Some Spanish Paintings in Florentine Collections. The Legacy of the Iberian Journey of Cosimo III de’ Medici

161 161 The Journey of Cosimo III de' Medici and Spanish Paintings in Florence Miguel Taín Guzmán1 In 1668-1669, the twenty-six year old Cosimo III de’ Medici, Prince of Tuscany, son of the Grand Duke Ferdinando II de’Medici, made a long trip through Europe, including Spain, Portugal, England, Holland and France, between 1668 and 1669 (fig.1).2 The places he and his entourage visited, which were important for cultural, religious, economic or political reasons, were carefully selected in order to prepare the Prince for becoming the next Grand Duke of Florence. In fact, he took over this position some months later. The visit to Spain involved one of the longest journeys (fig. 2).3 Leaving Livorno, he reached the Spanish coast stopping for a few hours in Cadaqués, Roses, and Palamós, on the coast of Catalonia. Finally, he debarked in Barcelona on 29 September 1668. From this city, he began his overland trip, in a carriage brought from Florence, visiting towns and cities such as Martorell, Montserrat, Igualada, Lleida, Zaragoza, Daroca, Guadalajara, and Alcalá de Henares, before finally arriving in Madrid, where he stayed between 24 October and 25 November. From there he went south to towns and cities such as Toledo, Mora, Consuegra, Villanueva de los Infantes, Andújar, El Carpio, Córdoba, Castro del Río, Granada, Écija, Carmona, and Seville. From here he travelled to Zafra, Badajoz, and Portugal, where he stopped in Lisbon. He then continued his journey towards Galicia, entering Spain at Tui and stopping in Redondela, Pontevedra, Padrón, and Santiago de Compostela. In this last city, he visited the sanctuary of the Apostle Saint James. His stay in Spain lasted a total of one hundred and twenty-six days, including the day of arrival to Cadaqués and the day of departure from Coruña, where on March the 19 he embarked for England, having spent enough time in Spain to gain a proper understanding of the country’s culture. As a prince, he travelled with an entourage comprised of twenty-seven people including nobles, servants and a French cook. Some of the travelers kept accounts of the journey. Lorenzo Magalotti was one of the nobles, who had an important role as a diplomat, writer and scientist, and was responsible for writing the official diary of the trip Relazione Ufficiale del Viaggio di Cosimo III de’ Medici and describing the places they visited, the local monuments and customs, ceremonies and religious life, receptions and food.4 The young artist Pier Maria Baldi, also a member of the retinue, was charged with drawing views of the cities, villages, and inns they visited, and which serve as illustrations to the Relazione. Thanks to his work, we now have the most complete graphic testimony of Spanish locations in the seventeenth century, as he drew a total of eighty-six views of the country.5 A second interesting diary is the Memorie del viaggio by Filippo Corsini, Cosimo’s 162 162 cupbearer on the journey (scalco), was the source from which Magalotti copied a large amount of information.6 The accounts by Giovan Battista Gornia, doctor of the retinue,7 and Jacopo Ciuti, the administrator of provisions (spenditore),8 are much more anecdotal and spontaneous as regards the details of the visits. In contrast, the diary by the chaplain Felice Monsacchi is the most succinct.9 Finally, the expenses and tips detailed in the accounts book of the journey by Filippo Marchetti (maestro di casa) provide information about the people the Prince met on this visit, and the objects he acquired.10 These five diaries, together with the letters written by members of the entourage, the records of expenditures, and other documents, inform us that during the trip Cosimo acquired examples of Spanish culture and artistic developments in the form of paintings, drawings, glass, silverware, leather, items from the Americas, weapons, devotional objects, and books. These items reflected the Prince’s interests, curiosity, and concerns. This study focuses on a series of Spanish paintings which are associated in one way or another with the journey and which are now preserved in the city of Florence.11 TWO ROYAL PORTRAITS IN THE GALLERIA PALATINA Before becoming Grand Duke, Cosimo does not seem to have had any great interest in acquiring paintings and drawings for his family’s collections. A clue to understanding this neglect is found in his letter to his uncle, Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici, on 15 November 1668,12 in which he gave his opinions on the paintings in the Escorial Monastery, which he had seen the previous day,13 and in the diaries