THE SIENA AND ORVIETO LODGES
THE SIENESE SCHOOL
----+---------+-----------------------------+----------------------------
1. | 1259 | Magister Luglio Benintendi }|
| | }| Architects employed on Siena
2. | | M. Rubeo q. Bartolomei }| cathedral.
| | }|
3. | | M. Stephanus Jordanus }|
| | |
4. | 1260 | M. Bruno Bruscholi }| Engaged on May 31, 1260, for
| | }| work in the cathedral.
5. | | M. Buonasera Brunacci }|
| | |
6. | 1266 | M. Niccolò Pisano | Sculptured the pulpit in the
| | | Duomo of Siena.
| | |
7. | | M. Donato di Ricevuti |{ His pupils and assistants.
| | |{
8. | | M. Arnolfo |{ Donato and Lapo were
| | |{ naturalized in 1271 at
9. | | M. Lapo |{ Siena. Arnolfo went to
| | |{ Florence, and was there
| | |{ made a citizen.
| | |{
10. | | M. Johannes filius Niccoli |{ Son of Niccolò Pisano, who
| | (Giovanni Pisano) |{ was made a citizen of
| | |{ Siena. He was chief
| | |{ architect of the Duomo in
| | |{ 1290.
| | |
11. | 1267 | M. Johannes Stephani |{ Three _Magistri_ employed
| | (son of No. 3) |{ at the Duomo, who witnessed
| | |{ the payment to Niccolò
12. | | M. Orlando Orlandi |{ Pisano for his pulpit.
| | |{
13. | | M. Ventura Diotisalvi of |{ Ventura was probably
| | Rapolano |{ descended from Diotisalvi,
| | |{ the builder of the Tower of
| | |{ Pisa.
| | |
14. | 1281 | M. Ramo di Paganello | Signed a contract as builder
| | | on Nov. 20, 1281.
| | |
15. | 1308 | M. Andrea olim Ventura | Son of No. 13.
| | |
| | |{ Worked under Gio. Pisano
16. | 1310 | M. Lorenzo olim M. Vitalis |{ at Siena during his
| | de Senis (called Lorenzo |{ apprenticeship. Was chief
| | Maitani) |{ architect at Orvieto in
| | |{ 1310. His son Vitale was
| | |{ "_Capo-Maestro_" after him.
| | |
17. | 1310 | M. Ciolo di Neri } |
| | } | Worked together at Siena.
18. | " | M. Muto di Neri } |
| | |
19. | " | M. Teri | Ciolo takes Teri as his
| | | pupil on Sept. 10, 1310.
| | |
20. | 1318 | *M. Camaino di Crescentini | Grandson of Ventura
| | di Diotisalvi[210] | Diotisalvi
| | |
21. | | *M. Tino | His son.
| | |
22. | | *M. Corsino Guidi |
| | |
23. | | *M. Ghino di Ventura } | Relatives of the Diotisalvi
| | } | family.
24. | | *M. Ceffo di Ventura } |
| | |
25. | | *M. Vanni Bentivegno |
| | |
26. | | *M. Andreuccio Vanni | His son.
| | |
27. | | *M. Ceccho Ricevuti | A descendant of No. 7.
| | |
28. | | *M. Gese Benecti |
| | |
29. | | M. Vanni di Cione of } |
| | Florence } | These four with Lorenzo
| | } | Maitani (No. 16) voted
30. | | M. Tone Giovanni } | against going on with the
| | } | too large church at Siena,
31. | | M. Cino Franceschi } | and advised its present
| | } | dimension.
32. | | M. Niccola Nuti } |
| | |
33. | 1330 | M. Vitale di Lorenzo | Son of Lorenzo Maitani (No.
| | | 16). C.M. (_Capo-Maestro_)
| | | at Orvieto for six months
| | | after his father's death,
| | | with Niccola Nuti (No. 32.)
| | |
34. | " | M. Agostino da Siena } |
| | } |
35. | | M. Giovanni, his son } | These five sculptors were
| | } | engaged to make the tomb of
36. | | M. Angelo di Ventura } | Bishop Tarlato at Arezzo;
| | } | Agostino being head sculptor
37. | | M. Simone di Ghino } | and designer.
| | } |
38. | | M. Jacopo, his brother } |
| | |
39. | 1333 | †M. Paolo di Giovanni[211] |
| | |
40. | | †M. Toro di Mino |
| | |
41. | | †M. Cino Compagni | Worked at the Sienese Duomo
| | | from 1326.
| | |
42. | | †M. Frate Viva di Compagni | A monk of the guild, brother
| | | of the preceding.
| | |
43. | | †M. Guido or Guidone di | Built the castle of Grosseto
| | Pace | with Angelo Ventura.
| | |
44. | | †M. Andrea Ristori |
| | |
45. | | †M. Ambrosio Ture |
| | |
46. | 1339 | M. Cellino di Nese of Siena | Built the church of St. John
| | | Baptist at Pistoja; the
| | | contract was signed July 22,
| | | 1339.
| | |
47. | 1339-40 | M. Lando di Pietro | C.M. in 1339. A great artist
| | | in metal, and eminent
| | | architect.
| | |
48. | 1348 | M. Stefano di Meo | Son of Magister Meo di Piero.
| | | Built the chapel of St. Peter
| | | at Massa.
| | |
49. | 1349 | M. Giovanni di M. Jacopo } |
| | di Vanni } | These brothers were employed
| | } | at the Fonte Branda.
