to
which the bourgeois woman earlier need not conform. With
the rise in status of families such as the Medici in
Florence, however, noble attitudes and expectations began to
affect the behavior of women in the new merchant-noble class.
The roles of women in this emerging society were determined
by the changing status of their influential families in
g
Italian communes. By the second half of the fifteenth
century, noble and merchant-noble women were fulfilling
similar roles, and both were seen within the same ideal.
Merchant families such as the Medici were increasingly
pursuing traditionally noble customs, duties, and pleasures.
The nobles, however, found themselves in political competi
tion with the emerging class. At the same time each class
was influenced by the other's traditional values. It should
be pointed out that the responsibility of running a household
was required in all classes, but the noble or merchant-noble
woman had considerable leisure because her family could
7
afford servants to perform menial tasks.
Although the highest expectations of the religious,
courtly, and domestic realms are ostensibly contradictory,
these concepts in the Quattrocento tended to be comple
mentary, and were synthesized into one overall ideal for the
upper-class woman. These three differing aspects of the
ideal were inseparable, and it is important here to under
stand how the familial role of women reinforced the other
aspects of the complete ideal. This total concept of
womanhood was crystallized in the portrait image. The
persistence of the female profile portrait in the latter
half of the fifteenth century is undoubtedly due to the fact
that during this period the aspects of the ideal were
brought together in its final form in the perfected image of
femininity.
The ideal as it developed in Italian communes was
unique, differing considerably from that in societies
dominated by systems of royalty such as France, with whom
Italy had its closest cultural interchange in the fifteenth
g
century. The source of these cultural differences was
primarily economic; the rise of the merchant class in Italy
to positions of power brought competition with the
traditional noble ruling-class. The nobility had to compete
with the wealth of the merchant princes, and they in turn
had to compete with the deeply ingrained tradition of rule
that the nobles possessed.
One of the factors which gave the wealthy merchants
increased influence was the arrangement of marriages between
powerful families to cement economic and political alliances.
Marriage festivals were the one occasion in which the woman
was not only a primary concern, but was even displayed in
public. Wedding scenes were not uncommon in Italian art,
and marriage was one of the rare public ceremonies depicted
where the woman was not a subsidiary or background figure.
A good example of this can be seen in the Adimari Marriage
Chest (c. 1440, Fig. 20). In the scene painted on the lid
of a chest, a canopy in the foreground shelters a wedding
procession of several elegant, richly clothed couples,
advancing with great dignity and ceremony. Great emphasis
is placed on a courtly attitude. The men's faces are more
fully seen and defined, each escorts and turns toward a lady
(and consequently toward the viewer). It is the women who
function compositionally to draw the eye around the scene.
There is more visual interest created in the self-contained,
serene visage of each woman seen in profile, despite the
iiniformity of depiction. They appear to be psychologically
removed from the immediate scene, and this special treatment
creates a mysterious attitude which captures the viewer's
attention.
It should be noted that the bridal couple (Boccaccio
Adimari and Lisa Ricasoli), members of the new merchant-
noble class, are treated in a standard International Style
mode of depiction. This piece demonstrates the infusion of
courtly ideals into Quattrocento upper-class values. This
type of association of a real event with a courtly style
results in a scene that is more symbolic of an ideal nuptial
festival than the depiction of an actual wedding.
Consequently, it becomes the visualization of an abstract
ideal. The formalization, associating the bride and groom
with a physical and behavioral ideal, makes a concrete
visual statement about the rank of society to which they
belong. In delineating the surroundings, the artist makes
use of a we11-developed perspectival system and identifiable
Italian buildings. Thus the idealized figures are placed in
an actual time and place, convincing the viewer of the
fidelity of the ideal image.
A blending of the real and the ideal is used to great
effect in this marriage scene. The removed elegance of the
central female figures is juxtaposed against the carefully
rendered background, and the richness of the flowing drapery
forms a compositional unity. The scene is divided by the
poles of the canopy; the women in the two central sections
are placed close to the picture plane, setting them apart,
physically and psychologically, from the rest of the
composition. The men escorting them are placed firmly
within the space and lead the eye into the background,
connecting the courtly women with the real setting. This
emphasizes the concept that the man is marrying an ideal
woman, and in addition, implies the society whose marriage
customs are depicted actually exists in a perfected state.
The ideal nature of these women, then, is an important
aspect in asserting a more universal statement about the
society in which they live.
The development of the public wedding was crucial to
social mobility in Italy, for in the union lay the seeds of
future power. The image of the ideal woman was of great
importance to these connections between families. The
nobility were allying themselves with the new wealth, and
affluent merchants were allying themselves with the noble
heritage of prestige and power. The conduct of the bridal
couple, particularly the woman, was essential to the
promotion of her 'family's position, since the moral expecta
tions of an upper-class woman were so high. Rarely were the
bride's feelings considered. Instead, the bride adjusted
her feelings to suit the occasion, conditioned to accept the
choice of her family, and desirous of promoting its cause.
It was vital to her family that she conduct herself in
marriage in a manner that would reflect honor on her family.12
The expectations of noble women in marriage had
evolved in the Trecento, and were different from those
pertaining to women in other levels of society. The ideal
for the noble woman was derived from religious values, the
image of the courtly woman, and the ability to procreate and
13
effectively manage a family. The utmost loyalty to her
husband and his family was also a requirement, and because
of the acceptance of political realities, many quite
successful marriages were formed. This system of alliances
engendered many difficulties, and the deterents to the
women who did not live up to the ideal were many. There are
nvimerous instances, both in documents and fiction, which
tell of the pitfalls of the system and the failure of women
to live by the ideal. One of the most serious offenses was
adultery, which violated all the tenets formulated for women
in the maintenance of power. While the forgiveness of
adultery in the Trecento for women of non-noble classes was
commonly a matter of a beating or a fine, the penalties for
those wives and daughters of the powerful were often
extremely severe. The importance of the ideal to a woman's
family is seen not only in harsh punishments, but also in
the frequency with which cases of upper-class adultery are
recounted, and the relish with which they are told.
The origins of this ideal of behavior in the Trecento
has a bearing on the development of the image of women
established in society by the late Quattrocento. In the
fourteenth century laws did not apply with consistency to
powerful men, and they were not required when meting out
justice to their own dependents (to which group women
belonged) to abide by the laws set up for the rest of the
populace. Women who married into families such as the
Visconti of Milan, the Gonzaga of Mantua, or the Estense of
Ferrara were victims of the arbitrary power, which in
Longobardic and Roman law, permitted the execution of an
adulteress caught in flagrante delicto.
An example of the seriousness with which an infringe
ment of the feminine ideal was regarded is seen in the case
of the daughter of Bernabo visconti of Milan. In the mid-
fourteenth century Bernabo had many mistresses and illegiti
mate children. By one of his favorites he had a daughter
14
named Bernarda. When she was still quite young, he
betrothed her for political expediency to Giovanni Suardi
Cavaliere, the head of a Ghibelline family of Bergamo.15
She paid many visits to her father, who by every indication
was very fond of her. Bernabo was told that when Bernarda
visited Milan she consistently admitted a lover to her
bedroom. The rage which accompanied BernabS's discovery of
this indiscretion was undoubtedly founded on the awkwardness
it engendered for the political marriage alliance. The
claim against Bernarda was subsequently substantiated, and
to save the Visconti from himiliation, a public charge of
robbery was brought against her lover, and he was hanged in
disgrace. Bernarda was sent to a fortress and imprisoned
with Andriola Visconti. Andriola had been made Abbess of a
convent when she was twenty years old, and had been accused
16
of incontinence. In 1351, on Bernabo's instruction, they
were both put on a ration of bread and water and were slowly,
17
cruelly starved to death.
The importance of Bernarda's case to scholarly
investigation of the feminine ideal, lies in the fact that
it documents the acceptance of this punishment for adultery
by society. Such acceptance can be clearly traced: some
years after her death, rumors spread that Bernarda was still
alive; Bernabb initiated a legal inquiry to verify publicly
that she had died in 1351. This inquiry revealed the
relevant facts, and many people testified to the brutal
death of Bernarda. It was assumed that justice had been
done; further, Bernabd was extolled before the court as a
man of true appreciation of virtue and richly endowed with
the highest moral principles.18
The easy acceptance of the righteousness of harsh
punishment suggests reasons for the way women were depicted
in the fifteenth century because of what it reveals about
the society. In addition, Bernarda's case clearly elucidates
the differences in the ideal for men and women. The fact
that Bernarda was one of many illegitimate children of this
"virtuous" man, was not hypocritical to the social values of
the time. Keeping mistresses was a completely separate
matter from the political marriage contract; a liaison of
the former kind was acceptable and did not interfere with
male familial duty. There was no contradiction, for the
social status of mistresses was established in Italy; they
were accepted or, at least, tolerated, and the children of
such unxons could be legitimized if necessary.19
Not only were noble men judged by an entirely differ
ent moral ideal than the noble women, but the letter's
standard of behavior distinguished them from women of other
classes. Because of their wealth, they had leisure time to
engage in sophisticated intellectual pursuits. The
privileges of the noble woman were greater, and in a sense
she enjoyed more freedom, but she was expected to take
greater responsibility in maintaining the image of the
family. Although these women benefitted from wealth and
rank, they were often victims of and pawns in political
maneuvering. The excessively dignified image which they had
to attain (and maintain) affected their lives, and conse
quently the ideal directly informed the portraits that
developed in the fifteenth century. If their virtue was a
requirement, ladies used it to great effect, and thus proved
their superiority over women of less influential families.
They cultivated the image, perfected, and conformed to it
throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, thereby
earning an intellectual freedom and mobility in other areas
of life.
Portraiture and Quattrocento Social Aims
In order to understand the development of female
portraiture in the latter half of the fifteenth century, it
is important to look at the early male precedent; both
versions were similar in their aim of asserting nobility.
At the beginning of the Quattrocento, portraiture as a social
phenomenon can be demonstrated in the independent panel male
profile portrait that was developed in Florence.2  n This
kind of depiction was extremely popular for a few decades,
and then nearly disappeared from the artistic scene.2 1 The
portraits represent merchants of prominent families of
communes, showing them to be the equals of members of noble
families.
Rab Hatfield has several opinions about this kind of
portrait which are pertinent to this thesis. He maintains
that though they are boastful and assertive, they also appear
at the same time to be reticent and moral; this ideology
became a weapon for the society, and served as a conceptual
basis for the portrayal of excellence. The portraits also
demonstrate a spiritual nobility which is dependent on a
man, rather than a heritage and could, therefore, exist
within any society. Hatfield goes on to say that before
long, noblemen also had to be "heroized" in portraiture,
since the universality of the concept made it powerfully
22
appealing.
Female portraits also functioned as an ideological
weapon and endured throughout the fifteenth century in this
profile form, whereas male individuality was being exten
sively explored in the second half of the century. During
this time, the male profile portrait aimed at conveying not
only the ethical character of the sitter, but also the
political and economic power integral to asserting their
nobility.2 3 It is interesting to note that while the
heroized male profile portraits declined in number as the
century progressed, the spiritually idealized female profile
O A
portrait increased in popularity. It would seem, then.
that the lack of marked individualization of female portraits
is directly linked to the function of women in asserting
spiritual nobility and their position as an ideal representa-
25
tive of the family.
By the second half of the Quattrocento this idealiza
tion was crystallized in the female profile portrait as
exemplified by the Portrait of a Lady (c. 1470, Fig. 21),
26 
attributed to Antonio Pollaiuolo. The artist's interest
in the natural world is vividly evident in this elegant
portrait; the bust-length figure is rendered with a keen eye
for detail. The lady's face, turned to the left, is
illuminated evenly, and stands out from a neutral ground.
