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DOI Artikel:Miziołek, Jerzy: The story of Lucretia on an Early-Renaissance "Cassone" at the National Museum in Warsaw
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18943#0053
(Figs. 1 6, 18).36 It consists of two narrative scenes — the first is of a feast attended by
a woman in a distinctive hat and the king; the second depicts a rider on horseback in
front of a pałace and, sword in hand, his illicit entrance into the chamber of a sleeping
woman. These scenes are bordered by two personifications: Prudentia, holding
a snake and an open book, and Fortitudo with an anvil. On the cassone, originating
from the same workshop as the Warsaw cassone, scenes are portrayed from the feast
at Collatium (described by Livy as well as in the Gęsta romanorum), Tarquin's return
visit to Collatin's residence and the rape. This cassone, however, could not have been
the pendant to the Warsaw cassone, in spite of the stylistic similarity of the scenes
depicted, because the personification of Fortitudo appears on both of them.
Two further cassoni with gesso decorations depicting the story of Lucretia have
come to light; one preserved in the Galleria Nazionale di Marche at Urbino (Figs. 8,
1 5)37, while the whereabouts of the other are unknown (Fig. 1 2). These cassoni are of
fundamental importance to the investigation, because the scenes depicted on them
are almost identical to those on the Warsaw cassone'. Lucretia's death (where she
holds in her left hand the letter, revealing the literary source to be that of the Gęsta
romanorum) and the banishing of Tarquin from Romę. In spite of differences in dress,
number of variations in the presentation of Romę and the appearance in the Urbino
cassone of cavaliers with coats of arms; probably of the Alidosi and Brancaleoni38
families instead of the personified virtues, there can be no doubt that these cassoni
originate from the same workshop, following the same design and possibly madę at
the same time.39 Additional proof lies in their almost identical dimensions.40 41 Morę
detailed study of each of these cassoni suggests that in all likelihood the cassone from
Drey's antique shop (Figs. 16, 18) and the cassone reproduced in Fig. 1 7 originally
formed a pair. Not only are they almost ideałly similar, but viewed as a whole they
present all four personifications of the Cardinal virtues: Prudentia, Fortitudo, Tem-
perantia and JustitiaF1 It is also reasonable to assume, on the basis of enquiries madę
upto the present, that the pendant of the Warsaw cassone (with images of Fortitudo
and Justitia, Lucretia's death and Tarquin's banishment) could well be a lost cassone
similar to the one from Drey's antique shop (Figs. 16, 18) depicting Prudentia, the
feast at Collatium and the rape scene, with the singular difference that in place of
Fortitudo there would have been a personification of Temperantia.
Following all comparisons madę upto this point concerning narrative scenes, it
should be born in mind that the personifications of virtues already appeared on the
earliest known cassoni. In certain cases, such as the yet unpublished painted cassone
at the Galleria Corsi in Florence from c. 1400-1 42042, and several later examples from
36. Schubring, op. cit. no. 898. I, pp. 419 f., vol. II, pl. CLXXXVIII.
37. L. Serra, II Palazzo Ducale e la Galleria Nazionale di Urbino, Roma, 1 930, p. 32, il. 16; see also Mostra di
opere d'arte restaurate, Urbino, 1969, p. 54 and Fig. on p. 55.
38. The theory is expressed both in Serra's publications and in the exhibition catalogue Mostra... op. cit., p. 54,
that this particular cassone was designed for the marriage of the parents of Federico di Montefeltro's first
wife, in 1415. Such an early datę for this cassone seems exaggerated.
39. Callmann (Apollonio di Giovanni..., op. cit., p. 30 ff.) writes about the methods in the workshop of
Apollonio of decorating cassoni and of applying a certain number of contemporaneous models with
various motifs taken from widely disseminated pattern-books, repeated in a variety of configurations. On
the actual pattern-books cf. R. W. Scheller, A Survey of Medieval Model Books, Flaarlem, 1963, passim.
40. The measurments, both of the cassone fronts from Drey's antique shop and the cassone from Urbino are
183 x 41 cm.
41. Schubring, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 41 9, no. 898, believed, that the Urbino cassone and the one belonging to
Drey had originally formed a pair. A strong argument in favour of rejecting this hypothesis is that in the
Urbino cassone horseriders appear rather than personifications of the virtues.
