User:Skingbesse/Orsanmichele's St. Luke Tabernacle

ORSANMICHELE'S ST. LUKE TABERNACLE
Giambologna’s bronze statue of St. Luke (1602) stands within the tabernacle of the Guild of Judges and Notaries (L’Arte de Giudici e Notai). The tabernacle is located on the northern most point of the eastern façade of Orsanmichele, Florence.

Formal Analysis of Giambologna’s St. Luke

St. Luke stands in a contrapposto position and gazes toward his right, outward beyond the confines of his niche. The bible, in its central position and held in a well-articulated, strong hand demands attention and acknowledgement from the viewer. The face and head are idealized, recalling the style of classical antiquity. Thick, voluptuous curls of hair and beard frame the face, revealing St. Luke’s alert, attentive gaze. The drapery, while prominent, is less naturalistic and hangs somewhat stiffly, covering his classical human form. The well-articulated musculature of the neck, shoulders and arms helps manifest this robust

Biography of Giambologna

Giovanni Bologna, also known as Giambologna, was born in 1529 under the Flemish name Jehan Boulogne, in Douai, France. During the 1540’s and early 1550’s he studied under sculptor Jacques Dubroeucq after which time he went to Italy and lived in the home of his earlier art patron Bernardo Vecchietti. He had become the sculptor for Prince Francesco by approximately 1560 until the latter’s death in 1587. He won the commission for the bronze Neptune Fountain in Bologna (1563-1566). It was this commission that supposedly “secured his position as the leading sculptor of the day.” He was known for being kind, sympathetic and humorous and a great enjoyer of life. He passed away in 1608 and was buried in the sarcophagus in SS. Annunziata chapel that he designed and built for himself. His primary period of activity was from approximately 1560-1600. James Holderbaum has divided his career into four periods which are useful in understanding the development of the artist. The decade of the 1560’s encompasses his earlier period in which he mastered Florentine sculptural traditions as well as changed them. He embraced the antique style of the tradition but also modified and elaborated upon it, all the while remaining committed to nature’s presence in sculpture. During his second period, of the 1570’s, he produced what Holderbaum considers to be the “masterpieces of freestanding art statuary.”  These statues treat “themes of pagan antiquity” and are the Ocean Fountain in the Boboli Gardens (1570-1575), the Rape of a Sabine (c. 1574-1582), multiple Hercules and Centaur variations and the Medici Mercury (completed 1580). During his third period, that of the 1580’s, he distances himself from antiquity-inspired compositions and departs on his journey into the world of the Counter Reformation and Absolutism. In 1579 he first completes Cristo della Liberta in Lucca, his first major endeavor into the realm of religious art. Two primary compositions of this period are two chapels. The Salvati Chapel in San Marco, Florence still exists today and was created as a shrine to St. Antoninus. The other, the Grimaldi Chapel in Genoa was unfortunately destroyed in the eighteenth century. However, much of its sculpture still survives in the University. This third period also witnessed Giambologna’s first works in relief sculpture which led him to become a successful pictorial artist. This shift welcomed the engagement of the State into his work, in addition to the Church patronage. He began a long series of sculptures in honor of the royal Medici dynasty and others. The first of these was a statue of Cosimo I in 1585 for the south façade of the Uffizi. His fourth and final period occupied the 1590’s when he made many religious reliefs and statuary such as the Passion Reliefs for the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem and St. Luke for Orsanmichele. It is also during this last period which he produces the monumental Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I in the Piazza Signoria.  The Guild of Judges and Notaries

L’Arte de’ Giudici e Notai, or the Guild of Judges and Notaries, was a necessary element in the function of the Trade Corporations of Florence and the industry and commerce of artisans and merchants. During the 12th century a College of Judges existed in Florence and there is first mention of a Tribunal of Judges in 1197 which probably led to the formation of the Guild of Judges. It was one of the Seven Major Guilds (Le Arte Maggiori ), along side the Guild of Furriers and Skinners (L’Arte de Vaiai e Pellicciai), the Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries ( L’Arte de Medici e Degli Speziali), The Calimala Guild (L’Arte e Universita de Marcanti di Calimala), The Guild of Wool (L’ Arte e Universita della Lana), The Guild of Bankers and Money-Changers ( L’Arte del Cambio ), and The Guild of Silk ( L’Arte della Seta, or “Por Santa Maria ).

