Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
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Ghirlandaria. Un manoscritto di ricordi della famiglia Ghirlandaio
[Ghirlandaria. A Manuscript of Memoirs of the Ghirlandaio Family]
Edited by Lisa Venturini
With an introduction, essay and notes by Nicoletta Baldini
Florence, Leo S. Olschki, 2017
Review by Giovanni Mazzaferro
A book of memoirs
Ghirlandaria is the title attributed to the manuscript that
preserves the memoirs of the Bigordi, then Ghirlandaio, and finally Ghirlandari
family from the early 1400s to the late sixteenth century. Its 86 folios are
currently kept at the Archivio
Segreto Vaticano (Vatican
Secret Archive), where they are preserved after the closure of the Arciconfraternita del Gonfalone (Archconfraternity of the Banner),
one of the most famous associations of Roman charities, and after having being
held, first of all, by Ghirlandaio’s heirs until the extinction of the family in
1734. The manuscript was discovered in 2004 and partially transcribed by Lisa
Venturini (1960-2005), who, however, died prematurely without having the
opportunity to complete the effort. Her work has been released today thanks to
Nicoletta Baldini, who took over Lisa Venturini’s efforts and published the
print edition.
Ghirlandaria, it should be clear, was not a manuscript or an
account book by Domenico Ghirlandaio, nor by his other two brother painters,
David and Benedetto, nor finally by Ridolfo, son of Domenico, representing the
second (and last) generation of artists in the family. It was a collection of
memoirs concerning the various generations of the dynasty, providing guidance
on their births, deaths, marriages, children, properties and real estates,
contracts and deeds. We owe the collection to Alessandro Ghirlandaio (son of
Ridolfo), who completed it in 1580. Alessandro (who at the time lived in Pisa)
had no interest in art; he was a memorialist and based his work on papers that
he himself defined particularly worn out. Probably, he threw them away after
completing his work. For instance, Alessandro himself reported that he saw a
list of the paintings made by his father Ridolfo (Domenico Ghirlandaio was
therefore his grandfather) among the family cards, but mentioned only a few of
them (specifically, those already known by Vasari).
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| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Calling of the First Apostles, 1482, Vatican City, Sistine Chapel Source: Web Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons |
It is to be
noted, however, that Ghirlandaria was
not really the original version written by Alessandro, but a subsequent
re-elaboration by his son Ridolfo, who added some information, thereby updating
the manuscript up to the end of the sixteenth century. At the same time,
however, Ridolfo operated a selection and a choice. He himself informed us that
he copied only sheets from 20 to 73 of the original 'Ghirlandaria' (without telling us, however, about the contents of
those first twenty folios, which he did not include) and marked from time to
time, with specific symbols, other sections he also left out (see pp. 13-14).
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| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Confirmation of the Franciscan Rule, 1483-1485, Florence, Church of Santa Trinita, Sassetti Chapel Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Why Ghirlandaria
is important
In short, Ghirlandaria
might have all the ingredients to turn out to be a half-disappointment. The room
dedicated to Domenico and his brothers, as well as to Ridolfo, corresponded
roughly to one-third of the manuscript. The rest was devoted to other
descendants who abandoned the art to devote themselves (with alternate
fortunes) to bank activities and other financial initiatives. Without doubt,
the information that Vasari gave us on Domenico already in the first edition of
the Vite (Lives) (Torrentiniana,
1550) was extremely more substantial, while in the second edition the same
historian even wrote two biographic medallions, one dedicated to the most
famous of the Bigordis and the other named after David, Benedetto and above all
Ridolfo (Giuntina's edition, 1568). And yet, if one is aware of the type of
document he is facing, if one is patient and, especially, is able to absorb the
huge amount of archival work that Nicoletta Baldini must have performed, the
information in the manuscript is equally of great interest.
 |
| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist, 1485-1490 Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Tornabuoni Chapel Source: Wikimedia Commons |
First of
all, it allows us to establish full clarity on the biographic data of the
protagonists of the family; thanks to this text, for example, we are finally
able to say that Domenico Ghirlandaio was born on June 2, 1448 (previously, it
was said that he was born between 1449 and 1451). Even beyond mere chronology, the
text is offering us the really great opportunity to see the evolution of the
family within the Florentine social fabric between the Fourth and Sixteenth
Century. The Bigordis (bigordo was
the spear used in mediaeval tournaments, and by extension, the rider who
wielded it) were a 'low bourgeois' family, coming from the world of Florentine
Arts. According to Vasari, Domenico was dubbed Ghirlandaio because his father Tommaso
was supposed to be the inventor of the garlands (ghirlande) with which girls were
used to be adorned in town (think, one for all, of Flora in Botticelli’s Spring).
Vasari’s version was questioned several times, first of all because both father
Tommaso and uncle Antonio resulted to be members of arts which were not
compatible with this activity, and because documentary evidence proved that this
custom was also witnessed in the 14th century. If it is undisputed that neither
Tommaso nor Antonio invented anything, Ghirlandaria
testifies that, indeed, the two actually devoted themselves and made good
fortune thanks to this activity. Actually, as written by the author of the
memoirs, the garlands by the two brothers seem to have been made of 'poor'
materials, while it is known that they might be even made with pearls and
precious stones. Perhaps, precisely for this reason, Domenico was put up for
work at the workshop of goldsmith Bartolomeo di Stefano and here he remained
for ten years (contracts and emoluments are indicated), in order to learn how
to make more valuable garlands, which would satisfy the demands of the most
demanding customers.