of the journey where their authors describe the rich collections of paintings of the Buen Retiro Palace seen on 2 November, the Royal Alcázar Palace seen on 11 November, the Escorial seen on 14 November, and the Aranjuez Palace visited on 26 November. These four royal sites were known in Europe for their collections of hundreds of paintings from Spain and different nationalities and deserved positive valuations in the accounts of the Cosimo’s journey. Gornia, for example, states that the authors of the paintings displayed in the sacristy of the Escorial are “the most famous painters of the planet”.14 Significantly, this letter and these accounts mainly mention artworks attributed to Italian artists such as Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Correggio, Andrea del Sarto, Jacopo Bassano, Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni, Caravaggio. In the case of the Royal Monastery, Cosimo states that “there is a great number of beautiful paintings in El Escorial, most of which are history paintings” and, quoting Martial, that “they are good, some are mediocre, and there are many more that are bad”.15 This means that the Prince and his retinue do not seem to have been interested in Spanish paintings, probably due to a lack of 163 163 knowledge, which may explain the lack of acquisitions of good local paintings, for example by Diego Velázquez, the famous royal painter who had recently died in 1660. In fact, the only Spanish artist mentioned is José de Ribera, called Lo Spagnoletto by Corsini and Monsacchi, but probably because he was so well known in Italy through his workshop in Naples.16 Corsini also cites the canvases in the altars of the church of El Escorial by El Greco, Luca Cambiaso, and Federico Zuccaro, all of whom were foreigners but who were based in Spain. Cambiaso and Zuccaro were Italians, and the latter was known for having earlier worked for Cosimo I in Florence.17 Still, the accounts do contain references to some Spanish paintings, although they are mentioned because of their subject matter, without commenting on aesthetic qualities or providing details of authorship. For example, when Corsini and Gornia describe the paintings depicting the battles won by Felipe IV in the “Hall of the Kingdoms” of the Buen Retiro Palace, they mention the subject matter but not their Spanish or foreign authors.18 Magalotti does note that several rooms in the palace are decorated with paintings “by the most famous painters of Spain”, including those in the Hall of the Kingdoms, celebrating the triumph in Germany of the Duke of Feria, Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, in 1633.19 Once again the subject matter is the reason why Magalotti, Corsini, and Gornia emphasize the series of portraits of the kings of Asturias, León, and Castile, displayed between the two rooms of the “Gilded Hall” in the Real Alcázar palace.20 Although painted by different artists, mainly Spanish artists, Corsini and Gornia state that they were created by only one “famous” painter, who was “quite esteemed in Spain”.21 The only exception is the unidentified “The Strengths of Hercules”. We don’t know if this is one or a series of paintings, singled out by Gornia because of quality, attributed to a “famous” Spanish painter whose name he does not mention, displayed on the walls of the Real Alcázar.22 I do not think he is referring to the eight paintings from the series titled “The Labors of Hercules” by Rubens displayed in the Octagonal Room, but it could be a reference to a replica by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Velázquez’s sonin-law, displayed in the Prince’s Room.23 However, I wonder if Gornia made a mistake and is, instead, referring to Francisco de Zurbarán’s series of “The Labors of Hercules” which decorated the Hall of the Kingdoms of the Buen Retiro Palace, which he had seen some days earlier.24 The presence of the Greek hero in these chambers and the citation in the account of the journey are justified since Hercules was considered an ancestor of kings of Spain and because of the association of the semi-god and the King Felipe IV with the sun, which is the emblem of the virtue of a good leader. This complete lack of knowledge on the part of the Prince and his entourage with regard to Spanish painting may explain their disinterest in purchasing fine works for the Medici collections during their journey 164 164 across the country. Cosimo’s advisers on artistic matters in the retinue, the courtier Paolo Falconieri and Baldi, did not have any training in Spanish art.25 It therefore comes as no surprise that there is only one documented acquisition in Spain, and it was clearly obtained because its