An implied mobility in the features compels the viewer to
believe in her palpable existence, and convinces one that
the portrait is an accurate record, both of facial features
and, more importantly, of character. This type of technique,
blending naturalism with idealism, was seen earlier in the
century in the work of Pisanello, and Pollaiuolo exploits
this element to the utmost to create an image which
convinces the viewer of its veracity. Pollaiuolo was con
forming to the ideal image with tenacity. The portrait
displays the same serenity as has been noted in female
portraits by other artists. This portrait states the
sitter's social status, expressed in spiritual terms through
her transcendent gaze, and her restrained, youthful beauty;
her energy is controlled by the firm line of the lips, and
the delicate luminosity of the surface. This status is also
expressed in purely physical terms: fair skin, richly
dressed hair flecked with gold highlights, jewels, and the
mobility of features achieved by the balance of the
plasticity with the profile line.
The first impression of the portrait, the uprightness
of the figure's bearing and proud carriage of her head,
immediately asserts the superior quality of her character
and the pride of her family heritage. It is the subtlety of
the shading which both preserves the effect of physical
perfection, and distinguishes her from a mere symbol of a
woman. Pollaiuolo convinces the viewer of her existence,
treating the features in a boldly pliable manner, with the
shadows accentuating the delicacy of the nostrils and mild
sensuality of the mouth. The upper lip extends beyond the
lower, giving the impression of a half-parted mouth (though
the lips still preserve a guise of control), reinforcing the
physical existence of the figure and her earthly perfection.
The face is defined first by the profile line, which
becomes darker from the nose to the neck, balancing the
broad expanse of the forehead and detailed rendering of the
headdress. The eyebrow is reduced to a bare suggestion, and
only interrupts the expanse of the brow to aid in defining
the eye socket. Below the smooth, untroubled brow, the eye
itself is skillfully foreshortened; the upward gaze from
beneath the heavy lid lends a slight pensiveness to the
face. This quality is mitigated by the lack of deep shadow
in this area, which is inconsistent with the strong lighting
which illvunes the rest of the face. This impression of
thoughtfulness aids in transmitting information regarding
the woman's intelligence, producing a statement pertinent to
the perfection of her character. There is also a hint of
good humor in the curve of her mouth; the artist is able to
accentuate this upward lift without resorting to a stiff
smile (such as in" the Pisanello portrait of Ginevra
27
d'Este). The fleeting impression of a smile is strength
ened by the use of rose tones in the shadow on the cheek and
jaw, corresponding to the deeper color of the mouth, through
which the artist leads the viewer's eye upward toward the
ear where the colored areas converge. Thus the artist
infuses a sense of the sang-froid of this woman's
character, while maintaining the seriousness and spirituality
of her visage. This portrait shows how thoroughly the
literary and cultural ideals of women were blended, and how
felicitous this combination was when creating a visual ideal.
Permeation of the feminine ideal into the Quattro
cento culture can be seen in the writings of Leon Battista
Alberti. It is important to the understanding of female
portraiture to realize that the same traditional attitudes
also affected a man in the midst of the humanist movement in
Italy. (It is interesting to note that the conservative
visualization resulting from these views seems antithetical
to the innovative attitudes of Alberti's artistic circle.)
Using an ancient source to reinforce Renaissance values,
Alberti, in his De Architecture, describes the ideal quarters
for ladies in a country villa:
I remember to have read [sic] in Aemilius Probus
the historian, that among the Greeks it was
never usual for the wife to appear at the table,
if anybody was there besides relations; and that
the apartments for the women were parts of the
house where no men ever set foot except the
nearest kindred. And indeed I must own I think
the apartments for the ladies ought to be sacred,
like places dedicated to religion and chastity.
I am besides for having the rooms particularly
designed for virgins and young ladies, fitted up
in the neatest manner, that their tender minds
may pass their time in them with less regret and
be as little weary of themselves as possible.
The mistress of the family should have an
apartment in which she may easily hear everything
that is done in the house.28
In this passage, one may ascertain not only the constant
association of women and religion, but the dichotomy that
existed between the view of women as "virgins and young
ladies" and their practical role in married life as managers
of the household. There is a realistic recognition of
youthful interests when Alberti differentiates between a
young lady, presumably married but as yet without a family
to manage, and the mistress of the family. The latter was
an extremely important role, because the smooth running of
a household was a necessity in times of uncertainty. The
wife in this role represented a continuity amid the turmoil;
the man of influence could return from an ambassadorial
post, business trip, or even a temporary exile and be
guaranteed that his possessions and his childrens' education
were under the guardianship of the most loyal member of his
household, and that his wishes would be carried out in his
absence as well as his presence.2 9 Moreover, women in the
domestic role never completely left the courtly ideal behind,
but carried both along with them into their public life.
The adherence to the courtly ideal persisted despite the
fact that a woman might develop excellent business acumen
with which to advise her husband, or cultivate her mind with
the tenets of humanism; the latter became an increasingly
more common pastime as the fifteenth century progressed.
These diverse aspects of the ideal would appear on
the surface to be irreconcilable. This includes a funda
mental dilemma between the manner in which men idealized a
woman as an object of adoration in the courtly tradition,
and the wife/mother idealization. To the modern observer,
the duality in these concepts appears because the married
state of domestic virtue was intended to be one of eternal
forebearance and virtuous self-denial in the Christian mode,
whereas the woman in courtly love was more often than not
inaccessible for marriage. In addition, the same men who
honored a married woman in compliance with the rules of
courtly love, expected the women of their own families to
conform to a code of behavior that precluded any notice of
male admiration. Fifteenth century Italian men resolved
this seemingly irreconcilable problem by acting out the
precepts of courtly love only in a formal sense, and by
adulating women with whom any reciprocal relationship was
impossible, as well as often keeping mistresses who had no
32
ties with powerful families.
It is difficult to express the abstract virtues of
womanhood in a portrait without using blatant symbols, which
were not used extensively in later Quattrocento portraits.
Therefore the portraits of that period had to draw from
images that were familiar and easily recognizable as ideal.
The depiction of the complete ideal of womanhood was
facilitated by the fact that each part of the ideal was
interconnected. The spiritual nature of women was linked
with the domestic, for the latter role was seen as a
Christian duty, and the Madonna was the ultimate model of
motherhood. The courtly image was also tied to the
spiritual, since the women in courtly literature often took
on saintly virtues and imagery. Thus each aspect contained
associative links and one aspect implied the aggregate.
When the ideal image was presented to the world in visual
form, all three aspects were, by implication, synthesized
into the female portrait.
The necessity for the ideal is clear when one closely
examines the changing role of a woman from an ordinary
bourgeois housewife to that of an aspiring lady. This
growth is well illustrated by the Medici family in
33
Florence. The women of the Medici acted as helpmeets.
confidants, and stabilizing forces in an often chaotic life.
This family did not have the long history of power and
despotism as did a family such as the Visconti, and Medici
records indicate that there is a probable correlation between
the formation of an ideal that called for respect of women,
and the merchant-class heritage.
Indicative of the best of middle-class attitudes
toward women, is Cavalcanti's record of Giovanni de' Medici's
words as he lay dying in 1429:
He called his sons Cosimo and Lorenzo and in the
presence of their mother, Piccardo Bueri, of
their wives, and of other citizens, spoke to
them thus: '.  , . I leave you in Possession
of the great wealth which my good fortune has
bestowed upon me and which your good mother and
my own hard work has enabled me to preserve.
... I commend to you Nannina my wife and your
mother, see that after my death ye change not
the habits and customs of her life!'34
Whether or not Cavalcanti's record of Giovanni's last words
is accurate, it underscores the regard in which Medici wives
were held; Nannina is given credit for her hard work, and a
promise is extracted from her sons to sustain her life in
the manner to which she was accustomed. This attitude is
certainly different than that of the Trecento nobility;
there are no examples in Medici history such as Bernabb
Visconti's outrageous punishment of his wayward daughter.35
In both the treatment of women in society and the creation
of the ideal in the latter half of the fifteenth century,
this merchant-class regard combines with the courtly view
of women.
Three generations of the Medici family in the
fifteenth century exemplify the gradual assimilation of
attitudes toward noble women into their inherited attitudes.
The most prominent personality in Florence among the
advocates of civic responsibility after 1430, was Cosimo di
36 37
Giovanni de' Medici. His wife, Contessina, was still
primarily fulfilling the role of a bourgeois woman in a
domestic capacity, though Cosimo exerted great influence,
lonofficially, on Florentine society. The difference between
Contessina and the woman who married her son Piero,
38
Lucrezia Tornabuoni, illustrates the changing behavior and
image of the merchant-nobility, conforming to the same
expectations as women of noble lineage. By the time
Lucrezia*s son Lorenzo (the Magnificent) was of his majority,
this process was complete.
The letters of Contessina and Lucrezia reveal the
changing role of women within the family as it gained in
prominence and status throughout the fifteenth century.
Contessina*s letters are full of homely details of life,
such as a typical one of 1445 replying to her son Piero:
I have thy letter asking for the rose-coloured
lucco lined with down, a jacket, and the boots.
The hat I sent thee by Benedetto Altoviti.
The other things I will send next week. I
have received the steaks, hams and the salted
meat thou has sent.39
Lucrezia, on the other hand, attained great authority, and
addressed herself to assessing the ideal which she had
assimilated. She was consulted, particularly after Cosimo's
40
death in 1464, by her husband Piero on political questions,
and was kept informed on all important events during his
absences. She corresponded with many of the literary men of
her time; the poems, sacred plays, and lauds she wrote
41
became popular during her lifetime. She also made trans
lations from the Bible into the vernacular and was praised
for this and for her writing ability by Niccolo Valori. But
she as well as Contessina carried on her household duties
with vigor, and in addition, was intimately concerned with
the education of her children.
The contemporary standard of beauty and virtue
appropriate for a wife of the merchant-nobility is well
stated by Lucrezia in a letter to her husband. The
occasion of choosing a bride for her son Lorenzo was of
primary concern to her, and the aristocratic status of the
bride's family is indicative of the prestige of the merchant-
42
nobilxty achieved by Lorenzo's generation. Lucrezia had
insisted on going to Rome to inspect the prospective bride,
Clarice Orsini, to determine the girl's suitability. In
1467 Lucrezia wrote:
. .  . She is of good height and has a nice
complexion, her manners are gentle, though not
so winning as those of our girls, but she is
very modest and would soon learn our customs.
She has not fair hair, because here there are
no fair women; her hair is reddish and
abundant, her face rather round, but it does
not displease me. Her throat is fairly elegant,
but it seems to me a little meagre, or to speak
better, slight. Her bosom I could not see,
as here the women are entirely covered up, but
it appeared to me of good proportions. She
does not carry her head proudly like our girls,
but pokes it a little forward; I think she was
shy, indeed I see no fault in her save shyness.43
Lucrezia shows herself to be cognizant of all the require
ments of the ideal, as well as the desire to find a woman
for her son who would represent the nobility they needed to
further the family's power. Her husband criticized her in
a return letter for writing so coldly of Clarice's
characteristics, but it is clear from Lucrezia's reply that
she was merely demonstrating her position as caretaker of
the family, was interested in perpetuating the ideal image,
and critical of any woman who deviated from it.
By the 1480's, the portrait ideal of noble womanhood
had permeated artistic production so thoroughly that this
fifteenth century mode was introduced into the donor
portrait—the very genre out of which Italian portraiture
had evolved in the Trecento. The infusion of the new panel
portrait ideal into donor portrait depictions produces the
most definitive visual testimony of the function of these
women. The choir frescoes of Santa Maria Novella in
Florence (c. 1486-90), by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494),^
a commission by Giovanni Tornabuoni (brother of Lucrezia
Tornabuoni), includes many portraits of female family
members. One of these, a commemorative portrait of Giovanna
degli Albizzi, clearly illustrates that the aim of the
idealized profile portrait was to represent the virtues of
the woman depicted. Giovanna married Giovanni Tornabuoni's
son Lorenzo in 1486 and died in childbirth two years later.
