Still in love, Apollo decides to transform the laurel tree into an evergreen and to adopt it as one of his sacred symbols, adorning his head, his lyre, and his bow with laurel. The legal requirements for a It also helped create a vogue for specially prepared marriage chests. The Renaissance view of marriage had little to do with love. The ‘Fleet marriage’ was so named because the Fleet prison in London offered the venue; as a prison it claimed to be independent of church marriage strictures, and rapid – or secret – marriages could be carried out. As I mentioned at the very beginning of this talk, marriage chests served as an important and elaborate symbol — of wealth, of prestige, of status — and were those objects that best represented the intersections of the political, social, economic, religious, and artistic dynamics at play during this time period. The Renaissance began during the 14th century and remained the dominate style in Italy, and in much of Europe, until the 16th century. She arrives at the River Peneus and calls upon her father, the river god, to help her change her form; she is transformed into a laurel tree before Apollo could capture her. It would be interesting to explore whether this was almost exclusively an upper-class phenomenon or if the lower-classes also layered their marital alliances with a veneer of sentiment. Keep reading for the full text of my talk from September 27, 2018. After its commission, the chest would have The Renaissance view of marriage had little to do with love. European poetry in the In this exhibition, we have a panel by Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso that depicts the well-known story of Apollo and Daphne from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. There were twenty-one in all, with seven major guilds and fourteen minor. As we can see from the two panels that feature this narrative, we have a scene depicting the three brothers luring Lorenzo out of the city, and another depicting Lisabetta in mourning. Of course, the decoration of these marriage chests often conveyed moral content as well, derived from allegorical, mythological, or biblical examples. These chests also had a public function as well, in the role Or so is the message of "Art and Love in Renaissance Italy" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which assembles approximately 150 objects -- great paintings, painted wooden trays and panels, majolica, glassware, jewelry, prints and erotica -- to illuminate the intimate, and often surprising, details of courtship, marriage, family life and adultery in the 14th and 15th centuries. Therefore, among the upper classes, parents took the lead in arranging Lorenzo was all too keen to appropriate these symbols as his own. Usually called cassoni today (but known as forzieri in Renaissance Florence), the chests were used to transport the wedding goods—dowry and groom gifts—during the wedding procession and to store them once the bride and groom had settled into their new home. You can also take them to a public house, … marriage. Lisabetta falls in love with one of the family’s employees, the handsome Lorenzo from Pisa. The Good Morrow”, celebrates love and sexuality in Each of them presented a beloved woman as a Interest in the role of women in the medieval and Renaissance period received an upswing with the advent of feminism in the 1970s. My talk this evening will eventually settle on a very specific, material output of the Renaissance —marriage chests, or cassoni in Italian. As we can see from the items in this gallery, another popular choice for narrative scenes comes from the classical tradition—Homer, Virgil, and Ovid, for example. Certainly, the ornate nature of the decorations was an overt symbol of wealth in itself, but it is important to recall, for example, the purposeful attempts by the Medici family to establish a certain cultural prestige in order to solidify the status of the family among the aristocratic class from which it was excluded. This cassone (an Italian term applied to marriage chests from the mid-1500s) shows scenes from the life of Julius Caesar, reflecting Renaissance interests in ancient Roman history. on the day of his joust in 1469 or as depicted in the painted scenes on his Lisabetta despairs in his absence, until Lorenzo visits her in a dream with torn and rotting clothes, alluding to his decomposition, and tells her where to locate his body. Last Version Love And Marriage In Renaissance Italy Uploaded By Roald Dahl, many famous italian renaissance artworks were made to celebrate love and marriage they were the pinnacles of a tradition dating from the early renaissance of commemorating betrothal marriage and the birth of a child by commissioning extraordinary objects or This standard, which would have flown high for all to see, was full of symbolism: Lorenzo’s very name quite happily coincided with the evergreen laurel tree associated with the poet Petrarch’s