TOMB OF ANTIPOPE JOHN XXIII

The 'Tomb of Antipope John XXIII' is a marble Tomb-Monument to Antipope John XXIII (Baldassare Coscia) by Donatello and Michelozzo in the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence. It was commissioned by the executors of Coscia's will after his death on December 22, 1419 and completed during the 1420s.
The Tomb-Monument is often interpreted as an attempt to strengthen and argue for the legitimacy of Coscia's pontificate by linking him to the spiritually powerful site of the Baptistry.^[1] The evocation of papal symbolism on the tomb and the linkage between Coscia and Florence have been interpreted as a snub to Pope Martin V^[1] or vicarious "Medici self-promotion," as such a tomb would have been politically impossible for a Florentine citizen.^[3]

Contents

Background

Antipope John XXIII

Funeral

Baptistry

Commissioning

Completion

Design

Base

Virtues

Sarcophagus and inscription

Effigy

Canopy

Attribution

Notes

References

Background

Antipope John XXIII

Main articles: Antipope John XXIII

Antipope John XXIII left behind a complicated life, legacy, and relationship with Florence. Baldassare Coscia was a Neapolitan noble who grew up in Bologna. Pope Boniface IX elevated Coscia to archdiocese of Bologna in 1396 and a cardinal in 1402. After the Council of Pisa in 1409, Coscia fomented rebellion against Pope Gregory XII, who refused to resign. Coscia was deprived of his cardinalate, but it was restored by Pope Alexander V, who had been elected by the council.^[4]
Coscia succeeded Alexander V as John XXIII in 1410. John XXIII was acknowledged as the true pope by France, England, Bohemia, Prussia, Portugal, parts of the Holy Roman Empire, and numerous Northern Italian city states including Florence and Venice.^[5]
Coscia was imprisoned for three years in Germany, but was ransomed by the Republic of Florence, as orchestrated by Giovanni di Bicci dei Medici.^[6] His ransoming may have been a reward for these past assistance to Florence, or a maneuver to put pressure on Martin V (still in Florence), or both.^[7] Coscia had helped Florence conquer Pisa in 1405 in his capacity as Legate to Bologna and, as pope, had designated the Medici bank as depository-general of papal finances.^[8]
In Florence, Coscia submitted to Martin V on June 3, 1419 and was rewarded with a cardinal’s hat on June 26, only to die on December 22.^[9] Although given the title of Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum, Coscia called himself "Cardinal of Florence."^[10]

Funeral

Coscia’s body moved to Baptistery and the nine-day funeral, as proscribed by the ''Ordo Romanus'', was well-attended by Florentine power-brokers and the papal court.^[11] Coscia’s corpse was crowned with a white mitre with his cardinal’s hat at his feet on the funerary bier during the rituals which took place entirely within the Baptistry and Cathedral.^[12] First three days of ceremonies each celebrated Coscia’s role as cardinal and pope, his role as an ally of Florence, and his role as a private citizen, respectively.^[13] He received a temporary burial until the tomb was complete.^[14]

Baptistry

Main articles: Florence Baptistry

The Baptistry already contained three sarcophagi: one of Bishop Ranieri (d. 1113) and two reused Roman sarcophagi.^[15] However, the Tomb-Monument at 7.32 meters in height was easily the tallest thing in the Baptistry, and—at the time—in Florence.^[16] The Duomo is also light on tombs, with a few notable exceptions, such as that of Aldobrandino Ottobuoni.^[17]