subject matter. This was the oil painting of the Queen-Regent Mariana de Austria, which Cosimo acquired while he was visiting the Palace of Aranjuez on 26 November (fig. 3). The Guardaroba gave him the painting,26 presumably with the Queen’s permission, at the express request of the Prince. This information is noted in Marchetti’s book of accounts, as Cosimo gave a tip of 15 scudi to the person who brought him the gift: “and on that day [26 November], 15 scudi more than the others, for the Guardaroba of this palace, who gave the portrait of the Queen”.27 This painting is currently kept in the storeroom of the Galleria Palatina in the Pitti Palace (inv. 5203; measurements: 76 x 58 cm). The Queen is well characterized in the portrait, which is by an anonymous artist. It is clearly based on the work of the new official portrait of Mariana as the widow of King Felipe IV and tutor of the new child King Carlos II, best exemplified by the famous portrait of the Queen (1666, National Gallery, London) which was the new official portrait created by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, the King’s chamber painter until 1667.28 This model was repeated by Sebastián de Herrera Barnuevo, the King’s new chamber painter, between 1667 and 1671, as seen in the double portrait of the Queen with her son that is attributed to him, now in a private collection in Madrid.29 Therefore, in the portrait from Aranjuez, like those by Martínez de Mazo and Herrera Barnuevo, the queen is depicted as a young woman, with a cold, distant air, dressed in mourning, and in a nun’s white habit and long black veil in the style of the time. The canvas only shows her from the waist up, on a dark monochrome background, which avoids having to represent a particular palatial setting. However, the portrait was originally larger and wider and has been trimmed by the abrupt cropping of the sleeves and the hands. She also seems to be seated on a chair, as in the other portraits, due to the position of her arms. If this were the case, the chair would be a reference to the governance of the Queen, who only used it for audiences and ceremonies, as the general custom in the court was for the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting to sit on cushions on a platform on the floor.30 On the other hand, the neutral background is very degraded, and possibly retouched. The reverse of the painting shows inventory numbers corresponding to the Medici inventories. There are three numbers that this painting shares with an oil portrait of Carlos II as a child (Galleria Palatina, Florence, inv. 5145; measurements: 76.5 x 58.5 cm) (fig. 4): apparently the oldest number is 496 (in black and crossed out); the following one would be 670 (in black and crossed out), and the final one would have been 7902 (in black).31 This is uncommon in the Medici collections, and could be explained if both paintings were hung 165 165 together. Moreover, this would be the reason why the Queen’s portrait was cropped: it was originally larger than the King’s portrait, from which his left hand, part of his hat and clothes also seems have been trimmed. Upon his arrival in Florence, the Prince presumably gave the painting from Aranjuez to his uncle Leopoldo, a collector of portraits of the members of European royal families. The King’s portrait would also have been destined for the cardinal’s collection. Thus explaining why they appear together in the inventory of Leopoldo’s paintings in the Stanza Grande of the Guardaroba of Pitti Palace. Completed between 1675 and 1676 after his death, this inventory describes the inheritance left to his nephew: “a painting on canvas, with a height of 1 ¼ braccia, a width of 1 braccia, upon which is painted the portrait of the reigning King of Spain, in an ordinary manner” and “a painting on canvas, similar to the previous, upon which is painted a portrait of the Queen Mother of Spain, dressed as a nun, with a white habit and black veil”.32 The two paintings are marked in this inventory with the initials ‘PR’, indicating that they were transferred to the Medicea Villa of Pratolino. In fact, they were given to Leopoldo Melli,33 the keeper of the Guardaroba of the villa, on 2 August 1680, and they were still listed there in an inventory from 1748.34 In the nineteenth century they were transferred to the Galleria degli Uffizi, after which they were separated and given different reference numbers: the painting of the Queen is shown as number 1641 in the 1881 inventory, and then with its present number in the inventory from 1890, after which it was hung in the Magazzino Lambertesca, corridor C, first wall. In turn, the portrait of the King is shown as number 816 in the