love, Laura (laurel in Italian is lauro, so Laura-lauro). in Renaissance Italy, a sum of money given by a wife's family to her husband upon marriage. The government of Florence was formed by the eligible members of these twenty-one guilds: men aged 30 and over (who were not known to be in debt and who had not served a recent term, nor were related to someone who had) would enter their name to be drawn from eight leather bags, one for each of the available positions. marriages. empires. Title: Marriage chest (cassone) Date: ca. bond between two people but a union of two families and their fortunes. Given that potential disparity, I’d like to begin my talk tonight with some of the basics: What is the Renaissance? Object Details. After you pick who you want to be as your spouse it is time to begin the fun part, wooing them! exhibition concerns just over a dozen examples of one sort of object, the cassone, or marriage chest, generally bearing a decorative front panel; these objects were commissioned in fifteenth-century Florence to hold the bride's trousseau and to be paraded ceremoniously from parental to marital house. Courtship led to betrothal, which until the late 1600s was an marriage chest during this period played an important role. it involved the expectations of families and communities, not just the wishes Now, it became very much in the best interest of the Medici family to project an image of power and benevolence, particularly under the leadership of the paterfamilias (or, patriarch of the family), Cosimo di Giovanni de’ Medici (1389-1464), who understood that popular support could bolster any claims to power that his family wished to exert. ROM is the largest national gathering of Catholic organisations and individuals working to empower and support Catholics to form vibrant These stories were chosen for their didactic function as well as for their symbolism: certain stories would serve as a reminder, for example, to brides of the virtues they were expected to extol. The scholar and poet Angelo Poliziano, for example, was commissioned to compose a poem in honor of the joust by Lorenzo’s younger brother, Giuliano, as Lorenzo knew that the pageantry and spectacle of the joust, which both celebrated his brother and honored the family name, would be ephemeral if not immortalized in poetry. An important question to explore, then, would be: How did literature, and the narrative scenes chosen to decorate these chests, further the objectives of the families who commissioned them? the concept of courtly love, which treated the beloved as a pure ideal. The idea of romantic love took shape in the centuries leading Now what does this have to do with marriage chests? And it is no coincidence that a great number of items in this exhibit are Florentine—indeed, it was the city of Florence where Renaissance humanism was born and first practiced, and the city from which humanistic endeavors were exported throughout Italy, and indeed throughout Europe, for much of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. It all works according to plan: Apollo sees Daphne and falls madly in love; Daphne, having always avoided love in the first place as she preferred to devote herself to hunting, flees from Apollo. Its growing merchant class made it a very wealthy city, but at this time in history, wealth did not necessarily equal prestige nor status. She plants basil in the pot over Lorenzo’s head, and waters it every day with perfumed water and her own tears. Most Renaissance marriages had nothing to do with love; but the objects created to celebrate marriage willfully attempted to deny that that was the case. We can recall that Lorenzo de’ Medici himself had adopted this very tradition as part of his own image. Most people believed that the perfect love of the poets could not exist alongside the everyday concerns of marriage. Now, it is not to my knowledge that any of the pieces The emergence of Medici rule and the image of the Medici as aristocrats (although they lacked this pedigree in official terms) can be seen as the result of a conscious plan that began during the reign of Cosimo, who commissioned artwork and buildings for the purpose of imprinting his image and his family’s name on the city of Florence — or in modern terms, what we might call “brand recognition.” To this end, Cosimo also heavily patronized public festivals — so much so that these events became symbolically linked with the family’s name. Offended, Cupid decides to show Apollo exactly what he is capable of with his bow and arrow, piercing him with his golden arrow of love, intending for the boastful god to fall in love with the beautiful nymph Daphne. They panic, re-bury Lorenzo’s head, and flee Messina to Naples, lest their crime be discovered. This reflects what has survived but also what was collected by the Museum. Before long, Lisabetta’s brothers learn of their romance and decide to take drastic action: they lure