Commissioning

The commissioning of Coscia's Tomb-Monument was negotiated during the decade (more or less) following Coscia’s death. Coscia’s last will and testament—written on his death bed on December 22, 1419—was littered with customary Florentine civic bequests, archetypal acts of charity, and traditional ecclesiastical courtesies, but the bulk of his estate was left to his nephews Michele and Giovanni.^[18] The bequests to his nephews were to be prioritized, and indeed his estate remained disputed by various creditors as the tomb was completed.^[19]
Coscia designated four prominent Florentines as his executors: Bartolommeo di Taldo Valori, Niccolò da Uzzano, Giovanni d’Averardo de’Medici, and Vieri Guadagni,^[20] allowing any two of the executors to act on behalf of all four, as Valori and Medici appear to have done.^[21] Valori died on September 2, 1427, by which time Guadagni was also deceased and Uzzano had long-lost interest, leaving the remaining commissioning entirely to Giovanni, or—more likely—Cosimo Medici.^[22]
The executors claimed that Coscia revealed his desire for burial in the Baptistry to them but had been too modest to request it in his will.^[23] Most modern scholars accept uncritically this testimony of the executors, attributing Coscia with "tact—and tactics," although at least one has postulated that the executors chose the Baptistry against Coscia’s wishes.^[24]
Extant records indicate that, on January 9, 1421, Palla Strozzi, on behalf of the Arte di Calimala, authorized a "''breve et honestissima''" ("small and inconspicuous") monument in the Baptistry, but not the chapel requested by Coscia’s will; present scholarship accepts Strozzi’s assertion that burial within the Baptistry was an unmitigated honor, implicitly above the status of Coscia.^[25] After this meeting, there are no extant records from the Calimala regarding the tomb as the bulk of the documents from the 1420s have been lost,^[26] although the notes of Senatore Carlo Strozzi, who went through the records, are extant.^[27]
The Calimala’s acquiescence is traditionally explained by Coscia’s donation of the right index finger of John the Baptist (and 200 florins for an appropriate reliquary) to the Baptistry.^[28] With the finger John was believed to have pointed to Jesus, saying "Ecce Agnus Dei" ("Behold the lamb of God"). The long and complicated history of the relic would only have increased the legendary status of the finger: Philotheus Kokkinos, Patriarch of Constantinople presented it in 1363 to Pope Urban V, who passed it to his successors Gregory XI and Urban VI, who was dispossessed of it during the siege of Nocera, after which John XXII bought it for 800 florins and wore it on his person before hiding it in the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angioli.^[29]

Completion

The chronology of the Tomb-Monument's completion is not precisely known, but portions can be determined from various sources. According to the passing reference of a Floretine notary, in 1424 (Florentine calendar) part of the tomb was installed.^[30] Michelozzo’s ''Catasto'' from July 1427 indicates that Michelozzo had been Donatello’s partner for two years ("''due anni o incircha''") and that three-fourths of the 800 florin budget had been spent.^[31] To harmonize these accounts, one must conclude either that Michelozzo’s chronology was imprecise, that Donatello received the commission before the partnership was formed, or that the 1424 date in the Florentine calendar falls in 1425 in the modern calendar.^[32]
On February 2, 1425, Bartolomeo Valori and Cosimo dei Medici requested 400 of the 800 florins which had been deposited with the Calimala, likely for work already completed.^[33] This deposit was insurance in case the executors left the tomb unfinished and the Calimala was forced to pay for its completion, as it had been obliged to with the finger reliquary.^[34] This request is also the most direct piece of evidence for Cosimo’s involvement with the commissioning. Despite this document, Vasari’s 1550 attribution of the commissioning to Cosimo has been questioned.^[35]
It is probable that the sarcophagus was installed on or soon before May 2, 1426, when the Calimala contracted two chaplains to say a daily mass for Coscia’s soul.^[34] Records of the Cathedral workshop indicate that on January 28, 1427 the sale of four white marble tabulas was authorized to Valori for the tomb.^[37]
The exact date of completion is unknown but an extreme ''terminus ante'' is given by the death of Martin V—who is known to have visited the completed tomb—in 1431; other factors may push the terminus ante back significantly into the 1420s.^[38] The most reliable such date is September 1428, when Jacopo della Quercia returned to Bologna and produced a wall tomb with Virtues mimicking the minute details of the Coscia Virtues.^[39]
Vasari and Del Migliore suggest that the tomb went over budget, costing 1000 florins, although it is unclear who covered the excess.^[40] Although the original source for this claim is unknown, it has gained credence with modern scholars as the effigy alone would have cost 500 florins,^[41] yet its exactness may be taken with a grain of salt.^[42]

