Mezzatesta M.P., ''the Façade of Leone Leoni's House in Milan, The Casa Degli Omenoni; The Artist...

8/19/2019 Mezzatesta M.P., ''the Façade of Leone Leoni's House in Milan, The Casa Degli Omenoni; The Artist and the Public''

1/18

The Façade of Leone Leoni's House in Milan, the Casa degli Omenoni: The Artist and the PublicAuthor(s): Michael P. MezzatestaReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Oct., 1985), pp. 233-249

Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society of Architectural HistoriansStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/990074 .Accessed: 29/08/2012 07:50

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2/18

The

Fagade

of Leone

Leoni's

House

in

Milan,

the Casa

degli

Omenoni:

The Artist and the Public

MICHAEL P.

MEZZATESTA

Kimbell Art Museum

Leone

Leoni's ousen

Milan,

heCasa

degli

Omenoni,

s

one

of

the

city's

mostdistinctiverchitectural

andmarks.

t

has

ong

earnedhe

attention

ndadmiration

of

visitors,

articularlyor

its

unusualfaade

decorated

ithsix

over-life-sized

arbarian

prisoners

ndtwo

half-

length

aryatids

lanking

hecentral

portal.Figures

f

this kindhad

never een een

on

a house r

palaceaCade eforeheyappeared

ere.

Thisarticle

nalyzes

he

sculptural

nd

architectural

ources

of

these

figures

s wellas the

architecturalources

f

the

acade

n

general.

he

Casa

degli

Omenonis

placed

within he context

of

the

three

major

facade

ypes

t

mid-century,

n ordero

further

larify

ts

innovative

qualities. inally,

he

iconology

s

discussed,

ithLeoni's

edication

of

thehouse o

Marcus urelius

een n relation

o the

popularity

f

two

books n

theancient

emperory

thecourt

istorian

of

Charles

V,

Fray

Antonio

e

Guevara.

he

prisoner

otif

s

linked

o

thePersian

Portico,

nd

he

famousriezerelief

howing

ions

attacking

satyr

s

related

o a

similar

devicen

Filarete's

alace

or

the

pseudonymous

architect

nitoan oliaver.t

will

be een hatLeoni

presented

imself

tothe

public

essasanartisthanasa

gentleman

n thesocial

camp

of

the

Hapsburgs.

LEONE

LEONI'S

house n

Milan,

he

Casa

egli

Omenoni,

s

one of the

city's

most

distinctive

architectural

andmarks.

o-

cated

ust

a few

steps

north of

the

Duomo,

it

has

long

earned

the

attentionand

admiration f

visitors or its

unusual

facade

decorated

ith

a frieze

relief

showing

wo lions

attacking

satyr

and

especially

or

the

six

over-life-sized

barbarian

prisoners

nd

two

half-length aryatids

lanking

hecentral

portal Figs.

,

2).1

Imposing igures

of this

sort

never

hadbeen

seen on

a

house or

palace

facade

before

hey

appeared

n the

Casa

degli

Omenoni.

It is not

surprising,

herefore,

hat these

captives

gave

a

new

nameto the street

hey

face: he

Via

degli

Omenoni,

"street

of

the

big

men"

in the Milanese

dialect.2

Yet

in

addition

o

the

place

it

occupies

n architectural

istory,

Leoni's

house is

of

interest or the insightit providesnto the artist'spublicper-

sonality.

This

article

attempts

o

analyze

that

personality,

o

identify

the innovative

aspects

of the

facade,

and to

present

a

more

comprehensive

xplication

of the house's

conology.

In

so

doing,

the Casa

degli

Omenoniwill

emerge

as an

example

of the Renaissance

rtist's

truggle

o

gain

professional

nd

ocial

acceptance, struggle

in which his own

home was a

major

weapon.

The Casa

degli

Omenoni

thus

helps

us to

understand

Leonias an artistand

a man.As

we will

see,

his

home

was both

a

demonstration

f artistic

ngegno

nd

an avowal

of a

code

of

honor which

reveals he artist's

self-perception

ndsocial

as-

pirations.

In

May

of

566

Giorgio

Vasari,

eturning

o

Italy

rom

France,

was Leone

Leoni's

guest

n

Milan.3

Vasari's

isit,

which

lasted

15 days,

must have been

particularly

leasant,

or

he

had the

chance

o

enjoy

the

hospitality

of

a fellow

Aretineand

to see

proof

of his

friend's

uccess-the

new

facade

and

courtyard

f

Leoni's

house.

Indeed,

Vasari

was

impressed

nough

to

include

This articlewas

developed

rom a

chapter

n

my

doctoral

dissertation,

"Imperial

Themes n

the

Sculpture

f Leone

Leoni,"

nstitute f

Fine

Arts,

New York

University,

980,

done

under he

supervision

f

Pro-

fessor

rving

Lavin,

The

Institute or

Advanced

tudy.

would

like

to

thank

ProfessorLavin or

his

kindness

n

reviewing

he

draftof

this

essay.

i. For

he literature n

the Casa

Omenoni,

ee:

Vasari-Milanesi,ii,

540-541;

G. P.

Lomazzo,

Trattato

ell'arte

ella

ittura

culturad

archi-

tettura,

Roma,

1844,

I,

363;

11,

333, 339;

1i,

84;

E. Plon,

Les

Maitres

Italiens u service e

a Maison

'Autriche.

eone eoni

Sculpteur

e

Charles

Quint

t

Pompeo

eoni

Sculpteur

e

Philippe

I,

Paris,

1887,

186-191,

14-

315;

A. Brusconi

Ugo

Nebbia,

La casa i

Leone

eoni etta

egli

Omenoni

(Soprintendenzai monumenti i Lombardia), ilano,1913;Eugene .

Johnson,

"Studies n

the Use

of

Herms

n

Sixteenth-Century

rchi-

tecture,"

M.A.

thesis,

New

York

University,

Institute

of

Fine

Arts,

1963,

35ff.;Ugo

Nebbia,

La casa

degli

Omenonin

Milan,

Milan,

1963;

Virginia

Bush,

Colossal

Sculpture

f

the

Cinquecento,

ew

York,

1976,

266-267;

Maria

Serena

Tronca,

"La

collezione

d'artedi

Leone

Leoni,"

Tesidi

Laurea,

niversita

egli

Studidi

Pisa,

1976-1977;

Nikki

Leopold,

"The Artist's

House in

the

Sixteenth

Century,"

Ph.D.

diss.,

Johns

HopkinsUniversity,

979,7-8,

182-226;

Michael

Mezzatesta,

Imperial

Themes

in the

Sculpture

f

Leone

Leoni,"

Ph.D.

diss.,

New

York

University,

1980,

172-242,

especially

72-173

or

full

bibliography.

2.

Plon,

Leoni,

87-

3.

Vasari-Milanesi,

II,35;

Plon,

Leoni,

88.

JSAH XLIV:233-249.

OCTOBER

r985

233


3/18

234

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER

1985

i

?ir

4n

/

%

+

/

i

+i

...

..

.. +

r

. .

m~~~~~~

I+I•++.+"i.,•'

i

'+:

+

++

+

rr

+

-

,:

Ir

B

..+

,

+

+

+

, ?

-

+t

.

.....I

..,

•,

+

•

,

Fig.

i.

Leone

Leoni,

Casa

degli

Omenoni,

Milan,

1565-1566/67.

View of the

facade

Brogi).


4/18

MEZZATESTA:

FACADE

OF

LEONI'S

CASA

DEGLI

OMENONI

235

1~

3~

~ i

: "-,r? ?/ ~

il? I

r' ?i~

ii;

n"C~,~,Sr

,?

(i

~??1

~.?

1, P:_ ,

I~ "-~ rse -I-;?-- ~

.j:i

~L~ "rr ?

:?I~

h.

d""- ~gl9CLYF"ra-,laL~EZ~u'?

r,

rlrur?---?

g i

-i

I

r

dff

?????????????????????????????????~

?-

Fig.