The Commission of Giambologna's St. Luke

Changes to Orsanmichele reflected the shifting political climate in Florence between 1494 and 1600. By 1532 the Medicean principate was established and many reforms were enacted, some of which effected Orsanmichele. The confraternity of Orsanmichele managed to exist, adapting throughout the political shifts. New works were commissioned, one of which was Giambologna’s bronze St. Luke. The St. Luke commission of The Guild of Judges and Notaries was originally given to sculptor Stoldo di Gino Lorenzi who was to execute the figure in marble. However, he passed away, only having had the marble block for the statue delivered to Florence. It seems likely that the project to place a new statue in the niche of The Guild of Judges and Notaries was linked to Orsanmichele’s newfound purpose. In 1569 Cosimo I had designated the building to be used as a new public archive to preserve notarial protocols. With this new purpose defined, the guild may have been motivated and inspired to rejuvenate their niche. After Stoldo’s death, the guild not only chose to give the commission to Giambologna, but to have it executed in bronze in order to coordinate with the two bronze quattrocento statues also on the eastern façade. At the time, Giambologna was already occupied with a commission for Francesco I and the guild took measures to intercede and obtain Giambologna for their purposes. They called upon Vecchietti, Giambologna’s early patron to present their case to the Granduke. He stressed the wonderful opportunity that would be afforded Giambologna by taking on the St. Luke commission at Orsanmichele. Giambologna’s work would be displayed along side of that of the great masters Donatello and Verrocchio. Francesco I was in agreement but died before the change could occur and his successor insisted that Giambologna first finish the bronze equestrian monument of Cosimo I. The artist’s St. Luke was finally completed and installed at Orsanmichele on the 16th of November, 1602. Giambologna’s St. Luke replaced a previous St. Luke, created by sculptor Niccoló di Pietro Lamberti which is now housed in the Bargello Museum in Florence.

Formal analysis of Lamberti’s St. Luke

Lamberti’s St. Luke (1404-1406), stands contrapposto, his left hand grasping the bible at his side and his right drawn up. His robes drape softly and smoothly to the ground, revealing only the toes of his left foot. The drapery is executed somewhat naturalistically while the head of the figure is more idealized. Sparse patches of curls and a trim beard encompass the classicized face as St. Luke gazes forward intently.

 Biography of Niccoló di Pietro Lamberti

Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti was born c. 1370 and died before 1434. By 1391 he was working on the Porta Della Mandorla of the Duomo in Florence. In 1408 he was chosen as one of three sculptors to create one of the seated Evangelists (St. Mark) at the Florence Cathedral. The statue of St. Mark for the Florence Cathedral was completed in 1415 and  is now housed at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence. He was later active in both Venice and Bologna. In Venice, his significant role in the sculpture of the upper storey of St. Mark’s façade is notable. In addition to his statue of St. Luke at Orsanmichele, he created St. James the Major, on the southern façade for the tabernacle of The Guild of Furriers and Skinners. Lamberti is also responsible for two series of capitals at Orsanmichele, one on the right side of the arcade of the eastern façade and one on the left side of the arcade of the southern façade.

The Commission of Lamberti’s St. Luke

In 1401, a few years after The Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries completed their tabernacle of the “Madonna of the Rose,” The Guild of Judges and Notaries decided to commission a new statue to replace the trecento object. The communes war with Milan may have caused the delay of the project until November of 1403. The war prohibited the shipment of Carrera marble from Pisa to Florence. The members of the Judges and Notaries possesed a good working knowledge of who the prominent artists of the time were. As notaries they were employed by “the commune, the guilds, other corporate institutions, and the building committees of important civic projects – including the cathedral and the baptistery…”. Lamberti was a well-known artist at the time. He was employed frequently by the Opera del Duomo between 1391 and 1403 as a carver for the details on the Porta della Mandorla and as a sculptor of larger statues. Because of this previous experience, he was an appropriate candidate to design both the tabernacle and the earlier statue of St. Luke for The Guild at Orsanmichele. Lamberti’s range of experience and knowledge served him to create what has been said to be a “new type of tabernacle” at Orsanmichele. He gained an understanding of architecture from the trecento portals of the Florence Cathedral and Orcanga’s tabernacle of the virgin in Orsanmichele. Many of the new elements became a model for other tabernacles to follow at Orsanmichele. The base of the tabernacle is raised and on it are displayed the guild’s arms and the symbol of St. Luke the Evangelist. Its piers are inlayed with polychromed marble and it has twisted colonettes. The pinnacles are multi-tiered, its archivolt is high and cusped and in the pointed gable there is a half-figure of Christ the Redeemer. He also decorated the tabernacle niche with glass mosaic, following in the footsteps of his predecessor. A separate canopy, no longer existing today, covered both the statue and the tabernacle.

''' Sources '''

Grifton, Paola, Francesca Nannelli, Claudio Pisetta, Giuseppe Coopmans de Yoldi, and Diane F. Zervas. Orsanmichele a Firenze. Ed. Diane F. Zervas. Vol. 1-2. Italy: Franco Cosimo Panini, 1996. Print.

Holderbaum, James. The Sculptor Giovanni Bologna. New York: Garland, Inc., 1983. Print.

Munman, Robert. "The Evangelists from the Cathedral of Florence." The Art Bulletin 62.2 (1980): 207-17. Www.jstor.com. Web. 5 Aug. 2009. .

Pope-Hennessy, John Wyndham, Sir. Introduction to Italian Sculpture. Vol. 1. New York: Phaidon, 1955. Print. Seymore, Charles. Sculpture in Italy 1400 to 1500. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966. Print.

Staley, Edgcumb. The Guilds of Florence. London: Methuem & Co., 1906. Print.