50. | " | M. Niccolo di M. Jacopo } |
| | |
51. | 1356 | M. Gherardo di Bindo | { Paid for advice about the
| | | { new Duomo when Francesco
| | | { Talenti and Benci Cione
52. | " | M. Francesco di Vannuccio | { came from Florence as
| | | { experts.
| | |
53. | 1358 | M. Paolo di Matteo } | Elected on Nov. 3, 1358,
| | } | C.M. of Orvieto with Moricus
| | } | as his assistant. He
54. | | M. Moricus Petrucciani } | resigned, and died in 1360.
| | |
55. | 1360 | M. Andrea di Cecco Ranaldi | C.M. of Orvieto, Dec. 1360.
| | |
56. | " | M. Luca di Cecco | His brother and assistant;
| | | designed the steps of the
| | | Duomo in 1386.
| | |
57. | 1364 | M. Paolo d'Antonio | C.M. of Orvieto from
| | | April 8, 1364.
| | |
58. | " | M. Antonio di Brunaccio | A descendant of No. 5; he
| | | returned his salary because
| | | he broke his contract,
| | | March 17, 1364.
| | |
59. | 1369 | M. Johannes Stephani | A descendant of Stefano
| | | Jordanus (No. 3). He worked
| | | at S. John Lateran for Pope
| | | Urban V. in 1369. Elected
| | | C.M. at Orvieto, March 11,
| | | 1375.
| | |
60. | 1377 | M. Giacomo di Buonfredi | Sculptured the façade of the
| | (detto Corbella) | Duomo of Siena, opposite the
| | | hospital.
| | |
61. | " | M. Francesco del Tonghio | Sculptured the choir stalls
| | (called Francesco del Coro) | in Siena cathedral in 1377,
| | | also the choir in the Duomo
| | | of Florence.
| | |
62. | 1379 | M. Giacomo del Tonghio | His son and assistant. He
| | | sculptured the tabernacle of
| | | S. Pietro in the Duomo of
| | | Siena.
| | |
63. | 1384 | Magister Giacomo di | Contracted on Feb. 24,
| | Castello | 1384-85, to make three
| | | coloured glass windows for
| | | the Duomo; he made also
| | | those in S. Francesco at
| | | Pisa in 1391.
| | |
64. | 1386 | M. Giovanni Peruzzi | Did some stone building in
| | | the tower at Siena cathedral.
| | |
65. | 1388 | M. Mariano d'Agnolo | Carved several figures in the
| | Romanelli | choir of Siena cathedral.
| | |
66. | 1390 | M. Luca di Giovanni | C.M. at Orvieto for the
| | | second time; the first was
| | | in 1387. He was in the
| | | Florentine Lodge in 1386.
| | |
67. | 1423 | M. Bastiano di Corso (of | Engaged to make 59 _braccia_
| | Florence) | of inlaid frieze in the
| | | pavement of the steps of the
| | | high altar.
----+---------+-----------------------------+------------------------------
At first sight it would not appear that the Italian-Gothic cathedrals
at Siena and Orvieto could have much to do with the ancient Comacine
church of S. Michele at Pavia, but they are undoubtedly its hereditary
descendants, and in great part the work of Comacine architects.
Documents prove that a Lombard Guild, with _schola_, _laborerium_, and
_Opera_, existed in Siena long before A.D. 1400. Legend, or rather
tradition, says that this lodge began in Longobardic days, when the
first Sienese Duomo was built by a certain Ava, descendant of
Iselfred, a Longobardic prince. This Ava had, before going to Siena,
caused a church (Aula Santa) to be erected "on an island near
Borgonuovo by the lake" (Insula prope Borgonuovo juxta lacus). This
must be the Comacine island on the lake near Como-nuovo, which was
also called Borgonuovo.[212] It is also said that in 1180 Pope
Alexander III. went to Siena, of which city he was a native, to
consecrate the new Basilica.[213]
Here we have the first link of the Comacine Guild with Siena, and I
think it offers an explanation of the early existence of the Sienese
school of painting.
The Longobardic Masonic lodge seems to have been the only one of the
kind then in Siena, and it held on for almost a century after the
secession of the painters in A.D. 1355.
By that time so many native architects and sculptors had been trained
that there were two distinct parties in the guild, and the Sienese
clique began to feel the need of independent power. In 1441 a schism
was made, the Sienese sculptors forming a branch of their own, called
_L' arte dei maestri di pietra, Senese_, which had its laws and
regulations in due form. The same schism had taken place in Venice in
1307, when the _Arte de taglia pietre_ was formed, and a similar one
took place later in Florence. The Sienese split was not very
satisfactory, for on December 5, 1473, we find they called a meeting
of the two guilds, to further the means of working in better accord
with each other. The following compact was made--
(1) That all Masters, Lombard or Sienese, should pay ten soldi for
right of entry on employment.
(2) That all, equally, should pay five soldi a year for the _festa_ of
the _Santi Quattro_; and that a Lombard _camarlengo_ should be chosen
to work together with the Sienese one, to collect these and other
moneys; that the _camarlengo_ should hold no more in hand than
twenty-five soldi; all money above that to be immediately invested.
(3) That the Lombard _camarlengo_ shall be subject to the same laws
and rules and fines as the Sienese one.
(4) That the _garzoni_ (novices or pupils) shall have no claims to
receive pay, but manual labourers shall be paid three soldi a year
each by the Masters employing them, as says the statute.
(5) That when it is necessary to "make a collection," the Lombard
Masters shall be obliged to attend, equally with the citizens, and
under the same penalties, as by the statute. Here follow the names of
the contracting parties, as inscribed in the original report of the
meeting.[214]
ET PRIMO, NOMINA MAGISTRORUM SENENSIUM.
Magister Laurentius Petri
M. Urbanus Petri
M. Franciscus Ducci
M. Dominicus Andreae
M. Petrus Zantebuoni
M. Joannes
M. Vitus Marci
M. Marianus Sani
M. Tullius magistri Marci
M. Mannus Antonii
M. Galganus Ioannis
M. Iulianus Iacobi
M. Iacobus Ioannis
M. Antonius Ghini
M. Dominicus Cambii
M. Aloysius Ruggieri
M. Franciscus Andreae
M. Petrus Antonii
SEQUNTUR NOMINA MAGISTRORUM LOMBARDORUM.