2. Casa

degli

Omenoni, wo lions

attacking satyr,

detailof central ectionof the frieze

author).

a

description

of the Casa

degli

Omenoni

in the

1567

edition

of

the Vite. The

passage

is worth

quoting

at

length:

Leoni,

n order

o

show the

greatness

f his

spirit,

he admirablealent

which he had rom

nature,

nd ortune's

avor,

onstructedt

great

ost

and

of mostbeautiful

rchitecture,

n

the contrada

e'Moroni,

house

full of so

many

capricious

nventions hat here s

perhaps othing

else

like

it in

all of

Milan.At

the divisions f the

facade

here

are,

upon

he

pilasters,

ix

prisoners, 1/2

braccia

ach,

all carved

rom

stone and be-

tween

hem,

n

several ichesmade

n

imitation f the

antique,

re

ittle

terms,windows,

and cornices

very

graceful

and distinct rom those

normally sed.All theparts elowcorrespond ith fine order o those

above;

he friezesaredecoratedwith various nstrumentsf the

art

of

design.

From he maindoor

hrough

passageway

neenters

courtyard

where,

n the

center

n four

columns,

s

the

equestrian

tatue f Marcus

Aurelius

ormed

n

gesso

from the

original

on the

Campidoglio.

By

thatstatueLeoniwanted o

signal

hathis house s

dedicated

o

Marcus

Aurelius.

As

to the

prisoners,

hat

ancy

hasbeen

nterpreted

y

different

people

n

different

ways.

Beside

hat

horse,

as mentioned

lsewhere,

e

has n his beautiful nd

very

commodious ouse

plaster

asts f as

many

praiseworthy

orksof marble r

bronze,

modern r

ancient,

she could

procure.4

Leoni's

desire o

demonstrate

is

greatness

f

spirit

wasun-

derstandable,

ut

his

decision o do so

through

he

decoration

of his own

home-though

not

unprecedented

n

the

i6th

cen-

tury-was,

nonetheless,

nusual.The

impetus

or

the

project

must

havebeen

Leoni's

uccessful

ojourn

t the

court

n

Madrid

where he

completed

a

group

of

bronze

portrait

tatues

begun

15

years

arlier

nd

orwhich he was

richly

rewarded

ith

2,000

gold

scudi.5

The

renovation

f the

Casa

degli

Omenoni herefore

ccurred

at a high pointof Leoni'scareer. t was, however,a moment

that hadbeen a

long

time

coming.

Leonihad

entered

imperial

service

24

years

before,

n

1542,

as master

f

the mint n

Milan,6

but

it

was

not until late

1547

or

early

1548

that

opportunities

for

major

culptural

ommissions

pened

when he

was invited

to visit

Emperor

Charles

V

at the

imperial

ourt

n

Brussels

n

4.

Vasari-Milanesi, II,

540-54I,

author's ranslation.The Italiantext

reads:

Il

quale

Lione,

per

mostrare la

grandezza

del suo

animo,

il

bello

ingegno

che ha avuto dalla

natura,

ed il

favore della

fortuna,

ha con

molta

spesa

condotto di bellissima architettura

un

casotto nella con-

trada de'

Moroni,

pieno

in

modo

di

capricciose

invenzioni,

che

non

n'& orse un altro simile

in

tutto Milano. Nel

partimento

della facciata

sono

sopra

a

pilastri

sei

prigioni

di

braccia sei

l'uno,

tutti di

pietra

viva;

e fra

essi,

in

alcune nicchie fatte a imitazione

degli

antichi,

con

terminetti, finestre,

e cornici tutte

varie

da

quel

che

s'usa,

e molto

graziose;

a tutte le

parti

di

sotto

corrispondono

con bell'

ordine

a

quelle

di

sopra;

e

fregiature

sono tutte

di

vari

strumenti

dell'arte del

disegno.

Dalla

porta principale,

mediante

un

andito,

si

entra

in un

cortile,

dove nel mezzo

sopra

quattro

colonne &

l

cavallo con la statua

di Marco

Aurelio,

ormatodi

gesso

da

quel

proprio

he e

in

Cam-

pidoglio.

Dalla

quale

tatua a volutoche

quella

uacasa ia

dedicata

a Marco

Aurelio; ,

quanto

ai

prigioni,

quel

suo

capriccio

a diversi

t

diversamente

nterpretato.

ltre

al

qual

avallo,

ome

n

altro

uogo

s'edetto,hain

quella

uabellae comodissima bitazioneormatedi

gesso

quant'opere

odate

di scultura di

getto

ha

potuto

avere,

o

moderne antiche.

5.

Sincethe

publication

f Plon's

monograph

t has

been

assumed

thatLeonineverwent o

Spain.

lonshowed

onvincingly

hat,

contrary

to the assertion

f

Caen

Bermudez,

Leonidid not

accompany

harles

V

to

Spain

n

i556;

Plon,

Leoni,

28ff.

Moreover,

Leonidid

not

heed

Philip's

directive o

go

to

Spain

ssued n 20

January

559;

Plon,

Leoni,

14xff.

However,

Vasari

reports:

Nel

tornare ionedi

Spagna

e ne

porto

due

mila scudi

contanti,

ltre a

molti

altridoni e

favori he

gli

furono

fatti

n

quella

corte";Vasari-Milanesi,

II,538.

As

Vasariwas Leoni's

houseguest

n

May

of

1566,

here s

every

reason o believehis

infor-

mation s correct.

6.

Plon,

Leoni,

8.


5/18

236

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER

1985

•~ 917 i

i',iL

...

Fig. 3.

FaCade

f the Casa

degli

Omenoni,

Milan.

Engraving

rom

Lattuada's escrizione

i

Milano,

737

(photograph

ourtesy

Clubino

Daddi).

order

o

discussLeoni's

proposal

or

a

bronze

equestrian ortrait

of the

Emperor.

oon

after the artist's

arrivalat the

imperial

court,

Charles

V

andhis sister

Mary,

egent

of the

Low Coun-

tries,

entrusted

Leoni with a seriesof

important

ommissions,

his first

sculptural

rojects.

He

appears

o have been

no less

successful n

winning

the

Emperor's ersonal

avor.

Charles

installed he

sculptor

n

a

palaceapartment

irectly

below

his

own

so that he could watch

Leoni

at

work,

and he

delighted

in

conversing

with him for

hours.7

The

depth

of Charles's

ood

will wassuch haton 2 November

549

Leoniwasmadea noble

andwas

knighted,

honorsnot

lightly

bestowedon artists."

The

projects

e

was about o undertake nd

he favor

he then

enjoyed

prompted

Leoni o

request

rom he

Emperor

he

grant

of

a

confiscated

ouse

n

Milan

ocated

n the center

of

the

city

just

northof the

Duomo,

a

certain"casa

el

prato."

The

request

musthavebeen

approved rior

o Leoni's

departure

romBrus-

sels late

in

1549,

because

by

i55o

he had

already

et

up

his

studio.9No further eferencesreknown untila documentof

July 1565

n which Leoni

petitioned

he Senate

of Milan o

fix

the

house,

which was

then

in a

dangerous

tateof

disrepair.1o

It is from

this

period

hat

the

reconstruction

ust

date,

hat

s,

between

mid-1565

nd

1566/1567-

As

it stands

oday,

the

facade

of

the Casa

degli

Omenoni

remains

ssentially

he

same

as

it

appeared

n the

i6th

century.

Comparisons

ith

engravings

f the

facade

n

Lattuada's

e-

scrizione i Milano

of

1738

and Marc

Antonio dal Re's

Palazzi

Milanese

f

1745

do revealsome modifications

Figs.

I,

3,

4).

Most

noticeable

s a third

tory

above he

cornice,

19th-century

addition.

The

ground

loorremains

nchanged

with the

excep-

tion

of the

lateral

iches,

which havebeenmade nto

windows.

On the

second

story,

seminude emaleherms

hat flanked he

central

portal

as well as

the

framing

pediment

and

stone bal-

ustradehave

been removed.

n

addition,

he

windows of the

secondand

sixth

bays

havebeen made

nto doors

opening

onto

narrow alconies

with the

consequent

oss of the

original

mold-

ings

and

pediments.1

The

faqade

elongs

o

the

type

nitiated

y

Bramante's

alazzo

Caprini

n Rome-a rusticated

round

loor

serving

as a base

7.

Ibid.,

44-45.

8. C.

Dell'Acqua,

Del

luogo

di

nascita

i Leone

Leonie del

Mon-

umentoMediceo

da lui

eseguito

n

Milano,"

Archivio

torico

ell'Arte,

(1889),

asc.

Ii,

78-81.

He

was also

granted

pension,

see

C.

Casati,

Leone

eoni

'Arezzo

cultore

Giov.

PaoloLomazzo

ittore

milanese,

ilan,

1884,

64.

9.