inventory from 1881, and then with its present number in the 1890 inventory, after which it was hung in the Magazzino Lambertesca, room B, first wall. The portrait of Mariana de Austria has been stored in the Magazzino Occhi of the Pitti Palace since 1972. Carlos II is around seven years of age in the portrait, which is the time when Cosimo visited Madrid: in fact, the diaries describe how the Prince visited the Real Alcázar because of the royal birthday on 6 November. According to Rodríguez de Ceballos, the King is shown wearing red trousers and a chamberga, a long, ample coat (casaca),35 the uniform of his new personal bodyguard created in 1669 to protect him from the threat of his stepbrother Juan de Austria the Younger, according to a recent study by Álvarez-Ossorio Alvariño.36 If both of these facts are correct, as they would seem to be, it would mean that the portrait of Carlos II could not have been acquired by the Prince during his stay in Madrid, but instead would have been commissioned by him before leaving the court. Indeed, it would have been unexpected for him to obtain only the portrait of the Regent for the collection of European Royal Portraits on display in the villas and palaces of the Medici. In fact, the English ambassador, Edward Montagu, received the portraits of both the regent and Carlos II as a gift some months later.37 166 166 Herrera Barnuevo was responsible for the idea of portraying the King wearing a chamberga in 1669, as can be seen in the painting from the Leopoldo Gil Nebot collection in Barcelona, or in the previously-mentioned double portrait of the Queen with her son from a private collection from Madrid, both dated around this year, which was then copied in several versions by anonymous authors, one of which is the portrait from the Galleria Palatina.38 In it, the face of the King is tender and innocent, and with his unique physiognomy, although this has been idealized. He is shown standing, looking towards the viewer, revealing his long, curly hair, a detail that characterizes his portraits of this period. He holds the baton (bengala) in his right hand, the hat of the uniform (chambergo) in his left, and has a sword at his waist, only the grip of which can be seen, indicating that he is the highest authority of the new guard. The golden toisón, an attribute of the House of Austria, hangs around his neck. All in all, the painting presents a healthy, idealized image of a healty child, in order to dispel any doubts about his well-known weak physical and mental constitution. This first acquisition was followed by other portraits of Carlos II. For example, the inventories of Cosimo’s wardrobe from 1689 and 1690 include the Spanish King’s portrait as a young man (“da giovane”) dressed in black (“vestito di nero”).39 In another from the wardrobe of Vittoria della Rovere in the villa of Poggio Imperiale, there is one that forms a part of a series of the ruling houses of Europe, where he is shown in armor, with a crimson sash with laces (“armato, con ciárpa e galano ponsò alla pezzuola di trina”);40 and finally, the 1791 inventory of the Pitti Palace mentions another, oval portrait, in which he is shown still as a child (“da fanciullo”).41 Today only two are in the Galleria degli Uffizi: one is in the series of Illustrious Men42 (Ic106),43 and the other is in the series of “Douven Ovali” on the family of Johann Wilhelm Kurfürst von der Pfalz, Elector Palatine and the husband of Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici, Cosimo’s daughter (Ic791).44 THE ʻVIRGIN OF THE KINGSʼ IN THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE From a very young age, Cosimo spent long periods in the company of friars, went to mass once or twice a day, diligently recited prayers to the Virgin Mary, received communion on Sundays and feast days, and read all types of devotional books,45 all of which was quite normal behavior for an heir educated in the spirit of the Counter-Reformation.46 He attended mass every day in local churches during his journey across Spain no matter where he was, as we know from the accounts by Magalotti, Corsini, and Gornia. When it was not possible, for example in desert regions of Andalusia, his chaplain Monsacchi celebrated mass in the rooms of his accommodation, something that is also indicated in the diaries. The Prince’s particularly pious nature explains 167 167 why he purchased hundreds of devotional objects from the Spanish hermitages, churches, cathedrals, monasteries, and sanctuaries he visited. The inventory of his wardrobe from 1690 mentions many medals, small religious images, crosses, and other devotional articles which were probably acquired during the journey and which