Magister Guglielmus Joannis de Sanvito
M. Franciscus Christophori de Cumo (Como)
M. Joannes Guglielmi de Sanvito (son of No. 1)
M. Stephanus Fidelis de Voltolina (Valtellina)
M. Adamus Ioannis de Thori
M. Ioannes Iacobi de Sanvito
M. Alexus Ioannis de Sanvito (his son)
M. Martinus Martii de Sanvito
M. Ioannes Talentine de Sanvito
M. Iacobus Dominici de Lamone
M. Ioannes Iacobi de Lamone (his son)
M. Guglielmus Antonii de Sanvito
M. Paulus Thomae de Charazza
M. Antonius Ioannis de Ponte
M. Iacobus Petri de Condupino
M. Antonius magistri Alberti de Lamone
M. Ioannes Francisci de Lamone
M. Ioannes de Ponte
M. Guglielmus Andreae de Sanvito
Acta fuerunt, etc.
But even this did not succeed. On January 6, 1512, we find the Sienese
Lodge making a petition to the Signoria to the effect that whereas in
ancient times the brethren of the Masonic Guild were always accustomed
to hold their meetings and unite for worship in their own chapel of
the _Santi Quattro_ in the cathedral, the "foreign" builders being now
separated from that chapter (lodge), all the money which used to be
collected to endow that chapel, is now collected among themselves, and
sent to Lombardy, without consulting the said chapter (_capitudine_),
"to the grave injury and shame of our city, and of the said chapel,"
"thus we pray of your Signoria that you will command that the said
lodge shall meet according to the ancient rules of the order, under
pain of penalties named in the ancient Breve ... the which shall be
useful and honourable to our city and to the said chapel."[215] By
this we realize that the Lombard Masters were not only the earliest
guild of architects at Siena, but also the most powerful, as the
Sienese branch could not even keep up the chapel of their patron saint
without their aid.
It may be interesting to glance over the headings of the statutes of
the Sienese Masonic Guild, which no doubt were similar to, if not
identical with the original one; at any rate they will throw light on
the organization.
Cap. I. On he who curses God or the Saints (a fine of twenty-five
lire).
Cap. II. On he who opposes the Signoria of the city (a fine of
twenty-five lire).
Cap. III. On the election of _rettore_ and _camarlengo_. (In the
Florentine Lodge which kept up the older Latin, these are called
_caput magister_ and _provveditore_.)
Cap. IV. On the forming of councils and their duration.
Cap. V. How to treat underlings (_sottoposti_).
Cap. VI. On those who disobey the rector or _camarlengo_.
Cap. VII. On he who refuses a citation (fine of twenty soldi).
Cap. VIII. Of one who swears by the blood or body of God.
Cap. IX. Of he who takes work on a risk.
Cap. X. All names of _sottoposti_ to be written in the Breve.
Cap. XI. That no one may take work away from another Master.
Cap. XII. Contracts with pupils must be made before the _camarlengo_.
Cap. XIII. How the feast of the Four Holy Martyrs is to be kept.[216]
Cap. XIV. On the entry of a foreign Master into the guild.
Cap. XV. _Di chi vietasse il pegno al messo._ (I can get no clear
translation of this; I think it means a pledge on receiving a
commission.)
Cap. XVI. The _camarlengo_ shall hand over all receipts to the Grand
Master.
Cap. XVII. On the salaries of officials of the guild.
Cap. XVIII. How _fêtes_ must be kept (fines of five soldi to all who
work on _feste_. Forty-nine _fête_ days are named).
Cap. XIX. One who is sworn to another guild cannot be either the Grand
Master or _camarlengo_.
Cap. XX. That the _camarlengo_ keeps for the guild all moneys received
from _sottoposti_ (brethren of lower rank).
Cap. XXI. On good faith in receiving a commission.
Cap. XXII. How members are to be buried.
Cap. XXIII. How to insure against risks.
Cap. XXIV. No arguments or business discussions to be held in the
public streets.
Cap. XXV. How the _fête_ of the guild is to be kept, the rectors to
have full power to command.
Cap. XXVI. How wax candles shall be sent to the monks of the
Mantellini for the _festa_.
Cap. XXVII. How tithes are to be paid.
Cap. XXVIII. That all orders come from the Grand Master.
Cap. XXIX. How the outgoing officials shall instruct the new ones.
(_i.e._ The council of administration which was changed periodically.)
Cap. XXX. That no Master may undertake a second work till the first
has been paid.
Cap. XXXI. Brick-makers and quarry-men must abide by the rules of the
guild.
* * * * *
Cap. XXXIV. On those who lie against others.
Cap. XXXV. Those who demand a meeting or consultation shall pay
fifteen soldi to the guild.
Cap. XXXVI. That the Grand Master on retiring from office shall call
three _riveditori_[217] to examine his accounts.
Cap. XXXIX. That no master of woodwork shall work in stone.
Cap. XL. The _Breve_ (statutes) shall be revised every year.
Cap. XLI. On the entry into the lodge, of Masters from the city or
neighbourhood.
The statutes are very fair and well composed, and must certainly have
been made from long experience in the guild.
In 1447 we find a further split. The Masters of wood-carving secede
from the sculptors in stone, and form their own statutes. Little by
little, as art becomes more perfect and requires more freedom, the
Masonic monopoly of centuries is dissolving.
We must now return to the building of the Duomo by this multitude of
brethren.
It was in 1259 that the civic Council decided to continue the work of
restoration in the Duomo of Siena, and formed a council of nine
influential citizens, together with the _Magistri_ of the Masonic
Guild, to superintend the work. By February 1321 their ideas and
ambitions had so enlarged that they proposed to make the present
church the transept, and to add a great nave, "to make a beautiful and
magnificent church, with all rich and suitable ornamentation." The new
nave was really begun, and a high bare wall with a fine window in it
remains to this day to puzzle the tourist. This vast design was,
however, abandoned, and the building continued on a less ambitious
scale.