There are two extant portraits of Giovanna, the full-length
one in the Visitation scene of the choir frescoes (Fig. 22-
23), and another half-length, independent panel portrait in
Lugano (Fig. 24).^^
Though the depiction is essentially similar, the
figure of Giovanna in the panel portrait is reduced to half-
length and is even more formalized than the fresco. A
cupboard added behind the panel figure creates a dark back
ground, heightening the pallor of her face. The cupboard
contains a jewel, representing, among other things, the
worldly life, and a rosary and prayer book symbolizing the
spiritual life. The aim of this image is beautifully summed
up by the inscription on the cupboard wall immediately
behind Giovanna's neck, an epitaph from Martial; "0 art, if
thou wert able to depict the conduct of the soul, no
lovelier painting would exist on earth. As a commemora
tive portrait, the woman is more idealized than even a life
portrait, and the intent of the patron is made explicit by
47
the inscription.
It is helpful to view the fresco figure of Giovanna
in the Santa Maria Novella frescoes particularly in
conjunction with the other female portraits in the cycle.
It is Giovanna's commemorative portrait that shows the
highest degree of idealization possible in order to convey
the perfect state of spiritual well-being, imperative in the
depiction of the deceased. Heaven was the goal, and in
depicting the transcendence of the temporal realm and the
perfection of the soul, the highest of honors was reflected
on the Tornabuoni family. While the style of Giovanna's
portrait in Santa Maria Novella conforms to the rest of the
frescoes, her physical grace is somewhat lessened by the
stiffness of her bearing. A comparison with the other
female profile portrait, in the Nativity of the Virgin
(Fig. 25-27), shows evidence of a greater animation in both
face and figure.4 8 The maiden stands with her body turned
slightly toward the viewer, in gentle contrast to the
purely profile face, her hands clasped across her abdomen.
The elaborate brocade of her gown is highlighted with the
same gold that is seen in the background, reflected in her
hair, and in the edging of the gowns in the female figures
directly behind her. The brocade of the girl's overgarment
separates from the tight lacing of the bodice, to the hem,
overlapping the red undergarment of one of the attendants
to the holy scene. This color echoes the red and green of
her own undergarment, leading the viewer's eye directly up
to the face. This movement is only momentarily stilled by
the heavy pendant, gold encircled with pearls, held by a
narrow chain emphasizing the slender elegance of her neck.
The gold is repeated in the mesh of a small headdress,
emphasizing the tones in one of the most unusual features of
this portrait, the long, simply dressed hair waving down her
back.
The contrast between the commemorative portrait and
the life portrait can be seen in the generalization of
Giovanna's face and figure, as well as her hair, clothing
and ornaments. Her bearing is quite rigid, as shown in the
long line of her inflexible body. The schematized facial
features of Giovanna are clearly subordinated to the
idealization; there is no suggestion of sensuality in the
straight line of the nose or the firm, compressed lips.
Every curve of the face is flattened by the patterning
produced by the even lighting; shadow is used only to the
degree necessary to maintain the structural logic. Unlike
the Nativity profile figure, no real visual interest is
elicited by the jeweled ornament around her neck, which
blends with the rest of her costume. The generalization of
the gown can be seen distinctly in comparison with the
figure in the Nativity of the Virgin, for Giovanna wears a
gown of the same pattern, both undergarment and overgarment.
The undergarment is a red and green diamond pattern whereas
the overgarment (beautifully rendered in rich detail in the
Nativity scene), is a brocade of alternating phoenixes and
suns.^^ The generalization of Giovanna's attire is an
important aspect of her removal from earthly transience.
While the gown and jeweled ornament are described with
enough richness to be adequate symbols of the family's
wealth, the lack of specificity contrasts with the liveli
ness of the garments in the other fresco figure.
The girl in the Nativity of the Virgin seems to be
completely absorbed in the scene taking place before her.
This appearance of concentration is partially due to the
nature of the profile portrait; in rendering only one side
of the face, the artist limits the viewer's capacity to
ascertain the precise focus of the eyes. In this case, the
uncertainty causes the figure to seem transfixed by the
image of St. Anne. The reclining saint looks toward the
girl, and it is this connection between the two that spirit
ually links the donor figure to the holy event. Another
important function is fulfilled by the uncertainty of the
profile gaze: it imposes a psychological segregation from
the holy group, so that the connection established cannot be
interpreted as irreverent. Conversely, the spiritual
proximity is reinforced in the donor's visual relationship
with the infant Virgin; both the baby and an attendant look
in her direction. In addition, the movement in the holy
scene does much to distinguish the secular donors from the
religious event. The actions and the drapery of the holy
figures contrast with the stasis of the secular group. A
subtle change in scale is accentuated by the drapery which
defines the attendant's limbs; the bulky monumentality is
appropriate to the holy figures, but not to the elegant
women of the Tornabuoni family. Although the spiritual
proximity to the holy figures is established by her complete
absorption, the central donor's proximity is
immediately denied by the backward sweep of her gown,
pulling her toward the tightly linked group of women behind
her.
The portrait of Giovanna in the Visitation is consid
erably more formalized than any other important female
portrait figure in the major scenes of the cycle, and lacks
any implication of movement. The stiffness of her bearing
differentiates her from the active poses of the heavily
robed attendants to the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth.
Giovanna's gaze is directed straight ahead, but her attitude
is not so much of transfixion as of removal, for to be
transfixed implies a certain amount of participation. This
removal is shared by the two female portrait figures
accompanying her. Unlike the women in the donor group in
the Nativity of the Virgin, the portraits in the Visitation
display a psychological unity. They are related to Giovanna
not only by attitude, but by the distinction seen in the
51
rich dress and jewels of the younger woman, and the
religious habit and specific facial features of the older
52
woman. The face of each woman has a glossy, marble-like
quality, most emphatically seen in Giovanna's profile. This
is achieved by the bright glow of light which seems to
emanate more from the face itself than any external source.
The light defines the profile against the dun colored stone
of the bridge, and gives the woman a deathly pallor.
Giovanna is placed more definitely within the holy space
than any other figure; she stands in the shadow cast by
St. Elizabeth, an honor acceptable by virtue of her earthly
transcendence.
It is in the similarities between the commemorative
fresco portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi and of the other
major female portrait figures, rather than the differences,
that one can determine the extent of idealization found in
the women. Giovanna's portrait illustrates the epitome of
idealization, having achieved spiritual perfection and
superiority through death. The differences in the portraits
are, for the most part, a matter of greater animation and
visual interest in the figure of the woman in the Nativity
53
of the Virgin. In Giovanna's portrait, the stillness of
her figure, and the erect bearing of her head, and the sense
of eternal time and space, creates an awareness of the
greater dignity because of her death.
These portraits in Santa Maria Novella reflect not
only the women's virtues, but by implication, those of her
family. It was incumbent upon the artist to attempt to
characterize a woman in a fashion appropriate to the purpose
for which the portrait was commissioned, and to insure that
•7.'; 
these portraits reflected the finest qualities of the clan
they represented. The prominent profile figures we have
seen demonstrate these qualities, while preserving different
emphases: Giovanna reflects the emphasis on spirit appropri
ate to her decease, and the Nativity portrait shows the
artist's attempt to capture the delicate balance between a
physical reality and a spiritual ideal.
The introduction of the important female portrait
figures in the Nativity and Visitation has significant
implications for their status as representatives of the
Tornabuoni family. Each is prominently placed in the scene
though they are not participants. They appear to be
contemplating the scene before them, a virtuous activity in
itself. The Nativity figure is even presented to the holy
figures, as if the virtues of the woman were being pointed
out to the holy figures, as well as to the viewer. Part of
the meditation originally intended only for the holy scene
is shifted to these women. In traditional religious narra
tives, the piety of a donor figure is illustrated, and her
status of potential redemption is accomplished through the
Church donation. However, in the Santa Maria Novella
frescoes, the female donor portraits are a presentation of
women with no doubt as to their perfected state, only one
step away from a heavenly ideal (i.e. earthly perfection as
a stepping stone to the heavenly). This quality glorified
the family who could claim virtue by association. Since it
was women who traditionally looked after the spiritual well-
being of their families, and who, having lived an exemplary
life, as asserted by the portrait, could act as proponents
or "intercessors" for the living. Because of their
perfection, they would be listened to, either in prayer
during their lifetime, or later in Paradise. Thus the
prominence of a portrait of a woman who was already dead,
such as Giovanna, seen in the same cycle as portraits of the
living, implies both heavenly and temporal perfection. It
is in this function that the importance of these women lies,
for as spiritual representatives of the Tornabuoni family in
Santa Maria Novella, the ideal of womanhood, which had been
consolidated by this time in Italy, could be utilized in its
ultimate expression.
CONCLUSION
In Quattrocento female portraiture, an idealized
social role was directly reflected in the formal means used
to convey the image of the perfect woman. This idealization
was developed out of a complex set of behavioral expectations
derived from three main cultural sources—religion, litera
ture, and domestic roles. The final evolution of the ideal
received its most poignant statement from the function in
society of women such as those of the Medici.
It is apparent that all of the aspects of this
complex imagery were part of the sensibility of the artist
as well as of the patron. The various characteristics of
the ideal were intricately woven into the fabric of social
consciousness, varying only with the needs of the patron
and the style of the artist. Consequently, the motivation
behind the visual conventions of Quattrocento female
portraiture are elucidated by investigating the social back
ground of the ideal. The resulting pictorial image is a
positive statement of the virtues of a particular woman,
thus the specificity with which the features are rendered.
More importantly, the virtues of the family who instilled
the desirable qualities, or allied themselves with the woman
depicted, are presented in the female portrait, and in this
lies the necessity of the image.
The remarkable pictorial image of Quattrocento female
portraits was a unique phenomenon due to its cultural
function. In certain respects the developments in these
fascinating portraits created a foundation for later images
of women. However, at the close of the fifteenth century,
the changes in the social and political environment marked
the end of this type of female image since it was so closely
tied to cultural factors. This social evolution facilitated
the acceptance of the innovations in the female portrait
made by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo's application of an
expressive individuality to female representation, and
later, his universalizing of that image, made a new state
ment about women and society. These sixteenth century
developments in female portraiture demonstrate for the art
historian the singularity of the Quattrocento pictorial
conception.
NOTES
Notes to Introduction
The foremost works on Renaissance portraiture
include: John Pope-Hennessey, The Portrait in the Renais-
sance, Princeton, New Jersey, 1966; J. H. Lipman, "The
Florentine Profile Portrait in the Quattrocento," Art
Bulletin, XVIII, 1965, 54-102; Rab Hatfield, "Five Early
Renaissance Portraits," Art Bulletin, XLVII, 1965, 315-334.
2
Pope-Hennessey, Portrait, 41.
3
There are isolated examples of early fifteenth
century female portraits, such as those of Pisanello and
Fra Filippo Lippi (as discussed in Chapters I and II of this
study), but as a convention they do not occur until the
second half of the century. These examples are, however,
part of a stylistic evolution.
4
The portraits presented represent examples from some
of the major centers of artistic activity in the fifteenth
century. In this selection there are non-Italian examples,
for the influences of other cultures, particularly French,
are a factor in the early Renaissance, especially in the
area of secular literature and book illiamination. Inter
national Style influenced French panel painting, and was the
great unifying force in book illumination. (For a discus
sion of International Style, see Erwin Panofsky, Early
Netherlandish Painting, Its Origin and Character, vol. I,
New York, 1953, 51-74.) A problem of attribution exists in
Quattrocento female portraits because of the lack of any
extensive scholarly consideration of the genre, as well as
the similarity of depiction which partially obscures
individual stylistic characteristics. The personal styles
of the artists tend to be subordinated to a cultural ideal,
thus making attribution of female portraits problematic.
This is consistent with fifteenth century artistic practices,
for it was not unknown for artists to make stylistic altera
tions conforming to a patron's needs or wishes. In panel
portraiture, there was no complex iconographic scheme wherein
the artist could satisfy the requirements of patronage and,
at the same time, assert himself stylistically.
5
In contrast to this, works written about or for
women of the late Medieval era and the Renaissance, often
deal with women on the basis of their relationship with
husband and family, and the duties attendant on that role.