Casati,

Leone

eoni,

7

n.

i.

For a

complete

discussion f the cir-

cumstances

urrounding

he

grant

of the

house,

see

Mezzatesta,

Im-

perial

Themes,"

174ff.

Io.

Casati,

Leone

eoni,

4-25.

ii.

Neither

of the

engravings

s

completely

ccurate.

attuada,

e-

scrizionei

Milano,

, Milan,

1738,

443,

implies

hat the

prisoners

re

caryatids,

implifies

he enframements

f the blind

windows on the

piano

nobile,

nd does

not show the

satyr

alling

out of the frieze.He

also

compresses

he

fagade

nduly.

Marc

Antoniodal

Re doesnot show

the

prisoners

s

caryatids

ut

represents

hem

nude with their arms

folded across heir chestsso that

they

no

longer

appear

s barbarians.

He

eliminated

he rustication

n the

ground

looranderred

n

depicting

the

satyr

n the frieze.

He also

elongated

he

proportions

f

the

piano

nobile.


6/18

MEZZATESTA:

FACADE

OF LEONI'S

CASA

DEGLI

OMENONI

237

???-r

r,,,,u

cr-r-4-

EM

d?X)

I I

. ~(llfy

~Ef="

?--*rr*V

cc,

rn

P./

--un ru?-

-?-

,

~

c.---. ~

,- -r ?- ?t

;~Z I_~5CI

~~~CI

'?I-?*

,l,.?-

?s

?.

-:..i7p

Fig.

4.

Fagade

f the

Casa

degli

Omenoni,

Milan.

Engraving

rom

MarcAntoniodal

Re,

Palazzi

Milanesi,

1745

(photograph

ourtesy

Clubino

Daddi).

for

an

articulated

iano

nobile.

ndividual

lements,

of

course,

differ

considerably,

most

notably,

he recessed

olumns

placed

in narrow

lotscut nto the

wall,

the

blind

windowswith

spindle

enframements,

nd he

layering

f thewall

surface,

ll

of which

derive rom the

ricettof

Michelangelo's

aurentian

ibrary.12

Leoni's

only

earlier

architectural

experience

was the

design

of

Giangiacomo

e'Medici's

omb

n

the

DuomoofMilan

1560-

i563),

3

buthe had

obviously

tudied rchitecturen

some

detail.

Vasari

noted

that

Leoni

devised

niches, ermini,

windows,

and

cornices

"tutte

varie

da

quel

che

s'usa,"14 and,

n

fact,

his de-

tailing

s

quite

distinctive,

with sources

anging

rom the

en-

framements n

the ancientPorta

Borsari

n

Verona

o the chi-

meraeon

GaleazzoAlessi's

Villa

Cambiaso,

Genoa

(i548).15

Although

Leoni selected

his architectural

ocabulary

clec-

tically,

the overall

mpression mparted

by

the

facade

s

re-

markable

n

its

unity,order,

and

decorative estraint.Yet one

12.

For he

Laurentian

ibrary,

ee

James

Ackerman,

heArchitecture

ofMichelangelo,

ondon,

961,33-44,

Figs.

16,

17,

18a.Leoni

stopped

n

Florence

n

156o

on

his

way

back

o Milanfrom

Rome.While

there

he

certainly

aw the

Laurentian

Library.

13.

For

which,

see

Plon,Leoni,

50ff.

14.

See n.

4.

15.

Vasari

lludes o an

antique

ource n his

description,

e

fra

essi

[the

prisoners],

n

alcune

nicchie attaa

imitazione

degli

antichi,

ono

terminetti, inestre,

cornici

utta

varie

da

quel

che

s'usa,

e

motto

graziose."

This

type

was used earlieron

the

facade

of the

Palazzo

Cancellerian

Rome,

whereLeoni

also

could

have

observed

he

refined

use of rustication

n the

ground

loor

and

the

continuous

one

artic-

ulating

he

bases f the

pilasters

nd

windowsof

the

piano

obile,

motif

Leoniusedon the

facade

nd n the

courtyard.

he

articulationf

the

courtyard

ichesseems

o derive rom he

windowsof the

piano

nobile

on the

Cancelleria.

or

Alessi's

himerae,

ee Galeazzo lessi

l'archi-

tettura

el

cinquecento

Atti

del

convegno

nternazionale

i

studi,Genova,

16-20o

Aprile1974),

Genoa,

975,

435, Figs.

281,

282.


7/18

238

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER 1985

,f '??

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;? f:i

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':i ? ~ jeii% :~;: ?:-k i--:t-.l-~':"

r

.6:

:1?-4

.I,? . I

'f

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tl: ?r

r"

?;? 1". I II , e3 ~-?S?~-I~E-'"::,' ~ h?:l:?

" ?I :~? I- aaay~~;~ g~::: I-

ii

r:~"~o~?;

~

j_ "~,

;m

~?~

..

h *-

*I;

45;c,;4"t ,,

;i:

?I?~;.?.. ?IL ;X?

c i

II -?*

r* 9; i

; ,li

)"?~d$?

f :ii

T

i

~

~1Lb

.EZ

?

'","r-~ , ?,?12".: j

Sd;e

*LI,- r-r-

*-1S~i

il~ ~_

r:

c

4

Fig.

5.

Casa

degli

Omenoni,

barbarian

risoner

n the

faCade

author).

cannot

escape

the conclusion

that,

though

much

thought

went

into

the

architectural

design,

Leoni

approached

the task as

a

sculptor,

for the most obvious features

of the

Casa

degli

Ome-

noni

are

the six

prisoners

decorating

the

pilasters

of the

ground

floor

(Figs.

5-7,

10-12)

and the two

supporting

figures

flanking

the

entryway (Figs.

8,

9).

The

prisoners

are

identified

by

an

inscription

at the

top

of each

pilaster

reading,

from

the left:

SVEVVS,

QVADVS,

ADIABENVS,

PARTHVS,

SARMATA,

MARCOMANVS.

Lomazzo reportedin i585 that Antonio Abondio had carved

the

figures

of

the

fagade,16

ndoubtedly

from models

supplied

by

Leoni.

They

are

powerfully expressive

sculptures nspired

by

ancient Roman statues

of barbarians

nd

are

among

Leoni's

most

impressive

achievements.17

Each

prisoner

is varied in the treat-

ment

of

dress,

physiognomic

type,

and

placement

of the

hands,

and

each

possesses

a bulk which

separately

presents

a

potent

-r?-~-~,

~?

c,?:

f:kr?' ~i~2?E

r-1,

~W

~24~ ;1;

"p~

r:

~

i;

Jlt

~:~ %~be;"~i ~~ ~"~'

i; a~

" e;?

t.

'?; ir

~I"~B

-r;

-;s ~

-:i r~p?

~il~i

"

?B,I :"r

r-r~I?=?

a

-ir?--~I

r4-?

k

?.9

iB

~u

;.?r~i ?

jipr? ~??

1~

Fig.

6. Casa

degli

Omenoni,

barbarian

risoner

n

the

facade

author).

confrontation

with

the

viewer.

Collectively,

these dramatic

sculptures

dominate

the

facade.

These

prisoners

have

frequently

been

called

caryatids

but,

in

fact,

they

do not

possess

any

architectonicfunction.

Their

heads

are

positioned

below the entablature

and

actually

ean

away

from

the wall

surface.

It has

been noted

that

they

represent

a

com-

bination

of

Michelangelo's

herms

on

the

Julius

Tomb and

bar-

barian

prisoners

of the

type

found

on

the

Arch of

Constantine."8

This is

correct,

although they

neither

grow

organically

out

of

the herm shaft at waist level, as do most herms, nor are they

placed

neatly atop

the

shaft as

on the

Julius

Tomb.

Rather,

they

overhang

it,

being brusquely

truncated

below the knees so

that

they

appear uspended

on the

pilaster.19

n

fact,

the

captives

may

be read as

"applied

herms,"

for

the

tapered

herm

shaft

overlays

the Doric

pilaster,

its

base

literally

embedded

in

the

pilaster's

base

molding (e.g., Fig.

5)-

i6.

Lomazzo,

Trattato

(i973),

361;

also

reported

y

Paolo

Morigia,

La Nobilita

i

Milano,

Milan,

1595,

472,

and

Carlo

Torre,

I

Ritratto

i

Milano,

Milan,

1674,276.

17.

They

were

also

strongly

nfluenced

y

the

sculpture

f Baccio

Bandinelli;

ee

Mezzatesta,

Imperial

hemes,"

86ff.

