Karin Forsberg. Cennino Cennini - Boken om målarkonsten; Il libro dell'arte, in the Swedish Translation by Karin Forsberg and Bo Ossian Lindberg (2011). An overview.

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
CLICK HERE FOR ITALIAN VERSION

Karin Forsberg
Cennino Cennini – Boken om målarkonsten; Il libro dell'arte, in the Swedish Translation by Karin Forsberg and Bo Ossian Lindberg (2011). An overview.

FOREWORD

In 2011, Karin Forsberg and Bo Ossian Lindberg edited the second Swedish translation of Cennino Cennino's Book of the Art [1], after the first one by Sigurd Möller (1946), already reviewed in this blog. As we do not master Swedish, we asked Ms Forsberg to present her work for this blog. We would like to thank her very warmly for the text we are publishing below and also for providing us with a copy of her volume.

Giovanni and Francesco Mazzaferro

*  *  *

As the interest in Cennino Cennini's Book of the Art is not waning, and the Mazzaferro brothers are devoting part of their blog to a sort of census of all the ancient and modern editions of this book and of every possible essay on the subject, I am grateful to have the opportunity to add a brief presentation of the second Swedish translation, jointly edited by me, Karin Forsberg, restorer and art historian, and by Bo Ossian Lindberg, professor emeritus of art history at the Åbo University.

Our collaboration started in 2006 and the translation was produced in 2011. In fact, even before, we had separately produced two new Swedish translations of the Book, as the one by Sigurd Möller was full of faults and oddities, and was considered obsolete and unusable by all scholars of art history [2]. Indeed, scholars and students in Sweden and Scandinavia rather consulted the English translation by D.V. Thompson. That being said, Möller owes the merit to have made the Book known in the Scandinavian countries, giving him a title that has been preserved in this edition as well.

Our translation was based on both photocopies of the oldest manuscripts (Mediceo-Laurenziano Plut.78.23 and Riccardiano 2190), as well as the English translation of Thompson and the Italian edition by Fabio Frezzato of 2003 [3]. The text was organized according to the structure used by Frezzato: foreword, introduction, Cennini's text, a table on the combination of colours, a list of colours in Cennini’s Book, and finally a dictionary. We decided not to include any Italian edition of the text: already at that time, the manuscript of the Laurentian Library could be consulted online, and Frezzato’s translation was easily accessible. Our publication was funded by the Berit Wallenberg Foundation and the King Gustav VI Adolf Foundation for Swedish Culture.

Below is a presentation of the content with some commentary on Cennini's text; in our view, our interpretation differed from other recent editions / translations.

Taddeo Gaddi, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints, Florence, Uffizi Gallery
Source: Web Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons

Foreword

The first contribution to the foreword was written by Dr. Beate Knuth Federspiel, Copenhagen, praising the new translation. The author was known for contributing to the research on medieval gesso in her essay "Questions about Medieval Gesso Grounds" (1995) [4].

The second paragraph was written by Professor Lindberg, who wrote about the research he and his colleagues carried out at the University of Lund, about the recipes of both fat and thin animal glues, included in Cennini’s Book. These works were published later on by Skans and Michelsen (1986), Lindberg (1990) and Skans (1989-90) [5]. Lindberg also mentioned his journeys to Tuscany in the footsteps of Cennini, near Colle Valdelsa, in search of the earthy pigments described in the Book.

In my own piece, the third one, I wanted to underline the fact that, in my opinion, Cennini wrote his Book in between two epochs; on the basis of the Florentine experience of his formation, he presented his know-how to a public interested in the idea of a recovery of the classical world and of an idealist education of the modern gentleman (valentuomo). Cennino tried to raise painting on the same level as poetry, a so important liberal art in the classical era, which had been resurrected by the early Italian humanists. This was an attempt that was due to continue after Cennini (remember, among other things, Leonardo da Vinci), ultimately taking greater account of the art of painting by studying perspective and the interconnections of that study with geometry and arithmetic.

In the introduction, we also listed all people and institutions that we felt obliged to thank, but I would like to take this opportunity to add the name of Dr. Erling Skaug, who generously let us take note of his research on Cennini, and whose name was omitted in the volume for a mistake only due to my fault.