For example, in Leon Battista Alberti's Delia Famiglia,
Giannozzo Alberti states of his new wife;
"Locking the door I showed her all the things
of value, the silver, the tapestries, the fine
clothes, the gems, and the places in which they
were all kept. For I did not wish any of my
precious things to be hidden from my wife. . . .
Only my books and papers, and those of my
forebears I kept hidden and locked, both then
and thereafter, so that she would neither read,
nor even see them. . .. I always kept my
papers, not loose in my sleeves but locked up
in my study . . . into which I never allowed my
wife to enter, either alone or with me." (The
Albertis of Florence: Leon Battista Alberti's
Delia Famiglia, trans. Guido Guarino, Lewisburg,
Pa., 1971, 229).
^Strictly speaking, humanism was the cultivation of
the study of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral
philosophy. In the Renaissance, this term also encompassed
the passionate interest in the classical world. H\amanists
used classical antiquity as a model for all cultural
activities. During the first half of the Quattrocento,
Florentine "civic humanism" added another dimension to this
term, and later in the century, Neoplatonism played a vital
role in the evolution of hiomanism. However, this term was
also used in a much broader sense. It often meant no more,
for example, than someone who took pleasure in hxamanistic
conversation or was a collector of classical sculpture.
(See Paul 0. Kristeller, Studies in Renaissance Thought and
Letters, Rome 1956, 557. For a discussion of civic
humanism, see Lauro Martines, The Social World of the
Florentine Humanists 1390-1460"^ Princeton, 1963, 263-302.)
^See Pope-Hennessey, Portrait, 64-100.
0
This type is well illustrated by the figure of Enrico
Scrovegni in Giotto * s Last Judgement fresco in the Arena
Chapel in Padua (c. 1305). There is every indication that
Scrovegni built this chapel to expiate his father's sin of
usury. There are many other more conventional examples, for
those who had acquired great wealth often violated the laws
set down by the Church. (See Ursula Schlegel, "On the
Picture Program of the Arena Chapel," Giotto: The Arena
Chapel Frescoes, ed. James Stubblebine, New York, 1969, 182-
202.)
The influence of the antique medals did appear
indirectly in painted portraiture, in conjunction with a
male portrait. This can be seen in the pendant portraits of
the Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca
(c, 1460), which will be discussed at length in Chapter II.
The double sided panel is similar in concept to the niimis-
matic portrait; on one side is a profile portrait, and on
the other an allegory related to the portrait figure.
^^See Chapter I, p. 23 of this study for this kind of
feminine description in Boccaccio's work.
^^Religious duty can be seen in its practical manifes
tation in the diary of a Trecento man writing of his
deceased wife:
"She was a most worthy soul, and there is reason
to believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ has
received her into his arms, since she did good—
nay the best deeds, giving alms, praying and
often resorting to church. . . . She lived with
me in blessed peace and got me favour, honour
and possessions enough." (From D'Ancona e
Bacci, Manuale delle lett. ital., 1904, 1:577-78.
Quoted by William Boulting, Woman in Italy,
New York, 1910, p. 97.)
It should also be noted that the full-time dedication to
religious life, although often admired, did not promote an
independent portraiture, for the money that paid for secular
commissions was not often an attribute of those women
following a strictly religious life. Convents required a
much smaller dowry than a prospective husband, and girls
were often given over to a convent to take the veil. It is
also possible that private portraiture would have been
considered too worldly a vanity for a nun, even though she
might be a member of a wealthy family.
12
This holds true even among women of the most power
ful families. Lucrezia Tornabuoni, for example, was
extremely dedicated to religious activity, composing lauds
to the Virgin and John the Baptist. An examination of her
life shows, on the other hand, that she was also closely
involved in the affairs of her household and family. (See
G. Levantini-Pieroni, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Florence, 1888.)
Notes to Chapter I
The history of Robert of Anjou's reign in Naples
(1309-1343), made this statement of the right to rule a
necessity. Naples had been under Angevin domination since
the reign of Charles I (1266-1285), and Robert, his grandson,
was the third son of Charles II (1285-1309). Robert's
accession was challenged, but the College of Cardinals
decided in his favor. However, Robert's political opponents
spread rumors that he had unduly influenced one older
brother (who later became St. Louis of Toulouse), to pursue
the religious life, and the injurious, though unsubstan
tiated, claim that he had poisoned his other older brother,
in order to gain the crown of Naples. St. Louis of Toulouse
(1274-1297) had taken his religious Profession as a
Franciscan friar in Rome, and was canonized soon after his
death. King Robert capitalized on his pious brother's
popularity and used the image of Louis' approval (albeit
posthiamous) to assert his claim to power.
The Angevins, particularly Robert, played an extremely
important role in the affairs of Italy. French influence
was strongly felt, especially in Guelf Florence. Many
Florentines went to Naples; both the Bardi and the Peruzzi
were among the banking families with representatives in
Naples. In addition, in 1313 the Florentines, already
allied with Robert against the Emperor, gave the lordship of
Florence over to Robert for eight years. ^(See Emile Leonard,
Les Angevins de Naples, Paris, 1954; and Edouard Jourdan,
Les origines de la domination angevine en Italie, vol. 1,
New York, 1960.)
"Lipman, "Profile Portrait," 59-60.
^Ibid.
The profile was not the only view that could express
attributes of a general nature. Another portrait of Robert
of Anjou, seen in a group setting in Ambrogio Lorenzetti's
(active 1319-1347), Admission of St. Louis of Toulouse in
the Franciscan Order (c. 1331) (see R. Oertel, Early Italian
Painting to 1400, N^w York, 1968, p. 94) provides an example
of a portrait contained with a depiction of an historical
event. In this portrait, the artist attempts to present a
less psychologically remote interpretation, hence the
depiction of Robert in a three-quarter view. The profile
view in which the vast majority of Trecento donors are
portrayed does not lend itself to a penetrating investigation
into individual character, and the three-quarter view does
not substantially alter this characteristic. Robert's
expression of extreme concentration appears to be a public
image of a generalized emotion, rather than a psychological
representation of a man in a deeply personal attitude of
contemplation. Ambrogio succeeds in making an almost
universal statement of a concerned leader, again making this
a more political than personal statement.
^See Frederick Antal, Florentine Painting and Its
Social Background, London, 1948, 135-38, for some discussion
of this topic.
^The families responsible for most of the art
patronage were equally concerned with this trend.
7
The literature of courtly love first developed in
Provence. During the latter half of the twelfth century
trouba^urs devised a lyric poetry combined with the theory
of courtly love, and the concept spread throughout Western
Europe. The ideal of chivalry was formed by the aristocracy
and gentry in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In
chivalry, the romantic adoration of a woman was a necessary
quality in the perfect knight. The cult of the lady was the
counterpart to the cult of the Virgin which was also being
popularized during the same period. The main beneficiaries
and patrons of courtly art and literature were the great
ladies who welcomed the troubadours and became exponents of
the true art of courtly love. The rules of courtly love
were set down by Andreas Capellanus in the twelfth century,
and state the precepts of this system. The rules were
prefaced with the statement:
"Love is a certain inborn suffering derived from
the sight of and excessive meditation upon the
beauty of the opposite sex, which causes each
one to wish above all other things the embraces
of the love and by common desire to carry out
all of love's precepts in the other's embrace."
Among the rules were included:
"Marriage is no real excuse for not loving";
"That which a lover takes against the will of
his beloved has no relish"; "It is not proper
to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to
seek to marry"; "When made public love rarely
endures"; "He whom the thought of love vexes
eats and sleeps very little"; "A true lover is
constantly and without intermission possessed
by the thought of his beloved"; "A man who is
vexed too much by passion usually does not love."
(Capellanus, Art of Courtly Love, trans, and ed.
John J. Parry, New York, 1964, 184-185.
The ideal of womanhood in both Dante's and Petrarch's
work was influenced by the Sicilian poets, who gave new life
to the troubadour tradition of Provence. In Dante's
Purgatorio (XXIV, p. 155-60), Giacomo da Lentino is named as
the foremost Sicilian poet of the first half of the thir
teenth century. Giacomo was a notary and lyric poet at the
court of Frederick II (the Holy Roman Emperor himself was a
poet and learned man). The Sicilian School's poetic style
influenced the course of Italian love poetry, developing a
new concept of love. Giacomo is credited with the develop
ment of the sonnet, and in "lo m'aggio posto in core a Dio
servire" ("I have set my heart to serving God"), he opens
the issue of religious devotion to a lady. He developed the
dual imagery by combining religious and courtly terminology.
His lady's beauty makes him mistake her for an angel and,
confusing poetic and real heaven, he refuses to go to
Paradise without her. The poem establishes the woman as
both the object of physical desire and an angel, laying the
groundwork for extensive development of Dante's Beatrice and
Petrach's Laura, combining courtly, romantic love with
religious adulation. See Christopher Kleinhenz, "Giacomo
da Lentino and the Advent of the Sonnet: Divergent Patterns
in Early Italian Poetry," Forum Italiciim, X, 1976, 218-32.
9
A. Bartoli, Storia della Letturatura Italiano,
Florence, vol. 3, 1880, 110-11.
^^Francesco Petrarca, Petrarch: Selected Poems, trans.
Anthony Mortimer, Alabama, 1977, 25.
^^The issue of the influential and wealthiest class of
non-nobles seeking the status of nobility is discussed in
regard to social mobility in Chapter III of this study.
12
See Christine de Pisan, The Book of the Duke of True
Lovers, trans, from the Middle French by Alice Kemp-Welch,
London, 1903, 16-37.
^^Ibid., 23.
In his Ricordi (reproduced and translated by Janet
Ross, Lives of the Early Medici as Told in Their Corres
pondence,  London, 1910, 150-156), Lorenzo states: "To do as
others had done I held a joust in the Piazza S. Croce .. ."
and "... although I was not versed in the use of weapons
and the delivery of blows, the first prize was given me."
15L ui. gi. Pulci had attended the poetry lessons of the
humanist Bartolomeo Scala in the house of Lorenzo di
Pierfrancesco de' Medici. By 1461 Pulci was an intimate of
Lorenzo the Magnificent. "La Giostra di Lorenzo" was written
in 1482, after a somewhat checkered career in which Matteo
Franco, who was much esteemed by Lorenzo, accused Pulci of
heresy founded on his unorthodox beliefs. Though Pulci made
an effort to regain his good standing, when he died in 1484
he was refused burial in consecrated ground. Nonetheless,
Pulci"s minor work set the poetic precedent for Poliziano's
epic, Stanze Cominciate per la Giostra del Magnifico
Gi^liano de'Medici, celebrating the Florentine tournament of
If75 in which victory went to Lorenzo's younger brother.
Significantly, this 1475 tournament was attended by Simonetta
Vespucci, adored by Giuliano, among others. Both Giuliano
and Simonetta are celebrated in the Stanze as hero and
heroine, though the letter's death in 1476 necessitated her
appearance as Fortune in the second book. With Giuliano's
assassination in the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478, Poliziano
stopped work on the Stanze. Poliziano's writing in some
senses was indebted to the courtly tradition, but his
emphasis, as a major figure of hxomanism, was on the emulation
of classical writers. Uniquely, the Stanze has been
directly connected as the literary source for Botticelli's
Birth of Venus jafter 1482) (Book I, Stanzas 99-101), Venus
and Mars (c. 1475) (octave 122), and the Primavera (c. 1478)
(octave 68). Due to the singularity of Botticelli's
specific literary connections as well as his unique stylistic
characteristics, his work does not fall within the mainstream
of contemporary Quattrocento artistic theory, and in terms
of female portraiture must be analyzed separately. (See
E. H. Gombrich, "Botticelli's Mythologies: A Study in the
Neoplatonic Symbolism of His Circle," in Gombrich, Symbolic
Images, London, 1972, 31-81; for a bibliography of studies
concerning this topic see Symbolic Images, 31-35.)
16
Ross, Lives, 154.