were intended to be gifts for relatives, friars and friends.47 They include a number of cloth ribbons (medidas), silver crosses and medals of the Virgin of Monserrat, whose sanctuary he visited on 6 and 7 October 1668; a number of cloth ribbons, a golden small statue for a rosary, and two small golden statues of the Virgin of El Pilar in Zaragoza, whose image he visited on 14 October; the silver medals of the reliquary of the Corporal of Daroca, which he saw on 18 October; several cloth ribbons and one silver portapaz of the Virgin of Atocha, whose temple he visited on 28 October and on 2, 10, 17, and 21 November; and the silver medals of the Apostle Saint James of Galicia, before whose altar he prayed on 4 and 6 March 1669. All these objects relate to images and relics for which the Prince felt a special devotion, and whose presentations in their respective churches, richly decorated with robes, silverwork, pearls, and precious stones are described in the accounts of Magalotti, Corsini, Gornia, Ciuti, and Monsacchi. Although a large number of items are included in the inventory of 1690, they would be only those not given to relatives and members of the court up until this date. Unfortunately, it seems that not even one of these objects has survived to the present day, or at least I have not been able to track them down. The absence of such Spanish commemorative medals in the extensive collection of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello may be due to the fact that they were melted down, together with many others, by the first dukes of Lorena, who had economic difficulties.48 Cosimo also purchased a number of items made of jet stone from Compostela (such as small boxes, shells, adornments, small crucifixes), which were kept together in the Guardaroba in 1690. They are the typical devotional objects that pilgrims would buy, and this may also be the origin of a statuette of a Saint James as a Pilgrim, wearing a cape, a wide-brimmed hat adorned with a shell, a staff, a bag and a gourd, with two donors kneeling down in an attitude of prayer, which is now in the Collezione Medicea di Pietre Lavorate in the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze (inv. 13704). This inventory also refers to dozens of crosses of Caravaca. They could have originated from this trip, although he never visited the Murciano sanctuary, or from a gift of a Spanish friar at the court in Florence. Cosimo’s interest in the cross is also demonstrated by a copy that crowns the church of the convent of the Franciscan order of San Pedro de Alcántara, which he founded at his Villa Ambrogiana in 1678 and which he insisted should only be occupied by Spanish friars, whose masses he liked to attend.49 He must have been very impressed with this newly reformed order when he discovered it during his visit to the convent of San Gil El Real in Madrid on 17 November 1668. 168 168 Cosimo’s devotion to the Virgin Mary from an early age, confirmed by his biographer Sandrini, explains his visits to Marian churches in Spain and the variety of Marian objects acquired during the journey.50 This piety for Spanish devotional images of the Virgin continued after he returned to Florence as is shown by his presentation of a silver lamp made by the Florentine silversmith Arrigo Brunich to the Virgin of Montserrat in 1671.51 Another example is the anonymous Andalusian oil painting on canvas of the image of the Virgin of the Kings displayed in the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville (Virgen de los Reyes), displayed in one of the chapels in the Pitti Palace according to an inventory of 1761 (fig. 5). Cosimo had a particular regard for this Virgin when he visited the chapel on 28 December 1668, an event reported in the accounts of the journey. According to them, the Prince was attracted to the royal nature of the building, its pantheon of monarchs, and the fact that it served as a reliquary, containing the remains of the holy King St. Fernando. Corsini refers to the Marian sculpture as “…a miraculous Virgin. It is said that she appeared to King Fernando just a few days before the Moors were driven out of Seville”,52 referring to the local tradition of the miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary before Fernando III and the conquest of Seville.53 Magalotti offers more details, stating: “there is a chapel, which surrounds the area behind the high altar of the cathedral, where a notable imagine of the Virgin is revered, which appeared to King Fernando the Holy after the final defeat of the moors of Seville according to the tradition; whose uncorrupted body, with that of the queen, his consort, are in a great urn covered with a red