i8.

Pope-Hennessy,

talian

High

Renaissance

nd

Baroque culpture,

London,

970,

86.

19.

Ibid.


8/18

MEZZATESTA:

ACADE

OF

LEONI'S

CASADEGLI

OMENONI

239

r

n?:i?~~:.fEd~li

: t."

i

~

":?

I

.

:o

S

I

?i: 2;1 B

-

L,

z~c

:1?u~.

yi: -

;: '

nri

r

\ it

~D:

h:

a

:* :Y

sii i

i._

i::

?Ic-,~~

i~

"i c"r pPPf~::

wt

i:;

..

1?a

"~'~""~e3a" ~lsBSb~D^~IF~'T;::` i--..

?;I

i:; ;; In

?? I, ?-ti?

.,-~

A

?. ,?

:-~???'

i~?iii ? I;';"U* ~iQ~i(

I,

Fig.7. CasadegliOmenoni,barbarianrisoner n thefacadeauthor).

The use of

herms

on

palace

fagades

was unusual.

Around mid-

century they

had been

employed

only by

Alessi

on

the

Palazzo

Marino

(i555)

and in

1562

by

Vincenzo

Seregni

at the Palazzo

dei Giureconsulti

in Milan.20

Their abundant

disposition

on

the

Palazzo Marino

represented

the first

appearance

of herms

in

r~:~-I-~P?)*77;r*~MIC~ ~?r~?*

??? TEC

~p"'

1,2

i"

ii*

"''Y

~ 1..

,?

;$

Z I ~

i ;i

tt-

f i: . lir

-r " L-:?fl?,r

~ " Ili~

z

:i *

Fig. 8. Casadegli Omenoni,half-length igureflanking he central

portal

author).

Milan,

and their debut

must

have been

particularly mpressive

and effective

in

calling

attention to the

palace's

owner and

ar-

chitect.2z

This

example

may

well

have

influenced

Leoni.22

How-

ever,

his

response

was

very

different.

Both

Alessi's

and

Seregni's

herms

are

only

"herm

heads";

hey

are

smaller

n

scale,

function

architectonically,

and

have a

subordinate

position

within the

overall

decorative

program.

Leoni

created

a dramatic

new

type:

monumental,

three-quarter-length,

nontectonic

barbarian

erms

that

were the

focus of the

facade.

The half-length, nude male figures that flank the doorway

are also novel

(see

Figs.

8,

9). They

may

also relate

generally

to

Michelangelo's

herms

on the

Julius

Tomb,

but Leoni

en-

larged,

undressed,

and

moved them

out

from the wall so that

they

sit on a

small

platform

supported

by

a corbel decorated

with a

lion's

head,

an emblem

of

the

artist.

In

placing

these

20.

Johnson,

"Herms,"

30ff.

See

this

study

on

the use

of herms in

the

i6th

century.

The first

tectonic

use

of herms in a Renaissance villa

was

by

Giulio

Romano in the

courtyard

of the Grotta of the Palazzo

del TU(c.

1530)

and later at the Villa Giulia where they articulatethe

area around

the

loggia

and

nympheum.

Even

as

late

as the

1570s

the

use

of herms was limited

to

only

a few villas in and around Rome. In

Lombardy,

however,

they

proliferated

argely through

the influence of

Alessi

and

Tibaldi;

see

Johnson,

"Herms,"

28-34.

Leoni

undoubtedly

knew the

colossal Pan

caryatids

that

decorated

the

garden facade

of the

loggia

of the Casino

of

Pius

IV,

for work

was

far advanced

by

1560;

see Graham

Smith,

The

Casino

ofPius

IV,

Prince-

ton,

1977,

ioff.

The Palazzo

di Giustizia in Mantua

is

decorated

with 12

giant

triton-

head herms

on the

upper

story.

This

palace,

long

attributedto Giulio

Romano,

is

now

dated to the

x7th

century

and

is

given

to Anton Maria

Viani.

Forthe current

ibliography,

ee

G.

Fusconi,

"Il

repertorio

e-

corativo

nelle architetturamilanese

dell'Alessi,"

Galeazzo Alessi e

l'ar-

chitettura el

cinquecento,

88,

491

nn. 8-12.

21.

Johnson,

"Herms,"

32.

22. Aurora

Scotti in "Per

un

profilo

dell'architettura

milanese

(1535-

1565),"

Omaggio

a

Tiziano,

Milan,

1977,

104,

suggested

that Alessi

and

Marino

may

have

been

encouraged

by

Leoni to decorate

Palazzo

Marino

so

richly.


9/18

240

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER 1985

xp

I

1

~gj:-*

~I

?*

?.- .?:? -,~

a

rU~_

"~Q~:: a I

:2;

~ne?

?~i9

:?

.. T~SSVc,

ti

"

d

??M

r. i

Cip

:~r??

`? I i

n"

;r

-r ~.?-??-

.i)

1

'i?w

Fig.9. CasadegliOmenoni, alf-lengthigurelankinghe central

portal

author).

figures

on a

platform

away

from the wall

surface,

Leoni

may

have been

inspired

by

one of the

triumphal

rches

he saw in

Antwerp

rected or the

entry

of

Philip

II

(Fig.

13).2

Here

pairs

of female

half-length

aryatids

ere

placed

on either

ideof the

portal

at the level of the

springing

of the arch.

Unlike these

women

and

Michelangelo's

erms,

who

carry

he

entablature

on their

heads,

Leoni'smenarebent

orward,

earily

upporting

the

balcony's

weight

on the

upper

back.

The

prisoners

n the

facade

f the Casa

degli

Omenoni

were

bound o attract ttention, speciallynMilanwhere hefacades

of

patrician

houses

were,

for the most

part, simple

and

un-

adorned.24

Only

Bramante's

asaFontana

late

149os),

with

its

four monumentalrescoed ictivebronze tatues

n the second

i-i

~d~

I

:?

~ ""i;;

~~i"'~-?

i;i'

~-~~??-

-il

?a

c-

ik~"

?:P_-

I;YHC'~?;?-'

:2:S

Fig.o. Casa egliOmenoni,arbarianrisonernthefacadeauthor).

story,

provided prototype

f

similar

caleand

programmatic

complexity.25

Although

he decoration

f

Leoni'shouse was

unusual,

he

practice

f

embellishing

acades

was

in

itselfnot uncommon

n

Italy

and he Casa

degli

Omenoni

houldbe

seen

n

the context

of that radition.

rom he late

Middle

Ages,

stucco,

or

graffito,

was

employed

o cover

facades

with

incisedornamental

eo-

metric

patterns.

At

the

beginning

of the

16th

century,

here

arose

a new

tendency

oward

figural

compositions

basedon

antiqueartisticandliterary ourceswhich quicklysuperseded

the

decorative

eometric

motifsof the earlier

eriod.26

23.

Northern

riumphal

rches

lso

appear

o have

been

he source

forthe

strange

reatures

lanking

he

Nativity

elief

on the tomb

of

Giangiacomo

e'

Medici

n

the

Cathedral

f

Milan;

ee

Plon,

Leoni,

150.

24.

From

466

private alaces

ere

erected

hat

ncorporated

he

latest rchitectural

orms nd

utilized

greater

egree

f decoration

n

the

fagade,

hough othing

o elaborate

sthe Casa

egli

Omenoni.

For

consideration

f

theearlier

ombardraditionf

palace

rchitec-

ture,

eeSusan

.

Caroselli,

The

CasaMarlianind

Palace

uilding

in Late

Quattrocento ombardy,"

h.D.

diss.,

Johns

Hopkins

Univer-

sity,

1980,

4-47.

25.

For

a

discussion

f the

CasaFontana

nd

references,

ee

Mez-

zatesta,

"Imperial

hemes,"

x9xff.

26. Forthe earlier

ypes,

see:

A.

Marabottini,

olidoro

a

Caravaggio,

Rome,

1969,

Io4ff.;

Gunter

und

Christel

Thiem,

Toskanische

assaden-

Dekorationn

Sgraffito

ndFresko

4.

bis

17.Jahrhundert,

unich,

1964,

27ff.

On the

development

f

the new

tradition,

ee

Lodovico

Foscari,

Affreschi

sterni

Venezia,

Milan,

1936,

23;

Thiem, Toskanische,

2;

Marabottini,

olidoro,

04;

Gunter

Schweikhart,

assadenmalerei

n Ve-

rona

om

14.

bis

zum20.

Jahrhundert,

unich,

973,

30.


10/18

MEZZATESTA:

FACADE

OF LEONI'S CASA DEGLI OMENONI

241

1;9"

41 41

