A Visual Diastasis Of The 5X14 Theory

[Huck]

Well, the chest and the same pictures as in the other Riccardiana-Resource (Virgil), less material but with a quicker view:

http://www.istitutodatini.it/biblio/images/it/riccard/492/htm/elenco.htm

both from Apollonio di Giovanni
nowhere they note, that it is a marriage chest
but the description says:

"The front panel of this cassone represents the conquest of Trebizond, on the Black Sea, by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II on August 14, 1461. This event resulted in the ouster of the Venetians from Constantinople and the gift of their property to the Florentines. The side panels of the cassone are decorated with the crest of the Florentine Strozzi family."

The war between the Osman and Venice started in 1463 and endured till 1479. As interesting detail it seems to be said, that Florence profited (got the properties of the Venetians; at least for a while) from this development, so had no oeconomical reasons to be enjoyed too much about the crusades idea of Pius II.

 

[Rosanne]

I am sorry I am not making myself clear; nor am I linking things properly.
I read an article called Men Viewing Women as Art Objects
By Christoph E. Schweitzer. In this article there is a section on Marriage chests with one in particular by Apollonio de Giovanni. The article says that prior to 1400 the trousseau of the Bride was the responsibility of the Brides father- and then from 1400 onwards it became the responsibility of the groom- as were the things inside mainly- like miniatures, hand painted china, prayer books etc. (not clothes) The thing about these Florentine Marriage chests and mementos was that they were to be particular to the bride in subject; sometimes particular to the couple in what was depicted. For example if the Marriage chest had scenes like the ones I linked- they had some bearing on the Bride. In the case of the hand painted cards for Bianca- they would show what was particular to Bianca- not Francesca. For example they may show a play based on some allegory that was familiar or written for the Bride before she married in her home place. This was to show that the Groom knew about his future wife and family. So if you wanted to find out who the Rotheschild cards were for (as an example) you would look to the subject of the cards and apply them to a possible candidate. So it is important to find out for example who was the Emperor with his Crown that may be where the skit of Aeneid by Virgil was presented as a celebration. This may lead you to the Bride and the date of the cards. The cards as a celebration would come with the Marriage chest before marriage as a gift. So maybe if I follow along with this theory- then the cards for marriage of Visconti/sforza was before 1441? It was all very formal- this gift giving of the Chest and mementos like cards. What are the Visconti cards saying that is personal to the Bride. A particular Game? A play? A dance? I think it was a tableau on the front lawn in Cremona. Or maybe something to do with the Visconti Book of Hours even.
That is what I was trying to say.
~Rosanne

 

[Huck]

Hm.

The Cary-Yale is given to the 1441 marriage by "tradition".

The Fama-card shows a scene, which is connectable to something which happened in the recent war between the opponents Piccinino-Sforza, in which Piccinino fled with a boat in a dark night.

And there are heraldics. The figure on the chariot is a women, so one might interprete a female triumph. We don't know, if Bianca Maria looked as the presented person.

The Florentian deck Charles VI. has a (young ?) male as triumphator, possibly with Medici heraldic used before 1465, with 7 palle instead of 6 (in the case, it's not simple decoration).
So ... was this deck really for a bride? ... the triumphator is male. A great lady as in Milan hadn't been in Florence.
When it was for the Medici, the choice is easy. There is a young man, Lorenzo de Medici.
And then we're again by Luigi Pulci.

And then we're by ca. 1463 possibly, a year, in which the Trionfi allowance was renewed.

But Ross promised arguments, which aim at a dating for the deck to 1450. ... ... however, for the moment the enjoyment about some halos is so big, that he had forgotten to tell about it.

For the Cary-Yale:
We don't know the complete trump series, from which we think, that there were 16. Beside the Fama card the known triumphs look relatively humourless, the 14 Bembo cards are more funny, you're right.

 

[Huck]

I can't help it, but this Jupiter-hat has similarities to the Pope-Tiara in the Charles VI .... ???? Not in the colour, but in the form.

... ... and a rather impressive halo.

 

[Huck]

About Apollonio

"In early 15th-century Florence, Apollonio was a leading supplier of cassoni, gilt wooden chests decorated with scenes from ancient history or Italian literature that were commissioned when a young couple married and were used to hold the bride’s possessions in her new home. Apollonio’s workshop was the most fashionable firm in the city. In the 17 recorded years of its existence, the artist and his craftsmen produced more than 300 cassoni."

"ca.1415-1465 Italian painter and illuminator. He was trained by illuminators in the circle of Bartolomeo di Fruosino and Battista di Biagio Sanguini (1393?C1451) and became a member of the Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali in 1442 and of the Compania di S Luca in 1443. Apollonio was influenced by Filippo Lippi, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Paolo Uccello."

 

[Rosanne]

Now if these cards were for Charles V1 that is exactly what would be portrayed on them as did not Charles think his ancestry went back to Troy? What a perfect subject to put on the cards- so yes I can see Saturn as Le Pape. Love the aura- quite over the top. That shape aura was how the Bishop's Mitre came about too; it has a name but I cannot think what it is. Something Latin about a flame shape.
So no one thinks the Visconti cards were slightly pre 1441? I would like to put them back further toward the original alliance when Bianca was formally aligned with Sforza 1432-ish.If they were Marriage cards that is- even if they were not maybe. These mementos took some organising. ~Rosanne
Edited to add. These chests were also instructional for family History as well because children of the marriage would crawl around at their level and learn from the scenes.
Whoops! I meant Jupiter not Saturn as the Le Pape- see Hucks post below. Duh!