42. A photograph of this cassone is to be found in the photographic collection of the Kunsthistorisches
Institut in Florence.
47
a woman in a distinctive hat and the king; the second depicts a rider on horseback in
front of a pałace and, sword in hand, his illicit entrance into the chamber of a sleeping
woman. These scenes are bordered by two personifications: Prudentia, holding
a snake and an open book, and Fortitudo with an anvil. On the cassone, originating
from the same workshop as the Warsaw cassone, scenes are portrayed from the feast
at Collatium (described by Livy as well as in the Gęsta romanorum), Tarquin's return
visit to Collatin's residence and the rape. This cassone, however, could not have been
the pendant to the Warsaw cassone, in spite of the stylistic similarity of the scenes
depicted, because the personification of Fortitudo appears on both of them.
Two further cassoni with gesso decorations depicting the story of Lucretia have
come to light; one preserved in the Galleria Nazionale di Marche at Urbino (Figs. 8,
1 5)37, while the whereabouts of the other are unknown (Fig. 1 2). These cassoni are of
fundamental importance to the investigation, because the scenes depicted on them
are almost identical to those on the Warsaw cassone'. Lucretia's death (where she
holds in her left hand the letter, revealing the literary source to be that of the Gęsta
romanorum) and the banishing of Tarquin from Romę. In spite of differences in dress,
number of variations in the presentation of Romę and the appearance in the Urbino
cassone of cavaliers with coats of arms; probably of the Alidosi and Brancaleoni38
families instead of the personified virtues, there can be no doubt that these cassoni
originate from the same workshop, following the same design and possibly madę at
the same time.39 Additional proof lies in their almost identical dimensions.40 41 Morę
detailed study of each of these cassoni suggests that in all likelihood the cassone from
Drey's antique shop (Figs. 16, 18) and the cassone reproduced in Fig. 1 7 originally
formed a pair. Not only are they almost ideałly similar, but viewed as a whole they
present all four personifications of the Cardinal virtues: Prudentia, Fortitudo, Tem-
perantia and JustitiaF1 It is also reasonable to assume, on the basis of enquiries madę
upto the present, that the pendant of the Warsaw cassone (with images of Fortitudo
and Justitia, Lucretia's death and Tarquin's banishment) could well be a lost cassone
similar to the one from Drey's antique shop (Figs. 16, 18) depicting Prudentia, the
feast at Collatium and the rape scene, with the singular difference that in place of
Fortitudo there would have been a personification of Temperantia.
Following all comparisons madę upto this point concerning narrative scenes, it
should be born in mind that the personifications of virtues already appeared on the
earliest known cassoni. In certain cases, such as the yet unpublished painted cassone
at the Galleria Corsi in Florence from c. 1400-1 42042, and several later examples from
36. Schubring, op. cit. no. 898. I, pp. 419 f., vol. II, pl. CLXXXVIII.
37. L. Serra, II Palazzo Ducale e la Galleria Nazionale di Urbino, Roma, 1 930, p. 32, il. 16; see also Mostra di
opere d'arte restaurate, Urbino, 1969, p. 54 and Fig. on p. 55.
38. The theory is expressed both in Serra's publications and in the exhibition catalogue Mostra... op. cit., p. 54,
that this particular cassone was designed for the marriage of the parents of Federico di Montefeltro's first
wife, in 1415. Such an early datę for this cassone seems exaggerated.
39. Callmann (Apollonio di Giovanni..., op. cit., p. 30 ff.) writes about the methods in the workshop of
Apollonio of decorating cassoni and of applying a certain number of contemporaneous models with
various motifs taken from widely disseminated pattern-books, repeated in a variety of configurations. On
the actual pattern-books cf. R. W. Scheller, A Survey of Medieval Model Books, Flaarlem, 1963, passim.
40. The measurments, both of the cassone fronts from Drey's antique shop and the cassone from Urbino are
183 x 41 cm.
41. Schubring, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 41 9, no. 898, believed, that the Urbino cassone and the one belonging to
Drey had originally formed a pair. A strong argument in favour of rejecting this hypothesis is that in the
Urbino cassone horseriders appear rather than personifications of the virtues.
42. A photograph of this cassone is to be found in the photographic collection of the Kunsthistorisches
Institut in Florence.
47