Design

The Tomb-Monument adapted to the conditions imposed by the Calimala and integreated with the interior of the Baptistry. The wall tomb was required to be placed between two pre-existing Corinthian columns—the central pillars between Ghiberti’s North Doors and the eastern tribune—constituting one-third of one of the octagonal walls, near the altar and facing Ghiberti’s East Doors.^[43] The setting starves the Tomb-Monument of lighting, especially (as is the norm) when the Baptistry’s doors are closed.^[44] It would be even darker were it not for the "screen" back wall of 48.4 cm in width separating the monument from the Baptistry wall.^[45] The white and brown (and whitish-brown) marble further integrates the structure with the polychromatic white and green of the Baptistry interior.^[46] Some scholars accept the colored sketch of Buonaccorso Ghirberti as evidence that the "original effaced polychromy" of the tomb was more integrated,^[47] although others contend that the sketch is too inaccurate.^[48] The canopy’s interaction with the columns and conceit of being supported by the Baptistry cornice make the Tomb-Monument further "wedded to the architecture" around it, even if the marriage is morganatic.^[49]

Base

The base slap, or pylon, of the Tomb-Monument rests on a 38 cm high plinth, separated by a cornice and concave mouldings. The pylon 1.39 m high and 2.02 m wide, decorated with a frieze of winged angel heads (perhaps seraphim) and garlands and ribbons.^[50]

Virtues

Above the pylon, separated by cornice, are the three Virtues—from left to right, Faith, Charity, and Hope—in shell apses, separated by four Corinthian fluted pilasters. Such a motif is unprecedented in Tuscan funerary sculpture but extant in Venice and Padua,^[41] and especially Coscia’s native Naples.^[52] As a result, excursions to Venice have been suggested for both Michelozzo^[53] and Donatello^[54] However, Janson suggests that one "need not go all the way to Venice" to be influenced by such motifs.^[41] Outside Florence, Virtues were common on tombs, with the cardinal Virtues used for laymen, and the theological virtues reserved for ecclesiastics, including the Brancaccio tomb.^[56] However, the Coscia Virtues, from their hair to their sandals, are more thoroughly antique.^[57] Donatello also produced two similar bronze Virtues for the Siena Baptistry, whose chronological relationship to the Coscia Virtues is unclear.^[58]
Faith (1.05 m tall), at the right of Charity, features is holding a Eucharistic chalice; Charity (1.07 m tall), a cornucopia and flaming vase ("brazier"); and Hope (1.06 m tall), at the left of Charity, hands clasped in prayer.^[59] The central Charity is most antique, assimilating elements Classical depictions of Abundantia, Ceres, and Juno, all of which were depicted with left-hand cornucopias.^[60] Besides underscoring the antiquity of the Tomb-Monument, the main purpose of the tall yet poorly finished Virtues is to put additional vertical distance between the viewer and the effigy, which has the cumulative effect of deemphasizing the peculiarities of Coscia, in favor of a generic pontiff (i.e. a potential line of Florentine popes), by blunting the "immediacy" of the trope of lying-in-state, which was otherwise dominant on Quattrocento wall tombs.^[61]