17The privilege of quartering the Lily of France on
his arms was granted to Piero di Cosimo de' Medici after his
father's death in 1464. Louis XI, King of France, granted
this honor, and in addition, in 1465 made Piero a Privy
Councillor. (Ibid, 87.)
18
See note 14 above for Lorenzo's statement in his
Ricordi. The Duke of True Lovers says, "But I trow that the
ladies did this for they saw how eager I was, and because of
this favourable disposition, I believe that when they awarded
me the prize, they were really desirous that I might be
constrained to joust the more readily." (Christine de Pisan,
Duke, 33.)
In Christine de Pisan's tournament account, the Duke
promotes his joust as an opportunity for knights to gain
honor and esteem by displaying their prowess. Lorenzo
de' Medici, on the other hand, outwardly arranges his tour
nament in honor of a friend's marriage. Lorenzo's festival
had an additional political dimension occasioned by a peace
treaty with Venice. (See The Stanze of Angelo Poliziano,
trans. David Quint, Amherst, Mass., ix.)
20 
Christine de Pisan had close connections with this
outstanding Parisian workshop; both were connected to the
royal courts of France. Erwin Panofsky characterizes this
style, and in particular the Limbourg Brothers' Tres Riches
Heures de Due de Berry, as having an "amazing sophistication
and extravagance in manner, dress, and appurtenances: for
those thin, nervous hands and wasplike waists; those choking
collars, those turbanlike 'chaperons'; that jagging of all
edges which combined a maximum of waste with a minimum of
comfort. .. ." Panofsky also asserts that the style came
into being by the "interpenetration and ultimate fusion of
the Gallic as represented by the French, the Latin as
represented by the Italians, and the Anglo-Germanic as
chiefly represented by the Flemings; and when it spread to
Germany, Austria, to Spain, to England to Flanders and even
back to Italy—the reflux from north to south beginning and
steadily growing from ca 1370-1380—it did so, as it were,
by way of multilateral repatriation." (Erwin Panofsky,
Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. 1, New York, 1953, 66-67.
See also: Millard Meiss, The Limbourgs and Their Contem
poraries,  2 vols.. New YorkT 1974.)
21
In Christine de Pisan's Duke of True Lovers, for
example, the Duke variously describes, "ladies with fair
tresses, nobly born," his lady's "laughing grey eyes" with
a soft look that through me sped," and often reiterates that
she had "fair flesh as white as a lily." For a discussion
of the correspondences of the descriptions of beautiful
women in romances, see R. Renier, II Tipo Estetico della
Donna nel Medio Evo, Ancona, 1885, 1-42.
22 
For a thorough account of the correct conduct for a
noblewoman, see Pisan, Duke, 102-118.
23
For Francesco da Barberino's (1264-1348) complete
work, written c. 1309-13, see Del reggimento e costximi di
donna, Collecto di oper inedite, Tomo 26, Bologna, 1875.
^^The Costume e Reggimento di Donna is partially
reproduced and translated in Isidore del Lungo, Women of
Florence, London, 1910, 92-110.
^^Ibid, 92.
This convention is similar to that in the Roman de
la Rose. (See Le Roman de la Rose^ ed. Ernest Langlois,
3 vols., Paris, 1914-24.)
27
Del Lungo, Women of Florence, 94.
28
This issue is discussed in Chapter II of this study.
29
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) assimilates the ideal
into Italian epic in more concretely physical terms than
either Dante or Petrarch. Petrarch himself never simply
enumerated Laura's features, though the Petrarchists of the
sixteenth century were able to find most of them in his
poems. (See Elizabeth Cropper in her article, "On Beautiful
Women, Parmigianino, Petrarchismo, and the Vernacular Style,"
Art Bulletin, LVIII, 1976, 386.)
^'^This is discussed and quoted in full by ibid., 387,
and bears reproducing here:
Era la giovinetta di persona
grande e ischiette convenevolmente,
e se il ver I'antichit^ ragiona,
ella era candidissima e piacente;
e i suoi crin sotto ad una corona
lunghi e assai, e d'oro veramente
si sarian detti, e'l suo aspetto umile,
e il suo moto onesto e signorile.
Dico che i suoi crini parean d'oro,
non con treccia ristretti, ma soluti
e pettinati si, che infra loro
non n'era un torto, e cadean sostenuti
sopra li candidi omeri, n^ fdro
prima n^ poi si be'giammai veduti;
ne altro sopra quelli ella portava
ch'una corona ch'assai si stimava.
La fronte sua era ampia e spaziosa,
e bianca e piana e molto dilicata
sotto la quale in volta tortuosa,
quasi di mezzo cerchio terminate,
eran due ciglia, piU che altra cosa
nerissime e sottil, tra le qua'lata
bianchezza si vedea, lor dividendo,
n^ '1 devito passavan, s^ stendendo.
Di sotto a queste eran gli occhi lucenti
e piu che Stella scintillanti assai;
egli eran gravi e lunghi e ven sedenti,
e brun quant'altri che ne fosser mai;
e oltre a questo egli eran si potenti
d'ascosa forza, che alcun giaitunai
non gli mir6 nd fu da lor mirato,
ch'amore in sd non sentisse svegliato.
10 ritraggo di lor poveramente,
dico a rispetto della lor bellezza,
e lasciogli a chiumque d'amor sente
che immaginando vegga lor chiarezza;
ma sotto ad essi non troppo eminente
n^ poco ancora e di bella lunghezza
11 naso si vedea affilatetto
qual si voleva a I'angelico aspetto.
Le guance sue non eran txamerose
n^ mage fuor di debita misura,
anzi eran dilicate e graziose,
bianche e vermiglie, non d'altra mistura
che intra-gigli le vermiglie rose;
e questa non dipinta, ma natura
gliel'avea data, il cui color mostrava
percid che 'n ci6 pih non le bisognava.
Ella aveva la bocca piccioletta,
tutta ridente e bella da basciare,
e era piu che grana vermiglietta
con le labbra sottili, e nel parlare
a chi I'udia parea un angioletta;
e'denti suoi si potean somigliare
a bianche perle, spessi e ordinati
e piccolini, ben properzionati.
E oltre a questo, il mento piccolino
e tondo quale al viso si chiedea;
nel mezzo ad esso aveva un forellino
che piu vezzosa assai ne la facea;
e era vermiglietto un pocolino,
di che assai pih bella ne parea;
quinci la gola Candida e cerchiata
non di soperchio e bella e dilicata.
Pieno era il collo e lungo e ben sedente
sovra gli omeri candidi e ritondi,
non sottil troppo e piano e ben possente
a sostenere gli abbracciar giocondi;
e ' 1 petto poi un pochette eminente
de' pomi vaghi per mostranza tondi,
che per durezza avean combattimento,
sempre pontando in fuor col vestimento.
Eran le braccia sue grosse e distese,
lunghe le mani, e le dita sottili,
articulate bene a turte prese,
ancor d'anella vote signorili;
e, brievemente, in tutto quel paese
altra non fu che cotanto gentili
I'avesse come lei, ch'era in cintura
sottile e schietta con degna misura.
Nell'anche grossa e tutta ben formata,
e il pife piccolin'; qual poi si fosse
la parte agli occhi del corpo celata,
colui sel seppe poi cui ella cosse
avanti con amor lunga fiata;
imagino io ch'a dirlo le mie posse
non basterieno avendol* io veduta:
tal d'ogni ben doveva esser compiuta!
Teseida, XII, 53-63, quoted from G. Boccaccio, Opere in
versi, ̂ ed. P. G. Ricci (La letteratura italiana, storia e
testi, IX), Milan, 1965, 412-15.
31
Christine's studies, which included Latin and
sciences, was directed by her father, who had been educated
at the University of Bologna. Christine was allowed a
surprisingly complete education compared to other women in
contemporary French society. Her education emphasizes her
Italian heritage; Italian universities early gave women the
opportunity for higher education, and Chrstine's compara
tively liberal education reflects this attitude. (See
Charity C. Willard, The "Livre de la Paix" of Christine de
Pisan, The Hague, 1958, 11.)
32
The first part of the Roman de la Rose had been
written fifty years earlier and was a conventional courtly
tale.
See Maurice Roy, Oeuvres Poetiques de Christine de
Pisan, 3 vols., Paris, 1886-96.
34
For a compilation of the dociaments of the dispute
see Charles F. Ward, The Epistles on the Romance of the Rose
and Other Documents in the Debate, Chicago, 1911.
35
Eustace Deschamps, a disciple of Jean de Meung and a
contemporary of Christine, ranked her with the Muses:
"Muse eloquent entre les .IX., Christine
Nompareille que je saiche aujourd'hui.
En sens acquis et en toute dotrine,
Tu as de Dieu science et non d'autruy;
Tes epistres et livres que je luy
En pluseurs lieux, de grant philosophie
Et ce que tu m'as escript une fie
Me font certain de la grant habondance
De ton scavoir qui toujours monteplie
Seule en tes faiz ou royaume de France .. ."
(Quoted in Mary L. Tovmer, L'Avision-Christiney
Washington, D.C., 1932, 13.)
In addition, Martin Le Franc, another contemporary, praised
her ability in his work, Le Champion des Dames;
"Aux estrangiers povons la feste
Faire de la vaillant Cristine
Done la vertu est manifeste
En lettre et en langue lantine." (Ibid.)
Mathilde Laigle, Le Livre des Trois Vertus de
Christine de Pison et son Milieu Historique et Litte"raire,
Paris, 1912, 120.
37
For a discussion of Christine's activities as a
patron of book illviminations, see Meiss, The Limbourgs and
Their Contemporaries, 18-41.
Pisan, Duke, 54-55.
^^Ibid., 78-79.
40
This quality, also seen in the Sicilian School and
elaborated on particularly by Dante and Petrarch, is in
direct opposition to the role of the majority of women in
society. Women were at best protected by men, but were also
often the recipients of domestic tyranny and the subject of
ongoing and widespread jests. This is reflected in another
trend of literature at the time, rhymed stories known in
France as fabliaux, in which an extreme anti-feminism was
the secular counterpart of religious treatises condemning
women. (See J. Bedier, Les Fabliaux, 5th ed., Paris, 1928.)
41
There are many extant portraits of Christine de
Pisan, and because of a stylistic similarity, it is difficult
to ascertain which are genuine. Figure 9 represents the
most common type that embellishes her manuscripts.
42
The Portrait of a Lady in the National Gallery in
Washington, D.C., has been attributed to the French School,
with a possible localization in the Limbourg workshop. This
attribution to the French School came from G. M. Richter in
his article, "Pisanello Studies," Burlington Magazine, LV,
1929, 139, refuting the earlier attribution to Pisanello
given by A. Venturi in Grandi Artisti Italiani, Bologna,
1925. The original confusion stems from the mutual indebted
ness to International Style. For support of the French
attribution see; B. Degenhart, Pisanello, Turin, 1945,
39; Ulrich Middledorf, "B. Degenhart: 'Pisanello,'" Book
Review, Art Bulletin, XXIX, Ec. 1947, 281; Millard Meiss,
The Limbourgs and Their Contemporaries, text vol.. New York,
1974, 228; and Erwin Panofsky. Early Netherlandish Painting,
vol. 1, New York, 1953, 82.
43
A similarity of idealization can be seen in a French
miniature from the Lucon workshop of c. 1410 in the profile
figure of Thais. (See Meiss, Limbourgs, vol. 1, pi. 82.)
Though much of the detail that characterizes the National
Gallery portrait is not present in the miniature, the sense
of serenity, as well as the physical attributes of the
courtly ideal are contained within the depiction. The
quality accentuates the difference between a generalized
depiction and that of a portrait of this period. This can
be seen in a more specific male portrait in book illumina
tion, such as that of the Duke of Berry in the Brussells
Hours (see Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de
Berry, London, 1967, pi. 179). He kneels between two
saints, his profile silhouetted against the dark ground in
much the same manner as is the National Gallery portrait.
Each feature is exploited to the fullest extent to create a
pattern against the dark ground.
44
The general tone of this portrait, including the
plucked hairline, can be read as part of the standard of
physical attractiveness for a lady.