cloth with different crowns above similar pillows and before the altar. This whole chapel is built of stone but of modern architecture with great ornaments of bas-reliefs”.54 The inventory of 1761 described this painting as “a similar painting [to the previous one mentioned in the register], 1 braccia high, ¾ bracchia wide, upon which is painted the Holy Virgin with the Christ Child in her arms, both with crowns on their heads, and beneath a tabernacle flanked with candelabra, and several cherubs to the sides and above; and in front there is an altar with four candlesticks and two saints to the sides, in the niches; and above this tabernacle is the Eternal Father amongst the clouds and surrounded by several cherubs, with the world in his hands, with the inscription below stating “conceived without sin”; all of the above is between two columns with golden adornments, and an arch above, and two vases with several flowers to the sides; with an undecorated frame, with arabesques carved in the corners, and all covered in gilt; registered as number 11862”.55 The canvas now measures 60 x 47 cm, and I was able to study it in 2013 in the offices of the Ufficio di Ricerche de la Soprintendenza per I Beni Artistici e Storici in Florence (inv. 1890, n. 2210).56 The painting depicts a fairly accurate representation of the altarpiece containing the image of the Virgin of the Kings, an object of great devotion amongst the local population. The altarpiece made for the image by the 169 169 sculptor Luis Ortiz de Vargas between 1644 and 1647 is shown inserted in a niche and framed by two columns with gilt grotesques that mimic the architecture of the chapel.57 In the central section, beneath a silver canopy, is the wooden Gothic image of the Virgin, seated, articulated and dressed, with the Christ Child seated in her lap. He is also dressed, articulated and wearing a crown. The base, supported by cherubim, includes a medallion with the bust of Saint Joseph and the Christ Child. To the left and right there are two niches with the images of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, topped by medallions showing the effigies of Saint Justa and Saint Rufina, the patron saints of Seville. Finally, pairs of angels and symbols of the litanies are distributed along the sides of the altarpiece. The painting in Florence has some value as a document, as it shows the appearance of the altar in the second half of the seventeenth century or early part of the eighteenth century, when it was probably created. It is also of interest as it contains information about one of the many lavish garments used for the image58 and the wedding crown of Beatrice of Swabia, probably donated by King Fernando III in the 13th century due to his devotion to this Virgin. This crown was unfortunately stolen in 1873 and is now only known from a photograph by Jean Laurent from 1872. However, the author took a great deal of license in representing this jewel, mainly evoking its shape and precious stones, its most eye-catching aspects.59 This same topic is depicted in at least two engravings60 and numerous paintings,61 proof of the popularity of the sculpture and how extensively it was worshipped: one of them was painted by Estebán Márquez de Velasco for King Carlos II in 1691.62 Some of them are very similar to the painting in Florence, such as the anonymous oil painting in the Museo de Bellas Artes of Seville (inv. CE0812P) or the painting by Francisco Meneses Osorio, from 1696, in the Museo Nacional de Escultura of Valladolid (inv. CE0914). The image was concealed during certain types of celebrations, using wooden doors. This may explain the presence of the curtains that are pulled back in the painting in Florence, although it seems more likely that the drapes were an artistic invention, together with the vases of flowers, to create a divine trompe l’oeil. I am referring to a type of religious depiction that shows images of devotion ˗ generally sculptures ˗ in the way they are worshipped on their altars, accompanied by the furniture in which they are exhibited, their attributes and accessories63. The painting includes other freely-interpreted elements, such as the metal canopy, simulating a Baroque piece, when it is actually Gothic and decorated with castles and lions.64 Also, the painting of the attic, showing God the Father in Glory, seems to have never actually existed. Further it is not possible to recognize the antependium depicted on the altar. Like the painting from Valladolid, the Florentine canvas bears the inscription “CONCEBIDA SIN PECADO” (“CONCEIVED WITHOUT SIN”) on the canopy of a second, smaller red curtain with lace trimmings, which is gathered behind the columns.