  

Luca della Robbia, Roundel with the Emblem o f the 'Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali', Florence, Orsanmichele
Source: Sailko (Francesco Bini) via Wikimedia Commons

Introduction

In the first chapter, we presented all known data on Cennini and his family, following the information provided by Frezzato, and a discussion on the apprenticeship of the trainees (garzoni) in the workshops according to the description of Cennino (Chapter CIIII). In this respect, we mentioned the 1488 contract between Michelangelo Buonarroti's father and the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio [6]. The following chapter included a description of the Florentine artistic situation during the 14th and 15th centuries: what and which were the Florentine Arts, how did they work and what role did they have in society? How was the work divided into a workshop? We mentioned the joke that Botticelli made to his apprentice Biagio according to Vasari's account [7], the quarrels between Francesco Datini from Prato and Agnolo Gaddi on the payment of work done at Datini's home [8], and finally, the contract between the Spedale degli Innocenti in Florence and Domenico Ghirlandaio, interesting for all details regarding the execution of an altarpiece with a predella. [9] The third chapter dealt specifically with the contents of Cennini's work, the form and the language of its text, when it was written and who was the recipient. There is now a general consensus among the researchers about the period in which the Book of the Art was written (during Padua's stay); probably the writing was commissioned either by the Paduan Arts or by the exponents of the humanist movement within the court of Carraresi. The fourth chapter presented the four existing manuscripts testifying the Book of the Art and explained how they related to each other. The fifth chapter contained a list of editions and translations of the Book of the Art printed until 2011 (unfortunately, we missed some of them). It followed our explanations for the new translation: for example, we chose to include Arabic numbers for the chapters following the number CXL, where the numbers were missing. We chose to follow the Frezzato edition (but, for example, we divided chapter 172 into two parts, i.e. 172a and 172b), so that it would become easier to navigate between different editions. In these pages we also discussed the first chapter of the book of Cennini: the role of the incipit, the concept of liberal and mechanical arts, the emphasis on the figure of Giotto and his followers, painting as mute poetry, and the concept of ars et ingenium. Finally, we touched briefly upon the role of imitation in the education of the young artist.

Maso Finiguerra, Young drawer who wants to become an architect, Florence, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi, about 1455, 115F
Source: http://slideplayer.it/slide/608490/

The Book of the Art

Here I would just like to present some of our interpretations of Cennini’s text, when they differed from those found in the most recent editions and translations.

Chapter I: "Animali e alimenti" (Animals and foods). "Alimenti" should not be interpreted as "elements", but as “foods”: see: God created all plants to alimentare (feed) man and animals in heaven (Gen. 1.29-30).

Mezzo huomo mezzo cavallo (Half man half horse). Here Cennini seems to want to illustrate the imagination and freedom of the painter by offering the image of a centaur: it has been said that this metaphor would come from Horace’s Ars Poetica. But Orazio's "monster" was not a centaur. Moreover, the conclusion to which Horace comes was completely different from that of Cennini: according to Horace, too much freedom created only monsters, while Cennini considered "freedom of expression" as one of the reasons to emphasize the similarity between poetry and painting. According to us, the link with Orazio should be considered with caution.

Chapters II and III: in our opinion, the stil novo origin of these two chapters should be thoroughly researched and investigated. Moreover, we also think we should reason about the emphasis with which Cennini proposes the concept of amore naturale (natural passion), by which a child would show to be suitable for a craft. It is likely that Cennini had in mind both the ideas of the new humanist education, presented, among others, by Guerino da Verona, as well as Giotto's legend and the way in which Cimabue "discovered" his talent [10].

Caption XIV: How to cut a goose quill. The description is somehow considered incomplete, as it does not contain instructions for the slit of the pen. But Cennini's pen served to draw and not to write, and it is likely that the artist intentionally wanted it without slit. Also in Arrighi’s Operina, it is read that the slit can be added as the last step, but that is entirely optional [11].

LVIII Chapter: bianco sangiovanni, the white pigment preferred for the frescoes; it was made of calcite and washed and purged in water for several days. The result was a completely slaked CaCO3 (calcium carbonate), without the least binding power. It is also found as calcite in nature. See Baldinucci and Cristoforo Sorte [12].

Chapter LX: azzuro della Magna (azurite). We would like to suggest an alternative reading of the phrase ben e vero che con arte ecc. (it is true with art and so on), which seems corrupt in the two oldest MSSs. The use of a pestle to prepare azurite seems unlikely and a reconstruction of the sentence could be: ben e vero che con martello over pestello si vuol ridurre a perfectione (it is true that using a hammer or pestle it is intended to bring to perfection). This interpretation is more in line with the usual preparation of azurite (and, if desired, malachite).

Chapter CXIIII: The last sentence of the chapter seems corrupt, but we would like to reconstruct it as follows: essappi chello inchollare e ingiessare vuole essere il tenpo alido eventoso [e] vuole essere lacholla piu forte dinverno[.] [Sia] destate che d inverno [il] mettere d oro vuol essere il tenpo umido e piovoso. [Translation: And know that to size and prime, the weather must be dry and windy, because the glue is firmer in winter. Both in summer and winter it is better to put gold when the weather is wet and rainy.]