Sarcophagus and inscription

Above the Virtues, four classical consoles decorated with acanthus leaves support the sarcophagus. In the tripartite space between the consoles—from left to right—are Coscia’s family arms with the papal tiara, the papal coat of arms, and Coscia’s family arms with the cardinal’s hat.^[62] The ''rilievo schiacciato'' on the architrave sarcophagus (2.12 m wide and .7 m high) depicts two putti or spiratelli ("little spirits") unraveling a (slightly torn) parchment, perhaps in the style of papal brief.^[63] The putti (or spiratelli) share many characteristics with their ancient counterparts, except for their crossed legs.^[64]
Pope Martin V objected to the inscription "IOAN''n''ES QVO''n''DAM PAPA" because he thought it implied Coscia had died as pope (the Latin "quondam" could mean either "the former" or the "the late"). The use of "olim Papa," as was common in many contemporary documents, instead of "quondam Papa" likely would have remedied Martin V’s objections.^[27] Martin V himself suggested instead that Coscia be identified as a Neapolitan cardinal, thus emphasizing instead his submission.^[66] Contemporary sources report that the Signoria mimicked the reply of Pontius Pilate regarding the inscription on the cross of Christ: "What is written, is written."^[67] Martin V himself was buried underneath an undecorated bronze floor slab,^[68] the only known example of a two-dimensional papal monument,^[69] although also the first to be set in the central nave of a major basilica, Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterno,^[70] and cast in bronze—likely by Donatello.^[71]
According to Avery, Donatello’s ''Ascension of Christ and the Giving of the Keys to St. Peter'' may have been intended to share the front of the sarcophagus,^[72] further strengthening the linkage created by dating Coscia’s death with respect to the Kalends of January, which would have been uncommon on Florentine tombs.^[73]

Effigy

On top of the sarcophagus, the bier of the effigy is supported by lions whose shape mimics Trecento consoles.^[74] The lions may be based upon the Florentine ''Marzocco'', as if to mark John XXIII in the same manner as a conquered city-state. As Donatello’s ''Marzocco'' for the papal apartment in Santa Maria Novella conveyed Florence’s ambivalence towards Martin V (as both a source of prestige and potential adversary of the Republic), the lions supporting the bier contextualize the Tomb-Monuments support for John XXIII’s claim to the papacy by cementing it as a Florentine claim. Yet, any iconographical interpretation of the lions must be taken with a grain of salt as lions are symbolically promiscuous.^[67] and also seen as supports on earlier tombs, such as that of Lapo de’ Bardi (d. 1342) in the Bargello.^[76]
The bier and the pall spread over it are tiled towards the viewer with the head-supporting lion standing 2 cm shorter, increasing the visibility of the effigy, especially the head.^[77] The bronze, life-size effigy itself makes no attempt to argue for Coscia’s papal status, dressing Coscia definitively in the garb of a cardinal.^[78] A sixteenth century opening of the sarcophagus confirmed that Coscia’s burial dress matched the effigy.^[79] However, there is no precedent for three dimension gilded-bronze effigy on Italian tomb-monuments; there was, however, a six-foot gilt bronze portrait on the balcony of Palazzo della Briada in Bologna commissioned by Pope Boniface VIII.^[67]
Some propose that Donatello constructed the effigy with the aid of a death mask,^[81] yet other scholars disagree.^[82]

Canopy

Behind the effigy is a second, tripartite pylon (1.34 meters high) with sunk molded borders supporting the cornice and framed by two additional Corinthian pilasters. Above it rests an entablature of the Madonna and Child on a half-lunette, a typical—symbolizing intercession—for a tomb.^[83] Above the effigy and Madonna is a gilded-edged architectonic canopy decorated with patterned stemmed flowers, giving the conceit of being supported by the ribbed brass ring, an impossibility given its weight. McHam^[61] suggests that the canopy is based on the "Dome of Heaven", and thus the ''baldacchino'' of papal enthronement. However, Lightbown^[85] is emphatic that the double-summited canopy looped against the pillars is not a baldacchino, but rather a (secular) bed-canopy.^[86]