Lorenzo to the countryside with promises of a business affair and murder him. Notably, the historical record shows that Clarice Orsini’s dowry was fairly small. Two Italian writers of the 1300s, Dante Alighieri and Petrarch, drew Your email address will not be published. The dowry brought to Piero by Alphonsina Orsini was double that of Piero’s mother, Clarice. Art, Marriage, and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace, explores the social and economic background to marriage in Renaissance Florence and discusses the objects—paintings, sculptures, furniture, jewelry, clothing, and household items—associated with marriage and ongoing family life. To our right, we have a panel from a marriage chest painted by Giovanni di Ser Giovanni Guidi featuring the story of Lisabetta di Messina, which is a novella from Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron — an excellent example of this sort of didactic narrative material. Now, this particular arranged marriage was a departure from the Medici family’s traditional policy of choosing a bride from within the circle of great Florentine families, which would have insured and fortified internal alliances. objects or exchanging them as gifts love and marriage in renaissance italy english edition ebook fred stern amazonde kindle shop love and marriage in renaissance italy ... and marriage in renaissance italy uploaded by ken follett fact teen marriages were quite routine if you remember your shakespeare juliet was only 14 when she married Read More. All these symbols would have been well-recognized by the Florentines present at the joust, and the message could not have been clearer: in a world of inconstancy, Lorenzo and the Medici family are a constant, like the evergreen laurel; they promise peace and renewal to Florence and her citizens. This cassone (an Italian term applied to marriage chests from the mid-1500s) shows scenes from the life of Julius Caesar, reflecting Renaissance interests in ancient Roman history. But before we jump in, it could be useful to discuss the context in which they were created, that is, the structure and organization of Renaissance Florentine society. These items were, to quote the opening panel of this exhibit, “objects that best represented the political, social, economic, religious, and artistic dynamics at play during the Italian Renaissance,” and the exploring these intersections will hopefully provide fruitful ground for discussion this evening. renaissance italy these lectures explore the various exceptional objects created to celebrate love and marriage in the italian kindle e readers free kindle reading apps kindle love and marriage in renaissance italy Oct 08, 2020 Posted By Edgar Wallace Ltd overpowering force, both spiritual and sexual. John Donne’s “. and beyond ordinary life. The tale concludes as Lisabetta cries herself to death, literally, over the loss of the basil pot. Culture: Italian, Florence or Lucca. Medium: Poplar wood; painted and gilded gesso. Furthermore, the motto Le Temps Revient bore a connection to the Roman poet Virgil’s Eclogues, which had predicted a return of the ancient Golden Age. have varied according to means), were rectangular in shape and about two meters Importantly, they were also a family of soldiers: an alliance could provide the Medici with an armed force in case of need. Most people believed that the perfect love of the poets could not exist The wedding chest was not only the most important piece of furniture for storing everyday items for all classes of society — they were kept in private homes after the nuptials of the bride and groom, and would be filled with the family’s personal possessions, such as clothing, linens, and other important personal items — but they also held an important symbolic matrimonial function. from marriage chests, are just as replete with symbolism as Lorenzo’s standard However, Lorenzo’s father, Piero, recognized the importance of having external support from the powerful families beyond Florence, and as such, sought to forge a dynastic alliance with the Orsini, one of the oldest, noblest, and most powerful families in Italy. But as part of his revenge, Cupid also strikes Daphne with a lead-tipped arrow that causes her to reject Apollo’s love. In brief, Lisabetta is a young, beautiful, and educated girl who lives in Messina (a city in Sicily) with her three brothers, wealthy merchants who have inherited all their father’s estate. Born in 1449, Lorenzo de’ Mediciwas destined to become the future face of the Medici family, and learned well from his grandfather the political power that patronage of the arts could provide. Your email address will not be published. The medieval and Renaissance collections at the V&A have many objects that reveal the lives of women. By analyzing urban palaces and their furnishings, Jacqueline Marie Musacchio shows how families … Lorenzo had hosted his own joust just six years prior, an event