Chapter CXV: gesso volteriano (gesso from Volterra). Volterra's thick and thin gypsum was obtained from alabaster (alabastrite), as Baldinucci also stated, and was identical to gold gypsum. It is unclear whether Volterra’s gypsum used for anconas was cooked or not cooked; Cennini does not talk about it. The binding power of gesso grosso may depend on the glue. Cennino says that gesso grosso must be purged and sift like flour (i.e. in the form of a powder) and then ground with glue. Gesso sottile, instead, must be purged in water for one month, and thus loses any binding power (this gesso was also called gesso marcio). In Chapter CXVI there are instructions for preparing thin gypsum, but the procedure is not the same in the oldest MSSs: in the Laurenzian code there is written: rimena ogni dì l aqua che squasi simarciscie (shake the water every day so that it almost gets marcio, rotten), and in the Riccardian code is found: e rinuovarsi ogni dì l aqua che quasi si narciscie (and change the water every day so that it almost gets marcio, rotten). The two different procedures are also found in the Bolognese manuscript and in the writings of Jehan le Bègue [13]. Later on (Capt. 184) Cennini speaks of a gesso da presa, and states that it must be ecchotto frescho eben tamigiato (fresh cooked and well sieved). Here you can use both Bolognese gypsum (selenite) and Volterra gypsum (alabastrite). What is important is that it must be cooked.

Chapter CXXXVI: la prieta da brunire oro (the stone to burnish gold) must be made in the shape of a schella, that is, like a bell (from a Germanic word, skella). [14]

Chapter 172b: opera musaicha (mosaic work). We would like to point out the descriptions of mosaic works in miniature in the Architectural Treaty of Filarete [15] and in the Life of Gaddo Gaddi of Vasari.

Capitolo 182: imprentare una faccia di un homo (to produce a life mask). A very difficult chapter, but one has to take into account what Cennini means with the terms beretta or chapuccia: obviously the process requires a close-knit dress around the face, that is, a hood or a beret, a tight flax hood with buttons or chinstrap laces. The bandage was sewn around the face on the edge of this beret. Long bandwidth dall’uno omero all’altro (from one to the other humerus) exactly matches the size around the face. The testa della benda (top of the band) means the two points of the band, where this "space" is closed to fill it with gypsum. Only in this way the procedure seems feasible.

Taddeo Gaddi, Last Supper, Florence, Refectory of Santa Croce
Source: Sailko via Wikimedia Commons

Cennini's colors, the Table of mixed colours and the Dictionary

Like the one of Frezzato, our book ended with these three sections, with some additions and adaptations for the Swedish audience. 

The new translation was enthusiastically received in the Swedish and Nordic cultural sphere, not only because the previous translation showed defects, but also because it is also retrieved the old Swedish vocabulary: the terminology had disappeared along with the obsolete procedures. But to understand and appreciate past art, one has to know how to describe it properly. I hope that the summary above may be of interest to the reader and that the debate around the Book of Art will continue in a fruitful way. 

Karin Forsberg can be contacted by email: karin.forsberg@crocina.com.

  

NOTES

[1] Forsberg, K., Lindberg, B.O., Cennino Cennini, Boken om målarkonsten; Il libro dell’arte, Sekel förlag, Lund 2011. 

[2] Möller, S., Cennino Cennini, Boken om målarkonsten, (1947), Till e Från Förlag, Stoccolma 2000.

[3] Frezzato, F. Cennino Cennini, Il libro dell’arte, Neri Pozza Editori, Vicenza 2003 

[4] Federspiel, B. K., “Questions about Medieval Gesso Grounds”, Historical Painting Techniques, Materials and Studio Practise, Preprints, Leyden 1995

[5] Skans, B. and Michelsen, P., “Die Bedeutung vom Fett in Tierlim für Malzwecke”, Mahltechnik/Restauro, aprile 1986. Lindberg, B. O., “Feta och magra limmer enligt Cennino Cennini”, Meddelelser om konservering, 1990. Skans, B. “Tillverkning och analys av gamla limmer”, Målningens anatomi, catalogue of the exhibition, Kulturen i Lund, 1989-90.

[6] Vasari, Vita di Michelagnolo Buonarruoti, (various editions).

[7] Vasari, Sandro Botticello's Life, (various editions). 

[8] Origo, I. Köpmannen från Prato, Forum, Stockholm 1987. 

[9] Nordberg, M., Renässansmänniskan, Tiden, Stockholm 1993. Baxandall, M., Pittura ed esperienze sociali nell’Italia del Quattrocento, Einaudi, Turin 2001. 

[10] Vasari, Giotto's Life, (various editions).

[11] Arrighi, L., La operina di Ludovico Vicentino, Venice 1522. 

[12] Baldinucci, F., Vocabolario toscano dell’arte del disegno, Florence 1681. Sorte, C., Osservazioni della pittura, 1580. 

[13] Merrifield, M.P., Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting, vol. I, pp. 93-5; vol. II, pp. 491-3, Dover Publ., New York, 1967. 

[14] Du Cange, Charles du Fresnes, Glossarium .., ed. Favre, Niort 1883-7. 

[15] Filarete, A. A., Treatise on Architecture, 1461-64.