Attribution

Main articles: Donatello, Michelozzo

The Tomb-Monument was the first collaboration between Donatello and Michelozzo, who would go on to collaborate on the tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancaccio in the Church of Sant’ Angelo a Nido in Naples, the tomb of Papal Secretary Bartolommeo Aragazzi in what is now the Duomo of Montepulciano, and the external pulpit of the Duomo of Prato.^[87]
Nearly every element of the Tomb-Monument has been attributed to both Donatello and Michelozzo by different art historians.^[88] These characterizations are mostly of historigraphical interest: attribution to Donatello is more of an indication of what is valued by commentator than any objective criteria; often, aspects are attributed to Michelozzo explicitly because they are "less well executed."^[59]
Descriptions from 1475 to 1568 attribute all of the tomb except for the figure of Faith to Donatello.^[90] Some modern sources reverse this dichotomy, attributing all of the tomb to Michelozzo with the exception of the gilded bronze effigy.^[61] Some sources credit Donatello only with the bronze effigy.^[92] According to Janson, of the marble work, only the ''putti'' can be attributed to "Donatello’s own hand."^[82] Donatello’s alleged deficiencies in casting or architecture have been proposed as the reason for his partnership with Michelozzo,^[94] in addition to his busy schedule.^[95]

Notes

1. Lightbown, 1980, p. 16l; Caplow, 1977, p. 107.
2. Lightbown, 1980, p. 16l; Caplow, 1977, p. 107.
3. McHam, 1989, p. 156; Strocchia, 1992, p. 142.
4. Lightbown, 1980, p. 4; Caplow, 1977, pp. 98-99.
5. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 4-5. However, Ladislas of Naples conquered Rome in 1413, and John XXIII was forced to flee to Florence. John XXIII was compelled by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, to convoke the Council of Constance in 1414, although when the threat to his pontificate and possibly his person became apparent, he fled in 1415. Although he expected his departure would disperse the council, which he called to join him under the protection of Frederick of Austria, the Council deposed John XXIII on May 29, 1415 and elected Pope Martin V on November 11, 1417; Martin V proceeded to Florence in February 1419.Strocchia, 1992, p. 137; Lightbown, 1980, p. 5.
6. McHam, 1989, p. 153.
7. McHam, 1989, p. 154.
8. Strocchia, 1992, p. 136.
9. Caplow, 1977, pp. 99-100.
10. Strocchia, 1992, p. 137.
11. Caplow, 1977, p. 100.
12. McHam, 1989, pp. 154-5; Strocchia, 1992, p. 138; Lightbown, 1980, p. 44.
13. Strocchia, 1992, p. 139.
14. Lightbown, 1980, p. 14.
15. Lightbown, 1980, p. 16, 24.
16. Lightbown, 1980, p. 26.
17. Lightbown, 1980, p. 24.
18. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 8-9.
19. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 14-15.
20. Janson, 1963, p. 59.
21. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 20-21.
22. Lightbown, 1980, p. 22.
23. McHam, 1989, pp. 155-6.
24. Janson, 1963, p. 61.
25. Janson, 1963, p. 59; Caplow, 1977, p. 103.
26. Lightbown, 1980, p. 16.
27. Lightbown, 1980, p. 20.
28. Caplow, 1977, pp. 101-102; Strocchia, 1992, p. 138.
29. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 9-10.
30. Lightbown, 1980, p. 19.
31. Caplow, 1977, pp. 105-108; Grassi, 1964, p. 69.
32. Janson, 1964, pp. 59-62.
33. Caplow, 1977, p. 104.
34. Lightbown, 1980, p. 21.
35. Caplow, 1977, p. 106; McHam, 1989, p. 156; Lightbown, 1980, p. 18.
36. Lightbown, 1980, p. 21.
37. Janson, 1963, p. 59; Caplow, 1977, pp. 104-105.
38. Caplow, 1977, pp. 116-119; McHam, 1989, p. 157; Strocchia, 1992, p. 134.
39. Janson, 1963, p. 63.
40. Caplow, 1977, p. 116.
41. Janson, 1963, p. 62.
42. Lightbown, 1980, p. 23.
43. Caplow, 1977, p. 120; Lightbown, 1980, p. 24; McHam, "Donatello’s Tomb of Pope John XXIII," p. 147.
44. Caplow, 1977, p. 120.
45. Caplow, 1977, p. 121.
46. McHam, 1989, p. 149; Lightbown, 1980, p. 26.
47. Janson, 1963, p. 61
48. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 30-31.
49. McHam, 1989, p. 163.
50. Lighbown, 1980, p. 26.
51. Janson, 1963, p. 62.
52. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 39-40.
53. Caplow, 1977, p. 114.
54. Lightbown, 1980, p. 50.
55. Janson, 1963, p. 62.
56. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 25-27.
57. Lightbown, 1980, p. 38.
58. Caplow, 1977, p. 134.
59. Lightbown, 1980, p. 37.
60. Caplow, 1977, p. 133; Lightbown, 1980, p. 37.
61. McHam, 1989, p. 157.
62. Lightbown, 1980, p. 27.
63. Lightbown, 1980, p. 28.
64. Caplow, 1977, p. 135.
65. Lightbown, 1980, p. 20.
66. Caplow, 1977, p. 105; McHam, 1989, p. 149.
67. McHam, 1989, p. 159.
68. McHam, 1989, p. 161.
69. Panofsky, 1964, p. 72.
70. Gardner, 1992, p. 62; Lightbown, 1980, p. 25.
71. Meyer, 1904, p. 76; Lightbown, 1980, p. 46.
72. Avery, 1994, pp. 36-39.
73. McHam, 1989, pp. 163-4.
74. Caplow, 1977, p. 122.
75. McHam, 1989, p. 159.
76. Lightbown, 1980, p. 42.
77. Meyer, 1904, 63; Lightbown, 1980, 28.
78. Lightbown, 1980, p. 43; McHam, 1989, p. 159.
79. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 44-45.
80. McHam, 1989, p. 159.
81. Lightbown, 1980, p. 44; Grassi, 1965, p. 70.
82. Janson, 1963, p. 64.
83. McHam, 1989, p. 149, 159.
84. McHam, 1989, p. 157.
85. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 28-29.
86. Lightbown, 1980, p. 32.
87. Lightbown, 1980, pp. 2-3.
88. Caplow, 1977, pp. 122-140; Janson, 1963, pp. 63-64; Lightbown, 1980, 18.
89. Lightbown, 1980, p. 37.
90. Caplow, 1977, p. 119.
91. McHam, 1989, p. 157.
92. Grassi, 1964, p. 69.
93. Janson, 1963, p. 64.
94. Janson, 1963, pp. 50-56, 63.
95. Lightbown, 1980, p. 33.