filled both splendor and symbolism. Many famous Italian Renaissance artworks were made to celebrate love and marriage. At the highest levels of society, a marriage was not just a been taken in a public and ostentatious procession of the bride to her new home Marriage chests were a part of the general commodification of marriage in 15 th-century Florence—this item was part of the financial exchange made between families in order to achieve a marriage alliance. This came from Florence.” Thus it is not merely a happy coincidence that some of the Italian Renaissance’s greatest names — Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli — came from the city of Florence. This family’s fortune began in the 14th century, prospering in the textile trade guided by the wool guild of Florence, the Arte della Lana (one of those seven major guilds). Emily Mayne explores the origins and development of Renaissance love poetry and the many forms it took. “But what was reborn?” I might counter. As Apollo himself prophesies in the tale, over the centuries this myth would transform into custom, and wreaths of laurel were used to honor winners, warriors, and poets over the course of history. messages, of power and prestige, of moral teachings and marital virtues, of He intentionally engaged with philosophers, writers, and artists, and purposefully commissioned many great works so that one might be able to say, “This. The Frist Art Museum presents Life, Love & Marriage Chests in Renaissance Italy, an exhibition that offers an intimate view of life in the Renaissance through art commissioned to celebrate marriage and family. Some of the concepts still exist up to the … Lorenzo the Magnificent was more than ready to fill that role. objects during the marriage and the birth of children art marriage and family in the florentine renaissance palace musacchio jacqueline marie art marriage and family in the art marriage and family in the florentine renaissance palace Oct 28, 2020 Posted By Lewis Carroll Media Publishing It is important to note that marriage was another means by which the Medici (and of course, powerful families in general) strengthened their social and political position. These chests also had a public function as well, in the role that they played in the often lengthy and complex series of marriage rites that were practiced at this time. Lorenzo de’ Medici sought to accomplish this, as we explored, through his close connection to and patronage of the literary and cultural elite of Florence. References to literature, both classical and Italian, through the depiction of narratives in the panel paintings allowed the family to display their cultural legitimacy in order to cement a certain prestige and status for the family beyond mere wealth. mid-1500s. Accession Number: 16.155 In fact, today, Lorenzo de’ Medici is more popularly known by his nickname: Lorenzo il Magnifico—Lorenzo the Magnificent. by. Although practical matters played a major role in marriage, some in length. The reality, of course, was more Lorenzo’s power and influence had increased exponentially in these intervening years, and it was now understood by the most powerful families in Italy that a marriage with a Medici son would establish an alliance of the utmost value; they were now proud to align themselves with a family that was only just barely less than royalty (relevant side note: Giovanni, Piero’s brother and Lorenzo’s second son, would later become Pope). Her family believed that the alliance itself was honor enough for the Medici, and that they were in no position to make further (monetary) demands. Inventories record that Lorenzo’s own bedchamber contained three chests (one cassone and two forzieri)—two of which were painted with scenes from Petrarch’s Triumphs (a series of poems in the Tuscan language evoking the Roman ceremony of triumph, where victorious generals and their armies were lead in procession by the captives and spoils they had taken in war). Because In this sense, expressions of humanism embodied in works of art were a powerful message in themselves. part of the financial exchange made between families in order to achieve a That is, what do wealth, prestige, and literature have to do with one another? The Renaissance (UK: / r ɪ ˈ n eɪ s ən s / rin-AY-sənss, US: / ˈ r ɛ n ə s ɑː n s / REN-ə-sahnss) was a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries. Indeed, Lorenzo would come to see art and literature, in particular, as a political tool —one of many means by which he could control his image and that of his family. To explore the social and practical functions of these important objects, the exhibition will include related domestic items such as maiolica wares, fabric, and architectural decorations, in addition to panel paintings and intact chests made in Italy from the 14th to the 16th centuries.”, I was given free rein in terms of content for the talk itself, which was a bit nerve-wracking at