 

[Huck]

Now if these cards were for Charles V1 that is exactly what would be portrayed on them as did not Charles think his ancestry went back to Troy? What a perfect subject to put on the cards- so yes I can see Saturn as Le Pape. Love the aura- quite over the top. That shape aura was how the Bishop's Mitre came about too; it has a name but I cannot think what it is. Something Latin about a flame shape.
So no one thinks the Visconti cards were slightly pre 1441? I would like to put them back further toward the original alliance when Bianca was formally aligned with Sforza 1432-ish.If they were Marriage cards that is- even if they were not maybe. These mementos took some organising. ~Rosanne

... it was not only Charles VI, who thought he came from Troja.

And Apollonio painted at another time (later). And he took his clothing examples (he did need a lot, as he painted many-persons-pictures) likely from reachable sources, when there were motifs on playing cards, he possibly imitated them, perhaps variated.
Popes identified with Jupiter, not with Saturn (so for instance Alexander VI in the festivities around the Lucrezia marriage)

The position at 1441 for the Cary-Yale has a lot of logic, as there are other relevant dates around this time, 1.1.1441 and 2 dates from 1442.

Before is only the Michelino deck (ca. 1424/25) and this is rather different. There are documents about playing card productions, but no indication of "special cards" (beside the "Imperatori" document of 1423).

Ferrara was fond of playing cards 1422 - 1424 (4 documents), before Parasina was killed (1425). After this there are for some time no documents. Documents about playing cards reappear ca. 1434, when the daughters of the family reach the right age to marry.
This dependancy of the playing card documents to the marriages is one of the arguments, which make this idea that "Tarot was at the begin for women".

In 1430 in Savoyen card-playing was prohibited for men, but not, when they played with women.

This changed with the time, they were then also for kids and young men, and in the 70's they are accepted.

But Trionfi cards, at least as name and documented, start later as 1434, just in 1441. The difference between Bianca-marriage and the moment of Trionfi-card-production in Ferrara (first appearance of the word) is 3 1/2 monthes.

...

 

[kwaw]

Come and dance, Lombard, don't fret over your losses for God will surely help you."

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dome/ho_14.39.htm

Here is Marriage chest at about the time we are talking by Giovanni and it is Florentine.
and here is the site again (properly I hope)
It is the 11th one down , click on Bilblio Riccardo

http://translate.google.com/transla...channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=G

From the same workshop comes a panel called The continence of Scipio in which we can see men dancing without shoes in their red stockings, which reminds me of the VS couple in the lovers card, who look to me like they may be dancing.

This image is used on the front cover on The eloquent body which following a discussion in another forum I opened at random to the following passage:

In 1380 the Florentine Buonaccorso Pitti, international merchant and a professional gambler, found himself in France. After a short sojourn in Paris he moved to Brussels in order to gamble with the duke of Brabant, who, with many other gentlemen, was diverting himself with "tournaments, jousting, dancing and the gaming tables." Pitti describes how one evening


the duke and a group of gentlemen rose and went into another room where many ladies and gentlemen were dancing and, as I stood enjoying the spectacle, a young unmarried beauty, the daughter of a great baron, came over to me and said: "Come and dance, Lombard, don't fret over your losses for God will surely help you." Then she led me onto the dance floor.

A French lady, a Lombard and a gambler. And can we perhaps read beneath the erotic subtext that the God refered to here is not the Christian God, but Eros?

if only bibliomancy was proof...

Kwaw
Ref: The Eloquent Body : Dance and Humanist Culture in Fifteenth-Century Italy by Jennifer Nevile. (p.18)

 

[Huck]

In 1380 the Florentine Buonaccorso Pitti, international merchant and a professional gambler, found himself in France. After a short sojourn in Paris he moved to Brussels in order to gamble with the duke of Brabant, who, with many other gentlemen, was diverting himself with "tournaments, jousting, dancing and the gaming tables." Pitti describes how one evening


the duke and a group of gentlemen rose and went into another room where many ladies and gentlemen were dancing and, as I stood enjoying the spectacle, a young unmarried beauty, the daughter of a great baron, came over to me and said: "Come and dance, Lombard, don't fret over your losses for God will surely help you." Then she led me onto the dance floor.

The anonymous "duke of Brabant" in this quote should be Wencelas of Brabant, half-brother of Emperor Charles IV (reigning 1346 - 1378).
His court is with documentary evidence the first known European "playing card court" in the time between 1379 - 1383.

 

[kwaw]

The anonymous "duke of Brabant" in this quote should be Wencelas of Brabant, half-brother of Emperor Charles IV (reigning 1346 - 1378).
His court is with documentary evidence the first known European "playing card court" in the time between 1379 - 1383.

1379 BRUSSELS The first documentary evidence of playing cards in Belgium occurs in the Audit Office Register in the State Archives in Brussels. It is dated 14 May 1379 and reads in translation: "Given to My Lord and Lady on the 14th day of May, to purchase a pack of cards: 4 peters, 2 florins, making 8 sheep". (Note: a 'peter' was a gold or silver coin bearing the effigy of the Apostle Peter. 'Sheep' was the nickname given to a gold coin stamped with an Agnus Dei (used in France, Flanders and Brabant). "My Lord and Lady" were Duke Wenceslas of Luxemburg and Duchess Joanna of Brabant). Further references to purchases of playing cards follow in the same account book, some made by one Ingel Van der Noet (cost: 2 sheep), some by Colin Creevers, another by a certain Geerard, etc. One may infer that card games were very popular at the court of Brabant.

They played for high stakes at the Court, and the account books reveal exactly how much they lost. This makes one suspect that a veritable craze for card playing existed in certain circles during the 1370s and 80s.

quote from:
http://www.wopc.co.uk/history/earlyrefs.html

Kwaw