References

★ Avery, Charles. 1994. ''Donatello: An Introduction''. New York: IconEditions. ISBN 9780064303118

★ Caplow, Harriet McNeal. 1977. ''Michelozzo''. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9780824026783

★ Gardner, Julian. 1992. ''The Tomb and the Tiara''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198175100

★ Grassi, Luigi. Colacicchi, Paul (trans.). 1964. ''All the Sculpture of Donatello''. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc. OCLC 1039596

★ Janson, H.W. 1963. ''The Sculpture of Donatello''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691035288

★ Lightbown, R.W. 1980. ''Donatello & Michelozzo''. London: Harvey Miller. ISBN 0905203224

★ McHam, Sarah Blake. 1989. "Donatello’s Tomb of Pope John XXIII." In ''Life and Death in Fifteenth-Century Florence''. Ed. Tetel, Marcel, Witt, Ronald G., and Goffen, Rona. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. 146-173. ISBN 9780822308720

★ Meyer, Alfred Gotthold. Konody, P.G. (trans.). 1904. ''Donatello''. Leipzig: Velhagen & Klasing. (Available online)

★ Panofsky, Erwin. 1964. ''Tomb Sculpture''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0714828246

★ Strocchia, Sharon T. 1992. ''Death and Ritual in Renaissance Florence''. Baltiore: John Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9789795330776