Fig. i. CasadegliOmenoni,barbarianrisoner n thefacadeauthor).

This

development

was characterized

by

two

major

trends: he

frescoed

facade

decorated with

military

scenes

inspired

by

clas-

sical authors and

painted

in

imitation of ancient

sculpture,

a

type popularized

by

Polidoro da

Caravaggio

in

Rome

in

the

early

520os

Fig.

I4);

and

facades

decorated with all'antica

sculp-

ture

in

stucco or

stone,

such

as

Sanmicheli's Palazzo

Bevilacqua

in

Verona,

which is

embellished

with busts of

Roman

emperors

on

the

keystones

and

winged

victories

in the

spandrels

(1530s;

Fig.

15).

Although differing in their individual characteristics, hese

facade

types

are

united

by

their

return to ancient

art as a

source;

by

their

frequent

intention to re-create

an

ancient

edifice in

terms of ornament

and/or

structure;

and

by

the

classical

subject

matter of the

decorations,

which

invariably

refers

to

the

concept

of ancient

Roman virtus

with the

suggestion

that

it

was an

attribute of the owner of the house.27

Indeed,

it

is

this

latter

aspect

of

the

facades

that is

perhaps

most

significant,

for the

I

9?.

1 I d.

?u; ??

r r.r~a~iP~gC~

tlJ-~

~~2*1

ldr

rm

t ;k

j:I :%

I 1:

' ~?

*i?

I , '?

i ?

I:

WC ' ?

.1

~; g:;

;:::

" 9

4~' "*?i(YZ

" s?,-;

i;

i "

,:ii

jr~:::

Ir1

r

Fig.

12.

CasadegliOmenoni,barbarianprisonern the

fagade

author).

artistic and ethical values

of

ancient

Rome had

become a touch-

stone

of

contemporary

culture. The new intellectual

criteria of

Renaissance

society

placed

a

premium

on the moral

examples

supplied

by

the

virtuous

ancients. For those who had

the

re-

sources,

the

decoration

of

their

houses'

facades

was both

an

aesthetic

choice and a social

statement,

a

declaration

placing

the

owner

in

the forefront of the

revival

of

Roman virtus.

Leoni,

of

course,

was well

aware of

the

artistic and social

prestige

associated

with the

antique.

In

Rome

in

i56o

he dem-

onstratedhis intense interest in ancient art by obtaining Pope

Paul

IV's

permission

to make

plaster

casts of several

important

ancient

statues,

among

them

the

Capitoline equestrianportrait

of

Marcus

Aurelius;

at

great

expense

he

had

the

statues labo-

riously

transported

by

mule to

Milan.28

Whether Leoni

had

already

been

contemplating

the

restoration

of

his house

at

this

point

is unknown.

But,

as we have

seen,

within

a few

years

the

Marcus Aurelius statue had

not

only

been

installed

as

the cen-

27.

Fora more

complete

discussion f these

points

with

referenceo

specific alaces,

ee

Mezzatesta,

Imperial

hemes,"

I90-204.

28.

Celio

Malespini,

Ducento

ovelle,

Venetia,

1609,

228;

Lomazzo,

Trattato,

II, 4.


11/18

242

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER 1985

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i

i \ ; j:???r)i:~?

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IIII

~ ~- .???-?

~ii;i~

r--"-~-~

:1:

-~lf~i~l~;;ii~":?-"~rra

?~~t-.' lli s ?

ii

'? $

?.~..

j

';i

3

I

: j .i?1 ?'1r~i

L, ?.1-?SL~r..

br\*.

-~2L,:

C~~I-ka?83t~ I-~.

e1:3~~~

Os

r,-

i .

Fig.

13.

Triumphal

rch reatedo

greet

Prince

hilip

I

on

his

entry

into

Antwerp,

549.Engraving

rom

Cornelius

cribonius,

a tresad-

mirable,

resmagnifique

t

triumphante

ntrie

du

treshault

t

trespvissant

rince

Philipes...,

1550

(author).

terpiece

of

the cortilebut also

provided

he

central heme

of

the house's

program.29

Indeed,

he

importance

f the

Marcus

Aurelius

ast

was

high-

lighted

by

the

base

omposed

f four

columns hatLeonidevised

for

it,

an

arrangement

artially

isible

hrough

he house'smain

portal

n

Marc

Antonio

dal

Re's

engraving

f c.

1745

(seeFig.

4).30

The four-columned asewas an

attempt

at

archaeological

exactitude,

or in

the late

i2th

or

early

13th centuryMagister

~.L~~t; ,? _"?I-"--L~T.-i~?.~-"c:l:?'4:~~~r~??~j;-~Bri?_:7:C_

-r" L

?ipl

11

r

i .? 1?

i

r. '"C; -i

;d

~z t;i~i~k.~i3;~8~BetiU,?t~i

I:

? i

~-U~_.._,..

8,

-i ~ I(~F#TP~

F"LII??S;~i~&1`,.??::?. ??S;i ct.

'?~P -~; ??-*--~?----~-~ ---

~- *?~

li? f~iCli~ 411~s~ fq

?Si

r

?A:~ I:

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?a~, SY :i

f~

iZ~,??L d:l

C

, ,,.:"_6

jr*-?j

rl

c:Cf`?~-~~

1( ?r, r

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?-?6 ?L?L.-2 i:

~,f-

t?-t~r,'L,

r

,~v?:r

~ ?r r.

'?=??1.S-~

/ $~-CUI ICJY1

:---4

S~LI~..~"I..- _____ t__l?_IXI- ~---- -?L ?';'"? -------i~.t`~

.?.-I----~.-~~L._~.~____. ' C- ~~-

?- --.

----^.1._-

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~

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?- ?? "

. 1.

i r~9as~ urt~rr~ r~ ~

-

I ???~ i t * ?~

';i ~IY ~e~J~EI~P"~a~B~~o rr ?.?

,, ~-4~5~ ~"* IU~ ? ""-~-: i;

i.;

, i'?Y111

1??,

;

1 ya.

- ---

r?

-r

iZ.

L

~, ~alhT-; ~d~ P r:

*.

:91? r

I i

P'

:"i

*;a~-~sr PIBP??RII~""??)????L?~;t;t-~i

~_r~~~"Ji

I

":I~:?~sl~BICIIIICIl??r ?- *

Fig.

14.

Polidoro a

Caravaggio,

rawing

f the facade ecoration

f

ahouse

nPiazzi ei

Caprettari,

ome,

52os

Biblioteca

eale,

orino).

Gregorius

elated

n the

Narracio

e

mirabilibus

rbis hat

the

statue

originally

was

set on

four

gilt

bronzecolumnsbefore he

altar

of

Jupiter

n

the

Capitoline

Hill.31

Leoni's

llusion

o this

arrangementndoubtedly

on

admiration

or ts

archaeological

accuracy.

imilarly,

dentification

y

inscription

f the

six

pris-

oners

on the

fagade

s tribes

conquered y

Marcus

Aurelius,

n

association

vident o those

people

amiliarwith

the

life

of

the

Emperor

n

Julius

Capitolinus's

opular

Historia

Augusta,

was

29.

See

above

p. 235

and

n.

4.

30.

Vasari oted hat

t

was,

"sopra uattro

olonne";

ee

n.

4.

Carlo

Torre

n

II

Ritratto,

76,

describedhe

arrangement

sfollows:"a

rim-

petto

allaPorta

nell'Apartamento

i

dietro

eggevasi

opra

n Ballatoio

l'Aurelio Cavallo."

31.

For his

early

raditionswell as a

consideration

f

thestatue's

placement

uring

he

Middle

Ages,

ee

Philipp

ehl,

"ThePlacement

of

the

Equestrian

tatue

f

Marcus urelius

nthe

Middle

ges,"Journal

of

the

Warburg

nd

Courtauld

nstitutes,

7

(x974),

62-367,

sp.366

n.

21.


12/18

MEZZATESTA:

FACADE

OF LEONI'S

CASA

DEGLI

OMENONI

243

IrIs

-4fr

i?~iL~WB

6w

%alt

E1T-:AA

o i l

SO,~

no

n 5

1? --

IA

Fig.

15.

Michele

anmicheli,

agade

f Palazzo

evilacqua,

erona,

1530S

Brogi).

no less effective n callingattention o Leoni'sclassical rudi-

tion.32

These

captive

barbarians

appear

s

trophaic

mblems

f Mar-

cus Aurelius

ndhis virtus.

They

exist

as

proof

of the

greatness

of

the

Emperor

nd

the

grandeur

f

empire,past

and

present.

The connections

between the Roman

Empire

and the

Holy

Roman

Empire

were well

known andwere a

