Tapestries for the Courts of Federico II, Ercole, and Ferrante Gonzaga 1522-63.

Clifford M. Brown and Guy Delmarcel. Ed. Robert S. Nelson. (College Art Association Monograph on the Fine Arts, 52.) Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1996. 132 illus. + 10 pls. + 239 pp. $50. ISBN: 0-295-97513.

During the sixteenth century the Gonzaga family amassed an extensive collection of tapestries, one of the most important in Italy; these tapestries, however, are rarely mentioned in traditional accounts of Renaissance art, and they have received only scant attention from scholars. This new study, therefore, is a welcome arrival. It brings together Clifford Brown, a longtime scholar of the Gonzaga archives, and Guy Delmarcel, a noted specialist in Renaissance tapestries who, with the collaboration of Anna Maria Lorenzoni, have produced a useful and thorough source book.

The book is conceived as a kind of sequel to Willelmo Braghirolli's venerable Sulle manifatture di arazzi in Mantova, published more than a century ago, which dealt primarily with the Quattrocento and with work produced in Mantua itself. Brown and Delmarcel concentrate instead on the Cinquecento and exclude the tapestries produced in Mantua for outside patrons (such as the Scipio series designed in part by Giulio Romano for Francis I), devoting their attention to the works commissioned and collected by only one generation of the Gonzaga family, the sons of Francesco II and Isabella D'Este: Federico II and his brothers, Ercole and Ferrante. One might question this narrow focus, but the book provides much new information based on impressive archival research, along with a careful sifting of the documents and intelligent discussions of the surviving sets of tapestries.

The organization here is a bit cumbersome, although problems of this sort are perhaps unavoidable given the wealth of information. The book is divided into two main parts, and preceded by a good deal of introductory material - itself divided into several distinct sections. In the preface, we are given a brief history of the collecting of tapestries in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; Gonzaga patronage is discussed in the Introduction, which immediately follows. Next comes a useful chronology of the lives and patronage of the three principal Gonzaga patrons, and then an index to the tapestries owned by them, in alphabetical order by subject.

Part I (which should perhaps be Part III or IV) is an exemplary presentation of the relevant documents - many previously unpublished - in chronological order; an index of all seventy-eight entries makes it easier, although not effortless, to isolate the information pertaining to each of the three brothers. Interpretive comments are largely reserved for Part II, which consists of an excellent catalogue of the seven surviving tapestry sets. One of the most remarkable of these is Ferrante's Fructus Belli; the surprisingly cynical attitude toward war represented here is linked not only to the patron's personal experience, but also to the Libro aureo de Marco Aurelio emperador by Fray Antonio de Guervara, written in 1528 and translated into Italian in 1542. In addition, there are several charming sets of Puttini, including one for Ferrante, woven in Brussels by Willem de Pannemaker, and rephotographed in color especially for this volume.

The eminence grise in much of the book is Giulio Romano; Giulio was quite active as a designer of tapestries for the Gonzaga and other patrons, and he (or members of his shop) can be linked with many of the examples included in the catalog. Under the circumstances, it might have been appropriate to give him a little more individual attention. Admittedly, given the limits the authors have set for themselves, such a discussion is not strictly required, but it would have been helpful, nonetheless; an index of weavers would have been handy as well. In any case this book is a wonderful resource. Not only does it provide much new information on individual weavings, but by collecting the evidence together, it sheds new light on the taste and patronage of the Gonzaga family, and on life in a Renaissance court. It also sets the stage for further work on a broad range of issues, on specific subjects and general questions. Much work remains to be done, but this book makes an invaluable contribution.

LEW ANDREWS University of Hawaii, Manoa