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| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin, 1485-1490 Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Tornabuoni Chapel Source: Wikimedia Commons |
The
manuscript, to the contrary, did not add anything on the 'pictorial' formation
of Ghirlandaio. For example, we are unable to confirm whether Domenico had Alessio
Baldovinetti as a master, as Vasari wrote. A true discipleship was, in fact, even
excluded, since (as it is said) Ghirlandaio was documented for ten years as an
aid in the workshop of goldsmith Bartolomeo. All we can say is that we are able
to measure the integration of Domenico and his family into the artistic world,
though indirectly; we can do it by taking note, for example, of the names that
appear as godparents of the children born to the artist and to his brothers.
Here, for example, we can find the name of Alessio Baldovinetti (indeed, we are
obviously at a time when Domenico had already imposed himself on the Florentine
artistic scene), as well as, for example, those of Andrea del Verrocchio and
Filippino Lippi. And yet, there must have been a special acquaintance with
Baldovinetti since, speaking of the portraits performed in the Tornabuoi chapel
to S. Maria Novella, the author of the memoirs also quoted the one of
Baldovinetti "whom Domenico used to
name as father" (p. 67).
If you plan
to read Ghirlandaria to broaden and deepen
the catalogue of the artworks of any of the Bigordis, it is right to tell you from
the very outset that the whole manuscript mentioned only one yet unknown picture,
which is indicated as a work performed in communion by Domenico and David. It
was a painted table for the Company of Santa Maria della Neve (St. Mary of the
Snow) in Agliana, in the province of Pistoia, in 1482. The panel was in the
church of San Piero, where the company had its seat, and is now dispersed. This
was not, of course, a particularly prestigious commission, certainly not as
prestigious as other works that Domenico had had to perform earlier. This,
however, corresponds to what Vasari testified in Domenico's biography, i.e. that
Ghirlandaio used to accept any kind of commission, supported (and almost
overwhelmed) by a passion for art that pushed him to accept commitments of all
kinds.
 |
| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Marriage of the Virgin, 1485-1490 Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Tornabuoni Chapel Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Ghirlandaria and Vasari
Was there
any relationship between the manuscript and Vasari’s Lives? It is one of the theses
put forward by Nicoletta Baldini. According to the curator, in fact, Alessandro
Ghirlandaio would have merely supplemented the information already provided by Vasari.
This applies, of course, to the personal data and to the set of news about the
property investment of Ghirlandaio’s family, but would be equally true when
Alessandro specified, for example, the name of the goldsmith in whose workshop Domenico
served. I confess that Ms Baldini's thesis initially did not seem to me
particularly appealing. Then a series of objective data, which cannot be
defined as simple coincidences, led me to change opinion. Thus, for example,
the citation made by Vasari of a book of memoirs belonging to Domenico's
heirs (not Ghirlandaria, written around
1580, but probably one of the collections of documents from which Alessandro
drew his material) perfectly matched with Alessandro's assertion that Vasari
"took the strongest information and
intelligence [on Domenico] from Ridolfo, son of Domenico and father of myself Alessandro"
(p. 93). In one of the inventories following Ridolfo's death, however, it was mentioned
a copy of the Torrentiniana edition of the Lives
(1550). To date, the existence of that specimen is not established. It would be
crucial to be able to trace it through a sign of possession (which would
probably include the surname Bigordi) to better understand what kind of
attention Alessandro paid to Vasari’s text. It is a fact (and this is an irrefutable
fact) that, in the manuscript, the author of the memoirs wrote at some point:
"Whoever wants to know the work of
his [Domenico’s] work, should read the Lives of the Painters by Giorgio Vasari"
(p. 89).
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| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Portrait of an Old Man and his Grandson, 1488, Paris, Louvre Museum Source: The Yorck Project via Wikimedia Commons |
Invisible to the eyes, present between the
lines
Domenico
Ghirlandaio lived 46 years (1448-1494). With only one year less, i.e. at 45, Lisa
Venturini's life was truncated. I am talking about it, because it is impossible
to return a complete image of the work without mentioning that it is also a moving
and intense tribute to the manuscript’s discoverer. She spent the last days of
her existence to transcribe the text (with a determination that, in the presentation,
Anna Padoa Rizzo did not hesitate to define heroic). I rarely read a so 'emotionally
motivated' book, and I would like to emphasize it. The work lives on two levels:
one is scientific, impeccable, but by its nature somewhat arid, while the other
is spiritual. In the words of Ms Rizzo and those of Ms Baldini, it clearly
emerges that Lisa is 'invisible to the eyes', but absolutely present between
the lines. The same decision to declare Lisa Venturini as the only curator of
the work, while Nicoletta Baldini is ‘just’ mentioned as the author of
introduction, essay and notes to the manuscript (as well as – I would like to
add – the author of the transcript after the first 27 folios), reveals how much
Lisa is missing and, at the same time, is present. There are footnotes in which
Nicoletta uses the first plural person (it uses 'us' and not 'I') and it seems
that Lisa and Nicoletta are really talking together. Life has also provided a
similar sad destiny to my sister, and I can assure you that it is just like
this: one becomes invisible to the eyes, but is always present to the loved
ones.
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