popular

quation

in the

Emperor

CharlesV's

imperialpanegyrics.

Leoni,

as im-

perial

culptor

nighted y

Charles

V,

naturally

ccupied place

in

that

equation.

The

prisoners

n

the

facade,

he

plaster

ast

of Marcus

Aurelius

n the

courtyard,

ndthe

dedication

f the

housewere

public

tatements

hich

not

only

proclaimed

eoni's

present

mperial

ies but

also

garnered

he

prestige

associated

with the

monuments

nd

glory

of ancient

Rome.

These facts

alone,

however,

neither

fully

account

or the

dedication

or do

they

explain

all the

implications

nd visual

ramificationsf theprogram. he questions emainwhy Leoni

chose

to dedicate

he Casa

degli

Omenoni

o

Marcus

Aurelius,

why

he selected

barbarian

risoners

o

decorate

he

facade,

and

what

is the

complete

nature f

the

program.

Marcus

Aurelius

s

perhaps

est

known

as the

philosopher-

emperor

and author

of

the

Meditations,

he

popular

ollection

of

philosophic

pothegms

n the Stoic

way

of

life.

However,

the

appeal

f the Meditations

ay

be traced

ess

to the

i6th

than

to

the

I7th

century.

n

fact,

n the

cinquecento,

Marcus

Aure-

lius's

renown

was

primarily

he result

of one

man,

the court

historiographer

f Charles

V,

Fray

Antonio

de Guevara

1480?-

I545).33

Guevara

wrote

and dedicated

o

Charles

V

two books:

he

LibroAureo

de

Marco

Aurelio

nd

the Relox

de

Principes.

he

former

appeared

n

1528

and

purported

o be

a translation

f

the Greek

manuscript

f the Meditations.

n

fact,

t is a more

or

less

imaginary iography

asedon

JuliusCapitolinus's

istoria

Augusta.

he Libro

Aureo eviews

he

Emperor's

ntire ife with

special

attentiondevoted

o

his

outstanding

irtues,

especially

his senseof

justice

and

clemency

andhis continual

oncern

or

the

well-being

of the state.

The book

was conceived

n the

tradition

f the

Speculum

rincipum

Mirror

or

Princes),

du-

cative tractsdesigned o producegood rulers,but it alsopre-

sented

a

richly

drawn

portrait

f Marcus

Aureliusnot

only

as

an

emperor

but

also as

a man with

personal

problems,

fact

that contributed

o the

book's

popularity.34

The

Relox

de

Principes

s three imes

as

ong

as the

LibroAureo

but

actually

ncorporates

lmost

all of its

chapters

nto

a con-

siderable

ody

of

new

material.

Like

the

Libro

Aureo,

he

Relox

is a

moral,

didactic reatise

n

the

tradition

of the

Mirror

for

Princes.

he book

is a

comprehensive

resentation

f

Guevara's

political

deals

whereinMarcusAurelius

s held

up

as

an

example

for

any

man

who

aspires

o

a virtuous

Christian

ife.35

Both books

were

enormouslypopular hroughoutEurope

during

he

i6th

century.

n

Italy

alone from

1542

to

i6oo,

an

edition

of

the

Libro

Aureo r the

Reloxwas

published

t

a

rate

32. None of the earlysources dentifies he barbarianss anything

other

han

prisoners.

lon records

he

inscriptions

ut doesnot

discuss

them

further.

Nebbia

n La casa

degli

Omenonin

Milano,

,

21ff.,

refers

to

the

captives

only

as tribes

once dominated

y

Rome.

Johnson

n

"Herms"

onnects

nly

the

Quadi

and

Samartiwith Marcus

Aurelius.

Pope-Hennessy

ppears

o have been the

first scholar

o link all

six

prisoners

ith tribes ubdued

y

the

Emperor;

ee

High

Renaissance,

6.

In

fact,

five are

mentioned

n the most famous

ancient

biography

f

Marcus

Aurelius,

uliusCapitolinus's

ife of

the

Emperor

n the Historia

Augusta,

n

edition

of

which,

edited

by

Erasmus,

ppeared

n

1518:

he

Suebi,

Quadi,

Samarti,

Marcomani

all

Germanic

ribes),

nd

the Par-

thians.

The

Adiabeni

werevassals

f the Parthian

ingdom

nd

as such

were

almost

always

nvolved

n its warswith

Rome.The tribe

s men-

tioned n

JuliusCapitolinus's

ife of

Septimus

everus

n relation

o his

Parthian

arsand Leoni

may

have made he

connection

ere.

33.

The

influence f Guevara

nd his

books has been discussed

n

detail

by

the author

n "Marcus

Aurelius,

Fray

Antoniode

Guevara,

and

he

Ideal

of the Perfect

Prince n the Sixteenth

Century,"

TheArt

Bulletin,

6

(I985),

620-633.

34.

Augustin

Redondo,

Antonio eGuevara

(i48o?-i545)

et

'Espagne

de

son

Temps,

e

la carridre

officielle

ux

oeuvres

olitico-morales,

eneva,

1976,489.

This is the fundamental

tudy

of Guevara's

ife and

work.

35.

Redondo,

Guevara,

o6ff.,

532ff.


13/18

244

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER

1985

-P

E

RPS

AE

CA

-'P

TIV I.

.

.c*\

[

Fig.

6.

Daniele a

Barbaro,

econstructionf the

Persian ortico. n-

graving

romda Barbaro's

556

edition

f

Vitruvius's

e

architectura

(Harry

ansom umanitiesesearch

enter,

he

University

f

Texas

at

Austin).

equivalent

o one almost

every

8

months.36

he vastdiffusion

of these works

is

a measure

of

the wide

appeal

of

Guevara's

political-moral

reatises.

The LibroAureo

and

the Relox de

Principes

ave

a new di-

mension o the

personality

f Marcus

Aurelius,

opularizing

he

Emperor

s

the

ideal

prince.

As the

best

of

all the

pagan

Roman

emperors

e

represented

he

supreme xample

of

ancient

virtus.

His life

and

writings

provided

an

elevatedstandard f com-

portment

ot

only

for

the

ruler

but

alsofor all men

who

sought

to

lead

a

Christian

ife.

It

seems

likely

that the

Casa

degli

Omenoni

standsas

an

example

of

that

new

popularity,

or in

dedicating

is house to

Marcus

Aurelius,

Leoni

probably

eferred

o

the

image

of Marcus

Aurelius

popularized

y

Guevara. n so

doing,

he associated

himself with this most

virtuous

of

ancient

emperors.

At the

same

ime,

because oth

bookswerededicatedo Charles

V

and

because

of

Leoni's

position

as

imperial

culptor,

he artisten-

joyed

a second

lattering

ssociation.Leoni's

public

profession

of a

personal

ode of honor

and virtuemust

have been imme-

diately

recognizable

nd

highly

esteemed

among

the

nobility

of Milan.

The

dedication

o Marcus

Aureliuswas

alsoreflected

by

the

barbarian

prisoners

n

the

facade,

ribes

vanquished y

the Em-

peror.37

he

captives

ormed he

prelude

o

the

equestrian

en-

terpiece

and

established

he

public

tenor of

the

program.

Bar-

barian

prisoners

had

appeared

arlieron the frescoed

palace

faqades

f

Polidoroda

Caravaggio.

owever,

hey usually

tood

alone,

or

when

grouped

were

placed

n

pairs

before

a

trophaeum,

as on

the

facade

of

the

house at

Piazza

dei

Caprettari

see

Fig.

14).38

Their

use on the

Casa

degli

Omenoni

recalled he

trium-

phal

monumentsof

ancient

Rome,

such

as

the

Arch

of Con-

stantine,

where four

prisoners

tood in

series n

the attic zone

of

each

ace.But

Leoni eems o

have

been

inspired

y

a

different

source,

Daniele da

Barbaro's

1556

