La corte Farnesiana di Parma (1560-1570): programmazione artistica e identita culturale. (Reviews).

Roberto Venturelli, La corte Farnesiana di Parma (1560-1570): programmazione artistica e identita culturale

(Europa delle Corti. Centro studi sulle societa di antico regime. Biblioteca del Cinquecento, 94.) Rome: Bulzoni, 1999. 190 pp. Euro 18.08. ISBN: 88-8319-412-8.

This slim volume, economically produced with black and white plates, sets out on an ambitious mission. The author examines not only the court of Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, but also the cultural environment and the art produced there in one decade (1560-70). In his introduction, Venturelli sets the historical framework for the subsequent chapters. He outlines Pope Paul III's strategies for the establishment of a new Farnese state. Pier Luigi, the Pope's son, was invested as duke in 1545; his reign was cut short when he was assassinated (1547) by the opposition, led by Ferrante Gonzaga, Governor of Milan and the "longa manus" of Emperor Charles V. The ensuing years of turmoil ended when Ottavio Farnese, under the guidance of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, agreed to marry Charles V's natural daughter, Margarita of Austria (1552); by 1559, the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza was reality and Ottavio, its duke.

Following years of living in the Palazzo del Vescovile in the Piazza del Duomo in Parma, Ottavio Farnese built the Palazzo del Giardino (1561-64). After citing possible architectural examples that may have influenced the duke, Venturelli turns to look at one room, in particular, in the new residence -- the Sala del Bacio. Decorated with frescoes by Gerolamo Mirola (1560s), the room's complex iconographic program has been largely overlooked. In the center of the ceiling is a scene of the Age of Gold, separated from the rest of the frescoes by a Latin inscription. Above and below this scene are images from Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando innamorato (part II, canto VII-VIII), featuring Fiordelisa and Brandimarte. Similar imagery is on the walls below.

Two scenes, one to the left and the other two the right of the Age of Gold, are singled out for special attention. In his elaborate and sometimes difficult to follow argument, Venturelli cites Ficino as a source for the image of Voluptas (left), suggesting that she is a "celestial voluptas." This depiction recalls Giulio Bonasone's Emblem of Voluptas, which, in turn, is based on Michelangelo's image of Ganymede. Venturelli continues his discussion by citing Virgil's Eclogues, more of Ficino, and spiritual associations without explaining the significance of his interpretation within the context of the fresco cycle. The second scene depicts a forest-labyrinth with frightened horses (right). Connected to another emblem by Bonasone illustrating the passions, the horses, in Mirola's fresco, represent bestial passion, their riders, controlled passion. Therefore, according to Venturell, the overall program of the Sala del Bacio is at once a knightly myth and a spiritual allegory. More specifically, the imagery allud es to marriage as represented by the allegorical portraits of the Duchess (Boiardo's Fiordelisa) and the Duke (Boiardo's Brandimarte) and the proper roles of wife and husband at court.

With this imagery in mind, Venturelli describes Ottavio Farnese's court as gravely intellectual, platonic-spiritual, and refined with philosophical and literary leanings. Thus he provides a segue into the next chapter whose subject is Bernardo Tasso, father of Torquato Tasso, his poem L'Amadigi (Venice 1560), and Tasso's relationship with Ottavio Farnese. Communication between the two began in 1559; and in 1562 the poet offered his services to the duke. It was at this moment, Venturelli notes, that Farnese began contemplating the decoration of his palace, and that Tasso may have been involved in deciding the iconographic program of the Sala del Bacio. Recalling Venturelli's many sources for this complex cycle, one is a bit surprised when he suggests another, Tasso's L'Amadigi. If it is not the source, it is at least the inspiration because it shares with Tasso's work a complex synthesis of cultural positions and motives, both religious and literary. The next two chapters have less to do with the Sala del Baci o then with Bernardo Tasso, the environment of the court of Ottavio Farnese, and the religious climate of the period. Venturelli discusses, briefly, a number of individuals, such as Vittoria Colonna and Pope Paul IV Carafa. Though informative, this material seems misplaced, partly because the main purpose of the book seems to be the iconographic interpretation of the frescoes in the Sala del Bacio and their relationship to the Farnese court. Yet, one realizes, too, that the author is attempting to touch on every aspect of court life; and this is commendable in a volume whose focus is a single decade.

Gerolamo Mirola, the painter of the frescoes, and his role at court are the subject of the concluding chapter. The attribution of these paintings to both Mirola and Jacopo Bertoja has been debated; Venturelli reviews the pertinent literature and then presents new documents and a well-formulated argument that convincingly shows that the frescoes were indeed by Mirola alone. What is important to note, here, is the fact that Venturelli has brought to scholarly attention these little studied frescoes by what some might call a second rate, late maniera artist working at a provincial court in northern Italy. And by considering these frescoes and their patron, the author has provided us with new insights into court life and has laid the groundwork for further research.