45
Pisanello's figure wears an amphora or vase, the
arms of the Este family, on the sleeve of her gown. In
addition, she wears a sprig of juniper on her gown, signal
ing her possible identification as Ginevra d'Este, wife of
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. Another conceivable
identification of this figure is Margherita Gonzaga, wife of
Lionello d'Este. Enio Sindona's monograph (Pisanello,
trans. John Ross, New York, 1961, 126), contains a biblio-
graphy of the works which attempt to identify this figure.
46
When comparing Pisanello*s work with Florentine
portraits, Jean Lipman ("Profile Portrait," 71) has stated
that, "Within the decorative silhouette of the Pisanello
profile one sees that the edges are more suggestive of a
revolution of the surface, that the substance is more pulpy,
and the whole is more special and more pictorial than is the
case with the Florentine profile."
47
Pope-Hennessey, Portrait, 41.
This is first seen in Dante's relationship with his
lady. Not only is Beatrice seen as a divine figure, but she
serves as an instrument of Dante's Salvation. He was able
to see Love and Beauty through her in life, and in the
Divine Comedy she leads him from the threshold of Heaven,
through the first levels to St. Bernard who, in turn, leads
Dante to the Mother Mary. Beatrice's action is that of
intermediary in Dante's quest for the highest spiritual
attainment possible. (See The Divine Comedy, trans, and ed.
Charles S. Singleton, 6 vols., Princeton, New Jersey, 1970-
75.)
Notes to Chapter II
Chapels were often built or decorated as donations
from wealthy families, and the iconographic program was
sometimes the result of close consultation between the
ecclesiastical order and the donor. In addition, sons and
daughters of families of wealth and influence who went into
the religious life generally attained high positions in the
Church hierarchy. (See L. Eckenstein, Woman under
Monasticism, London, 1896, 263-70.)
2
The different moral requirements for men and women
can be seen in every level of society, but the higher the
social status, the greater the divergence in behavioral
expectations. Women of the highest rank were expected to be
of perfect moral character, since they were assumed superior
by birthright. Women in lower classes actually led lives of
greater equality with men of the same class. (See Eileen
Power, Medieval Women, ed. M. M. Postan, London, 1975, 53-
75.)
Cited by Towner, LaVision, 49.
4
The Cult of the Virgin Mary had risen to great
heights in Italy by the fourteenth century, and these visual
representations of her roles were very important to her
veneration. (See Eileen Power, The Miracles of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, London, 1928, 3-4.)
^The ways of depicting Mary were varied and, since
secular art was very rare, the women depicted were generally
confined to donor figures, female saints, and the Virgin.
^Catherine of Siena was born in the mid-Trecento, as
Caterina Benincasa, the daughter of a dyer of Siena. She
was subject to religious ecstasy from childhood, and devoted
the whole of her life to the service of God. She first took
religious vows in 1362, and her extraordinary piety attracted
many followers. She and her followers ministered to the
sick and poor, leading an actively Christian life. She
found favor and support in the 1370's from the Dominicans
after coming to the attention of the Church hierarchy when
she urged the Christian princes to form an alliance against
the non-Christians who held the Holy Land. Her nxamerous
letters and her treatise, Dialogo della divina prowidenza
(1377-78), provide impressive documents to the religious and
political life of that era, since she did not confine herself
to ecstatic or hiimanitarian activities. She was intimately
concerned with papal politics, and traveled to Avignon to
encourage Gregory XI to return the Holy See to Rome. When
she died in 1380, steps were immediately taken for her
canonization, which became final in 1461. (See Edmund G.
Gardner, St. Catherine of Siena, New York, 1907.)
This conception of Mary and Christ as Bride and
Bridegroom was based on the interpretation of the Song of
Songs as an allegory by the Fathers of the Church. In
Honorius of Autun's commentary, which possessed great
authority, it was written that, "Everything that is said of
the Church can also be understood as being said of the
Virgin herself, the bride and mother of the Bridegroom."
(Cited by Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting, 145.) The
Old Testament marriage songs contained a type of heroine
that prefigured the Mother of God. The celebration of the
bride's beauty was therefore applied to the Virgin, and
influenced the Medieval Mary-poetry which characterized her
as a young bride. The language of the Song of Songs was
often utilized when referring to the Virgin; not only is
Mary the "rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys (Solomon
2:1)," but at her Assumption, her Son/Bridegroom uses chants
from the Song to call her soul up to His Heavenly Throne.
According to the theologians, Christ married the Virgin,
just as He married her symbolical counterpart, the Church.
(See Yrjo Hirn, The Sacred Shrine, London, 1912, 435-470.)
g
Catherine was wedded to Christ with a ring,
invisible to others, but always visible to her. Her
successors in this type of spiritual marriage included:
Sta. Caterina of Racconigi in Piedmont, who received the
Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and was married to Christ
on three separate occasions between the ages of six and
twenty-six, each time with a different ring; an angel
brought the Blessed Angelina of Spoleto a ring as a sign of
her espousal to Christ; the Blessed Stefana Quinzani also
became a heavenly bride; and the Blessed Osanna of Mantua
was married by the Holy Virgin to her Son with a ring.
(William Boulting, Woman in Italy, New York, 1910, 243-44.)
In some instances women wished to identify directly
with Christ, as when the fifteenth century heroine, the
Blessed Christina Visconti (d. 1453), drove a nail through
her foot in order to feel the sufferings of Christ. There
were also several saintly women who received the Stigmata.
(Ibid., 240.)
^^For a complete discussion of Mary as the sorrowing
mother, see Hirn, Sacred Shrine, 375-404.
^^Ibid., 380.
12
Barbier de Montault, X, Traite d'Iconographie
Chr^tienne, vol. II, Paris, 1890^ 2l0.
^^Hirn, Sacred Shrine, 382.
^'^Every upper-class woman was seen for her potential
excellence in the roles of wife and mother. In a politi
cally and economically insecure society, threatened with
vendetta, plague, or war, women often had to demonstrate
their physical and emotional strength. Their daily devotion
to religious ritual was helpful, as was the example before
them of the Virgin's strength and virtue. (See Boulting,
Woman in Italy, passim.)
^^There are exceptions to this, such as the very
lively profile Portrait of a Lady (c. 1460) in London by
Alesso Baldovinetti. When speaking of this portrait,
Pope-Hennessey (Portrait, 47-48) states, "Though the impresa
sewn on to the sleeve reveals that the intention is once more
docximentary, the treatment of the features is more sharply
focussed and more astringent than in most Quattrocento
portraits."
16
Attributed tentatively to Fra Diamante by Lipman,
"Profile Portrait," 76.
17
Federico da Montefeltro was always depicted in
profile because of a disfiguring injury sustained in a
tournament. These pendant portraits provide an unusual
opportunity for direct comparison of the differences
inherent in male and female portraiture.
18
This imagery of the Triumphs was quite common and,
according to Kenneth Clark, (Piero della Francesca, London,
1969, 56) was known "from a hundred cassone fronts and
illustrations to Petrarch."
This issue is discussed in Chapter III of this study.
See Rev, Joseph A. Burroughs, Prudence Integrating
the Moral Virtues, According to St. Thomas Aquinas,
Washington, B.C., 1951,
21
Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica, 2a, 2ae, ql43,
al, vol. 43, London, 1964, 51) states;
"Et dicunter partes integrales alicujus
virtutis conditiones quas necessest concurrere
ad virtutem: et secundum hoc unt duae partes
integrales temperantiae, scilicet vericundia,
per quam aliquis refugit turpitudinem
temperantiae contrariam, et honestas, per quam
scilicet aliquis amat puchritudinem temperantiae,
Nam sicut ex dictis patet, praecipue temperantia
inter virtutes vindicat sibi quendam decoram,
et vitia intemperantiae maxime turpitudinem
habent,"
("The integral parts of virtue are the elements
that go to make it up. Temperance has two,
namely a sensitiveness to shame that recoils
from anything squalid or against temperance, and
a sense of honour [honestas] devoted to its
beauty. For among the virtues, as we have seen,
temperance is markedly handsome, and of the
vices intemperance is especially ugly,"
22
In addition, through women, men could express their
own misgivings, joys, and sorrows, while the Renaissance
ideal man could flourish in public life. This image of the
Mother Mary was well known in the Renaissance, and permeated
literature and art. In one of St, Birgitta's visions Christ
says: "And therefore I wish to say that my mother and I
saved mankind as with one heart, I suffering in body and
heart, and she suffering the heart's sorrow and love,"
(Cited by Hirn, Sacred Shrine, 393.)
23
The portrait image of women also betrays the manner
in which men wished women to be perceived.
Notes to Chapter III
For analyses of the male Quattrocento profile
portrait see the works cited in note 1 of the Introduction,
2
Pope-Hennessey (Portrait, 163-164) states that,
"After the death of Leonello d'Este in 1450, the principal
portrait painter in Ferrara was Cosimo Tura, Isabella of
Aragon first made the acquaintance of her husband, Ercole
d'Este, through a painting by Tura which was sent to Naples.
..  . When Lucrezia d'Este was betrothed to Annibale
Bentivoglio of Bologna, and Isabella d'Este was contracted
to Gian Francesco Gonzaga, and Beatrice d'Este was
affianced to Lodovico il Moro, a portrait by Tura was in
each case the means by which the prospective husband was
apprised of the appearance of his bride. Only one of these
portraits by Tura survives, a little known painting of an
unknown Este prince in the Metropolitan Museum."
3
The necessity of alliance by marriage, and the
arrangement of marriages between families is discussed at
more length in this chapter, pp. 54-55.
^Boccaccio's merchant, residing at Paris, boasts that
by the special grace of God, he has a wife at home who is
incomparable. Among her virtues he numbers, most
importantly, honesty, chastity, as well as youth, beauty,
health, discretion, and household skill. In addition, she
can read, write, and give her reason for an opinion "like a
merchant." (Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, trans.
G. A. McWilliam, Baltimore, 1972, Day 2, Novel 9, 167.)
Youth was an asset to women of all classes, since they had
the strength to bear many children. The precarious nature
of existence, and with infant mortality quite common, made
this attribute in a wife very desirable.
5
See Chapters I and II of this thesis for a lengthier
discussion of the courtly and spiritual attributes desirable
in upper-class women.
^Though many of the attributes of a good, practical
wife remained the same, the courtly image of womanhood
influenced upper-class behavior, and with the increase in
leisure time pursuits such as card playing became very
popular among upper-class women in the fifteenth century.
For example, in 1424 a request from Parisina Malatesta for
"cards for our girls, and send them at once," attests to
this popularity. Gambling too was part of this passion.
Though most amusements were separate for the sexes, there
were various forms of entertainments for the display of
coquetry. (Boulting, Woman in Italy, 202-204.) Travel,
too, became an extremely popular activity for the upper-
class woman. Women in the Quattrocento could travel in
relative safety on religious pilgrimmages, as well as other
kinds of journeys. Mineral baths, for example, were in
vogue, and there were many celebrated resorts. Attesting
to the popularity of this pastime, is Lucrezia de' Medici's
purchase and rebuilding of the hot springs resort at Bagno
a Morba, which was part of the Commune of Volterra over
which the Florentines ruled. (See Ross, Lives, 114.)
^The importance of the domestic role in the middle-
class tended to be of primary concern, and was a fairly
universal expectation for women. This is well illustrated
by a French treatise of the late fourteenth century contain
ing an enumeration of the requirements of a good bourgeois
wife. It instructs a wife in the care of her husband, to
"keep him in clean linen, for that is your business," and to
"have a care in winter he have a good fire and smokeless.
And in the svimmer take heed that there are no fleas in your
chamber, nor in your bed." After this admonition, the
author lengthily discusses several ways to rid the house of
fleas, as well as mosquitos and flies. "And thus shall you
preserve and keep your husband from all discomforts and give
him all the comforts whereof you can bethink you." The
discourse is followed by a number of recipes and specific
outlines for menus. (Eileen Power, ed., The Goodman of
Paris, London, 1928, 60-70.)
p
See Chapter I, note 1, for the political origins of
this French and Italian interchange.