llustrated dition of

Vitru-

vius'sDe

architectura.39

he

text described he PersianPortico

erected

by

the

Lacedaemonians

fter heir

victory

over

the Per-

sians:"in quel porticoposeroi simularchide i prigionicon

l'ornamento

arbaro

el

vestire,

he

sostenevanol

tetto."40The

accompanying ngraving

hows a

portion

of

the

portico

with

two

caryatids

f

the

familiar

Roman

type

(Fig.

16).

The

typo-

logical

relationship

o Leoni's

prisoners

s

evident

(cf.

Fig.

i).

Although

he

eliminated heir

supportive

ole,

Leoni

also

oined

his

captives

o the

building,

unlike he

prisoners

f

the Archof

Constantine

who stand

before the

architecture. n

addition,

when barbarian

tatues

were used on

triumphal

arches

hey

usually

decorated he

attic zone.

Similarly,

when

frescoed

bar-

barians r

herms

appeared

n

palace

aqades,

s

at

PalazzoMarino

36.

Fora

listing

of the Italian

ditions,

ee

P. Lino G.

Canedo,

"Las

Obras

de Fr.

Antoniode

Guevara,"

rchivo

bero-Americano,

,

no.

44

(1946),

467-472,

493-497.

37.

See

above

p. 238.

38.

See

above

p.

241.

In the

Sala Grande

f the

Palazzo

Doria in

Genoa

two under-life-sized

culpted

barbarian

aryatids

upport

he

mantel

of

the

fireplace;

ee

Venturi,

Storia

ell'arte,

,

i,

Fig. 374.

An

antique

barbariantatue

may

have been

placed

on

the

facade

of

Palazzo

Valle-Capranica

n

Rome;

ee

Hiilsen,

Das SkizzenbuchesGio-

vannantonio

osio mStaatlichen

Kupferstichkabinettzu

erlin,

erlin,

933,

5,

no.

17a,

. 6v.

However,

his

figure

was armed nd

wasnot

a

prisoner.

39.

Bush,

Colossal

culpture,

67.

However,

Bush adduces he

1567

edition.The

fagade

was well

under

way

or

completed

y

thatdate.

40.

I

dieci

ibridell'architetturai

M. Vitruvio

radotti

t

commentatia

Monsignor

arbaro,

inegia,

1556,

zi.

The entire

entry

reads:

Similmente

Lacedemonij

ottoPausania

igliuolo

d'Egisipolide opo

il fattod'armi i Plateahavendo on

poca

gente

superato

l numeroso

essercitode'

Persiani,

&

con

gloria

rionfato;

e

i

denari rattidelle

spoglie,

&

della

preda

n

luogo

di trofeo della vittoria1

posteri

a-

bricarano

l

portico

Persiano imostratore

ella

ode,

&

della

virti~

e

Cittadini,

&

in

quel

porticoposero

simularchri e i

prigioni

con

l'ornamento

arbaro el

vestire,

che sostenevano

l

tetto,

havendo

con meritate

ontumelie

a

lor

superbia

astigato.

A

fine che

i nimici

cagione

havessero i

temere

li

effettidella

ortezza

oro,

& Cittadini

guardando

n

quelloesempio

divirt-idella

gloria

ollevatialladifesa

dellaPatria

'eccitassero

randemente,

a dove

ne i

seguenti

nni

molti

cominciaro

porre

e statuePersiane he

sostenevano

li

archi,

&

i

loro

ornamenti,

&

indi

trassero

rgomento

di

accrescere

ell'opere

maravigliosa

arietadi

maniere,

di

simiglianti

storiealtrene

sono,

delle

qualibisogna

he L'Architetto

e sia

ben

informato.


14/18

MEZZATESTA:

FA(ADE

OF LEONI'S

CASA

DEGLI OMENONI

245

~ ? ~?-?ri 14;?

AS.x'g

N

??.??:

d'

/ IAP

n;?

.

e

k

'lot

,

p

SM

hli

Fig. 17.

Anonymous,

ourt

ball in the

great

hall

at

Binche,

c.

1545

(courtesy

f

Christie,

Manson

and

Woods

Ltd.).

or

Palazzo

dei

Giureconsulti

n

Milan,

they

were restrictedo

the

upper

stories.

This reflecteda

tendency

of

Italian

palace

decorationhat

viewed the second

tory

as the

place

o receive

figural

decoration.

By

arranging

is seriesof

prisoners

n the

ground

loor and

by

presenting

hem

on a monumental

cale,

Leoni introduced new

pattern

of

sculptural isposition,

ne

which derived

directly

rom the PersianPortico.

But the PersianPortico

does not

account

or the most

re-

markable

aspect

of Leoni's

prisoners:

heir brutal

amputation

belowthe

knees.This

fragmentaryuality

nd

he fact hat

hey

seem to be

suspended

n

their

shafts

recall the classical

ro-

phaeum,

he battlefield

trophy

wherein the

spoils

of war-

breastplates,eapons,

elmets,

nd

hields-were

hung

on

lances

as

an

anthropomorphic

mblemof the

vanquished,

symbol

of

victory.

This

type

hadbeen

adopted

arlier

y

Renaissancertists

in

palace

decoration,

hough

on

a

much

smaller cale

and as

frescoed r stuccoed

lementswithin

a

larger

decorative hole.

The monumental

ize and

rophaic uality

et Leoni's

men

apart

and

suggest

one source

n

particular.

acques

DuBroeucq,

he

architect

f

Mary

Queen

of

Hungary's

alace

at

Binche,

ntro-

duced

rophies

n

the

window

wall of

the

great

hall

(c.1545).4

In

an

anonymous

drawing

of the

x6th

century, rophaeums

composed

of a

cuirass,

hields,

swords,

and a

helmet

with

a

mask-like

ace

are visible

flanking

each

window

(Fig.

r7).

DuBroeucq'srophies

differ

significantly

rom earlier

Renais-

sance

xamples.

They

were solated

rom he

overall

decorative

41.

The

palace

at Binchewas built

under

DuBroeucq

etween

i545

and

1549.

For this

project,

ee Robert

Hedicke,

acques

uBroeucq

on

Mons.

in

niederlandischer

eisterus

der

ruhzeit

es talienischen

influsses,

Strasbourg,904,

6off.

For

he

anonymous rawing,

ee

AlbertVan

de

Put,

"Two

Drawings

f

the Fetes

at

Binche

for Charles

V

and

Philip

II

in

1549,"Journalf

the

Warburg

ndCourtauld

nstitutes,

(1939-1940),

49-55.

For he

palace

t

Binche,

ee

also Christiane

Loriaux,Jacques

u

Broeucq

1505-1584),

Gembloux,

197x,

9ff.


15/18

246

JSAH,

XLIV:3,

OCTOBER 1985

context

n

which the

preceding

ypes

were oundandwere

made

the dominant

feature;

they

were

presented

in

series;

they

were

colossal;

and

they

were

placed

on herm shafts rather than on

crossbars

or stakes.

Leoni,

who

visited

Binche late

in

1549,

must have been in-

fluenced

by

these unusual

herms,

particularly

their

dominant

setting,

serial

arrangement, huge

scale,

and

fragmentary

form.

In

fact,

Leoni

combined

these elements and their

placement

on

herm

shafts

with the

barbarian

risoner ype

of

Vitruvius's

er-

sian

Portico,

although eliminating

the latter's

supportive

role.

In so

doing

he created

a

new

type:

monumental,

living,

non-

tectonic,

barbarian

herm-trophaeums.

Through

the form

of

the

barbarian-trophaeums

nd their

relationship

o the Persian

Portico,

Leoni

conveyed

a

message.

As

Vitruvius

wrote,

the PersianPorticowas

erectedwith the

spoils

of

victory

andstoodas a

symbol

"of the honorandof

the

virtueof the

citizens";

he

barbarians

epresented

pride

asti-

gated"anda warning"thatenemiesmighthave reason o fear

the

effects

of their

[the Greeks'] trength."42

s the Persian

prisoners

were a

publicexpression

f

the "virtu"

nd

the

"glo-

ria"

of the

Greeks,

o

the

captives

n

the Casa

degli

Omenoni

expressed

he virtue and

glory

of

Leoni

no

less than

a

mute

warning