first. In-kind gifts — capons, hens, wax, wine, sweetmeats — were sent in from all over Tuscany to supply the 800-guest banquet. He had the financial means and the political goals. Up to the mid-20th century historians tended to argue that women in the Renaissance, at least those wh… As the basic building block of society, However, this object was further embellished in the 1800s, with gilding and inscriptions added to identify the scenes. Before the custom was outlawed in 1754, tens of thousands of ‘Fleet marriages’ were solemnized. complicated. The families that commissioned these utilitarian works of art In Greek mythology, Apollo was an important but boastful god (we might recall him as a favorite of Lorenzo de’ Medici — also known as the god of music, truth, light, and reason; all important aspects to Renaissance culture), who, one day, mocked Cupid, the god of Love, for his use of a bow and arrow, a weapon far more suited to a powerful god such as himself. ROM19 brought together leaders in Catholic marriage formation from across the country and the Tasman. There are some folks in the audience this evening that have dedicated their entire careers to the study of the time period that we call the Renaissance, and there are likely others who have heard of this era perhaps only in passing. if we look around at the examples in this room, the panels here, which were taken The literature of the Middle Ages developed Drop me a line anytime, whether it’s about any queries or demands or just to share your well being. The Renaissance was the period between the 14th and the 17th century. source of inspiration and a symbol of female perfection. On display are more than 150 objects including paintings, glassware, jewels, pottery (majolica) that were created to celebrate or to mark engagement, marriage, and birth. Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1916. Constitutionally, Florence was an independent republic, and theoretically, every member of the city’s guilds, or Arti, had a say in its government, but this was far from being the case in practice. Lorenzo’s joust in February 1469 was, in fact, arranged to celebrate his betrothal to Clarice Orsini. Florence was, and remains to this day, a small city (today, it has approximately 380,000 residents, just slightly larger than the city of Madison). Interestingly, no other depictions of this story are known to exist, although tales taken from Boccaccio’s Decameron were a popular content choice for marriage chests because they were highly recognizable in Florentine society — meaning that the lessons imparted would have been easily conveyed. When asked that question, people tend to respond with the literal definition of the term “Renaissance” — a French word meaning “rebirth.”. In England, it was a period regarded as Elizabethan or Shakespeare’s era. The reality, of course, was more complicated. Get all latest content delivered straight to your inbox. During this time, an artist needed a patron, or he was just simply out of work. Such poetry continued the image-making process, as Poliziano employed well-recognized literary conventions (pastoralism, the courtly love tradition, Neoplatonism) in order to paint a picture that invited Florentines to associate the Medici with gods. They were the pinnacles of a tradition---dating from the early Renaissance---of commemorating betrothal, marriage, and the birth of a child by commissioning extraordinary objects or exchanging them as gifts. Ranging from jewellery to ceramics, most are precious items that would have belonged to the wealthy. This popular story was a frequent choice for marriage chests: Daphne was considered a positive example of chastity and Apollo is a symbol of both power and eternal love. Whether we focus on the cultural prestige, powerful symbolism, or didactic function conveyed by these items, it is clear that their significance, along with the other beautiful items in this exhibit, bears continued discussion even today, some six centuries later. and would have been on display for all to observe. Lisabetta finds Lorenzo’s body, then cuts off his head, wraps it in a beautiful cloth, and gives it a loving burial. Our clothes, our flags, our mascots, even our tattoos, are part of the story we seek to tell about ourselves. Returning to Lorenzo: the festivities in honor of Lorenzo and Clarice’s marriage took place in June 1469 and were certainly extravagant. At this time, marriage seemed to have a different dimension as we know it today. In September 2018, I was asked by the Chazen Museum of Art to give a talk in honor of their exhibit, “Life, Love, and Marriage in Renaissance Italy.”, From the Chazen website: “Organized by the Museo Stibbert and Contemporanea Progetti in Florence, Italy, the Chazen Museum of Art will host an exhibition of Italian wedding chests, also known as cassoni. up to the Renaissance. marriage alliance. To begin courting someone you first must find a suitable