Now for details of all these changes. Before Giovanni Pisano's time we
only get a few quaint names such as Magister Manuellus, son of the
late Rinieri, who made the stalls in the choir in 1259; Luglio
Benintendi, Ventura Diotisalvi, Magister Gratia or Gracii, Ristorus,
Stefano Jordano, Orlando Bovacti, nearly all of whom were Masters from
other lodges either in Lombardy or Pisa. There are besides two other
Venture--one Ventura di Gracii, and one Ventura called Trexsa. All
these are named as being called in a council of the guild of June 9,
1260, to consider the stability of some vaulting lately made, but I
can find no _capo magistro_ at this date. Several of these are names
known in other cities where the guild had lodges. Ventura's father,
Diotisalvi, built the Baptistery at Pisa; Magister Gracii came from
Padua, Stefano Jordanus had a son, Johannes Stephani, who was witness
to Niccolò di Pisa's receipt for payment by Fra Melano of 78 gold lire
and IV denarii for his pulpit in the Duomo on July 26, together with
Orlando, son of Orlando Bovacti, and Ventura di Rapolano. Niccolò
himself had with him his son Giovanni, who also graduated in the guild
from the school of his father. Here, too, were Arnolfo, Lapo (the
younger), with Donato and Goro, who were students in Niccolò's school
of sculpture, and who worked so well at the sculpture at Siena that
when they became _Magistri_ in 1271, the three last were given the
freedom of the city.[218] They were not exclusively sculptors,
however, any more than Arnolfo was. Lapo was employed in 1281 as
architect at Colle, where Arnolfo's reputed father, the elder Lapo or
Jacopo il Tedesco, had been engaged by King Manfred long before him.
Goro di Ciucci Ciuti had three sons, Neri, Ambrogio, and Goro, all in
the guild. In 1306 we find them all engaged together in the fountain
of Follonica at Siena. In 1310 Neri's sons Ciolo and Nuto are
mentioned; one of them, having graduated, is old enough to have a
pupil, named Teri. Here is the deed of apprenticeship--
No. 26. "_1310, 16 Settembre._
"CIOLO, MAESTRO DI PIETRA DEL FU _NERI_ DA SIENA, PRENDE PER
SUO DISCEPOLO _TERI_ FRATELLO DI BALDINO DA CASTELFIORENTINO
(ARCHIVIO DEL DUOMO DI SIENA. PERGAMENA, 616).
"In nomini Domini amen. Ex hoc publico instrumento sit omnibus
manifestum; quod _Ciolus_ magister lapidum de cappella sancti
Salvatoris in Ponte, quondam _Nerii_ de Senis,
fecit--Ugolinum, dictum Geriolum, de populo Sancti Joannis de
Senis--suum procuratorem--ad recipiendum pro eo et ejus vice
et nomine, _Terium_, germanum Baldini de Castro Florentino,
nunc commorantem Senis, in discipulum et pro discipulo
suprascripti _Cioli_. Et ad promictendum ipsi _Terio_, vel ali
persone pro eo, quod ipse _Ciolus_ magister tenebit eundem
_Terium_ in suum et pro suo discipulo, ad terminum et terminos
statuendum et statuendos a dicto _Ciolo_; et quod eum dictam
suam artem de lapidibus docebit.
"Actum Pisis, in via publica ante domum habitationis Duccii
Nerii Bonaveris, positam in via sancte Marie, in cappella
sancte Eufraxie.--Dominice incarnationis anno Domini Millesimo
trecentesimo decimo, Indictione septima, sextodecimo Kal:
Octobris, secundum cursum pisanorum.
"Ego Bonaccursus filius quondam Provincialis de
Vecchiano--not:--scripsi."--(Reproduced from Milanesi,
_Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, vol. i. pp. 174,
175.)
In 1281 a Grand Council was called to revoke the banishment of one of
the Lombard Masters, Ramo di Paganello.[219] It seems that Ramo's
father was from Lombardy, "de partibus ultramontanis;" but the son had
been made a citizen of Siena, whence he was exiled for contumacy.
However, he was such a good sculptor that the edict was revoked. The
report begins--
"1281, 20 Novembre.--Item cum Magister Ramus filius Paganelli de
partibus ultramontanis, qui olim fuit civis senensis, venerit nunc ad
civitatem Sen: pro serviendo operi beate Marie de Senis; ex eo quod
est de bonis intalliatoribus et sculptoribus, et subtilioribus de
mundo qui inveniri possit: et ad dictum servitium morari non potest,
eo quod invenitur exbannitus et condenpnatus per contumaciam,
occasione quod debuit jacere cum quadam muliere; eo existente extra
civitatem Senensem: si videtur vobis conveniens quod debeat rebanniri
et absolvi de banno et condenpnationibus suis, ad hoc ut possit libere
et secure servire dicto operi ad laudem et honorem Dei, et beate Marie
Virginis, in Dei nomine consulate."
The first head architect, who is definitely styled _Capo maestro dell'
Opera_, is Giovanni Pisano, who, when he came to work with his father
at the pulpit in 1266, seems to have taken root in Siena, as did his
fellow-pupils Lapo, Donato, and Goro. Arnolfo, the fourth of the
group, found his mission in Florence.
Signor Milanesi has not succeeded in finding the document referring to
Giovanni da Pisa's election, but he finds that, in 1284, the Sienese,
in gratitude for the services he has rendered in the building of the
Duomo, and especially the façade, gave him the freedom of the city,
and immunity from taxes.[220]
Like most artists, Giovanni must have been Bohemian in his ways, or
careless in his political expressions, for in October 1290 he was
fined the large sum of 600 lire, and had not the wherewithal to pay.
He got off by paying a third, but even this Fra Jacopo, one of the
_Operai_ of the Duomo, had to advance. It was probably repaid from his
salary by instalments.[221] From these documents we gather that the
façade was not designed by Lorenzo Maitani, as has generally been
supposed. If the Commune of Siena in 1284 acknowledged Giovanni's
talent in building the Duomo and the façade, Lorenzo Maitani, who only
began to be chief architect of Orvieto from 1310, certainly could not
have been old enough to design the front of Siena cathedral. Moreover
Milanesi expressly says that, with all his research in the archives,
he can find no mention whatever of Maitani's being connected in any
prominent manner with Siena cathedral.[222] He most likely worked at
it as Giovanni's pupil, and this, with the general tenets of the
guild, would sufficiently account for the similarity between the two
churches.
The tenets of the guild were certainly veering towards the Gothic, and
each generation of its members made a new step. Jacopo Tedesco at
Assisi, and Niccolò Pisano in his pulpit, showed the first sign of
transition; their sons and pupils, Arnolfo at Florence, and Giovanni
at Siena, developed the style still further, and their successors
fully expanded it at Milan.