9
In many parts of Italy during the fifteenth century,
and particularly in Florence, the serraglio, a vestige of
marriage by capture, was common. In Florence, it was
combined with the remnants of the marriage by purchase.
When the bride left her father's house for the church (the
church was the most appropriate place to be married since a
statute required the wedding to be held in the most public
place in Florence—other communes had different requirements),
a band of youths stopped the bride with a rope of flowers or
a long ribbon, and the leader gave her flowers, for which he
received a ring from the bride. Then the groom, separated
from the bride by the youths, had to break through the
barrier; the bride's defenders then allowed her to be taken
to the church. At the banquet after the wedding, the youth
with the ring returned it with a witty speech, and the
bridegroom presented him with money to "purchase" the bride.
(A. de Gubernatis, Storia comprat degli usi nuziali,
Florence, 1878, 223.)
^^Among the descriptions of Quattrocento weddings,
many attest to the lavishness of display, despite sumptuary
laws. However, the courtly serenity and decorum displayed
in the Adimari Chest scene does not conform to these
descriptions. The average procedure for a wedding involved
much merrymaking, with dogs barking and children playing
practical jokes amid general confusion. People looked out
their windows on the marriage procession and passed comments
on the bride and the rest of the party, all accompanied by
loud music. (See Boulting, Woman in Italy, 81-94, for
bibliographic references regarding marriage festivals.) In
the Adimari scene, these activities are merely treated
symgolically by the representation of the group of music-
makers on the left and the two women conversing in front of
the Baptistery.
^^Marriage, as it existed in the Quattrocento, con
sisted of a number of customs derived from both Roman and
Lombard laws. Both of these traditions in Italy placed the
woman under the protection of the male; the purpose was to
protect her and her property (as well as her children's) in
dangerous times. In ancient Rome there were three forms of
wedlock: confarreatio, which was a religious ceremony that
made the contract nearly indissoluble; coemptio, where the
bride was bought from the parents and repurchased her own
rights by a small payment; and usus, particularly a plebian
practice, where the couple lived together for the period of
a year with the intention of forming a marriage, with a
formal declaration of mutual consent in the presence of
witnesses. Usus was the form that became the basis of
medieval marriage in Italy; legally the wife still belonged
to the family of her father, and retained rights over her
own property. When a member of the mercantile class was to
marry into the noble class, the contract was often signed
while the couple were still young children, although
cohabitation was deferred. For example, when Cosimo
Rucellai was married to Giovanna, daughter of the Marquis
of Fordinuovo, he was eight years old, and she was five
years old. (See ibid., 66-77.)
12
This included both religious vxrtue and domestic
competence. (See ibid., 128-160.)
13
A woman's ability to bear children, especially male
children, was essential in medieval and Renaissance society.
According to David Herlihy ("Women in Medieval Society,"
The Smith History Lecture, Houston, Texas, 1971, 6-7, note
15), life expectancy was very low in Italy, often not more
than thirty years. In 1427 Florence, for example, the
average age of women was 27, and for men only 26 years of
age. Interestingly, superior female longevity was recognized
in both medieval and Renaissance times, and woman's sexual
function thought to be the cause. As late as 1516, Baldesar
Castiglione (The Book of the Courtier, trans. Charles
Singleton, New York, 1959, 219), states this belief, and in
addition, female longevity becomes another proof of earthly
perfection in the courtly view:
"And thus, since men dry out more than women in
the act of procreation, it frequently happens
that they do not keep their vitality as long as
women; thus this further perfection can be
ascribed to women that, living longer than men,
they carry out the intention of nature better
than men."
14
It was very common to marry girls at only thirteen
years of age, and the average was generally not above
sixteen or seventeen. Occasionally, one finds instances of
younger consummated marriages, such as that in the Quattro
cento of Caterina Sforza, illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo
Visconti. She was married at the age of eleven in 1473 to
a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, (The consummation of this
marriage was confirmed by her father, in a letter to his
representative at Rome on January 17, 1473. Six days later
he wrote bluntly; "Lui ha dormito con la moglie un'altra
volta e viene ben contento et lieto." (Cited by Boulting,
Woman in Italy, 76.)
15
A betrothal was nearly as binding as the actual
marriage, and those who broke a contract of betrothal often
had to forfeit part of the dowry or a sum of money.
F. Perrens, Histoire de Florence Jusqu'a la Domination des
M^dicis, vol. 3, 1877-83, 331.
16
This charge against Andriola Visconti (daughter of
Matteo Visconti, Abbess of the Monasterio Maggiore, cannot
be proved in any extant document. (See Boulting, Woman in
Italy, 261. Cited from M. Caffi, Arch. Stor. Lomb., 1889.)
Although most abbesses, like Andriola, were chosen for their
high station in life, most were somewhat older. Nuns were
generally not treated with such severity, though occasionally
the seducer of a nun met with the loss of life. More usual
was the imposition of a fine. For a history of woman's role
in the Church see L. Eckenstein, Woman Under Monasticism,
London, 1896.
17
Bernabo Visconti had the warrant of both statutes of
1351 for his act. (See Boulting, Woman in Italy, 263.)
^^Ibid., 267.
19
This generally occurred if a man needed a legitimate
son for inheritance purposes. Illegitimate children were
accepted quite readily in most cases. (See E. Rodocanachi,
One Phddre Italienne, Paris, 1896.) Lucrezia Tornabuoni,
for example, raised a natural daughter of her husband's
(Piero de' Medici) with her own two daughters, with no
apparent distinction. (See Ross, Lives, 108-109.)
After the mid-Quattrocento, the three-quarter view
portrait became the most popular way to depict men. The
exploration of individual character can be seen in many
examples from the latter half of the century. (See Pope-
Hennessey, Portrait, passim.)
^^Rab Hatfield, "Five Portraits," 333.
Ibid.
In Quattrocento Italy, this power base was more
important to society than mere nobility, and the noble class
had to maintain their money and political power to compete
with the merchant princes. See Hans Baron, The Crisis of
the Early Italian Renaissance, 2 vols., Princeton, 1955, and
George Holmes, The Florentine Enlightenment, 1400-1450,
New York, 1969, 137-67, for an analysis of social and
political attitudes, as well as primary bibliographic
sources.
24
It should be noted that Rab Hatfield (Five Portraits,
333) has pointed out a potential problem concerning the
idealization of the early male profile portrait. He
questions whether living persons would have been shown to
have become perfected, especially in an era unfavorable to
most "manifestations of personal ostentation." He goes on
to suggest, by way of possible justification, that the
portraits were not necessarily recognized as personal
statements, but represented a "norm toward which certain men
were urged." Although much of what Hatfield states is
valuable, I do not believe that the portraits need to be
justified in this way. In their assertion of innate
superiority these portraits might appear in some cases to be
expressions of undue pride, but the issue of ostentation
need not be raised in this connection. The prejudice against
show had an extremely esoteric origin; during the Trecento
and Quattrocento, siimptuary laws were passed governing the
expenditure of money on luxuries within the commune. Among
other things, the laws continually sought to limit the
richness of clothing, and the n\imber and value of the jewels
women wore. Although they were rarely obeyed in full, their
purpose was very practical—to keep money in the family and
the commune. In addition, sumptuary laws helped to limit
the growth of the jealous rivalries that caused civil
disturbances in a time when vendetta was rife. However, the
assertion of innate nobility, such as seen in the portrait
images, was part of the business/political life of the
wealthy and influential man, and as such did not come under
the social jurisdiction opposed to ostentation. As the
fifteenth century progressed, the constant reassertion of
power was part of the political survival of influential men.
This is well illustrated in the case of Lorenzo de' Medici.
When his father, Piero, died in 1469, it was necessary for
Lorenzo to take over control and become the premier citizen
of Florence, or run the almost certain risk of political
exile. He writes in his Ricordi:
"The princes of Italy, especially the principal
ones, sent letters and envoys to condole with us
and offer us their help for our defence. The
second day after his death, although I, Lorenzo,
was very young, being twenty years of age, the
principal men of the city and of the State, came
to encourage me to take charge of the city and
of the State, as my grandfather and my father
had done. This I did, though on account of my
youth and the great responsibility and perils
arising therefrom, with great reluctance, solely
for the safety of our friends and of our
possessions. FOR IT IS ILL LIVING IN FLORENCE
FOR THE RICH UNLESS THEY RULE THE STATE.
(Reproduced in Ross, Lives, 154.)
25
Although Leonardo da Vinci's experiments in the late
fifteenth century included the individualization of female
portraiture, his influence in this area was not generally
felt until the last decade of the century. (For a discussion
of Leonardo's portraiture, see Kenneth Clark, Leonardo da
Vinci, New York, 1939.)
26 
This generally accepted attribution for the Milan
portrait was first given by Adolfo Venturi (Storia dell'Arte
italiana; La Pittura del Quattrocento, VII-I, Milan, 1911,
574), and is dated by S. Ortolani (II Pollajuolo, Milan,
1948, 200) at c. 1470. A similar portrait in Berlin is also
ascribed to Antonio Pollaiuolo, and is dated earlier
(c. 1460) than the Milan portrait by A. Sabatini (Antonio e
Piero del Pollajuolo, Florence, 1944, 77). See also:
J. Lopez-Rey, Antonio del Pollajuolo y el fin del
"Quattrocento," Madrid, 1935, 28. Unfortanately, an
inscription on the back of the panel, identifying the sitter
as "Uxor Johannes de Bardi," was removed, and as Pope-
Hennessey has noted (Portrait, note 68, 309), there is now
no way of ascertaining the accuracy of that identification.
27
A smile was often part of the literary ideal of
womanhood. This can be seen in Boccaccio's Teseida, repro
duced in Chapter I, note 28 of this thesis.
28
Leon Battista Alberti, Ten Books on Architecture,
trans. James Leoni (first ed. 1755), Joseph Rykwert, ed.,
London, 1955, 107.
Prosperous, influential citizens found it necessary
to take extended business trips, and often left their affairs
in the hands of their wives. The wife therefore had to be
able to read, write, and do accounts in order to guard her
family's interests at home and the country villa. Because
of this need, the education of women gradually improved
until girls often shared in their brothers' studies in the
fifteenth century. (See Eileen Power, Medieval Women, ed.
M. M. Postan, Cambridge, England, 1975, 76-88.)
^^See Boulting, Woman in Italy, 47.
31
Meticulous mothers kept their daughters from reading
Boccaccio, and even the sonnets of Petrarch, so that their
pure minds would not learn anything about love other than
God's or a future husband's. Religious treatises and sacred
poetry were the only truly desirable reading material for a
young girl, since they cultivated serious reflection rather
than frivolous behavior. (Ibid., 174.)
32
Mistresses generally did not have too great an
influence over men, or any hope of marriage to their consort
(although they were often married off for expediency), but
occasionally there were instances of clever manipulation on
the part of a mistress. This can be seen in the case of
Isotta degli Atti, mistress of Sigismondo Malatesta.
Sigismondo eventually married this woman in 1456, and a
letter she dictated (she was not able to read or write)
illustrates her influence over him.
"My Lord, I have received the letter wherein your
lordship swears that you love me more than ever.
I am sure of it, and I wish to believe it, and I
should feel surer still if you would put an end
to what always keeps me furious. As concerning
what your lordship desires more than I, I ask it
as a boon, even if you do not eagerly desire it,
as you love me, that your lordship, wishing to
preserve my life and peace, will desire this
thing also, and effect a regular marriage as
soon as you can.
As to the passage wherein your lordship writes
me that I should not reply to your letter, being
always suspicious and full of jealousy, I am
positively assured that you have been unfaithful
with the daughter of Signor G . . . and moved by
these two passions that possess me, it seemed to
me that the least restraint I could put on myself
is to show my resentment, and that is why your
lordship found my letter a little sharp. Your
lordship, if you love me as you say, not to
deprive me of the only compensation I have for
your absence. Will you take pity on me, poor
little thing that I am? Our Malatesta is well
and was very gleeful at getting the little horse.
