Giovanni Mazzaferro. A new and unknown annotated copy of Vasari's 'Lives': the Anonymous of the Marciana Library in Venice

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
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Giovanni Mazzaferro
A new and unknown annotated copy of Vasari's 'Lives': the Anonymous of the Marciana Library in Venice

Marciana Library in Venice, Vasari's Lives (Giuntina edition, 1568)
45 D44, c. b1v annotation
Source: http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it/immagini-possessori/963-non-identificati

Other contributions on Giorgio Vasari in this blog

We are continuing the identification of new annotated specimens of Vasari's Lives, after the publication of their Inventory in this blog last month. This time we will examine a copy of the Giuntina kept at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice. In this regard, I can only thank Dr. Elisabetta Sciarra, Responsible for Ancient Books at the Records and Development of Collections Department in the Marciana Library. Simply driven by curiosity after reading the Census, not only she identified the annotated specimen, but also published most of the annotations on the website of the Marciana Library, so that you can see them by clicking here.

All information related to the sample is inserted, as usual, in the General Inventory, this time with the number 19. The Inventory is available by clicking here.

[Sample 19]

Anonymous of the Marciana Library

Commented edition: Giuntina
Preserved at: Marciana Library in Venice, mark 45-D44
Bibliographic References: http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it/immagini-possessori/963-non-identificati

Notes:

The three volumes of Vasari's Lives in the Giuntina edition stored in the Marciana Library with signatures ranging from 45-D42 to D44 belonged to the library of the Venetian erudite Apostolo Zeno (1668-1750) and carry his cryptogram. However, it is certain that the annotations, which concern only the third volume, i.e. the one marked D44, were not from him. In fact, they appear as substantially contemporaneous with the publication of the text, and in any event are not related to the end of '600 / early' 700. It also appears very likely that the anonymous annotator was not Venetian, for at least three reasons: none of the notes appears polemical against Vasari, which would have been typical of the Venetian world because of the opposition between "colour" and "design"; there are no Venetian worlds whatsoever; the focus of the interests of the annotator is twofold: the "antique" contained in the letter of Giambattista Adriani and the Tuscan-Roman artists (the latter with some intrusion in the area of the Lombard artists). No note concerns Venetian artifices.

In my view, the annotations of the anonymous of the Marciana clearly were study notes. Very rare (see them) are the cases where he added more information to the text. The annotations are written with brown ink, in some cases quite washed out because of the time, and they are beautiful, elegant, and visually pleasing, especially because accompanied by particularly charming graphic signs and designs. I would like to mention an extremely beautiful drawing of a quarter moon, from whose lower vertex departs a serpentine line, actually marking the whole page 996. It is of course not a coincidence. This annotation (which is also the most beautiful) highlights one of the most famous passages of the work, one in which Vasari explains the genesis of the entire work, whose idea would have been born at a dinner in Palazzo Farnese with various guests including Paolo Giovio, who would have inspired him to undertake the project (in 1546). 

Marciana Library in Venice, Vasari's Lives (Giuntina Edition, 1568)
45 D44, p. 996 annotation
Source: http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it/immagini-possessori/963-non-identificati

The annotations serve therefore almost exclusively as a reminder. It is hard to say whether they were most useful to the one who wrote or drew them (and really, his drawing skills delight the eye) or to future readers (one might think of a tutor of some young-aged nobles). Unfortunately, I must also point out that a late binding (as often happens) has caused a mutilation of the notes, in such a way as to make them difficult to read.

Among others, the annotations point to the particular interest of the annotator for the iconographic program of the Villa Farnese in Caprarola, realized by Annibale Caro and described by the same in a letter that Vasari inserted into the life of Taddeo Zuccari. The whole text of Caro’s letter has been systematically annotated. Further up, the biography of Michelangelo is full of graphic signs. As I cannot explain them at length for reasons of space, I would like to note that, by clicking here, the reader can see most of the notations on the website of the Marciana Library.

Marciana Library in Venice, Vasari's Lives (Giuntina edition, 1568)
45 D44, p. 707 annotation
Source: http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it/immagini-possessori/963-non-identificati

There are three footnotes in which the author seems to add a personal contribution. Let's consider them individually:

• At page 557 (in the Life dedicated to Benvenuto Garofalo, but also to artists from Emilia and Lombardy) Vasari writes about Prospero Clementi, saying that he's from Modena. The annotator corrects writing (in a right way) that he was born in Reggio Emilia.
• At page 558, still within the same biography, but this time talking about the artists from Mantua, Vasari cites a certain Giovan Battista Mantovano, engraver of prints, who had three children, including a daughter, called Diana, who "also carved some marvellous prints which I also own some." The annotator noted in the right margin "Be careful of an engraving woman named Diana, of which I have [note of the editor: it could also be: he has] some charts in Rome." Diana Mantovana, in effect, moved to Rome around 1575 after the wedding with Francesco da Volterra and enjoyed here a good reputation.
• At page 564, once again in the "collective" biography of Garofalo, Vasari cites Lattanzio Gambaro (or Gambara, as he is called today) as the best contemporary painter from Brescia. The annotator added: "Many beautiful works of this Lattanzio are held in the Cathedral of Parma. The Life of Christ and the Passion", thus signalling the presence of the artist's frescoes in Parma painted between 1567 and 1573, which of course do not appear in the Giuntina (published in 1568 and updated for Parma until 1566).

Without permitting us to disclose the name of the note taker, the three footnotes in question, however, reveal the profile of a man who was very informed on the Farnese world, both on the young Duchy of Parma as well as for what concerns the Roman court of the powerful family. Hence the attention to the Villa di Caprarola and, in fact, to all that group of artists who were able to attend the Palazzo Farnese rooms and to enjoy the patronage of the family. It is likely that the name of the anonymous annotator should be sought in this entourage. I hope that the publication of the notations on the Internet can quickly lead to the recognition of his calligraphy.