Giovanni was a lover of the Gothic, but was not yet entirely
converted. His windows, like Arnolfo's, were pointed, the points
emphasized by ornate Gothic gables over them; but the three arches of
the doorways are of a Lombard roundness, the pointed effect being only
conveyed by the superimposed gables. Yet the turrets and saint-filled
niches of the upper part of the façade are as rich, and pointed, and
pinnacled as any Gothic cathedral could be. He had not discovered, as
the Germans afterwards did, the beauty of the upward line. The old
classic leaning to the horizontal line still cuts up the design; and
the little Lombard pillared gallery still stretches across the front,
though beautified and gothicized. He did not forget the sign of the
guild in this transition period; for there on the columns, and beneath
the arches, are the lions of Judah.
It is not positively certain whether the present façade was the one
originally designed by Giovanni or not. We find that in November 1310,
a commission of ten Master builders was formed, to superintend the
work of the mosaic, already commenced, and to guard against useless
expenses. Milanesi supposes this to refer to some mosaics destined for
the façade, especially as in 1358 a Maestro Michele di Ser Memmo was
paid six gold florins for his work, "per la sua fadigha (fatica) e
magistero di Santo Michele agnolo, a musaica (_sic_) che fecie a la
facciata di duomo nel canto."[223] The front, as it is at present, has
no mosaics; probably Giovanni Pisano's plan was modified in later
days. It is certain that after Giovanni's death in 1299 great changes
of design were made.
The interior has the same mixture as the façade; there are round
arches below in the nave, and pointed windows above in the clerestory.
The black and white marble, significant of the times though it be,
detracts much from the effect of the really fine architecture by
cutting it up in slices. Fergusson recognized the purely Italian
pedigree of Siena cathedral.[224] "That at Siena," he says,
"illustrates forcibly the tendency exhibited by the Italian architects
to adhere to the domical forms of the old Etruscans, which the
Byzantines made peculiarly their own. It is much to be regretted that
the Italians only, of all the Western mediæval builders, showed any
predilection for this form of roof. On this side of the Alps it would
have been made the most beautiful of architectural forms."
We cannot, however, endorse Mr. Fergusson's next assertion--"in Italy
there is no instance of more than moderate success--nothing, indeed,
to encourage imitation." In the face of the domes of St. Peter's at
Rome, S. Marco at Venice, the cathedrals of Florence, Parma, Padua,
Siena, and Monreale, this is rather a hard saying.
The Sienese had, as we have said, proposed to so enlarge the church by
adding a huge nave, that the present church would only form the
transept. This was begun, but when the works had already advanced the
plan was abandoned. Provisional _Magistri_ were called to form a
committee, which met in council on February 17, 1321, and here, for
the first time in Siena, we find Lorenzo Maitani giving his vote. He
was called to attend the meeting from Orvieto, where he had been _capo
maestro_ of the works from 1310. He, with Niccola Nuti, Gino di
Francesco, Tone di Giovanni, and Vanni di Cione (one of Orcagna's
relatives from Florence), formed the council. After due deliberation
they pronounced on the inconvenience of proceeding with the addition
to the Duomo, and decided to build a new church of more moderate
dimensions, which should still be large and magnificent. The work now
continued without interruption; and on November 20, 1333, we find
another Council of Masters was called, in which twelve of the guild
severally swear "testis juratis die supra scripta et sancta Dei
evangelia, corporaliter tactis scripturis dicere veritatem, suo
juramento testificando dixit," etc., that the walls and foundations
were strong and firm.
[Illustration: FRONT OF SIENA CATHEDRAL. DESIGNED BY MAGISTER GIOVANNI
PISANO.
_See page 295._]
The next _capo maestro_ was Master Lando or Orlando di Pieri, son of
Piero, a metal-worker of the guild, who was recalled from Naples in
1339. He was a Lombard, though a naturalized citizen of Siena. They
say Lando is "a most legal man (_omo legalissimus_), not only in his
own special branch (gold-working), but in many others; is a man of the
greatest ingenuity and invention, both with regard to the building of
churches and the erection of palaces and private houses; a good
engineer for roads, bridges, or fountains, and, above all, a citizen
of Siena."[225] Here we see signs of the jealousy of the Lombard
Guild, which caused the schism of which we have spoken. Lando was
truly an acknowledged genius. He made the coronet with which the
Emperor Henry VII. was crowned at Milan in 1311. Muratori (cap.
xiii.), quoting an old Latin dissertation on the "corona ferrea," says
the maker of the crown was present, "presente magistro Lando de Senis,
aurifabro predicti domini Regis, qui predictam coronam propriis
manibus fabricavit." We hear no more of his gold work; but in 1322 he
was employed in Florence to hang the great bell of the palace of the
Signoria, and make it ring (Ita quod de facili pulsatur et pulsari
potest), for which he was paid 300 gold florins. In his architectural
capacity he was employed at Naples by King Robert of Anjou, but was
recalled from there to Siena in 1339, and made _caput magister_ of the
builders of the Duomo. The contract, signed on December 3, 1339, binds
him for three years at a salary of 200 lire a year.
The accounts of the _Opera_ have some interesting articles connected
with the laying of the foundations of the revised plan. In August 1339
the Masters were called into council on the enlargement of the Duomo,
as the nave was considered too short, and Ser Bindo, the notary of the
guild, had to supply them with five sheets of parchment at one lire a
sheet to make designs. Also two lire ten soldi were spent in bread,
meat, and wine, which were sent by the guild to the priests who
officiated when the first stone was laid. In March, Maestro Lando
again applied to Ser Bindo for parchment to make designs, which cost
him twenty-three soldi six denari.
Whether these plans were accepted or not, I cannot tell--probably
not--for in the following March, Lando fell ill and died. He left a
son, Pietro di Lando, also in the guild, and who was naturalized
Florentine when he joined that lodge. A document cited by Gaye
(_Carteggio_, etc. vol. i. p. 73) shows Pietro to have worked with
Giovanni di Lazzero de Como and a Buono Martini at the fortifications
of Castel S. Angelo in Val di Sieve; the three architects solicited
the Signoria for the pay due to them. This Pietro was the father of
Vecchietta, who inherited more than his great-grandsire's talent for
working metal.