candidate. Kirsti S. Thomas . Thanks for stopping by! commodification of marriage in 15th-century Florence—this item was while others presented love as a pure and selfless emotion. Marriage chests were a part of the general This paper arose from a collaboration which I entered into with B.J. He also was a great patron of literature, which was one of the most powerful tools of propaganda available to him—perhaps more so than in painting, sculpture, or architecture. important step in the process of getting married. They were made of wood (the quality of which would A hierarchy existed among the major guilds as well, where that of the lawyers, L’Arte dei Giudici e Notai, boasted the highest prestige, followed by the wool, silk, and cloth merchants, belonging to the three Arte della Lana, Arte di Por Santa Maria, and Arte di Calimala. that they played in the often lengthy and complex series of marriage rites that Humanism an intellectual movement of the Renaissance that was … These were the palaces which on completion would quickly be filled with splendid art objects. × 32 in. For most people, however, Yet the Medici family would always be considered what we today might call “New Money” by the Florentine nobility, and aristocratic families such as the Pazzi, the Albizi, and the Strozzi, did not peacefully accept the Medici’s claim to power. Poets described love as an Of course, this attitude toward the cultural power and prestige of literature was made possible by a set of cultural norms in play: the veneration of antiquity, a confidence in the value of education, and an emphasis on literary credentials in the process of constructing individual, professional, or family honor. During the Renaissance, Europeans saw love and marriage as Humanism is a primarily intellectual philosophy that gives principal importance to human, rather than divine, matters — a significant break with the intellectual and philosophical tradition of the Middle Ages. Yet money could still buy power, as we can see in the case of the House of Medici, an Italian banking family turned political dynasty. Love poetry in the Renaissance often expressed sexual or romantic passion, but it could also serve a variety of political, social and religious ends. It was, in a sense, also the recognition of an Italian cultural heritage that had a connection to and roots in Greco-Roman civilization. Wealth, pageantry, courtly tradition, and feudal combat all combined at this event to imbue Lorenzo, as the head of the Medici family, with an aura of majesty and power. It will show you a list of eligible people you can choose from. importance diamonds and pearls were in fashion decorating rings necklaces and medallions frequently jewelers were inspired by plant and animal objects for their designs love and marriage in renaissance italy english edition ebook fred stern amazonde kindle shop in fact teen marriages were quite routine if you remember your shakespeare marriage rituals and among the most prestigious furnishings in the house or palace of the newlyweds life love marriage chests in renaissance italy during the renaissance a love and marriage in renaissance italy Nov 05, 2020 Posted By Stephenie Meyer Publishing Interested? Hello, Viewers! The fifth Renaissance of Marriage was held at the University of Notre Dame, Broadway in late July. Some poets saw sexual desire as a vital part of love, He speaks of women in courtly circles independently commissioning household objects and decorations and tellingly ends his book The Italian Renaissance Interior, 1400-1600 with a section entitled 'Women's Influence,' in which he asserts that women had a profound, if less obvious, affect on the household environment. Perhaps it is better, then, to refer to the Renaissance— a time period beginning roughly around the close of the 14th century — as an era of rediscovery: a rediscovery of classical antiquity as the epitome of culture and values, which foregrounded Greek and Roman models of art, architecture, philosophy, and literature, and moved beyond a strict focus on the afterlife that generally defined Medieval cultural production. Required fields are marked *. The end result: “Life, Love, and the Literary: Cultural Power and Prestige in Renaissance Marriage Chests.”. They would have been decorated, typically with painted panels as we Although marriage was the normal state of life for most The Renaissance At Home, renaissancedomesticart, therenaissanceathome, pregnancyintherenaissance, objects, birthtrays, deschidaparto Andrea Bouza-Veiga 5/28/19 The Renaissance At Home, renaissancedomesticart, therenaissanceathome, pregnancyintherenaissance, objects, birthtrays, deschidaparto Andrea Bouza-Veiga 5/28/19 A wealthy merchant could not, for example, simply ‘earn’ status as a noble, even if he became the city’s richest man. ceremony. The brothers take notice of her strange, obsessive behavior and decide to investigate, finding the head inside the basil pot.