All our other boys and girls are also well. I
commend me a thousand times to your lordship.
Dec. 20, 1454. Isotta di Rimini." (Cited in
ibid., 114-115.)
Later in the fifteenth century, a new type of courtesan
became a unique component in wealthy Italian society. This
new style "cortigiana," (exemplified by a woman such as
Cecilia Gallerani, who was painted c. 1485 by Leonardo da
Vinci), often became the epitome of cultivation and learning,
employing the finest masters to instruct them—not only in
music and other leisurely refinements, but in more serious
scholarly pursuits as well. They competed with the ladies
of the courts, drawing highly reputed scholars, poets, and
high ranking men into their salons. (See E. Rondocanachi,
La femme italienne avant, pendant, et apr^s la Renaissance,
Pans, 1922.)
33
The precxse origxns of the Medxci are uncertain, but
records show that in the twelfth century the family owned
houses and towers in the Florentine ghetto, in the Piazza
de' Medici, near the church of S. Tommaso. Ardingo de'
Medici was the first of the family to hold high office in
Florence. He became Prior of the city in 1291, Gonfalonier
of Justice in 1296, and again in 1297. (The old nobility
was excluded from all magisterial offices by a law, the
"Ordinament della Giustizia," passed in 1293.) In 1314,
another Medici, Averardo, was Gonfalonier of Justice. One
of his grandsons, Filigno di Conte de' Medici, wrote his
Ricordi in 1373. The degree to which the Medici had risen,
both in prestige and wealth, is illustrated in this Ricordi;
"I pray you to write well in the future and to
preserve those lands and houses which you will
find inscribed in this book; most of them were
bought by the noble knight Messer Giovanni di
Conte, my brother of honoured memory, after
whose death I began to write this book, taking
from his records and from those of others. . . .
Preserve not only the riches but the position
attained by our ancestors, which is considerable
but ought to be higher." (Ross, Lives, 3-4.)
The founder of the branch of the family who became the
leaders of Florence in the fifteenth century was Giovanni di
Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429). A wealthy and powerful banker,
he was a prior several times, and Gonfalonier of Justice in
1421. (See R. De Roover, The Rise and Decline of the Medici
Bank, 1397-1494^ Cambridge, Mass., 1963.)
34 . . , . . .
Giovanni Cavalcanti, Istorie Florentine, Florence,
1838, 262.
See this chapter, pp. 56-57.
^^Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464), was the son of
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici. Cosimo was elected Prior of
Florence in 1415, and again in 1417. Niccolo Macchiavelli
(The Florentine History, trans. T. Bedingfield, London,
1905, 240) states that after his father's death in 1429,
Cosimo made so great an effort to increase the political
power of the Medici, that "those who had rejoiced at
Giovanni's death, now regretted it, perceiving what manner
of man Cosimo was. Of consummate prudence, staid yet
agreeable presence, Cosimo was liberal and humane. He never
worked against his party nor against the State, was prompt
in giving aid to all, and his liberality gained him many
partisans among the citizens."
Exiled in 1433, Cosimo returned to Florence in triiamph
a year later, and continued to increase his power and his
family's standing. (See R. De Roover, Rise and Decline of
the Medici Bank, passim, for a discussion of the economic
basis of Medici power.)
37
Contessina (c. 1398-1473), daughter of Giovanni de'
Bardi, Count of Vernio, married Cosimo de' Medici c. 1413.
The Bardi were leading members of the Arte di Calimala, and
had been very wealthy. Although there is no known extant
portrait of Contessina, Vasari (Lives of the Artists, trans.
George Bull, New York, 1965, 184) says that Donatello made a
bronze bust of her and that it was preserved in the 16th
century in Duke Cosimo's wardrobe. (For a history of
Contessina's life see Yvonne Maguire, The Women of the
Medici, London, 1927, 18-59. See also Casini & Morpurgo,
VII Letter di Contessina dei Bardi dei Medici . . . per
nozze Zanichelli-Manotti, Florence, 1866.)
38 
Lucrezia Tornabuoni (c. 1425-1482), belonged to an
old Florentine family descended from the noble Tornaquinci.
In 1393, under Simone Tornaquinci, they abandoned their
nobility, changed their name to Tornabuoni, and became
successful merchants. Lucrezia married Piero di Cosimo de'
Medici in 1444. In the fifteenth century the Tornabuoni
were closely connected with the Medici; for many years
Lucrezia's brother Giovanni was head of the Medici bank in
Rome.
At Lucrezia's death, her son Lorenzo gave just tribute
to her intelligence. His letters are expressive of the
great respect which she earned during her lifetime. To the
Duke of Ferrara he wrote;
"In spite of my tears and grief I cannot but
inform Your Excellency of the sad fact of the
death of Madonna Lucretia, my beloved mother,
who to-day passed from this life. Wherefore
I am as unhappy as I can say, for besides losing
my mother, the thought of which alone breaks my
heart, I have also lost a helper who relieved me
of many troubles." (Cited by G. Levantini-
Pieroni, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Florence, 1888,
54.)
Ross, Lives, 49.
40
Before his death, Cosimo had been Piero's closest
adviser; Lucrezia assiimed part of this role after Cosimo
died. (See ibid.)
41 . . .
Francesco Cionacci, Rime Sacre del Magnifico Lorenzo
de' Medici il Vecchio, di Madonna Lucrezia sua Madre,
Bergamo, 1760.
42
The Medici prestige extended far beyond Florence.
Not only had Lorenzo received the education of a prince, but
he had, owing to Piero's ill health, represented his father
from an early age at foreign courts. See Andre Rochon,
La Jeunesse de Laurent de Medicis (1449-1478), Paris, 1963.
43
Ross, Lives, 108-109.
44
In this cycle dedicated to John the Baptist
(including the Life of the Virgin), men and women of the
Tornabuoni family occupy separate regions in the painting.
This convention would appear to stem from Trecento donor
portraiture. Professor Sheila Ross of Humboldt State
University has been kind enough to point out to me that not
only do the men and women occupy separate spaces, but the
female portraits are relegated to the inside wall. Prof.
Ross suggests that this could be a visual device denoting
the protected status of these women. (For a discussion of
these frescoes, see G. Marchini, "The Frescoes in the Choir
of Santa Maria Novella," Burlington Magazine, XCV, 1953,
32-39.)
45
Although J. Lauts (Domenico Ghirlandaio, Vienna,
1943, 53) assvimes that the panel of Giovanna degli Albizzi
was painted before the fresco, I concur with Pope-Hennessey's
assessment (Portrait, 28), asserting that the panel was
adapted from the fresco. He states that this is established
by two details: the left hand has been reduced by means of
a border, and the handkerchief she clutches has been
abbreviated. In addition to the obviously greater formalism
in the panel, it is interesting to note that Giovanna's gown
is a variation of that of the profile donor figure in the
Nativity of the Virgin.
46
The Latin inscription reads: "Ars Utinan Mores
Animum Que Effingere Posses Pulchrior In Terris Nullatabella
Foret."
The idea of external beauty reflecting and symbol
izing inner beauty was well established in Italy, particu
larly in the later fifteenth century when Neoplatonic
thought had become influential. This Neoplatonism was seen
especially in the court of the Medici, which included among
its intimates the foremost exponents of this philosophy.
E. H. Gombrich, "Botticelli's Mythologies: A Study in the
Neoplatonic Symbolism of His Circle," in Gombrich, Symbolic
Images, London, 1972, 31-81.
48
Although the profile figure in the Nativity of the
Virgin has occasionally been identified as Ludovica,
daughter of Giovanni Tornabuoni, there is little documentary
evidence to substantiate the identification. (See Gerald S.
Davies, Ghirlandaio, New York, 1909, and Frederick Hartt,
Italian Renaissance Art, New York, 307.)
49
An examination of the jewelry worn by the other
portrait figures in the cycle shows the necklace worn by the
Nativity figure to be unique. The other prominent women in
the frescoes wear necklaces which are essentially similar—
each has three pearl drops suspended from a large red
gemstone. The possibility of symbolic or emblematic
associations for family jewels opens an issue that needs
investigation. Since the necklace worn by the Nativity
figure is quite distinctive, it could possibly prove to be
helpful in her identification.
50
The phoenix and the sun were widely recognized
Christian symbols (see Louis R^au, L'Iconographie de I'art
Chretien, 3 vols., Paris, 1955, 94-96), but whether they
have any religious significance in this context is open to
question.
51
Another portrait of this young woman, the subject of
a paper by Helen Ettlinger ("The Portraits in Botticelli's
Villa Lemmi Frescoes," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen
Institutes in Florenz, XX, 1976, 404-406), is found in the
Botticelli frescoes in the Villa Lemmi. Ettlinger attempts
to identify the figure as Nanna, daughter of Niccolo
Tornabuoni, and niece of Giovanni Tornbuoni. She suggests
that this portrait, and the pendant portrait of a young man
identified as Matteo d'Andrea Albizzi, are in celebration of
their marriage. Ettlinger arrives at this conclusion
because the use of a heraldic shield on the portrait, impaled
with the Albizzi arms, was a device that was used often in
Renaissance wedding pictures. She found that the only
Albizzi-Tornabuoni marriage on record that corresponded to
the stylistic dating of this fresco at c. 1484, was between
Nanna and Matteo. When applied to the comparable portrait
in the Santa Maria Novella fresco, however, this identifica
tion fails to take into consideration the problem inherent
in combining a portrait of a living woman (as Nanna must
have been, since Ettlinger states that the first of Nanna's
five children was born in 1485), with a commemorative
portrait figure such as Giovanna degli Albizzi. While the
conventions of funerary portraiture need further investiga
tion, there are stylistic anomalies that also seem to
suggest that the portrait under consideration might be
commemorative. It seems unlikely that Ghirlandaio, a
popular artist with a conventional outlook, would connect
the three portrait figures in the Visitation by their
physical proximity, establish a common inaccessibility, and
create for each an individual, separate psychological space,
without a specific intention. It is important here to look
at this portrait, identified by Ettlinger as "Nanna," in
conjunction with the other portraits in the cycle. A marked
contrast is found between the Visitation group and the other
two female portrait groupings in the cycle—the Nativity of
the Virgin and the Birth of John the Baptist. In each of
these last two scenes, the most prominent portrait figure is
clearly differentiated from the backgroxand figures, and
among these background figures is found less formality and
some interaction, neither of which are present in the
Visitation figures. In addition, because of Botticelli's
unique relationship with the Neoplatonic avant-garde, the
iconography in his Villa Lemmi frescoes must be interpreted
with care. If we are to accept the Ghirlandaio and
Botticelli figures as the same woman, her identification
cannot be removed from the context of the visual evidence
found in the Santa Maria Novella frescoes.
This figure creates a stately presence within the
solemn portrait group, and must have been an eminent woman
in the Tornabuoni family. In light of the commemorative
appearance of all three women in the Visitation scene, it is
a possibility that this older woman in pious garb may
represent Lucrezia Tornabuoni (see note 38 above). It seems
unlikely that Lucrezia, as an extremely illustrious member
of the family, should have been excluded from depiction in
this cycle. She had died in 1482, only three years before
her brother, Giovanni Tornabuoni, commissioned the Santa
Maria Novella frescoes dedicated to the life of John the
Baptist. Not only was Lucrezia an important personality in
her own right, but it could only be to the Tornabuoni's
financial and political advantage to honor the mother of
Lorenzo de' Medici (see De Roover, Rise and Decline of the
Medici Bank). In addition, Lucrezia had been especially
devoted to John the Baptist, and had written a poetic life
of the saint. (See Conacci, Rime Sacre, XXVI.)
53
The other prominent female portrait in the cycle,
the young woman seen in three-quarter view in the Birth of
the Baptist, is not directly comparable to the profile
portraits. Instead, her direct gaze hints at the develop
ments to come in female portraiture in the last years of the
fifteenth century, instigated largely by the innovations of
Leonardo da Vinci.
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