The next _capo maestro_ after Lando was Giovanni, son of the famous
sculptor Agostino of Siena, who was, on March 23, 1340, elected for
five years. He had been head of the works at Orvieto in 1337, but did
not long remain there, for in 1338 we find him again in the pay of the
lodge of Siena, where a document in the archives of the Hospital notes
a payment for some work on April 26, to Maestro Giovanni, son of
Maestro Agostino of the _Opera_, and of the parish of S. Quirico.[226]
After Giovanni I can find no mention of a _capo maestro_ till February
16, 1435, when Jacopo della Quercia, otherwise "Magister Jacobus,
Magistri Petri," was elected _operajo_ (president of the Council),
_i.e._ Grand Master. His salary was fixed at one hundred gold florins
as long as he lived, and his wife was to have a pension at his death.
There were several conditions specified to which he had to agree. But
he had so many other engagements, at S. Petronio in Bologna, at Parma,
and Lucca, that he absented himself too much from Siena to please the
_Opera_ there. As early as March 1434-35, a month after his election,
we find him leaving two of the Council of Administration to rule in
his absence. The absence must have been a lengthy one, for on October
22, 1435, the Signoria of the Commune write to him as follows--"Magister
Jacobo Pieri electus Operaio, etc. etc.... As you have been fully
informed, you ought before the past month to have taken action, and
performed the duties undertaken by you in regard to the office of
_Operaio_ of our Church, to which our Councils elected you. We and our
councillors have waited all the past month, expecting that, for the
honour of the Commune, and its needs at the hands of the said _Opera_,
you would return. Now we are at October 22, and you do not appear to
think of it. God knows how the citizens are complaining and murmuring
against you. Therefore we have decided to write to you, that without
fail, and with no delay, you must immediately present yourself to
perform your duties, and let nothing hinder you. If you do not do
this, it will cause us great astonishment and inconvenience."[227]
The Council of the _Opera_ wrote a long Latin letter at the same time,
exhorting their chief to return and satisfy the claims of the Commune.
Whether he came or not I cannot say, but it appears not for any length
of time, as on March 26, 1436, we find him at Parma, writing a defiant
kind of letter to the _Operai_ of San Petronio at Bologna, who had
appealed to him to finish his engagements there. By 1439 we find Jacopo
della Quercia had died, and his brother Priam was writing repeated
petitions to the _Opera_ at Siena about his inheritance from Jacopo,
which it seems a certain pupil of Jacopo's called Cino Bartoli was
withholding from him.
So the work went on for centuries. There are contracts with different
Masters for sculptures, for windows, for towers, for chapels, each
Master designing the part assigned to him. Francesco del Tonghio
obtained great fame for his carvings of the stalls in the choir in
1377, where his son Giacomo assisted him. We find him in Florence some
time later, and his fame must have preceded him, for he is known there
as "Francesco of the Choir" (Francesco del Coro).
It is impossible to name a single architect for any of these great
buildings; they were all the united work of a self-governed guild.
During the centuries when the Duomo of Siena rose into beauty, her
sister of Orvieto also grew under the hands of the same brotherhood.
Lorenzo Maitani, having been trained by his master, Giovanni di Pisa,
at Siena, was called to Orvieto in 1310. His family lasted long in the
guild, and won much fame. His father Vitale was a master sculptor who
had worked under Niccolò and Giovanni. His sons Vitale and Antonio
both graduated in the Siena or Orvieto Lodge, and Vitale became chief
architect at Orvieto for six months only, on Lorenzo's death, when
Master Meo di Nuti di Neri succeeded him.
It is not probable that beyond the design, Maitani had much to do with
the façade, which was incomplete till about 1500. The beautiful Bible
in stone which adorns the pilasters of the three fine doors may have
been designed by Maitani, but the work was done by his sons, with the
help of many sculptors of the guild from Siena, Florence, and
Lombardy. The upper part was not added till the time of Michele
Sanmichele of Verona, who in 1509 was nominated chief architect of the
façade at a salary of one hundred florins a year. He is described as
"Magistrum Michaelem, Magistri Johannis de Verona, principalem
magistrum fabrice faciate de Urbe vetere."[228]
[Illustration: DOOR IN ORVIETO CATHEDRAL.
_See page 305._]
The enthusiastic work of the numberless artists all vying with each
other in beautifying this marvellous church bore rather heavily on the
funds of the _Opera_, for in August 1521 the _camarlengo_ had to stop
the expenses of the façade and finish some more needful parts of the
church first. So "Mag. Michael Johannes Michaelis, Caput Magister
dicte Fabrice," was given permission to absent himself for three days
a week, for other work (no doubt the church at Spello), and the
_Opera_ continued his salary on half-pay.[229] About this time a
competition was offered among the _Magistri_ for the best design for
the chapel of the Three Kings at Orvieto. Antonio Sangallo and Michele
were the two best, and when Pope Clement VII. fled to Orvieto from the
sack of Rome in 1527, the choice was made with his concurrence,
Michele's being chosen. Both San Michele and San Gallo rose to extreme
eminence in the guild; many of the finest palaces in Florence and
Venice were by them. It is interesting to find that they were both
Lombard brethren of the guild by hereditary descent.
The preponderance of Lombards in all these later lodges is sufficient
proof of the connection of these lodges with the older Comacines, from
whom their ancestry can be traced direct.
In April 1422 we find Maestro Piero di Beltrami da Biscione and his
Lombard companions arranging with the _Opera_ for the purchase and
cutting of marbles and travertine. In September 1444 Guglielmo di Como
and his brother Pietro da Como were commissioned to make a mausoleum
in the Duomo for the Bishop of Siena. A contemporary of theirs was
Giuliano da Como, who was of such repute in the guild, that the
Council of the _Opera_, "considering the _virtù_ of Maestro Giuliano
and the desirability of keeping him in Siena, deliberated to accord to
him a loan he requested, of seventy florins to buy a house."[230]
Again, on May 25, 1421, the Republic of Siena wrote to Filippo
Visconti Duke of Milan that a Maestro Giovanni, son of Maestro Leone
da Piazza near Como, was anxious to return to his native country, to
see his family and to arrange a law-suit; and they recommended him to
the Lords of Milan because he had greatly won the affection and esteem
of the Sienese republic by his good life and his eminence in his art
of sculpture.