to his enemies. The

downcast

glances

and

pathetic

expressions

f

the

vanquished

arbarians

ignal

their absolute

defeat,

a

defeat

mandated

y

the

superior

"virtu"of

their ad-

versary.

imilarly,

he

half-length

aryatids

lanking

he central

portal,

with their inksto

triumphal

rches,

were

equally

ffec-

tive

in

establishing

triumphant

one

(see

Figs.

8,

9, 13).

ThatLeonichoseamilitarymetaphorortheprograms itself

highly revealing.

One cannot

help

but sense n the martial nd

admonitory

one of the

facade

a reflectionof Leoni'sview of

life

as

a continuous

attle.43

ndeed,

hroughout

is

career,

Leoni

was

readilyprone

o

violence,

his

outburstsueled

by

a

chronic

insecurity ngendered y

the

poverty

of

his

youth.

Leoni's ife

is marked

by

numerous

onflicts,

he earliestof which

can

be

traced o

1536

when,

while

working

n the mint at

Ferrara,

e

was accused

f

counterfeiting

ndwas forced o

flee

and

o

seek

the

protection

of

his influential elativePietro Aretino.Two

years

ater,

Leoni

was n

Rome

serving

at the

Papal

Courtwhere

he and BenvenutoCellini

developed

nto bitter

enemies,

heir

animosity

inallyexploding

n a

public shouting

match

n

the

Camera

Apostolica.

The

grudge

reached climaxwhen Leoni

unsuccessfullyttempted

o

poison

Cellini while

the latterwas

imprisoned

n

the Castel

Sant'Angelo.

New

charges

of coun-

terfeiting

eveled

against

Leoni

in

1540

by

the

papal

eweler

Pellegrino

di Leuti resulted

n Leoni

attacking

and

horribly

disfiguring

he man with a

dagger,

an

attack or

which he was

sentenced

o have his

right

handcut off.

Only

the last-minute

intervention f

powerful

riends

spared

Leoni,

although

he new

sentence

might

havebeen considered ven worse:an indefinite

period

hained o

an

oaras

a

galley

slave n the

papal

leet.Even

after

he wasreleased

nd

hadestablished

imself n

Milan,

Leoni

remaineddefensiveand

belligerent,hiring

an assassin n

1545

to

kill an assistant ho refused

o

returnwith

him

fromVenice.

Yet,

perhaps

ven more

shocking

was the knifeattack n

1559

on

his

house

guest,

Orazio

Vecelli,

the son of his close

friend

Titian. The violent

and

suddenassault ccurred

t

dinner

and

seems o have been motivated

by anger

over Orazio'scontacts

with Leoni'sMilanese lients.

n

his

willingness

o resort o

the

sword,

Leonirevealed

temperament

ealous

of

personal

ain,

one

that was

ready

o

defendhonor and

privilege

against

any

threat,

real or

imagined.44

Yet

in

choosing

captive

barbarians,

eoni

signaled

hat the

battlewas

over,

the

enemy

defeated

and

humbled,

with

peace

and art

reigning

within his house.

In a

sense,

Leoni's

personal

struggle or securityandrecognitionwas over. Frompoverty

and

a

term as a

galley

slave,

he hadbeen

knighted

by

the

Holy

Roman

Emperor,

iven

a

home,

and

been

publicly

associated

with the

greatest

mperors

f ancient nd

modern

imes,

Marcus

Aureliusand CharlesV.

The

Casa

degli

Omenoni thus stood

as

a kind of

templum

irtutis.

eoni

had

created

his own Persian

Portico n Milan.

One

more eature

f

the Casa

degli

Omenoni's

facade

emains

to be considered:he frieze

decorating

he second

story (Figs.

2,

18).

In

the

center,

Leoni had carved wo lions

attacking

a

satyr

who falls backward ut

of

the relief

plane,

his

headdan-

glingin the pedimentof the windowbelow, his left armdes-

perately

lutching

he entablature

see

Fig.

2).

The

lions,

epon-

ymous

emblems f Leone

Leoni,

attack he

satyr,

beastat once

evil

and

vicious.

The

concept

alludes o the

triumph

of virtue

over

vice,

a familiar

heme

in

Renaissance

rt and literature.

Here

virtue's

victory

takeson

a

chilling

finality

as the

attack

upon

the

satyr's

genitals

s not

simply

a horrible

punishment

but

the

ultimate

defense

against

he

satyr's

procreation

f

ma-

licious

progeny.45

ntoniode Guevara

laimed hat

the

greatest

thief

was one who robbed

man's

reputation,

or

"a

reputation

attacked

s forever ullied."46 he

relief husstands

s a

dreadful

warning,

a cave

eonem,

o those

who

might

considersuch a

felony.

Leoni

may

have had a

specificprototype

n

mind when he

designed

the

satyr

relief. In Filarete'sTreatise n Architecture

(x461-1464),

he

facade

of

the

magnificent alace

of the

pseu-

donymous

architectOnitoan Noliaver was decoratedwith a

relief over the main

portalshowing

the

allegorical

igure

of

42.

See

n.

40

for

the

Italian

ext.

43.

Plon,

Leoni,

91.

44.

These

episodes

re

recounted

n

Plon,

Leoni,

-5,

IIff.,

30ff.,

35-

36,

143ff.

45.

Plon,

Leoni,

9i.

46.

"Il

taglio

della ama

non si saldera

mai n

tutta

a

vita";

Guevara,

Libro i Marco

urelio

on

'horologio

e'

Principi,

inegia,

562,

2V.


16/18

MEZZATESTA:

FACADE OF

LEONI'S CASA

DEGLI OMENONI

247

i ~

~ z

?cr ,~u)iS?Iil'

:? . ~???

~"''~bl ~ -------- '~ ~"J~i~i

i

~I

Fig.

i8.

Casa

degli

Omenoni,

detailof the corniceand rieze

author).

Virtue

(a

winged

man

standing

on a diamond and

holding

a

laurel and date tree) with Vice in the form of a nude satyr

beneath him. A

portrait

bust of the architect was also

present

along

with an

inscription

detailing

Onitoan Noliaver's achieve-

ments.47

Leoni

may

have been

inspired

by

Filarete's

overdoor.48

nstead

of

the

unwieldy

armed

warrior,

however,

Leoni

selected

lions,

thereby combining

two

parts

of

Filarete's

program

n one device.

As

the lion is

a

symbol

of

virtue,

he referred

to virtue's

victory

over

vice

(satyr),

and he

replaced

the bust

of Onitoan

Noliaver

with a

punning

self-reference based

on

his

personal

emblems.

II.IINWI~I~~-. -..

r~'~

:`'~~~"`

~s,~ i

t ,x

~c~?

f~

b

~ a ~:

~ ?

:'~~?r~p

i.;

.,,rc?~ls*?:~

:?r :S:'46~P~~

ir??~r.?-?:

?~.?

~ a i

j

I::

i

5~-?11

~~i~

i:?9r.J~

?I

.. Ifil

?? ? 'P:r

r~g~E~Bi~8i

/Ik1:

1

:;;:~ib~98ll~i$;r~~nIIIIII~Crrtl.,~,~iPs ~~2P;lt i-i. ~ i

:: W ~rjaA~Q ?::

: ~-~ ?%g~?~

WR.

-------u.Lic:l? ̀ :::?:::8861~1~ i

: P'?:~P~c;b~lsr-a"lssnr" I I?I~"~~~"~~"'"`;~":"""" ~4L?:::

~ba~ls ~:38i6~ 6

:~B~'l~p~PLR~d~-.~i~~ rsr~a~i~sa~

a?t

5

::

1::::i

:m

k

?::

iQ

::Z :i?~?: i::

ih

~.:1:;22

I"i

5: " ?:

.~x?e:::

:~t :

?::~iC(i

:??l?ilii~s~?r

5sji:s.-,~ I:li ~ :: :?:?:?

-?iP~?:i?.-S~ :R-?

??';r~~-1.

L

~?:? ??-

:I

I~

k:

I? :b:r:

r?;:n?~o

4

?:?r :~: :'TbE~itdlk~i~:

:;::.

~Sj

:: ~?sq

?: :k 8:~n

?:?~~?I::' :i n

?`

-?-- ~

:o

?,; I? :. rlepLqp~;~:

Fig.

19.

LeoneLeoni's oat of arms

appearing

n his

grant

of

nobility

and

knighthood (Archivio

Storico

dell'Arte,

,

fasc.

1I

[1889],

81).

But t

Mezzatesta M.P., ''the Façade of Leone Leoni's House in Milan, The Casa Degli Omenoni; The Artist...

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