A certain "Maestro Alberto di Martino de Cumo in provincie Lombardie"
was engaged by the _Opera_ on March 2, 1448, as a builder, in company
with Giovan Francesco of Valmaggia and Lanzilotto di Niccola of Como.
When the Piccolomini wanted to build a splendid palace in Siena, they
did not choose their architects from the faction of their townspeople,
but from the original Lombard branch. Martino di Giorgio da Varenna
(near Bidagio on Lake Como) was chief architect, and Lorenzo from
Mariano in the Lugano valley assisted him as sculptor. He carved the
beautiful capitals and friezes in the palace, and his work so pleased
the Piccolomini, that they employed him to erect an altar and decorate
their chapel in the church of S. Francesco. Milanesi says that Lorenzo
da Mariano was one of the best artists of his time for foliaged
scrolls and grotesques.[231] In 1506 he was _capo maestro_ of the
Duomo of Siena. Maestro Lorenzo was no doubt one of the precursors of
the sculptors of the beautiful cathedral of Como, and the richly
ornate Certosa of Pavia, who were trained in the Sienese _laborerium_.
A fellow-countryman, named Maestro Matteo di Jacopo, came from Lugano
with Lorenzo, and together with Maestro Adamo da Sanvito (also in Val
di Lugano) undertook the great engineering work of making an
artificial lake, to drain the then malarious country round Massa in
Maremma.
Martino di Giorgio had a relative who became more famous than himself.
This was Francesco di Giorgio di Martino--three names in rotation are
generally enough to supply an Italian family for centuries,--who
continued the work at Palazzo Piccolomini (Vasari gives him the credit
for the whole), and was one of the architects of the palace at Urbino.
Milanesi, the commentator of Vasari, asserts that Francesco was the
son of a seller of fowls in Siena, because he found the name of a
"Giorgio di Martino, pollajuolo," in the registers, but seeing that he
was bred in the guild, it is much more likely that he was related to
the Giorgio di Martino already eminent there. His family had certainly
become citizens of Siena by that date.
Maestro Francesco di Giorgio Martini holds a large share in the
correspondence of the Sienese government and of the _Opera_ in the
latter part of the fifteenth century.
On December 26, 1486, we find him first entering the pay of the
Sienese Commune as public architect. He has a salary of 800 florins,
and is bound to fix his home at Siena. He was recalled from Urbino for
the purpose, having orders to arrive within six months, but the Duke
Guidobaldo was not at all willing for him to leave. On May 10, 1489,
the Duke writes to say that the absence of his architect (_mio
architector_) would be a serious injury to him.
During the time Francesco remained in Umbria he seems to have done the
Commune good political service by keeping them informed of the dangers
that threatened Florence from the offensive alliance between Lorenzo
de Medici and the Pope Innocent VIII., who designed to take Città di
Castello for Francesco Cibo. This would have endangered the peace of
Siena, so the architect warned them to be prepared.
After this, Magister Francesco became the bone of contention among
several princes and republics. The Duke of Milan wrote, on April 19,
1490, to the Signoria of Siena, begging them to send the
"intellexerimus magistrum Franciscum Giorgium Urbinatem" (see how the
place he last worked at is named as his residence!) to Milan to give
his opinion on the mode of placing the cupola. The Commune gave the
permission, and on June 27, 1490, we find Magistro Francisco di Georgi
di Siena (here again at Milan he is styled of Siena), with Magistro
Johantonio Amadeo (Omodeo) and Johanjacobo Dolzebono (Gian Giacomo
Dolcebono), elected as a supreme council of three, and giving their
advice on the erection of the cupola at Milan, with the exact plan and
measurements which would harmonize with the building as it then stood.
He did not remain to see the plans carried out, but was on his recall
to Siena remunerated with one hundred florins by the Fabbrica
(_Opera_) of Milan.
On October 24 of the same year, Giovanni della Rovere, the Prefect of
Rome, wrote to the Signoria of Siena praying for the service of their
architect, and on November 4, 1490, Virginio Orsino, Duke of
Bracciano, begged him to go and build a fortress at Campagnano.
Next Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, wanted him at the Castle of Capua,
where he went between February and May 1491, and in August of the same
year the Anziani, Lords of Lucca, petitioned for him. And so he is
called from end to end of Italy, and wherever he goes he is received
with honour as a grand architect.[232]
At Orvieto we find the same preponderance of Lombards as in Siena.
The register of the _Opera_ there for August 30, 1293, gives the
salaries of the _Magistri_ in the Loggia (lodge) of the Fabbrica. Here
we find many of our Sienese friends; Magistro Orlando and Guido da
Como receive six soldi a day; Magistro Martino da Como seven. We find
also Pietro Lombardo, Giacomo and Benedetto da Como, sculptors;
Martino, Guido, and Aroldo as successive chief architects in the
Fabbrica or _Opera_.
In 1305 the _camarlengo_ had to write to Lombardy for more builders
and sculptors, for, says Della Valle, "la fama di volo ne spargesse il
grido fin oltre ai confini d'Italia," and in December four _Magistri_
arrived--"Mag. Franciscus Lombardus, Mag. Marchettus Lombardus, Mag.
Benedictus Lombardus, and Johannes de Mediolano (Milan)." I do not
know which of these sculptured the door of which we give an
illustration, but the artist has set the sign of his fraternity on it
in the lions beneath the pillars. (One is now missing.)
The Lodge of Orvieto, sometimes spelt _Loya_ or _Loja_, is described
as a large, spacious, and airy building, in which the sculpturing of
stones and marbles was done, and where the stores and the schools
were.[233]
The use of the word "Lodge" for this complicated organization seems a
sign of Freemasonry, and suggests that the Comacines followed the
ancient rules of Vitruvius, and kept up the organization of the Roman
_Collegium_.
We have, I think, proved this to be true, and shown that the same
organization held good up to the fifteenth century, if not longer.
Signor Milanesi's interesting collection of Sienese documents, if
studied closely, contains endless indications of the existence of the
guild. We find several cases of arbitration, such as when Doctor
Filippo Francesconi, and Maestro Lorenzo di Pietro, called
Vecchietta, were chosen on September 20, 1471, as arbiters between
Maestro Urbano di Pietro of Cortona, sculptor, and Bastiano di
Francesco, stone-cutter, his workman, who lodged a complaint against
his master on account of unpaid wages and loss of tools. This same
Urbano appears to have been frequently in need of arbiters, for on
Jan. 27, 1471-72, Bertino di Gherardo was called on to settle a cause
between Madonna Caterina, wife of Silvio Piccolomini, and the sculptor
Urbano, and decided that the lady must pay the artist 100 lire within
the term of four years, the payments to be made quarterly. It was at
the lady's option to pay in kind, such as corn or wine, if it suited
her better.[234] Then there are frequent meetings of councils for
appraising the work of other Masters, and we find the _Operaio_, or
Head of Administration, fixing the salaries of underlings. Precisely
the same meetings, arbitrations, appraisings, went on in Florence.
Indeed, in the fifteenth century the two lodges of Siena and Florence
were so closely intermingled, the Masters appearing now in one city
and then in the other, that there can be no doubt a fraternity existed
between them. We even find Donatello, who came from Florence to make
the bronze doors, sleeping in a feather bed supplied by the
_camarlengo_ of the _Opera_ at Siena.[235]
Donatello was more or less in Siena between 1457 and 1461. He was
engaged to sculpture the altar of the Madonna of the Duomo there on
October 17, 1457. His accounts are much mixed up with those of Urbano
di Pietro of Cortona, of whom we have spoken. It seems Urbano bought
the metal to cast a half figure of Judith, and one of St. John, both
modelled by Donatello. The money, however, was advanced to Urbano by
the banker Dalgano di Giacomo Bichi. The books of the _camarlengo_ of
the _Opera_ have several entries for expenses of modelling wax, and
metal for casting, etc., used by Donatello in the figures on the altar
of the Madonna delle Grazie; his assistants and pupils on this
occasion were Francesco di Andrea di Ambrogio, of Lombard origin, and
Bartolommeo di Giovanni di Ser Vincenzo.
FOOTNOTES:
[210] All the Masters marked * were receiving pay at the Duomo of
Siena in 1318.
[211] All the Masters marked † gave their opinion, on oath, of the
works at the Duomo of Siena in councils in 1333.
[212] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap. vii. p. 210,
quoted from an ancient MS. cited by Cicognara.
[213] Pope Alexander had a long reign from 1159 to 1181, but there
were four antipopes to harass him during its duration.
[214] Reproduced in Milanesi's _Documenti per l' Arte Senese_, vol. i.
pp. 128, 129.
[215] Milanesi, _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, p. 130.
[216] These Four Holy Martyrs are the "Santi Quattro Incoronati," the
patron saints of the guild. We find from the _Breve_ that at the feast
of the dead, on November 2, all the Masters and officers of the guild
had to meet in their chapel to hear mass. Each Master was to bring a
wax taper not weighing less than half-a-pound, and was to make an
offering for the maintenance of the chapel, etc., of whatever he could
afford. The Rector (Grand Master) was obliged by oath to enforce the
strict observance of the day, and to fine any Magister who, being in
Siena, should absent himself from the meeting, fifteen soldi, besides
the offering he ought to have made. They had another greater feast of
the Four Martyrs in June, the grand _fête_ of the guild.
[217] In Florence and Venice the _riveditori_ are called _probi viri_,
sometimes they are _Buonuomini_.
[218] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ pp. 153, 154.
[219] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. i. p. 157.
[220] "De immunitate magistri Johannis quondam magistri Nichole.
"Item statuerunt et ordinaverunt, quod magister Johannes filius
quondam magistri Nicchole, qui fuit de civitate Pisana, pro cive et
tanquam civis senensis habeatur et defendatur. Et toto tempore vite
sue sit immunis ab omnibus et singulis honeribus comunis Senensis: seu
datiis et collectis et exactionibus et factionibus et exercitiis
faciendis et aliis quibuscumque."--Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. i. p.
163.
[221] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ p. 162.
[222] _Ibid._ p. 173, note.
[223] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ p. 103, note. Magister Michele, the
lawyer's son, was in 1360 Master builder of the chapel towards the
Piazza del Campo, and in 1370 was _camarlengo_ of the _Opera_.
[224] Fergusson, _Handbook of Architecture_, p. 770.
[225] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ p. 228, gives the original Latin report of
the deliberation.
[226] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. i. p. 242.
[227] Milanesi, _Documenti per la Storia dell' Arte Senese_, vol. ii.
p. 166.
[228] He was also _capo maestro_ of the works of the cathedral at
Spello, near Orvieto.
[229] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. I. chap. vii. p. 231.
[230] Document quoted by Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. I. chap.
vii. p. 216. Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. iii. p. 282.
[231] Milanesi, _Op. cit._ vol. iii. p. 77.
[232] All these letters are reproduced in Milanesi's _Documenti per
l' Arte Senese_, vol. ii. pp. 430-452.
[233] "Entro il quale facevasi l'acconciatura delle pietre, el erano
le masserizie e la scuola."--Della Valle, _Il Duomo di Orvieto_.
[234] Milanesi, _Doc. per la storia_, etc., vol. ii. p. 48.
[235] 1459. Uno letto e chapezale di penna di peso libbre 200 die dare
lire trenta-una; soldi uno: denari otto. Sono per tanti ne abiamo
messi a uscita di Vanni di Ser Giovanni di Bindo Kamarlingho; il quale
letto lo tiene al presente Maestro Donatello da Firenze che fa le
porti di bronzo. Archivio detto Libro Rosso a carte 162 pergo.
Milanesi, _Documenti_, etc., vol. ii. p. 298.